Chapter 15:
There were three men that Morgan Lewis had owed money to, Luke Banks, Earl Levin and Brent Flacker. The bartender of Austin’s, Dean Wilcox, was also on the list that Lewis had written out, along with dozens of other names that Ziva and Abby reasoned to be the bar regulars. While it was good to have their names, they were more focused on the ‘hotspots’ of the list, as Abby liked to call them.
“Please, please let one of these guys give us what we need,” Abby said with her fingers crossed as she waited for her computer to pull up any information on the men.
“Does it help?” Ziva asked. At Abby’s questioning look, she pointed at her hands. “Crossing your fingers, does it help?”
“It certainly couldn’t hurt,” Abby said as she watched Ziva cross her own.
Ziva sighed. “We need to have something soon, Abby. I am not sure how much farther Tony can be pushed.”
Abby smiled encouragingly.”Gibbs won’t let things go too far.”
Ziva wasn’t sure. “Gibbs let Tony interrogate Lewis, you should watch the tape. I have never seen him appear so threatening to a suspect during questioning.”
“What happened when he was done?” Abby inquired.
Ziva shrugged. “I am not sure. He didn’t stick around to chat.”
“And where is Gibbs?” Abby questioned.
“He vanished as well, perhaps to go talk to the director?” Ziva replied, uncertain.
Abby shook her head and gave a knowing smile. “Gibbs went to talk to Tony somewhere without an audience and make sure his head is on straight. I checked with security. Right before Tony started on Lewis, Gibbs temporarily lifted the house arrest. He knew Tony would need some space.”
Ziva gave her an inquisitive look. “I know Gibbs would help any one of us through something like this, but it’s different with the two of them. Why? Is there more that they aren’t telling us?”
“We told you everything you need to know in order to solve the case,” Abby stated cryptically as she looked at her computer, avoiding eye contact with Ziva.
“That is not what I asked,” Ziva said as she turned to face Abby fully. “What else happened?”
Abby heaved a sigh before answering. “Well, Tony went through a lot, I mean he was in the hospital, then getting out of the hospital, packing up and moving here, starting a new job, all while dealing with the fact that his partner, someone he was supposed to be able to trust, had left him to die. It was a lot to deal with all at once. Gibbs really helped him pull through. There were moments where Ducky and I wondered what would happen, but Gibbs and his gut seemed to know.”
Ziva nodded her head in understanding. “Having support like that, Gibbs earned Tony’s trust and respect in full.”
“Exactly,” Abby said. “I don’t know the full story of what went down part of the time during those first couple of months, not sure Ducky knows either, but I think that is something that should stay between the two of them.”
“Of course,” Ziva agreed. “But it is nice to know that someone has a handle on what is going on inside Tony’s head.”
“No kidding,” Abby said as the profiles came up. “Now let’s see what we’ve got here.”
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On the surface Austin’s bar appeared to be just that, a bar. But not all is at it appears to be, especially on the surface. McGee let his instincts take over; letting his fingers work to find out the information that made Austin’s of such an interest to Morgan Lewis.
For the local Leo’s it was considered to be a regular hotspot for all sorts of criminal activity, ranging from gambling to drug trafficking. A lot of people had been arrested over the years for minor charges but that never stopped them from returning to the bar. Unfortunately no one had ever obtained enough evidence to effectively close the place down permanently, either. For Morris this was the perfect place to find someone gullible enough to sell him their id.
According to the files McGee was reading, the majority of the ‘leaders’ were very generous in methods of payment to those that were in debt to them. From a business stand-point it was actually kind of smart. Having people work for you to pay off their debts so you didn’t have to worry about a salary for someone else. Plus, if that person continued to use their ‘services’, their bill would continue to go up, forcing them to work the odd job here and there to pay it off.
Anyone could easily find out about how people at Austin’s bar operated, and for someone like Morris there would be no problems in finding out about the bar and its location.
McGee sighed to himself. His research hadn’t given them a lead of any sort and he wasn’t ready to report to Gibbs that he had nothing to offer that would bring them closer to Morris.
The only thing he could say with certainty was that there were several security and traffic cameras that had good angles on the bar. While Tony had said that you didn’t see the guy unless he wanted to be seen, McGee had to wonder.
By now, it was obvious who it was that was playing with them. So would there be a reason to hide? Perhaps Morris would taunt them more by allowing himself to be caught on camera, and by doing so inadvertently give something else away, something that could enable the team to end this nightmare once and for all.
McGee got up and headed for the elevator, hoping to find the rest of the team in Abby’s lab, eager to see if anything else had turned up.
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“Well, it’s not much, but it is a start,” Abby said.
“What’s not much?” McGee asked as he entered the lab.
“No one has ever had enough to charge these men with anything, they are slinky clean,” Ziva told him.
“Squeaky clean,” Abby and McGee corrected her.
Ziva let out a huff of air. “Whatever. The point is that they will have no reason to talk to us.”
“There are security and traffic cameras that have a decent view of the bar,” McGee said. “If I can catch him entering the bar, maybe we can use that to threaten to charge them with accessory to murder.”
“Might as well give it a shot,” Abby agreed.
“He has managed to avoid cameras so far; don’t you think he would continue to do so?” Ziva pointed out.
“Maybe, maybe not,” McGee shrugged. “There aren’t a lot of suspects to consider, so what would be the point in avoiding cameras now?”
“It’s all a game to him, Probie,” Tony said as he and Gibbs joined the team. “He may avoid cameras merely out of habit.”
“Or he’s taunting you,” McGee pointed out.
“At this point anything is possible,” Tony agreed.
“That’s not a comforting thought,” Abby stated.
“Are these guys at the bar now?” Gibbs questioned, not liking the idea of Tony being targeted by a killer for any reason, game or otherwise.
“Most likely,” Ziva said. “I cannot imagine them not wanting to oversee their source of income.”
Nodding his head in agreement, Gibbs gave out his instructions. “Ziva, you’re with me. DiNozzo, McGee, get any footage you can from all of the cameras in that area.”
“On it, Boss,” Tony acknowledged as he and the rest of the team followed Gibbs towards the elevator.
“Somebody bring me back a Caff-Pow!” Abby called out after them. “I’m gonna need fuel!”
Chapter End Notes:
Ok wow, I have not realized how much time has gone by since I have last posted. Really sorry about that, been a lot going on. But I am getting back in the swing of things. I know this chapter is kinda short, but I wanted to post something to let you all know that I haven’t forgotten about this story. I have part of next chapter already in the works, rest assured. Thanks for continuing to read to those that do!