Chapter Fourteen
In a haze of domesticity that Tony never thought Ziva capable of, she cooed and babbled on about the house. They got that call that their bid was the best and the house was theirs. Ziva called Abby, who immediately wanted to see it. Since it was a Saturday Tony was forced to come along, as was McGee since he was supposed to be having lunch with Abby today.
They arrived at the house in Potomac and Tony and as he got out of the car, he could hear Abby oohing over the house.
"Ziva, this place is amazing. How the hell can you afford it?" she said. "We are definitely going to have a house warming party."
"I would not be against that," said Ziva.
McGee came up beside Tony and stood there was Abby and Ziva looked at the outside of the house before venturing inside.
"Whatever you need, whatever help you need, let me know," said McGee.
"You still feeling guilty, Tim?" asked Tony.
He could sense McGee flinching, which wasn't his purpose.
"Wouldn't you, Tony?" he asked.
Tony thought about it. Yeah, he would still feel guilty no matter what anyone said. The best way for McGee to deal with his guilt was through actions not words.
"Okay. Tim, I understand. Whatever help I need you are my go to man," he said.
"Thanks, Tony," McGee smiled.
"Let's see the inside," Abby demanded.
"Take my elbow and stay close, Tim. I've never been inside before. You can give me a tour while they have their fun," Tony said.
"I'll do that, Tony," said McGee.
As Ziva and Abby went through the house talking about what room needed what, Tony and McGee did their own tour.
"Deceivingly big place," said McGee.
"Room for guests and maybe family," Tony said.
"You're changing, Tony," McGee remarked.
"Yeah, I guess so. You know. Tim, I was always a bit of a longer. I had friends, frat buddies, drinking buddies, but other than my partners on the police force or NCIS, I never counted on anyone but myself. It started young, too, when my mother died and I was raised by Rosa more than my dad. He got married and she didn't take to me, so then I was shipped off to camps and military school. Sounds like, huh? No parental guidance just going from camp to camp then military school sounds like a great like, but it wasn't. There were lonely holidays and vacations and the only person I could count on was me," Tony talked and McGee listened.
Tony paused for a moment as he got lost in memories.
"College was fun. Point guard and quarterback, I was the center of attention for the first time in my life. I mean I started to excel at military school, but they weren't big on one boy being the center of attention. College was different. I loved it. I still didn't make many close friends, but I made plenty of drinking and partying buddies. It wasn't until Baltimore and Danny and Wendy that I made attachments, strong attachments to people. Well, Danny turned out to be a dirty cop and Wendy broke up with me the night before I was going to get married. After that I buried myself in one one night stand after another. If the relationship lasted more than a couple of weeks, I'd start to fear getting to attached to the person so I'd break it off. Hell, every time I even started to have serious feelings for someone something horrible happened to them. Kate was killed; Paula and I were in compatible and then she died; Jeanne, well, Jeanne ended badly; and Ziva, I killed her boyfriend leading her to end up in Somalia. Even EJ, she got shot and then disappeared until she showed back up," he said. "What I'm trying to say is that this is the first time in my life I'm really letting people help, letting them get close because I need to. I'm not saying I like being blind, Tim, because I don't. I miss seeing Ziva's face and watching OSU play. But I'm kind of getting used to letting people get close to me, real close."
"Thanks, Tony," said McGee.
"For what?" Tony said.
"For being honest to me, for treated me like a friend more than a teammate," McGee said.
"Tim, you'll always be my probie, but we are no longer really teammates, so we might as well be friends," he said. "Right?"
"Yeah, right," McGee agreed.
Abby and Ziva came into the room looking excited and happy.
"We want to go to dinner," Abby said.
"Ahuvi, I promised Abby a nice dinner because she is going to be helping me," Ziva said.
"Italian, Americana, Greek, Italian, what do we want?" smiled Tony.
"I wouldn't mind, Italian," McGee said.
"Are you two teaming up on us?" asked Abby with a smirk.
"I'm his probie, so I have to go along with him," smiled McGee.
"Oooooh," Abby gave McGee a big hug. "Timmy, I am so glad you have finally decided to act rational about things. I was afraid you were going to be guilty for the rest of your life. Guilt isn't good for you, McGee."
"Abby, clam down," chuckled McGee.
Ziva walked over to Tony and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"You are a good man," she said softly.
"I love you," he said.
"I know," she said then brought his hand up to her lips so that he could feel her smile.
"You know I wouldn't mind feeling a few other things," he smirked.
"After dinner," she said.
NCIS
Mo and Bully were out trying to track down a couple of Mo's leads leaving Tony alone at his desk feeling antsy. He'd have preferred to be in the field with them, but he knew that he was a liability under certain circumstances. As he read printed up some material from his personal printer and read the braille lettering, Vance came into his area and cleared his throat.
"Yes, Director," said Tony, as he continued to read.
"Putting together a team I see," he said.
"Jefferson was working the same case but from a different angle and I thought it made sense for him to work with us," said Tony.
"No need to explain, DiNozzo. I like the instincts. I talked to Jefferson's superiors and they are willing to let us keep him as a Marine CID and NCIS liaison," said Vance.
"I'll let him know," Tony said. "Does that mean he can work with me?"
"He'll be yours to use, especially if you succeed on this case," said Vance.
"We will," said Tony.
"Aren't you being a little arrogant?" asked Vance.
"Confident," Tony smiled.
"Okay, we'll call it confident," Vance said. "You've made a remarkable comeback, Tony. I'm impressed."
"You haven't seen anything yet, Director," Tony said.
His smart phone rang and Tony answered it.
"Speak to me," he said.
"We are bringing in one of Esteban's men. We caught him with Barton's watch on and a religious medal, a St. Christopher medal, that belonged to one of the men I was looking for," Jefferson told him.
"What's your ETA?" he asked.
"An hour," said Jefferson.
"Okay, let's break him," said Tony then he hung up.
"What have you got?" Vance asked.
"They are bringing in one of Esteban's men for interrogation," said Tony. "We are getting closer to finding Esteban's dumping ground."
"Good work, DiNozzo," Vance said with a smile then walked away.
NCIS
Carlos Rajoy was in fact one of Esteban's gophers, which made him an excellent source if they could break him. Tony told in the observation room and listened to Mo and Billy as they tried to break Rajoy. He listened closely to Rajoy's voice waiting for hitches in his speech, tension, stuttering, or hesitation. These were hints to Tony on how to break the man, to get information from Rajoy.
The interview continued for forty minutes with Rajoy not evening asking for a lawyer, even though it would have been in his better interest. Jefferson and Simms halted their interrogation, got up and joined Tony in the observation room.
"He's a hard bastard to deal with," said Jefferson.
"Okay, here's the deal: Billy go get an ear bud and the equipment to talk to me from tech," Tony ordered.
"Sure, boss," Billy said then took off.
"Once he's back I'll take the ear bud and then go in with him. You'll watch and if you see anything like a tell or distress, you'll let me know," said Tony.
"You are going to break him," said Jefferson.
"I used to be real good at this. Let's hope I can still do it with my eyes closed," Tony said.
"Jesus, if he tries to get violent in there," said Jefferson.
"He's handcuffed to the table," Tony replied.
"I know but I don't trust him in there with you, boss,' said Jefferson calling him boss, which surprised.
Billy entered the room with the equipment. Tony could tell it was him by his breathing and such. He handed Tony the ear bud, which he placed in his ear.
"I am counting you," he said. "Talk to me when you think I need to know, but otherwise keep quiet. Now someone lead me into the interview room."
Billy took him into the interview and led him to the chair. Tony sat down and Rajoy smiled.
"He smiled," Mo said to Tony.
Tony nodded slightly.
"Are we playing blind man's bluff?" asked Rajoy.
"You were in possession of several items which belonged to missing ex-marines. NCIS is investigating their disappearance," said Tony, "and I'm just in here to keep you company while the other agents are busy."
"Oh, you are my babysitter," said Rajoy.
"Something like that," said Tony.
"I would have preferred a brunette with big breasts," Rajoy laughed.
"Do you mind if I talk to you while we wait? I didn't bring my braille book," said Tony.
"Why not?" Rajoy said.
"He is now looking around the room as if he is bored," said Mo to Tony.
"Well, does Esteban pay a lot to kill marines?" asked Tony.
Rajoy stopped looking around and stared at Tony.
"He is glaring at you," said Mo.
"You think I'm a fool?" Rajoy said.
"You know there is DNA traces of the men we are looking for on their belongings. You must have killed them," Tony said.
"I am not a killer," he said.
"You had the belongings of two dead men on you. Two plus two equals four," smiled Tony. "You're a killer and we are going to nail you for their murders. You are going to do hard time."
"They already threatened me with that," Rajoy said.
"He looked down when he said that," Mo said.
"I'm blind. I don't make threats. I haven't got the time for shit like that. No game playing from me, I can't see my opponent;" Tony said "I just tell the truth."
"I'm not a killer," Rajoy said.
"No, really," smiled Tony.
"Really," he said.
"You had their stuff. I bet you took it off their bodies right after you killed them," Tony said.
"You are just guessing at shit," Rajoy said.
"Really?" smiled Tony. "Maybe we have enough to bring you trial. DNA is important in trials."
"I didn't do anything. I didn't kill them that was someone else," said Rajoy.
"You just dumped their bodies somewhere, right?" said Tony.
"Right," agreed Rajoy.
Mo and Billy looked at each other and smiled. He had broken Rajoy.
"Tell me where you dropped them and we can talk about charges that involved less than murder," said Tony.
"Sure, okay, I'll tell you where," he said.
NCIS
It seemed that they weighted the bodies and sunk them into the Anacostia River by Poplar Point. They were dropped by an old train bridge. The drivers found ten bodies. It was Esteban's newest spot. He had other spots but Rajoy didn't know where they were.
The bodies in various degrees of decomposition were brought to Ducky and Jimmy for identification. Tony along with Vance, Mo, and Billy entered autopsy to check on the process. It was now going on one in the morning, but they didn't want to leave until they knew they had found them marines.
"Hey, Ducky," Tony said as he entered being led by Vance.
"Anthony, Director, and Gentlemen," Ducky said.
"Do you have anything for us, Dr. Mallard?" asked Vance.
"Yes, I do," he said.
He pointed one at a time to the three bodies on his three metal tables.
"In ordered Gunnery Sergeant Kenneth Costa, Staff Sergeant Daniel Barton, and Staff Sergeant Lawrence Hanks. These are your three marines," he said.
"Well, we found them and we've proved that Esteban is involved in their deaths. What's next?" asked Mo.
"You hand it over to Balboa's MCRT and let them bring the case home," said Vance. "Of course, you support them if they need it. Good job."
"What's next for us?" asked Tony knowing it wasn't worth arguing.
"Gibbs' team is bogged down with Macaluso. You'll help him," said Vance.
"Okay, we'll start in the morning," said Tony.
"I mean it, gentlemen. You did great work. Congratulations," said Vance then he left.
"I would have like to apprehend Esteban," said Mo.
"Just as long as it's done who cares who does it, right?" said Tony.
"Right, boss," said Billy.
"Now if I can convince myself that I'm right," sighed Tony.