Title: Red Peril 08
Author: Ceindreadh
Email: Ceindreadh@eircom.net
Genre (general, hetero or slash) : slash/action
Rating: T
Disclaimer. I don't own the NCIS characters, I'm only borrowing them, and I promise to return them in minty fresh condition when I'm finished.
Previously on NCIS
Some goons were hired to attack Tony. McGee managed to scare them off, shooting one of them, but the police suspected him of being involved. Gibbs and his team worked their hardest to find the people responsible and finally caught up with the man McGee had shot. Gibbs - although doing everything by the book - still managed to manipulate their suspect into admitting his culpability.
--------------------------
[8]
Harry Caffrey was not the type of guy to worry easily. A cop before he'd turned private detective, he'd been in his share of bad situations and usually managed to finagle his way out of them. But this situation was getting badder by the hour. Bad enough that the guy he'd been hired to 'take care of' had turned out to be a Federal Agent, bad enough that the guys he'd hired had ended up caught in the act, but now one of them was in custody and Harry knew it was only a matter of time before his own neck was on the block.
Harry had been listening to his Police Scanner the night of the attack. He always did on nights when he knew something was going down. The old adage, 'no news is good news' was well suited to nights like that. Unfortunately, that night, there had been plenty of news, and none of it good.
Wilson and Andrews had contacted him earlier that evening. They'd followed their target to an apartment block, but according to Andrews, "He wasn't dressed for staying inside". Harry had given them the nod to go head with their plan if their target emerged alone.
The next thing Harry knew, he was picking up a call on the scanner about shots being fired at that address, and he groaned inwardly at the thought that things had gone sour. "You weren't supposed to use guns," he swore under his breath. Things went from bad to worse when he'd heard an officer call in that he'd arrested a suspect, and when he added that the victim was an N.C.I.S. agent, Harry knew that he was going to have to do a lot of maneuvering to get himself out of *this* mess.
"I shoulda never taken that bitch as a client," he told himself, even as he tried to make contact with his men. "More trouble than she's worth."
Harry only calmed down somewhat when he realized that he had underestimated Wilson and Andrews and that neither of them had been caught.
"We called 911 and told them some other guy had done it," said Andrews, laughing as he sped through the streets. "By the time the cops figure out he's just some dumb schmuck trying to play hero, we'll be long gone." His voice had taken on a nasty tone. "Just as soon as we get the rest of our payment...and maybe a little extra, compensation for pain and suffering."
Harry had been tempted to tell them to go to hell; that they didn't deserve anything extra for screwing up like that. But pissing off people who's business was inflicting pain on other people, was not exactly sound business practice, so Harry held his tongue and promised them a little extra...on the condition that they got the hell out of the city until things had calmed down.
Unfortunately N.C.I.S. moved faster than Wilson did, and arrested him as he was packing up. Andrews had been on his way back with the cash when he'd seen a couple of agents drag Wilson away. He contacted Harry to update him on the situation, "Wilson won't talk," he told Harry. "But if they tracked him down, then you and me are next on the list and I ain't waiting around for that to happen."
Harry wasn't planning on it either. Only problem was, after paying off Wilson and Andrews, his cash flow situation was just a little stretched. Still, his guys weren't the only ones who could renegotiate their fees midway through a job.
Pulling out his cell phone, Harry placed a call. "Hello there...Red."
"Who...what...how did you get this number?"
Harry smiled to himself. When Red had first hired him, she'd insisted on absolute secrecy, refusing to give him her real name. The only way she allowed him to contact her was through a disposable cell phone that she'd given him the number to. But the number Harry had dialed was to her personal phone.
"I'm a Detective, sweetheart. Finding out things about people is what I do for a living. You should really have parked further away when you met me. It's amazing the things you can find out when you have a contact at the D.M.V. Things like a person's real name, Ms..."
"Shut up!" snapped Red. "What the hell do you want? Your *men* screwed things up completely."
"Well maybe you should have mentioned that Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo had friends with guns. Hell, you should have told me he was a Federal Agent in the first place."
"Why? Would you have turned me down?"
"Maybe...maybe not...but I sure as hell would have charged double. And speaking of which..."
"You're not getting a cent more out of me," said Red, angrily. "I don't ever want to hear from you again."
"Well, now see, I think we may have a problem with that," said Harry, carefully. "See, I have a sneaking suspicion that Washington isn't going to be too healthy a place for me for the next few weeks or so. So I thought I might have myself a nice long vacation, where I can forget all the names of the clients who've hired me recently. Trouble is, those sort of vacations don't come cheap..."
"Bastard! This is blackmail!"
Harry shrugged, "Call it what you like, but it's better than being brought up on a charge of conspiracy to commit assault on a Fed. You give me the money you owe me...and the same again...and I go away and forget I ever met you, Ms..."
"Okay, fine, you win." There was a pause on the end of the line, "It'll take me time to get the money together."
"Don't take too long," said Harry. "Cause if the Feds catch up with me before you do, I'll sing like a canary if it gets them off my back!" He hung up and took a long nervous drag on his cigarette. Man, that bitch was cold. "The sooner I get my money and away from her, the happier I'll be," he told himself.
---------------------------------
Red hurried along the levels of the parking garage to the meeting point. As usual she'd parked a few levels away, not that there was much point in trying to hide...not now that that bastard Caffrey knew who she was. It had taken her most of the day to put together enough money to pay him off, and she only hoped that it would satisfy him. But just in case he had any ideas about blackmail, Red also had a loaded gun in her purse.
"You're late," said Caffrey as he stepped out from behind a pillar. "I was beginning to think you were gonna stand me up or something. Hell, I almost had a call in to the cops to tell them all about how you hired me to beat up on that DiNozzo character."
"I'm here now," snapped Red. "Look, just take the money and get the hell out of here. I never want to see you again in my life." She thrust the briefcase full of money at him.
"Trust me, the feeling's mutual." Caffrey took the briefcase and clicked it open. He quickly counted the money, nodding in approval once he knew he hadn't been short-changed. "Looks like you were smart enough not to stiff me, Red. It's a pleasure doing business with you."
"It'll be the last time. If I ever hear from you again..."
"You'll what, hire some guy to do to me what my guys did to DiNozzo for you?"
"If that's what it takes."
"Well, it looks like our business has concluded," Caffrey snapped the briefcase shut as Red started to walk away. "Oh yeah, there's just one more thing."
Red turned back towards him, and was nearly blinded as a set of floodlights aimed at her were suddenly switched on. She blinked as she saw a man step out from behind a pillar.
"Just one more thing," said Gibbs. "Why'd you do it, Jen?"
------------------------
To be continued
Ceindreadh
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs and his team are closing in, but will their quarry escape them?