An Unexpected Blessing
Chapter 2
On Monday morning Jethro filled the Director in on what Allison had told him about the lawsuit. He gave Leon a copy of the paperwork Allison had left with him. To his surprise, Leon already had an idea the lawsuit was coming. He told Jethro they had received a FOIA request for the record the previous week.
"We haven't complied with the request yet because we haven't verified whether or not the request is coming from a person entitled to the information."
"Why didn't you tell me about it?"
"Nothing to tell yet. My question is this, is this guy really Casden's brother? I thought we looked for relatives at the time of the shooting."
"We did and there weren't any. At least not any we could find. McGee did a thorough search. If McGee didn't find him I'm not convinced he's really who he says he is."
"Is Ms. Hart looking into his identity?"
"If she's not yet she will be when I leave her office today. I really don't think we have too much to worry about with this thing, Leon. I mean, it was a good shoot. The guy had a knife to Holly Snow's throat and as we know he was a serial killer."
"I hate to leave your future and the reputation of NCIS in the hands of a jury. Some bleeding heart attorney will try to convince them you should have wounded the guy and arrested him. Let's see if we can make this go away somehow."
"Leon, I'm not paying this guy a dime!"
"I'm not suggesting you do. When McGee has time I'd like him to start checking into this alleged brother. Maybe with his name to work with he'll have more luck. If you're not working a case, why don't you go see Ms. Hart and get an idea of what she plans to do."
"We don't have a case so I'm headed to her office when I leave here. I'll let you know what she says. Try not to worry, Leon."
"Yeah, right."
Jethro arrived at Allison's office just as she was getting out of her car. He walked with her to her office and handed her a cup of coffee he'd brought for her.
"Thank you, Jethro. I thought you were going to call me when you were free."
"Well, I'm free now so I just came on so we could get started. Leon has McGee looking into our alleged brother. We didn't have a name before so maybe with that we'll have better luck this time."
"Good. I have one of our investigators looking into him as well. Do you think he's a fraud?"
"Maybe I'm just hoping so. If he's not a real brother can he still sue me?"
"No, he won't have any standing if he's not a relative. Let's hope that's what we find. But, just in case he's really Casden's brother we need to talk about how you want to proceed."
"Ali, I won't give this guy a dime. I did my job and his brother was a killer with multiple victims about to add another victim to his list. I know you don't want to get this in front of a jury and neither do I, but for god's sake why should I have to pay this guy anything?"
"Okay, let's not worry about all that until we find out if this guy is legit. If he's not, we have no problem. In the meantime, I want to hear the details of the case and especially that day you encountered Casden and Ms. Snow in the abandoned office building."
Allison set up her recorder and took Jethro through the case and the final deadly conclusion. She asked a few questions about how Ms. Snow came to be involved but for the most part she let Jethro talk through it without interruption. When he was finished, Allison had some questions.
"So, you didn't actually know Dwight Casden was the killer before you found him with Ms. Snow, is that right?"
"Had a pretty good idea after talking to Charlotte, the woman he'd beaten. He used her phone to lure Holly to the abandoned building."
"But you didn't actually know he was the killer, right?"
"Technically, correct."
"Did you identify yourself when you ran in the room?"
"Yes."
"How many times did you fire?"
"Four or five. I'd have to check the report to know for sure. Whose side are you on, Ali?"
"Jethro, I'm asking questions the other attorney will ask you. I need to know absolutely everything they might try to hang you with."
"Okay."
"Where was your backup?"
"They were coming but there wasn't time to wait for them. When I got in there he already had the knife at Holly's throat."
"If we wind up in court refer to her as Ms. Snow, not Holly. Using her first name suggests you were somehow involved."
Jethro simply said, "Okay."
"Let's take a break. I'm going to the ladies room. Will you get us some coffee from the break room down the hall?"
"Sure."
Allison returned to her office and found Jethro staring out the window.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. I don't suppose we can keep Holly out of this can we? She was pretty traumatized by what happened."
"I'm sure she was. Who wouldn't be? To answer your question, no we can't keep her out of it. She's the crux of the whole thing, you know that."
"Yeah."
"You don't have any idea where she might be?"
"No, I haven't seen her since that day." Night would have been more accurate but Jethro didn't think it was necessary to bring that up.
"That surprises me, Jethro."
"Why?"
"I thought you two had a thing for a while there that's all."
Jethro laughed. "Ali, you and I have or had a thing as you say. Holly and I did not. I'm the one who arrested her in the first place. Then I recruited her to help us catch a killer and she almost wound up with her throat cut. Not exactly circumstances that lead to people having "a thing" as you put it."
Allison had to laugh as well. "I guess when you put it that way…"
They were interrupted by Jethro's phone beeping at him and a few minutes later he was on his way to a crime scene.
"Jethro, I'm looking for Ms. Snow. Well, one of our investigators is looking for her. I want to be sure we can talk to her if this goes forward. I'll let you know what we find."
"Okay. Thanks for your help, Ali. See you later?"
"I'll call you. Be safe out there."
Jethro was caught up in the case that took him away from Ali's office for three days. He put the possible lawsuit and all that involved out of his mind so he could concentrate on finding the killer of a Navy petty officer. While he was doing that, Ali's investigator was searching for Holly Snow. About the time Jethro and his team found their killer, Allison and her guy found Holly. The killer was the person Jethro's team suspected from the beginning so there was no surprise when they arrested him. On the other hand, what Ali's team found was a bit of a surprise.
Charles Franklin knocked on Ali's office door and when he entered he handed her a file that contained his findings in the search for Holly Snow. Allison looked at it and said, "What's the bottom line, Charlie?"
"Ms. Snow has been in Europe for about 14 or 15 months. Most recently in Barcelona. Seems like she's on her way back here though. The guy I talked to over there said she flew out of there early this morning for New York. I put her phone number in there. I figure maybe she's still using the same cell she had when she left."
"That's great work, Charlie. Thank you, I'll take it from here."
Allison had a meeting to get to but she took a few moments to call Ms. Snow's cell just in case. When there was no answer she left her name and number and asked for a return call. She didn't say why she was calling. She didn't have time to read the file so she left it on her desk and headed off to her meeting.
Holly Snow landed in New York City Thursday afternoon and after going through customs and getting her luggage squared away, she had an hour before her connecting flight to Washington DC. While she waited she turned on her cell phone and saw a missed call from a DC area code. She listened to the message and wondered why Allison Hart was calling her. She knew who Ms. Hart was and she couldn't imagine why she wanted to talk to her. Unless….Holly knew Allison and Jethro had been an item in the past year but that was all she knew about her. Holly only knew that bit of information from social media and reading the gossip column in the Washington Examiner online while she'd been gone. Holly had a brief concern that something had happened to Jethro but even if that was true there was no reason for Ms. Hart to contact her about it. Holly called the number in the message but was told Ms. Hart was out of the office. She left a message saying she would be in DC later that day and would call back.
When the shuttle landed in DC, Holly gathered her luggage and hailed a cab to take her home. She had kept her townhouse when she left for Europe knowing she would be back eventually. In fact, she had planned to be home months ago but life intervened and she stayed in Spain longer than planned. Lots of things on this trip had not gone as planned! The woman who had been renting the townhouse had moved out a week ago. Holly fervently hoped everything she'd had shipped had arrived in good order. And, that the place was clean. When she opened the door she was thrilled to find all her wishes had come true.
It took a couple of hours to get everything settled and when that was accomplished she ordered a pizza and called Allison Hart while she waited for the delivery. Again, Ms. Hart was not available. Holly decided if the woman wanted to talk to her she would have to make the next call. Holly had a lot on her mind and wasn't too interested in whatever Ms. Hart wanted. When the pizza was gone and she had enjoyed a long, hot shower Holly fell into bed and slept soundly for hours.
Allison didn't get back to her office until almost 9:00 that night. She knew Holly had called twice but she hadn't had time to talk to her between several meetings she'd been running to all day. It wasn't really urgent that she talk to her anyway so Allison decided to wait and call her back on Friday. In the meantime, she had some thinking to do. Based on what she had seen in the file Charlie had given her, she was almost certain she and Jethro weren't getting back together.
Friday started off with a bang when Susan Croft came into Allison's office with news about Dwight Casden's alleged brother.
"Please give me some good news, Susan."
"I think I have some. From everything I can find, Dwight Casden did not have a brother. His parents are both deceased. In fact, they died about four months apart when Dwight was only eight years old. He wound up in foster care after the state did an extensive search for relatives. He absolutely did not have a sibling when the parents died and he went into state custody. This person who has purported to be a brother was in the same foster home for about eight months when Dwight was eleven but that was their only connection."
"Susan, you have made my day! Indeed, the whole week! Thank you so much."
"My pleasure. I've emailed you my report and here is a printed copy as well."
"Thank you. This will make our client very happy. Really good work, Susan."
Allison immediately called the attorney representing the "alleged brother" and advised him of their findings. The attorney thanked Allison and said he would contact his client.
"I have to tell you Allison, I had my doubts about this guy. I'm really glad you figured this out and we can close this business down."
"Yes, it had a hinky feel to it from the beginning. I assume you will advise your client that any further contact or attempts to contact my client will be met with a police complaint."
"I will for sure make that point. I have a feeling this was a one-time try and the guy will disappear now that we've called his bluff. I'll let you know if I have any trouble with him. Don't worry though."
"Thanks Tom. I'll see you sometime."
"Let's try for lunch one day next week."
"Sounds good. I'm in court until Thursday so maybe we can get together Friday."
"I'll plan on it."
Allison called Jethro to give him the good news but the phone went straight to voice mail. She didn't bother to leave a message because she was well aware that Jethro never retrieved his messages. She wasn't sure he knew how. Allison sat through 3 meetings that morning and finally got out of the office around lunch time. She called Jethro again and he actually answered.
"Hey, you have time for a late lunch with me?"
"I do if you can meet me at the Diner in about 30 minutes."
"Good. I'll see you soon."
Allison had decided she wanted to give him her good news in person so she hung up before Jethro could ask her any questions. She figured that was small payback for all the times he had hung up on her before she could reply to whatever he'd said.
When Allison arrived, Jethro was just getting out of his car and they went in together. Elaine, Jethro's favorite waitress, greeted them at the door and followed them to Jethro's "regular" table.
"Don't usually see you two in the middle of the day. This a special occasion?"
Jethro smiled at her and said, "I'm not sure. Ali offered to buy me lunch so here we are."
"I don't remember it quite like that! I guess I just got lucky and found this hungry man hanging around."
"Well, he does that a lot and yes, you are lucky to have lunch with him."
"I'm right here you know. And, thanks for the compliment, Elaine. I'll have a burger and coffee."
"Of course you will. How 'bout you Miss Allison?"
"I think I'll have a BLT and iced tea. And some fries."
"Well done on the bacon and the fries, right?"
"Absolutely. Thank you."
Allison had a file on the table in front of her and she pushed it across the table to Jethro and smiled at him. He caught her hands and held onto them.
"Save me the time and tell me what's in here."
"Really good news is what's in there. The alleged brother is not a brother after all. The whole thing is over."
Jethro sat back in the booth and took a deep breath. He hadn't realized how worried he really was about the possibility of the lawsuit going forward. The smile on his face showed how relieved he was.
"Fantastic! Tell me what you found out."
Allison repeated what Susan had learned about the alleged Mr. Casden. "I talked to the attorney handling the case for the supposed brother and he will contact his client and let him know he has no claim and the case will be closed. He will advise his client not to contact you again under any circumstances."
"This is great, Ali. Thank you."
"You're welcome. Tom and I both thought there was something hinky about this whole deal and I'm glad it's over now before it went any further."
"Yeah, me too. Leon will be thrilled I'm not going to be in the papers!"
"I'm sure he will be."
"Hey, did you ever find Holly?"
Allison hesitated just a moment. She knew she wouldn't tell Jethro what she had found out about Holly Snow and keeping a secret from Jethro was not easy. He could always tell when she was keeping something from him.
"We did. She and I have been playing phone tag but now that there is no case I don't really need to talk to her."
Jethro studied her and Ali did her best to not be intimidated by his gaze. Fortunately, Elaine arrived just then with their food so Ali could concentrate on her lunch and Jethro could be distracted by his burger. There was no real conversation for the next few minutes as they both enjoyed their food. During that time, Ali realized she did have something else to tell Jethro and she could use that to squelch his curiosity.
Right on cue, Jethro asked, "Is there something you're not telling me, Ali?"
"Not in the way you seem to think. Not as in, I've got a secret I'm not telling you."
Of course, that was exactly what was happening but he certainly didn't need to know that!
"Okay."
"Actually, there is something I wanted to tell you but I just hadn't gotten to it yet. I wanted to give you my good news first."
"So, the rest is the bad news?"
"Not at all. I've been thinking of moving and I wanted your advice on a place I've found."
Jethro was pretty sure that wasn't what he was sensing from her but he didn't press the issue.
"Where are you thinking of moving?"
"I've found a really nice condo in Rosslyn. It needs some updating and that's what I wanted your input on. Maybe we could look at it this weekend?"
"Sure. Why are you moving?"
"I just want a bit bigger place. This one has an extra bedroom I could use for an office and still have a guest room. The kitchen is larger and there's a nice balcony with a good view."
"Sounds good. Just let me know when and I'll pick you up and we can have a look. Have you already made an offer?"
"Yes, and I'm pretty sure I'll get it. In fact, the seller is waiting to hear from me about their counter offer. I have until Monday to let them know."
"Then we better see it this weekend for sure. How about Sunday morning then we can go have a late breakfast."
"That would be perfect. Thank you."
Jethro looked at his watch and said he needed to get going. He left money on the table for the bill, waved bye to Elaine, and walked Ali to her car. He kissed her goodbye and headed back to the Navy Yard wondering what Ali wasn't telling him. Sometimes he didn't appreciate his ability to know when someone was holding out on him. Buying a condo was not the secret she was keeping.
TBC