"Twenty-five years and my life is still Trying to get up that great big hill of hope For a destination I realized quickly when I knew I should That the world was made up of this brotherhood of man For whatever that means"

I knew my voice was off key, but I didn't care.

I was all too happy to sing alongside Linda Perry once more.

Out in the back, Tiny Tim was out cold, covered by a blanket so none of those nosy little busybodies from other cars wouldn't see him. This time, I was driving a different vehicle. I didn't want anyone making note of my SUV.

Besides, I had plenty of different vehicles to choose from.

"And so I cry sometimes When I'm lying in bed Just to get it all out What's in my head And I, I am feeling a little peculiar And so I wake in the morning And I step outside And I take a deep breath and I get real high And I scream from the top of my lungs What's going on?"

Admittedly, it'd taken a bit to knock out Tiny Tim. He didn't trust the food I gave him. I had to use a funnel to force feed him, the ungrateful little shit. Here I am, giving him food, clothing and shelter. I'm taking time out of MY busy schedule to keep him alive and well-for the most part. I am seeing to his care and THIS is how he repays me!? I was none too gentle as I dragged him outside to the waiting truck. He had new bruises to add to his collection.

Hopefully, they would be painful.

Out of spite, I repeatedly stepped on his left ankle until I heard it snap.

He groaned in pain in his sleep. He was definitely going to feel it when he woke up. Which made me smirk in anticipation in spite of myself. I couldn't wait to see his reaction. It would make quite the show.

"And I try, oh my god do I try I try all the time In this institution And I pray, oh my god do I pray I pray every single day For a revolution"

All of the arrangements have been made. There was no way I was going to let this...event take place back at the cabin. I didn't want anything being traced back to my property.

Who knew if I could take care of all the parties involved?

Some dickhead might get lucky and escape.

It'd only been a day since I got the news from my informant. It was far too soon to realistically expect any news regarding Tiny Tim's kidnapping. But I was chomping at the bit nonetheless. Nothing gives me more pleasure than in making him suffer.

And seeing him suffer.

I was confident my spies would succeed in their latest assignment.

They knew better than to disappoint me.

"And so I wake in the morning And I step outside And I take a deep breath and I get real high And I scream from the top of my lungs What's going on?"

I suppressed a sigh. My informant didn't know why the NCIS/FBI task force went out of town. He'd yet to glean their destination. This...didn't please me. I despised unknowns and I needed to know everything about the investigation. I didn't want to leave anything to chance.

I know I'm a clearly superior specimen.

No one was smarter than me, with the glaring exception of my Lord God.

But even stupid people get lucky. Witness Tiny Tim. He just happened to be at the right place at the right time to get hired by Gibbs. Otherwise, a man like Gibbs would never look twice at a pathetic loser like Tiny Tim.

He wasn't worthy of his position.

Hell, he wasn't even worthy of living.

"Twenty-five years and my life is still Trying to get up that great big hill of hope For a destination"

Frustrated, I pressed the rewind button.

Torturing Tiny Tim took up all of my time.

I refused to let anything impede my quality time with Linda Perry. My Lord God was another problem. There was no indication that He has received my latest present yet.

I really wanted to see His reaction.

To get His holy approval of my actions.

My little spy has yet to glean the reason why He has not reacted to my gift.

As I continued to sing, it occurred to me that perhaps I wasn't doing enough to show my worship and devotion. After all, a series of photographs were hardly noteworthy.

They were a poor substitute for the real thing. There was no way my Lord God would be content with some pictures. Unfortunately, it was far too soon for Him to witness my devotion in person.

In real life.

Fortunately, I had the proper solution carefully secured in a duffle bag:

A video camera.

Sarah's hand was shaking as she lifted the coffee cup to her lips.

Amanda left on the pretense of getting some coffee from the cafeteria.

In reality, her brother's girlfriend was giving her some much needed privacy. Sarah was grateful as she needed time to process what Penny's doctors were telling her. They were cautiously optimistic about her chances for a complete recovery.

Well, as complete as a partially paralyzed person could get, she mused bitterly.

The fact that Penny was able to move her hand on her own was a good sign.

As the days passed, she was slowly but surely showing more signs of life. She was able to open her eyes briefly after she flexed her fingers. This made Sarah burst into tears yet again. But this time, they were tears of happiness.

She was no longer in a coma.

However, she hasn't opened her eyes since.

But she wasn't slipping dipper into unconsciousness either. She was able to move both of her hands in her sleep. She was muttering, tossing her head from side to side as she dreamed.

Presumably, she was reliving the car crash.

The doctors said her grandmother would most likely wake up anytime now.

But she faced a long road of recovery. The CAT scan revealed there was some brain damage and it would affect her cognitive functions. Poor Penny would face months, possibly years, of speech therapy.

Nothing could be done for her paralyzed state.

That was permanent.

Unfortunately.

Sarah felt overwhelmed. While Penny had insurance that would cover everything, she was responsible for choosing the nurses, arranging Penny's appointments and making all the medical decisions for her grandmother.

She was glad Amanda had experience in that arena.

Amanda admitted she had to arrange for live-in care for her great aunt after she had a stroke several years ago.

If there was more damage, the doctors wouldn't be sure until Penny woke up for good.

Sarah hoped not.

She couldn't handle anymore bad news.

She sipped her coffee again. Sarah finally managed to contact NCIS. Unfortunately, there was no update. Tim was still missing. Sarah didn't even know if he was still alive.

Who took her brother?

And why?

Sarah glanced up when she heard a groan coming from her grandmother. She leaned forward hopefully, holding her breath as she stared at Penny's face. When Penny finally opened her eyes, she felt like dancing a little jig as tears of happiness poured down her face.

Then her elation turned into dread as Penny's eyes met hers.

And there was no hint of recognition on her face.

"It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you." Kort muttered under his breath.

He ran a shaking hand over his head.

Kort was never more glad that he'd trusted his instincts. He had a feeling he was being followed and he was correct. He didn't know who was tracking him. Nor did he care.

All he knew was that he had to get rid of the asshole.

Kort found out a lot of interesting information from his contact.

He had to get this information to Vance as soon as possible. Unfortunately, he'd yet to figure out a safe way to transmit this information. It was VERY sensitive and the shit would really hit the fan if it was intercepted.

Kort knew he was being followed because of his "unofficial investigation".

Which meant a lot of powerful people were invested in keeping the past buried.

He had other contacts to visit. But he had to lose his tail. Kort had no qualms luring the bastard into a trap. It'd been no trick at all to get the drop on him after he followed Kort into a conveniently located alleyway.

He was caught off guard and never saw the attack coming.

Unfortunately, before Kort could question him, the man took a cyanide pill. He died instantly.

Kort carefully looked around. Fortunately, no one was investigating strange noises and he was thankful no one heard the fight or their grunts of exertion. With a grunt, Kort pushed the man onto his back and searched his pockets.

There was a gun, a wallet full of money-which he had no qualms taking for himself-and a prepaid cell phone.

From experience, Kort knew it was unlikely he'd find anything interesting of note on aforementioned cell phone. But he could get lucky and sometimes you could get leads from the most unlikely of places.

So he carefully pocketed the phone.

He also kept the gun.

He brought out the clip and was relieved to see that it was loaded. Kort searched his pockets once more and found his car keys. Then he pocketed his wallet so the man would be considered another John Doe.

With yet another grunt, Kort lifted the man via a fireman's carry.

And tossed his body into a nearby dumpster.

Kort was lucky in that the keys were attached to a fob. So it was no trick to identify the man's car: it was a nondescript, dark blue Chevy Aveyo with tinted windows. Kort unlocked the doors and popped open the trunk.

He didn't find any information as to whom hired this bastard.

There was more money, food and a suitcase full of clothing and toiletries.

Disgusted, Kort left the keys in the ignition. He was thankful he'd been wearing gloves the entire time. This meant he didn't leave any fingerprints behind.

He jogged back to his car and took off.

He had another contact to meet.

"Dear Diary,

At first, I wanted to get rid of Tim. I came this close to getting rid of the little shit once and for all. John was once again at sea and Penny was out cold.

Thanks to the sedative I slipped into her wine.

I was standing over Tim's crib, glaring down at him.

I was gripping a pillow tightly in my hands. I was prepared to strangle him and pretend his death could be chalked up to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. I knew I could be careful enough not to leave behind any marks.

Two things stopped me.

First, I knew Penny would suspect me if anything untoward happened to Tim.

I knew she wasn't fooled by the myriad "accidents" I suffered during my pregnancy. The bitch was one of the few who was never fooled by my act. She could always see right through me.

And her husband was influential enough to make trouble if I tried to kill Tim.

The second thing was an epiphany.

As I continued to glare at him, it occurred to me that killing him would be mercy on my part. His suffering would end once I got rid of him, just like that.

No, that won't do.

That wouldn't do at all.

He needed to pay.

After all, he murdered his own twin sister within seconds of being born. I knew he would never be punished by the courts. After all, no one would believe a baby was capable of murder.

It was up to me to punish him.

To make him pay for his crimes.

And I couldn't do that if he was dead. So I would stomach my pride and pretend to have a complete turnaround when it came to Tim.

In other words, I would pretend that I love him.

Ugh, the very thought made me want to vomit.

But I'm a good actress. No, scratch that, I am excellent actress. After all, it was what I trained for. I'm sure I would be able to fool Penny into thinking I actually care about the piece of shit. It would be worth it in the end if I got rid of the interfering bitch.

Then I could punish him to my heart's content.

I couldn't wait.