thanks for ready and thanks for the comments I have received I appreciate them very much.
squad room
"hey, McGee," Jack calls out loud from the top platform as she runs down the stairs to the bullpen. In the bullpen is McGee sitting at his desk. "Do me a favor and run the name Jeremy Dunkin, Army sergeant. Deployed in Helman province back in 2007."
"what am I looking for?" McGee asks while he looks over at Bishop with uncertainty. Gibbs told them that Vance's direct order to keep Sloane out of the investigation. Sloanes request brings McGee into a sticky situation between helping Sloane and obeying a direct order from Vance.
"I don't know yet. I'll know it when I see it." Jack says and stands next to McGee behind his desk. McGee begins to search the name Jack just gave him.
"okay. Sergeant Jeremy Dunkin. He served two tours in Afghanistan in 03 and 07 before he retired. No marriage and no kids. He worked for a couple of different security firms before he died two weeks ago." McGee reads out. Sloane has moved to stand in front of the monitor. She is looking at the information McGee is putting up there for her.
"how?" Jack asks. McGee looks up from his computer, confused. "how did he die?" she clarifies with a bit of a raised voice and very agitated.
"he died in a car accident. His car ran off the road at high speed and ended in a lake. He sustained a head injury in the crash that knocked him out, and he had an alcohol level over the legal limit, so he didn't manage to get out of the car before he drowned. Death was ruled accidental."
"get the rapport and check everything."
"you suspect foul play, Jack?" Bishop asks.
"just do it," Jack says, irritated and walks out the bullpen and to the elevator the moment she sees Gibbs descending the staircase. Gibbs enters the bullpen while everyone is observing Jack, who enters the elevator.
"boss," McGee asks a little hesitant.
"request the rapport and have Palmer and Kasie look everything over," Gibbs says and look concerned over towards the elevator where Jack disappeared. McGee follows the order he is given.
"Hey, Gibbs. I finished with the photo frame." Kasie says as she enters the bullpen. "I found three sets of prints. Yours, a set belonging to Faith Toliver and a set belonging to Johnny Holland."
"who is Faith Toliver?" Torres asks.
"potential victim?" McGee suggests.
"no," Gibbs says quickly. Bishop is already looking up the name. "she is a civilian OR nurse." Bishop suddenly stops and looks up from her computer screen. "boss, did you know she works at the same hospital where Holland's mother was hospitalized."
"but what does she have to do with the case? Does she know Holland personally?" Torres asks. They all look towards where Gibbs where standing. He has suddenly disappeared silently out of the bullpen and to the elevator.
"I hate when he does that," Torres says.
"he knows who she is and how her connection to the case," McGee concludes with a slide irritation in his voice.
"am I the only one who thinks this case has more questions than answers?" Kasie asks.
"no." all three agents agree simultaneously to Kasie's surprise but also amusement.
"Kasie," McGee says when Kasie is about to leave the bullpen.
"Gibbs… And Sloane… wants you to take a look into a car accident of a retired army sergeant from 2 weeks ago. I am getting the rapport right now." McGee informs her.
"Great, what am I looking for?" Kasie asks.
"honestly. No idea." McGee admits to Kasie's big confusion. "anything that can indicate some foul play and that it wasn't an accident." McGee clarifies.
"We don't even know if there is any foul play, McGee. The guy was drunk, and he ran his car off the road, hit his head, and landed in a lake. The guy passed out from a combination of alcohol and a blow to the head. The cause of death was drowning. Cause of death: stupidity." Torres concludes.
"oh, thank you, dr. Torres. You must be the new ME." McGee says sarcastically.
"Okay." Kasie says in the usual awkward way when she is trying to escape an awkward situation. "bring it down to me when it gets here, McGee." She then leaves the bullpen to get back to her lab.
"something is off about this case." Torres says to get his two fellow agents' attention. "yeah, what?" Bishop asks.
"think about it. We got three rape and murder victims, all military, all blonde in their early 30's. A car accident that Sloane thinks isn't a car accident and a victim who served with Sloane. Not to mention a suspect who also served with Sloane and that has been texting with her online for the past two weeks."
"not to mention…" McGee adds in. "the coincident of the killings starting about the same time that Holland and Sloane began to chat."
"hold on. You don't honestly think Sloane has anything to do with the murders?" Torres asks.
"Not directly, but it wouldn't be the first time some psycho has killed to attack the attention of a specific law enforcement agent," McGee argues.
"so you are saying this guy is showing off to Sloane. Like; see how good I am, I can kill and rape women." Torres jokes, but clearly, his two fellow agents don't share his humor.
"it wouldn't be the first time." McGee argues with a serious tone. "we have had cases before where some psycho replicates previous crime scenes of a particular agent, to get the agent's attention." McGee explains.
"yeah, these murders don't resample previous cases," Torres argues.
"no, but there is something else," Bishop says and takes the remote to the monitor from Nick. "3 victims who share some resampling's to Sloane's appearance."
"they are all blonde." McGee points out. "so are you, Bishop."
"They were all in their early 30's and all rank lieutenant, so was Sloane when she served with PFC Holland and Sergeant Dunkin in Afghanistan," Bishop argues. The two fellow agents must admit there are too many potential connections to Sloane for it to be coincident.
"is it just me, or does it seem like all the information we need to solve this case is inside the head of the only person that we are not allowed to talk to about this case?" Torres asks, frustrated, and his colleagues all agree with him.
"and now this woman." Bishop brings up a photo of the OR Nurse Faith Toliver.
"is it just me, or does she look a lot like Sloane?" Torres asks while he is staring at Faith's photo.
"come on." McGee says. "that is absurd, Torres. There is no way she is related to Sloane." McGee says and walks back to his desk.
"what would she be to Sloane? Her daughter?" Bishop jokes and takes the pictures down from the monitor and walks back to her desk. Torres laughs at the absurd thought of Sloane having a daughter. Then he walks back to his desk and continues the work.
"do you guys think Gibbs knows who she is?" Torres asks once he has sat back down at his desk too.
"definitely." McGee and Bishop say at the same time.
"but he is not going to tell us," Torres states more as a statement than as a question.
"Nope." McGee and Bishop agree with a hint of irritation in their voices.