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Unconditional Love 9: Plotting and Planning
Rating: IM15
Summary: Harm, Mac and Gibbs begin to put a plan together. Isn’t it nice
how everyone’s playing nice together?
Spoilers: Anything up to the season finale is fair game.
Disclaimer: See Part 1
Tuesday Morning
Norfolk Naval Hospital
Gibbs stood outside the ICU, waiting for Harm and Mac to arrive. He had
interviewed Seaman Richardson extensively last night, before taking both him and
Mrs. Talbert to safe houses in the area. This morning, he had picked up Mrs.
Talbert and brought her in to see her son.
He didn’t know what was going between the two lawyers, but he didn’t want it
interfering with his case. If they couldn’t get along with each other, he’d have
to send one of them home, Gibbs decided.
“Good morning, Agent Gibbs,” a female voice spoke.
He looked up to see the Commander and the Colonel walking in together, smiling.
All traces of yesterday’s friction were gone. Bemused, he responded to her
greeting. “It is still morning, barely. You realize you’re late, don’t know?”
“Sorry about that, but we spent the morning going through Ron Talbert’s computer
files that you so kindly gave us,” Harm replied. He held up a handful of papers.
“Several e-mails to and from Eric Matheson, discussing purchases of ‘items’.
They’re never referred to specifically as drugs, but the inference is pretty
clear.” Harm handed the papers to Gibbs. “Did Seaman Richardson provide you any
info?”
Gibbs sighed. “Yes and no. He had several conversations with Petty Officer
Talbert about Eric Matheson, and remembers seeing one of Matheson’s associates
in the last bar they were at Saturday night. However, he never saw him approach
Talbert.”
Mac said, “We need to catch this bastard in the act. Otherwise, he’s going to
slither out of this.”
Gibbs and Harm nodded in agreement. “Unfortunately,” Gibbs told them, “I don’t
have anyone who is willing to draw him out to get caught. Seaman Richardson will
testify, but that’s as far as he’ll go.”
“Do we know anything about Matheson?” Mac asked. “Where he does ‘business’? What
bars he frequents? Anything at all?”
“Yes, but without anyone to go undercover, it does me no good,” Gibbs replied,
frustrated.
“And Matheson has no idea who you are, right?” Mac queried him.
“No. But I don’t see what that gains us. I don’t look the part for buying what
he’s selling.”
“Hear me out on this,” Mac stated. “Let’s say we get McGee’s friends in the
local police to apply a little pressure and get you hired at the bar Matheson
goes to most often. And I hang out there, drowning my sorrows about being held
back for promotions because I’m a woman.”
Harm saw what she was suggesting and began to get worried. “Mac-”
She cut him off with a single hand gesture. “Harm, you know I’m the right person
to do this. I can act the part. And I expect both of you to watch my six – Gibbs
from behind the bar, and you as a customer.”
Harm wanted to argue, but he couldn’t. If they wanted to catch Matheson soon, it
was the only way. The three of them discussed strategy and what was needed to
pull this together. They decided to meet over dinner to further refine their
plans, to make sure nothing was being missed.
“By Friday or Saturday at the latest, I’d like us to be in place at the bar,”
Gibbs said. “I’ll get McGee started with his police department contact.”
“While you’re doing that, we’ll meet with Mrs. Talbert. Is she in with her son?”
Harm asked. Gibbs nodded as he flipped open his phone and began dialing.
To Part 10
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