okay - i'm making it clear now that this fic is set in 2006 - Lucy West went missing four years ago in 2002 which i'm saying is Tony's first year working at NCIS - it might not be perfect timing but that's what i'm going with.
"Okay, what do we know so far?" Ziva asked her team-mates. Tony stood up, picked up the clicker and pointed it at the TV screen. As he did, a picture of Lucy West appeared on the screen. The group had never seen anyone so beautiful. Her long blonde hair fell over her shoulders and landed perfectly without a hair out of place. Her full rosy lips held so much suggestion that it was easy to forget she was barely twenty when she went missing, and her round blue eyes shone like sapphires. Even from just a picture they seemed to draw you in.
"Twenty year old Lucy West disappeared January seventeenth, 2002," he informed the group. McGee stood up and joined Tony by the screen.
"She told her parents she was spending some time with friends upstate, they filed a report when she never returned," McGee added, glad to have something to input.
"The friends?" Ziva asked.
"Non existent," McGee answered with a shake of his head. "No-one knows where she was before she disappeared."
"So how did Kevin Wickson enter the portrait?" Ziva questioned again.
"It's picture and that's the mystery," Tony explained.
Ziva frowned. "The picture is the mystery?"
"No, Kevin Wickson is. From everything Gibbs and his team found out four years ago, Kevin and Lucy had no connection at all."
"They had never met?" McGee queried.
Tony shook his head. "Nope; in fact, Kevin was at Reedville at the time."
"How'd he get convicted then?"
"Walked into the infirmary at Reedville and confessed. DNA from skin cells under his nails matched Lucy's."
"He went from a non dangerous patient to a psychopath in one day," McGee surmised.
"You got it. He never went to trial, they just placed him on a more secure ward."
"And Gibbs thinks Kevin knows where Lucy's body is."
"I don't think so, I know so McGee!" Gibbs strode round the corner and joined the group, the ever present cup of coffee steaming in his right hand.
"How do you suggest we get it out of him, Boss?" Tony asked.
"Leave me alone with him, I'll soon get it out of him," Ziva spoke, her voice soft but her eyes flaring with a hidden menace.
Gibbs turned to face Ziva, stepping into her comfort zone. "Psycho's like Kevin don't work like normal people. He's sick and twisted and would laugh in the face of an authority figure. I doubt even you could get anything out of him, Ziva."
"Er, Boss?" Tony interrupted the stare-off.
Gibbs spun with precision and faced Tony. "What?" he barked.
"I think I have an idea," Tony replied as he stared at the photo of Kevin that rested in his hands. Gibbs' eyes narrowed at Tony's vague statement. Slowly, Tony's eyes lifted and he stared at the group in front of him. "Someone's going to have to be admitted to Reedville sanatorium," he clarified.
Gibbs stepped up to Tony. "Who do you suggest?" Tony kept his eyes firm with resolve, answering Gibbs' question. "Do you realise what you'll be going in to?" he asked. Tony nodded. Gibbs gave this new idea a moment's thought. He didn't like the idea of sending one of his agents into such an environment where he would be without an earpiece or microphone; without back up sixty seconds away if he was in trouble, and definitely without his gun for protection.
"I can do this," Tony spoke quietly so only Gibbs could hear him.
After a moment, Gibbs nodded. "Set it up."