Life goes on
Monday, June 2nd, 1975
Pembroke Street. Washington D.C. A young lady with beautifully long red hair stirred in the milk with the froth of the coffee cream. Her glorious apron with blue flowers scattered all over in print. Jennifer Shepard was 19, on her daily work shift at 'Hot, Fresh Coffee.' To Jenny it was just another day at work. She was training in law enforcement and was on a day off. Jenny liked working on her days off. It kept her busy. And Humble. She guessed she could be classified as a workaholic.
The young redhead handed the coffee cup to another young woman over the mahogany counter. "That will be 5 dollars please." The young woman over the counter fumbled with her left hand through her purse filled with what looked like to Jenny to be ancient objects. When the young woman finally found her wallet, she handed Jenny a 5-dollar bill and walked out the door.
Monday mornings for Jenny were particularly busy. Especially from 7am to 10am. She didn't mind though. It passed the time. Her time working at the coffee shop the last couple months had made her get to know people and notice patterns. She noticed how all the young teenage girls walked in around 8:45 twiddling their thumbs on their huge phones and pretending to talk to older men. Deliberately coming to the shop to avoid school. She noticed how the elderly men stopped by in the late morning for a drink avoiding all the morning chaos occurring in the early morning. But sometimes Jenny noticed new people coming to the shop. Mondays were no different. Maybe people want a new taste of coffee. That's what she told herself.
"Hey Jen, two cappuccinos" Yelled James who was one of her co- workers. Jenny was somebody who actually enjoyed meeting new people. Growing up she had an older sister Heather who hardly ever talked to her. Jenny felt quite alone for most of her childhood. Especially with her parents being employed in the navy and her father being a colonel. She was a typical military brat. She had never gotten used to being in one place at one time. But now that she had finished school and was grounded having a job and studying law enforcement (For now) she felt quite content and for once in her life happy to call a place home.
James was a few years older than Jenny and was definitely not Jenny's type. Her type was more retro and old school. James was slowly warming up to Jenny though. When Jenny first arrived at the shop on her first day. The man with blonde hair and green eyes stared at her for the majority of her shift trying to decide if he could trust her or not. Jenny didn't really care though. Once she started getting to know the guy it was easier for him to warm up.
"Gotcha James" Jenny replied. Jenny was a fast learner in school. She could always pick up skills faster than others and it didn't take her much time to master them. She knew that she wanted to go into law enforcement from the age of 10 and didn't let anyone else's ideas of the ideal career affect her judgement. She was currently training 3 days a week at a Washington police department. She didn't earn enough money to sustain herself by just working there so she also worked at the coffee shop too.
A mysterious man with blueish grey eyes and brunette hair walked into the shop. He had a peculiar haircut which Jenny recognised. He must be a marine. Jenny thought to herself. She handed the two cappuccinos to the customers and walked over to the fridge to grab another bottle of milk. As she walked over to the fridge, she smiled to herself as she realised the odd man would not take his eyes off of her. She overheard the man order what he wanted "Black Coffee". Typical. Jenny thought. Every single marine she had ever known in her life ordered that type of coffee.
"Jen, you got that?" James asked her loud and clear. Jenny did not want to screw this up.
"Loud and clear." Jenny replied sarcastically. The old man was still looking at her oddly. Jenny was beginning to get a little self-conscious. She could never trust that many men in her life. Part of her hoped this odd customer would be a one off. But another part of her realised that he would probably be back. As Jenny prepared the marines black coffee he moved to sit at a table at the other side of the room. Jenny didn't particularly want to go over to talk to him.
The young man sitting at the table across the room grabbed a newspaper sitting on one of the other tables and pretended to read it. He wasn't. Out of the corner of his eye he was watching the red head named 'Jen' preparing his coffee. He was intrigued by her. Her beauty. Her sarcasm in her voice he had only heard a few minutes earlier. Jethro watched as she avoided his eye contact and worked hard to prepare her coffee. He hoped she would come over and give him the coffee instead of just yelling that there was a coffee ready to be served.
Leroy Jethro Gibbs looked around the room and saw that only a few people were situated around the place. It isn't that busy. He thought. Gibbs had never been into this coffee shop before. He didn't know it even existed until today. In retrospect he realised he made a great choice. He watched as the red head walked out from behind the counter with a coffee cup in her right hand. She placed the cup down on the table.
"There you are sir." Jenny said confidently. Jethro smiled at her. He took a swig of the coffee while Jen watched with her hands behind her back. He was impressed.
"Best coffee I've had in a while." Jethro said placing the cup down on the table. Jenny began to turn around.
"Glad you like it." Jen replied back. She had more customers to attend to, walking back towards the counter she noticed James making eyes at her. Jenny just glared at him with sarcasm.
"Its not everyday that you go out of your way to personally deliver coffee to customers." James remarked. Jenny pushed past him and went to go make more coffee, while James served the next customer. "Flat white, Jen." As Jenny looked over the counter, she noticed the marine was gone. Maybe next time. She thought.
Soon enough it was 11am, the end of Jenny's shift. As she walked outside the shop, James caught up with her and she began to slow down.
"I thought we had a great shift today. Don't ya think?" James asked. Jenny smiled.
"Why? Because you didn't spill the coffee today?" Jenny remarked. There was a reason why Jenny was in charge of making the coffee and James the cashier.
"Nice one." James spat out. "So… You are going home right?"
"Why do you ask?" Jenny said.
"Just wondering if you wanna hang out or something? I get quite bored at home being by myself." Jenny smiled while James's eyebrows raised.
"Nice try James. I've got plans." Jenny confided.
"What are you doing this time?" James asked. "Its like you never slow down." Jenny dug through her purse and found her wallet. James looked at her with interest.
"Shopping. You know. Just wanting to have a change of scenery sometimes instead of working all the time."
"You have enough money to shop?" James asked surprised. He definitely was not the kind of guy who had anything in mind for a career later in life.
"You do realise that I also work another job, don't you?" Jenny asked him.
"Right. I knew that. Law enforcement, right?" Jenny nodded in response as she took a swig of her chai tea latte.
"So, you catch the bad guys?" James asked in interest. Jenny laughed a little.
"Not quite yet Jamie." Jen sometimes nicknamed James Jamie. "I've got a bit of work to do. It takes time."
"What sort of work are you doing?"
"Basically, just profiling, background checks. Paper work stuff." Jenny replied. "But, in a few days I may get to go on my first field visit. You know. Go out into the neighbourhood and stuff." James nodded. They were coming up to the intersection where they usually split up after their shift. Jenny would walk to her apartment while James would usually walk to the arcade club.
"I guess I'll see you Friday morning." James stated.
"I guess so…" Jenny replied. They split off and Jenny walked down the road to her apartment thinking about the man she had served in the shop earlier.
Leroy Jethro Gibbs had a headache. A really bad one. He didn't know if it was because of the woman he had met earlier or the dumb agents he had to work with on a daily basis. Gibbs had been recruited from the navy to NIS for his dedication to rescue and motivation to find criminals. He was a probie agent. Under the supervision of Mike Franks.
"Gibbs. Get off your ass. You need to write the case report for the director." Mike Franks stated as he walked into the squad pit and spotted Jethro lying back in the chair. He didn't move. "Gibbs!" Franks yelled. Gibbs shot up straight away, ignoring the pain he felt from his headache.
"Yes Boss." Gibbs replied not wanting to get head slapped again. Franks left the bull pen and went up the stairs. Gibbs got the sense he was not in a good mood today.
Gibbs not only worked alongside Franks, but also special agent Roland Johns. Roland was older than Gibbs. About 28 years of age, but he was a damn good agent. With sparkling hazel eyes and brown hair. Roland tended to be the technical agent out of Gibbs and Franks and was a bit hesitant to go out into the field. Gibbs heard laughing. It was Roland.
"So, obviously you've met a girl or something." Roland stated with a few giggles. Gibbs glared at him.
"What are you trying to ask Little Johnny?" Gibbs mocked. Little Johnny was Roland's nickname that Jethro gave Roland. As he was only 5 foot 5 and Gibbs was over 6 feet.
Roland got up from his seat and walked over to where Gibbs was sitting. He put his small hands on the desk in interrogation style. He smiled.
"I have known you for over a year and I know that look." Gibbs got all defensive.
"What look?" Gibbs asked a little confused.
"The look you get when you meet a woman and you are… What's the word? Intrigued by her." Roland smiled as he walked back to his desk.
"That obvious huh?" Gibbs stated. He took out a pen and paper and began to write pickup lines. Roland watched on in disgust. He was never the kind of guy who picked up girls on a regular basis.
"Why do you always have to do that?" Roland asked as he saw Gibbs writing down. "You make everything so obvious. If the boss finds out…"
"Finds out what Johnny?" Franks came in holding a document. Gibbs immediately put his notebook into the drawer and met eyes with Mike Franks who looked pissed off. "Something I should know about Gibbs?"
"Just working out a way to write the conclusion of my report." Gibbs responded while agent Johnny laughed across the room. Franks turned his glare to Johnny.
"Something you find funny?" Roland's smile turned into a straight line.
"Nothing boss." Franks travelled to his desk where he took his gun and ID out of the forbidden drawer.
"Grab your Gear." Franks stated. "We're going to Shady Oak to investigate a missing Marine."
In Gibbs opinion, Shady Oak was always shady. The people that lived around the place were always a bit nutty and most people couldn't afford to buy their own food. The car arrived at a pretty decent house for the neighbourhood where they were greeted by a cop. Greg Mendel.
"Officer Mendel. Good to see you again." Franks stated as he shook hands with the police officer for Shady Oak. Gibbs walked behind Franks while Johnny followed. "This is special agent Gibbs and Special agent Johns." Franks said as he pointed to the two agents. "What have you got for us?"
"Carla Nielson hasn't been seen here for over 48 hours. She was AWOL at marine base this morning, got a call from boss Luke James saying that this kind of act was unlike Carla." Officer Mendel Stated.
"Gibbs go inside and look for any evidence that could potentially lead to any idea where she could be." Franks ordered. Gibbs walked into the house.
"On it, Boss." Gibbs replied.
"Johnny, take neighbour statements if you can and once you've finished that help Gibbs with any other evidence."
"Got it." Johnny replied.
"So, Mendel, got a picture of our missing marine?" Franks asked the Officer. Mendel pulled out a picture of a blonde woman in a marine suit.
"According to the database she is 5'7 and 56Kg. From her resume and her boss, it seems she was pretty amateur. Having the stocker job. She couldn't have been happy." Franks eyed up the woman.
"We will find this woman Mendel. Give us time." Franks stated.
"I know your people will do the job right Franks. How's the girlfriend?" Mendel asked sarcastically. Franks gave him a smile.
"Pretty pissed off at me at the moment."
"What did you do now?" Franks shrugged his shoulders.
"I didn't do anything! Must be that time of the month." The two men laughed.
Inside the home, Gibbs was busy looking for anything that could lead the crew to the marine's disappearance. So far Gibbs was having trouble.
"What have you got Gibbs?" Franks asked walking in putting latex gloves on.
"No sign of forced entry. Everything seems to be really neat. Too neat actually. It's like she was almost planning to run away." Gibbs replied. "If she was abducted her abductor must have known her well enough to have a key or persuade her to let them in." Mike walked over to the coffee table to only see what looked like a draft of a book.
"How I escaped hell." Mike read out. "Written by Carla Nielson and Joe Fisher." Mike raised his eyebrows.
"She was getting somebody to write her biography." Gibbs stated.
"Bag, tag and shoot." Franks ordered. Gibbs got the camera and took some pictures of the documents and put them into a plastic bag. Gibbs continued to walk around the living room looking at pictures of Carla. Most of the pictures must have been of her as a child. Gibbs didn't see any sign of a boyfriend.
Mike Franks walked down to the bedroom presumably where Carla slept. All clothes seemed to be intact and Jewellery was still sitting on the dresser. Gibbs followed Franks down the hallway and into the bedroom.
"Do ya think she may have just wanted a weekend away or something?" Gibbs asked. Franks glared at him.
"I don't know Gibbs. Do ya think that she would miss 29 calls from her boss this morning and not give him any notice that she was gonna be away?"
"You make a good point boss." Gibbs replied.
"Go get Johnny. See what he has been able to get." Franks ordered.
Gibbs walked out the house and saw Johnny approaching him.
"What have you got little Johnny?" Gibbs asked.
"Woman across the street there says that a man she didn't know was visiting Carla quite often during the weekdays. Boyfriend maybe?"
"Or a writer." Gibbs stated.
"What makes you think that?" Roland asked confused.
"Because we found her biography draft in the living room." Gibbs replied. "Did the woman describe how he looked?"
"One step ahead of you Gibbs. Dirty blonde hair. About 5'8 and was wearing a long dark coat." Roland stated looking at his notebook. "Did you find out his name?"
"Joe Fisher. We won't know more until we get back home, but he is the main suspect at the moment that we need to find." Gibbs replied. "Anything else we should know?"
"Well… Nobody really knew the woman that well. She was the kind of person who didn't attend parties or anything. In fact, nobody really knew her at all. Everyone I talked to said that they didn't really pay that much attention to her and didn't see her leave after Saturday." Roland read off his notepad.
"Helpful." Gibbs stated sarcastically. Mike Franks walked out of the house.
"Let's get back to base. There is hardly anything useful to go on here." Franks stated as he walked towards the truck.
Diane Tracy was the forensic lab technician back at NIS headquarters. She had black hair, blue eyes and was dressed very formally most days. She seemed to be the kind of person who took everything seriously even in dire circumstances. She was sitting at her desk reading the draft of the biography when Gibbs and Franks walked in.
"Find anything useful Di?" Franks asked.
"Just that this woman was a typical military brat. Her father Colonel Alex Nielson died in a car accident when she was 12. Her mother also died a year ago of breast cancer." Diane replied.
"Any siblings?" Gibbs asked.
"A Sister. Lucy Nielson. And according to Aphis she was also employed in the military in Quantico. It says here that Lucy and Carla never got on well. Lucy was older and achieved very highly in school. While Carla was more rebel and against the rules."
"Was employed?" Franks questioned.
"I managed to do a background check on her and turns out she has a baby. She's on maternity leave Franks."
"Alright, did you lift any prints off the draft?" Franks asked.
"Quite a few actually. Most were from the writer Joe Fisher you had been talking about. Also, a lot were from Carla too. However, what is interesting is that there are some other prints here that were different. I am running them through Aphis as we speak."
"Gibbs I want you upstairs calling for Lucy Nielson. Bring her in if you can." Franks ordered Gibbs. "get Roland to try and find out as much as possible about this writer too."
"On it, Boss." Gibbs replied and left the lab.
"You keep reading that biography Diane. Give us some copies if you can." Franks stated.
"Of course, it should be in your emails. I copied them electronically."
"Good job Diane." Franks stated.
Jenny was having a good day so far. She had travelled to the shops to buy her groceries for the week and was now at home checking up on emails and letters. She almost dropped her glass of water she was drinking when she got a call from the local police station that she worked at.
"Shepard."
"Hi, Miss Shepard. This is Donny MacPhelan here. Would you mind coming into the station for a while? We need to discuss something important." Donny MacPhelan was the head chief of the local police department. Also, Jenny's boss.
"Um… Sure. But can I ask a question?"
"You just did." Jenny could feel the heat at her cheeks.
"Why can't we do this over the phone?" Jenny could feel the head chief sighing over the phone.
"It's important Jenny. It's not something I wish to discuss with you over the phone."
"I'll be there in 10." Jenny replied as she hung up. She was flustered and honestly a bit nervous. As she put on her red coat and walked out of her apartment, she couldn't help but feel jittery and afraid. It was like she was in trouble.
Donny said it was important. And something he didn't wish to discuss with you on the phone. It must be serious Jenny thought as she walked in her boots down the street. It was meant to be summer. But it was only 11 degrees. Screw summer Jenny thought.
Jenny felt like vomiting when she finally arrived at the station. Whatever it was she needed to be talked to about didn't resonate well with Jenny. She was greeted by one of her co-workers Jason who escorted her down to Donny's office.
"Do you know what this is about?" Jenny asked nervously. Jason shrugged his shoulders.
"I wish I could tell you Jen. We've been busy all morning. There has been multiple homicides all over the city. The federal agencies are all under stress." He replied sounding stressed. Jenny looked at him with one hand on her handbag.
"You sound really stressed. What do they need me for?" Jenny asked herself confused.
"Maybe they just need extra help or something." Jason said trying to reassure her. They reached Donny's office. He was busy talking to someone. The deputy asked Jenny to sit on the seat outside his office. Jason sat next to her.
"Don't you have more work to do?" Jenny asked in a flirty kind of tone. Jason smiled.
"Honestly Jen, all I am doing is writing reports and doing background checks." He replied.
"You better get back to that. Some of those background checks could hold crucial information about these murders you know." Jenny smiled.
"But being here with you is so much better." Jason grinned. Jason had been flirting on and off with Jenny for a while in the six months that he had been employed at the police station. He wasn't that much older than Jenny. And he had grown up in California in his childhood too. Jenny nervously twitched her fingers and played with her handbag. She was too nervous to try and flirt.
"I'm serious Jason. I don't want to get you into trouble because of me. Go do your work." She urged.
"You'll call me once you've finished?" He asked with puppy eyes.
"Depends…"
"On what?"
"If its good or bad. Now go. Before you get caught." Jenny basically pushed him off the chair and he smiled as he walked away. Another 5 minutes had passed before Donny had finished speaking to what looked to be agents.
"Jenny, good to see you. Come on inside." Donny greeted her, and Jenny followed him inside. He closed the door and sat at his desk with Jenny opposite. "I know that you are probably wondering why you are here."
"Am I in some sort of trouble?" She asked nervously. Donny laughed.
"No... no. Not at all. In fact, the opposite." Jenny looked confused.
"I am sorry, you've lost me." Donny smiled.
"Jenny how long have you been working here?" Jenny looked at the floor and calculated.
"Nearly a year, Donny." She replied. Donny got up from his seat and walked around the room.
"You saw those agents walking out of the door just a few minutes ago… didn't you?"
"Well. Yes of course I did." She replied.
"If I am not mistaken. You have a military father?" Jenny looked at him curiously.
"Yes… Colonel Jasper Shepard."
"Well, you see Jenny. Have you ever heard of the federal agency NIS?" Jenny's eyes went wide.
"Sir, is this about my father? Is he in some kind of trouble?" Jenny asked panicked.
"No. This isn't about your father." Donny replied.
"Then why are you asking about him?" Jenny asked getting frustrated. She had no idea where Donny was going with this.
"Naval Investigative Services were just here. They were asking about any possible employees that could possibly join their agency. I recommended you as a possible candidate." Jenny's eyes went even wider.
"Me! But… Sir… I am only 19. Isn't that a bit too young to be working at an agency?"
"You're working, here aren't you?" Jenny put her hands on her face. She felt a bit relieved.
"Why couldn't you have just told me that when I walked in?" She asked irritated.
"I wasn't sure what your reaction would be. So, I tried warming you up a bit. I'm sorry if I confused you a little." Donny stated.
"I didn't know agencies went around to cops and asked about employees."
"They do it more than you would think." Jenny got up out of her chair and walked around.
"So why me? I mean, I have not got that much experience. I have not even properly been out in the field yet." Jenny asked. Donny sat back down.
"I hate to admit it Jen. But you have become one of the best agents yet. One of the best I have seen."
"Me?" Jenny asked startled.
"Yes. You. Remember that cold case a few months back where I asked you to do some profiling of the suspects?" Jenny nodded her head. "Well, without your sharp investigative skills we would have never gotten the bastard." Jenny kept walking.
"What will I do at a stupid NIS agency? My life is here." Jenny said as she pointed at the ground. She was shaken up to say the least.
"Same stuff you do here. It's just… more legal at an agency. And more professional. You'll have a lot of fun. Plus, they need more agents."
"What are they all getting killed off or something?" Jenny asked. Donny laughed while Jenny looked on in shock.
"Jen, sit down… Let me explain." Donny requested. She sat back down in the chair opposite.
"The NIS Director Raj Thomas has requested that he have an interview with him on Wednesday. Those agents that were here just before are people who work very closely with him." Jenny's hands were shaking slightly.
"A job interview?" Jenny asked unsure.
"Could be." Donny took out some papers from under his paper filing system and showed them to Jenny. "These are some documents that they gave me to give to you. It explains the roles that agents play and the qualifications you may need. In my eyes you are highly qualified even for this job. So why can't you not do this job. It will be a great opportunity for you." Donny explained. Jenny held the papers below the table and glanced over them. She felt quite overwhelmed.
"I just still don't understand why they didn't select somebody with more experience. Somebody like you." Jenny stated. Donny Sighed.
"I am a man in my early fifties Jenny. I've been in this job for over 20 years. Believe me I would love to have a change of scenery. But my job is to not let anyone else make the same mistake I have… don't be stuck in a boring old station your entire life only to get nowhere in life. Explore the world, go undercover. Kill murderers." Jenny looked at him sadly.
"I'll be okay right? I will… Be safe? If I take this job?" Donny smiled at her.
"They will train you well Jennifer." Donny pointed at the papers. "Directions to the place and where to go are on the back of the paper. If you decide to take the job, I accept your resignation. If not… well I just hope you consider it for your own sake." Jenny stood up and shook Donny's hand.
"Well… I was definitely not expecting this level of interest in me today. I… Really do appreciate the hard work and effort that you have gone to. We will see where this goes…"
"We sure will…" Donny replied. Jenny left the building and travelled back to her apartment. As soon as she got into bed, she fell asleep almost instantly. It had been a long day…