Chapter Ten

Gibbs poured a generous measure of bourbon into his mug, unrolled a sheet of paper and set the mug down on one end and a jar of nails on the other. He always relished this phase of a project, when the idea that had existed only in his head was ready to be put on paper. It would take time, lots of it, and he was a long way from being ready to choose materials, but he was determined Victoria Palmer would have a doll house like no other. He'd make the rough sketch tonight and when they caught the bastard who was killing sailors and displaying their bodies in his sick heraldic designs…only then would he get to work in earnest.

The quiet of the basement was a welcome respite after the hectic events of the preceding hours. The airfield had become a hive of FBI activity as soon as the hangar had been opened with the help of Ellie's interpreting skills they'd quickly discovered the girls were from Venezuela and had boarded a plane on the promise of jobs and US citizenship. They'd arrived at the airfield two days earlier and had been imprisoned ever since; their ordeal had all the hallmarks of a sex trafficking ring and Gibbs had been happy to step aside and let Fornell take charge. He had more important things to deal with.

Mercifully neither Tony nor Tim had been badly hurt, they'd both needed a night in the hospital; Tony's concussion and dehydration both proved to be minor, Tim tried to convince the doctor the wound in his arm was 'nothing a Band-Aid wouldn't fix'; he'd been overruled.

"You were shot Agent McGee, and although the bullet grazed your arm rather than cutting through muscle you lost blood and there is a trace of infection. We'll keep you in and if the IV antibiotics do their job you could be released with your partner tomorrow, but only if you rest tonight."

Gibbs smiled as he recalled Tim's expression, he was so disappointed, it was Tony who set him at ease. "Cut yourself some slack, I'm stuck here too, if we do as the docs say we'll be back at work raring to go tomorrow. I don't know about you, but I'm beat, take a break Tim, you earned it."

From where Gibbs had been standing they'd both earned a break; he knew his team well enough to know they'd take the minimum amount of time away from work. Tony would be back tomorrow and from what Ducky had told him Tim would follow a day or so later, depending how quickly the antibiotics and IV fluids did their job. His team wanted justice for Costa, Faye and Stearman as much as he did, and it finally seemed as if the tide was turning in their favour. The picture from Griffin Pageant and Play had been released on a nationwide BOLO, no hits so far but at least they knew what he looked like. Abby had matched the DNA from the Seattle murder to the blood on the display case fabric, a link he was looking forward to exploring further when he had the bastard in interrogation.

He took a drink, holding down the paper as he did so; time to pick up his pencil and get started on the sketch. The basic outline was done when he heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Tobias, you find him?" There'd been no word from Taylor since he gave them the airfield location, from the look on his friend's face, the news wasn't good.

"Oh yeah…least what's left of him. Our ME got a DNA match, but she's still trying to separate Taylor's body from the plastic sheet they wrapped him in before they torched it."

"He took a wrong turn, but no one deserves to die that way."

"Guess it's one of the dangers of going deep undercover. You know what it can be like, no contact with the outside world, measuring every word before you open your mouth, on edge every minute…but Taylor…he went native big style."

"You have proof?"

Fornell took out his hip flask, swallowed a warming mouthful of his favourite Macallan and offered it to Gibbs who shook his head. "I'm good; you gonna answer my question?"

"We have proof, wish we didn't. Our IT guys are all over his communications, he encrypted everything but they have enough and they'll get more. He'd been turned right around Jethro, he'd already killed two members of the organisation, moved up the ladder. We think…it looks like he was aiming for the top."

"Never would have happened, these people, they keep the power close to home."

"Taylor knew that, as a Federal Agent he knew, as a member of their gang…like I said, he lost who he was."

Gibbs rolled up the paper, he couldn't concentrate on a woodworking project when his friend was hurting. "You eaten Tobias?"

"Sandwich…lunchtime I guess. Emily's with her grandmother, I don't always cook when she's not at home."

"Then it's lucky I have two steaks in the refrigerator. I'll cook you supper and you can tell me how much you've managed to salvage of this operation. I'd be real glad if you caught the filth who are taking young women away from their families with false promises and selling them to the highest bidder."

NCIS NCIS

Craig sat at a corner table facing the door, the bar was busy, people coming and going as they waited for tables in the adjoining restaurant or simply settled in for an evening of drinking and talking. He always tried to find a busy bar if he wanted a drink, never somewhere quiet and secluded, trouble with those places was the bartender remembered faces, tried to get names to go with them, tried to be your friend. He didn't need friends, and he sure didn't need anyone knowing his name, all he wanted was a beer or two and the chance to be around people without having to interact with anyone.

He swigged his beer and thought about another night in another bar, he'd been sitting much like this, nursing a beer at the end of another day of his aimless existence. He hadn't been listening to the TV, he wasn't interested in anything back then, until he heard a name, Robert Jameson. He looked up, his breath catching in his throat could it be…? It was, older, shorter hair, in a white Navy uniform, posing for the camera as he accepted an award for saving a crew mate on a US Navy destroyer.

In that moment his life had a purpose again, for too long he'd pushed the past away, tried to forget everything, now…he would do it, he'd find the Jamesons and make them pay for what they'd done to him; by sending him away they'd sent him to hell.

It didn't take long to find out Nancy and Phil were dead, Nancy died of breast cancer just two years after her father's death. Phil was killed in a car accident eleven months ago. Craig was a little sorry about Nancy, she had been kind to him and if Phil and Robert hadn't ganged up on her maybe she'd have let him stay…he'd never know, as for Phil, Craig's only regret was he hadn't been driving the car that killed him.

That left Robert, he was the last man standing, so he was the one who'd have to be punished for the years of degradation. It had taken time to find out which ship Robert was on, and the longer it took Craig's desire for revenge grew stronger and stronger until one day he knew exactly what he had to do. The only way he could find lasting peace was to kill the man who'd cast him adrift without a second thought.

Eventually he'd found the name of the ship Robert was on and his frustration had almost boiled over when he found out the USS Jason Dunham had set sail for a six month deployment two weeks earlier. At first he'd raged, then he'd cried and finally…he'd seen the delay for what it was, an opportunity to plan, time to hone his skills, perfect his art and give Robert exactly what he deserved.

Craig finished his drink, he wouldn't linger, better to get back to his hotel room and check he had everything he needed for when Robert's ship arrived at Norfolk. He'd found the perfect place to display the body, all he had to do was try to keep his excitement under control until the task was complete, a mistake now could bring the whole thing tumbling down, no, that was unthinkable, he was so close he could taste Robert's breath on his face, hear his startled cry when he recognised his captor, see the fear in his eyes as he was denied life-giving oxygen…it was a matter of days away, so close…

NCIS NCIS

For what might be the first time in recorded history Gibbs was glad to hear Abby's music pounding as he walked into the lab. When Tony and Tim were missing her lab had been eerily quiet and it was only after she'd seen them both with her own eyes that she was able to feel like life was back to normal.

"Hey Gibbs, Delilah called, she says Tim's home and he's coming in to work tomorrow, Ducky says it's okay so long as he stays at his desk."

"Good to know Abs." Ducky had already informed him about Tim's return to work, but there was no need to rain on Abby's parade. He handed her a familiar cup. "Celebration Caf-Pow?"

"Yes! I have a lot of catching up to do." Abby had tried real hard to concentrate on the search for their killer, it hadn't been easy, two of her favourite people in the whole world had been missing and her thoughts kept drifting…

"What are you working on?" Gibbs stepped closer to the monitors, he recognised the facial recognition software, not that he'd ever tell Abby.

"Having a face for the sick, twisted…it gives us something at last. I'm not expecting much but it never hurts to run the image through our databases." She pointed to another screen. "Over here I'm running security footage again, I know Tony and Ellie looked at most of this before, but then we were looking for the victims, this time, if he's there, maybe we can see where he goes. It's not much…"

"Heck of a lot better than nothing. Call me if you get anything, Tony and Bishop are itching to get out there and bring this guy in."

"I will; trying to find him was what put my guys in danger, if the bombs had exploded." Her eyes filled with tears and Gibbs cradled her head, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. "They're safe Abs, mostly sound too, it could have been bad, turned out good. You always tell me, now I'll tell you, think positive!"

He left her to work, confident she'd soon settle into the task at hand, okay he was pretty sure she'd call Tim or Delilah a few times, but it would never take her away from anything she felt would give them a lead, get them one step nearer to closing the case. His depleted team was focussed again and tomorrow it would be complete, when it was they'd get the bastard, they were close, he could feel it

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