It was a couple of hours before Gibbs and DiNozzo heard the lock turn and the door from the Master Bedroom open. The men had settled down in the comfortably appointed living area – Gibbs with a book and Tony with the remote control, scanning the satellite channels.
Callie had changed into the capri sweats and tank top she preferred when lounging. Barefoot, she padded to the fully stocked bar that lined one wall of the apartment. She grabbed the bottle of Patron Tequila and a shot glass. Gibbs and Tony watched quietly as Harris quickly poured one shot and downed it followed by two more in rapid succession. Rolling her neck to ease the tension, she finally looked to the two men.
"How did you get here?"
"In a plane," Tony quipped and then thought better of it as Callie pierced him with a glare.
"Your friend, Blevins, was more than happy to help us," Gibbs rescued the agent, "after a little persuasion."
Callie continued, "And who brought you here? To the apartment?"
"Karl," Tony said simply.
Callie's frustration level continued to climb. "When did you get here?"
"Last night," Gibbs supplied.
Again, Callie glared at Tony, "Caught a case," she mimicked. Looking at her watch, she realized it was well past five o'clock. "Have you two eaten?"
Jethro and Tony shared a glance, "We got takeout last night on the way here and walked to a place this morning for breakfast." Tony answered.
"Lunch?" Callie said simply.
Gibbs shook his head, "Kind of been waiting for you."
Harris was instantly contrite. She also realized that while Blevins had gotten them to the apartment and arranged for transportation, he hadn't filled them in on the amenities of their present location. Shaking her head, Callie walked to a nearby phone and waited for a response on the other end.
"Hello, this is…" Switching to Spanish, Callie continued, "Ola, Maria…Si', es Callie. Muy bien, gracias, Maria…"
Tony listened to the one sided conversation as Harris continued in the foreign language, "Yes, Maria, we'd like you to send up…si, comida Mexicana would be great…three plates, tres platas…si, the men are with me."
Callie paused, making eye contact with Tony. She knew he understood everything that was being said and was about to be said. Callie went on, still speaking Spanish, "The older man is my boss, jefe, Jethro. The younger man is my…boyfriend. Mi amour, Antonio."
From his place on the couch, Tony smiled. Callie turned her back, still angry. Gibbs leaned across, "So are we about to be poisoned?"
DiNozzo continued to smile, "No, but it sounds like we're getting Mexican food made from scratch. And, if I just overheard the last part right, we're getting a flan, too."
"Gracias, Maria," Callie finished the conversation and hung up the phone. Bringing the bottle of tequila and the shot glass with her, she crossed to the sunken living area and dropped in another of the overstuffed chairs.
"What is this place?" Gibbs broached the subject.
Callie poured another tequila shot but sipped this one as opposed to tossing it back. "This apartment is technically owned by the company. They use it to put up important clients rather than having them stay in a hotel. Also," she paused, "my father supposedly kept one or more of his mistresses here but I can neither confirm nor deny that statement."
Both Tony and Gibbs heard the underlying bitterness in the comment.
"How many residences are there?" Tony interjected.
"Three. This one. A penthouse in the same complex with the corporate offices of Corwyn-Harris and the ranch."
DiNozzo questioned, "Ranch? As in yahoo cowboys ranch?"
Callie rolled her eyes, "Yes, DiNozzo, as in yahoo cowboys ranch. I guess," she continued exasperation still lacing her speech, "you'll be here to see it. I'm supposed to have lunch there Sunday. Unless I can get the two of you to leave before then?"
Neither man missed the hopeful glint in her eye. Gibbs smiled, "Nope. Deal with it."
Harris started to complain but was forestalled by a knock on the door. She was going to stand but Tony beat her to it, "I'll answer it."
Callie shook her head. As the door opened to admit Maria, the cook from downstairs, Tony began to converse with her in Spanish. The older woman blushed at the attentions of the handsome man and, in ten minutes flat, he had her eating out of his hand. Gibbs smiled as he watched Tony work the older woman and Callie get angrier and angrier. He wasn't surprised when she tossed back another shot of the expensive tequila.
Gibbs had to admit it had been a long time since he'd seen his female agent this out of control. He knew from her file that during her stint with the Navy Harris had a few marks for disciplinary issues but nothing severe. Her time with Jenny and Gibbs in Europe, for the most part, was uneventful. There were a couple of times Callie got out of hand but a quick word or look usually brought her back in line. The worst Harris had ever been was after the Loflin case. Her behavior had been insubordinate and her drinking had spiraled out of control. Thinking back, Gibbs had seen the signs but thought she could handle it. He was wrong. Watching her now, Jethro knew Callie could go either way. Hopefully, she would reign herself in, especially with both Tony and him around.
Tony finally disengaged himself from Maria and took the cart full of delicious smelling food. She waved a quick good bye to Callie and then left.
"She's delightful," Tony spoke, smiling as he rolled the cart closer to the other agents. He grabbed plates for Gibbs and Callie and filled them before serving himself.
"There are drinks in the kitchen." Callie offered, "The refrigerator should be fully stocked as is the bar. Anything you need that you don't find, call down to Shawn. He's the concierge for the building. He'll see it gets handled."
Tony and Jethro shared a look at how easily Callie fell back in the lifestyle.
"Cook on duty all the time?" Gibbs asked around a mouth full of food.
Harris nodded, "Five different people over seven days. Maria only works nights, Monday through Thursday. There are two that work over the weekend, Friday through Sunday. And two more that handle breakfast and lunch shifts the rest of the work week. Just pick up the phone and they'll tell you what they have available."
Tony looked at Callie, "And you just walked away from all of this?"
He knew it was the wrong question the minute he saw her reaction. Callie had been picking at her food, preferring liquid sustenance. The alcohol combined with the fatigue and insecurity she was already feeling touched off Harris' temper once more.
"No, Anthony," she bit out, "I didn't just walk away from it. I ran as fast as my feet would carry me." And she stood up from the chair and carried her plate into the kitchen. Both men shared another look as they heard the clatter of plates and silverware and then cussing.
Callie stomped back into the living room and dropped in the chair again. Tony noticed that while she had slowed down throwing back shots she was still working her way through the bottle. They finished the meal in silence. Gibbs cleared the remaining dishes, pushing the cart into the kitchen.
Both men wanted desperately to lighten the mood and refocus Callie. Suddenly, DiNozzo had an idea.
"I'm surprised at you downing so much tequila with your history."
Harris looked up through somewhat droopy eyelids but before she could respond to Tony's taunting, Gibbs chimed in.
"Has she ever given you the full story from Malaga?"
Callie smiled sheepishly as Tony answered, "No, Boss, I've never been able to get all the details."
"Fine," Harris chimed in, "I'll tell." Her words sounded a bit slurred. "My cover was Jenny's sister."
"The trip to Spain was a graduation present from her married sister and brother-in-law." Gibbs added.
"So," Callie went on, "I'm enjoying the sun and the sand on the beaches of Malaga when I'm approached by the Ambassador's son." Callie smiled at the memory, "God, he was cute."
Tony gave Harris an appraising look, "How old were you?"
She looked over at DiNozzo, "Just turned twenty-two. Never had any serious dates at home so when this extremely handsome, well educated, incredibly cute Spaniard asked me on a date, I was head over heels."
"And nervous as hell," Gibbs added. "It was her first true undercover assignment. She'd been working surveillance and information capture with me and Jen but we'd never let her out from the van."
"Scared to death," Callie responded, "but I wanted so badly to impress Gibbs."
She looked up suddenly, embarrassed that she had let that slip. Jethro ignored it, asking instead, "How much did you drink before he got there?"
"Jenny gave me a shot of whiskey, straight up. She thought it would help my nerves. All it really did was whet my appetite."
"The ambassador's son arrived at the apartment, picked up Harris and off they went to one of the finest and most expensive restaurants in Malaga," Gibbs laid out the scenario.
"We went through at least three bottles of wine. I could hardly touch my food, afraid I'd throw up from the nerves, and, did I mention I was wearing a wire the whole time."
Tony laughed, "Hard to have a romantic date knowing four or five people are along for the ride."
"Then, he takes her to the bar," Gibbs prodded.
"What a place. Young, good looking, well to do aristocrats from all over Europe in this little dive. Senators' sons, UN members' daughters, a who's who of International children and here I am. Thrown into the mix. If I wasn't already scared shitless, I was then." Callie sobered up, remembering how much the whole op had really frightened her.
"So, the tequila came," Tony encouraged.
"Yeah. Cheap stuff. Not like that," she nodded to the now almost empty bottle of Patron, "And I started drinking it like water."
Gibbs explained, "We can hear the Ambassador's son encouraging her. Hell, he thinks he's about to get lucky. You should have seen his face when she jumped up on the table."
Callie's face turned as red as her hair but the tale was begun and she would see it through, "I was wasted. The music was great. I was loose so a bump and grind on the table seemed apropos at the time."
"So I don't hear anything that sounds like the op got busted," Tony quizzed.
"It didn't," Callie explained. "That wasn't the issue."
"No," Gibbs' response was serious, "It wasn't what she did. It's what she said."
Callie looked down, a small smile playing around her lips, "My sister and brother-in-law came busting through the door. Yelling at me for my rude behavior, my drunken display."
Gibbs cast a glance which Harris met as she continued, "Gibbs started to pull me off the table when I yelled back, 'You may have my sister under your thumb but you sure as hell don't have me there. I'm having a good time so fuck off!'"
Tony nearly fell out of his chair, "You said that?"
"Clear as day on the recording," Gibbs added. "I grabbed her wrist, jerked her down off the table, threw her over my shoulder, gave her one swift swat to the butt, and marched out of the bar."
"And Jenny?" Tony wanted to know.
"Was trying desperately not to laugh her ass off," Callie added.
"I was pissed," Gibbs remembered, "Rolled her backside out of bed at 0-630 the next morning."
"We got in at 0-130," Callie explained, "My head was pounding. I'd been throwing up all night after we got back. I'd maybe slept a couple of hours. I thought my DI was bad at Navy Boot Camp. He didn't hold a candle to Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs."
Callie shivered at the memory.
"She never broke character and her actions actually gave us an entrance into the Ambassador's estate that we wouldn't have gotten otherwise. It was the 'what if' that was the problem," Jethro finally explained.
"And this is all on tape?" Tony asked again.
"Yeah, I'm surprised you haven't had McGee pull it for you," Gibbs said.
Callie smiled, "He can't find it. I changed the security code." And she hiccupped as she slurred the last statement.
Tony and Jethro shared a quick smile. Callie tried to stand up but the room suddenly tilted. "Oh, shit." And she dropped back down in the chair.
Tony stood up and walked over to her, offering his hand for assistance, "You're not going to throw me over your shoulder or swat my backside, are you? Because I do remember that stinging."
"It should have," Gibbs smiled, "you were in a skirt."
Tony shook his head, "Nope. No shoulders or swats. Just tucking you into bed."
Callie took his hand and standing up promptly fell into his arms, passed out cold. Tony took her to the bedroom and did as he promised. He tucked her in and then put a trashcan nearby, adding a bottle of water and rag to the nightstand.
Leaning down he kissed her forehead, "Good night, Red."