A/N: Thank you to everyone who has left a review, has favorited, and is following this story. I really appreciate the encouragement.
It was late into the evening and Abby was sitting at her desk waiting for her mass-spectrometer to spit out results on some paint and wood finish chips Tony had brought her. As she waited, she once again studied the sequence of events logged on Ana's computer. If she was the murderer, then there had to be some indication in the timeline of events that would show she had left her laptop unattended.
Coming to the end of the computer's internal log, Abby's eyes stared at the last entry of 1:44pm, computer shut down. And then it hit her. That was it! It'd been right there in front of her the entire time!
Springing out of her seat, she ran from her lab to the elevator, pressing the call button repeatedly. This revelation was too good to wait. She needed to get to Gibbs and tell him. Fast!
When the elevator dinged and the doors were barely open, she rushed in and bumped hard against Gibbs' chest. The coffee and Caf-Pow! in his hands jiggled but didn't spill and he growled from the jarring impact.
"I was just coming to see you!" Abby blurted as the doors closed behind her and she stepped back to give Gibbs more room.
"I was coming to see you," he answered, holding out her drink.
But Abby waved it off because she was too energized to hold anything in her hands. "I've got proof Ana Cain lied," she revealed excitedly.
"I didn't kiss her, Abbs," Gibbs interrupted.
"Wha… What?"
"It was like she attacked me. I didn't even see it coming."
She saw the concern in his eyes. "I know, Gibbs."
"One minute I'm walking beside her and talking and then suddenly she's grabbing me and…"
Abby pressed a firm finger to his lips to stop his talking. "Sshhh. I'm past that. I'm not even thinking about it anymore." Carefully she took the drinks from his hands and set them down in a corner of the lift. "It doesn't bother me," she continued, looking into his relieved blue eyes. "Well, it did bother me… at the time… but like you said, that woman is nuts."
"So you're not mad? You understand what happened?" he asked warily.
Flipping the emergency stop switch, she stepped closer to his front, close enough so that her chest brushed against his. "Not mad and I know you would never, ever hurt me that way."
She watched the tension leave his shoulders and he reached up, cupping her cheek. "I wouldn't, Abbs. I swear." A small smile tugged at his mouth as his gaze flicked to her lips then back up. "You are so not like my ex-wives."
"You just figured that out now?" she asked, rolling her eyes.
He leaned closer so his lips were a mere hair's breadth away from hers. "No. I've always known it. You're so much more…" he trailed off as his mouth descended to cover hers.
Abby responded immediately, opening her mouth and returning his kiss hotly. She hadn't felt his lips upon her mouth in over two days and it instantly ignited a fire across her entire body.
Gibbs' hands grabbed her upper arms and he pushed her up against the side of the elevator, the coolness of the metal seeping through her thin blouse. "Been too long," he murmured as his mouth trailed along her cheek to her ear then down to her neck.
"Too long," she whispered, tilting her head back to give him better access as her hands slid down, cupping his ass, squeezing and pulling him closer. His fingers wrapped around her pigtails and the sweep of his tongue against her pulse point made her head reel.
Everywhere her hands touched him, he was hard. His back, his arms, his hips. Then her hand brushed across the front of his jeans and he was hard there, too. She loved it when he took control and showed her his power, his dominance.
And, he was also an incredible kisser and right now, she liked this Gibbs the best. The one who was licking her bottom lip, running his hands up under her skirt, slipping his fingers beneath the edge of her panties. But she knew this was too much, too much to take to completion in the small elevator at work.
Then Gibbs' fingertips slid into her slick warm folds, making all thoughts of work disappear. The only way she was going to stop what was happening was if someone interrupted them, but they were in control of the elevator and it wasn't going anywhere until they were finished.
She shoved his jacket from his shoulders, tugged it off his arms and tossed it aside, then pulled the bottom of his polo and t-shirt from his jeans. Eagerly, her hands ran up under his shirts, her fingers tangling in his chest hair.
Gibbs tugged her blouse free of her skirt and fumbled with the tiny buttons, drawing his mouth away from her neck to peer at the objectionable fastenings. He growled and Abby couldn't help but giggle at his frustration, helping him with the buttons before dragging his shirt off over his head and tossing it aside.
Her mouth and tongue attacked his hard chest and tiny nipples and he groaned when she reached down and stroked his erection through his jeans. Her blouse was stripped off and his fingers moved to the clasp on her bra. It was only a tiny bit of black lace and he nestled his face between her breasts, then the elevator suddenly jerked and started moving.
Gibbs' head snapped up and he saw Abby's eyes wide and round in astonishment. With a lunge, his hand hit the emergency switch, flipping it back and forth so the elevator once again ground to a halt. He and Abby stared at one another, wondering what the hell had just happened.
When after several seconds the elevator didn't restart, they both sighed in relief. He reached to the floor for their shirts. "Better get dressed," he said, hoping they had enough time before the elevator started up again.
He was in the middle of pulling his t-shirt over his head when the lights flickered on and they started moving once again. His hands were caught in his shirt and he didn't have time to reach for the switch before the doors opened and Tony was looking at them, his mouth agape. Abby had her back to the doors, trying to hide herself behind Gibbs' body, mortified by being caught nearly half naked.
Within two seconds, Gibbs regained his composure and glared at DiNozzo. "Who the hell over-rode the emergency stop?" he barked.
Tony blinked his eyes several times, still trying to comprehend what he was actually seeing. He had no idea who the woman was behind his boss, but there was no way she was getting out of there before he found out. "Ummm… I guess I did, Boss," he stuttered. "Apparently if you press and hold the call button for ten seconds, it overrides…" his voice trailed off at the stern look on Gibbs' face. "Won't ever try that again."
Pulling his polo over his head he was aware that Tony was trying to get a look at the woman behind him. "Turn around, DiNozzo," Gibbs ordered, "and hold the door so this elevator doesn't go anywhere until we're ready."
Tony's shock quickly wore off, and he gave a sly smirk as he leaned in the elevator opening, his back turned. "You know, you should request an office that isn't used by every worker in the building," he chuckled and felt a swift smack on the back of his head.
Gibbs turned to look at Abby who already had her blouse on and buttoned and was hastily tucking it into her skirt. "I think I know of a way to keep DiNozzo from telling the whole office about this," he murmured to her.
Abby gave him a grateful smile, whispering in return, "Oh, I'll make sure he'll never consider speaking of this ever again."
Tony's eyes widened as he recognized the voice and he spun around. "Abby!" he exclaimed. "Holy shit! You and Gibbs!" A wicked grin lit up his face. "How long has this been going on?"
Gibbs was about to give his SFA an earful but Abby quickly stepped past him and jabbed her finger into Tony's chest. "You want to see tomorrow?" she asked in a disturbingly pleasant voice. "Just remember, I can kill you without leaving any forensic evidence. And Gibbs would be more than happy to help me get rid of your body."
Tony swallowed hard and looked over her shoulder at his boss who had just finished tucking in his shirt. "How many times have we seen people do crazy things in the name of love?" Gibbs asked in all seriousness.
Abby looked at him with a huge smile. "You love me?"
"Could be," Gibbs winked and pulled her against his chest, giving her a quick kiss on the mouth.
A large grin creased Tony's face. "If you two want to keep going, I wouldn't mind…" he said suggestively.
Brushing past Tony, Gibbs gave him another smack on the back of the head just as McGee rounded the corner from the stairwell. "What's going on with the elevator?" he asked, wondering why he'd had to take the stairs and why his three co-workers were commandeering it.
Gibbs strode by his young agent, headed for the lab, and answered in a sarcastic tone, "We were having a party, McGee."
Abby followed on Gibbs' heels with a teasing, "You missed it, Timmy."
Tony saw the confused look on his partner's face and shrugged. "I think Abby's got something for us in her lab," he replied. "Better not keep the boss waiting."
With a frown, McGee joined everyone in Abby's lab to hear her already explaining something to Gibbs.
"… looking at Ana Cain's computer again and I found…"
"Hold on, Abby," McGee interrupted. "I found something, too, and it can't wait."
"Well, mine can't wait either, McGee," Abby stated with annoyance.
"No, really, I've got more than just evidence…" the young agent retorted.
"So do I."
"How can you have more than just evidence? It's all you work with!"
"I know that Ana Cain lied, McGee. I found a glitch in her computer log…"
"Well, I know she was the one who bought the gun from Hicks," he interjected then started talking over Abby, "I was watching the surveillance..."
Standing between the two, Gibbs was bombarded with nothing but a jumbled mix of words and finally smacked McGee on the back of the head, shutting him up. Abby also became silent and her eyes widened as everyone watched and waited for Gibbs to speak.
"Abby," he growled before turning his attention to her.
"The internal log on Ana Cain's computer shows that it shut down at 1:44 pm, but we know from her control settings that her laptop only shuts down after 3 hours of non-use. That means no keyboard or mouse activity. So if it shut down at 1:44 that means she was not actively using it after 10:44 am. That's roughly an hour and fifteen minutes before the opera ended."
Gibbs nodded. "She said she listened to the entire thing and it finished around noon and then she went to look for her husband."
"She lied, Boss," Tony interjected. "Did you find anything with the paint chips I brought you?"
"Major MassSpec is still analyzing it."
McGee was becoming frustratingly impatient and stepped past Gibbs to intrude on Abby's computer. "Boss, you've got to see this," he insisted as he tapped on the keyboard.
Instead of crowding around the small monitor, Gibbs and Tony looked at the large plasma screen as McGee continued. "Not all Zippy cars have a surveillance camera but the one that was used by our gun buyer did." He started the video. "This is the woman Hicks sold the gun to. He was able to positively identify her from a group of photos."
"Looks like the description he gave us," Tony added. "Sure doesn't look like Ana Cain."
"Following the GPS recordings taken by the car, it matches the location and time that Hicks said he met with her also. After buying the gun, she drove around Georgetown for another hour, only stopping once at a sports complex. Then she returned to the Zippy Car location and now we see her park and get out."
Everyone watched the monitors and was surprised to see Ana Cain exit the vehicle, open the back door, and remove a small duffle bag before walking off. "I think the gun and her disguise are in that bag," McGee added. "I also think she stopped at the sports complex to use the bathroom to change out of her disguise."
"That's good work, McGee," Gibbs acknowledged as he turned from the plasma. "I want a search warrant for her house."
"Already in the works," the young agent announced.
Just then one of Abby's machines started beeping and they all waited for her to attend to it. Within a minute she lifted the report from the out-feed and looked it over. "The samples of paint and stain that Tony brought me match the front door and frame of the Cain residence."
"Where'd you get those samples?" Gibbs asked, looking at his SFA.
"Off a pry bar in her garage."
"I sure as hell hope you didn't bring in that pry bar."
"Of course not, Boss. That would be illegal search and seizure."
"Where's Ana Cain now?" Gibbs asked, worried she may have gone home and have access to destroying evidence.
But McGee put his mind at ease. "She's in the squad room with Bishop."
"I want her ass sitting in interrogation for the rest of the night instead of sleeping in a soft warm bed."
Tony and Tim both headed for the elevator. "On it," they responded together.
When Gibbs and Abby were once again alone, he turned towards her. "Looks like we've got more than enough evidence to prove she's the killer."
Walking up to him, she wrapped her arms around his middle. "And another long night for you."
"Nah. We'll do the search warrant but then I'm sending everyone home for some much needed rest."
Abby couldn't stop the small smile that curled her lips. "You're really going to make her sit in interrogation all night?"
"Damn right. She deserves it."
Leaning forward, she lightly brushed her lips across his, feeling very much at ease. "Is it okay if I wait for you at your place?"
"More than okay," he husked before drawing her into a firm kiss only to be interrupted a few seconds later when his cell rang. "Gibbs," he answered with a growl.
Abby didn't release her hold on him and heard McGee's voice say, "Got the warrant, Boss."
"You, DiNozzo, and Bishop take the van. I'll meet you there." Flipping his phone shut, he grinned at Abby. "You're gonna have to let me go now."
Her arms tightened slightly. "What if I don't want to."
"The longer you keep me here, the longer it'll be before I get home to join you… in bed."
Abby quickly withdrew her arms. "You better get going. Don't want to keep your team waiting."
Gibbs headed for the door. "See ya later, Abbs."
To be continued…
