Running to Forget: Chapter Two
Disclaimer: Characters belong to Bellisarius Productions and CBS Studios. I own nothing.
Reviews are welcome, thanks for reading!
As she enters the elevator, the car keys come flying toward her,
"David, you're driving."
"Uh, boss? Is that a good idea?" DiNozzo interjects, "Cause last time Ziva drove..."
"Tony! It was not my fault that..."
"Enough." Gibbs quiet command immediately puts a stop to the impending squabble.
"Thank you, Gibbs." Ziva says.
"Oh, don't thank me David, I didn't stop it for you."
"Yes, Gibbs." With Ziva's last words, the elevator opened and they headed out to the car. Ziva, in the lead, let out a quiet sigh; it was times like these when she felt closest to normal, or at least as normal as she had ever felt.
As the team arrived at the crime scene, Ziva found herself momentarily struck by the home they encountered; it had started out life as a simple cape home but over the decades had been added on to in several directions. Every part of the house was in good shape, the only anomaly was the driveway, whereas everything else seemed to be shipshape, the driveway was cracked and broken with little sign of attempted repair. The team swiftly exited the vehicle as Gibbs gave out assignments.
"McGee; photos. DiNozzo; interview the neighbors. David; with me."
To a chorus of "Yes, Boss!" the team dispersed for their assignments. Grabbing the camera, McGee started taking photos of the perimeter of the property, Tony moved off across the street with a notepad in hand, and Gibbs with Ziva headed for the front door.
The woman who answered the doorbell clung tightly to a ragged teddy bear, her eyes red-rimmed showed evidence of the many tears she had shed.
"Can I help you?"
"NCIS Ma'am," Gibbs flashed his badge. "Are you Isabelle Shapiro?"
" Yes, yes I am."
" Agents Gibbs, and David, may we ask you some questions?" Gibbs' voice was gentle.
Shaking her head as if to clear it she opened the door"Yes, of course, I'm sorry it's just--"
"Perfectly okay ma'am." Gibbs responded. Leading them into a formal parlor Isabelle motioned towards the couch,
"Sit where you like, can I get you something to drink?"
"No thank you ma'am." Wearily she perched on the edge of a well-stuffed armchair.
"Ma'am, you reported your husband Captain Steve Shapiro kidnapped your three year old daughter Marianne?"
Silently nodding her head, Isabelle clutched the teddy bear closer to her body.
" Do you have any idea why your husband would commit such an act?" Ziva asked her softly.
" None!" Choking back a sob, Isabelle continued "None at all! We were a loving family, Marianne loves her Papa, I don't even remember the last time Steve and I had an argument!"
"How is it, that you know your husband is the one to kidnap your daughter?" Ziva continued.
"He left this--" putting the teddy bear down, Isabelle stood up, and picked up a sheet of loose-leaf paper from the side table. "It's definitely his handwriting, I would know if it wasn't."
Gibbs promptly pulled out an evidence bag, "Ma'am, would you mind placing the note inside this bag for me?" Holding the bag open, he motioned for Isabelle to place the note in the bag. "Has anyone else touched this paper other than yourself?"
"Not that I know of, it comes from my husband's office." Gingerly she pushed the letter until it was completely inside the bag. Gibbs promptly sealed it and signed the outside.
"Does your husband have a history of mental illness? Depression? Anything like that?" Ziva continued.
"Not that I know of, we've been married five years and I haven't seen even a hint of something like..." Isabelle's voice trailed off.
"Ma'am?" Gibbs' prompted her.
"Well--" Isabelle looked thoughtful, "at the beginning of our marriage he would wake up in the middle of the night and start to pace, whenever I asked him what was the matter, he never responded--it stopped after about six months."
" Did he ever say anything when he got up in the middle of the night?" Ziva inquired.
"No, he just got up, and started pacing. If I asked him anything he would tell me to go back to bed." Nodding Ziva jotted some notes.
"Has your husband experienced any extreme stresses at work that you know of?"
"We were informed last week that he is being deployed to Afghanistan at the end of the month. He wasn't very happy to hear this. He's managed not to be deployed for the whole length of our marriage."Locking eyes, Gibbs nodded silently to Ziva.
"Mrs. Shapiro would you mind showing me to your husband's office?" Gibbs' asked.
"Sure, just uh—follow me this way." Swiftly Ziva and Gibbs followed to distraught woman. As they walked towards the rear of the house, Ziva spotted the bathroom.
"Ma'am, if it is all right, may I use your bathroom?"
Motioning with her right hand, Isabelle nodded vaguely as she continued to lead Gibbs' down the hall. Quickly Ziva entered the bathroom and began to open cabinets. She wasn't expecting to find anything, after-all most people kept medications and the like in the bathroom closet to the bedroom, and in this particular house all the bedrooms were strictly on the second floor. Even so, it was always a worthwhile endeavor to see what was kept even in the 'public' bathroom of a private home. Noting various cleaning agents, extra stores of toilet paper and soaps, she closed the cabinet doors and then casually opened the trash can to find nothing. Flushing the toilet and running the water in the sink, Ziva exited the bathroom and headed towards the sounds of voices.
Upon entering the home office of Captain Shapiro, she assessed the rooms contents. Starting with the floor she noted the worn hardwood floors, raising her eyes, the wood-paneled wall on which hung several frames of photos and two small paintings. Finally, she noted the furniture, a large executive style corner desk; a laptop and printer centered on its surface, a recliner, and a leather couch. At Gibbs' silent inquiry, Ziva subtly shook her head, in a negative to his unspoken question. After examining the contents of the missing Captain's desk the two agents headed out to the car to meet up with the other half of their team.
Exiting into the bright sunshine Ziva winced, for a moment, blinded by the sun, emerging from the previously unnoticed darkness of the house, she felt her heart skip a beat and her breath catch in her chest. Suddenly she was back in the desert. A strong hand gripped her forearm, then as if from a long distance away she heard Gibbs voice.
"Ziva? What's the problem?" Shaking her head rapidly from side to side, she came back to herself. Still squinting in the bright light, she tried to cover "I just realized that there were no lights on inside the house, the sun took me by surprise."
Grunting in acknowledgment of her words, if not her actions, Gibbs picked up his stride to greet the other two agents. He would talk to her later, she knew it would only be a matter of time. Taking a steadying breath she followed in his wake, tucking her trembling hands into the depths of her NCIS windbreaker. Hopefully the adrenaline coursing through her system would subside before she had to do anything that would require she remove them.
"DiNozzo! Find anything interesting from the neighbors?" With Gibbs attention elsewhere she was able to continue to calm herself down before the other two could pick up on her shaken state.
"Boss! You won't believe what I found out!" Grinning, DiNozzo looked as cheery as a child in candy store. At Gibbs' sharp look he cleared his throat and put on a serious demeanor. "Apparently, our missing Marine has a tendency to make his neighbors uneasy; he's been known to use the backyard as a shooting range..."
"And...?"
"Just wait boss, and apparently, many of the neighbors beloved pets have been known to be recipients of the more than occasional bullet in the hind quarters,
"You mean to tell me, he shoots his neighbors dogs?" Ziva found herself interjecting before she realized it. She couldn't quite keep the skepticism from her voice.
"Yup, and some cats too. There are more than a half-dozen lawsuits from the neighbors from the last 18 months alone around this fact."
"Just what would the Captain gain from shooting his neighbor's dogs?" Ziva's voice was incredulous.
Suddenly McGee piped in, "Wait, Tony? When did the first lawsuit get filed?" he looked intent, a small furrow forming between his brows.
"Uh, give me a moment," DiNozzo flipped through his notes, "I've only got info for the last year and a half."
"Hmm."
"Uh—McHummer? Why?" DiNozzo's voice held a note of annoyance.
"Don't know yet." He said shortly, "Boss? I need to get to a computer." Gibbs just looked silently at his junior agent, a question in his eyes. McGee continued "I've got a feeling that if we find out when the first lawsuit was filed, there will be additional information that will be helpful."
Nodding, Gibbs held out a hand"Okay. David? Keys, now." Tossing him the keys, Ziva ignored the questioning look from Tony, and headed around the car to take a seat in the back.
"Boss? Why isn't Ziva driving?" Ignoring DiNozzo's question for the moment, Gibbs opened the driver's side door.
"DiNozzo, get in the car unless you want to walk back to the Navy Yard." Shooting Ziva a questioning look, Tony dived for the shot-gun position before McGee could beat him to it. Ziva simply opened the rear door and got in. She knew she would not get out of talking to either of the men before this day was over, the only concern she had, was what would she say?