Chapter 1

"What do we got?" Gibbs asked.

"Meet Commander Michael Lavery," Torres said. "Looks like someone was not too happy with him."

"Multiple stab wounds," Palmer said, studying the waterlogged body. "Clustered in the chest area. Someone was mad."

"Someone always is," Gibbs said.

"How was Mac?" McGee asked quietly.

"Doing good." Gibbs had just come from visiting a former withess of theirs, one who had helped them solve the murder of a retired Navy admiral, and was now happily married to the admiral's grandson. The team had attended the wedding, which had been at a courthouse, and surprised the couple by springing for lunch at a really nice restaurant.

"Good. I'm glad. She deserves a chance to be happy," McGee said.

"Let's find out who this guy made very unhappy."

Commander Michael Lavery had been found when his submerged sedan had been spotted by an eagle-eyed bird watcher, and according to Dr. Jimmy Palmer, he had been there for at least a week. When a tow truck driver had pulled the car out, Commander Lavery's body had been found in the back of the car, his body wrapped in a bed spread. His wallet, which had been in the back of his pants, was what lead the local police to contact NCIS. Now, he was laid out on the ground, being examined by the team.

"No self-defence wounds," Palmer said, looking at the arms. "Nick, can you please help me turn him over?"

Grimacing, as the smell from the body was a bit strong, Torres did so, and Palmer grinned. "Stab wounds in the back, and there's one here that looks like it has a bruise around it."

"He was stabbed in the back, literally," Torres said, wrinkling his nose.

"Which could explain the lack of self-defence wounds. If he was attacked from behind, and brought down to the ground, he wouldn't have been able to defend himself," Palmer said. "And then, at some point, he rolled over, and the attack continued. Like I said, someone was mad."

"Could have been with someone," Torres said. "Has to be a reason why he's only wearing his pants."

"Anything in the car?" Gibbs asked.

"Found his briefcase in the trunk of the car," Bishop said, holding up a nice-looking briefcase. "Hopefully the water didn't get into it too much. Could be why he was killed."

"Cell phone?" Gibbs asked.

McGee held up what looked like a badly broken cell phone. "Someone smashed it pretty good, but they may have forgotten to take out the SIM card. I'll turn it over to Kasie, see what she can do with it when we get back."

"Thanks to the water, I think that's about all we're going to get from the car," Bishop said. "It didn't even have a GPS device in it, so we have no idea where he's been or where he was going."

"And this place is a bit off the beaten track, so anyone could have dumped him without being seen," Torres said. "Probably why the killer chose it."

"Kasie might have some luck with the bedspread he was wrapped in, though," Palmer said, working with Torres to load the victim up. "If he was with someone, with the way he was wrapped up, something might have been preserved, especially if it was close to the body."

"Thought DNA was useless once it was in the water, being washed off and all that?" Torres said.

"Not necessarily so," Palmer said. "It depends on the conditions, the water, temperatures, a whole lot of different variables. There was an article I found in NCBI about it. Interesting reading material."

"NCBI?" Torres asked.

"National Center for Biotechnology Information," McGee explained. "Abby used to check that site out a lot, because there was always something new being posted. Plus, she contributed a few articles."

"All right, let's get everything back to the lab and start digging into this guy's life. I want to know who he pissed off," Gibbs said.

Back at NCIS, the team dug into their work.

"Okay, meet Commander Michael Lavery, JAG," Bishop said. "He's been with them from pretty much the get-go, and comments from his superiors initially suggested a rising star."

"But?" Gibbs asked.

"But his latest eval report makes note of complaints that have been filed against him by other officers in regards to his verbal behavior, especially towards the junior officers, and his unwillingness to be a real team player," Bishop said. "In fact, it was suggested that if he kept up his behaviour, he might be passed over for promotion."

"Oof," McGee said.

"I have a copy of his recent psychological exam," Bishop said.

"Send that to Sloane, have her take a look at him," Gibbs said.

"Sending, and sent," Bishop said.

"Phone, bank accounts, credit cards?" Gibbs asked.

"Credit card showed a charge two days ago, a delivery charge from Jimmy John's," McGee said. "Which matches a call on the commander's cell phone." McGee's brow furrowed as he scrolled through the phone's call history. "I'm seeing several strange texts, especially one from two days ago. And one which might explain why no one has reported him missing." He tapped his keyboard and sent a screenshot of a text message. "Got called out to a case. Will be out of town for several days." The reply was, "Fine."

"Who does that number belong to?" Gibbs asked.

"His wife, Ami Lavery," McGee said, pulling up a DMV photo of a smiling woman. "Could explain why she never filed a missing person's report."

"Here's the other odd ones," McGee said. "I need to see you. I'll even cover the room. Then Commander Lavery responds, Fine. I'll buy lunch."

Torres hung up his phone. "And I have a location as to where the food was delivered," he said. "It's a hotel about fifteen minutes from where the car was found."

"Torres, you and Bishop, go check it out," Gibbs said. His phone rang. It was security, telling him that Commander Lavery's parents were on their way up. "McGee, keep digging. Sloane and I will deal with the parents."

"Should we tell Commander Avery's wife?" Torres asked.

Gibbs nodded. "Keep me posted, and find out why she didn't hear about this sooner."