Chapter XII – An Immoral Offer
An hour later Fynn was still missing and the brunette was still on the verge to tears. Tony was searching the area around the NCIS headquarters with the guards while Abby was still going through the files.
“Ducky was someone in the pathology?”, the investigator asked and the medical examiner teared his glance away from the female agent.
“Mister Palmer, Fynn and me. In front of the entrance was a catafalque and I wanted to come up here with the boy so he wouldn´t see a corpse. I just signed the form and Palmer was helping to unload and when I turned around he was gone…”
“Alright… It´s not your fault Duck. I want you to stay with Kate now, I don´t want her to be alone. We need to see if someone saw him.”, the gray haired man said and gently squeezed the older man´s shoulder to reassure him.
“Sure…”, the doctor nodded and the agent left them in the cubicle.
Down in the morgue he found Timothy with the Sergeant and a Private who came with the catafalque.
“Did they see something?”, Jethro asked when he joined the group.
“No, they were all occupied with the body or forms.”, the younger agent replied and the men from the Army nodded.
“Damn…”, the senior agent muttered under his breath and scanned the room with his eyes. “They can go then. Where is DiNozzo?”
“Still with the guards going through the building.”, Tim replied and the three men left the morgue.
“Go back to Abby we need to be through the files ASAP.”
“Yes.”, the youngest team member obeyed and went back into the laboratory where the forensic was still going through the NCIS files.
Slowly the crowd in the room was dissipating and Gibbs let his glance wander through the room again until an envelope on Duck´s desk caught his attention.
He went over and put his latex gloves on before he opened the envelope carefully. Again photographs of Kate, Fynn and himself were inside but this time there was also a piece of paper.
`The boy is just a means to an end for me. His life is worthless because I want Caitlin. Trade her for the boy tomorrow, 17:00 on the east side of Potomac river by the George Mason Memorial Bridge.´
At least they had a hint now where to find the kidnapper but the fact that they had to trade Kate for Fynn wasn´t an option.
“Abby I need you to dust this for fingerprints.”, Jethro said and entered the lab. Tim and the forensic looked up and the worries about the current situation were written all over their faces.
“What´s that?”, the black haired woman asked and snatched the evidence bag out of Gibbs´ grip.
“A letter from the kidnapper.”, the gray haired man replied curtly and opened his cell.
Now he could call Anthony to stop the search for Fynn in the NCIS building.
“That´s inhuman Gibbsman…”
“I know Abbs, I know but it is our only chance to get to know who this psycho is.”, the investigator replied when he was done with the call and ordered his protégé to stop.
“Boss in our files is nobody who would fit into the role of a stalker. Most of them are still in Leavenworth, dead or else.”, Timothy jumped into the conversation and the older man nodded.
“Then it has to be someone from Kate´s Secret Service time or someone completely new…”, Jethro was thinking loud now while he went back to the elevator.
Back in the bullpen he found Ducky still with Caitlin and Tony obviously just came back as well.
“There is nothing both inside and outside, boss.”, the Italian said and glanced at his brunette co-worker. By now Duck was able to calm her down but she looked still fragile and pale.
“Guessed it would be that way DiNozzo…”, Gibbs replied and everyone wondered why he knew that it would be that way.
“How…”, the agent started and was interrupted by his supervisor. “I found a letter in the morgue.”
“What is it about?”, Caitlin asked and made her comeback into the conversation. For a moment Jethro looked with his intense blue eyes at her, silently telling her that everything would be alright again, in no long time.
“Abby is dusting it for fingerprints right now. The letter is from the stalker and he offers us a trade.”, the gray haired man answered but left the information out what the trade was about.
“What is this trade about Gibbs?”
--- --- ---
Chapter XIII – Revelations
Eventually Gibbs could convince Kate to go home because they couldn´t do anything at the moment. Secretly the silver haired fox ordered his agents to go through the files again so they were a hundred percent sure that they didn´t miss anything. Willingly Anthony went back into the lab and they read the files over and over again.
In Caitlin´s apartment the senior agent had some trouble calming his protégé. He wasn´t surprised that she reacted the way she did, he did the same in 1992.
“Are you going to tell me now what this trade is about?”, the brunette asked when they reached her apartment. Somehow she was afraid of going inside, knowing that it would be empty and quiet without Fynn there. She felt trapped in the same situation like three years ago when Daniel died but she knew she could do something this time.
“Sure. If you want I will tell you…”, Jethro replied and waited a moment before he started. “He offers to trade you for Fynn.”
“I will do it then.”, Caitlin replied and sounded just as confident as the older man assumed. It was pretty normal that her maternal instinct took control but it concerned him a bit that she was a well trained agent with the means to screw everything.
“No, you won´t Kate. I understand that you want nothing more than have your child back unharmed but we have to plan it…”
“You don´t understand what I feel right now because you never had children, Gibbs.”, the female agent cut him off and the silver haired man knew how cold he sounded. Her brown eyes filled with tears again and she stood up, pacing through the room.
“Kate believe me I understand more than anyone else how you feel right now…”, the investigator said calm and the pacing woman stopped for a moment to look at him. He never intended to tell anyone from the team about Shannon and Kelly but the words just seemed to come out by themselves.
“I had a daughter… She died with my first wife Shannon because she was a witness in a murder case when I was on a mission…” Eventually the brunette stopped pacing completely and listened. She stared into his deep blue eyes obviously searching for the proof that he was honest.
“Actually I was married four times but I don´t mention them because it hurts too much.”, Jethro broke the eye contact and stood up as well, finally standing next to her. “Believe me I know what you are feeling right now. I don´t want to risk your life too Kate…”
She looked down and he cupped her cheek with his hand and felt to his relief that she didn´t pull away but leaned into his touch. Maybe this wasn´t the right thing to do, nor the right situation nor time because she was vulnerable but that was blown from Gibbs´ mind.
“It is enough that he has Fynn but we will get him back, okay?”, he embraced her fully now and rested his chin on the top of her head.
Caitlin enjoyed him being so close to her but doubted that it was the right time to come to terms with him while her son was missing. It was obvious that he opened up to her by telling her about the family he had once and the way he was behaving right now wasn´t exactly like the grumpy exterior he presented on average work days.
Suddenly another thunderstorm hit the city and Jethro felt the brunette tense in his arms.
“What´s wrong?”, the gray haired man asked and followed Caitlin´s gaze out of the window.
“The thunderstorm…”, she replied and just named the obvious. “Fynnie is afraid of them since Daniel died. He had been just one year old but somehow he remembers it…”
“Isn´t that something that fades with time?”
“Yeah the doctor told me the same but after three years I don´t think it will ever fade.”, the brunette explained and shuddered at the very thought of Fynn being alone right now.
- Location:nearly in my bed...
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groggy - Music:watching CSI: New York
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