Chapter 7
He opened his eyes again, and it was dark. Very dark. He had a hard time breathing, but he forced himself to push against whatever was holding him down. He had to take a lot of breaks because it was so tiring.
He kept trying, although he couldn't quite remember why he should be.
Suddenly, there was a popping sound and he was falling.
Not very far.
He hit the ground heavily and lay there for a while. He didn't know where he was going, but he figured it was a good idea to try and move.
A sound from behind him. He rolled over.
A red light.
"Joey, what are you doing? How did you get there?"
"Please...let...me go... Don't do this...to me," he begged.
"Joey, stop it."
"Not...Joey... Please..."
The dark shape moved away. Then, she was right beside him.
"You see? You're right there, Joey! I can see you. This is you. I just need to get you out."
"No...no..."
"It'll be soon. I just need to get back to my apartment and replenish my supplies. I thought I had enough here, but I don't."
"No..."
"I can't live without you, Joey. I won't. I've lived without you for too long...and I won't do it."
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Ziva hung up the phone, sat back and looked at Gibbs.
"What is it, Ziva?"
"I have found information about Danica Laurence. It is...to use Abby's word...hinky."
"What's up?" Tony asked.
Ziva got up and walked over to the plasma. She brought up Danica's photo.
"Danica Laurence, born Danica Larson. She worked as a veterinary assistant before she was married. Mother died when she was two years old. Her father, Joseph Larson, died when she was twenty-one. She married Joseph Laurence at age twenty-three."
"Joseph Larson? Joseph Laurence? Close names," Tony said.
"Yes. I called Joseph Laurence's family. He died just a few months ago of an aneurysm. It was a shock for everyone. No indication that he had any problems. Apparently, the marriage was kind of shaky. Joseph's sister, Brinda Mellot, said that Danica had become extremely possessive. She showed no interest in anyone or anything but Joseph. He had told his sister he was worried about his wife. After he died, she sold the house and left. No one had any idea where she was until I called. ...and here is a photo of her father and of her husband."
Ziva clicked and brought up two pictures. Then, she added the photos of the dead men to the plasma.
"Oh, man," Tony said.
Again, they weren't an exact match, but it was a similar coloring, similar heights, similar builds.
"And that is not all."
"What else is there?"
"I found an old friend of Joseph Larson. He said that Joseph went a little weird after his wife died. He was devoted to his daughter."
"Anything inappropriate?" Gibbs asked.
"Not that he knew, and he said that he couldn't imagine his friend abusing his daughter, but he almost couldn't stand to let her go to school or to go to work himself. When his friend asked about it, Joseph said that he could see his wife in his daughter and that he wanted her to be as beautiful as his wife. He was an amateur photographer and had his own darkroom. All he would do was take pictures of his daughter."
"No porn?" Tony asked.
"No," Ziva said. "Not that his friend ever saw. It seemed to be an unhealthy obsession but he did not seem to be physically hurting his daughter."
Tony stared at the images on the screen.
"So we've got a woman who grew up as the obsession of her father. After he died, she became obsessed with a man who reminded her of her father. And after he died..." He grimaced. "It looks like you were right, Ziva."
"Go find her," Gibbs said. "Bring her in. I'll call Fornell. You'll have a search authorization by the time you get there."
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Ziva and Tony walked down to the basement apartment and knocked on the door.
"Danica Laurence! This is NCIS!" Tony said.
There was no reply. No sound of anyone inside. Tony looked at Ziva and raised his eyebrows in a silent question. Ziva bent over and picked the lock without hesitation. They moved into the apartment together.
"Danica Laurence! NCIS!"
No reply.
The apartment wasn't large, but it was clean and orderly. They moved through.
"Clear," Tony said in the kitchen.
"Clear," Ziva said after checking the bathroom.
All that was left was the bedroom. The door was closed. They walked over to the door, counted down silently and then opened it.
"Empty," Tony said. "She's not here."
"No, but we can still look. Maybe something will tell us where she is."
They did a quick walk through the apartment and then, Ziva noticed the jewelry box on the dresser. She walked over and opened it.
There was no jewelry in the box.
None at all.
"Tony. Look at this."
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Danica was at the top of the stairs ready to go down when she heard them in her apartment. It was too late to get in. They were in her home! They were looking through her things! She was angry but now was not the time to confront them on their behavior. She would just have to hurry and get Joey out of Tim. Then, everyone would see what she had done and why. They would understand, then.
Quickly, she went back out to her car and drove away, relieved that she'd been forced to park down the street.
It wouldn't do to be found so soon.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
It shouldn't have been as horrific as it was. Really, it shouldn't. Tony had seen disgusting crime scenes before.
...but for some reason, those little tufts of hair, carefully tied with ribbon made him feel sick.
"Why is it always the pretty ones?" he muttered. "If you're going to be a psychopathic killer, can't you just be ugly?"
"I am sorry that we do not fit your ideals, Tony," Ziva said.
She opened one of the three drawers and saw the supply of ribbon. Then, she opened another small drawer and saw a different lock of hair. The third drawer had yet another lock of hair and a black and white picture of a young girl with the image of an older woman transposed over her.
"The young Danica Larson?" Tony asked.
"It would seem so."
Tony opened the drawer of the dresser. The top drawer had no clothes in it. It had a number of syringes, vials labeled as containing phenobarbital, latex gloves...and some bottles of chemicals: HC110 (Dilution E), Kodak Indicator Stop Bath, Kodafix fixing agent, Kodak Photo Flo 200.
"What's all this stuff?"
"Something to do with photographs, I would guess," Ziva said. "Kodak is a camera brand."
"Do you think she started taking pictures like her dad did?" Tony asked. "Does crazy just run in families or is this something she learned?"
"Perhaps it is both," Ziva said. "But I do see that she is likely our killer. Where would she get phenobarbital? And why that drug?"
"You said she was a vet, right?"
"An assistant."
"I think phenobarbital is used for dogs...isn't it?"
"I do not know," Ziva said. "Why ask me?"
"You know everything else," Tony said with a smile...but then, the smile vanished. "Do you think McGee is still alive?"
"I hope so. We will find him."
"Good. I like it when you're so sure," Tony said. "Let's get going on this place. Maybe Abby can work her magic and track the psycho down before she gets to work on McGee."
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"I don't know if I'm magic enough, Gibbs," Abby said. "I mean...from what I've seen, these are common chemicals in developing film. There's nothing special about them! ...and if she has Tim...then..."
"Abby, you can do it," Gibbs said calmly. "Find something."
Abby looked distressed but she started trying to think.
"If she has all these chemicals. They're for developing film. Most people don't do that anymore. They use digital cameras. And...and there aren't going to be a lot of places where you can do that. You'd have to have your own darkroom! And it wasn't in her apartment! It would have to be somewhere else! She'd have to rent or buy a space somewhere! Oh, I wish Tim was here. He's so good at finding that stuff."
"Do your best, Abbs," Gibbs said.
He went back up to the bullpen. Fornell was getting off the phone...at Gibbs' desk. Ducky was sitting at Tim's desk, waiting for information.
"Okay. So Sacks has been checking with our people up in Massachusetts. They double-checked with the ME who did the autopsy on Joseph Laurence."
"And?" Gibbs asked.
"And no sign of foul play. When a guy in his thirties seems to have a stroke, they check it pretty carefully. Definitely no phenobarbital. From what they can tell, the guy just died."
"And triggered a psychotic episode in a clearly-disturbed young woman," Ducky added. "That must have been the key. She grew up seeing love illustrated only as obsession. The information Ziva gathered shows a woman who knows how to show affection only by single-minded devotion to one person."
Fornell nodded. "Sacks says that her neighbors never really got to know her. She did everything for her husband and didn't seem to have much of a personality even, when he was gone. They didn't like her because she seemed cold."
"She is a very lovely woman, taught that she held her mother inside her. Reading about her father, I would guess that he had some kind of mental breakdown, for which he was never treated. Growing up in that situation? It would warp any mind."
"And now she's killing people because they look like her husband?"
"She may not even be thinking of it that way," Ducky said. "I don't know what her perspective might be, but when one becomes psychotic, what makes sense in the real world has no bearing. This may make sense to her in a way that seems insane to us."
"Well, multiple murders doesn't indicate sanity to me, Ducky," Fornell said.
"No. Clearly, she is not in her right mind. What I'm saying is that her actions don't indicate sociopathic tendencies. I think it's psychopathic. It may not change your approach to finding her, but this isn't someone who is ignoring social cues. There's a misfire in what she sees as being right."
"Is McGee alive or dead right now?" Gibbs asked.
"She will keep him alive until she is satisfied that he can't give her what she's looking for. She found a husband to replace her father. Her husband died. She needs to replace him and so far, she hasn't found who she wants."
Gibbs' phone rang. ...and so did Fornell's. They both answered.
"Boss, we just caught sight of Laurence. You want us to take her or see where she goes? ...oh, and Sacks didn't trust us and he's calling Fornell."
Gibbs rolled his eyes. That particular mutual dislike was a little irritating at times.
"Stay with her," he said, looking significantly at Fornell.
Fornell nodded in agreement.
"Stay with her, Sacks...and stop circumventing DiNozzo. You have work with NCIS. So knock it off. They want to find their man."
Gibbs grinned.
"Don't lose her, DiNozzo."
"No way, Boss."
"And when she gets to where she's going, you had better call for backup."
"Will do, Boss. Promise."
"Okay. Get on it."
Gibbs hung up and looked at Fornell and Ducky.
"We'll have to see what they find."
They had to wait.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"There she goes," Tony said. "Sacks, you going to take your own car or stay with us?"
"I'm not getting out of the car and drawing her attention, DiNozzo. Go."
Ziva looked at Tony. Now was not the time to razz Sacks.
Tony smiled and casually pulled out into traffic behind Danica. She drove without haste. She didn't seem to realize they were back there.
She drove away from Silver Spring and toward Langley Park.
After a few minutes, she pulled up at an old storefront and parked. Tony continued beyond, moving around the corner before finding a place to park.
"Sacks, you'd better go and see what building she goes into. She's met both Ziva and me before," Tony said.
Ziva was glad that Tony was back into business mode...and she was relieved that Sacks followed suit. He nodded and got out of the car, walked around the corner and headed for wherever Danica had gone.
"You think he'll tell us?"
"Yes," Ziva said. "He was clearly told off by Fornell. He will do his job."
"Yeah. I hate to wait, though."
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Sacks walked down the sidewalk, keeping an eye on Danica, to see where she was going. He paused at a store display, feigning interest in used clothing.
Danica walked by him and to a door about fifty feet from him. She unlocked the door and went inside. Sacks pulled out his phone.
"DiNozzo, she's gone in. You want to see what she's doing in there now?"
"Gotta call Gibbs over first. What's the address?"
Sacks gave the address and then hung up. Tony and Ziva came around the corner about two minutes later.
"Gibbs said to wait," Tony said. "Once he and Fornell get here, we're going in."
"They don't think it'll be too late?"
"Guess not."
"Okay."
Tony and Ziva went around to the back to make sure she didn't slip out another way. Sacks stayed out front to wait for Gibbs and Fornell to get there.
Five minutes. That's all it took. For not the first time, Sacks wondered if Gibbs could bend space and time. He seemed to cover distances in no time at all.
"She's still inside?"
"DiNozzo and David gave no indication that she'd tried to leave from the back."
"Okay."
Gibbs called back to Tony and Ziva.
"We're moving in two minutes. Be in place."
He hung up and they walked to the door. Sacks pulled out his gun, as did Gibbs and Fornell.
Thirty seconds.
