Authors note
The usual disclaimers apply, as much as I would love to these characters to be, they are not mine.
Chapter 3
Dr Donald Mallard otherwise known as Ducky spoke quietly to the woman lying on the table in front of him
"Don't worry my dear, this will be over soon and then we shall see about finding out who did this to you" he told the silent and disfigured corpse laying on his autopsy table. As the scalpel slowly sliced into the blue tinged body he heard the door to the morgue open silently, he knew from the tread of the footfall who had entered his domain
"Ah Jethro, how are you on this bright and sunny morning?" he asked congenially, not pausing in his actions
Gibbs walked around the medical examiner and stood silently watching him work for a moment before he spoke
"Where's Constance, Ducky?" he asked his friend quietly. Slowly and precisely Ducky put down the scalpel and looked up to face Gibbs, his eyes grave in the weathered and genial face
"And what might I enquire has brought this question about?" Ducky asked seriously "I do believe it has been nearly…"
"Ducky, I need to know where Constance is" Gibbs broke in trying to forestall a long and extracted conversation that was part of Ducky's charm and also his most annoying habit
Ducky watched his friend silently for a moment
"She is, I believe, in Istanbul at present, there was an earthquake there recently and the search and rescue organisation she now works for sent her and Sasha out there" he paused momentarily "May I ask why you wish to know?" he continued, watching as relief flashed across Gibbs's face at the information Ducky had given him.
Gibbs turned and strode out of the room without answering, his mind already moving to the next possible target, although just speaking her name had caused a feeling to resurface that he had long since thought buried.
Ducky looked down at the woman before him and slowly shook his head "I do believe we maybe in for a spot of trouble" he told his silent and captive audience
………………………………...
Gibbs stalked back up to the bullpen and over to his desk, he sat for a moment staring at the coffee cup that sat in the middle of his desk, placed there by someone who knew of his need for coffee, as he picked up the cup he turned to look at the agents around him
"Glad you could make it McGee" he rumbled sarcastically, needing an outlet for his frustrations, but before McGee could reply he carried on "Kate I want a list of …" he trailed off, what did he want a list of? All the women he knew with red hair? All the criminals he had put away? All the people he had made enemies of over the years? Any of those would be long lists he thought. He started again
"I want a list of anyone that I put away being released recently, I also want you to check to see if there are any anniversaries of cases coming up, check for dates that I arrested someone, dates they were sentenced. Anything that would give us some idea who it is and who he has targeted"
He took a sip of the coffee trying to gather his thoughts, who was it, what connection did it have with him and who were the few? Gibbs sighed feeling a headache building behind his eyes, trouble was they had too little to go on.
He turned his attention back to his team
"Tony , I want you to check for any reports of women being shot or even stabbed, who could possibly match the description in the note."
Tony nodded , "on it Boss" he said as he turned tothe screen before him.
Gibbs stood up "I'm going to see what Abby has" he said to no one in particular striding away with the mug of coffee still firmly in his hands.
Tony looked over at Kate, "Wow I'm glad he didn't ask for a list of people who don't like him, it would take a week just to get all the names on it" Kate threw him a dirty look and ignored him as she started on theinformation Gibbs wanted. McGee looked up from his own desk and smiled at Tony
"It doesn't help that the only clue the writer gave us was red hair, that's most of the women in Gibbs' life" he chortled
Kate looked over at the pair in disgust "Pack it in you two, this is Gibbs we're talking about, and until we know who the few are, we could all be targets, so could Ducky and Abby. So lets try and find this guy fast and stop picking Gibbs's life apart!" she told them angrily, her voice strained and tense. Tony and McGee looked at her and then hurriedly turned to their own tasks, neither having thought about who the few could be. The only obvious thing was that the few were people connected to Gibbs in some way.
