NCIS
Let there be blood
Chapter 13
The Heart of the Matter
Gibbs' gut was churning as he looked from Abby to the Director with an ice cold stare. "This is your fault!" He seethed. It was only an accusation but he just knew it was the truth having connected the dots leading from one Benoit to the other.
It was easy to see, especially now, that Jenny hadn't only involved Tony in her attempt to get at The Frog but she used Brooke as well. Gibbs didn't know which was worse, the fact that it all happened right under his nose or that Jenny continued after all that went wrong with Brooke's mission.
Jenny was silent her throat constricting as she stared back at Gibbs with fire in her eyes. "This is not up for discussion Jethro."
Gibbs responded by slamming his hand against the glass causing Samantha to look up and Paula to turn in her seat. Even though there was no chance of seeing through the glass unless the light was turned on in observation she still looked.
"Director?" Paula spoke wondering if the interrogation was over for reasons she did not yet know about. If that was the case though she would have thought Jenny would go in to tell her or at least use the intercom to interrupt.
On the other side Gibbs and Jenny glared at each other leaving Abby, Kate, and McGee to look at each other in surprise. Abby bit her lip as she slipped out of the observation room. A moment later she was in the interrogation room telling Paula and Samantha what she had just revealed to the others.
Kate and McGee muttered something about contacting Brooke or Tony and looking into Jeanne Benoit's whereabouts. Gibbs heard them but barely registered what they had to say.
Gibbs looked over Jenny's shoulder at the technician sitting in the corner and nodded in the direction of the door. "Go take a break." The technician stood and exited the room quickly and after the door shut behind him Gibbs advanced on Jenny.
"I should report you to SecNav for misconduct, how dare you use my team, my family for personal gain like this. You kissed ass to get your way to the top and instead of using your resources or going after The Frog yourself you put others at risk. What do you have to say about that?" Gibbs couldn't seem to get a grip on his anger but right now he didn't care.
"This is none of your concern Jethro." Jenny replied coldly. Inside she was terrified of what Gibbs might do but on the outside she appeared unfazed. This only further pissed him off.
"Like hell it isn't," Gibbs yelled. "My daughter's life was ruined because of your selfish behavior. Tony missed out on three years of his child's life and was led to believe she and his wife were dead. On top of that you just had to bring him into this sick game of cat and mouse. Apparently hurting Brooke and Shannon wasn't enough for you. What is it you have against my family that you had to bring them into this? Why couldn't you just do this on your own Jen?" This time as he spoke Gibbs sounded hurt and ultimately betrayed.
Jenny's bottom lip quivered as she was unable to continue pretending she wasn't intimidated. "I'm sorry Jethro…I have nothing against you or the team. I was just blinded by revenge." She was barely audible as she spoke but Gibbs was able to hear it all.
"You're so damaged." Gibbs mumbled. He turned and walked out of the room leaving Jenny there feeling more alone than ever before.
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McGee sighed heavily as he lowered his receiver back into the cradle after attempting to reach Brooke and Tony for the third time. The first call was to their home phone and one each to their cells. Each time there was no answer and the calls went to voicemail.
Kate wasn't having much luck either when it came to tracking down Jeanne Benoit. The agent looked from every angle she could and ended up with the same result each time. The search results kept telling Kate that Jeanne was somewhere in Africa even though they knew better.
"I can't get through to them Kate." McGee announced. He was beginning to worry that something was wrong.
"Well can you blame them for not answering after what you did?" Kate replied with a question. It sounded harsher than she intended but McGee knew she had a point.
"No, I can't say that I do. I wouldn't want to talk to me either." McGee sighed sadly. "Do you want to trade with me?" He added.
"Sure, just forward me Brooke's cell phone number and I'll get right to it."
McGee nodded and forwarded Brooke's number to Kate via text message. Once he hit send he got to work on tracking Jeanne Benoit's movements while Kate made the calls.
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As Gibbs was closing the door to observation behind him, with Jenny still inside and trying to pull herself together, Samantha stepped out of interrogation with Paula following closely behind.
The former partners, Gibbs and Samantha, locked eyes with each other. From what he could see she had received the news and was not taking the situation lightly. Paula watched Gibbs approach Samantha who quickly looked at the floor as fresh tears cascaded down her cheeks.
"Is the Director still inside observation?" Paula wondered. Gibbs nodded in response without looking away from Sam. To give them privacy in the corridor the other female ducked into observation.
Gibbs took another step toward Samantha and gently gripped her shoulders. "Are you alright?" He asked quietly although he knew what her answer would be.
Jeanne Benoit and Samantha Fielding had attended the same college and became best friends almost right away. Up until Tony's mission to get close to Jeanne failed they were as close as sisters. Throughout their college careers they shared dorm rooms and apartments. Now Samantha was just finding out that her mother was murdered by someone she trusted.
Samantha shook her head slowly and forced herself to look up at Gibbs. The team leader carefully tucked a stray piece of dark hair behind her ear. He then proceeded to wipe away a few of her tears with his thumb.
"How could my mother get involved with something like this? Joann is not a killer Jethro…Abby…Abby said that Brooke identified Mathieu as her attacker and that…that my mother killed him and because of that she's dead now too." Samantha began sobbing about halfway through.
Gibbs took a deep breath and just pulled her to him holding her close to console her. Normally he hated being put in the position of comforting a hysterical woman. However when it came to Samantha he didn't mind letting her release her emotions in front of him.
"I don't have all the answers Sam but if you ask me Joann was just doing what I did." Gibbs replied softly as he stroked her hair in an effort to calm her.
Samantha had buried her face in his shirt but glanced up at him again after he spoke. She was the only one who knew what Gibbs did to Hernandez, the man who killed his wife and daughter, her sister and niece.
"I guess we'll never know why she did it but it's the only reason I'm willing to agree on. I just can't believe Jeanne would hurt my mother. She had always said Joann was like a second mother to her. I would never have the strength to harm Helen." Samantha brought a hand up to dry her face while speaking.
"We'll figure out where Jeanne is Sam and I promise you will get the chance to speak with her once we bring her in. McGee and Kate are working on tracking her down now." Gibbs reassured her. "Everything will be okay." At least that was what he was hoping for.
They both fell silent after that and for the time being Samantha's tears had slowed down considerably. She hated to show so much emotion but in this case she couldn't exactly hold it in. The female agent never wanted to appear weak but on some level she knew Gibbs understood and didn't see her that way.
Out of nowhere Gibbs' cell phone rang from where it was clipped to his belt. He grunted at the interruption and released the hold he had on Samantha. After unclipping the device from his belt Gibbs flipped open the phone and answered in his usual way.
"Yeah, Gibbs." Using his free hand he cupped Samantha's cheek and gently removed a tear that she had missed from her skin.
"Boss we have a problem." McGee stuttered on the other end of the line.