Chapter Five
I didn't do it
There's little that can reduce Leroy Jethro Gibbs to speechlessness. Though never the most loquacious man, he usually fights through shock to stay on top of most situations, but Tony DiNozzo's belligerent demand has silenced him. It does not quiet the Senior Field Agent.
"Well? What are you? Stupid? I asked you what the fuck you're staring at."
"DiNozzo?"
"Oh, no, you're not staring at me." His voice rises and he pushes himself up onto his left elbow. "Just who the hell do you think you are, disturbing me?" Gibbs doesn't have an answer, but DiNozzo has one ready at hand. "I'll tell you who you are," and the rage on his face is terrible as he spits the accusation. "You're the bastard who stole my job."
"What're you–?"
"I was Team Leader. You quit and left me holding the ball and I did a damn good job and you couldn't stand it so you and your back door whore Jenny, you two did one of your behind-closed-doors, joined-at-the-pelvis deals and I was demoted back to Senior Field when I should still be the top dog!" He pushes himself further up, swings one bare leg off the bed.
An alarm, a recorded call for aid blasts in from the outside corridor and there are two nurses with them. The women restrain DiNozzo as the woman who'd escorted him turns to Gibbs. "Sir, you'll have to le–"
The sharp sound of flesh on flesh precedes a sharp cry and one of the women trying to restrain Tony flies backward to sprawl to the floor. Gibbs spots a gush of blood between the woman's protecting hands as the conflict moves on to DiNozzo and the third nurse. DiNozzo's seated on the bed and should be at the disadvantage but he's a trained fighter and the nurse's concern is not to injure her patient.
x
Other white clad men and women hurry into the ICU to join the fray but Gibbs is closer and knows that DiNozzo, linked to two IV units, will fare too well against medical personnel who strive to help him without injuring him.
Gibbs has a thousand combat techniques but none are more appropriate than to push the struggling woman aside, fling his arms tightly about his raging friend, trap his arms, clamp his fingers together behind the man and squeeze hard.
It's an uneven battle. Despite strength honed by combat and heavy work, hands empowered by woodwork, the raging agent nearly breaks his hold, almost powers out of his grip.
But there are many people working about them and in under a minute DiNozzo's strength fades, then vanishes. As Gibbs eases his own force, several hands lower Tony back onto the bed. As he backs away from the seven men and women who work to stabilize the quiescent man, Gibbs sees that one of the women holds an expended hypodermic syringe which she's just withdrawn from a medication shunt in the tube of clear liquid inches from DiNozzo's arm.
Glancing back, he sees the woman DiNozzo had struck being assisted to her feet, a bloody white cloth held to her face.
x
But now that the excitement is past and two women are left to settle DiNozzo and check the connections to his two IVs, it's far past time for answers. He'll get them from the suited and white coated man who, by manner and bearing, seems to be in charge. "Why did he do that?"
"He's been surly and aggressive since he woke up, but not violent. Is he always like that?"
"Gentlest guy you'll know." He feels no guilt in the hyperbole. He's talking about the day-by-day DiNozzo, not the Agent-in-a-shootout DiNozzo, though what the man seems to have been harboring for the year-and-a-half plus...
"We're told that's not an example of his normal behavior, so it's probably a good clue as to whatever he was exposed to."
"What?"
"We don't know yet."
Gibbs realizes he can't treat these people as he does his Team. He can virtually hear Abby Sciuto's voice ringing in his mind. 'You can't rush science.'
"As soon as you know, Doctor."
"You'll be called back."
But it'll be a short trip, from the lounge or wherever because his team can work on Scalici and the unknown 'Puppet Mistress' as well as track down all those duped murderers together with a dozen Police forces. He's not going anywhere.
x
The determination to remain is capped when he opens the door and Dr. Jeanne Benoit is on the other side. "You've seen him?" bursts from her lips.
"What's going on?"
There's no way for her to mask her distress. "It's not narcotic, not hallucinogenic, it's nothing I've ever seen. It's like something inverted his personality. He's like a..." Words fail her.
They do the same to him.
xxx
Michelle Palmer pays the Cashier for her lunch and thoughtlessly pushes the bills into her wallet, her mind on too many things. Special Agent DiNozzo, John Scalici locked up in Holding undergoing a marathon Interrogation by Ziva David, the mysterious accomplice having only a short time left. 'Ziva will break him, and then we'll settle those two.'
If necessary, she'll step in with some Wiccan magic that'll have what's left of those bitches begging to confess just to get it to stop.
Pushing down the burst of resentful anger, she carries her tray from the end of the sales station, not really hungry but using the break time to get out of Operations. Having passed up most of the solid food choices and not finding even her favorite variety of chilled vegetables particularly appealing, she stopped at the soup tureens and chose a chicken / noodle / vegetable concoction, slowly scooping up the hottest mixture from the bottom and adding to the selection an extra large hot tea.
'It'll probably take forever to get cool enough to drink,' she thinks as she walks with her tray into the dining section, searching for an empty table. 'I really don't want to go back down, there's no news and everybody's just–'
She's paid no attention to the tray or her fingertip grip under its lips until she feels it slip off her right fingers and the large boiled soup and larger tea fall directly upon Tina Larsen!
x
Startled gasps from both women are cut as the scalding liquids drive Tina from her chair with piercing shrieks. Michelle's horrified at the price of her inattention. The blonde woman's face, chest and lap took the full force of the once boiling concoctions and she screams over and over, pulls at her blouse, scrabbles at her face as Michelle drops the useless tray which clatters to the floor under the screams.
Noodles and vegetables fly to the floor off Tina's blouse and skirt as a dozen men and women converge on them, each trying to help. Tina rips her ruined blouse open to get the hot material away from her, a limited gesture as even her bra had a moment to absorb the scalding shower.
Bob Magade pours a large glass of something iced upon her chest, the cubes bouncing off her to the floor as others fan her with anything available.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Michelle cries, only beginning to realize she's been saying it over and over, the apology as useless to the scalded woman as all the other belated efforts to save her. "Tina, I'm sorry! It was an accident!"
But the woman's barely aware of her. Tina's skirt is also covered with wet fragments and too much boiled liquid, but the material allows her bare legs some safety as it doesn't press upon her.
x
"Take her to Medical," Supervisory Special Agent Fred Higgins commands Janet Levy from Kevin Lamb's team, his authoritative voice cutting through the melee.
"No, I'm okay," Tina says, breathless and shaken, unable to see her red face, though she continues to flap the material of her buttonless blouse about her red chest. Her bra covers enough to keep her with fair coverage but it too is wet and stained and probably contributed too much to still unseen burns.
"I'm sorry!" Michelle exclaims again, clutching her hand.
"It's okay," Tina assures, an automatic response to unreasonable circumstance.
"Levy, I gave you an order."
"But–"
"Christina, right now your nerves are shut down but in about a minute you're going to start to feel how burned you are. Go."
"Tina, I'm sorry," Michelle says plaintively even as the woman's hand is pulled from hers and she's bustled away by Levy, together with Jean Mantner and Peggy Uchitel. The remaining agents either set about cleaning up or return to their lunches. Michelle, staring after her, can only say 'I'm sorry' though Larsen's nearly out of range. The wounded agent lifts a placating hand before she's hurried out the door.
Michelle realizes when they're gone that she's still shaking, and stares helplessly in the direction of the departed women until Higgins steps into her eye line. She looks up into his grim visage.
"Special Agent Palmer, a word if you please."
x
Rather than remaining, he leads her out into the hallway and several yards past the elevators, then turns back to her. "Special Agent Palmer, have you some issue with Special Agent Larsen you'd like to discuss?"
"Issue?" She stares up at the tall man, unable to imagine the point of this question.
"Some problem between the two of you?"
"No, sir, there's no problem."
He seems to be straining for patience. "Then why did you do it?"
"I'm sorry, sir. 'Do it'?"
"You dumped that tray of hot liquid all over Christina Larsen."
"No, sir!" How could he say that? "I didn't. It slipped out of my hand, sir. It - it was an accident. I didn't mean to–" She halts at his upraised hand.
"Palmer, I was looking right at you. You were carrying the tray, paused right next to her, glanced at her as though aiming and overturned the entire tray on top of her."
"I DIDN'T! It was an accident! You saw it - it slipped out of my hand!"
He's staring intently at her.
"You've got to believe me! It slipped."
"Palmer, I watched you–"
"No! You couldn't have. It slipped. I swear it did. I'd never hurt Tina. She's my friend."
x
A long moment, he's evidently working for ... something. Finally he says, his voice firm but quite steady: "Palmer, I'm not sure what you're thinking, but if there is an issue, some reason for you to do this, I'm giving you a last chance to resolve it. But you have got to come clean right now."
"Sir, I swear to the Goddess I'm telling you the truth. I was walking, holding my tray, looking for a table and it slipped out of my hand. I did not 'dump' it; it slipped and fell."
More long staring. Finally: "All right, Palmer, you're dismissed."
"Thank you, sir."
She tries not to look like she's hurrying away from the man, but though she'd been shaking before, she now trembles more violently and realizes it's from both fear and shock.
How could he say that to her?
xxx
Gibbs has been sitting at a convenient seat with Jeanne Benoit, watching the comings and goings of doctors, nurses and an assortment of people for too long. Many time reinforced patience born mainly of a desire not to interrupt Tony's treatment finally breaks and he leaves the woman behind.
"Where are you going?"
Never having any love of stupid questions, he ignores this one, mainly for the sake of the couple.
He pushes the door out of his way and walks through the Intensive Care Unit, making more progress toward DiNozzo's bed than he'd expected to before he's intercepted.
"I'm sorry, you can't–"
"I'm his physician," comes from his left, a flicker glance takes in Beniot. She identifies herself with the clipped tones of a hurried professional, gaining immediate cooperation. "What's his condition?"
From here Gibbs can see his condition too well. He's too still under the blanket drawn up to his chest, but his arms are exposed.
"I'm sorry, doctor, his condition is Critical."
"What happened?"
"He's been poisoned, but thus far we don't know with what. He received a very large dose. We're trying to flush his system, he's received five units of whole blood. He's sedated because when he's awake he's abnormally aggressive."
Gibbs has seen this, and considers it a vital clue to whatever those women used on him. "What are his chances?"
"That's something you have to discuss with his doctor."
"What's your evaluation?"
"I don't have one."
He feels Benoit's hand on his arm. "I'll stay with him. You should find who did this."
"They're found."
"Then break them."
xxx
S.A. Carol Senise stops at the door to the appropriate Examining Room in the Navy Yard's Medical Center. Her shield has gotten her this far past Reception and the first Nurse she encountered, but gaining admittance to this room will require more tact.
Her knock is acknowledged by, fortunately, a friend. Doctor Alexandra Hartley's expression also softens and Carol knows she won't be put off.
"Doctor, I'm here to check on Special Agent Tina Larsen." The formality is hardly necessary, she can see the blonde woman seated on the examination table, stripped down to her bra, four feet from the door. However, an official bearing is more in keeping with her assignment.
"Come in," the woman says.
x
When the door is closed behind her she doesn't want to ask her fellow Agent the obvious question. Tina's face, neck, chest and stomach are livid from the burns inflicted by the scalding liquids. The marks aren't uniform, they paint an oddly shaped image.
Medicated cream, Carol doesn't know what type, covers Larsen's face, upper body and legs.
"How do you feel?" 'Okay, stupid question but I have to start somewhere.'
"Better," Larsen says, "thanks. It hurt like hell, but Dr. Hartley gave me something for the pain–"
"But I've barely begun my exam," Hartley reminds the women.
x
When she's done, a process that's not overlong "Not too bad as burns go, you were lucky."
"Everyone surrounded me and fanned me with trays and all else."
"That certainly would've helped. Well, you won't need skin grafts–"
"Thank God."
Hartley's smile fades. "But you're going to be hurting for quite a while. I'll prescribe some more cream, use it generously, but you should be all right in about a week. Limit sun exposure for a while, and come back if the pain doesn't fade."
"Thank you, Doctor."
x
When she's gone; "Tina, I have to ask you some questions about what happened."
"CYA for NCIS?"
"Not really. Fred's concerned about - something," she finishes too lamely.
"Something. Well, there's not a lot to tell. I was one moment finishing my lunch, the next I'm wearing Michelle's."
"And what was your sense of that moment?"
Tina looks at her quizzically. "A whole lotta, lotta pain."
"No, I mean..." This is so weird she can barely decide on the words.
Tina pulls on her stained - destroyed - blouse, tugging the sides together, making them overlap her chest. "Maybe you should say what you mean."
"I mean did you get the sense... that Agent Palmer did it intentionally?"
"Nonsense. Not only were there half a dozen people helping while I screamed - and flashed the room - but she was absolutely devastated. Kept apologizing over and over, and I could tell she was sincere."
"You're sure?"
Tina sighs sharply. "Yes, I'm sure. Not only are we friends but Michelle would've failed on this year's Undercover Evaluation if Craig Dennis hadn't spotted her some points. No way would she do this and be able to lie about it."
xxx
Gibbs closes the Interrogation Room's door and puts a file folder upon the table before taking a seat opposite Andrea Harper. Ziva's interrogation of Vancer made it clear Harper is the boss of this team of murderesses, while a search of past incidents make this a serial killer case.
In fact, he'd been quite impressed when McGee had laid out the results of a search for similar cases. Those had not resulted in arrests, but the cases were so similar he's convinced they had all been done by this pair.
Harper is considerably worse for having spent several hours being grilled by SSA Paulsen's team, but they haven't broken her.
He intends to shatter her.
x
He slides from the closed folder an 8x10 color Autopsy photo, the goriest example of the Y cut, spread torso procedure.
"Martin Mahood, Virginia Beach, 11 months ago, poisoned with cyanide. Left a wife and three children 4 and twins 2."
He slides out another photo, this with most of the organs already removed from the excavated cadaver. "Sam Hitoch, Hagerstown Maryland, 8 months ago, suffocated from a dose of succinylcholine. Married less than a year.
A third photo no less stunning. "William Grenfeld, 3 months ago, you used azelea on him. His wife had a heart attack brought on by the news." A finale autopsy photo joins the others. Her heart and lungs have already been removed en bloc.
Through all these revelations he's watched Harper piercingly and her growing smile tells him enough. "Proud of yourself, aren't you?"
"They got what they deserved. Well, except her, that was unintentional."
"Why'd they deserve it?"
"Hanging out in bars, cheating on their wives. You should have seen how easy it was to lure them. Offer a cock two willing women and he'll follow anywhere it points."
"So you're doing it for the wives?" This is far more than Paulsen's people got, but they hadn't displayed trophies.
"Yes," she assures him with a proud smile.
"Visiting vengeance?"
"Exactly."
He touches the woman's photo. "She was a wife."
"It broke her heart," she says, pleased with her pun.
x
He's heard enough to confirm Paulsen's initial report. No remorse over DiNozzo is one thing, this points straight to psychotic. He wishes he had Ducky here to fill in the pieces.
"What about DiNozzo?"
"Who?" she asks with a sly smile which self-destructs when Gibbs' hand crashes onto the table.
"The man you poisoned!" Gibbs knows he's not dispassionate, so what? This is his case. "He's a bachelor. That means he's not married. No wife!"
"Well," she grins, "what can I say? We can be forgiven one goof."
x
"What did you use?"
The smile spreads more widely. "Use?"
Gibbs gathers the photos back into the folder, gets up and tucks the folder under his arm, yanks the door open and gets through it.
Paulsen is waiting in the corridor. He slaps the folder into the man's stomach. "Break her."
"You okay?"
This is his day for ignoring stupid questions. He stalks down the orange corridor,
Ducky - or rather Isles - can get answers from a corpse. He can't.
xxx
Gibbs enters the bullpen, having very reluctantly given in to the facts related in a five-minute-ago phone call. DiNozzo had come out of sedation in no better a mood than when he'd gone in, had been sedated again and is expected to sleep through the coming night. McGee looks up and gives him his first good news of the day. He really needs this good news. "Boss, Ziva got the name of Scalici's accomplice and I've just confirmed it on his computer."
Gibbs turns expectantly to Ziva. He'd had no doubt that Ziva would break the idiot, it must have just happened or he'd have been notified on the way up. It doesn't matter when, or that McGee hadn't called before confirming it - proper procedure - just that they have it now.
"How'd you break him, Ziver?"
"I did not need to 'break' him in the way I wanted. I engaged him in multiple arguments and he gave up the name 'Mary' without realizing it by way of comparison. Apparently he found me wanting."
"I'd like to see that footage," Tim says.
"No you would not, McGee."
Gibbs knows that a year ago he would have seen it, back when he was 'Timmy' to her 'Zee', but there's no longer any possibility of that.
"Who is she, McGee?" Impatient at the best of times, Tony's condition weighs heavily.
"There's only one Mary mentioned in Scalici's computer, the only woman named that often other than victims. That's actually why a search for frequently repeated words failed. Unfortunately there were no names or email addresses of victims on his computer. He kept that one clean which is why he used public computers for the scams. But I did find a Mary. There were numerous exchanges–"
"McGee," the man's lucky there's a desk between them, "am I going to have to exchange my 401s for IRAs before you finish?"
"Yes, boss. I mean 'no, boss'. Her name is Mary Waghoff, I got her address, it's not far from Scalici's place."
He looks to his right. 'Chomping at the bit' is a good description of Ziva's posture. She's also back in her usual attire. "There's nothing in Scalici's computer?"
"No, boss."
"Got to be somewhere. Where's Palmer?"
"Lunch break."
He'll have her get a Search Warrant for Scalici's place, find a notebook, hell, a scrap of notepaper, but in the meantime three agents are more than enough to lasso one girl. "Gear up."
The words are hardly out of his mouth when his cell phone rings. He's surprised to look at the outer screen and find it's an upstairs internal number: MTAC. "Yeah, it's Gibbs."
/Jethro, Fred. I know you've got a lot on your plate and I wouldn't give you this if there were any way around it, but I wanted to cover it with you before it gets around./
"Sounds mysterious," he says with sharp impatience to his counterpart SSA
/Join me in MTAC./
He'd tell Higgins to forget it if not for the unusual quality to his tone and the unnecessarily cryptic message. He heads for the stairs. "McGee," he calls back, "you and Ziva pick up Waghoff."