This is so short but I needed to post it quick. I have no net at home. Was so excited by the reviews that I wanted to give you at least this! Hope you love it!

Chapter Three

Sunday morning. Tim groaned inwardly as the elevator doors opened. Stepping out he was greeted with ringing phones and the unmistakable sound of Tony getting pissed at his computer. He had done everything he could to get out of working today. He wanted to go to the paintball game so he could try to get on some kind of friendly terms with Lexi's friends. Seth, he could care less about. He was pretty sure Amelia already liked him, or at least tolerated him. But Gavin and Mitch barely knew him at all. Lexi's friends were the closest thing she had to family. If they ended up hating him, he's be in quite a predicament.

"McGeek!" Tony pulled Tim out of the clouds. Tim just stopped at Tony's desk and raised his eyebrows. "Can you fix this?" Tim rolled his eyes. He stowed his gear in his desk and went to save Tony's computer from a long and painful death.

It was barely three hours before Tim found himself itching to send Lexi a text. He hadn't see her since Friday morning. They had gone out to an early breakfast. Tim had lost track of time and was almost late. The last time he sent her a text was last night. She messaged him back that she was turning in early. It wasn't too soon to reach out again, was it?

Hey Lexi

Just as he started typing out his message Gibbs passed by.

"Gear up. Dead Petty Officer in Archland Park."

Wait… Wasn't Archland Park where Lexi was? Tim jumped up and quickly got his things together before following the team to the elevator.

Once they reached Archland Park, Tim kept his eyes open for any signs of Lexi. When he came up onto the crime scene the first face he saw was Amelia's. Her eyes connected with his and automatically widened. She slapped the shoulder of the person sitting next to her. His head came up and Tim saw that it was Gavin. The two of them were huddled together on a fallen log just outside the crime scene tape. Tim scanned the tree line and caught sight of a very distraught looking Mitch. Mitch hadn't seen Tim yet, but that was probably because his eyes were glued to his feet. Tim started to worry. Where the hell was Lexi. He nodded at Amelia and ducked under the tape. When his eyes finally rested on the body in front of him, Tim froze. His breathing hitched.

Lying on the ground, with her back to him, was the body of a young woman with chocolate brown hair. She wore camo pants and a camo jacket. A name was stitched onto the back of the coat.

Alexia Jansen

It couldn't be her. Tim knew it couldn't. They had been called out for a dead Petty Officer… Not his Lexi.

"Petty Officer Jessa Gowen." Gibbs' voice shook Tim out of his trance. "Shot through the chest. High powered rifle, probably."

"Poor dear," Ducky came up behind Tim. "Struck down in the prime of her life." Tim couldn't get Lexi out of his mind. He forced himself to focus. Aiming his camera, he took a shot of the mask on the dead woman's face before Ducky took it off. Now he knew it wasn't Lexi. Seeing the other woman's face sent a pain shooting through his chest. Someone had loved her. He shouldn't feel so relieved to see her face, instead of Lexi's. Tim quickly took another shot of her face without the mask.

Once the scene was processed, Tim joined Tony to question the witnesses. This was gonna be weird, he knew some of them. Again, he made himself only think about doing his job. Tony was questioning Amelia and Gavin. Ziva had gone over to Mitch, who by now had gone to stand away from the crime tape. Tim tried not to glare when his head swerved just in time to catch Seth watching him from farther off.

"So you barely knew the Petty Officer?" Tony was asking. He was trying to direct his questions more towards Gavin.

"She'd come out with us once before." Gavin seemed to be the only one who could get it together enough to form coherent sentences. "We only met her a couple of weeks ago. She came into our friend's bakery and heard us talking about our weekly paintball game. She was on shore leave and wanted to have some fun. It happens a lot. We invite new people all the time." By now Gavin was looking past Tony, at Tim. "He can vouch for that." Gavin nodded his head towards Tim. Tony turned and sent Tim a questioning look.

"He's right. I was invited out with them today." Tim looked back down at Amelia. She seemed to know what he wanted.

"She's not here." Amelia spoke in a monotone voice. "Her other decorator called in sick last minute and she left before the game even started."

"Who?" Tony turned back to Amelia.

"Lexi." Tim answered for her.

"Okay, who's Lexi?"

"Alexia Jansen, his girlfriend." This time Gavin answered. Tony shot Tim a surprised look.

"That's the name on the back of the jacket…" Tony said confused.

"Lexi let her borrow it. She didn't have any camo of her own that could get painted up." Amelia's voice was starting to sound normal again.

"Who knew she left? Can you confirm it?" Tony asked. Tim sent him a glare. Did he suspect Lexi?

"I watched her drive away." Amelia sounded just as defensive as Tim felt. "We were loading the paintball guns when she got the call. I was right next to her. She threw her stuff in her trunk and left."

"Did you tell anyone she left?" Tony asked, more cautiously this time.

"Gavin and I saw her leave. I told Mitch. We thought it would be best not to tell anyone else. Lexi's a great shot. If the other team thought we still had her, they'd spend their time trying to take her out first. We'd have an advantage."

"Who's on the other team?" Tim asked this time.

"Seth, Jessa… and Paul. We usually have more players, but lately people haven't been showing." Tim figured Paul for the blond guy standing farthest away.

"Did the jacket Lexi wore here have her name on it?" Tim needed to know that one for himself. A bad feeling was creeping up his body.

"Yeah. She got tired of people borrowing her stuff and not returning it." Amelia looked right at Tim. Realization crossed her features. She thought it too.

"McGee! DiNozzo!" Gibbs summoned them back to the crime scene. They rushed over and Ziva quickly joined them.

"Boss I found out who's clothes she's wearing." Tony spoke up. Gibbs lifted an eyebrow, waiting. "Alexia Jansen is…" Tony looked at Tim. So did Gibbs and Ziva.

"She's my girlfriend. She usually plays paintball with this group, but she went in to work today. She left before the game started." Tim's eyes slid to the dead woman, now being lifted onto a gurney. "She lent her jacket to the Petty Officer a couple of weeks ago." Tim wiped his face on his sleeve.

"Something else I should know, McGee?" Gibbs took a step towards him.

"Boss, when I first saw her… When I first saw the Petty Officer, the jacket, her hair color, height, and build… I thought for just a second that it was Lexi. She was supposed to be here."

"Who knew she wasn't?" Gibbs quirked his brow.

"Those two." Tony pointed them out. "Seth Price and Paul Watkins. Our dead Petty Officer was the third member of their team." Tony pointed the other direction. "Gavin and Amelia Shorne and Mitch Adams were on the other team. Only they knew she was gone."

"Well, that certainly narrows down our suspects." Ziva added. "We have not found the murder weapon yet." She spoke only to Gibbs. Gibbs turned back to McGee.

"So someone might have shot the wrong girl? Or maybe Gowen was the target?" Gibbs paused, still looking at McGee. "Tony, find me that weapon." Tony nodded. "Ziva, finish up with the witnesses. Process all of them." Gibbs turned to walk away. Tim stood there for a second, not sure what to do. "You comin, McGee?" Gibbs didn't bother stopping. Tim twitched, then turned to follow Gibbs.

This was the first time Tim actually dreaded walking into Crafted Confections. The girl behind the counter who Tim knew only as Lulu smiled when he walked in.

"Hey, Tim." She said brightly. There was a four person line waiting at the counter. Gibbs turned his head just enough to catch Tim blush.

"We need to see Lexi." Tim tried to stay all business. Lulu frowned slightly when she looked at Gibbs.

"Okay, go on back."

"Which way, Tim?" Gibbs gave Tim a look that made him feel about two inches tall.

"Through there." Tim pointed ahead. Once at the kitchen door, Tim could hear Lexi's music playing. Somehow it filled him with a sense of calm. She really was in there, not on some gurney… "Focus." He whispered to himself.

"Hmm?" Gibbs grunted before pushing the door open.

"Nothing boss." The kitchen was a lot messier than Tim had ever seen it. Only two other bakers were in there with Lexi. Tim pointed Lexi out to Gibbs. "Don't sneak up on her." He warned. Gibbs cocked an eyebrow. Lexi still had her back to them but the other two women had stopped what they were doing. Gibbs motioned one of them to shut off the music. A soon as it was silent, Lexi turned around.

"Hey!" She protested. But stopped short when she saw Gibbs and Tim. "Oh, hi." Her eyes went from the NCIS decal on their hats, to the guns and badges on their belts. "So, this is what you mean by 'kind of a cop.'" Gibbs glanced at Tim. He just answered with a shrug.

"We need to speak with you alone." Gibbs didn't sound quite his usual mean self, but he could have been a little more gentle.

"Okay." She immediately pulled off her apron and wiped her hands with a towel. "We can go outside." She led them out the double doors and into the alley that faced the street. Once she got the doors closed, Gibbs turned and led the questioning.

"You were supposed to be in Archland Park this morning." It wasn't necessarily a question, but Gibbs still demanded an answer.

"Yeah, one of my girls got sick. I have a strick 'no spreading your bad germs all over my kitchen' policy. So I came in to help. Did something happen at the park?"

"Petty Officer Jessa Gowen was murdered." Tim shifted uncomfortably. Gibbs could have broken it a little easier. Lexi's eyes went wide and her mouth fell open.

"Jessa… She's… Oh my God."

"How well did you know her?"

"I… We met a couple weeks ago. She came in to the bakery and wanted to know about our paintball game after she heard us talking about it. She wanted to…"

"You let her borrow your jacket?"

"Yeah. She didn't have an extra set. She didn't want to get paint on her's. I didn't have a problem with it so I let her."

"A jacket with your name on it?"

"Yeah…" Lexi finaly looked at Tim. "How was she?"

"She was shot in the chest." Gibbs brought her attention back to him. "From a long ways off from what we can tell."

"Who would? Everyone liked her. She was friendy with everyone."

"What about you?"

"Yeah, she was nice to me. I mean, she was always on the other team but…"

"No, I mean, can you think of anyone who might want to hurt you?" Tim's gut clenched and unclenched. This was what he feared. Gibbs had already figured it out.

"Me?" She asked incredulous. "Like who?"

"Anyone. Anyone with a grudge, or any kind of motive you can think of."

"I decorate cakes for a living! That's not exactly a cut-throat business!" Tim could see she was starting to panic.

"Okay then, would anyone have a personal grudge with you? Cause I got a dead Petty Officer who could easily fit your description, wearing a jacket with your name on it." Lexi grabbed her stomach like she was going to vomit.

"Boss…" Tim said, bearly audible. Gibbs took a second to look at McGee. He turned back to Lexi and frowned.

"We need you to come with us." Lexi nodded.

"Can… Can I get my purse? My inhaler, I may need it." Gibbs nodded.

"Go with her." He said to McGee before heading to the car.