Chapter Three: Keeping a Promise

The ride to NCIS was silent. Nicole was sitting as close to Gibbs as the seating would allow. Once they were out of the truck she seemed to attach herself to his hip, not that he minded. Gibbs kept his arm draped over her shoulders.

Gibbs steered her towards his desk and everyone else scurried off to do what needed to be done. Evidence was taken to Abby's lab by McGee, Ziva and Tony were working on contacting people that knew the Lt. Commander. Gibbs had his eye on the frightened eleven year old.

McGee came back to the bullpen and was walking to his desk when Gibbs walked over to him. He grabbed him lightly by the arm and directed McGee to the chair. McGee looked up at Gibbs with surprise on his face.

"Find a relative of this girl," Gibbs said in a hushed tone. With that he let go and walked away. McGee watched him as he picked up his phone. He began his search, part of his attention still locked on Gibbs.

Gibbs squatted down in front of Nicole and smiled to the girl. He didn't get a response. He studied her for a moment, medium length blonde hair cut to circle her face with bangs across the forehead, deep brown eyes, filled with innocence, average size, or at least he thought for a ten year old girl. She was shaking slightly and silent tears were still running down her face. She looked at Gibbs.

"It's ok. Do you know of a relative or friend that can take you?" Gibbs asked softly. The girl stared at him and thought for a while. She shook her head.

"No, we just moved here," she said with a shake to her voice.

"Is there an aunt or uncle that could…"

"No," she said in a strained whisper. Gibbs nodded. He looked over at McGee then back at the girl. "Why'd he kill my mom?"

Gibbs wasn't ready for that question, but he had expected it to come. He looked at Nicole and took a deep breath. After laying a gentle hand on her shoulder he looked her in the eye as he spoke.

"That's what we're going to find out."

Nicole simply nodded and then looked to the floor. The pain that saturated her eyes pulled and burned at Gibbs' heart. He looked down as he gathered his own strength. When he looked up he saw Director Shepard standing by Tony's desk, watching him.

Gibbs stood and walked that way. He heard the muffled whimper from Nicole and looked back at her with a reassuring smile that he would be right back. She curled into herself, hugging her arms tightly across her own chest. Gibbs turned back to Shepard.

"You ok, Jethro?" Jen asked lightly. Gibbs gave her a smile and nodded.

"This was pretty personal, Jen, whoever did this knew that child's mother."

"Should be easier to catch then," Jen replied looking over Gibbs' shoulder at the girl. "What are you doing with the child?"

"McGee is looking for a relative. If none, social services."

"Keep me informed," she said and turned to walk away. Gibbs watched her retreating back for a moment before heading towards his desk.

He looked over at Tony and found the younger agent watching him. Upon realizing that Gibbs had spotted him, Tony ducked his eyes and listened intently to the phone. Gibbs looked at Nicole.

"I need to take you to the day care center," Gibbs said softly. He saw the fear expand in her eyes as she shrunk further into his chair. "It's just for a little while. I need to go talk to some people and I can't do that if I have to keep an eye on you," he said with a smile.

"I don't want to," she said softly.

"I know, but I promise it won't be for long," he said squatting down in front of her. She studied him a moment then slowly nodded. Gibbs smiled and stood. He waited for her to climb from the chair and join him. Once she was at his side he started towards the day care center.

They walked in silence to the room. As they neared they could hear the other children playing. When they came to the door Nicole scooted closer to Gibbs' hip. He pushed the door open and waited for her to go first. She didn't move. He looked down at her then stepped through the opening. Nicole followed close on his heels.

"Agent Gibbs," a lady called from the corner of the room. "Who is this?"

"This is Nicole. She needs to stay here for a little bit," Gibbs said. "Nicole, this is Judy. She's going to watch you until I can get back."

The girl continued to stare at the ground while clinging to Gibbs' arm. Judy watched the girl a moment before motioning for Gibbs to talk to her away from the girl. Gibbs peeled Nicole's hand from his arm. "Nicole, why don't you go sit down over there for a minute."

The girl nodded slowly and walked to a nearby table. She slid into the seat and laid her head in her arms. Gibbs watched for a moment before turning to Judy.

"How bad is it?"

"She saw her mother murdered," Gibbs said gravely. Judy watched him. "What?"

"Nothing. How long will she be here?"

"I need at least an hour. I got to talk to Ducky and work the case a little before I turn my agents loose."

"I'll do my best," Judy said with a smile.

"All I ask for," Gibbs replied as he walked back to Nicole. He put a hand softly on top of her head. She closed her eyes. "Nicole, I'll be back in about an hour."

"Promise?" she asked still not lifting her head.

"Yes, that's a promise," Gibbs said gently. She nodded her head, still cradled in her arms, and Gibbs smiled softly. He walked away, leaving her alone.

He first went down to see Ducky. He found the M.E. working on the mother's body. He walked up beside the older man and stopped. Staring at the damage done he felt like shuddering. He fought the urge off.

"What do we have, Duck?" he asked.

"What we have is a very brutal attack, Jethro. This woman was stabbed six times with a sharp triangular object. The attack was very personal. From the looks of the wounds the attacker not only thrust the object into this poor woman, he also turned it several inches several times on each wound. The COD was this one right here," Ducky said pointing to a wound over the heart.

"Can you identify the object used?"

"It's not your ordinary kitchen knife, Jethro, but it was a distinct object. This wound over her heart; he actually stuck the object in and twisted it while it penetrated her heart. It was the last wound he inflicted. She endured the pain of the others I'm afraid.

"The object had three edges, all sharp. Extremely sharp to do the damage I'm seeing. Two sides of it were smooth, but the third had a nick or piece missing. There seems to be a hitch in the cut every so often."

"Thanks, Ducky," Gibbs said turning to leave.

"If I find anything more I'll let you know," Ducky said as he leaned over the body once again. Gibbs left and made his way to Abby's lab. He ran into McGee before he could get there.

"Boss," McGee said with a grave look on his face.

"What is it, McGee?"

"I can't find a relative; we're going to have to call social services on this one."

"What do you mean?"

"Her mother was an only child, no siblings. Her grandparents on her mother's side are both deceased. Her father was killed in Somalia in ninety three. He had two brothers but when he was fifteen they both died in a house fire. His mother is dead and his father has Alzheimer's disease. I'm still looking but it's not looking good."

"What about a will, a family friend named, anything?"

"Not that I can find. She didn't have a will. And they've only been on base for a little over a week here. I'm checking on her last assignment to see if there was anyone there that can take the child but it was in California."

"Ok, make the call," Gibbs said feeling a little defeated. McGee nodded and scurried away for a phone. Gibbs continued to Abby's lab. He came up beside her quietly, making her jump slightly.

"Gibbs, didn't your mother ever tell you not to sneak up on people!" she said as he reached over and turned down the music.

"Apparently not. And besides, Abbs, if you wouldn't listen to the music so loud maybe you'd hear someone coming," he said. Abby gave him a glare before moving on.

"I suppose you're here to ask me what I have. Right?"

"Good guess."

"Well we have prints from the house. I have the mother's prints so I can exclude hers when I run then. The child's will be easier since they are small. I don't know how many foreigns I have yet. Also, there were two types of blood found at the crime scene. Most of the blood matches to our Victim, Johanna Conrad. But there is blood from another donor also found."

"Fresh?"

"Yes, most likely deposited the same time as the victim's blood was splashed."

"Keep on it, Abbs," he said as he walked from the lab.

"Always, Bossman."

Gibbs continued up to the bullpen and found Ziva and Tony bantering about something. He ignored the comments and simply slapped Tony on the back of the head as he walked by. Tony stopped in mid-sentence, his mouth hanging open and his eyes shut.

"Ow, Boss, what was that for?"

"For not being at work when I came in here," Gibbs grumbled.

"Right," Tony said rubbing his head. Gibbs reached over and grabbed the cup of coffee that was sitting on his desk. He took a mouthful and then spit it back into the cup, giving it a dirty look. It was cold. He tossed the cup into the garbage.

"Gibbs, we talked to a couple of the people on base over the phone and they said that the Commander hadn't really made friends yet. She was always cheerful when she was around, no one thought there was a problem," Ziva said quickly. Gibbs looked at the two of them for a moment.

"Go to the base and talk to them in person," Gibbs said. "Tony, the attack was very personal. Ducky said the man not only stabbed her but twisted the object as he stabbed. He was trying to inflict a lot of pain."

"I'll start checking into past relationships from previous posts," Tony said thoughtfully. Gibbs nodded. He checked his watch, time to go get Nicole.

"Go interview first," Gibbs said and when neither Ziva nor Tony moved he stood and glared at them. "Why are you still here?"

Both quickly gathered what they needed and bolted for the door. Gibbs rubbed his face and then headed towards the day care center. He came up to the door almost exactly an hour after he had left. Nicole saw him through the door and sat up a little at the table. He thought he almost saw a smile, but it never quite made it to her face.

"Told you I'd be back," Gibbs said with a smile as he sat down next to her. She nodded.

TBC…