Gibbs liked heights, he always had. His fondness for them was one reason the platform outside the Director's office and MTAC so appealing. Another was the fact that it simply made for an ideal observation point. From it, he could see the entire bullpen below. He could watch agents coming and going, busy with whatever case they were working on. The locked door behind him would announce anyone coming up behind him, making Gibbs feel secure enough to relax as he watched the bustle of activity going on below.
At the moment, Gibbs' focus was mainly on the elevator. He'd told Tony he wanted him and Ziva back at the office in three hours, and that time was nearly up. He eyed the clock on the wall, debating if he should call Tony or wait another fifteen minutes. It wasn't like the younger man was late...yet.
Gibbs sipped the last of his coffee. It was too soon for another cup, but he wanted one anyway. Gibbs glared at the elevator doors. He wasn't going anywhere until he saw Tony was back in the building.
Gibbs told himself he wasn't really worried. There was no reason to be. Well, other than the obvious fact that Tony was out in the field without Gibbs. It wasn't like something bad always happened when Tony went anywhere without Gibbs...it just seemed more likely. Gibbs sighed. He'd been in contact so Gibbs knew the younger man was fine when they last spoke; no crazy killer waitresses, no bottle wielding bitches, no gun toting nut cases, or knife waving maniacs. Just the every day, ordinary, follow through of an investigation.
Gibbs knew Tony had spoken to McGee just over an hour ago. The name and bank information Tony gave McGee were things the computer savvy junior agent could easily research while working on getting everything Warren had worked in the past year. Gibbs was proud of how well his people multi-tasked and they were smart enough to communicate not just with him but also each other. They should be able to depend on their teammates, trust them they same way they trusted him.
From where he stood it was impossible to hear the elevator ding, but he could see the light flash above the door indicating the car had arrived. Gibbs eyed Tony as he strolled out, studying him carefully, relaxing when it was apparent Tony was as healthy and whole as he'd been when he left. The younger man was moving easily, clearly teasing Ziva about something as he shrugged out of his heavy coat before placing his badge and gun in the top drawer of his desk.
Gibbs grinned when he spotted the beverage container in Ziva's hand. Looks like I won't have to go anywhere for my next cup of coffee, Gibbs thought cheerfully. He rearranged his face into his usual almost pissed off expression as he headed down the stairs. It wouldn't do for Ziva to think bearing gifts could guarantee he would be any easier to deal with. Would set a bad precedent. Bribery was no substitute for solid results.
He waited until Ziva's back was turned as she began removing her hat and coat before he tossed his empty cup into her garbage can knowing the action would startle her. He ignored the dark look Ziva shot him and her aborted move to pull a weapon. Gibbs just helped himself to a cup of coffee. He sniffed it discretely, making sure he didn't grab something with sugar and cream added. He considered it damn near sacrilegious to dilute good, black coffee that way. And no amount of argument from Tony would change his mind.
"What do we have people?" Gibbs asked.
"Someone definitely forced their way into Warren's apartment," Ziva said. "But the only thing taken, so far as we could tell, was his computer. Nothing else seemed to be missing or out of place."
"And he definitely had a lot of stuff worth taking," Tony added.
"Oh?" Gibbs raised an eyebrow.
"His taste in clothing rivaled, Tony's." Ziva smirked. "He was jealous."
"No, I was envious." Tony's green eyes twinkled. "There is a difference."
Ziva snorted. "Semantics."
"Semantics are important," Gibbs said just loud enough for Tony to hear, making eye contact, catching his lover's quicksilver grin.
"Besides a killer wardrobe," Tony said, "Warren has some very nice jewelry, a very expensive TV and one hell of a stereo system. Anyone just looking to rob the place would have taken that."
Tony grabbed a cup of what Gibbs suspected was not coffee but hot chocolate from the carrier on Ziva's desk. The younger man preferred the sweeter, richer beverage. Gibbs knew Tony wouldn't be looking for coffee until later in the day when a night without sleep caught up with him.
Tony casually offered another cup to McGee. "The clothes on the body we found don't match anything we saw at Warren's place."
"Doesn't prove it wasn't Warren. Maybe he was slumming," McGee took the cup, nodding his thanks to Tony.
"Could be." Ziva shrugged one shoulder. "Would help if we knew where he was when he got killed."
"Ya think?" Gibbs gave her a hard look. That was a missing detail they already were aware of. Saying it aloud didn't exactly move the case along.
"His CO told us Warren was competent if not exactly brilliant at his job." Tony said, drawing Gibbs' attention back to him. "Coworkers all said he was quiet, kept to himself. Never caused any trouble or did anything to really get attention. Basic worker bee."
"Then how did he afford the things you found at his place?"
"I think I might have an explanation for that, Boss."
Gibbs' eyes narrowed at he looked at McGee. He didn't sound all that confident. "You don't know, McGee?"
"Ah...No, Boss...that is not for sure." McGee swallowed nervously. "I mean, I'm good with numbers, but it would take a forensic accountant to figure out exactly how Warren was manipulating his figures. All I can say for sure, at this point, is that the accounts Warren was working on don't add up the way they should. I can't really prove he was stealing. And I couldn't even track how much money was missing...at least I couldn't until Tony gave me Earl Kinsac's name and bank account number."
"Partner in crime?" Tony asked.
"Or an alias?" Ziva countered.
"Patriot Act requires banks to keep proof of identity on file." McGee hit the control for the plasma screen display. Next to Warren's military ID was what looked like a scanned driver's license for Earl Kinsac. There were similarities between the men depicted, but they were obviously not the same people.
"Not an alias then."
"But I don't think he's involved with Warren either, Boss." McGee hit the control again. A mug shot of Kinsac appeared next. "For the last five years, he was serving time Georgia for statutory rape. Only got out three weeks ago."
"Maybe he and Warren knew each other before he went to prison." Ziva suggested.
"Might have." McGee shrugged. "Kinsac opened the account before he went to prison, but until two years ago there was little activity."
"And in the last two years?" Tony asked, frowning at the screen.
"Regular monthly wire deposits were made, and then withdrawn in cash a few days later. No link back to Warren or Kinsac that I've been able to find. All the amounts were under the required reporting limit. Never enough to warrant a suspicious activity report or notification to the IRS."
"How much did he steal?" Gibbs demanded.
"I don't know." McGee winced, fidgeting under the force of Gibbs gaze. "It looks like just under a million dollars..so far."
Given how much Warren might have had access to of the Navy's budget, that wasn't actually as large as it could have been. Spreading it out over two years was probably why no one had noticed sooner.
"Ziva?"
"Check with the prison and find out if Kinsac had any visitors or mail in the last two years that might link him to Warren."
"And see if you can establish if they knew one another before Kinsac's arrest or Warren's enlistment," Gibbs added for good measure. "McGee?"
"I'll keep working on the financial records."
"Get help if you need it." Gibbs ordered. "Agent Lee might be able to figure out some of that. She seems good with numbers." As anal as she was about legal things, Gibbs figured she was a good choice.
"DiNozzo, you're with me."
"On your six, Boss." Tony left his cup on his desk, following closely behind Gibbs.
It wasn't until they were in the elevator that Tony asked, "Where are we going?"
"To see what Abby's got."
Tony gave him a sly look. "You don't need me along for that."
"No, I don't need you along for that." Gibbs agreed, reaching for the emergency stop button. "I want you along." He turned, pushing Tony back against the wall, leaning in to hold him there while he cupped Tony's face with one hand.
This was probably a mistake. It was a violation of their 'no messing around at work' edict they both felt was necessary. But at the moment, Gibbs didn't care.
"Missed you," he whispered before capturing Tony's mouth in a hard, passionate kiss. He loved the way Tony let him take control without just passively submitting. Tony was always an active participant. His tongue welcoming Gibbs' warmly in, teasing, tasting, massaging.
Gibbs reveled in the rich taste of chocolate that overlaid the essential flavor of Tony's mouth. Combined with the coffee he'd just had, it was an intoxicating mocha combination. Rich, heady and so very satisfying.
Gibbs reluctantly pulled back, forcing himself to step away. If they kept going, it wouldn't take long to graduate from just kissing to more, much more,and that wasn't something they could really afford to do. Not at the office.
It wasn't something Gibbs really wanted either. He preferred to make love where he couldn't take his time and really explore Tony's body. He didn't want to have to worry they might be taking too much time...or making too much noise. And he sure as hell didn't want to make love in an elevator where comfort was minimal.
Tony's breathing was a bit ragged, but his eyes glowed. "I should get out of the office without you more."
"Like hell." Gibbs growled.
"You can't miss me if I never leave."
"I'm okay with that."
Tony smiled shyly. He raised a hand, caressing Gibbs' cheek with his knuckles. "You are a hopeless romantic."
"And you love that about me."
"It's not all I love about you." Tony grinned.
Gibbs dropped his eyes feeling a little shy himself. He reached for the stop button, putting the elevator once more in motion. "We get this case solved?"
"Then we can finish what we started here."
"Amen."
Tony laughed. "Definitely like this religion we got better than my old one."
Gibbs snickered. "Won't get any argument from me."
He hesitated outside Abby's lab, making sure there was no evidence of the kiss they shared showed---clothes in order, breathing normal, lips a little swollen but nothing too obvious. Not that he didn't think Abby would be okay with them, she was open minded and accepting that two guys in a relationship wouldn't likely faze her much. But he'd agreed to wait until Tony was ready for more than just Mike and his family to know. Even if she knew, Gibbs didn't want her speculating on what he and Tony did together, or worse, asking outright. Gibbs thought discretion was the better part of valor.
"We're good," Tony said, easily following Gibbs' line of thought, lips quirking upward in a slight smile.
Gibbs nodded, stepping silently into Abby's lab. He was relieved that her music wasn't as loud as it had been the last time he'd been down. Whatever she was playing wasn't nearly as harsh or grating either.
"What do you have for me Abby?"
She spun around, Cal-Pow cup in hand, grinning. "Our dead guy isn't Petty Officer Eli Warren."
"You sure, Abbs?" Tony asked.
"Of course I'm sure." She gave him a wide eyed look of disbelief. "I ran the test twice."
"No offense Abbs." Tony raised both hands, palms out in a gesture of surrender. "Now we not only have to track down Warren, we have to figure out who our dead guy is and how he ended up with Warren's wallet."
"No you don't." Abby grinned widely, excitement practically bubbling out of her.
"Come again?" Tony leaned forward, head tilted in a listening pose.
"You don't have to figure out who our dead guy is. I already know who he is."
"Sweet." Tony held up a hand for Abby to high five him, which she did without hesitation.
"Is he another serviceman?" Gibbs frowned. The only thing worse than a dead sailor would be two dead sailors.
"Nope. He wasn't listed in any of the service record data bases. So I broadened my search." Abby shook her head, pigtails bouncing. She tapped several keys on her keyboard. "Guy has a criminal record, so his DNA was in the system. It was actually used as evidence to convict him of rape." She frowned. "Ugly crime if ever there was one."
"So is murder." Gibbs pointed out dryly.
"True. The veneer of civilization is only so deep." Abby sighed. "Anyway...Our dead guy was just released from prison in Georgia three weeks ago. His name--"
"Earl Kinsac."
"Gibbs!" Abby objected. "Why do you always do that? It takes all the fun out of it when you already know the answers."
Gibbs turned to leave only be to stopped by Abby calling his name. "Gibbs, I'm not finished."
He gave her an expectant look. "Well?"
"Earl Kinsac and Eli Warren are definitely related. They got too many alleles in common to be anything else."
Tony scowled. "Warren's file mentioned two step sisters, but no brothers."
"If you had a brother who raped a woman, would you claim him?" Abby asked.
"Probably not." Tony winced. "I should have dug deeper into his family history. Sorry, Boss. I'll--" Tony was cut off by the ringing of his cellphone.
"DiNozzo." Tony answered brusquely. He nodded at whatever was being said. "You got an address...uh-hunh...got it. Tell the LEO to just sit tight. We'll be there in half an hour. Thanks." Tony snapped his phone shut. "Got a hit on the BOLO I put out his morning on Warren's car. They found it apparently abandoned about ten miles from where we found Kinsac's body."
Gibbs nodded, heading out of Abby's lab, Tony in step with him. It was a quick, silent trip up to the bullpen. McGee and Ziva both looked up, obviously surprised to see them back so soon and moving with clear purpose. Tony grabbed his coat and his gear.
"Our corpse isn't Warren, it is Earl Kinsac. According to Abby, he and Warren are brothers." Gibbs informed them tersely, pulling his gun from his desk drawer, grabbing the car keys too. "McGee, keep working on those financial records. I want to know how Warren stole that money and just exactly where the hell it went. Ziva, dig deeper into Warren's history and find out exactly how it is he has a brother we didn't know anything about."
"Where are you going?" Ziva asked, dark eyes readily relaying conveying her desire to go along.
"Got a hit on the BOLO I put out this morning on Warren's car," Tony told her. "Going to check it out."
"McGee, put out an APB on Warren. I want that son of a bitch found ASAP." Gibbs ordered, giving both McGee and Ziva a fierce glare to make sure they were suitably motivated. He had some unfinished personal business that he wanted to take care of?and that wasn't going to happen until they had Warren in an interrogation room answering some questions.
"Let's go, DiNozzo."
"Right behind you, Boss."
Author's Chapter Notes:
Tony and Ziva get back to the office. they find out just who their dead guy is.