One Less - Part 34
by joykatleen
The Captain agreed to meet them in the conference room at 1630, and once he knew it was Gibbs asking, agreed to try and set up the video conference without any more questions. While they waited, Fredrick finished briefing them on the rest of the Marines he and DiNozzo had picked out. In addition to three of the surviving members of Lewiston's original unit, there were two others who had joined the decimated group, and the medic brought in to replace Lewiston. He'd been known to associate with all of them since their return from their year overseas, despite his being assigned to stay with the Roosevelt after he finished A-School. All six had also been friendly with Fazio, through Lewiston, in the time the ship had been in port and First FAST Company had been in training at nearby Camp Allen. Based on Fredrick's presentation, it could have been any or none of them. But Gibbs agreed it was a good place to start. If nothing else, they'd be able to interview seven associates of their known dirtbags. That should get them somewhere.
At 1620, Gibbs headed for the conference room. To avoid calling attention to their meeting, they'd decided to go one at a time. Gibbs passed few people on the way; everyone was supposed to be at duty stations or in quarters. He sat alone for five minutes before Fredrick arrived and took a seat two down from Gibbs on the same side of the table. There was strained silence for a few minutes before Fredrick spoke.
"Look, Gibbs, I screwed up, I'm trying to make it right. Can we call a truce or something?"
Gibbs looked at him, expressionless. "You get Thayer to name names, and we'll call it even."
The door opened before Fredrick could respond. Captain McNally, a female Naval officer with Commander's stripes on her service khakis, and an Hispanic Marine Colonel who looked to be in his late fifties entered the conference room. Gibbs again suppressed the urge to stand and salute in the face of all that brass. Fredrick did stand.
"Special Agent Gibbs, it's good to see you again," McNally said, and then on noticing Gibbs' injuries added: "Life at NCIS must be tougher than I thought."
"It has its moments," Gibbs glossed over it. They shook hands.
"This is my XO, Commander Lawson, and Col. Zavala, CO of Security Force Battalion. He was on station at Camp Allen and agreed to come over. NCIS Special Agent Gibbs from the Navy Yard, and our Agent Afloat, Special Agent Fredrick." The Captain introduced them, and there were handshakes all around. A tap on the door, the Captain called enter, and DiNozzo appeared.
"Sorry, took the long way," DiNozzo said. "Special Agent Tony DiNozzo." He added his own introduction to the mix and they all took their seats, agents on one side of the table, officers on the other.
"Agent Fredrick tells me you're going to need our help to finish this thing," McNally said by way of opener.
"We are." Gibbs paused. "But I'm not sure we need to take both you and Cmdr. Lawson away from your duties, sir. Someone ought to be minding the store."
"My CMC is handling things. He's very capable," McNally said with a frown, then his expression cleared and he nodded his understanding. "But that's not what you mean, is it? Sylvia and I have served together for quite some time, Agent Gibbs. There are no secrets between us when it comes to the operation of this ship. She's known most of what's going on here since shortly after you left last week. You can speak freely."
"Fair enough," Gibbs said. "No disrespect intended, Ma'am. We're trying to keep this as quiet as possible."
Lawson nodded, a small smile telling him she understood. She was a tall woman, well-built, dishwater blond hair tied back in a braid, intelligence shinning from her hazel eyes. She exuded an air of confidence and command that was impossible to miss. By presentation alone, Gibbs would not have been surprised to learn she was second in command of one of the Navy's largest attack craft. If her skills matched her presentation, she would definitely make Captain one day.
"Someone want to fill me in?" Col. Zavala spoke up. "I'm feeling a bit like odd man out." The colonel was a short, wide shouldered man who reminded Gibbs of a bulldog. His dark brush cut was graying at the temples, and the skin on his face was deeply wrinkled. He obviously spent a great deal of time outdoors. His voice was deep and slightly accented. Spanish, by way of Mexico. Capt. McNally took the lead.
"My Yeoman was killed in Washington last weekend. Agent Gibbs and his team investigated, and discovered there's been an ongoing conspiracy aboard this ship to assault and disable sailors with the purpose of removing them from the Navy. My Yeoman was their 12th victim since the Roosevelt sailed after 9/11."
"We've identified several of the individuals involved," Gibbs broke in. He didn't want the Captain saying more than was necessary yet. "Three men were involved in Yeoman Ferrara's attack. We've arrested a hospital corpsman and are actively seeking a former FMF medic who was due here today."
"Assigned to one of my platoons?" Zavala asked.
"Formerly Fourth Platoon, First FAST Company," DiNozzo said. "And we have good information that the third man is one of five Marines or a corpsman currently in that platoon."
"So you want to question them?" Zavala asked.
"It's more complicated than that, Colonel," DiNozzo said. "We need you to order them held on base for a couple days."
"I can do that, if you think it's necessary," Zavala agreed. "Holding six guys on station for a few days won't be that big a problem."
"Actually, we need you to hold the whole platoon."
"Why?" Zavala asked.
"We've identified the leader of the conspiracy," DiNozzo said. "He's on board and Agent Fredrick is going to work him on the way to Jacksonville, convince him to give us the names of everyone involved. In the meantime, we don't want him circling the wagons. If he finds out we're holding six associates of two men who didn't show up for 'all-aboard' today, he's gonna figure it out and we'll lose him."
"So you wanna take forty of my men out of service as a smoke screen?" Zavala shook his head. "First Company is in the final weeks of pre-deployment work up. Some of them've got leave coming up, and we've got a full schedule of field training for the rest of them. I need those Marines to be working."
"The platoons are on rotating training schedules," McNally spoke up. "You can shift the schedule so another platoon is in the field this week, and put Fourth Platoon in the classroom until NCIS is done with them. You've got three weeks until deployment. There's plenty of time to get it done. Those men don't need to be in the field this weekend."
Zavala turned to him. "With all due respect, Captain, they're my Marines, and I'll say where they have to be and when," he said.
"Gentlemen," Lawson interrupted the imminent pissing contest. She turned to the agents. "If you know who's running the conspiracy, why don't you arrest him now, save us all a lot of trouble?"
"It's not that simple, ma'am," Fredrick spoke up. "We know who it is, but we don't have enough to arrest him yet. I'm going to work on him and by the time we leave Jacksonville, we will have enough. In the meantime, we need to maintain the status quo in the suspect's mind."
"Who is this suspect?" McNally asked.
Both DiNozzo and Fredrick deferred to Gibbs, who looked at Zavala.
"You were aboard this ship on the last return, correct?" Gibbs asked
"That's correct," Zavala agreed.
"Are you Catholic, Colonel?"
Zavala frowned, clearly not understanding. "Pentecostal. Why?"
Gibbs nodded. Well, that was something, anyway. "This absolutely cannot leave this room. It is crucial to our investigation that conditions on this ship remain status quo, with no change in routine for anyone involved, until we finish this."
"Understood," McNally said. "Commander?"
"Understood," she responded. McNally turned to the Marine Colonel.
"Colonel?"
"Hey, I don't live here," Zavala said. "But understood."
Gibbs took a second to enjoy the bullheadedness of Marines everywhere before turning his attention back to the Captain.
"We believe the head of the conspiracy is your priest, Cmdr. Thayer."
"Father Andrew?" McNally said. His disbelief was clear.
"Yes sir," Gibbs said. "He's been passing information he learned in confession to the other players in the conspiracy."
There was dead silence in the small room for thirty seconds before Zavala spoke. "Sounds like a really good time not to be Catholic."
Both McNally and Lawson turned to stare at him. "Well it does," Zavala said.
"What kind of evidence do you have against him?" McNally asked.
"He admitted it to Master Chief Goetz an hour or so ago," DiNozzo said. "We've got it on tape."
"He admitted to orchestrating Frank's death?" McNally asked.
"Captain, he's the one," Gibbs said, cutting off what he knew could become a long conversation.
McNally took a breath. "Who do you have in custody? Besides Petty Officer Radkoff?"
"A Corpsman First named Fazio," Gibbs said. "We're searching Norfolk and surrounding for a PO2, Daniel Lewiston. Formerly an FMF medic with Fourth Platoon, recently reschooled as an RP. We ran a sting on them last night. One of my team shot him, but he managed to run."
"Was your sting in Norfolk?" McNally asked.
"Washington," Gibbs said. "We tracked him back as far as Ashland, Virginia."
"So you believe he's headed here?"
"Not anymore," DiNozzo said. "He's got a bullet in him, and we've got custody of everything he owns. Tracers on his family and every known friend not already aboard this ship. He's gone to ground, but he'll show up eventually."
"And you think the third man who was involved in Frank's death is a Marine from First FAST Company?" McNally asked. "Those Marines were aboard last year."
"Our evidence points toward Lewiston's former associates in that platoon," DiNozzo explained.
"So in order to maintain the status quo for the priest and provide cover for the six you're really looking at," Zavala said, "You need me to order an entire platoon of Marines held at Norfolk."
"Yes sir," Fredrick said. "We know it's going to be a hassle, but..."
"You have no idea what kind of hassle it's going to be, son," Zavala interrupted him. "Where do you plan to house them? Some of them have been living on base, but I assume you're gonna want to keep them all together and away from anyone else. And how are you going to feed them? I'm not authorizing a smoke screen that'll hold my Marines anywhere they don't have three hots and a cot."
"We'll work that out, sir," Gibbs said. "They'll be well taken care of."
"Isn't there some pretext you can use to get Father Andrew off the ship without raising his suspicion?" McNally asked.
Fredrick shook his head. "The only way this can work is if he thinks they've left without getting what they need." He indicated Gibbs and DiNozzo. "I've got to be on his side, make it look like I'm still protecting him, covering up the attacks."
"Were you?" Zavala asked.
"No, he wasn't," McNally said firmly.
Lawson spoke up. "So you want us to sail tomorrow without changing anything, let more sailors bare their souls to the priest and potentially become targets? After you know what he's doing? What if someone else gets hurt? We can't expose the Navy to that kind of liability."
Gibbs had to hand it to her. She was doing exactly what an executive officer is tasked with: Seeing to the practical, management type issues that the Captain is often too busy to handle. Reducing their exposure to legal liability would certainly fall into that category.
"We know the priest has already given them their next target. As far as we know, they don't have the personnel together to launch the attack," Gibbs said. "My source says there's no danger at least until Charleston, and probably not until the Azores."
"So who's the next target?" McNally asked.
There was hesitation from the Agents' side of the table. Again, deference went to Gibbs.
"I'd rather not say at the moment, sir. He's aware he's been targeted. If the risk increases, we'll ask you to pull him off ship. But knowing their next target means we can protect him and not have to wonder who else they might be hunting."
"And he's agreed to that? To let himself be hunted?" Lawson asked.
"He knows," Gibbs repeated.
"Their pattern is to attack during shore leave," Fredrick said. "Everyone's aboard now until we sail, then it's two days to Charleston. If he stays aboard while we're there, he won't be in danger, and by the time we make Jacksonville, we'll be ready to remove Thayer one way or the other."
"There's more going on here, something you haven't told me," Zavala said. "Like why these victims are being chosen."
Gibbs, looking to McNally for some kind of sign, said nothing. Fredrick and DiNozzo waited.
"Up to you, Captain," Gibbs said after a moment. McNally sighed.
"They're hunting gays," he said. "Identifying them, attacking them while they're on shore leave, and leaving them disabled enough to be discharged. They went too far when they attacked my Yeoman and he was killed."
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence before Zavala spoke again.
"Was Major Ray Ortiz one of their targets?"
"He was," Gibbs said with some hesitation. He wondered if the Colonel had known Ortiz's orientation before his attack, or if he had made the connection between his injuries and the pattern of attacks and was trying to confirm that the Major had been gay.
Zavala glanced down at his hands, which were folded together on the table in front of him. He unfolded them, rubbed at the gold wedding band on his left hand with his right thumb for a moment, then looked up.
"We can house the platoon in our gym on base. It's going to be empty all week. The base's got a disaster kit we can pull for cots and blankets. I'll have my second handle the food angle."
Gibbs' eyebrows rose in surprise. "Thank you, sir. We're going to need them in a communications blackout, to keep it quiet once we start questioning them."
"Not a problem. Fourth platoon is scheduled for an in-depth security briefing and some situational awareness training in two weeks. I'll have their Captain move it up and I'll slap a secrecy label on it. That'll cover the isolation and the blackout."
Gibbs nodded. "That'll work."
"Are there any arrangements you need us to handle?" DiNozzo asked.
"No. I'll have my people set it up," Zavala said. "It might take some time to get them all on base. I'll have someone contact you once they're all accounted for. How soon do you want to start talking to them?"
"Hopefully in the morning, if we can get them all together by then," DiNozzo said. "Once they're settled and the blackout is confirmed, we'll remove the six from the group and isolate them individually'"
"We should be able to figure out which one we're looking for fairly quickly," Gibbs said, "then it'll just be a matter of keeping the rest of them from talking to anyone until we're done with the priest."
"When do you anticipate being ready to release them?" Zavala asked.
"By the time the ship leaves Jacksonville on Friday, it'll be done," Gibbs said.
"Very well. I'll be in touch." With a sharp nod, Zavala stood and left the conference room. When the door was closed behind him, McNally spoke again.
"Have you found any indication he's leaking other information from confession?"
"No. But I'm not sure we'd know," Gibbs said.
"And you expect me to keep on like normal, letting my sailors continue to spill their secrets to a priest who's violating his vows?"
"Our best chance of getting him to give us what we need is to let him think he's being protected," DiNozzo said. "He's got to believe we don't think he's guilty of any crime. So there can't be any change in routine. Nothing to tip him off."
"How can I do that? The men and women on this ship depend on me to protect them. How can I let them expose themselves to that and say nothing?"
"Captain, I understand your dilemma, and if I thought there was any better way..." Gibbs began.
"I've got a buddy in the training division down at Fort Jackson," Cmdr. Lawson spoke up. "What if I get him to assign some additional training hours for the RPs? Thayer's head of that department. If my buddy puts a forthwith on it, it'll keep him real busy for a couple of days."
"You're good at this," DiNozzo said, and she smiled.
"It's what they pay me for. Solutions to administrative nightmares. What do you think, Agent Gibbs?"
Fort Jackson, South Carolina, was home to the Navy Chaplaincy School and Center. Everyone headed for a career in that area had to go through their initial training at that facility, and career continuing education programs were run out of it. If Lawson's buddy was placed right, he would be able to create a training program that had to be completed by all sailors in that rating. And if he made it mandatory to complete the training forthwith – right now – it would indeed keep Thayer busy for awhile.
"Could work. Fredrick?"
If Fredrick was surprised Gibbs was asking his opinion – and he was – he kept it off his face. "I can see it working. Long as you make sure it's something that has to be done by him personally. Might even make what I'm going to do easier if he doesn't have a lot of time to analyze his situation."
"If Thayer's doing this, I do not like the idea of keeping him on my ship," McNally said firmly.
"I know, Captain," Gibbs said. "But it's the best way to get this done. I guarantee you he'll be arrested and away from your command before you start the crossing." He paused, again considering what he was asking. "It's only five days, sir. You can stay busy, avoid the confessional."
"I could. But I can't keep every Catholic on this ship from telling him things he no longer has a right to hear."
"No, you can't," DiNozzo agreed. "We believe the risk is worth it. If we arrest him now, he'll likely walk. Move on to another ship or shore detachment and keep doing the same thing. We need him to take responsibility for the attacks, and we need him to name names."
McNally sighed, a very un-Captain-like act. "Fine. Do it. Meanwhile, I've got a ship to run. You'll keep me informed?"
"We will," Gibbs said. "One more question?"
"Of course," McNally said.
"Did you tell Thayer that we had a witness to Yeoman Ferrara's murder?"
McNally considered, then his eyes widened. "Yes. The night after you were here. We were talking about Frank's death, and I mentioned that you had a witness who'd seen Marines. That upset me, and I wanted to talk to someone about it, in confidence. Did something happen to your witness?"
"They tried. But we took advantage of it. It's how we got Fazio and identified Lewiston. How much more of the investigation have you told him about?"
"I haven't spoken to him since. I've been too busy. I'm sorry, Agent Gibbs. I thought I was speaking in absolute confidence."
"It's understandable, sir," Gibbs said. "You had no reason to believe he had anything to do with it. Our witness is fine, and we didn't know enough when you and I talked for it to cause any other problems."
With a nod of resigned acceptance, McNally stood. Everyone followed suit, Gibbs struggling a bit to get upright.
"Let me know if the sailor they've targeted needs to be moved off ship. I'll take care of it," McNally said.
"Yes, sir," Gibbs said.
The Captain left the conference room, Lawson following after a nod of goodbye.
When the door closed behind them, Gibbs turned back to Fredrick.
"You better get this done."
"I will," he swore.
"DiNozzo, get packed up. You can sleep at home tonight, pick me up in the morning."
"Yes!" DiNozzo crowed. "Thank you Boss."
They left as they'd arrived, one at a time. Gibbs was first back to the NCIS office. He found Goetz waiting, the sailor's new adjusted medical report in hand.
"Your suspect sailor is about to find out he had some abnormal labs at his pre-deployment physical. Possible exposure to SARS on his recent trip to Toronto. He'll have to leave the ship and be isolated for at least five days while they rule out infection."
"Is that still around?" Gibbs asked. He leaned against the table, not wanting to sit only to get up again in a minute.
"Not really. But if it recurs, it'll be there. I figured it was better than scaring everyone by giving him the plague. I sent an alert from Bethesda to Cmdr. Pauley requiring the sailor's immediate transfer to an isolation unit at Portsmouth. He'll be there within the hour and you can talk to him tonight if you want to."
"Probably not until we're done with the Marines. You ready to head out?"
"Whenever you are."
Gibbs called Major Mallick and was told the helicopter would be back on station within 15 minutes. Goetz left first. When DiNozzo appeared a few minutes later, Gibbs told him they'd be waiting for him at the car, then he, too, hobbled off the ship.
to be continued...
Thanks to those of you who reviewed the last part. Ten is better than four. :o) More would be cool. I hang on your every word.
To those who reviewed without signing in: Lynne, thanks for chiming in. Jo, I appreciate your kind words, as always. (Wish you'd log in once, so I can send you proper thanks.) tj: No, I'm not, and I very much appreciate the information you offered. I'd never heard of the concept, and I love discovering new things to research. Can't use it here, but it goes into my wealth of knowledge for RL, and that's priceless. joy