On his way to the break room, Gibbs heard one of the cops comment that while he was sorry Lundy had been hurt, he was damn glad the man wouldn’t be making the coffee for awhile. Gibbs smirked. He’d forgotten that Lundy liked his coffee the way Gibbs liked his"very strong, black and bitter.
The coffee he found wasn’t quite what he’d have preferred, which explained the cop’s comment, but at least it wasn’t some flavored, frou-frou crap. It was hot and black. That would do.
Gibbs took his coffee with him to a quiet spot he’d found earlier. He hit four on his speed dial for Abby. Even though Tony wasn’t on the team any more, his number was still first. Gibbs had updated Tony’s cell phone number, but he never bothered to change the order. McGee was number two. Ziva was three. Ducky was five. Shepard was six. After Tony had left, Gibbs considered erasing Shepard’s number, but she was still his boss, and the demands of the job eliminated that small defiance as a viable option.
He waited impatiently for Abby to answer. Regardless of what hospital rules had to say about cell phones, she knew better than to turn hers off. Always be reachable was a rule no one on his team was allowed to overlook.
“Hello?”
“What have you got for me, Abs?”
“I didn’t expect hacking into NCIS personnel medical files to be quite so difficult, Gibbs. It’s not the Pentagon or the State Department. Not that our stuff isn’t important, and I know we’re military, well more like military light, but medical files aren’t super secret or anything. Not really. The security didn’t need multilevel encryptions, but I’ll admit I feel safer knowing my own file would be just as hard to"“
“Abby.” Gibbs ground out, cutting off her rambling. “Did you crack it or not?”
“Of course, I cracked it.” Abby huffed, sounding indignant. “I am more than a match for some unimaginative drone in the cyber squad.”
“I won’t tell McGee you said that.” Gibbs smiled. McGee might have ended up in the cyber squad if Gibbs hadn’t picked him up for his team and there were times Gibbs suspected the younger agent wished he hadn’t secured a field agent position.
“Shame on you, Gibbs. McGee isn’t drone material. He’d be their king if he had to work in cyber crimes. And I can personally attest to the fact he’s not unimaginative.”
Her throaty chuckle was warm and told Gibbs far more than he wanted it to. Gibbs shook his head, dispelling the images that tried to surface. Whatever they might have done while they were dating definitely wasn’t something he wanted or needed to know.
“What did you find?” Gibbs asked, making her focus on the issue at hand.
“The Director’s annual physical turned up something hinky. Nothing specified, at least not as an official diagnosis. But her doctor referred her to a specialist for more tests. From there, NCIS has no more record. Nada. Zilch. Which is odd. There should have been more of a paper trail for the referral, a follow up visit, something. The Director should have submitted paperwork to get reimbursed from our insurance provider for the tests she had done if nothing else.”
Abby’s voice faded for a moment and Gibbs got the impression she was double checking information on her laptop or something she’d written down. “I traced the specialist looking for more info. That was a piece of cake, by the way. Didn’t even have to break a sweat on that one.”
Gibbs smiled, mildly amused at the pride he could hear in her tone. “And?”
Abby cleared her throat. “What you said Joe guessed about Shepard…that she doesn’t have much time…well, he was right. Depending on what stage she’s in, she’d have had two years at most from when the diagnosis was made. Based on what I found, I’d say she has less than that.”
Gibbs bit back a curse. He’d hoped LaFiamma had been wrong. As much as he hated Shepard for what he knew she’d done, he hadn’t wanted her dead.
“What’s wrong with her, Abbs?”
“The specialist she was referred to…it was an oncologist, Gibbs. He confirmed what her regular doctor seems to have suspected.”
“Which was?” Gibbs bit out impatiently.
Abby rattled off something multi-syllabic that sounded like either Greek or Latin. Gibbs rolled his eyes. Did she really think he’d understand that?
“English, please.”
“It’s a rare form of cancer, Bossman. It attacks the connective tissue in the joints and causes irreparable damage to several major organs, notably the pancreas, liver and kidneys.”
Gibbs ignored the regret and sympathy in Abby’s voice. He was capable of feeling sympathy for Shepard too, but her having a death sentence didn’t give her carte blanche to do whatever the hell she wanted
“There is no treatment?”
“There isn’t any effective treatment. Chemo isn’t an option, and organ transplants might work but they don’t like to do multiple transplants on one patient, especially not when the cause for the initial failure is likely to reoccur. Liver and kidneys tend to fail first. Once the pancreas goes, it’s game over. The best they have is to simply delay the inevitable for as long as possible.”
Abby sighed. “There are some experimental drug options that are showing promise. But most of them aren’t covered by insurance.”
Gibbs eyes narrowed. Most? That meant there were some that did.
“Jenny submit a request?”
“No, she didn’t.”
“You’re sure?”
“I checked. Twice. She never filed anything with our insurance.”
Gibbs sipped his coffee. If Shepard had filed any sort of claim, her illness could have become, if not common knowledge, at least more widely known. With the sort of time frame Abby had mentioned, the SecNav would probably have relieved Shepard of duty, and started scoping out a replacement. The rumor mill would have caught on that something was wrong and it would have spread like wildfire.
“Is the specialist she saw even offering one of those experimental options?” It was possible Shepard didn’t know it was available. That would also explain the lack of an insurance claim.
“The fact that he’s trying to secure more funding for research is one of the reasons he was recommended.” Gibbs heard keys clicking. “The Director agreed to participate in a drug trial, but the money available is limited. What I found in the doctor’s files indicates she agreed to cover half the cost. I can’t really trace the money directly back to her, but after each scheduled appointment, a sizeable amount of money was transferred from an off shore account into the doctor’s account in DC.”
“How sizeable?”
Abby told him the amount. Gibbs did the math, matching the numbers with the total McGee had found for what was moving in and out of DiNardo’s account.
“What’s the account number?” Gibbs committed it to memory as Abby rattled it off. He’d need McGee to confirm but Gibbs didn’t have any doubts that once he picked through the complex transactions executed to hide where the money had gone, the account number Abby found would be where the money went.
Gibbs cursed silently. Shepard was siphoning money from somewhere to pay for her treatment"and it had to be illegal. If it were her money, there would be no need to go through DiNardo’s account or transfer it several times to hide the origin and ultimate destination.
They weren’t looking at just murder, conspiracy and possibly treason, now there might be embezzlement to consider or Shepard could have accepted money from the likes of Nunes. Gibbs sighed. At least the money he understood. People did a lot of things they otherwise wouldn’t when it came to survival. Knowing her insurance wouldn’t cover the cost of an experimental treatment, and staring a death sentence in the face, Gibbs didn’t blame Shepard for being a little desperate. But he didn’t and wouldn’t condone anything she’d done.
“That’s good work, Abby.”
“Thanks, Gibbs.”
He could hear her smile. He never got tired of knowing how little it took to make her happy.
“How’s Tony?” Gibbs asked. It was what he’d wanted to ask immediately, but the case came first.
“They made him do some sort of breathing exercise. He had to blow into a tube and then inhale really hard. It made him cough.” There was a wealth of indignation and anger in her voice. “It hurt him to do that.”
Gibbs remembered watching Tony go through similar exercises when recovering from the plague. Knowing the deep breathing was necessary to ensure his recovery didn’t make seeing how much it hurt, how much it exhausted him, any easier to tolerate.
“Ducky says it will help, but I don’t like seeing him in pain. It just seems cruel.”
“I know, Abby.” Gibbs didn’t like it either.
“He wasn’t awake long after they made him do that, but we got to talk for a little bit. It’s so good to be able to do that face to face. I mean, IM is nice but it’s not the same.”
Again he could hear her smiling, and was glad she sounded happy again. He was tempted to ask what they talked about but reined it in. If Abby wanted him to know, she’d tell him.
“LaFiamma treating you okay?” Gibbs asked instead.
“Joe’s a good guy.” Abby asserted with more confidence and enthusiasm than Gibbs expected. “I mean, he didn’t make a great first impression. But I can’t really blame him for thinking the worst of us and treating us accordingly. We let Tony down.” That admission was said so softly Gibbs nearly missed it. Abby sighed, volume once more returning to normal. “In hindsight, I should have expected Joe to be hostile especially since he’s really protective and Tony was being accused of murder at the time.”
Her easy forgiveness never failed to amaze Gibbs.
“I know I didn’t really make a good first impression either. Tony explained about how the pictures of him all over the wall freaked Joe out. I can see how it would, what with him having had a stalker of his own to contend with.”
Gibbs eyebrows rose. LaFiamma had a stalker? Why did Tony not mention that to him?
“I know Tony’s told him that things are good between us, but this is the first time Joe’s had a chance to see it for himself. Not really a big surprise he’d give us the hairy eyeball treatment at first.”
‘Hairy eyeball’…Gibbs didn’t know what the hell that meant, and he wasn’t about to ask.
“He’s been really nice to me and Ducky. Levon’s been nice too. He even listened to Ducky’s stories.” There was genuine amazement in her tone. “I mean, I know the Duckman tells good stories, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy listening to him too, but sometimes they get a little long winded.”
Gibbs smiled. That was one hell of an understatement.
“I thought at one point Levon had fallen asleep which would have been totally understandable. He’s got a serious injury of his own to heal from so getting plenty of rest is just what the doctor ordered. His eyes were closed and he wasn’t moving, but when Ducky stopped talking, he asked him why he stopped and what happened next.”
Lundy had surprised Gibbs several times the same way. The man was more stealthy than he’d expect from a quintessential cowboy. Given what Tony had told him about Lundy’s shooting ability, the man would have made a top notch sniper.
“Do you need anything, Abby?”
“I could do with a Caf-Pow, but I don’t think you could get that here.” She sighed heavily, sounding disappointed. “Joe got me a couple of Red Bulls. They aren’t quite as good but they’ll do in a pinch, so I’m set.”
“What about Ducky?”
“Joe found tea for him. I’m not sure where he got it, but he managed to find the loose leaf stuff that Ducky likes. He got him a real cup too.”
Ducky often made comments on the lack of truly good tea to be had. He imported his own, and refused to drink out of Styrofoam or cardboard if there was another option available. ‘Hot beverages are best when sipped from a proper cup’ he’d told Gibbs countless times.
Gibbs never had the time or patience to bother with tea. Abby professed not to care for it, saying she liked the ice and bubbles in her Caf-Pow better. McGee hadn’t really bothered with caffeinated drinks until he started working for Gibbs. The former Marine didn’t know if McGee actually liked coffee or if it had simply become a default option for him. Gibbs knew Ziva liked tea. She preferred the loose tea blends the same as Ducky, and had mentioned finding the ritual of making a good pot of tea comforting.
Tony’s coffee was usually some flavored mix, so light and sweet as it qualified more as a dessert than a drink in Gibbs’ opinion. He knew Tony used to visit Ducky in the morgue in the afternoon whenever possible, although, Gibbs suspected those visits likely had more to do with the shortbread cookies Ducky served than the quality of the beverage to be had. They’d become good friends as a result, so it hadn’t been as much of a waste of time as Gibbs originally considered it to be.
“How are things there?” Abby asked, interrupting Gibbs’ thoughts.
Back in DC Gibbs would have simply hung up. But after arguing with LaFiamma about keeping Ziva in the dark, he wasn’t going to be a hypocrite and exclude Abby and Ducky simply because he wasn’t in the habit of explaining himself. He’d told LaFiamma they were a team, and he meant it.
“Dewing and her team have found Nunes. They’re bringing him in.”
“When?”
“Now.”
“You called me from the car?” Abby sounded confused. “I don’t hear any road noise, which I guess would make sense if you aren’t driving. No honking horns or squealing breaks"“
“I’m not in the car, Abby. I’m at the station.”
“You didn’t go along to bust this asshole? Why not?”
Gibbs told her, explaining Dewing’s reasoning and why he agreed with it.
“Tony told me she was more than just a pretty face.” Abby sounded impressed.
He’d said the same thing to Gibbs during one of their weekly phone calls, but Gibbs had attributed Tony’s admiration more to her looks than her ability. He should have known better. Tony might have had a roving eye and an appreciation for the female form, but he’d never rated his coworkers solely on their appearance. And Gibbs had met her before; he knew there was more to Carol Dewing than supermodel good looks.
“What are you and McGee doing besides waiting for them to get back with Nunes?”
Gibbs filled her in on what McGee had found. She was quick to make the same connection Gibbs had on the money moving in and out of DiNardo’s account.
“Tell him to call me if he needs help.”
“I will.”
“What about Ziva?”
“I’m going to see her after I’m done talking to you and find out what she’s got for me.”
Gibbs was hoping she’d found something more concrete on where the explosives had come from and how they’d gotten to Houston. The CIA had to be involved, so Ziva’s contacts were their best bet of getting anything at all to work with. Sometimes it paid to have a former spy on the team.
Gibbs would like for anything Ziva found not to lead back directly to Shepard, not wanting her to have actually sunk so low as to be affiliated with selling US weapons, but he wasn’t holding out a lot of hope. If they could prove she’d been in contact with Nunes via the burn phones, and that she had been working with the CIA to eliminate Kort as LaFiamma suggested, it was probable she’d been involved with every other step along the way---including securing the ordinance Kort was trying to sell to Nunes.
Gibbs sighed. It was days like this that made him think staying in Mexico might have been a better option. But if he’d never gone to Mexico maybe none of this would have happened at all.
“When will you be coming back here?”
“Just as soon as I can, Abs.”
“Good. Tony will want to know what he gave you was helpful. And I know he’d rather hear an ‘atta boy’ from you than get it second hand from me.”
“I know, Abby.”
Gibbs hadn’t appreciated what the younger man’s efforts and ability before, but he certainly did now that he was having to do without him. Letting him know now was a little too late, but Ducky was fond of telling him ‘better late than never’. And Gibbs took heart from the fact that his opinion still mattered to Tony. Maybe not as much as it once had, but if his saying ‘good job’ was enough to help their relationship continue to grow and improve, Gibbs was more than willing to give Tony a well deserved ego stroke.
“I’ll call you in two hours for an update if I can’t get away before then.”
“Roger, Boss.”
Gibbs ended the call with a smile, certain that Abby had just tossed off a sloppy salute with the wrong hand. He sipped his coffee and went to find Ziva. He was sure she’d have something to tell him he’d rather not hear.
Like it or not, he was determined to see things through and do it the right way. Shepard had gotten a pass once; it was the only option at the time if they were going to keep the team safe. Now Gibbs needed to take her down and put a stop to her crazy shit once and for all. He owed it to Tony…he owed it to his team…and he owed it to himself.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs talks to Abby, and more pieces of the puzzle come together.