Chapter 8
Chief Petty Officer Cody Harrison pulls his car into a garage. The garage door closes. He walks to the back door of the house. The door opens.
"Dude, what's wrong?" Ryan asked. "On the phone you sounded..."
"I need your car." Cody Harrison stated as he enters into the house.
"My car is in the shop because of engine problems."
"Damn!"
"Are you in trouble?" Ryan notices the expression on Cody's face as he frantically tries to find something to eat in the refrigerator. "You said you were going to get out."
"Yeah, well…"
"What do you need?"
"I need a change of clothes, a hat, shades and some money if you have any to spare." Cody said. "And do you also have hair dye?"
They hear something over the police scanner about Cody's car being in the area. The items Cody asked for are quickly found. Within five minutes, Cody runs out the back door.
After some time, NCIS arrives at the house. They get out of the car. Jared looks down the street at car; he knows his brother has been following them. Jared stands behind Tony and makes a gun motion with his hand, directed at Tony's head. He smiles evilly then gives his brother the finger. From the distance, Gibbs shakes his head in irritation.
Ziva and McGee go around back. Tony and Jared approach the front door. The door bell rings.
"I'm coming!" Ryan yelled. "Hold on." The front door opens.
"Special Agent DiNozzo…" Tony flashes his badge. "We have reason to believe Cody Harrison may have been here recently."
"I don't know anyone by that name." Ryan stated.
"That's a load of horse shit." Jared said after reading Ryan's body language. "Tell us where he is."
"I'm telling you… I don't know any Cody Harrison."
"Wrong answer." Jared grabs Ryan by the throat and pushes his way into the house.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Tony shouted as he also enters into the house.
Jared slams Ryan against a wall. He thrusts his knee into Ryan's stomach and then punches him in the face. Ryan falls to the floor.
"What the fuck is your problem?!" Ryan yelled as he rubs his stomach while still on the floor.
Tony comes between them and places his hand on Jared chest to keep him from advancing on Ryan. Jared looks down at Tony's hand.
"Take your hand off me." Jared said in anger.
"This isn't how we do things." Tony said.
"Well… It's how I do things." Jared said. He grabs Tony's arm and twists it. Tony is pushed to the side. Jared advances as Ryan tries to crawl away. He grabs Ryan and forces him to stand.
"Help!" Ryan shouted. He tries to hit Jared. "Get this psycho off me!"
"Where's Cody?!" Jared yelled. He throws Ryan into a glass cabinet. The glass shatters. Ryan falls to the floor, on top of the glass. Ryan now has a couple cuts. Jared grabs Ryan again.
"He dropped by a little while ago." Ryan said in fear. "He took a couple things then left out the back door. But I don't know where he went."
Now, three guns are pointing at Jared.
"Let him go, Jared!" Tony exclaimed.
"Telling the truth is much easier, don't you think?" Jared releases Ryan from his grip.
"We found Cody's car in the garage." McGee said.
"Are you sure you don't know where Cody went?" Ziva approaches Ryan.
"I don't know what he did or why you're after him…"
"He murdered a man." Jared said. "Or was framed… Who really knows at this point?" He chuckles.
"He what?" Ryan is shocked. "No… That can't be."
"We have strong evidence to suggest it was him." Tony stated.
"Oh my God…" Ryan doesn't know what else to say.
"McGee…" Tony tries to get his attention. "Take him to the car while we canvas the area. And contact NCIS Headquarters to get Cody's car tow to the evidence garage."
McGee places handcuffs on Ryan while the others canvas for the area for any sign of Chief Petty Officer Cody Harrison. In a back alley near the house, Jared notices something. A footprint in a muddy section near a garbage can looks fresh, as if someone recently stepped there. From behind a couple bushes, Cody looks out at Jared. A couple feet away, Jared notices the broken limb of a bush. There are two pieces of evidence which suggest a person recently came through this way in a hurry. Jared walks away. From the bushes, Cody sighs in relief.
After a couple minutes of canvassing the area, they all meet up at the car.
"Did you find anything?" Tony wondered.
"Nothing…" Ziva replied.
"No sign of him." Jared answered with a lie.
While waiting for the tow truck, they briefly look around Ryan's house for anything in plain sight.
Jamie, who skipped her class, arrives at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. She enters into the building and walks to the front desk.
"May I help you?" The secretary asked.
"Yeah… I'm looking for Dr. Ralph Wily." Jamie said.
"Go through the doors…" The secretary points in the direction. "The elevators are off to the left, right after the water fountains. Once on the second floor, turn left and walk down the hallway. At the end of the hallway, turn right. Dr. Ralph Wily's office is the third door on the left."
"Thank you." Jamie said. She walks away.
On route to the doctor's office, Jamie wonders if this trip was a waste or not. She's somewhat scared to confront the alleged doctor who presumably saved her life a long time ago. After a couple minutes, she knocks on the door to Doctor Ralph Wily's office.
"Come in." Dr. Wily said. Jamie enters into the office. "Is there anything I can help you with ma'am?"
"I hope so." Jamie said as she sits down in the chair across the desk. "Do you happen to know a Jared Lucas Gibbs by any chance?"
"I don't know anyone by that name." Dr. Wily replied. "Why?"
"Don't lie to me, doctor." Jamie said as she can tell there's something he's not telling her. "I'm pretty good at reading people… And your body language tells me you recognize the name." She said as she stands up and the doctor looks into her eyes. "I can't believe I actually fell for this."
"Wait…" Dr. Wily said as Jamie is walking toward the door. "You're right." She turns to face him. "I do recognize the name… But only the last name; Gibbs. Gibbs is what I recognize." He continued. "It didn't dawn on me until I looked into your eyes. You're Kelly Gibbs."
Jamie's heartbeat increases because the doctor recognizes her.
"Please sit, Ms. Gibbs." Dr. Wily said. Jamie walks to the chair and sits down. "It was sixteen years ago when I met you, Kelly."
"I am Kelly, but my name is Jamie now." Jamie stated.
"That's right. Your identity was changed."
"I was only eight-years-old at the time. I can't believe you remember me."
"It's the eyes, Ms. Gibbs. I can never forget those eyes."
"You have no idea how long I've wanted to meet you." Jamie said. "You saved my life."
"I've saved a lot of people in my time, but there was always something different about you. I remember that night as if it were yesterday."
"Why didn't you give up on me?"
"When you arrived at the hospital, you were barely alive. On the way to the ER your heart stopped. The doctors tried to resuscitate you in the hallway. Once you arrived in the ER they gave it a couple more tries but failed. You were pronounced dead." Dr. Wily said. "At the time, I was just a medical student. I was working in the ER. When you were brought in, you reminded me of someone close to me who died. She was my sister. When she was fourteen she died in a car accident. A drunk driver hit the car she was in. So when I saw you lying there and heard you were in a car accident, it felt like I was taken over. I found myself with the defibrillator in hand. I just couldn't give up on you." He continued. "And when your heartbeat came back, I felt like I made my sister proud. Your eyes opened only for a couple seconds. Each of those seconds your eyes were open felt like everything I've done to get to the point I was at, it was for that single moment. That it was fate for me to study medicine just so I could be there in that room to save you when everyone else gave up."
"Well…" Jamie grabs a tissue from the tissue box on Dr. Wily's desk. She knows he's telling the truth because only the person who saved her would know her eyes were open for a couple seconds. "You have no idea how happy I am you were there. Cause I wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for you."
Jamie and Doctor Ralph Wily talk for a quite some time. They go deeper in depth about that night. Jamie even tells the doctor who her life has been and is going now. And the doctor is happy to hear it all.
As they talk, a single question remains stuck in Jamie's head; why did a manipulative bastard of a prick, such as Jared, give her this information so she could find the man who saved her life? Because of this question, Jamie plans on eventually confronting Jared for an answer other than what he said earlier about respecting her. But for now, she's enjoying the conversation she's having with Doctor Wily.
