CHAPTER 4

Allison Hart was a true professional and she knew that in order to keep the money coming in from her most powerful client, she needed to give him regular updates. However, she wasn't looking forward to having to tell Bell that she wasn't making much progress. Gibbs was proving to be a much tougher man than she was used to dealing with. She already decided the 'accidental contacts' weren't having any effect on Gibbs... except to anger him when she spilled his coffee on his lapel. He'd hid it well, but she saw his anger just before he masked it.

"Bell." The gruff voice crackled over the line, attesting to the substandard communications network south of the border.

"It's me. I've got eyes and ears in place." She'd learned from Bell that highly trained military operatives didn't talk outright about such things over an unsecured phone line.

"And?" As usual, Bell wasn't much of a talker... in that respect he was similar to the focus of their efforts.

"He's proving more difficult than I thought. He's seeing someone... a Holly Snow. I don't know how serious it is, but she runs errands for him." There is a long silence on the line and Hart wonders if her client heard her. You could never trust the phone lines in these international calls. "Colonel, are you there?"

"Yes... just thinking. So he's seeing the redhead... she is his type. Maybe you need to dye your hair red."

"Not happening, Colonel. I can deal with Gibbs... and his new girlfriend."

"No. I'm paying you to concentrate on getting to Gibbs... I need you to get close enough for him to talk to you. We discussed this, Ms. Hart. I need him to make at least one comment... one statement. Everything down here in Mexico is riding on us being able to hand them Gibbs on a silver platter. Don't let me down... and leave Holly Snow out of this."

Bell disconnects the line and tosses the phone down. Damn! That's all he needed was to have Holly Snow getting friendly with Agent Gibbs. Snow was another whole problem for him, but so far she'd maintained her silence, just like she had through her entire call girl scandal. She was still dangerous, but he'd deal with her later... unless she got in the way of his plans to bring down Gibbs.

Hart isn't surprised by her client's abrupt ending of the call, but she sits staring at her phone anyway. What bothered her was his insistence that she leave Snow out of this... but why? If she could dig up something on Snow... and there was plenty to dig up, she could use that to get her away from Gibbs and make her job easier.

Ever since Bell had gotten out of prison in Mexico, he'd been singularly focused on this plan to get Gibbs connected to some ancient case in Mexico. Hart didn't know why, but it had seemed like a fairly easy assignment... get close to Gibbs and see what he could tell her about it. Hart hadn't found anything in Gibbs' file about Mexico... other than his wife and daughter being killed by some drug dealer twenty years ago. Hart had read the news clippings on the tragedy. It explained why he became an NCIS agent... why he was so dedicated to seeing justice prevail. Hart sighs and decides Bell had a master plan; even if he didn't feel the need to share it with her.

Hart avoids going to the NCIS offices for a few days, letting things cool down after she'd heard Agent DiNozzo commenting on some rule about 'never messing with a marine's coffee if you wanted to live'. She didn't know what rules he was referring to, but she figured it was said in reference to Gibbs' anger at having his coffee spilled on him. She focuses her attention on trying to find another way in... and that meant another NCIS jurisdictional case. The requests for cases hadn't turned up any cases for her, but then her attention is drawn to the morning news. They were talking about a tragedy in which a young girl's parents were killed in a car crash and the only other relative was her older brother who was currently serving in Iraq. PERFECT!

"Gibbs." He was out grabbing a cup of coffee when the call comes in and the man on the other end of the line gives him the news he's been waiting for.

"Jethro, she took the bait. Just got the call ten minutes ago."

"Well, that's good news, Mr. Secretary. Little surprised she went straight to you with it though."

"Apparently she feels I can get more accomplished for her. I'll update Vance... and good work. That plan to leak the case to the media was perfect."

"Yes, sir... it did." Gibbs snaps his phone shut and then smirks as he grabs his coffee and heads back to the office. It doesn't take long for Ms. Hart to make her appearance in the bullpen and Gibbs ignores her until she sets a cup of coffee down. A peace offering, no doubt.

"Agent Gibbs... I... need a... I have a request, of your team?" She seems hesitant and humble, which is totally unlike her, but when Gibbs looks up, he can see the truth in her eyes. This was just another tactic she uses to get what she wants.

"Okay... I'm listening, Ms. Hart." He ignores the coffee she brought him, picking up his own cup as he leans back in his chair to give her his full attention; even though he already knows what she is about to say.

"I have a client... a young girl who lost both of her parents in a tragic car accident." She pauses to emphasized this poor girl, trying to snag Gibbs' tendency to protect children... especially little girls.

"Yeah, heard about it on the news."

"I have taken her on as a client... and before you say it, I am her court ordered guardian ad-litem. After all, she is only twelve."

"Of course you have, Ms. Hart. So what do you need from us?"

"I want her brother." She levels her courtroom gaze on Gibbs to let him know this is not a request, but a demand. "He's her only living relative and he needs to be here... with her."

"And that involves NCIS how?"

"He's a marine... currently deployed to Iraq. He needs to be released from active duty... immediately."

"He can put in for emergency leave... probably already has."

"Not good enough. My client needs her brother. She needs a guardian and he needs to be here, taking care of her... permanently."

"You seem to be on top of that already. Make the request through the normal channels to have him re-assigned stateside."

"You and I both know that process can take weeks... maybe even months. Time my client will be left alone... lost without her parents, her family... and the only brother she has."

Gibbs sighs, running his hands down over his face as he pretends to give the situation serious consideration... even though he knows this is not a case for NCIS. He finally stands up, stepping out from behind his desk. "Come on... gotta brief the director." She quickly hurries after him as he heads for the stairs to the upper deck.

A quick briefing with Vance ensues where he also plays his part well, hesitating to step in and take over the duties of the Navy's Family Services Bureau. Hart gives him the same hard line story about this poor child, needing their help and Vance finally gives in. He nods to Gibbs and gives his approval to 'make it happen'. With that done they return to the bullpen as Gibbs snaps out orders to his team.

"McGee, find out where Lance Corporal Ben Hastings is stationed and what his duties are. Ziva, contact Family Services and get the file on Hastings. Need everything they have on his family."

Gibbs turns around to see Hart giving him a disbelieving look because he obviously doesn't believe her about there being no other family members. "What? Rule nine."

"Rule nine? What is that?" Hart is confused as another obscure rule is quoted. She'd read the NCIS manual front to back... there were no list of rules.

"DiNozzo... rule nine." Gibbs keeps his eyes on Ms. Hart, but his hand points to his senior field agent for the answer.

"Rule nine... always double check your facts, boss." DiNozzo fires off his answer quickly without hesitation and then hides a smile at Hart's obvious frustration.

"Where are these rules? I would like to review them, Agent Gibbs." Her hands are resting on her hips, a sure sign of her frustration, but Gibbs just grins and shakes his head slowly.

"I don't think so, counselor. They're classified... and you don't have clearance." He makes a point of glancing down at her temporary access building pass.

Hart just rolls her eyes and hides her annoyance as he once again subtly points out that they are not on the same side. She then glances at her watch. "Okay... so why don't we go to lunch and discuss how we're going to get my client's brother home?"

Gibbs' first reaction is to refuse, but he simply nods his head and holds out a hand for her to precede him to the elevators. As Hart walks ahead of him, Gibbs gives a stern look to his second in command. DiNozzo stifles another smile and nods his head, knowing lunch with Ms. Hart will be like sitting in a pit of vipers; knowing one wrong move will get you bit. After they have left, McGee and Ziva both hang up from their pretend calls on this pretend case. The little girl losing her parents was real, but all the arrangements to get her brother back here have already been done.

Over the next week, Gibbs and his team pretend to work the case of the little girl... throwing up occasional roadblocks for Hart. She would be suspicious if they made it happen to quickly, so they first inform her that due to the confidentiality of his mission, they could not contact the brother directly. Then a couple of days later, they were able to get a conference call from the brother, but his commander refused to let him come back right now... for national security reasons his skills were needed there.

Ms. Hart didn't have a maternal bone in her body and could care less about this little girl, but she had to keep up the pretense since she had petitioned the court to let her become the child's temporary guardian. It was draining on her to play the nice, concerned advocate when she was much more comfortable being the hard as nails attorney who always got what she wanted. However, this role did seem to be having a better effect on Agent Gibbs. He'd been much more cooperative... and even pleasant to her when she showed up in his office.

Gibbs may have been nicer to Ms. Hart, but that didn't mean he'd warmed up to her. It still made the hair stand up on the back of his neck, every time she came near him, but he was careful to hide it. He wasn't going overboard in his acceptance of her and dropped little hints to remind here they were still on opposite sides. The hard part was he hadn't seen Holly since the dinner at his house. He wanted Hart to think she had a chance at a closer relationship and Holly showing up would only complicate things. It gave Gibbs time to think about that night... having her pretending to be his girlfriend. He found himself dwelling on how good it felt to have Holly in his arms, her kisses... even just seeing her in his kitchen fixing dinner.

Sure, it wasn't the first time she'd come over and offered to fix dinner... but this had been different. This time there had been the illusion of more... of a relationship between them and it had allowed Gibbs to glimpse a future he'd all but given up on. But it was an illusion... and that's what Holly did best, create illusions. He scolds himself for even considering there could be more and then gets back to work.

Unknown to Gibbs, Holly may have been keeping a low profile around him, but she was far from sitting idle. She knew how dangerous Merton Bell could be so she was busily working on ensuring that he wouldn't be able to cause any more trouble for Gibbs or NCIS. A few well placed calls to influential people was all it took to ensure the cooperation she needed. It wasn't blackmail... that wasn't necessary. None of her previous clients would refuse her... knowing she had done them all a favor by remaining silent through her call girl trial and taking her the blame that should have partly fallen on them.

Discreet inquiries were being made into Bell's connections in Mexico from one contact. Another was looking into the cold-hearted M. Allison Hart and how her law practice was being funded when she hardly ever took on any paying clients anymore... except of course for Colonel Bell's company. And lastly, Holly had put out a few well placed calls to people she knew would like nothing better than to see both of them locked away for a very long time. People who could ensure Bell was prosecuted for what he'd done, what Holly considered her 'ace in the hole' without involving her or dragging up her infamous call girl investigation again.

With that done, Holly could concentrate on her real job... or at least the career she'd taken on after being forced to give up her previous line of work. As part of her plea deal to avoid prison for running her call girl service, Holly had agreed to do a number of public service projects aimed at various aspects of what the government thought was the root of the problem. Holly knew better, but she let them believe they had it all figured out when the congressional committee ordered her to complete the projects set forth for her. Not all of them were bad... technically, teaching a series of seminars to corporations on 'avoiding sexual harassment in the workplace' would benefit some. And working with the battered women's shelters in DC, Virginia and Maryland on how to keep those desperate women from falling into the wrong lifestyle, namely prostitution, was something Holly felt strongly about anyway. But the project that was the hardest on her; the most draining on her was the one causing her the most concern.

It took her away from her home, and her personal life at any hour of the day or night. She was essentially on call, twenty-four hours a day... and felt compelled to respond to each call in person. The meetings drained her, left her feeling exposed and vulnerable... but more than that, they left her feeling guilty. And, on rare occasions, they left her very angry... but she had no one to talk to about it. She'd tried to explain it to Gibbs; on their first dinner together, but he'd shut her down... said he didn't care.

Holly knew why he said he didn't care who was on the phone, or what was so important she had to leave half way through their dinner. She knew why he'd never ask her about those calls and why a mask of indifference came over him like a wall between them every time she got a call. She never let it show, but it hurt her to know he thought she was still in business; still meeting clients.

A phone call from the man of her thoughts interrupts her musings. It had been several days since she'd spoken to him and his voice brings a smile to her face.

"Hey. Need you to make an appearance tonight. My place... around seven."

"Do I get to know why?"

"Hart is supposed to show up... kind of invited herself to dinner. It's time to let her know her plan didn't work. If it works, the steak and beer are on me."

"I'll see you this evening." She can't contain her excitement as she hangs up the phone. This was her opportunity; to set her plan for Ms. Hart in action... and make her point with Agent Gibbs.

She was hoping that this request would give her a chance to show him there could be something more between them. Gibbs wasn't a man you could push into doing something that wasn't his idea; so she just had to gently maneuver him so he thought it was his idea. That shouldn't be too hard, considering the look in his eyes after he'd kissed her the other night. It certainly wouldn't be hard for her either... she was looking forward to testing the limits of Gibbs' self-control. Yes, using her talents was underhanded and she knew it was probably... morally wrong. She hated to admit how much Gibbs' opinion really mattered to her, but she was willing to take the chance. If this didn't work, she'd have to resort to other means... because she just wasn't willing to let him slip away.