Chapter 7
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"I'm on my way" Jethro slammed his phone down hard on the receiver. His kids will have hell to pay from him. That is, if they survive their mother of course.
Back at the house, Jen was furious to see Tony's car speed to a halt in the driveway and come to a halt. She was relieved they weren't hurt in any way but was livid to see the terrified looks on their faces.
"What. Happened?" Jenny asks between clenched teeth. Immediately, Tony, Ziva, Tim and Abby froze in place. Tony was the first to speak.
"Well, we all went down to the mall. It was good to get out of the house for a while. We went shopping." Tony smiles nervously.
"So please explain the utter mess in the house!" Jen yells. Now the kids look entirely perplexed.
"What mess?" Ziva asks.
"This one!" Jen pushes open the door more to reveal the mess inside the house. The kids step closer and peer inside the chaotic house.
"Whoa, what did you do?" Tony asks.
"What did I do?" Jen was officially loosing it. "I came home and it was like this! What the hell do you four think you're doing!?" Jen scolded. The Gibbs children looked astounded.
"We didn't do anything mommy!" Abby defended. Jen grew angrier and ushered them all inside.
"Explain." Jen orders in her special agent voice. The house was ransacked. The four Gibbs kids were shocked.
"What the hell?" Tony asked as he walks in. "Did they take anything?"
"I don't know, did you?" Jen asks.
"What are you saying!? We didn't do anything! We simply left to go shopping!" Tony argues.
"Really? Who could've gotten into the house then?" Jen taps her foot.
"I don't know! Not us!" Tony defends. Jen's expression softens.
"Did any one of you write this?" Jen held up the piece of paper that she found on the end table earlier. It read in ketchup:
"Haha Jethro."
That was it. That was all it said. "Pretty good prank. Now, to your rooms all of you." Jen snaps.
"Mother…" Ziva started to protest.
"NOW!!!" Jen yelled. The four kids ran upstairs. Jen looks back over the house. The mess was horrible and made Jen really wish she had hired that housekeeper. Jen started cleaning the floor, picking up the random things thrown about. Jen set the various DVDs back on the shelf where Tony organized them. She sighed and picked up Tim's videogames. She was making her way to Abby's stuffed animals and Ziva's glass trinkets from Israel (which weren't broken to Jens delight) when she heard Jethro's car roar into the driveway. Jethro barges into the house.
"What the hell happened here!?" Jethro asks.
"I don't know. The kids don't know either." Jen sets one of Abby's stuffed animals on the couch.
"Robbery?" Jethro asked.
"Nothing was stolen, just ransacked. I think the person who did this was looking for something and they didn't find it" Jen deduced.
"Are the kids ok?" Jethro asks.
"Yes, they were out" Jen explained. "All that was left was this." Jen showed him the note.
"You think it was the kids?" Jethro asked.
"No. I think it was whoever is doing this is involved in the case. Jethro. I didn't want to suggest that to the children." Jen explained what her mind expertly concocted.
Tony snuck down the hallway. He tapped on Ziva's door.
"Zivah! Lettme in!" Tony whispered. Ziva reluctantly opened the door. "Should we tell them about that creep in the mall?"
"No. That man was probably a peddler trying to sell us something" Ziva states.
"You're probably right. We don't want to scare Timmy or Abby." Tony shrugs.
"Or father will have your head on a steak." Ziva chuckles.
"Yeah…" Tony starts to laugh but thought about it and didn't find it very funny. He pouted his lips together in a funny way to show his discouragement. Ziva only laughed more.
Only about 20 minutes later the house was filled with its usual sounds. Abby's music blaring from her room, Tim's videogame sounds, Tony's movies and Ziva silently reading. The smell of Chinese takeout wavered in the air.
"Dinner!" Jen calls up the stairs. In a matter of moments three hungry teenagers and a small girl race down the stairs. Jen takes cover in the kitchen as her children bound down the stairs to the kitchen table. Jethro places the takeout on the table and soon the whole family digs in.
They eat for a while, Tony non-stop talking about the various stores Abby dragged him into. Abby would spit her commentary in at moments as well. The whole while the Gibbs kids avoided any mention of the man in the mall. Dinner was almost finished when the phone rang. Jen got up to get it, as she was putting her plate in the sink.
"I got it." Jen announced. She picked up the phone, her tone of voice going deeper and sadder. "Jethro?" She called her husband into the kitchen where the landline was. Jethro nodded and got up. He looked at his wife. She looked shaken, he didn't press and he watches his wife order their children to bed early to much protesting. Jethro turns back to the phone.
"Why was your cell phone off?" The voice of Director Leon Vance asks.
"Turned it off, had to deal with family issues." Jethro responds.
"Yeah, well we have more issues at hand." Vance says, his voice deeper. Jen looked at Jethro from clearing off the table. She knew something was wrong. "Jethro, Ron and Cat are dead. They were shot at Ben's Chili Bowl at approximately 6:34 p.m. I'm sorry, but I need you and Jen in late as well as Ducky for autopsy, I have temps assigned to fill in. I'm sorry Jethro." Vance hung up the phone.
Jethro hung up as well and turned to his wife. His eyes were filled with sadness as he looks at his wife, they often had the engaged couple over for dinner and they babysat countless times for all four of the Gibbs children.
"They're dead Jen." Jethro's voice was cold.