A/N- HAPPY NEW YEAR! WOW 2017 already? Time is flying!
Sorry that my update has taken so long to get out to you, but life has been so busy. Christmas, family, get-togethers and my children keeping me busy. Don
Hope you enjoy this next chapter. It's short but hopefully intriguing. :)
Gibbs watched as Tim continued to tinker around with the computer program. If anyone could figure out the barcode on Aimee's back, he had faith it would be Tim. Gibbs kept one hand on Aimee as she fidgeted around on the desk. He didn't want her to fall; he knew already they were reaching the girl's limit and soon would need to take a break. The more time Gibbs spent with Aimee, the more he got to know her personality quirks. She had a short fuse and, in some ways, reminded him a lot of himself. She was also unpredictable, and he just never knew what she was going to do next. It had come to a point where he didn't trust her out of his sight anymore, and that made his job that much more difficult. He couldn't spend all his time babysitting her. He had a job to do. Unfortunately, he didn't trust anyone else outside his team to watch Aimee any longer. She was more than just an impulsive child; she was a flight risk and, pretty much, walking evidence.
"Anything, McGee?"
Tim looked up with a look of frustration on his face. "I'm sorry, Boss. The encryption on this might as well be congressional. The watchdogs have watchdogs. I can't decode or break through any of it."
Aimee huffed and angrily pulled at her shirt. Gibbs pulled his hand away from her sweater and allowed her to pull it down around her waist once more.
"I told you. You have to use a special stick. That thing," she pointed at the wand McGee held in his hand, "isn't the right one. It supposed to be like the one in a grocery store."
Aimee slid off the desk and shoved Gibbs away with a cross expression on her face.
"You're wasting time. You need to find my sister."
Gibbs dropped his hand away from the feisty kid in front of him. She was a force to be reckoned with on a good day but since Janessa went missing, she'd become impossible.
"Tony and Ziva have been out half the night, Aims. They're following every clue we have…"
Aimee stomped her foot irritably. "It's not good enough!"
Gibbs sighed as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Being controlled by the tiny dictator hadn't been on his docket. He reached out, grabbed her by the arm before she could take off out of his sight and answered his phone.
"Yah, Gibbs," he said more gruffly than he intended. He shot Aimee a look when she tried to pull away. She reluctantly stopped moving and dropped her shoulders, seeming to reconcile herself to the fact she was trapped. Gibbs listened for several minutes without saying anything. Tony was detailing what he and Ziva had uncovered about the vehicle involved in the kidnapping.
"Come back to the bullpen, both of you. You need a break."
Gibbs listened as Tony began to protest his order.
"Not a request, DiNozzo."
With those words, Gibbs dropped his phone back into his pocket. He was worried about Abby and Janessa. The more time that passed meant the trail became colder. The longer they were missing with no leads, the more possibility of losing them forever. Gibbs shivered at the thought. He felt completely useless, and he hated the feeling. Gibbs walked over to his desk and brought up the information that Tony had forwarded to him. The screen came to life with a picture of the van.
"Stolen," commented Gibbs, crossing his arms.
"Of course it is," mumbled Tim. He raked his hand through his hair before pounding his fist on his desk. Gibbs chewed the inside of his lip while staring at Tim. He could tell the man was just as weary as he felt.
"When was the last time you slept, McGee?"
Tim scowled. "What?"
"Go to the director's office and get some shut eye, Tim. Jenny's already gone for the day."
"What? No, Boss. I have too much to do. I need to find something that will break that code…"
Gibbs held up his hand to stop Tim from speaking anymore. His stern, almost fatherly look stopped Tim from uttering any other words that still remained on his tongue. Turning to the fidgeting, overtired girl in their midst, Gibbs pointed a finger at her.
"Take her with you. She needs some sleep too."
Aimee narrowed her eyes. "I'm not even tired."
"Then lie on the sofa and stay awake. But, you're going with Tim, now scoot."
Tim dropped his shoulders reached for Aimee's hand. The girl pulled away belligerently.
"What are you gonna do?" she asked Gibbs who was still frowning at her, poking a finger at him.
"Wait for Tony and Ziva and debrief."
"Then I'm gonna wait too."
Gibbs sighed. He didn't have any energy left to argue with the kid. He nodded at Tim who disappeared towards the stairs. At least, one of them would be clear headed in a couple of hours. Maybe then Tim could watch Aimee while he took a turn at closing his eyes.
Gibbs sat at his desk and continued to stare at his monitor. From the corner of his eye, he watched Aimee sit in McGee's chair.
"How are you holding up, Squirt?"
She shrugged her shoulders. Aimee picked at the silicon bracelet on her arm absentmindedly. Gibbs sat up more in his chair. He hadn't noticed the bracelet before. It looked like one of the gadgets that he'd seen in Abby's lab before; one of her tracking devices that she had been playing around with for the last couple of years. He knew that she had been trying to patent the design so parents could use them to keep track of their children as a type of GPS of sorts. He thought that Abby had given up on the idea because of the short battery life and not knowing how to get around that aspect of the design.
"Hey, where'd you get that bracelet?"
Aimee twisted the purple flowered band on her arm. "Abby gave one to me and Janessa. She said they're friendship bracelets. Kinda girlie huh?"
Gibbs rose to his feet suddenly. Friendship bracelets - his great Aunt Ida, Abby had given that band to Aimee to help keep track of her. Had Abby been in the room at that moment, Gibbs would have kissed her. Gibbs scooped up Aimee under his right arm much to her shock and took off up the stairs two at a time towards Jenn's office. McGee was going to have to wait on his nap. If his hunch was correct, Abby had given them a GPS signal that would lead them right to her location.
—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—
Abby pulled her legs up tight to her midsection, swallowing the sobs that were burning her throat. She couldn't stop trembling and shaking, not from being cold but from absolute terror and pain. Fagan had long since left, leaving her and Janessa behind. Abby was grateful for that at any rate. She's been fearful that Fagan would have taken Janessa with him. She figured that the man hadn't counted on the additional bargaining chip. Janessa still hadn't gained consciousness and that worried Abby. She didn't know if the little girl had been drugged or injured. Abby had long since given up hope that Gibbs or the rest of the team would ever find them. Looking down at her hands, she could see them trembling and all covered in blood. Her blood. Fagan had had Mulligan cut each of her fingers one by one with a razor blade until she told him everything he wanted to know about Aimee. Then he had proceeded to snap her two index fingers. Abby drew her hands into her chest as they throbbed excruciatingly. She felt like an idiot. And a coward. More tears flooded down Abby's cheeks.
Abby couldn't believe how stupid she'd been to so freely trust the man. She felt like she couldn't even trust her own instincts anymore. She thought Fagan had been her friend…it wasn't as if she cared for him romantically. It had never been anything like that. It had always just been like a special comradery they had. He was a confidante when she was stressed out. She would drop him a text or an email and like a faithful friend; he'd always been there to give her advice and make her feel important. Now she felt betrayed. Fagan wasn't anything like she'd thought he was. It had become blatantly obvious that Fagan was involved in human trafficking, and he'd dropped hints about how much Janessa was worth to him on the black market either way. Abby dearly hoped that if they weren't rescued that Janessa would be sold to a rich family wanting a child rather than sold into the sex trade. Either way, a young blonde-haired, blue-eyed child would fetch a tidy sum for Fagan. Brandt, the seemingly kinder man had gone with Fagan leaving her alone with Mulligan. Mulligan, thankfully, didn't pay her or Janessa much mind as long as she stayed quiet and invisible to him. Abby had learned quickly that Mulligan was a cruel man who didn't think twice about smacking her if she spoke out of turn or failed to obey his words. Fagan words burned in her ears. Aimee was in danger and there was nothing she could do to help. She couldn't warn Gibbs of Fagan's plans for Aimee.
"Mommy," whimpered the small girl that was lying just out of Abby's reach.
Abby looked towards Mulligan pleadingly and the man grunted giving Abby permission to go to Janessa. Abby gathered the little girl up in her arms and returned to her spot across the room.
"Shh, it's okay, Janessa. I've got you."
Janessa's eyes fluttered and opened. She immediately started crying, and Abby did what she could to console her. The little five-year-old was trembling, and Abby was hard-pressed to know what to do to help her.
"I wanna g-go home," sobbed Janessa, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I know you do, sweetie."
Abby searched her mind for a way to make things seem more tolerable. Janessa was still young enough to play make-believe games and fantasies. Abby just needed to think of a way to distract her and keep everything looking like a game so she wouldn't be so frightened. Janessa continued to whimper, her cries getting louder. She fidgeted in Abby's arms and managed to free herself from her arms. The child stood up and glared at the Mulligan who was staring daggers at her. Abby reached out, grabbing Janessa gently around the wrist.
"Abby, what happened to your fingers?" gasped Janessa, noticing Abby's bloody hands.
"That's what happens, kid, if you don't listen to me; now sit down and shut up!" shouted Mulligan as he stood to his feet and wandered into the kitchenette in the next room just out of sight.
Janessa's eyes widened in alarm and she sunk to her knees, crawling closer to Abby. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and Abby could see her visibly shaking now.
"Aw, sweetie, don't be frightened. This is just a silly game that we're playing."
"A g-game?" echoed Janessa, furrowing her brow. "But, your hands are bleeding."
Abby waved her hand and smiled reassuringly. "It's all part of the game. Look," Abby clapped her hands together with a smile. "They don't even hurt. See?"
Abby gritted her teeth as she smiled at Janessa. In truth, her hands ached almost unbearably. Mulligan had cut deep gashes in all her fingers on both hands and two of her fingers were broken at the first knuckle; she had hidden that fact from the small child to not frighten her. If she hadn't given up the information she knew about Aimee, Mulligan had threatened to cut her fingers off after he'd broken them all.
Janessa looked at her skeptically. "How do you play the game? Is Mr. Gibbs playing too?"
Abby smiled again, pulling the child onto her lap.
"Yep. It's kind of like Hide-and-Seek. See, that man right there? His name is Mulligan, and he and his friends have hidden us somewhere, and Gibbs, Tony, Ziva and Tim have to find us."
Janessa allowed a smile to play on her lips. "Oh, I get it. That is fun, but how can Mr. Gibbs find us if he doesn't know where to look?"
Abby searched her mind for an answer to that question. Abby felt like they might never be found, but she didn't want Janessa to know the reality of things until she absolutely had to know. Making it a game would ease both their minds for the time being. Abby just hoped that Mulligan would just leave them alone for the time being. Janessa sat cross-legged in front of Abby as she did, the pink bracelet on her arm caught Abby's eye. Abby's heart slammed against her chest as she felt fresh hope filled her senses. The bracelets. She'd forgotten all about them. She'd given one to each of the girls in hopes they might cheer them up. Maybe, just maybe, Tim might figure out what they were. Abby chewed her lip and absentmindedly crossed her fingers. She's spent a lot of time playing around with the GPS function of the bands hoping to patent them, but they never seemed to work properly or consistently. Tim had spent quite a bit of time messing around with them as well when the two of them had down time in the lab together. They'd eventually given up on them and tossed them in a drawer. Aimee had found them and asked if she could have them and Abby had given one to each of the girls.
"This will lead them right to us," said Abby, holding up Janessa's wrist triumphantly.
"My bracelet?"
"Yessiree. It's a magic bracelet, Nessie."
Abby hugged Janessa close to her chest with a giddy giggle. She silently said a prayer that Tim would discover the bracelet on Aimee and put everything together. The bracelet might not be consistent but it would provide a tracker coordinate within a 10-mile radius. Abby had managed to get a good look around her surroundings while she was being dragged into the farmhouse. The old farm house was all she had seen for miles around her. Surely, they had a chance now, and hope of being found was better than no hope at all.