A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and alerts! I know I'm updating a lot, but I'm so excited to finish this story and continue with the rest of the series :) It's going to be 5 stories long now. I'm glad everyone is enjoying this so far, and I hope you like this chapter as well!
Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any original characters.
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Tony and Ziva were walking toward the elevator to go home for the night. It was only a little after 3:00, and Tony was annoyed that Gibbs had ordered them to take the rest of the day off. Admittedly, maybe Tony shouldn't have been to stubborn and should have approached interrogation with Marie with an open mind. But he just couldn't shake the feeling that Gibbs was wrong and that Marie was truly guilty. As he and Ziva stepped into the elevator, he saw Gibbs and McGee escorting Marie Davis out. Tony clenched his teeth together so he wouldn't protest further and pressed the button to close the elevator door. Gibbs and McGee had just entered the squad room with Marie, so it wouldn't appear that Tony was intentionally making them wait for the next elevator, but Tony knew there was no way he could have ridden with the woman whom he believed was guilty of murder.
"I have a missed called," Ziva observed quietly, pulling out her cell phone. She checked her voicemail as they walked to their car. "It was the realtor. She says she has three houses she wants to show us."
"Call her back," Tony sighed. It was, after all, not the end of business hours, so they might as well see about looking at the houses today while they had free time. Ziva did return the realtor's phone call while she and Tony sat in the parking lot of NCIS. While Ziva was on the phone, Tony watched in the rear view mirror as Marie Davis exited the building and entered a dark blue car that had just pulled into the parking lot. It was driven by a young woman that Tony had never seen before, presumably Marie's friend or relative.
"She has time to show us the houses yet today," Ziva said as she hung up her phone, bringing Tony's attention back inside their own car. "We just need to meet her at the first one. She gave me the address."
"Okay," Tony said, looking at the address Ziva had written down whilst on the phone. He turned on the car and left the parking lot, having lost sight of where Marie had gone, but knowing that she was free.
After Tony and Ziva had left for the day, Gibbs and McGee left as well to go and question the Davis' next door neighbor. They arrived outside of the house and went up to knock on the door. When the door opened, they were facing a man easily in his fifties. He had graying hair and was balding on top. The man also wore glasses and stood right around Gibbs' height. He wore a simple t-shirt and jeans and looked rather puzzled when Gibbs introduced himself and McGee as NCIS agents.
"What can I do for you, sir?" the man asked from the doorway.
"May we come in?" Gibbs asked in return. The man nodded and stepped aside to allow entrance, closing the door behind the agents. He led them into the living room which was furnished with nice, expensive-looking furniture and offered them a seat on the couch.
"What is this about?" the man asked.
"What is your name, sir?" Gibbs asked the man.
"Henry Bachman," the man replied.
"Mr. Bachman, how long have you lived beside John and Marie Davis?" Gibbs asked.
"I've lived here for thirty-seven years. They moved in about three years ago maybe," Henry replied after a moment of thought.
"Do you get along with them?" Gibbs asked. Henry shrugged.
"We don't really communicate regularly," he replied. "When we happen to see each other outside, yeah, we're civil."
"Do you ever argue?" Gibbs asked.
"I wouldn't say so," Henry replied, shaking his head.
"Mr. Bachman, are you aware that John Davis was killed?" McGee stepped in.
"I saw it in the obituaries," Henry replied sadly. "It's a sad thing, a young woman having to bury her husband at that age. I was fifty-two when I laid my wife to rest, and it was painful enough then. I can't imagine what it must be like for Marie."
"Burying a loved one is always hard," McGee agreed. "Mr. Bachman, we have a claim that you and John Davis had a dispute a few days ago before his death. Can you tell us anything about that?"
"A dispute?" Henry repeated, genuinely confused. "I can assure you, Agent McGee, the only contact I've had with John Davis within the past week was when I walked outside and asked him to turn his stereo down. He was working on his car in his garage and had his stereo cranked up so loud I could hear it inside my house as if I were at a rock concert. He apologized and turned the music down in a heartbeat. That hardly constitutes as a dispute."
"Is that all?" McGee asked, knowing that was nothing that would lead to murder. Henry nodded.
"Son, I'm fifty-seven years old. I'm a retired high school history teacher, and I have four grandchildren," Henry said with a smile. "I mind my own business and respect my neighbors. There's no reason for me to go around trying to cause problems with anyone."
"Thank you for your time," Gibbs said, standing. "We're finished here." He shook Henry's hand and led McGee to the door.
"I hope you find what you need," Henry said as the agents stepped onto the porch. "John's family deserves closure as soon as they can get it." Gibbs nodded, bid the man a good evening, and returned to the car with McGee.
"What do you think, boss?" McGee asked once they were on their way back to headquarters.
"He had nothing to do with any of it," Gibbs sighed.
"So now what do we do?" McGee asked.
"Look harder," Gibbs replied shortly. McGee nodded his understanding and was silent the rest of the way back to work.
Meanwhile, Tony and Ziva just pulled up out front of the third and final house that the realtor wanted to show them that day. The first two had been nice, very nice in fact, but only slightly out of their budget. As they pulled up to the third house, Ziva instantly fell in love. The house was two stories high, built with white paneling and stone accents at the doorway. It had a large front porch that extended along the entire front of the house. The front yard was rather spacious, and Ziva knew she could do some beautiful landscaping.
"This is gorgeous," Ziva said. Tony nodded and opened his car door as Martha, the realtor, walked toward their car. Ziva exited quickly as well.
"I hope you like this one," Martha said. "It's the last one I have for you today."
"I think we like it so far," Ziva smiled.
"Yes, it has wonderful curb appeal," Martha agreed. "Let me take you inside." Ziva turned to her left to admire the large yard, and a car at the end of the block caught her attention as it turned right. She could have sworn that she'd seen that car at every stop they'd made since leaving work...But, then again, several people around DC drive similar cars. She brushed it off and joined Martha and Tony on the walk to the porch.
"Obviously, this is a very large porch. A porch swing would be wonderful here," Martha said as she opened the screen door and unlocked the house. She opened the door and led Tony and Ziva into a small foyer and showed them the coat closet on the right. She then continued the tour into an open area. "Over here to the right we have the living room." Tony and Ziva followed her through the open doorway which led to the living room.
"This is a really nice view," Ziva said, walking toward the picture window that faced the front yard.
"And it has a fireplace," Tony added.
"It's kind of on the smaller side, compared to the living room of the first house I showed you, but where the first living room had more space, this one make up for it with the cozy fireplace," Martha said. "Now I'll show you the dining room." She led them back through the doorway and back into the open area off the foyer. The dining room was directly across from the living room and also had a nice picture window facing the front yard.
"Another nice view," Ziva noticed.
"Yes," Martha agreed. "And this nice chandelier will light up the room quite well. There's plenty of room for a nice sized dining room table, and that side wall is ideal placement for a china cabinet if you have one."
"I do like the size of it," Tony said.
"Me too," Ziva agreed. "And look, it is connected to the kitchen."
"Let me take you right through here," Martha continued. She led them through the open doorway that connected the dining room to the kitchen and stopped in the middle of the room. "This kitchen is slightly larger than the second house's kitchen, but still smaller than the first house's."
"It has a nice breakfast nook in this corner, as well as room for bar stools at the counter," Ziva pointed out.
"Plenty of space for all the necessary appliances," Martha added. "And look at the nice, hard wood floors."
"It is smaller than the first kitchen, but I definitely think it would be large enough," Ziva said.
"Great," Martha smiled. "Let's continue on through here." She led them off to the right through another open doorway that led back into the open space off of the foyer. "Here under the staircase is a nice half-bathroom." She turned on the light so that Tony and Ziva could briefly look at it.
"So far so good," Tony nodded.
"Would you like to see the family room next or go on upstairs?" Martha asked.
"Let's just finish the first floor first," Tony replied. Martha obliged and led them around the staircase to another open doorway behind the living room. They walked into a large, carpeted family room with French-style doors that led onto a back porch, ideal for cook-outs.
"This would be a great place for Aiden and Aaliyah to play," Ziva said. Tony nodded his agreement.
"Absolutely," Martha agreed. "This room is definitely one of the house's best qualities. It's so spacious, and it allows you to turn the front living room into more of a formal room if that interests you. This can be your laid back family room, your kids' toy room, there are so many possibilities."
"I really like it so far," Ziva said.
"Great," Martha smiled. "Let's go check out the upstairs." Martha led them back out of the family room and back into the open area. They walked around the the front of the wide staircase that faced the foyer and Martha led them upstairs. The top of the staircase emptied into the middle of the hallway, and Martha took the off to the left first. She stopped in the hallway.
"I really like how this is set up," Martha began. "The top of the staircase is centered in the middle of the hallway, and the banister extends about six feet from either side of the staircase, so it really adds to the open feeling of the house. Here on the left is where the master suite is, and down the right wing of the hallway are the other two bedrooms and full bathroom. So, once you come up the stairs, it's like the left side is your half and the right side is the kids' half."
"I like it too," Ziva agreed. "That's a really nice layout. What do you think?" She turned to look at her husband.
"I like the house too, but let's wait and see what the price is," Tony replied, not wanting Ziva to get her hopes up. It was a great house, but it had to be within their budget.
"Well, let's look at the master suite," Martha continued, opening the door. Inside, the large room had white carpeting across the entire floor. Ziva's mouth dropped as she stood in the center of the room and looked around. Along the back wall was another set of French-style doors that opened onto a small, intimate balcony. The room was equipped with a walk-in closet as well.
"This is wonderful," Ziva said.
"This is the master bath," Martha continued, turning on the light of the bathroom. It was the type of bathroom Ziva was expecting, nothing extravagant, but she was more than impressed with the balcony.
"If you recall," Martha began, "the second house had a jacuzzi-style tub in the master bath."
"That would be nice, but it is not a necessity," Ziva replied. "And I really like the size of this room, the closet, and definitely the balcony." Tony nodded his agreement as well.
"Excellent," Martha smiled. "Let me show you the kids' end of the hall." Martha led them down the hallway and showed them the other two bedrooms which were nearly equal in size and would work perfectly for Aiden and Aaliyah. The bedrooms were across from each other, and next to one of them was the full bathroom that they would have to share.
"This was a great house," Ziva said as they walked outside onto the front porch after the tour.
"But what's the price on it?" Tony asked.
"Well," Martha began. "It has been on the market for a little longer than the other two I showed you, so the owner lowered the asking price. It is within your budget." Ziva felt relief flood her body, knowing that Tony would be more likely to go for this house than the other two.
"All right, well we'll talk it over and let you know," Tony said.
"Thank you so much," Ziva said. They both shook Martha's hand and returned to their car. As they were driving home, Ziva noticed out the passenger-side mirror that the car she had seen previously that day was three cars behind them. They pulled into their apartment complex, and Ziva watched through the mirror as the car drove on past. It had to have been a coincidence.
"Let's go get the kids," Tony said, exiting the car. They had called Janice and told her where they were going to be, and she had agreed to watch Aiden and Aaliyah until Tony and Ziva had returned from house hunting.
"It's strange," Ziva said.
"What's strange?" Tony asked.
"I swear I've seen the same car four times today," Ziva replied. "Once driving past at each house we stopped at, and on the way home."
"Whose car was it?" Tony asked.
"I don't know," Ziva replied. "I didn't recognize it, and I couldn't tell who was in it."
"It was probably nothing," Tony said. "Tons of people own similar cars, and they could have all been different cars. It's nothing to worry about."
"Yeah, you are probably right," Ziva replied. "Let's go get the kids." They walked from the parking lot and went to pick up Aiden and Aaliyah, happy to finally be home again with their children.
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A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed it. Please remember to review!