Elevator
After Gibbs pulled the emergency stop button in the elevator, just an irate Gibbs and a stubborn Tony stood in the confined space. Gibbs treated him with a strong, no-nonsense glare as he expected answers from Tony.
"Boss?" DiNozzo finally said, when he started to buckle from the pressure of being trapped in such a small area with an irate Gibbs, who was in full-interrogator mode.
"So Eric is not Fred's father-what do you expect me to say?" DiNozzo asked defensively.
"Who is the father than?" Gibbs asked giving DiNozzo an accusing glare.
"I don't know. Hey, Fred is seven years old, and I haven't even seen Wendy in nine years." DiNozzo quickly pointed the facts out.
"Rodriguez said his wife got pregnant from a fertility clinic in Ohio." Gibbs stated, still looking at DiNozzo accusingly. DiNozzo let out a loud, nervous laugh. ". . .via donor."
"Really, well it is a very enriched state." DiNozzo said trying to distract Gibbs. Gibbs looked at him critically.
"Come on, Boss. I know what you are implying, and the whole idea is just insane." DiNozzo said, now wincing at his choice of words to his superior. DiNozzo looked away from the irate glare he was receiving from Gibbs.
"I told you before Boss. The reason the clinic called was to tell me that no one wanted my little DiNozzos." DiNozzo tried to laugh off the discussion.
"I have never heard of a clinic doing that before, DiNozzo." Gibbs responded in a serious, low tone voice which shot chills up DiNozzo's spine. ". . .usually the clinic will call to request more."
Gibbs had gone from being just irate to irate and totally disgusted from DiNozzo's lies and distractions. His tough, fatherly love was running thin. He released the emergency stop button and turned away from him before getting off the lift.
Squad Room
"So Wendy said that Tony and his father then had an unbelievably intense argument about. . ." Ziva quickly whispered the details of the discussion she had with Wendy to McGee. When spotting Gibbs coming from the elevator, he quickly gave Ziva a warning signal, which she missed. As Gibbs passed by he treated Ziva with her first head slap in a couple years.
"Why are you here, Ziva?" Gibbs asked treating Ziva now with his irate glare. Ziva was still in shock over her head slap from Gibbs.
"The Senator has died Gibbs." Ziva said.
"I was supposed to tell you, Gibbs, but you were in the elevator with Tony." McGee interjected trying to save Ziva from a lecture or head slap.
"What? He was expected to make a full recovery." Gibbs said in shock raising his arms up in frustration. DiNozzo was hearing the discussion as he slowly made his way back over to his desk, with his head facing down in shame, after his discussion in the elevator with Gibbs.
"That is a little suspicious." Gibbs shouted out. "Did you both keep your eyes on Wendy the whole time she was interviewing the Senator."
"Yes Boss." David and DiNozzo said in unison.
"She would never kill anyone and not a Senator." DiNozzo said defensively.
"McGee, contact the hospital. See if the suspect foul play and then make sure the body is released to Ducky for the autopsy." Gibbs ordered.
"On it Boss." McGee said, acting quickly.
Gibbs turned around to face DiNozzo again. "You bring Wendy in here. I want to talk to her." Gibbs ordered. Seeing the look in Gibbs' eyes, DiNozzo was fast to obey.
"Ziva, go with him." Gibbs added. He could not see DiNozzo eyes as they closed and his mouthing a silent curse. McGee turned to the unfortunate agent still left to deal with an irate Gibbs. McGee noticed Gibbs staring at him, as he hung up the phone.
"It is all taken care of Boss. The body will be transported here. The hospital believes that the Senator died of internal hemorrhaging. I will contact Ducky then." McGee said, satisfying Gibbs' wishes. Gibbs then approached McGee's desk, treating him with an intense stare.
"Boss?" McGee said, noticing how Gibbs was looking at him.
"McGee, I want a full background check done on Wendy." Gibbs said. "This is for your eyes and my eyes only."
"Sure Boss." McGee said. "Oh, Boss, what is Wendy's last name? I never heard. . ."
"Try her married name Wendy Rodriguez." Gibbs added before heading up to Vance's office. Luckily, McGee managed to drop his jaw after Gibbs left at the realization as to why he was so focused on details of Eric Rodriguez. The conversation that DiNozzo and Gibbs were having in the squad room, which was relocated to the elevator also made more sense. McGee shook off any suspicions that he had and got straight to work.
NCIS Dodge Challenger
"So. . ." Ziva said to Tony.
"Where did you leave Wendy then?" Tony asked.
"Last time I saw her, she was at the hospital calling her editor." Ziva answered. "She was planning on going to his office, which is right here in D.C." DiNozzo shook his head at the news.
"So. . ." Ziva repeated.
"What Ziva?" Tony snapped at her.
"I had a very interesting conversation with Wendy." Ziva admitted. Suddenly, DiNozzo accelerated and continued to look intensely at the road.
"I think you two still care about each other a great deal. Any chance of reconciliation?" She asked.
"Yeah, well I care about everybody on Team Gibbs too. It doesn't mean I plan to run out and marry one of you." DiNozzo shot back. Ziva smiled and nodded, sensing the hostility from Tony. They pulled into the parking lot of the newspaper that Wendy was now working for.
Squad Room
McGee had found a good amount of background information on Wendy by the time Gibbs had returned from Vance's office.
"Talk to me, McGee." Gibbs said as he reentered the squad room. McGee noticed that he was more relaxed then he was when he left.
"Wendy Rodriguez is a forty-five year old, divorced, mother of a seven year old, who has resided in Baltimore for the last fifteen years. She was born into a very wealthy family; however, their fortune has suffered from poor investments. Her father had to declare bankruptcy back in 2004. Her birthmother died when she was a kid. She has a younger brother who was a Baltimore police officer, but he is now deceased. His name was Danny Price? Wasn't Danny Price Tony's old partner?" McGee stopped only to start up again, when Gibbs did not respond.
"She started her career as a music teacher in 1988, in Rhode Island, where she met a then 17 year old Tony DiNozzo for the first time." McGee explained adding a little amusement to his voice when talking about Tony. Gibbs returned a slight grin at McGee. McGee then got back on task.
"No criminal history at all. She was engaged in 2001 to 2003 to Tony. Then she married her now ex-husband, Rodriguez in 2004. They were legally separated in 2010 and got divorced in 2011." McGee explained, updating the Plasma for Gibbs to read as he spoke.
"She was a music teacher from 1988 to 2004. Then she became a stay-at-home-mom for almost six years. She took the job as a journalist in 2011. The only articles that she has written have concerned our now deceased Senator."
"So within two years after Tony and her split, you are telling me that her rich family declared bankruptcy, she married Rodriguez in Mexico, and her son was born." Gibbs reiterated a few of the details.
McGee agreed. He watched Gibbs in confusion as he continued to read information on the Plasma. McGee was not sure what connection Gibbs was trying to make, and why certain information caught Gibbs' attention."
"McGee." Gibbs said sharply. "Enlarge that page." Gibbs pointed to something on the Plasma.
"It says here that her son has a ten-million dollar trust fund in his name?" Gibbs turned to look at McGee critically. "How is that possible if that was the year that her family declared bankruptcy?"
"The trust was created after they declared bankruptcy, so I do not think that her family created that trust fund." McGee said. "That is a lot of money, too. A teacher would not make that." Gibbs looked at him critically with a questionable glance.
"Sorry Boss." McGee said, redirecting his attention to the computer screen. "Do you want me to try to find out. . ."
"No McGee. It probably is not relevant, but I will ask her when she comes in." Gibbs said quickly. As McGee watched him, he seemed to come to a realization or hunch before telling McGee to stop looking.
The elevator doors opened to reveal Tony, Ziva, and Wendy. They slowly approached the squad room.
"Still the same ugly, orange walls." Wendy said with a smile, approaching Gibbs in the squad room. DiNozzo had a strong look of worry in his eyes as he brought Wendy to Gibbs.
"Ziva, take Wendy up to the conference room." Gibbs said, in a casual tone, which caught all of them off guard. Ziva nodded as she guided her up to the conference room. Gibbs still had DiNozzo looking at him in the center of the squad room.
"I want to talk to you later, but for now, you sit." Gibbs said with a strong emphasis, pointing to DiNozzo's desk. DiNozzo let out an audible sigh as he was sidelined. This reminded him of how Gibbs treated him when his father was being investigated for murder.