Drowning

Chapter 18

After Ducky had left the elevator at Autopsy, Tony waited for the doors to close before pressing the emergency 'stop' button. Shutting his eyes, he took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. It had been difficult keeping up the pretense of feeling 100% in front of the team and then Ducky as he was driven from the hospital to NCIS. He was very tired and his muscles ached, but that was probably due to spending half the night propped up in the chair next to Gibbs' bed rather than anything else. His chest felt tight, but he had antibiotics to take to deal with any issue related to his lungs. The last thing he needed was Ducky suspecting he felt below par and dobbing him into Dr. Pitt or, worse, Gibbs. There were two cases that needed solving: a naval officer was still missing, and someone had used Gibbs as target practice. He didn't have time to take it easy. Opening his eyes, Tony saw his reflection in the mirrored walls of the elevator. Well, he couldn't do anything about the darkness under his eyes, but he could fix his hair. Using his fingers he combed his hair back from his forehead before squaring his shoulders. Better, he decided. He reactivated the elevator and prepared to face the troops.

Ziva and McGee looked up from their desks as Tony strode in.

'Relax. I'm here,' Tony told them, taking his seat and switching on his P.C.

'We were not anxiously for you,' Ziva told him, her face confused by his instruction. 'We knew that you had been discharged and that Ducky was bringing you.'

'He's insinuating that we're hopeless without him to lead us,' said McGee, secretly pleased that Tony was back to his usual self.

'Hhmmph!' was Ziva's response.

'Very articulate, Agent David,' said Tony. 'Come on, come on. Report! Prove that the pair of you are not helpless without me.'

Rising to the bait as Tony knew they would, McGee and Ziva both started to report their findings.

'Miranda Vay,' said McGee, reading from his notes, 'has no criminal record. She has never been married and has no children. She has a Master's Degree in Psychology. Her business, 'Fortune's Fool', is financially successful. She has assisted with a number of official criminal investigations.'

'I took the liberty of looking into the details of the four recently released criminals that Gibbs discovered yesterday,' said Ziva. 'He had written their names on a notepad on his desk and left in plain view,' she added, daring either of the men to accuse her of snooping. They didn't.

'Here they are,' she said, as she made their images and relevant criminal records appear on the large screen.

'Mmm,' mused Tony, his green eyes gleaming. 'Matthew Brogan. I remember him. He was arrested and found guilty of kidnapping and blackmail about ten years ago. Took a kid. He was caught just as he got his hands on the money.'

'What happened?' asked Ziva, curiously.

'Parents took a chance and told the cops,' said Tony. 'When Brogan opened his door to receive the money from the girl's parents, it was actually two undercover cops. The girl was found, unharmed, in the attic.' He paused when he heard the sound of McGee tapping furiously at his keyboard.

'Probie, what's going on?' he asked. 'You've got that look.'

'The name – Brogan,' said McGee. 'It rang a bell, and here it is! Miranda Vay has no children, but her sister Carmel does. Carmel Vay married Donald Brogan. Matthew Brogan is her nephew!'

The three agents exchanged wondrous looks before turning their attention back to the big screen. McGee clicked on Matthew Brogan's image to isolate and enlarge it.

'Officer Partington disappears,' said Ziva. 'Miranda Vay comes forward to help with the case. She tells us that Officer Partington is in no danger, but Tony and Gibbs are. Then, one source of potential danger is discovered to be a relative of Miranda Vay's. It is either a coincidence or we are investigating one case.'

'Get everything you know about Brogan,' Tony told McGee. 'Take Ziva to check out his last known address. I think it's time for a reunion.'

'On it,' said McGee, glad that the case was progressing.

'Reunion?' queried Ziva, her eyebrows raised.

'I was the arresting officer,' said Tony modestly. He pressed a few buttons and the screen changed to show three faces: Officer Partington, Matthew Brogan and the picture Abby had complied from Vay's description of her vision.

'Where's Vay?' asked Tony suddenly. 'Has she been in and gone already?'

'She is no longer required, Agent Dinozzo,' came Director Shephard's voice as she descended the stairs. 'The Partington case is closed.'

'Got Brogan's address,' said McGee, standing up and grabbing his weapon, prompting Ziva to do the same.

'Keep me informed,' Tony called after the pair as they left before turning his attention to Jenny Shephard.

'And are you now going to keep ME informed?' asked Jenny, crossing her arms across her chest. 'I assume you suspect this Brogan of having something to do with the attack on you and Gibbs.'

'He's a person of interest,' said Tony. 'He was recently released after doing a stretch for kidnapping and he just so happens to be Miranda Vay's nephew.'

Jenny raised her eyebrows in surprise as she tried to guess Tony's line of thought.

'You can't be thinking there's a connection between Vay and the attack on you!' she exclaimed. 'She came to us, remember?'

'Yes she did,' agreed Tony, as he sat on the edge of his desk. 'She offered to help with the Partington Case. A case that I believe you've closed prematurely.'

'The parents received a letter from her,' objected Jenny. 'They're satisfied with the outcome. There is no point investigating any further.'

'Gibbs' gut's telling him there's more to the case, and I agree,' said Tony, with more than an edge of defiance in his tone.

'So we have a cut and dried, successful end to a sad case of a woman who disliked her life so much that she escaped from it, up against your combined guts,' said Jenny.

'You didn't go to the Partington house,' argued Tony. 'Things didn't smell right. And as for Brogan being related to Vay, I don't know what it means, but we need to check it out further. I'm paying her a visit today.'

Jenny was both taken aback and slightly proud of the way Dinozzo was sticking to his guns. She felt like she was sparring with a more polite version of Gibbs.

'You've got twenty four hours more on the Partington case,' she finally conceded. 'After that, it's well and truly closed.'

'MY gut tells me that we won't even need that much time,' said Tony, cheekily, as he grabbed his weapon and his jacket.

Jenny rolled her eyes, smiled and shook her head as she headed back to her office.

…………………………………………………………

'Clear!' yelled Ziva as she determined that the last room of the shabby house Brogan had apparently lived in was empty. McGee joined her and together they visually examined the bedroom.

'Not exactly five stars,' commented McGee, sarcastically. 'Frankly, prisons are cleaner.'

'He has not been here for some time,' said Ziva. The neighbour saw him returning three days ago, but has not seen him since that time.'

They walked into the kitchen to discover half-empty take-away containers in the sink and no food in the fridge. The stench from the uneaten food left in the containers caused Ziva to wrinkle her nose in disgust. McGee fought the urge to throw up. A newspaper on the table was dated three days prior, confirming that Brogan had at least been in the house that recently. McGee took out his cell and pressed speed dial.

'Dinozzo. What have you got, Probie?'

'He's not here,' McGee reported. 'No belongings in the cupboards. He's pretty much cleared out. The place is disgusting. What do you want us to do now?'

'Talk to the neighbours,' said Tony. 'Talk to shopkeepers in the area. I'm on my way to Fortune's Fool to talk to Vay. Call me if you find out anything that will get Brogan.'

'Okay,' said McGee.

'Oh, and Probie?' added Tony. 'Try to keep your lunch down. I know how delicate your stomach is, but I don't want you contaminating any potential evidence.'

Ziva watched McGee as the agent shook his head while he ended the call.

'Is Tony being his usual condescending and inappropriate self?' she asked.

'Yep, but you've gotta hand it to him,' said McGee as they made their way outside and into the fresher air. 'In the last 24 hours he's watched Gibbs nearly die, been admitted to hospital himself and taken over two major investigations. He's a pain in the behind, but he's good.'