Thanks to my beta Kristen! Last update for today!
Chapter 12: Higgs' House
Gibbs stared at the house in front of him. It looked just like all the other houses on the street: detached, brick, two storey home with a great many windows, all of which had shutters thrown open. The garden was immaculate, and everything looked clean and tidy.
It struck him for a moment that Jenny would like this house. Somehow, it suited her. He wondered if it had been a deliberate move on Higgs' part. It also reminded him that Jenny was still sharing an apartment with her sister because she had not been house hunting. He decided to do something about it once this mess was over.
He had enjoyed the story Lily had told. It sounded like something Lily would do, and he wasn't surprised she had been blackmailing her sister with it for years. The two of them were constantly playfully arguing over something, and yet again he wished he had known them when they were teenagers. They would have been a complete handful for anyone to deal with.
And somehow, for better or worse, they had evolved into the people they were today: one the first female Director of an armed federal agency, the other one of the best CIA agents he had ever heard of or encountered. Both strong determined women in their similar fields, although Jenny now spent more of her time behind a desk and kissing politicians' asses than he would like.
You couldn't win them all.
Still, with her now being a mother – the mother of his children – he felt better with her being a little bit safer. Sure, her job seemed to be a magnet for nutters to crawl out of the woodwork, but she had a protection detail, when she didn't ditch them, and she was no longer chasing after armed criminals on a regular basis.
Although with Lily around, that wasn't a guarantee. She would happily suck Jenny into anything, even though she was slightly more protective than the protection detail.
Not that he would ever tell the CIA agent to her face.
He switched his mind into tactical mode, working out the best way to raid the house. If Higgs was inside, they wanted to catch him in one piece. Gibbs could only hope they would be so lucky as to find him this easily. Even if he was there, he would not come in quietly. The multiple windows would provide a straightforward escape route, and the house was also detached. It would not be as simple as a front and back door system.
Still, they should act as though it was. Gibbs mulled it over in his mind. If Tony and McGee went through the front door, he could go through the back door, and Ziva could wait outside to see if anyone went through a window. That should cover all the bases.
He relayed his instructions to his team, who all nodded in agreement. Crossing his fingers and hoping that Higgs was still inside, they began to make their move.
Much to Ziva's disappointment, the house was empty. Mick Higgs might have been warned or he might simply be stepping up his plans. Either way, this was not a good sign.
The only possible silver lining was if he had merely gone to do some shopping and they had raided at the wrong time. Unfortunately, if this was the case, he would run the moment he spotted them in the house. But they had no other option than to search it. Regardless, he would not be returning.
The house was tastefully furnished, and at first glance did not look like the home of a dangerous stalker. The kitchen was recently cleaned, with everything in its rightful place, the garage was squeaky clean, and even the bathroom was perfect. This man was a clean meek. Or was it geek?
Deciding to ask Jenny later, she resumed her search. She succeeded in finding something upstairs. "Gibbs," she called, knowing it would not take much effort to encourage her boss to appear. He was clearly very protective of Jenny at the moment, and she hoped this would get them back together again. Gibbs had been bordering on unbearable for the past few months.
She heard him come up behind her and knew when and why he froze.
She was standing in what probably used to be the study, but it was definitely not being used as one at the moment. The room was devoid of furniture, but the walls were covered floor to ceiling in photographs.
They all appeared to have been taken covertly; some at a distance, some disturbingly close. The same redhead was in most of them: Jenny. Some of them had an identical redhead in them, showing that the images were also of Lily. Somehow, he had been taking photographs for years, judging by the hairstyles, of both the sisters. Most of them were outside – either or both the redheads eating, walking, talking, laughing, cleaning a car, having a snowball fight.
A number of items were newspaper cuttings. Jenny at a ball, Jenny at a function, Jenny giving a presentation, Jenny holding a press conference, Jenny at a conference. A few of the redheads could possibly be Lily, especially knowing how often they liked to swap over. Even so, this was unnerving.
Upon closer inspection, she realized that some of the photographs were not of the sisters. Gibbs was in more than a few. Mainly he was pictured with Jenny, but the odd couple were of him alone. It took the Israeli a moment to work out what had happened.
"She distanced herself from you and he stopped following you," she whispered, aware that Gibbs could hear her and not wanting to break the eerie atmosphere in the room.
"The twins aren't in any of these pictures," he murmured.
Ziva double checked. "No, I do not see them either," she replied.
Gibbs sighed loudly. "At least they're safe. As long as he's unaware of their existence, we could pack them off to Great Aunt April's until Higgs is in custody."
"Pack them off? Like parcels?" Ziva was confused.
Gibbs did not bother to help her out as he swept from the room. Ziva shrugged. Another thing to ask Jenny later.
Tony DiNozzo glanced around the kitchen. This was boring. Higgs wasn't here, wasn't likely to return, and there was nothing else to do.
There was no evidence here either. Gibbs and Ziva had taken the first floor, leaving him and the Probie on the ground. This guy was more organized than Lt. Commander Faith Coleman, the obsessively tidy JAG lawyer. It was one more thing for Ducky to add to the profile he was building, one more nail in Higgs' coffin.
And it would be a coffin. Higgs had so many people who wanted him dead, it was going to be a fight to see who got to him first. Lily would have absolutely no qualms about torturing and killing him, Ziva would be right behind her, and even Abby seemed to be spending her spare time researching painful ways to kill someone without leaving forensic evidence.
Not to mention the boss. Gibbs was likely to shoot first and ask questions later. Higgs was responsible for driving a wedge between the boss and the boss' boss, and Gibbs would do anything to even the score a little. Tony began to worry about the boss' job. Would he do something to endanger his career? Would the boss even care if he ended up being fired?
Surely Jenny would not fire him. She had failed to file his retirement papers! That must count for something. And Lily could always blackmail someone into turning a blind eye. Blackmail, threaten, or something else that he really didn't want to know about.
Lily was very resourceful. If she could do not something herself, she knew someone who could or someone who knew someone. She could get hold of anything or anyone at short notice. She could turn the tables rapidly, as proved when she went along with the car bomb and pretended she was dead. Most people would have hung around for medical attention, but Lily had rolled with the punches.
He wondered if she would ever retire. She seemed to live for her work, in much the same way Jenny did. Retiring was probably an alien concept to her. She might even intend to die in the line of duty.
On the other hand, even Gibbs had retired. That should have been impossible. Tony would have been prepared to put money on Gibbs being more likely to kiss the Director in front of everyone rather than retire. People were always capable of surprises, especially a particular redheaded CIA agent…
He rubbed his wrists softly before hunting for the Probie. Poor McGoo had probably got himself lost in this strange world. Either that, or he had spotted a single speck of dust and was compulsively cleaning it.
He headed into the garage. There was always the chance the Probie had been stunned into place at the sight of such a nice car. Tony resisted the urge to snort. McGee wouldn't know a nice car if it bit him on the –
Something caught his eye. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was affixed to the underside of the car. Slowly, he bent down and had a look.
He didn't need to be an expert to recognize what it was.
"BOMB!" he yelled at the top of his voice. "EVERYONE OUT! BOMB!"
Short and concise, as well as getting across the urgency. He dashed back into the main part of the house, relieved to hear three different people running around as well. Everyone had heard him then. He charged outside to find McGee had beaten him, with Gibbs and Ziva hot on his heels. They all rapidly sheltered behind their own car.
Less than a second later, the house blew.
