Double Bluff: Chapter 15
As promised, have another chapter. As always, thanks to my lovely betas, the fabulous Monica and once again the wonderful anonymous pinch hitter.
<----Chapter 14 (Or here on LJ)
Chapter 15: Incidents and Accidents, Hints and Allegations
“Hands above your head, DiNozzo. Now!” Vanzentti commanded, stepping a menacing stride forward.
“Suuure, no problem.” Tony drawled in reply. He lifted his hands to an insolent, casual mid-shoulder height, squaring his stance at the same time, but not putting all of his weight forward on his feet. In an effort to keep Vanzetti off balance, he kept his body language nonthreatening, but just on the edge of insulting. Vanzetti kept his weapon trained on Tony and just stood in the center of the room for a moment. Tony quirked one side of his mouth and raised a questioning eyebrow. For a flash of a second, Vanzetti’s mouth thinned into a grim line and then his expression turned neutral.
“Where’s the girl, DiNozzo?” he asked, tone cajoling. He lowered the gun a few inches from its dead-center focus on Tony’s chest. “What did you do with her?” His voice held inquiry, but not accusation.
Tony looked at him, projecting hurt and disbelief.
“Seriously? That’s how you’re going to play this?” Tony paused, looking momentarily at his feet and shuffling in place a little, bringing one arm halfway down in the process. He raised his head and looked Vanzetti directly in the eyes. “I just want to know... at what point did you decide I was a moron?” He held Vanzetti’s gaze, staring him down for all he was worth.
“What are you talking about, Tony? I don’t think you’re a moron, I think you’re a criminal. Now what did you do with the girl?” Vanzetti attempted to bluff.
“Oh, so we’re on first-name terms now, Karl?” Tony sneered. “Still not a moron.” Tony let his weight fall against the desk again, shifting a little toward the side of the desk with the hidden drawer.
“What do you suppose I’d find if I went looking in this desk behind me?” he pointed his gaze at the drawer and leaned backwards slightly for show, ignoring the press of his gun into the small of his back. He flicked his eyes back at Vanzetti.
“Don’t bullshit me, I know what you’ve been doing. I’ve known for a while. Contrary to your belief, apparently, I’m also smarter than I look, since you clearly didn’t know that I knew.” Tony’s words hung in the air between them for a moment.
“But now that you know that I know, that you know that I am, in fact, smarter than I look... how we gonna play this?” Tony tossed out the words with ease, knowing he sounded like he was quoting something; which he wasn’t, not quite, but Vanzetti had always hated his tendency to quote and talk about movies. While they’d been talking, he’d succeeded at getting one hand resting on the desk next to his hip without Vanzetti noticing. He longed to slide his fingers a few inches to the side so that he could pull his weapon and shoot the man, but he couldn’t yet.
“Come on... we both know how this ends, Karl. You kill me, I go down for the whole thing, and you burn those books from the hidden drawer in this desk before anyone but me can see them.”
‘There’s no way you even know what’s in those books, DiNozzo.” Vanzetti returned, his voice holding a hint of doubt now.
“I don’t?” Tony lifted the shoulder of his still up-raised arm in a half shrug and admitted, “You’re right, I guess I don’t know anything about your whole operation. I don’t know anything about Rafferty, Trip, Soccata, or Bierden being involved either. I guess I wouldn’t know about how you’ve been conspiring to kill people under your protection for years either.”
Vanzetti’s expression went flat. “You don’t know anything. You can’t.” He said, his tone a demand. Tony smiled internally. Karl sounded like he was trying to convince himself now. One more push, and he was pretty sure he had this one.
“It’s an interesting code you’ve got there in those books, you think that one up yourself?” Tony inquired, mildly. “Or was that Bierdan who came up with that?” Tony went out on a limb, knowing that Howard Bierdan wrote and solved codes as a hobby. It paid off to be nosey and observe people, he thought to himself, not for the first time.
“DiNozzo, you don’t know jack! I made that code. Bierdan got the whole code thing from me.” Well shit, Vanzetti looked reassured now. That hadn’t been Tony’s goal. What could he do to push Vanzetti back off kilter and keep him talking? When in doubt, ego.
“So you are the big boss. Came up with the whole scheme and the recording system for it all by yourself? That’s rather impressive.” The dominant theme to Tony’s tone was mocking, but he managed to sneak a little bit of impressed underneath it; just enough, he hoped, to get Vanzetti chatty again. Karl had always seemed like the type of guy that wanted people to respect-- or was it fear?-- him, and would go to unusual lengths to get it.
“Damn right, I’m the one in charge!” Vanzetti growled. “Now sit your ass down on that desk and put BOTH your hands back above your head, DiNozzo.” Vanzetti kept the gun trained on Tony with one hand while he stepped left and picked up the phone handset from the table next to him. He fumbled with the keypad and held the phone to his ear.
Tony could just barely hear the tinny voice from the phone receiver answering the call. “Yeah,” Vanzetti replied, “It’s me. Get over here, get everyone over here, now. There’s a small problem we need to take care of standing in my study.” The voice returned an answer Tony couldn’t decipher, but Vanzetti nodded in reply and said, “Yeah, good idea, bring it, and the tarp too,” and slammed the phone down.
Turning all of his attention back on Tony, he returned both of his hands to his weapon and glared. Tony gulped. The man actually managed to look intimidating, finally.
“So... exactly how much do you know, Tony?
“Oh, little of this, little of that. Lot of a few things.” Tony hedged. Vanzetti narrowed his eyes.
“You’re going to tell me before I kill you, you know. I need to know how much you know about my operation. But hey,” Vanzetti smiled, a crazy glint in his eyes, “if you tell me before the others get there, I’ll kill you quickly. You wait for Rafferty, you know it’s not gonna be pretty.”
Tony nervously swallowed again. Yeah... Rafferty wasn’t really the pretty type. Well. Fuck.
“Guess I’m out of options and out of time, huh?” Tony allowed. “Guess it’s time for Plan C then. It’s been nice knowing you, Karl.” Tony cocked his head to the side and slowly brought down a one hand to shoulder height, fingers pointed in a mock gun shape. “Oh wait! No it hasn’t.” Tony smiled and pointed his pretend gun.
The loud bang that followed took only Vanzetti by surprise.
Chapter 16---> (Or here on LJ)
This entry was originally posted at http://riazendira.dreamwidth.org/60134.html, where there are
comments. Please comment on either journal as you please.
<----Chapter 14 (Or here on LJ)
Chapter 15: Incidents and Accidents, Hints and Allegations
“Hands above your head, DiNozzo. Now!” Vanzentti commanded, stepping a menacing stride forward.
“Suuure, no problem.” Tony drawled in reply. He lifted his hands to an insolent, casual mid-shoulder height, squaring his stance at the same time, but not putting all of his weight forward on his feet. In an effort to keep Vanzetti off balance, he kept his body language nonthreatening, but just on the edge of insulting. Vanzetti kept his weapon trained on Tony and just stood in the center of the room for a moment. Tony quirked one side of his mouth and raised a questioning eyebrow. For a flash of a second, Vanzetti’s mouth thinned into a grim line and then his expression turned neutral.
“Where’s the girl, DiNozzo?” he asked, tone cajoling. He lowered the gun a few inches from its dead-center focus on Tony’s chest. “What did you do with her?” His voice held inquiry, but not accusation.
Tony looked at him, projecting hurt and disbelief.
“Seriously? That’s how you’re going to play this?” Tony paused, looking momentarily at his feet and shuffling in place a little, bringing one arm halfway down in the process. He raised his head and looked Vanzetti directly in the eyes. “I just want to know... at what point did you decide I was a moron?” He held Vanzetti’s gaze, staring him down for all he was worth.
“What are you talking about, Tony? I don’t think you’re a moron, I think you’re a criminal. Now what did you do with the girl?” Vanzetti attempted to bluff.
“Oh, so we’re on first-name terms now, Karl?” Tony sneered. “Still not a moron.” Tony let his weight fall against the desk again, shifting a little toward the side of the desk with the hidden drawer.
“What do you suppose I’d find if I went looking in this desk behind me?” he pointed his gaze at the drawer and leaned backwards slightly for show, ignoring the press of his gun into the small of his back. He flicked his eyes back at Vanzetti.
“Don’t bullshit me, I know what you’ve been doing. I’ve known for a while. Contrary to your belief, apparently, I’m also smarter than I look, since you clearly didn’t know that I knew.” Tony’s words hung in the air between them for a moment.
“But now that you know that I know, that you know that I am, in fact, smarter than I look... how we gonna play this?” Tony tossed out the words with ease, knowing he sounded like he was quoting something; which he wasn’t, not quite, but Vanzetti had always hated his tendency to quote and talk about movies. While they’d been talking, he’d succeeded at getting one hand resting on the desk next to his hip without Vanzetti noticing. He longed to slide his fingers a few inches to the side so that he could pull his weapon and shoot the man, but he couldn’t yet.
“Come on... we both know how this ends, Karl. You kill me, I go down for the whole thing, and you burn those books from the hidden drawer in this desk before anyone but me can see them.”
‘There’s no way you even know what’s in those books, DiNozzo.” Vanzetti returned, his voice holding a hint of doubt now.
“I don’t?” Tony lifted the shoulder of his still up-raised arm in a half shrug and admitted, “You’re right, I guess I don’t know anything about your whole operation. I don’t know anything about Rafferty, Trip, Soccata, or Bierden being involved either. I guess I wouldn’t know about how you’ve been conspiring to kill people under your protection for years either.”
Vanzetti’s expression went flat. “You don’t know anything. You can’t.” He said, his tone a demand. Tony smiled internally. Karl sounded like he was trying to convince himself now. One more push, and he was pretty sure he had this one.
“It’s an interesting code you’ve got there in those books, you think that one up yourself?” Tony inquired, mildly. “Or was that Bierdan who came up with that?” Tony went out on a limb, knowing that Howard Bierdan wrote and solved codes as a hobby. It paid off to be nosey and observe people, he thought to himself, not for the first time.
“DiNozzo, you don’t know jack! I made that code. Bierdan got the whole code thing from me.” Well shit, Vanzetti looked reassured now. That hadn’t been Tony’s goal. What could he do to push Vanzetti back off kilter and keep him talking? When in doubt, ego.
“So you are the big boss. Came up with the whole scheme and the recording system for it all by yourself? That’s rather impressive.” The dominant theme to Tony’s tone was mocking, but he managed to sneak a little bit of impressed underneath it; just enough, he hoped, to get Vanzetti chatty again. Karl had always seemed like the type of guy that wanted people to respect-- or was it fear?-- him, and would go to unusual lengths to get it.
“Damn right, I’m the one in charge!” Vanzetti growled. “Now sit your ass down on that desk and put BOTH your hands back above your head, DiNozzo.” Vanzetti kept the gun trained on Tony with one hand while he stepped left and picked up the phone handset from the table next to him. He fumbled with the keypad and held the phone to his ear.
Tony could just barely hear the tinny voice from the phone receiver answering the call. “Yeah,” Vanzetti replied, “It’s me. Get over here, get everyone over here, now. There’s a small problem we need to take care of standing in my study.” The voice returned an answer Tony couldn’t decipher, but Vanzetti nodded in reply and said, “Yeah, good idea, bring it, and the tarp too,” and slammed the phone down.
Turning all of his attention back on Tony, he returned both of his hands to his weapon and glared. Tony gulped. The man actually managed to look intimidating, finally.
“So... exactly how much do you know, Tony?
“Oh, little of this, little of that. Lot of a few things.” Tony hedged. Vanzetti narrowed his eyes.
“You’re going to tell me before I kill you, you know. I need to know how much you know about my operation. But hey,” Vanzetti smiled, a crazy glint in his eyes, “if you tell me before the others get there, I’ll kill you quickly. You wait for Rafferty, you know it’s not gonna be pretty.”
Tony nervously swallowed again. Yeah... Rafferty wasn’t really the pretty type. Well. Fuck.
“Guess I’m out of options and out of time, huh?” Tony allowed. “Guess it’s time for Plan C then. It’s been nice knowing you, Karl.” Tony cocked his head to the side and slowly brought down a one hand to shoulder height, fingers pointed in a mock gun shape. “Oh wait! No it hasn’t.” Tony smiled and pointed his pretend gun.
The loud bang that followed took only Vanzetti by surprise.
Chapter 16---> (Or here on LJ)
This entry was originally posted at http://riazendira.dreamwidth.org/60134.html, where there are
comments. Please comment on either journal as you please.