Hey there everybody. :-)
I'm sorry for not having been able to update in so long. Real life has gotten in the way of my writing so I've had to put my stories on hold for a while. I promise I'll try to update as much as possible, though. Whenever I get the time to write, I'll do what I can. I want to keep you, my readers, happy. :-)
Thank you so much for all your reviews, comments and PMs. I really appreciate every single of them. Please, keep them coming. Good or bad, I want to hear what people think. :-)
Take care, everybody. :-)
The word 'awe' did not do Chloe's state of mind when she'd entered the room. MTAC, the Navy's Multiple Threat Assessment Center, was a command center that would make any MMORPG nerd, conspiracy freak, or gun nut in the country pee their pants with excitement. Satellite feeds, infrared and UV scanning, operation coordination equipment, over a dozen manned stations monitoring everything from traffic across the Mexican border to suspected militia movements deep in the heart of the Iraqi desert... It was like the world's coolest candy store. Chloe's inner geek was going through the biggest gadget rush of its life!
The happenings on the giant plasma screen in front of her right now weren't anything to be excited over, however. The screen showed a woman in her late 20's, stationed on a navy ship thousands of miles away, trying desperately not to break down in hysterical sobs after hearing the news that her younger brother, her only living family, had been killed. Chloe's heart ached at the sight of the young brunette, whose eyes were brimming with tears as she tried to keep her composure; and was failing miserably. Chloe guessed it was because of the whole thing about a soldier never showing weakness; which was something that Chloe viewed as a load of bull. Soldiers were people too, damnit! They were allowed to have feelings!
"You were sent to the infirmary on the moment of your arrival on board." Gibbs said flatly; not looking up from the report he was examining. "Why was that?"
"Sir…?" Lt. Horton replied in confusion. The question had come completely out of left field. Her voice was trembling with emotion and she quickly brushed away a tear that had managed to escape her eye. Gibbs looked up at the screen.
"Your sign in sheet notes that you were sent to the infirmary. The petty officer had concerns about bruising on your neck and the fact that you seemed to be favoring your left arm." The young woman on the screen shifted a little. Gibbs' words were definitely making the young lieutenant uncomfortable.
"I- it was nothing…" the young woman on the screen glanced to the left for a split second before returning her gaze forward. Chloe's eyes narrowed a fraction as she watched the screen from several feet behind her boss. She knew that gesture! When a person is trying to remember something, instinct shifts their eyes to the right. A shift to the left, however, meant that the person was trying to make things up on the spot. The lieutenant was lying! "I- I was out hiking a couple of days before deployment and I slipped into a ravine."
"Hiking." Gibbs echoed, looking back down and flipping a page over in the report.
"Yeah." She gave a lame little shrug. "It was no big deal."
"The ship's doctor seemed to disagree." Gibbs stated mater-of-factly. "He recommended that you be taken off duty."
"N- no, It was nothing. Honest…" Chloe could hear the note of desperation in the lieutenant's voice. She definitely wasn't telling them something. "I told him, I can fly that Seahawk with both hands tied behind my back."
"It's strange how you didn't mention the hiking trip to the petty officer." Gibbs said flatly, "Or to the ship's doctor. You told him you'd fallen down a flight of stairs." He looked up at the screen again and Chloe could have sworn she saw the young lieutenant start sweating.
"Wha-- I, uhm…" Oh yes! She was definitely sweating!
"Do you know a Derek Friedman?" Gibbs cut her off. The young lieutenant's reaction to this question was not lost on Chloe. She actually went pale!
"Errr… w- why…?"
"It's a simple question, lieutenant." Gibbs closed the file he had in his hands, his gaze not wavering.
"Wha- I… guess so, I…" She stammered.
"You guess so?" Gibbs echoed. "According to our intel the two of you have had a romantic involvement for over a year."
"Well…" The lieutenant glanced away in what Chloe could have sworn was embarrassment. "I- I mean… how well can you really know someone, y'know…?" She gave a weak little smile and half-hearted one shouldered shrug.
"Describe him to me." Gibbs said flatly.
"Uh, w- well… 6'2"… dark hai—"
"His temperament." Gibbs cut her off flatly. The young lieutenant hesitated and Chloe could literally see her mind working as the lieutenant stared back at Gibbs.
"A- are you…" She hesitated as a look of shock and suspicion came over her pretty face, "are you saying that Derek is involved? With Mike's death? Are you investigating him?!" Okay, whoa! She was raising her voice? Gibbs said nothing, his face set in stone. "No…" The lieutenant shook her head in disbelief, clearly looking upset. "No, you're wrong! Derek would never lay a hand on Mike!"
"And you know that for a fact?"
"Yeah! I know that for a fact!" Oh yeah! She was definitely getting upset! "Derek had 'nothing' to do with this! He and Mike may not have been the best of buds but Derek would never hurt Mike! Never! Derek is a good man!" Her eyes brimmed with tears again. "If you wanna check someone out, you talk to that bitch of a sister of his!"
"Did she have a problem with your brother?" Gibbs remained icy calm despite the lieutenant's outburst.
"A problem?!" The snort that followed these words was anything but ladylike. "That little bitch had issues with everyone who got close to her brother! Mike mentioned something about Derek being a little hot tempered once and she went ballistic on him!" the lieutenant swiped angrily at a tear that had slipped down her cheek. "That kid is screwed in the head! It's like she's obsessed with Derek. She has this creepy way of looking at him that's just…" the young woman shivered in obvious revulsion, "It's like she wants him all to herself; in a non-family type way."
"And Mr. Friedman's reaction to—"
"Corporal." The lieutenant cut off Gibb's question before he could finish it. That single word seemed to be almost an automatic response.
"Excuse me?" Gibbs replied, his gaze narrowing. The lieutenant faltered under his gaze.
"Corporal… Friedman." The she said hesitantly. "Derek's an army corporal." Chloe's jaw dropped in shock. No way! She had checked this guy out thoroughly! Nowhere, in any of his paperwork, had there been even the slightest mention of an army career. She could see Gibbs' hackles rising. Uh-oh! Not good! "He transferred over to Virginia about two and a half years ago."
"From where?!" Gibbs growled. The lieutenant faltered for a moment
"Technically, we're not allowed to talk about our service hist-."
"I know the rules, lieutenant!" Gibbs snapped. He was getting more and more annoyed by the second. The young woman swallowed hard. She knew more than she was telling them.
"It…" she glanced away from the screen. "It was a special ops unit run out of an army base in Kansas."Chloe blinked. Wait… a special ops unit? In Kansas?
"Who's his CO?!" Again, the lieutenant faltered, looking like she really didn't want to say anymore.
"Derek…" she paused, not daring to look up at the screen again. "Derek just kept calling him 'the general'." Chloe's eyes went impossibly wide at the sound of the nickname. Oh god no! Oh please god no! She knew that nickname far too well for her own liking! Anyone but him, please!
"I need a name, lieutenant!" Gibbs snapped. The lieutenant winced at the harsh order. Don't say it! Please don't say it! Chloe was silently pleading with any god who was willing to listen to let it be some 'other' three star general than the one she had in mind.
"Lane, sir." the young woman said, "General Sam Lane."
"Shit!!" Chloe swore under her breath as she paced away from the screen with her back to it, one hand on her hip, the other rubbing her forehead. This was not good!! The main suspect in the first case she takes part in was a serviceman in her uncle's very secret special ops unit?! How the hell could she not have spotted that one?! She'd hacked into service records before with no problems! And this Derek guy had no such thing! She'd checked! She was sure she'd checked! How had she missed this?! Crap! Gibbs was going to skin her alive for this one!