Friday
Chapter 5
Around 4am Friday morning, Gibbs is sitting at his desk working on a couple things. His phone rings so he answers it.
"Gibbs…" He said. Gibbs then listens to what the person is saying. "I'll be right there."
Gibbs closes his phone. He grabs his keys and runs to the elevator. He enters the Forensic Lab to grab Jamie. They both leave the building. They get into his car and speed down to Montclair, Virginia to meet up with Fornell.
Gibbs drives up to a house, the Taylor residence. Gibbs and Jamie get out of the car just as Fornell parks his car right behind theirs. They walk up to the house where a couple policemen are. Gibbs and Fornell flash their badges at the door. They all walk inside and into the family room where a husband is comforting his wife while she's sobbing. The oldest son, Josh, is sitting on a chair and Father Steve, their priest is also there. Gibbs and Jamie walk over to Josh. Gibbs kneels down to talk to him.
"Josh… Hear you saw the man who took your little brother. Do you think you would be able to describe him for us?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes I can." Josh answered.
"This is Jamie. She's a sketch artist. I want you to describe the man to her so she can draw him. Can you do that for me?"
"Ok." Josh stands up.
"Good boy." Gibbs then looks to Jamie. "Take him in the other room."
"Come on Josh." Jamie puts her hand on Josh's back and directs him into the other room so they can work.
Gibbs sits in the chair and turns toward the parents in order to address them.
"I'm Special Agent Gibbs with NCIS. I'm here to help you."
"Where's my Max!" Mrs. Taylor exclaimed.
"I assure you, we're working it. We're doing everything we can." Gibbs answered.
"I heard what was happening on the news, with all the children being kidnapped." Mr. Taylor stated.
"How can you people not have the man in custody yet!" Mrs. Taylor exclaimed.
"We're doing the best we can ma'am. We've been following every lead." Fornell stated.
"Did you happen to set your alarm last night?" Gibbs asked.
"We always set the alarm before going to bed." Mr. Taylor said. "And these things are supposed to keep you safe."
"Is the security system new? When was it installed?" Gibbs asked.
Fornell's phone rings so he walks into the next room in order to answer it.
"The security system was installed seven weeks ago. When you arm it, it makes a beeping noise to let you know it's working properly." Mr. Taylor said.
"And it made a beep last night when you armed it?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes." Mr. Taylor replied.
"I saw on the news that other boys have been taken." Mrs. Taylor stated.
"That's true, and we're doing everything we can to find them as well."
Fornell walks back into the room. He walks over to Gibbs who is sitting on a chair. He leans down in order to whisper something to him.
"My people went over the list, tracked the majority of them but none of them can remember what any repairmen looked like. Between those families, there were lots of different repairman and people to fix or work on things within the home. They also contacted the companies to find out who went to what house at what time and came up with nothing cuz someone hacked into the system and deleted those records. So we have no idea who was in their homes to gather their stuff in order to plant it."
Jamie walks into the room and hands a sketch to Gibbs. He takes a quick look at the drawing.
"Mr. and Mrs. Taylor… Have you seen this man before?" Gibbs shows them the sketch.
"Is that the man who took my boy?" Mr. Taylor asked.
"He installed our security system." Mrs. Taylor responded.
"Do you remember his name?" Gibbs asked.
"No… But he was very nice. He just came in, installed the security system, tested it and we talked some. I even made him lunch. I might remember his name if I ever heard it again. I know it started with a P."
Gibbs' cell-phone rings. He pulls it out and looks at the caller ID to sees that it's McGee who is calling him. Gibbs stands up and answers the call.
"Gibbs…"
"Boss, everything over here seems to be in order. They tested the security systems, internally. Nothing is out of order."
"But the alarms never went off."
"I know… But nothing over here shows that the alarms don't work."
"Have there been any employee problems or people not showing up to work?"
"Peter McCloud hasn't been here for two days and never called in."
Gibbs turns to Mrs. Taylor.
"Does the name Peter McCloud ring a bell?" Gibbs asked Mrs. Taylor.
"Yes! That's the man who installed the security system." Mrs. Taylor replied.
Gibbs turns to Jamie.
"Contact Abby and tell her to get a B.O.L.O out on Peter McCloud." Gibbs said.
Fornell takes out his cell-phone and makes his own call.
"I need the address for Peter McCloud and a tactical team for a possible hostage situation…" Fornell said over the phone as he walks into the other room.
Gibbs puts his cell-phone back up to his ear.
"McGee… I want you to have them retest the security system. There has to be some type of glitch."
"We tested it four times. There's nothing wrong with it."
Gibbs turns to Mr. Taylor.
"Can you turn your security system on for me right now?" Gibbs asked.
Mr. Taylor stands up and runs to the front door where the security panel is. He presses a few buttons and a beep goes off. Gibbs looks at a lamp.
"How much was this lamp?" Gibbs asked.
"It was $35 at Wal-Mart." Mrs. Taylor answered.
"You can bill NCIS."
Gibbs grabs the lamp and throws it at the front window. The lamp crashes through the window. The broken glass goes flying. Both the broken glass and the lamp go crashing to the ground. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are somewhat shocked at what he did. Gibbs puts the cell-phone back up to his ear.
"McGee… I just threw a lamp through the window. Did anything register over there?"
"Nothing… It shows nothing happened."
"Is Peter McCloud's computer hooked up to the main system?"
"Yes it is."
"Check his computer. He probably has some type of program connected to the system to make it appear that the security system is working for specific houses when really it's not."
"On it Boss."
Gibbs closes his phone and Fornell comes back into the room.
"We got an address." Fornell stated.
"Let's go." Gibbs said. He looks to the Taylor's. "We'll find your boy."
Then Gibbs, Fornell and Jamie walk out of the room. They walk out of the house and begin walking toward the cars. Father Steve runs over to them.
"Agent Gibbs! Agent Gibbs!" Father Steve exclaimed.
"Yes Father?" Gibbs asked.
"I know Peter McCloud."
"I could tell by the way you moved and your facial expression when the sketch was shown. And I was hoping you'd come here. So what can you tell me about him?"
"He's a very bright man. He's good with computers. In the passed two years he worked as a painter, a carpenter, a plumber, a cable man, a refrigerator repairman, an electrician… The man has many talents."
"All those jobs gave him to have access to people's houses."
Gibbs pulls out one of the crosses that were left at another house. He shows it to Father Steve.
"Does this cross mean anything to you?" Gibbs asked.
"Peter stole those crosses off my desk after mass on Sunday. He occasionally did things like that. But it was always minor things."
"What are you not telling me Father?"
"I know I shouldn't say this, but the lives of children are at stake… Peter is a slightly disturbed and delusional person. A year ago he came to me about a recurring dream he's been having. He told me about a dream where Satan came to him and told him to judge the apostles."
"There are 12 boys missing, in total… Do you think it's possible he saw certain boys as being the apostles?"
Father Steve nods his head.
"Thank you Father." Gibbs said. He then turns to Fornell. "We need to get to his house, and we need to get there fast."
The three of them, Gibbs, Fornell and Jamie run to the cars. They get into their cars and drive away.
