Breaking Point
Disclaimer: Not mine.
I know there's a dearth of movie quotes from Tony, but I'm not good with movies. Episodes of ER and NCIS I can quote until the cows come home but movies? Afraid not. If anyone can think of any good ones that I could insert, feel free to do so!
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, and also to those following the story. I'm really pleased you all like it. The plan is to update daily but it depends from Saturday whether or not I'll be able to continue this schedule. A lot of it comes down to whether I can find my memory stick!
Please please review! I want to know what you think, both good and bad (and if there are typos, please let me know so I can fix them). I really do appreciate reviews.
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Chapter 6: Interrogating Ray
Gibbs, Tony and McGee stood outside the interrogation room where Ray sat uneasily. They'd let him sit like that for a good half an hour.
"Good cop bad cop?" suggested Tony at length, calmly munching on a chocolate bar.
Gibbs nodded. "You're Good Cop. McGee, you're Unsettling-the-Suspect Cop." At McGee's confused expression, Gibbs elaborated. "I want you standing in the corner watching him intently. It'll make him uneasy."
"You mean more uneasy than he already is," clarified Tony.
"Damn right." Gibbs drained the last of his coffee and turned to Tony. "Just don't threaten his pet bunny or anything. "He smiled to himself as he saw the confused looks his agents gave him. "C'mon, let's interrogate him." He swung open the door and went in, his agents behind him. As instructed, McGee lurked in a corner, arms folded across his chest, and Tony slapped a cup of water down on the table in front of Ray.
Blinking in surprise, Ray looked up at Tony. "Hi, Tony." Tony ignored him.
"No lawyer?" inquired Gibbs mildly.
"Don't need one."
"If you're sure."
"I am."
McGee and Tony exchanged sceptical looks and the latter's eyes glittered. McGee was very glad that he was not on the receiving end of the interrogation.
Ray leaned back in the chair and laced his fingers behind his head so casually he could have been on a beach in Hawaii rather than being interrogated by his ex-girlfriend's colleagues.
"You were pretty easy to find," observed Tony, ambling round Ray in a circle.
Ray shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be?" This earned him a raised-eyebrow glare from Gibbs.
"How long have you known these two?" asked Tony, slapping photos of the Israeli couple down onto the table.
"Never seen them before in my life," came the easy reply.
"Don't," barked Gibbs as he slammed three more photos onto the table, "lie to me."
Alarm briefly crossed Ray's face before he resumed his calm expression. "Where did you get these?"
"Doesn't matter," said McGee from the corner.
"Any idiot can use Photoshop these days!" retorted Ray, a tiny hint of panic in his voice. He glanced over at McGee. "You did this, didn't you? I know what a computer geek you are!"
"Anyone would think you were worried," commented Tony.
"Why would I be?"
Tony got right in his face, his temper fraying with a man he had never liked. "Because we all know that that photo is authentic, that you're lying and that you three had something to do with Ziva's disappearance!"
At the mention of her name, Ray stiffened. "I don't know where you got that idea from. Why would I?"
Silencing a visibly-riled Tony with one of his Looks, Gibbs pushed the photos towards Ray and banged his hand on the table again, making the former CIA agent jump. "Where do you want me to start?" he demanded. "Where were you yesterday evening?"
"At a bar with a couple of friends."
"Which bar? With whom?"
"Donnelly's, a block from my sister's. I was with my old colleagues James Dodson and Ricky Thompson. They'll vouch for me."
"Phone numbers and addresses." Tony pushed a pen and some paper at him. "Now."
Shrugging again, Ray obliged. "They'll back me up; I was there all evening."
"We'll check." He didn't doubt the alibi; he knew Ray was smart enough to ensure that he was a long way from the scene when anything happened.
"Knock yourself out."
"I'd rather knock you out," retorted Tony.
"Your former employer obtained these photographs," continued Gibbs, "while they were watching this couple. Just so happens that they caught you with them." His voice rose to a near-shout. "So do not continue lying to us and just tell me what the hell you were doing with them!"
Ray shrank back. "They – they just happened to be sitting at the same table as me, I guess. That place gets pretty busy; you sometimes have to sit with strangers."
"There are plenty of empty tables, Ray," pointed out Tony, indicating with his pen each one in the photo. "Explain that."
"Look, it was three months ago! Do you really expect me to remember every minute of every day?" demanded Ray, infuriated.
"So you were there!" yelled Gibbs, startling McGee. "You're admitting that you were there, that the photos are genuine, that you have, in actuality, met the people who five minutes ago you insisted you'd never seen before in your life!"
All colour drained from Ray's face and he silently cursed. He'd been so sure that his time in the CIA would have rendered him immune – or at the very least, much more resistant – to 'the Gibbs effect' as Ziva had once labelled it.
"Tut tut," said Tony, shaking his head in disappointment. "I had money on you holding out much longer than that. Damn, that means I owe Abby twenty bucks."
"Now that we've cleared that up," said Gibbs, steering the conversation back on-topic, "tell me what your involvement with this couple is. Tell me what has happened to Special Agent David. Tell me why."
"The bitch dumped me, punched me – in front of other people! – and made me lose my damn job!" shouted Ray, jumping to his feet with his eyes blazing. "Why do you think?"
"Don't you think you made you lose your job?" asked Tony. "You know, killing an innocent witness might have something to do with it? But feel free to correct me if I'm wrong."
"She ruined my life!"
"C'mon, that's a little melodramatic, dont'cha think?" He got very close to Ray. "Tell us about the Israelis. It'll be a lot better for you if you just talk. You never know, the system might take your co-operation into account and be a bit more lenient."
"What do you know about the Israelis?" shot back Ray.
"You're really not in a position to be asking those questions."
"Answer the man," answered Gibbs irritably. When Ray looked like he was going to brush him off. Gibbs gave him his patented Stare.
Ray sighed. "Fine. They're Mossad. They were trying to get information on a case I was working."
"What case?"
"It's classified."
"Convenient excuse," remarked McGee from his corner, earning a glare from Ray for his input.
"Screw classified!" screamed Gibbs, knocking a chair to one side, making the other three flinch. "You tell me and you tell me NOW!"
It worked: Ray whimpered and shrunk into his chair. "They – they're Mossad."
"You already told us that," said Tony, rolling his eyes.
Ray attempted to shrug nonchalantly, though his effort was far from convincing. He caught sight of Gibbs tapping his foot impatiently. "Okay. They were sent by Ziva's father."
"What does he want?" asked Tony, distaste clear in his voice.
"Her."
"Why?"
Ray shook his head. I don't know. No, really."
"And the couple?" demanded Gibbs.
"They approached me about her."
"So you gave her up to them." Tony's words were not a question. He got a nod in reply. The senior agent looked to Gibbs. "What do we do with him now, Boss?"
"Put him back in his cell," instructed Gibbs. "We'll talk to the Israelis."
Tony and McGee hauled Ray to his feet and Gibbs watched as they escorted him back to his cell, suspecting that the Mossad agents would be much harder to deal with.
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Gibbs' suspicions were confirmed an hour later when neither he, Tony, Vance or McGee had been able to get anything out of the couple. They were marched back to their cells and the team reconvened in Abby's lab with Chinese takeaways.
"CI Ray was a lot easier to crack," remarked McGee.
"Ee oz deb eezhee." Tony nodded in agreement. Vance and Gibbs both cleared their throats, Gibbs raised a hand warningly and Tony hastily swallowed and translated. "I said, he was dead easy."
"How do you want to do this?" Vance asked Gibbs.
"Let them stew for a couple of hours. Or boil, or cook, or anything else like it that Ziva would say instead." He paused for a moment. "Then I'll have another crack at them. Leon, go see your wife and kids; there's nothing more you can do now."
Vance gave him a funny look. "I'm your superior. Are you ordering me home?"
"Yes."
"Okay then." The Director shrugged his shoulders, turned on his heel and left. Tony and McGee looked questioningly at Gibbs, wondering what was next. Abby bit her lip anxiously, holding Bert the farting hippo close to her body.
"Go home for the night," Gibbs ordered them. "There's nothing more we can do tonight. Get some sleep. We'll interrogate the Israelis tomorrow. I need you sharp and alert from zero-seven-hundred hours." He paused and his voice softened. "Ziva needs you to be that way, too." He watched silently as McGee and Tony took their leave, worried and exhausted. Ziva depended on them.
"Gibbs? Gibbs, you'll find her, won't you?" asked Abby desperately, pressing herself into his chest for comfort. He knew that she needed it so he put his arms around his surrogate daughter – one of them; the other one was on the other side of the world and hopefully still alive – and held her close while she sobbed her heart out for her friend.
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TBC