Chapter 5
Director's Office:
Gibbs entered the directors office without knocking. He closed the door behind him and sat down opposite the director at the long conference table. Jenny Sheppard finished her phone call and hung up. She swiveled to face him, smiling. She joined him at the table and placed her chin inquisitively in her hands.
"I take it you're not here for a social call. You need something, Jethro?"
"No. You told me to keep you in the loop. I thought I would update you."
"I saw what happened. You suspect Angel and his team. You have them in NCIS custody. Do you have evidence to base those accusations on, Jethro?"
"My gut. I'm not letting them leave here, Jen. He is part of it. I can feel it."
"The famous Gibbs gut. Well, does your gut have substantiated evidence. Cause if it doesn't, Jethro, you have no grounds to hold him and his team."
Gibbs said nothing. He merely wiped a hand over his brow and mouth, apparently agitated. Angel was playing him and it pissed him off. He hadn't told a single truth since he arrived and Gibbs intended to rectify that now.
"Do you think he is your killer's accomplice?"
"I don't know. But I know he is involved."
"I'll put in a call to L.A.P.D. Perhaps they have information on Angel Investigations. As a P.I. he must have worked hand in hand with the police force. I'll let you know what I find out."
"Thanks, Jen."
"Gibbs."
Gibbs looked back at the red haired director when he reached the door.
"If you can't find evidence that he participated in any of these murders, you have to let him go. I'll give you twenty four hours. That's the best I can do."
Gibbs rolled his eyes and nodded his head to show he understood, even though it was reluctantly.
He left the NCIS director alone in her office and stopped at the top of the stairs. McGee was no where in sight down below. He whistled and his other two agents looked up. He motioned for them to follow him and the three made their way downstairs.
Abby's Lab:
"What do ya got for me, Abs?" Gibbs demanded the second he entered her lab.
"Wow, Gibbs. No foreplay with you huh? I got a very excited McGee and some information for you on the case. What do you want first?"
"McGee. What did you find?"
"Boss, you are never going to believe how easy it was to get information on these people. I was looking into their bank statements to see if I could find paychecks and things of that nature. All their paychecks come from Angel Investigations."
"I expected that, McGee."
"They make all the normal purchases like food, clothes, gas. But there are a lot of purchases to underground auctions, museums and black market operations. It doesn't state the nature of the purchases or what the items are."
"That's good work, McGee. Anything else?"
"I was looking into their personal lives. There is not much to find except the normal things like age, medical records, parentage, where they went to school. After twenty minutes I found something. A lot of cases involving a law firm named Wolfram & Hart kept popping up. I called them and asked them how they were linked to Angel and they all but shoved information at me. When I told them I was NCIS they told me they would send everything they had on Angel Investigations to me right away. It should be here within the hour."
"Nice work, Probie."
Tony felt the sting of retribution on the back of his head, "Sorry, Boss."
"Don't say you're sorry."
"Sign of weakness. Shutting up, Boss."
Ziva giggled at Tony's misfortune, completely unaware that Tony found the Boss's head slaps comforting. It was the absence of one that worried Tony. When that happened, Gibbs wasn't himself.
"Abs. Tell me something good." Gibbs said, handing her a Caf-Pow.
"Do you want me to tell you about the case? Or would you like me to tell you about the evidence you brought me that belongs to Angel's team?"
"Case first."
"Okay, well there wasn't enough blood left in your victims body to do any kind of blood tests. I can't tell you what her toxicology was at the time of her death. But, I had plenty of hair and I can give you toxicology this way."
Gibbs looked at her annoyed for playing her silly games.
"Relax Gibbs. Her toxicology was negative. She was sober at time of death and wasn't on any kind of drug."
"What about the marks on her neck. Did you test the swabs Ducky gave you."
"I did. There was saliva on the wound. So they were most definitely bite marks, Gibbs."
Gibbs looked back at his forensic tech. The others weren't surprised by her information accept Ziva, for they were with Abby and expecting it.
"DNA?"
"I'm still running it. I'm not getting any hits in AFIS. I can tell you that the saliva belongs to a male. So your killer is a man. I'll keep running it though. My babies always give me something." Abby said, patting her computer lovingly.
"Did you find any extra hairs, fibers from the mess brought from the crime scene?"
"Nope."
"How about from Lt. Lake's clothes?"
"All I could find was common cotton fiber off the collar of her uniform. Sorry, Gibbs."
"Okay, what about the evidence from Angel's people?" Gibbs asked.
"These people are my kind of people."
Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva raised their eyebrows at her. Her excitement seemed a bit inappropriate considering they might be in cahoots with the killer.
"Don't look at me like that, Gibbs. Tony, you might be interested in this. You still with me in my thinking?"
Tony nodded his head vigorously and came closer. Abby pulled a few of the books from their evidence bags and carefully placed them on the table.
"These books are very old…like centuries old, Gibbs. I would say most of them are from like 1850's up to early 1900's. Want to know what they are all about?"
Tony reached for one to open it, but Abby swatted his ungloved hand.
"Don't leave me in suspense, Abs." Gibbs said coolly.
"Demons."
"Demons?" Ziva asked incredulously.
"Yeah. Everyone of these books are about demons. All of them are from different cultures, different areas of the world. They are like encyclopedias of demons and monsters. I have been thumbing through them. They are amazing."
"Abs." Gibbs said, annoyed.
"Look, Gibbs," Abby opened one of them and showed them some of the demons.
She turned a page and showed them pictures of monsters. Some were on four legs and some on two. Some had sharp looking claws and teeth and some looked humanoid. Some were green, some orange, some blue. Others still were short and tall. Others were covered in scales, while some were winged beasts.
"There are some pages where your Englishman made notes. I read through a few of them and then found something interesting."
She started smiling wide, almost bursting with excitement.
"You gonna tell me or do I have to pry it out of you?"
"I'm sorry Gibbs, I'm just so excited I can hardly contain myself."
"Okay, what is so exciting."
She flipped through several pages and stopped. The page had a picture of a man with soft, handsome features, dark hair and eyes, and a emotionless smirk. There was a name above it in big bold gothic letters. The name was simple. Angelus.
Gibbs and his team stared at the name and the picture. It was in black and white, but it was unmistakable. The similarities between this face and Angel was too close.
"That's not possible." Ziva said.
"That's what McGee thought."
"It's probably a relative." Tony said.
"In a book of demons, Tony." McGee said.
"In this volume, Angelus is a vampire. I think Angel is this man. I think Angel is a vampire. Maybe his whole team is."
"Abs. Stop. It's not possible. Vampires don't exist. Besides, even if they were real, then they can't be. We would have been attacked already. I agree it is a striking resemblance, but I need you to stick to fact, Abby. Good work, keep at it."
He kissed Abby's temple and started for the door. "I want to interrogate Cordelia first. McGee, I want those files on our guests before I go in there."
"Yes, Boss."
Interrogation Room, Cordelia:
McGee came through. The filed from Wolfram & Hart arrived as promised. Tim made sure that Gibbs was given the files of each member of team Angel the second they arrived. There was a note on top of the stack of files with a number to reach the law associate in charge of the case files. The name Lilah Morgan accompanied the phone number.
Gibbs read over Cordelia's file first. He made a few mental notes and then entered the interrogation room. He sat in the chair, his back facing the observation room where Tony stood watching. Ziva and McGee were helping Abby in the lab.
Cordelia didn't make any attempt to defend herself or fight for her immediate release. She simply sat there, her arms crossed defiantly in front of her. She sat there, glaring at Gibbs. She was far from afraid of him. She wasn't intimidated in the least as he sat there silently. He was letting her stew.
Tony was impressed that Gibbs main tactic for breaking criminals hadn't motivated any sort of confession or excuses from the girl. She was a rock. Gibbs finally opened her file and looked at it briefly.
"Cordelia Chase. No siblings. Parents were in some financial trouble. They were indicted for tax evasion. That must have been rough." He began.
"Small setback." Was all she revealed.
"Attended Sunnydale High. You've been in some trouble. Your graduation records were sealed. Why?"
"It was one hell of a ceremony."
Gibbs squinted his eyes. That was all she was going to say on the matter. It wasn't important.
"You started working for Angel Investigations after failing in an acting career."
That made something in Cordy snap, "I didn't fail. I had jobs. I got a few commercials and plays. I just decided my work at Angel Investigations was more important. I better use of my time. I like to help people. That's what we do, Agent Gibbs. We help people." She corrected him, nastily reminding him of their true purpose.
"Who is Doyle?"
Cordelia looked at him. Nobody other then them knew who Doyle was. He wouldn't be a part of her file. That set off an alarm in her head. No one other than Wolfram & Hart would know of Doyles existence.
"He's dead." Was all she said. Her eyes fell to the table sadly. She was remembering the horrible way he had died.
"How?"
"It doesn't matter. He's dead. We miss him."
"Oh it matters if you killed him."
Cordelia stood at that, "You don't know anything! Doyle died a hero. He died saving people. You have no right accusing me or anyone else of killing him. We help people, Agent Gibbs….which is more than I can say for you."
"Sit." Gibbs said calmly. She was telling the truth. That much he knew. Doyle, whoever he was, died as she claimed. That is unless she was a great actress. She had acted for a living.
"No. I think I'll stand."
"Sit."
She stared at him for a moment and then resumed her place in the chair opposite him. Tony watched as she regain her composure. The girl was strong. She wouldn't stand for much more of Gibbs baiting.
We have your medical records. You have been admitted for several major injuries. You always left the hospital without a reason of how you got said injuries to the doctors. They simply patched you up, gave you meds and signed you out. You also had a month or two of visits pertaining to your brain function. All of a sudden it's fine. There are scans here of your brain for those two months. There was significant damage. Now there is a scan of your brain taken more recently. Everything seems to be fine. Care to explain that?"
"I got better."
Gibbs laughed coldly. He was being messed with. There was more here then she was willing to give up.
"Does the name Angelus mean anything to you?"
Cordelia froze. She looked up at Gibbs, searching for the reason behind this question. Had he figured them out? Had he discovered what Angel truly was. She didn't think so, or he wouldn't be asking. So, she lied.
"No. Should it?" She asked snottily.
Gibbs saw it before she could hide it from him. He saw the recognition in her eyes the second the name came out of his mouth. He got up without another word and left her there to ponder what had just happened. He entered the observation room where Tony was waiting for him.
"She knows something, Boss."
"Ya think, DiNozzo. Go tell Abby to research Angelus more thoroughly. I want to know more about this demon they are so interested in and why."
