Note: this chapter was supposed to be together with the previous one, but I felt it would be too long, so I split it up. Enjoy, and please leave a comment on your thoughts.
Evidence garage
Gibbs comes down to the evidence garage where Kasie is working on Jack's car.
"got something Kasie?"
"Hey, Gibbs." Kasie greets. "I checked Jack's GPS. She set the GPS from NCIS to the parking lot where McGee and Torres found her car. Unless she was forced to drive there from inside the navy yard, she drove there on her own free will."
"unless she was under duress," Gibbs says and is about to walk to the elevator.
"then why not go to you or Vance? I mean, NCIS is the safest place in the world." Kasie says. Gibbs uses the iris scan to activate the elevator.
"There is something else, Gibbs," Kasie says before Gibbs steps into the elevator. He walks back to her table.
"I found something. A picture hidden under the front seat." Kasie says and shows Gibbs an evidence bag with a very old photo. The edges are frayed, and there are several places where the color of the image is worn away, but Gibbs still recognizes the person in the middle of the image. It is a picture of Faith Toliver from her birth. The place where Jack's face was supposed to be on the photo is worn off. It is clear how Jack has been holding the picture with her thumb over her own face.
"why would Jack have a photo of a baby in her car?" Kasie asks, wondering. "and who do you think used to be on that spot that has been worn off?" she wonders.
The elevator doors open, and McGee steps up.
"Hey, boss, I got something," McGee says and walks over to Kasie and Gibbs. "I looked through Jack's phone. She made a phone call at around 5.30 pm. I was able to trace the number to Tess Holland. Jonathan Hollands dead mother."
"why would Jack call someone's dead mother?" Kasie asks, bewildered.
"she wouldn't. Jonathan Holland uses that number now." Gibbs says. "trace it, McGee." Gibbs orders while he hurries towards the elevator.
"I did, boss, but it is off. But I found something else." Gibbs stops in his tracks. "according to Bishop Jack, meet with Jonathan Holland at the restaurant at around 7 pm. Jack sent a text to someone right before 7."
"to who, McGee?" Gibbs asks.
"to a civilian OR nurse."
"Faith Toliver," Gibbs says, interrupting McGee. McGee nods.
"Yeah, boss. You know her?" Gibbs doesn't answer but disappears into the elevator.
"faith Toliver I found her fingerprints on a photo frame Gibbs brought in a couple of days ago. He wouldn't tell me what it was about." Kasie says, confused.
"Faith Toliver is an OR nurse at the hospital where Tess Holland was hospitalized and treated for cancer."
"What is her connection to Jack?" Kasie asks.
"She was a witness in a mass shooting about a year ago, and Jack and Gibbs interviewed her, but that is the only connection between her and Jack I can find." McGee explains. "and that doesn't explain why Jack would text her at 7 pm on a Friday."
"no, it doesn't." Kasie says. "this case is weird." Kasie says and sits down.
"what did you find?" McGee asks.
"an old baby picture, an empty coffee cup, and a gum wrapper," Kasie says resignedly.
"a baby picture?" McGee asks, confused.
"yeah." Kasie shows McGee the picture.
"that is odd." McGee says. "but a lot of things about this case are odd."
Faith Toliver's home
Faith walks to the front door and opens it. Outside is Agent Gibbs standing in the pouring rain. Faith quickly steps aside and lets him in.
"Agent Gibbs, is everything okay?" Faith asks, concerned. Gibbs is standing outside her door in the late evening on a Friday evening.
"you received a text from Jack around 7 pm," Gibbs says, and Faith takes out her phone.
"yeah, I did. I haven't read it. I have been asleep most of the evening." Faith says and finds the message on her phone. She looks confused at the phone and then shows it to Gibbs.
The message reads: "a mother's only job is to make sure her baby is safe and loved."
"Does this mean anything to you?" Gibbs asks.
"no. I have no idea what it means. I mean." Faith sits down on the couch and gestures for Gibbs to sit down on the other one.
"she gave me up for adoption because she wanted to make sure I grow up loved and safe and didn't think she could provide that for me." Faith says, and Gibbs writes it down.
"Jack meets up with Jonathan Holland tonight at 7 pm, and she is now missing. She sent this text to you right before she left her car to go and meet him."
Faith looks down. Tears are starting to form in her eyes.
"earlier today, when I came to her office. She told me about Jonathan Holland and how she served with him in Afghanistan."
"Did she ever tell you what happened to her in Afghanistan?" Gibbs asks.
"no. I never asked. I know something happened, but I don't want to know." Faith says and Gibbs nods in understanding. "did she ask you about Jonathan Holland and his mother earlier today?"
Faith takes a moment to think.
"Yeah, she did. There wasn't much I could tell her that I hadn't already told you." Faith says and takes a sip of a glass of water her fiancée just brought in for her.
"would you like a cup of coffee, sir?" her fiancée asks.
"no, thank you." Gibbs declines politely. The fiancée leaves the room again.
"When I told her about the picture that he stole from my office, and when I told her Johnathan talked about a girlfriend he had in the army, she behaved strangely."
"she seemed very nervous and upset. She asked me if Jonathan Holland knows how she and I know each other?"
"What did you tell her?" Gibbs asks.
"when Johnathan first started to look at my picture, he commented it was a beautiful picture. And I responded that it is my birthmother. He responded by saying she is a beautiful woman with a beautiful daughter. I didn't think much of it. I thought it was just a regular compliment." Faith explains when she starts to feel like she had said something wrong.
"I understand. You didn't say anything wrong." Gibbs explains while he is writing down.
"but then why did Jack seem so nervous when I told her?" Faith asks. A slight smile on Gibbs's face doesn't go unnoticed by Faith.
"sorry. I didn't mean to smile. It is just you look and sound much like Jack right now. Very smart and observant." Gibbs says.
"thank you, but please find her. make sure nothing happens to her." Faith pleads.
"I hate to break it to you, but I think I know now what has happened." Gibbs says and continues when he notices the concern on Faith's face. "after Jack spoke to you, she realized that Jonathan Holland knows about you. She is worried he might go after you, so she set her self up as bate for him."
"so, this crazy guy has her now?" Faith asks, concerned.
"yes. she set herself up to be taken to make sure he wouldn't go after you."
"Why on earth would she do that?" Faith asks, both irritated, frustrated, and confused.
"a mother's only job is to make sure her child is safe." Gibbs quotes from the text. "she was looking at a picture of you from the day you were born while she sent you that text.
"Please find her, Agent Gibbs," Faith asks with pleading eyes. "I am finally starting to get over my anger with her. I finally have a chance to have her in my life and get to know her. I finally have a chance to make peace with the past."
"I think that is what she is trying to do to," Gibbs mumbles, and it generates a confused look on Faith's face.
"making peace with her past," Gibbs explains, and Faith nods. "I'll bring her back safely."
"thank you so I can kick her ass for being so damn stubborn and doing something so stupid." Faith says, annoyed as they walk to the front door." it makes Gibbs chuckle.
"I think she thought the same about you when you decided to stay inside a hospital doing a mass-shooting," Gibbs says with a raised eyebrow, and Faith remembers. That was the case that brought her to be in the same room as her mother for the first time since her birth.
"you sound so much like her right now." Gibbs chuckles, and it makes Faith smile too.
"Thanks." Faith says, but she can also see the humor in the situation. Gibbs opens the front door and is ready to go back to his car.
"thank you for letting me know what is happening, Agent Gibbs." Faith says with her soft eyes before Gibbs walks into the rain.