Warnings: Same as the last couple of chapters.
A/N: Hi everyone, sorry for the delay in updating. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
"I was hoping we would have caught this monster by now," Ducky mumbled when Gibbs arrived.
"Me too, Duck," Gibbs sighed, looking down at the body of a young woman that had been uncovered in Rock Creek Park.
Ducky looked up at the team leader, the troubled lines were not gone. He had hoped that going over to the safe house to see Tony and Leah would help Gibbs—it apparently had the opposite effect. "Our poor victim was killed in much the same manner as all our other victims, Jethro. Timothy was working on her background and identity. There was no identification on her but a girl this pretty, someone must have been missing her."
Gibbs felt the muscles in his stomach tightening, looking down at the ashen face of the victim, her eyes open and lifeless, but frozen in horror. She looked just like Leah, same build and hair color—same type of clothing that Tony's wife would have worn if she had gone out for a run. "Time of death, Duck?"
"Yesterday between nine and ten in the evening," Ducky replied.
"He's moving quicker than usual," Gibbs surmised. "He usually keeps them captive for a day before snapping their neck."
"Perhaps he realized his mistake… he did not have Leah," Ducky supplied. He saw Gibbs' eyes widen for a moment. "You were not the only one that saw the resemblance. If this young woman was jogging near Anthony and Leah's neighborhood it is entirely possible that he grabbed her thinking she was Leah."
He winced. Gibbs hated that idea because it meant this young woman had died needlessly. Well, if it had been Leah, it still would have been needless. "Now he's going to realize we're onto him. His buddies are back in jail; Leah is in a safe house…"
Sucking in a sharp breath, Ducky nodded. "This mistake will make him even more furious, Jethro. There's no telling what he is going to do now. You have denied him access to his revenge."
Gibbs rocked back on the balls of his feet. Tony would put a bullet between Merchant's eyes if he showed up at the safe house… Tony would take a bullet to save Leah… "Which is why we need to close this one fast. Otherwise, the body count is only going to get higher… and the next time it might be someone we know."
Tim needed more than coffee; he needed a good stiff drink. Coffee, however, was going to have to do since he was still on the job.
He wasn't sure when he slept more than a couple of hours at time last. Much like Gibbs, Tim was running on coffee and that was it. Except, unlike Gibbs, Tim struggled to keep going. They needed a break in this case and with no new evidence, it appeared that they were not going to get one.
Caf-Pow in hand, Tim ventured down to the lab, hoping Abby had found something. "Hey," he said, plopping the cup onto her table. "Anything?"
Abby glanced over her shoulder and frowned. "Nothing new. Same neurotoxin used to paralyze her—she wasn't tortured as long as the other victims… which I guess is some kind of blessing in disguise."
"Ducky thinks Merchant realized his mistake and killed her," Tim said, rubbing his temples.
"Guess it confirms he's going after Leah," Abby said.
"Witnesses place our victim on Leah's favorite jogging path near their house," Tim replied.
She shivered and grabbed her Caf-Pow. "Merchant was stalking their neighborhood. Did any of the witnesses know who this woman was? AFIS didn't have her prints on file. I'm still running a missing person search."
He shook his head. "No. I questioned their neighbors as well—they all said they had never seen her before but commented on how much she resembled Leah."
Abby sucked a few large sips of her Caf-Pow. "Bad day to pick a new running route," she mumbled.
Tim sighed and looked at their Jane Doe on the computer screen, her face running through a missing persons database. "We have bigger problems than identifying a Jane Doe," he said. "Merchant knows now that we're aware he's targeting Leah. He's going to know that we have her under wraps, and if he's stalking their house, he knows that they're not residing there at the moment."
"How's Tony?"
"Honestly? Tony's a mess."
"But he's going to be okay, right, McGee?"
I'm not sure, Tim wanted to say, but he didn't want to upset Abby any more than she already was. It had been hard on her over the summer with little contact from Tony. "It's Tony! Of course he's going to be okay," he said instead. "He beat the Plague, didn't he?"
Abby sighed and nodded. "Yeah," she said, quietly. "You're right. Tony will be fine. I just… I want to catch Merchant before he hurts Leah or worse yet—Jack."
Tim agreed. He wanted to catch Merchant before Tony's family was hurt. Since February, Tony and Leah had been put through the ringer. Thank goodness for Jack because otherwise there would be nothing bright in their world right now. "Won't happen. Not with Gibbs in charge and not with Tony staying with Leah and Jack at the safe house."
She turned her pale green eyes on him and frowned. "Both Gibbs and Tony would die for them."
He reached out and pulled Abby into a hug. "It is not going to come to that, okay? Positive thinking!"
"You know I'm the cheerleader for positive thinking, Timmy, but I'm not feeling it right now."
"Yeah, I know, Abs. We'll all feel better once this over."
Abby grunted as Tim's phone rang. She held her breath and crossed her fingers that it was not another body…
Tim talked quietly for a few seconds, then hung up. "Tony. He says that he sent Brown over to his house to pick up Jack's stuffed puppy. Brown hasn't returned yet…"
"Do you have Brown's cell number? I can trace it," Abby said.
"Maybe he got lost," Tim said with a shrug. "I told Tony I'd go over to the house and get the toy."
"Be careful, Timmy," Abby ordered.
"Don't worry. I'll be fine," he said, before disappearing from the lab and heading towards his car. He wasn't doing anything to help solve the case so he might as well make himself useful and help Tony out.
Leon Vance was packing up for the evening when his office door opened. Not surprisingly Gibbs strode into the room. The former marine was the only of his agents that refused to knock. "Rather late Gibbs."
Gibbs glanced at the clock and shrugged. "There's a serial killer gunning for a lot of people still loose on the streets right now. And I also have a protection detail to oversee."
"Any identification on that young woman that was found this afternoon?" Leon questioned.
"Nothing yet," Gibbs said with a shake of his head. "Abby is running her face through the missing person database."
"Everything been quiet at the safe house?"
"DiNozzo reported there hasn't been so much as a peep."
Leon pursed his lips. He knew that this had Gibbs' gut churning; he could see it on the older man's face. "This is bothering you, isn't it, that it's been so quiet over at the safe house."
Gibbs sat down in front of Leon's desk. "Merchant is incredibly smart. He had to have known we'd go question his buddies in the rehab, and he had to have known that one of them would squeal to get out of the death penalty. So what's he really playing at? Is he going after Leah? Or is he using her as bait?"
"Bait? To catch who? You or DiNozzo?"
"Maybe both. Last he knew, Tony and I were the only members on the team."
"Keeping Leah hidden from him might make him angry."
"He's already pretty angry, Leon."
The Director nodded in agreement. "Maybe we should move the family again—further up North?"
Gibbs shook his head. "No, I don't want to displace Leah and Jack more than they've already been displaced. There hasn't been any sign of trouble near the safe house," he said as his cell rang. He reached into his pocket for it and saw that it was from McGee. Flipping it open, he answered, "Go ahead, McGee."
McGee sounded slightly panicked on the other end. "Boss, Tony asked me to stop by the house to get Jack's stuffed puppy… apparently he couldn't fall asleep without it…"
"Not uncommon for a child to have a favorite toy," Gibbs said, confused as to why McGee was calling.
"I know, but Tony sent Agent Brown before me… I found the front door open, the alarm disabled, and his ID on the front steps," McGee answered. "He's gone, Gibbs. If it's Merchant… he might know where Leah and Jack are now."
Gibbs jumped up from the chair, dashing for the door. "Call DiNozzo—get them on the move now!" They had a small window to move Leah and Jack before Merchant caught up to them—that is, if he hadn't already.
