AN: Somebody's rich! – oh wait, it's not me. Oh well, hopefully one day.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for everyone who is submitting kind words, as well as alerting or favoriting! It means SO much!
Right after Tony started the car, a shrill shriek broke the silence. "DiNozzo." Was all Tony said. "Just a second, boss." Tony lowered the phone and put it on speaker. "Ok. You are on speaker."
"Before you overnight the evidence from the local leo's office, I want you to scan the security footage and the guest list to McGee, and make yourselves a copy of the guest list. We are headed out to talk to some of the people he worked with and find out what he was working on."
"Got it Boss." Tony said to no one in particular since Gibbs hung up.
"Well, shall we go?" Tony asked placing his phone in the cup holder.
"No, I think we should sit here and stare at the sky." Ziva said with a serious face.
"Very funny Zee-vah. Where did you learn to be a smart ass?" Tony asked looking over at his partner.
"Why, from you Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. Wait, sorry, I meant to say Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo." Ziva said stifling a giggle.
Putting the car in drive, the two agents headed out of the parking lot toward the local state police headquarters a mile down the road.
"What's wrong Ziva?" Tony asked while he watched Ziva looking back from different angles at the red light in front of their hotel.
"Someone has been following us." Ziva stated turning around in her seat. "See that old dinged up car about 3 cars back? I have seen it everywhere we have gone since leaving NCIS."
"There are many cars like it-" Tony said trying to submit logic into the situation even though he knew if Ziva said there was someone following them, then there was.
"No Tony, Rule #40." Ziva interrupted. If it seems like someone's out to get you, they are. "This is the same car with two men in it."
"Ok. So why wouild someone be following us?" Tony mused out loud getting ready to turn onto the highway behind the line of now moving cars. "Keep an eye on it and see what it does."
Once Tony turned onto the highway Ziva spoke up, "It turned as well, but is now 4 cars behind us."
"Watch it now and see what it does." Tony said pulling into the West Virginia State Police headquarters without a turn signal.
"It slowed down and is pulling into the lot beside of us." Ziva said as Tony turned off the car.
"Let's at least get rid of this evidence, as soon as we can. "Tony said opening his door. Before he stood up, however, he added, "I don't think we should make ourselves a copy of anything just to be on the safe side. We should just carbon copy the email to ourselves."
"I do think that is a wise idea." Ziva said stepping out of the car.
The two agents walked towards the concrete building with the evidence in tow. Once inside, they walked up to a wooden Formica counter that looked like it had seen better days.
"Can I help you?" A gray headed older man in uniform stepped up to the desk.
"Yes, my name is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, and this is Special Agent Ziva David." Tony said while they both got out and held up their badge and ID for the officer to inspect. "We are with NCIS."
"NCIS? What are a couple of Navy detectives doing down this way?" The older gentleman asked handing back their ID's.
"We are talking to some suspects in a murder investigation." Tony state matter of fact.
"Well, I am Sergeant William Ball with the West Virginia State Police. What can I help you with?" He said shaking their hands.
"We need to borrow a computer, scanner, desk, as well as overnight some evidence." Ziva said hating the feeling of being ignored.
"I sure can help you with that. Please come on back." Sergeant Ball said. He waiting for the two agents to walk through the door he opened for them and then led them back to a bare office.
"Here is an office you can use. It's empty as you can see. The scanner is over there by the switchboard." Sergeant Ball pointed to the area just outside of their door. "And I will go grab you a box for your evidence."
He was gone for just a few seconds and came back with two of each 3 different types of boxes. "I wasn't sure what you would need, so I just brought a couple of what we have. Let me know when you have that ready or if you need anything." He stated and then turned around and left to give them privacy.
"He is really helpful." Tony stated sitting down at the computer.
"Yes he is. He reminds me of a grandfather." Ziva said and continued, "I will go scan these documents to the computer while you get a hold of McGee."
Tony took out his phone and dialed up McGee. Two short rings later, he heard McGee's voice answer the phone, "McGee."
"Well, hello Probie." Tony said.
"Hi Tony." McGee said from the other end.
"We are here at the State Police Headquarters in West Virginia. I am scanning the documents to you when Ziva gets done scanning them into the computer we are using. And the evidence will be sent out to you shortly as well." Tony said.
"Thank you. I will let Boss know." McGee said and sensed hesitancy in Tony.
"What else is going on?" McGee asked trying to pry it out of Tony.
"Ziva thinks someone is following us, and has been since we left." Tony said quickly through the phone.
"What do you think?" McGee asked with concern since Ziva was normally right.
"My gut says it's a possibility since this is coming from Ziva." Tony said again quickly so as not to get caught by Ziva.
"Stay alert and safe. Call if you need anything." McGee replied.
"Will do Probalicious. After we get everything sent out, I'm going to talk to some of these officers to see if they know anything about out dead officer. Text or call when you receive these." Tony said getting off the phone.
A few minutes later, Ziva came back in with the stack of papers in hand. "Everything has been scanned to this computer."
"Good. Wait, how did you know which computer?" Tony asked.
"I asked, plus the machine said empty office." Ziva said sitting on the edge of the desk by Tony.
The next few hours went by in a blur. Ziva and Tony sat in front of the computer looking through the security cameras and the guest register. They saw the hooded figure that stopped at Ziva's door. They could not make anything out on the tape. They next went though the guest list at the hotel. They saw nothing out of the ordinary. By the time they were finished looking through those, scanned the information to themselves and McGee, and packed up the evidence to be shipped, it was nearing on 1400.
"Before we go grab lunch, I want to talk to Sergeant Ball and any other officers just to see if they knew the victim." Tony said leaning back and stretching in his chair.
"Sounds good to me." Ziva said standing up and stretched.
Tony grabbed his phone when it started beeping. "McGee got the stuff we scanned him." He stated and put his phone away.
The agents made their way out of the office and over to Sergeant Ball's office boxes in hand. Tony knocked on the door and after a few seconds, the Sergeant motioned for them to enter.
"Did you get everything done?" Sergeant Ball asked and motioned for them to sit down.
"We did, thank you." Ziva said. "And here are the packages that we need to overnight. How much do we owe you for this?"
"Nah, don't worry about it. I was a Marine, and NCIS helped me and my family out before." He sat the boxes on his desk.
"Thank you!" Ziva said, her mind now working on why NCIS had helped him.
"Sergeant, can you tell us anything about Command Sergeant Major Roger Steve Snead?" Tony asked.
"Rog? What's he done now? I've known him for many years." Sergeant Ball leaned back in his chair.
"I'm sorry to tell you, but he is dead." Ziva said offering him condolences from herself and Tony.
"Wha-What happened to him? He had so many years ahead of him." Sergeant Ball said sadly.
"That is what we are trying to figure out." Ziva reassured him.
"Rog was like a son to me even though I ended up pulling him over a few times or arresting him a couple of times. He and my son were best of friends throughout school, and as far as I know, they both still are best friends. They both went into the military together." Sergeant Ball stated.
"What is your son's name?" Ziva asked.
"Staff Sergeant Ryan Ball and he is stationed at Fort Myer, but he is on leave and is here. He is at home. Here is my address if you would like to go speak to him." Sergeant Ball handed Tony a slip of paper with his address and home phone on it.
"Thank you Sergeant for everything. If you can think of anything else, please call one of us." Ziva said as they handed him their cards.
"I will. Please catch that bastard who did this." Sergeant Ball said taking the cards.
"We will, and thank you again for sending those out for us." Tony said as they shook hands and left back towards the car.
Once they were in the car, Tony called the home number that the Sergeant had given him. "Hello." A gruff voice answered.
"Hello. Is Staff Sergeant Ryan Ball available?" Tony asked.
"Speaking." Ball answered.
"My name is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo with NCIS, and I was wondering if I could come and speak with you regarding Command Sergeant Major Roger Steve Snead." Tony asked hoping that his answer would be yes.
"Sure, I was just heading out for some lunch. Can you come over around 3?" Ball asked.
"Sure. See you then." Tony said and hung up.
"We are going to meet him at 3" Tony said answering Ziva's look. "And now, food!" With that last statement, it earned a chuckle from Ziva.
Another mile back up the road, the agents came upon all the fast food restaurants. The quickest was almost always McDonalds, so they went there and went through the drive through. Tony had a Double Quarter Pounder with cheese meal and a coke, while Ziva had a Chicken sandwich meal and a Sweet Tea. Once they had their food, they started making their way towards Ball's house.
The Ball's lived in a nice quiet neighborhood and the end of a dead end street. The house was a raised ranch with red brick exterior and black shutters with a couple acres of yard. There was a black Chevy Colorado truck parked outside the garage.
Tony and Ziva climbed out of their car and walked up to the front door and rang the bell. A couple minutes went by before Ball answered the door. He had a shaven head, features like his father, and was in excellent shape. He wore tank cargo shorts, a white wife beater, and Nike tennis shoes.
"Staff Sergeant Ryan Ball?" Tony asked when the door was opened.
"Yes." Was all he said.
"I am Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo and this is my partner Special Agent Ziva David from NCIS." Tony said while both agents help up their badges and ID's once more to be examined. "Can we come in and talk to you?"
"Sure, but let's sit outside. I hate being cooped up on nice days like this." Ball led the agents through a primitively decorated house onto the back of a large patio overlooking a pool.
"What can I help you with?" Ball asked once they were seated.
"Do you know Command Sergeant Major Roger Steve Snead?" Ziva asked.
"Yes, he is my best friend, though I haven't heard from him for about a week." Ball stated, "Why?"
"We are sorry to tell you this, but he has been murdered. And we are very sorry for your loss." Tony said and added the last part when he saw Ball's face fall.
"H-how?" Ball look up at the agents sitting before him.
"We are still trying to figure everything out." Ziva said.
"What can you tell us about him? What was he working on? Was he having any problems anywhere with family or work?" Tony asked trying to get Ball started answering questions.
"He is…was….my best friend." Ball faltered for a second while starting to answer questions. "We grew up together, and he stayed over many times. When we got older, we were stupid, and my dad arrested us a few times and gave us some tickets. He eventually got married, and she cheated on him, so he did the same thing. They eventually got divorced, and he dumped his mistress. He tried a few times to make an effort to fix the marriage, but she didn't want any part of that. I would have known if he had a problem with anything because like I said, we were best friends. I know he hated his new obligation at work."
"What was he having to do?" Ziva asked prompting Ball.
"He had to make sure that everyone retired in the military at the maximum age." Ball said and continued, "He was having trouble with one guy, but never told me the name. All he told me was the guy was being an ass about it and was doing everything he could to not retire."
"Can you tell us anything else?" Tony asked trying to prompt him for more information.
"No, he didn't tell me anything else about the guy. But what he told me was after work before we went to work out just to blow off some steam. I take it that guy was going to be difficult to get him to retire." Ball said.
"We do thank you for your time. If you have anything else you can tell us, please give us a call." Ziva said handing Ball her card.
"Thank you. Please get this guy. Snead didn't deserve to die this young." Ball said shaking their hands.
"We will get this guy. We are sorry for your loss again." Tony said standing up. With Ziva right behind him, they showed themselves out and walked to the car.
Once in the car, Tony's phone rang. "DiNozzo."
"Whaddya got?" Gibbs asked.
"Well, on a hunch, we talked to the Sergeant who was at the state police headquarters. He knew our victim, and told us that his son was our victim's best friend. We just talked to the son, and he told us that the victim was in charge of making sure everyone retired by the maximum age if not earlier. The son also stated that there was one guy that refused to retire and was giving our victim a hard time about it. The son stated that he was never told the name or anything else." Tony said relaying this new information.
"Good job DiNozzo. We just got back from talking with people he worked with. We have all his files, and are starting to go through them. Get as far as you can tonight but stay again somewhere and talk to the ex-wife and husband tomorrow." Gibbs said and hung up.
"Yess Boss." Tony said to no one in particular.
"Gibbs said to get as far as we can tonight and interview the ex-wife and husband tomorrow." Tony said relaying the information to Ziva as he started the car and pulled away.
A few miles down the road, Ziva spotted that car again, this time daring to be closer to the agents' car and gaining spots. Ziva wished for the crowded streets instead of a deserted day time road.
"Tony, that car is back." Ziva said.
"I see it now." Tony said. "Hopefully once we get on the interstate it won't follow us. Keep a watch on it."
Before Tony could do anything, the car jerked and a loud PING sounded. Panic set in for the two agents. "Hold on!" Tony exclaimed trying to get the car to stop. Seeing as it wouldn't he tried to turn it and put it in the lowest gear possible. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Another PING sounded and the car would not turn or slow down. The side of the hill was rapidly approaching. Before the agents could do anything, the car tumbled down the side of the hill.
Meanwhile
The ratty red car didn't mind getting closer or being spotted now. Their time of completing the job was getting close. They knew from watching the car, that their plan was ready to happen. Seeing the start of their handy work happen, they were smirking as they quickly turned off the road and hid just in case any cars happened to come down the road.
AN: Sorry for the delay! I hope that everyone likes the story! Please review, alert, and favorite the story! See you all next chapter!