Title: Red Peril 09/11
Author: Ceindreadh
Email: Ceindreadh@eircom.net
Genre (general, hetero or slash) : slash/action
Rating: T
Notes: Blame Matt from the NCISslash yahoo list for inspiring me to a rewrite on this part.
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. Meanwhile, the private detective who had been hired to set up the attack was getting ready to leave town, but not before blackmailing his client into funding his escape.
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Red turned back towards Harry, 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?"
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[9]
"Why'd you do it Jen?" Gibbs asked again as he sat across from her in the interrogation room. "What did Tony ever do to you to make you hire somebody to beat him up?"
"Really Jethro, I don't know what you're talking about," said Jenny, a forced smile on her face. "All this has been some sort of dreadful misunderstanding." She sat back in her chair, hoping that her smile masked the turmoil she was feeling. When the floodlights had gone on in the parking garage, Jenny had been sure that this was it. But she had almost breathed a sigh of relief when it had been Gibbs who had confronted her. The police might have been difficult, but Gibbs was different, and she was confident that she could talk her way out of any situation that he was in charge of. And of course she could do more than *talk* in an effort to convince him of her total innocence; that this was all a terrible misunderstanding. That was why she had refused Gibbs's offers of a lawyer. She didn't need anybody telling her what to do. She could get herself out of this situation...all she needed was a little time.
But time was the one thing that Gibbs wasn't going to allow Jenny Shepherd. Wilson had sung like a canary, confessing not only to the attack on Tony, but also to several other assaults and petty crimes over the previous few years. Not only had he named his accomplice in Tony's assault, but he'd given them the make and model of his car, as well as the full license plate. Gibbs had put a B.O.L.O. out immediately, but for now he was more interested in tracking down the man who'd set the whole thing up.
Abby had trawled through Wilson's phone records. She'd offered to hack into the phone company's database to make it easier trace the man who had phoned him to set up the attack, but Gibbs had stopped her.
"We're doing this by the book, Abby," he had said. "That means going through proper channels. No shortcuts. I don't want *any* mistakes."
"You got it Bossman."
And there had been no mistake. Most of the calls contacting Wilson and Andrews had been made from prepaid cell phones, impossible to trace. But there had been one call, perhaps the guy had forgotten which phone he was using, but he'd used a phone registered in his own name. Wilson had ID'ed the man, one Harry Caffrey, as the guy who'd hired him, and once the warrant came through, his ass was Gibbs's.
Gibbs had taken great pleasure in leading the interrogation. Only the thought of how it might damage the case against him prevented Gibbs from using his fist to wipe the smile off Caffrey's face.
"Don't know what you've got to smile about, Caffrey," Gibbs had growled. "We've got enough evidence to put you away for a long time." He paused only briefly before adding, "And you know what happens to ex-cops in jail."
Caffrey leaned back in his chair and smiled, "I guess right about now is where I cut a deal, hmm?"
Gibbs snorted in disbelief, "You expect me to make a deal with a scumbag like you?"
Caffrey shrugged, "That depends...on whether you want the person who set up this whole deal or not. Cause believe me, I know people, and this one...well lets just say that if you don't catch up with them...your Agent DiNozzo is gonna need to watch his back for a *very* long time."
It had gone against every instinct in Gibbs's gut to make a deal with the man, but there really wasn't any choice. Caffrey may have been scum, but he was hired scum, and the only way to assure Tony's safety - at least from *this* enemy - was to track them down.
So the deal had been made. Caffrey was guaranteed his jail time would be served in a minimum-security facility with low risk prisoners, and Gibbs got the name he'd been looking for.
"You have got to be kidding me," Gibbs had snapped when Caffrey had told him the name of his client. "You seriously expect me to believe that the Director of N.C.I.S. put a hit out on one of her own agents? Why the hell would she want to do that?"
Caffrey shrugged, "I don't ask too many questions. Figured she was an ex-girlfriend or something. I tell you, Fatal Attraction has a lot to answer for."
Gibbs still hadn't been convinced of Jen's guilt; sure that somebody was setting her up. He knew that she had sometimes worked outside of N.C.I.S. parameters, but this...this was impossible. There had to be another explanation.
But as he stood in the shadows in the parking garage and watched as Harry Caffrey confronted his client, Gibbs knew with a sinking sensation that it was no mistake...no set up...even with the scarf and glasses, he recognized Director Shepherd.
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"Really Jethro, I don't know what you're talking about," said Jenny, a forced smile on her face. "All this has been some sort of dreadful misunderstanding."
Gibbs slammed his fist on the table, "Misunderstanding? You hired a private investigator to follow Tony, then you had him beaten half to death. So far things are crystal clear, Jen."
"Is that what that man told you, Jethro? I should have known he'd try to blame me for whatever crimes *he* committed. I must congratulate you though on finding the person responsible for Tony's attack."
"You expect me to believe that you know nothing about it? That your meeting him in the parking garage and paying him off was just a coincidence?" Gibbs had seen some barefaced liars in his time. He knew that Jenny was well capable of twisting truths to suit her own ends, but her sheer arrogance in denying everything when she'd been caught red-handed, almost stunned him to silence...almost. "Why were you paying him off?"
"Blackmail," said Jenny, allowing her voice to shake slightly as if in an effort to gain Gibbs's sympathy. "He...he found out some things...things that I'd prefer not to have known...and he was blackmailing me...I swear Jethro, I swear that I didn't know he was behind Tony's attack. I can only believe he was setting me up as a scapegoat in case he got caught."
"You really expect me to believe *that*?"
"I don't know Jethro...but maybe a jury will prefer to believe the word of a Director of a Federal Agency, over that of an ex-cop who'd say anything to get his charges reduced." Her voice was smug now, sure that she was going to get away with it...and then she saw Gibbs smile and a chill went through her heart.
"You know Jen, I'm not really sure which I'm more pissed off about right now. That you hired somebody to beat up Tony..." Gibbs pulled a mini tape recorder out of his pocket and slammed it on the table, making Jenny jump. "...or that you conspired to commit a crime with somebody and *didn't* check him for wires. I thought I'd taught you better than that."
Jenny stared at the tape recorder as if it was a poisonous snake. "He...he taped me..." She looked at Gibbs, her eyes wide with fear. "Gibbs, I swear...it's not what it sounds like...I never wanted Tony badly hurt...I just...I just wanted to teach him a lesson...I told Caffrey to make sure his men didn't kill him...I swear it, I just wanted him hurt! If Caffrey's told you anything else, it's a lie!"
"Then why did you do it Jen?"
"Because of you, Jethro. Because if it wasn't for him, you and I could get back together again..."
Gibbs wasn't often lost for words when dealing with suspects, but this...this was not what he had expected, "What?"
"I knew there had to be a reason you turned me down," said Jenny, "What we had together...you wouldn't have said no unless there was somebody else...and then I saw the way you and DiNozzo look at each other." She almost spat the name out. "So I had him followed...all the way to your house...I *know* what you've been up to, Jethro, you and *him*...every Tuesday night...the two of you...carrying on a secret affair." She laughed scornfully, "I guess rule twelve only applies when you want it to!"
Gibbs shook his head, "Tony and I are not having an affair," he said, carefully.
"Don't lie to me," snapped Jenny. "I know what I saw. And believe me, once word gets out, there'll be plenty of people thinking I did you a favor by getting that little slut out of your life!"
"We're not in a relationship," continued Gibbs, as if Jenny hadn't spoken. "Tony comes over once a week...I'm teaching him about boats. He hooked up with this chick in a marina, wants to be able to impress her. I'm just giving him lessons so he won't make a complete ass of himself. Dammit Jen, I can't believe you did all this just because you were *jealous*!" Gibbs shook his head in disbelief, "You say you didn't want Tony killed, but what the hell were you trying to accomplish by having him beaten up...if we *had* been together, you think that him being in hospital would change anything?"
"No," spat Jenny, "But maybe you'd think twice about fucking him if the sight of him turned your stomach. I know what you people are like, a pretty face, that's all you care about. Well if Caffrey's men were any good, then DiNozzo won't be so pretty any more!" She laughed scornfully.
For the second time that day Gibbs wanted to wipe the smile off a suspects face. Again he struggled to control himself. "If you could think me that shallow...then you don't know me at all Jen. Somehow, I don't think you ever did."
Gibbs stood up and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "Stand up, Ms. Shepherd." He took a deep breath and continued, "I am arresting you for conspiracy to commit a felony assault on a Federal Agent. You have the right to remain silent..."
"What? But...it can't be...no, dammit Jethro, no!" Jenny started to panic as Gibbs came near her with the cuffs. "I'm the Director of N.C.I.S...you can't do this to me, I'm ordering you to release me at once!"
"Jen, you're already going to be charged with conspiracy...maybe even attempted murder," said Gibbs, as he snapped the cuffs on Jenny's wrists. "You want to add another felony to the list, be my guest."
"Just tell me why...why you turned me down, if it wasn't Tony...are you seeing somebody else? Please Jethro, you owe it to me...remember all the time we spent together?"
Gibbs glanced up at the two-way mirror on the wall. He knew that McGee and Ziva were watching, not to mention the sound tech guy. Taking a deep breath, he leaned in close to her.
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"What's he saying?" asked McGee. He turned to the tech and asked, "Can you raise the volume?"
"No," said Ziva, before the tech could do anything. "If Gibbs had wanted us to hear...he would have made sure that we could. His words are meant for the Director alone."
"Well she doesn't seem to like what she's hearing," observed McGee.
If Tony had been there, he would have probably commented on it being the understatement of the century. Gibbs would have glared, "Ya think?" Even as McGee and Ziva watched, Jenny started screaming wildly at Gibbs. In spite of the handcuffs, she launched herself at him, almost knocking him over.
It took Ziva and McGee to pull her away as she alternately cursed Gibbs and all his ancestors, and begged him to help her get out of this mess she was in. Finally they managed to subdue her.
"I want her processed immediately," snapped Gibbs. "Have legal send down somebody to get her confession drawn up and signed. No short cuts, I want everything done properly." He looked Jen square in the eye, "By the book, Director Shepherd...we don't want the perp getting off on a technicality now, do we?"
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To be continued
Ceindreadh
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs has found the person responsible for Tony's attack, but still doesn't know why they did it.