Gibbs stepped inside the elevator and waited for McGee to do the same. He then waited for the doors to close and hit the emergency switch. "You got something you wanna tell me, McGee?"

"I…I think that last text was about me," Tim said. He wanted to be wrong. He wanted more than anything for the person he loved more than anything to not be involved in what was going on right now, but he got the very horrible feeling that she was.

"You married, McGee?" Gibbs asked. It was possible that the bastard who'd sent that last text had been wrong, that he'd made assumptions he shouldn't have, but McGee's demeanor said otherwise.

"Yeah. Yeah, Boss, I'm married," Tim admitted.

"How long?" Gibbs asked.

"Ten years to the day. It's my anniversary today," Tim said. And what an anniversary it had been. This had been the worst yet. He didn't really like this day in general, but this had been the worst one yet. Not only did he have to spend his anniversary without his wife, but now there was a hit out on him and his wife. He wasn't sure it could get any worse.

"You've been married since before you started here? You dated Abby," Gibbs growled. He was pissed. Abby was like a daughter to him and McGee had used her to cheat on his wife. Never in a million years did he think McGee could do that, but he was admitting to just that.

"It's not like that, Boss. Abby knows I'm married. I told her before things got serious," Tim said.

"She knows," Gibbs repeated skeptically. He found it hard to believe that Abby would get involved with a married guy. That wasn't the kind of person she was.

"Yeah. Look, it's a very complicated situation. I love my wife, but I haven't seen her in nine years," Tim said.

"What?" Gibbs asked in confusion.

Tim laughed humorlessly. "You think you're confused? Try waking up one morning to find your wife gone. There was no warning. I just woke up and she had disappeared. All that was left was a 'Dear John' letter telling me that she was leaving and she wasn't coming back. She said I should move on with my life. Like I could do that. Like I could just pick up my life like she didn't exist."

"Nine years, McGee? Why didn't you file for divorce?" Gibbs asked. McGee would've been able to get a divorce easily, even without his wife being around. Actually, it would be easier because her not being there would be a reason for it to be pushed through quicker. She'd deserted him after all.

"I…I can't. I've accepted that she's not coming back. I took the rings off and everything, but I can't bring myself to end my marriage. Because I don't want it to end," Tim said. He really did know he shouldn't hold on like this, but he couldn't help himself. He loved his wife so much. The idea of severing their relationship officially was just too much to bear.

"You don't wanna let go," Gibbs said. He got it. He understood wanting to hang on, even when realistically you know there's nothing left to hang on to. After Shannon and Kelly died, he refused to change anything in his house for nearly a year. He wouldn't even move their things an inch because that would mean he was letting them go. "Alright, let's focus on the case. If that last text was about you, that means you're bait for your wife. Any idea who would wanna hurt her?"

"No. God, I can't think of anybody with any reason to wanna hurt her. I mean, she's not a cop and she doesn't work with sensitive material. She's a computer programmer for God's sake," Tim said. That was actually how the two of them hit it off. They'd met while he was doing some temporary work for a computer company a couple of years before he joined NCIS. They'd hit it off. It really just made no sense for someone to be after her. It made more sense for them to use her to get to him.

"Well, someone obviously does," Gibbs said.

Tim shuddered. The idea of someone wanting to hurt his wife terrified him. He wouldn't be able to handle anything happening to her. He lived with her leaving him, but he couldn't live with something happening to her. That would shatter him.

"What's her name? We have to find her," Gibbs said.

"Kelsey. Kelsey Gilbert," Tim said. That was her full name anyway. The people she was close to called her Kelly, but Gibbs didn't need to know that. It would probably upset him as his own daughter was called that.

"Any idea where she might be?" Gibbs asked.

Tim shook his head.

"Any idea who the other woman or women might be?" Gibbs asked.

"What?" Tim asked in confusion.

"There was more than one woman mentioned in the texts," Gibbs reminded him.

Tim thought for a minute. The answer came quick. It was Kelly's mother. She would be involved in whatever Kelly was. The two of them were always close. Actually, the three of them were always close. His mother-in-law told him on more than one occasion that she considered him her son. The feeling was very much mutual. She was more of a parent to him than either one of his. In a lot of ways, her abandonment hurt worse than Kelly's because of that fact. "Her mother. It has to be her mother."

"And her name?" Gibbs asked.

"Sharon. I really don't understand this, Boss. I don't understand why anyone would wanna hurt either of them. They're great women."

"We don't have all the answers, McGee. We will get them. However, this may give you one answer. You've spent the last nine years wondering why your wife left you. This might be your answer. It's very possible she was trying to protect you," Gibbs said. He doubted knowing that would make the hurt and anger go away, but at least McGee would be able to find some solace in the fact that his wife probably didn't leave him because she stopped loving him.

Tim considered that. Gibbs was right. There was a good chance this threat had been after Kelly for a long time now. All this time he'd thought she left because she no longer loved him, but maybe she had been trying to protect him. It still didn't make it okay though. He would've preferred her tell him the truth and let him help. "I don't wanna be protected, Boss. I wanna help her the way a husband is supposed to. We have to find her."

"We will. We'll find them both. There's something else we need to talk about though. The guy who wanted to kill you is dead. He was trying to draw your wife out. There's a possibility he already did," Gibbs said.

Tim stared at his boss, who was staring at him very intently. He shook his head as soon as he realized what Gibbs was implying. "No. No, she didn't do this. She's not a killer."

"Tim, this guy was going to kill you. If she loves you even a quarter as much as you love her, do you really think she wouldn't consider it? Wouldn't you do it?" Gibbs asked.

Tim kept shaking his head. "No, you don't know her."

"Neither do you apparently," Gibbs said. He wasn't trying to hurt the kid, but he wanted him to realize that he might be wrong about what his wife was capable of.

"I know she wouldn't kill anyone. I'm done talking about this," Tim said firmly before flipping the switch back on. He'd never spoken to Gibbs like that, but he wasn't going to listen to his wife being called a killer. He just wasn't.