Chapter 14:
Morgan Lewis sat in the interrogation room, fidgeting in his chair. Things hadn’t gone very well with the sketch artist. He didn’t have a very good memory of people when he tried and he certainly wasn’t going to try to remember this guy. He gave off a creepy vibe, Lewis just wanted to get paid and get away from the guy.
He was extremely grateful when the two agents that had arrested him had left the room and had yet to return. Lewis hoped that their absence was a good sign that he wouldn’t have to deal with either one of them anymore. To say that they were scary was not an exaggeration at all.
The pair had been relentless in their chase, not giving him the slightest chance to make a clean break for it. It was clear, even to a man like Lewis, that the federal agents were on the trail of someone much bigger than him.
When the door opened to reveal another man, Lewis breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps this agent would be more reasonable to talk to.
As the man sat down across from him, Lewis suddenly got a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. His sigh of relief had been short-lived, for as he looked up at the agent who now sat across from him, he could tell that things had gotten worse, much, much worse.
The agent just sat there, staring him down. Beginning to feel uneasy, Lewis started to fidget in his chair. He was never good at sitting still on a good day, and this was hardly a good day.
“So you gonna charge me with something or what?” Lewis asked, unable to take the silent starring thing anymore. “Cuz if not, I’m outta here.”
As Lewis made a move to stand up, the other man slammed his hand onto the table, making Lewis jump from the sudden loud noise.
“Sit down,” a hard, steel-like voice said to him as he was watched from behind a hard gaze.
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“This is most unwise, letting him interrogate Lewis,” Ziva said from the observation room. “He is going to scare him to the point that he won’t be able to form complete sentences.”
“Like Lewis can speak so well without intimidation,” McGee smirked. “Besides, I have never seen him go that far before; he knows what he is doing.”
Ziva glanced at McGee as he spoke with confidence. “Yes, I know that. But I have never seen him look so…dark before.” At McGee’s curious yet thoughtful expression, Ziva asked, “What? Did I not say it right?”
“No, you did,” McGee said. “And you’re right. But this isn’t just any case, either.”
“Which is why I am not so sure that this is a good idea, letting him in there alone with Lewis,’ Ziva said exasperated.
“It is exactly why he needs to do this,” a voice said from behind them.
Both agents turned around to see Gibbs enter observation, closing the door behind him.
“He started this investigation, Tony needs to finish it. Having him in there with Lewis will help focus his mind more,” Gibbs explained as he stepped up to the two-way mirror to watch his senior field agent work, with McGee and Ziva doing the same.
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“So you claim you don’t know Mitch Morris or what he was planning to do with your identity?” Tony questioned.
“It’s the truth, I’ve never seen that guy before,” Lewis exclaimed.
Tony continued to watch Lewis as he shifted nervously in his chair. “For your sake you had better hope you can tell me more than that.”
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to tell you!” Lewis shouted. “I just needed the cash and the guy came out of nowhere. It was just good timing, ya know?”
Tony processed what Lewis said before continuing. “How did Morris know that you were strapped for cash?”
“What?” Lewis asked with a confused look on his face.
“How did Morris know that you were strapped for cash?” Tony repeated, his eyes narrowing. “Morris doesn’t go for just any random person off the street for what he needs. You say you don’t know anything about him?”
Lewis nodded his head eagerly, “Yes!”
“Then how could he have found out that you were a perfect target?” Tony pressed.
“How the hell am I supposed to know? He’s the criminal mastermind, not me!” insisted Lewis.
Tony perked up slightly at that. “And what makes you think he is a criminal mastermind?”
“Uhh, cuz only people with brains can steal another person’s identity,” Lewis suggested lamely.
Tony let out a stiff laugh as he began tossing pictures of the most recent victims in front of Lewis. “Or you’ve been in on everything from the beginning; a pawn in his game. These people are dead because of him. It was possible for him to do this because of you.”
“No! No way!” exclaimed Lewis, who had already past the point of panicking. “I’ve never seen these people before, I don’t know anything about the guy, don’t want to. He could have found out from any number of people how to find me!”
“Oh really? Do tell, it might just be what saves you from being charged with accessory to murder,” Tony encouraged him.
“There’s this bar I go to all the time, not the one those other agents found me by, another one,” Lewis began, eager to get a lesser sentence. “It’s called Austin’s. There’s a lot of betting going on there. Any of the regulars there could tell you who and what I owe. All this Morris guy would have to do is walk in there and start talking to someone.”
“In your statement you said were paid 2,000. Was that enough to cover your debts?” Tony inquired.
Lewis nodded excitedly. “And then some. A few people let me pay off what I owed them by doing, umm, errands for them. So I was able to use what was left over for, umm, another kind of investment.”
Tony resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “I’m not interested in your other activities unless they somehow relate to Morris. I want to know the names of the people who you owed money to and how much, and any other information you have on them.”
Pushing a pad of paper and a pen towards Lewis, he continued, “You are going to write it all down. Then I am going to check out your story. If it checks out, then you may be lucky enough to get the normal slap on the wrist. If not, I’ll be back to discuss that accessory to murder charges.”
With that Tony got up and the interrogation room and Lewis, who had hastily begun to scribble down every bit of information he could think of.
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“That was...impressive,” Ziva said as she turned towards the other two agents in the observation room with her.
McGee nodded his head in agreement. “I’ve never seen Tony interrogate someone like that before. Usually he acts like a complete goof or something. That, that was something else.”
“Tony hasn’t been in much of a mood to goof around these past few days,” Gibbs pointed out. “And until this is solved, I doubt you will see or hear any kind of jokes coming from him.”
“Let’s just hope that what Lewis gives us is worth something,” Ziva said as she turned back to watch the man frantically writing things down.
“It will be,” Gibbs said with confidence. ‘It has to be,’ he thought to himself. He wasn’t sure how long Tony could go on before he snapped, chasing after someone who should have been caught the first time around.
Mentally shaking himself of those thoughts, Gibbs turned towards McGee and Ziva. “McGee, go find out what you can about Austin’s bar. Ziva, wait here for Lewis to finish. Take it down to Abby and have her help you sort through it all, see what useful information we can get out of him.”
He turned around and headed out the door, not bothering to see them both nod, as he knew both agents were eager to help Tony close this case.
He wasn’t surprised to not find Tony waiting outside of interrogation. McGee had been right when he had said that Tony’s usual method of interrogation was of a lighter mood, so when on the rare occasion that Tony shifted towards a more serious angle Gibbs became concerned. No matter what the case, Tony always tries to lighten things up, to keep the darkness of what people are capable of from eating him from the inside out. It was clear as glass to anyone at this point that this case had already begun to work its way into Tony, effecting him to the point that it was changing him.
Gibbs knew what it was like to have a case gnaw at you until you eat, lived and breathed it. He also knew what that could do to a person and he was damned if he was going to let it happen to Tony.
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The air inside had started to close in around Tony, so taking refuge outside on a bench was the logical thing to do. He sighed and closed his eyes, letting the surrounding noise of everyday life outside wash over him, letting it ground him. Tony was very aware of what had happened in interrogation, of how he had acted. While he had not crossed any lines or broken any laws, he knew he had acted out of character and that by now it had traveled down to Abby and Ducky.
It was also no surprise to him when he sensed someone approach him from behind. “Thought you would have been here sooner, Boss. Didn’t think I was that good at hiding from you,” Tony said with his eyes still closed.
“I had to make sure Ziva would restrain herself from going in to see Lewis before he was done,” Gibbs replied as he sat down beside the younger agent.
Tony allowed a little smirk at that. “She does seem to enjoy scaring people in interrogation to no end, doesn’t she?”
“Both her and McGee were also concerned about you,” Gibbs told him, not wanting to beat around the bush. “I had to make sure they didn’t come looking for you before I had a chance to talk with you.”
Tony opened his eyes and sat up a little straighter at that. Before he could even open his mouth to reply Gibbs interrupted him, “I swear, Dinozzo, if you utter the words ’I’m fine,’ or anything remotely similar to it I will head-slap you all the way down to Abby and let her lock you in her lab until you come to your senses.”
Tony’s eyes widened, but he wisely remained silent. Gibbs stared at him, almost daring him to protest that there was nothing wrong with him. Eventually Tony just sighed and looked away.
“She’s probably already planning to do that anyway, with or without your permission,” Tony said gloomily.
“Yeah, well she would be well within her rights to do so,” Gibbs said as he mirrored Tony’s position and turned to face the street.
Tony snorted at that. “And what about my rights? I have the right to work this case, whether I am fine or not, which I am.”
Tony startled at the head-smack that quickly followed. “I told you I would head-slap you. You only get one freebee before its Abby’s turn,” Gibbs warned him.
“So what is it you want me to say, exactly?” Tony said exasperated.
“The truth,” Gibbs stated simply.
Tony groaned. “That’s not as easy as it sounds.”
“You’re the one that’s making it difficult,” Gibbs pointed out.
“When is this going to be over with?” Tony asked suddenly, changing the pace of their conversation. Gibbs let it go, as he was secretly hitting Tony’s nerves to get him to this pace. “You know how people always say, ‘It’s been years, I can stand to wait a few more days’? Well, that is a bunch of bull. It’s killing me to wait even just another hour. And I know that logically we won’t get lucky like that, but I still hope that it will.”
“There’s nothing wrong with hoping for the best possible outcome,” Gibbs pointed out.
“But when its a useless kind of hope? Then what?” Tony questioned.
Gibbs resisted the urge to head-slap him again, knowing that they had moved beyond that form of communication in this conversation. “Then you keep hoping and you keep working until you catch the guy. And you let others share the weight of the case. You carry it by yourself you are going to sink faster than a bowling ball.”
Tony was quiet for a moment as he processed what Gibbs had just said. “Bowling ball, Boss?”
“I know what I said, Dinozzo.”
“Well, yeah, but, since when do use it in a sentence without Abby around?”
“I know how to bowl, I’m not that socially inept.”
Gibbs watched in amusement as Tony blinked back his surprise at his last statement. Their light banter was easy to fall into, despite the shadow of their current case.
“Never would have pictured you as a bowler, is all,” Tony said with a shrug.
“Stop acting like its your fault Morris is still out there and once this case is closed I’ll prove it to you,” Gibbs promised.
Tony stared at Gibbs as though he had lost his head. “You want to go bowling, with me?”
“Afraid you won’t be able to keep up?” Gibbs teased lightly, knowing the challenge would get Tony right where he wanted him to be.
“You do realize who you are talking to, right Gibbs? Sports Major here, there isn’t a sport that I can’t play well,” Tony responded easily to the challenge.
Gibbs nodded his head before standing up. “Good. Let’s get back to work. We will discuss terms later.”
He turned and started walking back to the office, leaving behind his bewildered Senior Field Agent.
“Terms? What terms? Boss! Hey, wait up!” Tony called out as he jogged to catch up to the man. The case was hardly forgotten, but the shadow of guilt had been pushed back to wherever it had come from, leaving behind only a determined investigator dead set on seeing justice finally served.
Chapter End Notes:
Author’s Note: WooHoo! Finally another chapter. I know some of you may have been worried that I abandoned this story, as some of your e-mails have stated. Sorry about the wait and all. I work 2 jobs, so I basically work 7 days a week. I’ve been trying to write some during my breaks when I can, which was where this chapter came from. Thank you all for your patience and I hope you continue to read my story despite the lack of frequent postings. Looking forward to reviews! Everyone have a Happy 4th of July!