Chapter 9

The team is back at NCIS Headquarters. The thirty years worth of driver's licenses are in the Forensics Lab being processed. Lieutenant Donna Mills' jaw bone is in Autopsy and has already been processed by Ducky. The team is in the bullpen with a list of the people from the driver's licenses. McGee is working on a program to filter through all of the cold case victim specifications to establish a pattern. Gibbs is the only team members not in the bullpen. The three team members; Tony, Ziva and McGee are discussing the case amongst themselves as Gibbs is up in the Director's office.

"I still can't believe the amount of driver's licenses Jared collected over the years." Tony stated.

"Each of the people is labeled as a cold case." Ziva added.

"It makes you wonder… If he's as good as to kill a couple hundred people and not leave any evidence behind… How did he go from being so careful to so sloppy with the Lieutenant…?" Tony pondered as he flips through the list of cold case victims.

"He has an ace up his pants." Ziva stated.

"I think you meant; an ace up his sleeve." Tony corrected her.

"That too…"

"I have something." McGee said. "Well… It's not really something or even anything… It's…" He notices the expression on Tony's face. "I'll just put the info on the plasma." He presses a button. The filtered information on all of the cold cases shows for the others to see.

"Damn…" Tony is amazed. "Over a span of thirty years, 1977 until now, Jared murdered one person every three weeks which totals five hundred and twenty people in thirty years."

"Is that a lot for a single serial killer?" Ziva wondered. "I'm unfamiliar with serial killer records."

"Yeah Ziva, it's a lot." Tony answered. "I think Jared Lucas officially holds the serial killer record by a single psychopath working alone."

"Look at this…" Tony is perplexed. "There's no commonality with these victims. The age range of the victims is from eighteen to seventy… Males and Females… No pattern of victim hair or eye color… No prejudicial pattern with race, nationality, ethnicity or sexual orientation… No pattern with social, economic or financial status… There's not even a height or weight pattern. And he never uses the same M.O." He stated. "No wonder these victims were never linked."

"He's an intelligent serial killer." Ziva said. "It's a lot harder to catch a serial killer when they don't have a clear pattern."

"But it's as if he allowed us to catch him." McGee stated. "Like Tony said… He was so careful with murdering five hundred and twenty people over the course of thirty years; all of which ended up labeled as cold cases. But with the Lieutenant, he was sloppy. And when we arrested him… He was disappointed that Gibbs wasn't there. He expected us to find him. The only question is; why."

"That's a good question. You should go ask him, McGee." Tony said.

"There's no way I'm stepping foot in a room with that guy." McGee said.

"Aww… Poor little Probie is scared of a Gibbs." Tony mocked him as he steps toward McGee's desk. "Though… I'd actually prefer being trapped in a room with our Gibbs, to being trapped in a room with that Gibbs." He added. "Have you noticed the two of them have the same initials? L.J.G and J.L.G… The only difference is that the first two letters are flipped. But still it's the same…"

Gibbs smacks Tony on the back of the head.

"Shutting up, Boss..." Tony said as he turns around to see Gibbs sipping a coffee.

"Are any of the victims in the service?!" Gibbs asked in a strong voice.

"Of five hundred and twenty victims, thirty of them were in the service; either Marines or Navy." McGee replied.

"I guess you're going to have a pissing contest with Fornell over jurisdiction, eh Boss." Tony grins.

"Not if he doesn't know." Gibbs said as he walks to his desk in order to grab something. After grabbing the item he wants, he motions for Tony to follow him. The two of them walk to the elevator.

Once inside the elevator, Gibbs hands Tony's a key. Tony is perplexed as to what the key is for.

"It's the key to my house, DiNozzo." Gibbs stated. "Jamie told me you agreed to buy the house next door. So I'm giving you the key to my place in advance. I know your apartment lease is up next month, but the house won't be ready for another three months until my neighbor actually moves out. You'll need a place to live for the two months until your house is ready. Move what you can into my place and put the rest in storage." He added. "You're family, DiNozzo… My home is yours."

"But only my house is ready." Tony chuckled.

"And by the way, DiNozzo… You can forget having sex with my daughter for the two months you're living under my roof."

"I'm sure we can sneak…"

Gibbs smacks Tony on the back of the head.

"I really need to learn how to keep my mouth shut." Tony stated.

"You think, DiNozzo." Gibbs agreed.

The elevator door opens. The two of them step off and walk toward the Forensics Lab. They enter. Abby, Jamie and Ducky are all there. Abby and Jamie are sitting on stools in the middle of the lab, in front of the computer. Ducky is standing on the other side.

"What do you have for me, Abs?" Gibbs immediately gets to the point of the visit. As he approaches the middle area, he kisses Jamie on the forehead.

"We dusted all five hundred and twenty driver's licenses for prints…" Abby begins to say.

"We also scanned and ran about half of the prints against sample taken from Jared Lucas. The prints match." Jamie added. "He's been in direct contact with…"

"Jamie!" Abby shouted.

"What?" Jamie smiles innocently.

"You stole what I was going to say you little thief."

"As if it makes a difference who actually says it…"

"Yeah…" Abby shakes her head a bit. "It does."

The girls stick their tongues out at each other. Gibbs grabs both of their tongues.

"Don't make me separate you two." Gibbs stated.

"Uh-huh…" Both Jamie and Abby try to say as Gibbs is still holding their tongues.

Gibbs lets go of their tongues. He looks to Ducky as Tony is advancing in Jamie's direction from Gibbs' right side.

"Have they been behaving themselves, Duck?" Gibbs wondered. As Tony gets closer to Jamie, Gibbs grabs him with his right hand while keeping eye contact with Ducky. Gibbs pulls Tony behind his back and passes him off to his left hand. Jamie tries not to laugh as she waves goodbye to Tony as Gibbs is pulling him to his left side, away from Jamie.

"Their behavior stems from the competition of striving to please an authority figure." Ducky stated.

"So their behavior is directly linked to me when I'm in the room." Gibbs shakes his head. From Gibbs' left side, Tony leans forward to peek around him in order to smile at Jamie.

"Apparently so…" Ducky agreed. "And since I know you're about to ask… The jaw bone belongs to Lieutenant Donna Mills."

Suddenly, Gibbs' phone rings. He answers it. On the other line is McGee.

"Boss… We have a major problem…" McGee said.

Gibbs listens to what McGee continues saying. Gibbs' mood quickly turns worse. He closes the phone after receiving all Intel from McGee.

"Dad…" Jamie tries to get her father's attention as she sees the expression on his face. "What's wrong?"

"A bomb was discovered at the Marine base in Quantico." Gibbs stated.

Gibbs walks away before anyone can say anything. Tony follows. Gibbs steps into the elevator. Tony tries to get in the elevator, but Gibbs holds his hand out to stop him from entering. The elevator door closes as Jamie approaches Tony. Jamie is concerned for her father but didn't make it to the elevator in time. Gibbs is alone inside the elevator.

In frustration, Gibbs slams his hand against the emergency stop switch. The elevator stops moving. He turns to the back of the elevator. He punches the wall. Gibbs leans his head and his left side against the wall. He can't understand how he misread his brother about a bomb. Of all of his experience with reading people, the only person he's unable to properly read is his own brother. Gibbs thought he would be able to put his brother in prison with the evidence they have, but since a bomb was found, there's the possibility of there being another. Even though he doesn't want to be in the same room with his brother again, Gibbs knows he has no choice. The thought of having to continue playing his brother's game upsets, angers and frustrates him. And he still doesn't know what happened to his mother which adds to the frustration. Gibbs punches the elevator wall again.