"You might not want to stand so close to the edge. Gators can jump." Calloway said. As a unit, Tony, Ziva, Sarah and Gibbs all took a step back. For once, none of them was displeased to have another agency process the scene. Tangling with a gator over the remains of a murderer wasn't high on the list of priorities.
The tow truck whined as the primordial ooze wrapped cable labored to pull Liptak's sedan out of the ditch. The back windows were now above the water.
One of the divers popped up and held up a shoe. "There's no body."
"Damn alligator had all the fun." Camie kicked at the dirt sending a trickle of pebbles into the ditch.
"Any luck at the Liptak's house?" Tony asked.
"Liptak had a ticket to Boston for tonight." Gibbs said.
"No photo?"
"Nope."
"Think he was going to Maine?" Tony asked.
"Yup."
Ziva stifled a yawn. "Either he knows what Marner's evidence is or he knows where to look."
They all jumped as Calloway slapped Gibbs' cheek. "Mosquito." She said. She wiped her hand on her pants. "Then he's one step ahead of us. We don't even know where to look."
Gibbs rubbed his cheek. "Swift made reservations at an Inn in Booth Bay Harbor. She knew where to start looking."
"Meg mentioned that she and James met at an Inn when they were in high school." Ziva said.
Gibbs flipped open his phone. "McGee. Cross reference all Inns in Booth Bay Harbor against all our principle players. And get the Gulfstream down here." His eyes cut to Ziva. "And tell Abby Ziva could use some warmer maternity clothes."
"Gibbs." Ziva said stunned.
"Officer David. You can't button your pants and DiNozzo's strutting like a peacock. It doesn't take a genius."
X
"The ocean smells different here." Ziva said as she sniffed the briny air. "It smells Rindy."
"Briny?" Tony offered. They picked their way up the illuminated path to the Bay View Inn. Nearby the ocean roared in the dense darkness.
"I suppose." She leaned on him as they mounted the steps of the ginger bread like Victorian.
In the darkened foyer a young woman looked up from her book. "May I help you?"
Gibbs flashed his badge. "We need to talk to Elizabeth Whitcomb. It concerns her granddaughter Meg."
"It's after midnight and she's over eighty years old. She's asleep. Can it wait?"
"It can." Gibbs said. "You have any rooms?"
"One." She said. "A suite." She pulled keys from under her desk. "Follow me." She wound her way up a dark wood staircase set with oriental runner. At the end of the hall she leaned on a heavy wooden door until it popped open.
"This room is scheduled for renovations but it's all I have. The water pressure in the shower is awful but the fire place works." She flicked a switch on the wall and the gas logs roared to life. The fire threw shadows over the room.
Gibbs' eyes shifted to four poster bed in the next room. He grunted, grabbed a sofa cushion, flung it on the floor and curled up in front of the fire.
"Flip you for the sofa?" Calloway asked Sarah.
"Take it." She said.
In sight of the bed Ziva felt the pain of true exhaustion. She pulled the pocket doors shut behind them and peeled out of her dress. She flung it on a chair in the corner and missed. She didn't bother to pick it up.
Tony handed her a shirt and a pair of boxer shorts. She dressed wordlessly and collapsed face down on the bed.
He brushed her hair aside and kissed her neck. "I was hoping you weren't going to get dressed so soon."
"Are you going to poke me with that all night long?" She mumbled into the pillow.
"Most likely."
"I'm exhausted."
He pressed himself against her. "Is there anything you could do about this situation?"
"Is it an emergency?"
"Oh yeah." He cupped her bottom.
She wiggled out of his grasp and swung out of bed. The door to the bathroom opened with a loud crack.
He followed her eagerly. "Group shower?"
"Solo." She said reaching for the faucet. "Hot or cold it's your choice."
X
"Mornin' beautiful." His anger at being pushed into self service the night before had faded with the sunrise. "I'm sorry about last night. I know you were exhausted." She lay face down on her pillow, motionless as he stroked her back.
"Look. I'm sorry if you're angry. I know it can't be easy being pregnant." He kissed her shoulder and smelled iron.
Panic burst in a staccato rhythm in his chest.
"Ziva?" He flipped her onto her back. She rolled stiffly, staring glassy eyed at the ceiling with empty eyes. A blossom of blood flowered on her chest.
"Bitch." Came a voice from the corner.
Hannah smiled at him with her soulless eyes. She held Ziva's knife by her side, blood dripping from the blade onto the carpet in an ever-widening puddle.
"No." He choked out.
Blade raised, Hannah lunged at him. He didn't resist.
He gasped as he awoke to the sunlit room. Ziva slept beside him, face wedged into his armpit, snoring.
"Ziva?" he shook her tentatively.
"Go away." She said. "Do it yourself."
He kissed her cheek and she swatted at him. Relieved but still shaken he stumbled in to the next room.
"I'll die before I let that happen." Sarah said. She sat on the sofa, cup of coffee in hand. "As would you. Yes?"
He poured himself a cup from the carafe on the desk. "Yes."
"I believe you." She patted the seat beside her. "Gibbs and Calloway have gone to interview Elizabeth Whitcomb. I wouldn't let him wake you both."
He hesitated.
"This is not the talk where I threaten you. Sit down."
He sat beside her. "Good. Maybe we can postpone that one indefinitely."
"I don't know about indefinitely. Her father is a different story."
"Fantastic."
She seemed ill at ease beside him and he knew it had nothing to do with his presence. She drew a deep breath. When she spoke she did not meet his eyes. "She was a difficult child to keep alive."
"I can imagine."
Her thickening accent betrayed her fatigue. "She is the best worst mistake I ever made."
Tony smiled and peered through the doors. Ziva still slept, sprawled slack limbed on their bed, probably happy he'd finally gotten up and given her some space. "Ziva is…." He pressed his lips together as he searched for the word.
Sarah found it for him. "Ziva. It's the only way to describe her."
Her lips curved in her half smile. "She was a bit of nudist as a child. I had a hard time making her keep her clothes on. Even in public. And she had a habit of putting things up her nose. Beads. Peas. Green beans. Blueberries."
He smothered his laugh. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because she never will. And I want…I want some one who loves her too to remember."
"Trust me. That's not something I'll forget."
"I'd rather you did." Ziva shuffled towards them. She kissed him before taking a long pull of his coffee. "Have a nice chat?"
"Oh yeah."
She narrowed her eyes at them. "Mother. Did you tell him the gold fish story?"
"No."
"Can I get a translation?" Tony asked. The words made no sense to him, but the tone was clear. Even Ziva had a plethora of embarrassing childhood memories.
"No." Ziva said sharply. She grabbed Tony's coffee and brought it with her into the bathroom. She washed quickly under the dribble of water that passed as a shower. She toweled off and slathered her body in cream, lingering on her stomach.
She dug through the bag Abby had packed for her and selected a long sleeve skull and cross bones shirt done in glitter, and pair of black pants that she had to roll up. She studied her reflection in the mirror. I look like I'm playing dress up.
A muscle in her stomach twitched. She pressed her hand to it to quell it and it pulsed against her hand. Her mouth went dry and her tongue pulled at the roof of her mouth as she shouted.
"Tony. You have got to feel this."
X
Gibbs studied the sitting room as he drained his coffee. Dark wood bookshelves lined with musty first editions ran floor to ceiling. Large windows let in the early morning light. Over the mantel sat a ship in a bottle. An oil portrait of a young woman from centuries gone by hung on the far wall. It was all what one would expect of an old seaside inn. Except. He lifted a framed photo of three men and a woman sitting on the Inn's porch swing. He squinted and the faces of Meg and James Liptak, Shawn Marner and presumably Erich Weiss peered back at him.
He turned it over and studied it. Nothing was written on the black cardboard back. He slid the back out of the frame and a key fell out into his hand. He dropped it into his pocket, reassembled the frame and went off in search of Elizabeth Whitcomb.
X
Okay. So 16 weeks or so is a little early to feel a baby kick for a lot of women but it's a fic here. So. I put it in. Thank you for reading and as always, I appreciate your reviews. So let me know what you think. Thanks. Jeanne