Last chapter. I thought I would never get here.

Ziva was in the lobby waiting for them the next morning with two cups of coffee in her hands. The drive to NCIS was just as hair raising as the one home yesterday had been.

McGee and Tony were already working. Gibbs was out getting coffee.

Sitting at his temporary desk, Jim knew he could not put it off any longer. Christie would be at work by now and he had to talk to her before the NCIS people found out about Amanda.

She answered her phone on the third ring.

"Christine Sullivan". She always answered the phone like that in work.

"Hey Christy, it's me"

"Jim! Why are you calling in the middle of the day?"

"We need to talk. Are you alone?"

"Yeah. I'm in my office."

"Good. It's about Amanda."

Christie gave a loud, involuntary gasp. "How did you find out about her?"

"The case we are on. The killer is targeting single mothers who attended the same dance class that you took when you were pregnant. You're not safe Christy."

"He wont come all they way to New York for me"

"Probably not, but its better to be safe than sorry. Only eat and drink food you have prepared yourself which you haven't left unattended. He's been poisoning them."

"Jim. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I..."

"Christy. I gotta go. The boss here is psycho. We can and will talk when I get home. I love you."

"I love you too Jim" she said, before hearing the phone click softly, indicating that he had hung up.

Christy put her head in her hands and cried. She had tried so hard to keep Jim from finding out. Now what was she supposed to do?


"What ya got?" Gibbs asked, striding into the bullpen.

"We tracked down the four women we were unable to find. One is dead. Two are living abroad. The fourth, Christine Sullivan is now married. She gave her daughter up for adoption straight after the birth." said Karen

"Check out the husband and wife. There could be some connection there."

"Actually, Christine Sullivan married me. I didn't know about the little girl, Amanda. I talked to her this morning so she's still alive and after being married to a cop for this long, she knows to be careful. She gave us a name to check out though. A Harold Hardrada."

Gibbs stared at him hard before barking "with me" and striding towards the lift.

Jim disentangled his cane from his jacket cane, as Karen whispered "lift" into his ear as he walked past her desk.

After a few seconds, he lift juddered to a stop as Gibbs flicked the emergency switch.

"Will this affect your judgement Detective Dunbar?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. The minute you let your personal life get in the way of a case people get hurt. In my case its most likely to be either me or Karen. I would never do that to her. Or any of your people."

"Good answer".


While they had been in the lift, McGee had got an address for Mr Hardrada. Gibbs sent Tony and Ziva to pick him up while everyone else worked on finding out as much as possible.

"Boss, come and look at this" called McGee....

"Got him" he replied softly, looking over McGee's shoulder.

Less than an hour, Tony and Ziva were back, having deposited Mr Hardrada in interrogation one.


Tony, McGee, Ziva and Karen were crowded around the window of the observation room and Jim was leaning casually against the opposite wall.

The door to interrogation room one opened and a very angry Gibbs walked in, slamming a folder on the table in front of him.

He sat facing Harold for nearly 20 minutes when he broke down in tears and confessed.

"I did it. I killed those women. My mother was one of them. Do you know what kind of life I had? It would have been better if I had never been born. My mother was a prostitute living with her abusive boyfriend. Do you know what he did to me? I was black and blue. All the time. I couldn't even go to school. I took that job so I could get back at them. I couldn't let those other children suffer what I had suffered. If they were in the foster care system of with their grandparents they would have a better life."

Gibbs looked at him in absolute disgust. This man seriously thought that he had been helping those poor women?

He stalked out of the room, leaving Harold crying noisily to himself.


Back in the Squadroom...

"It was good working with you Detectives" said Gibbs

"You too Special Agent Gibbs"

"Well, if you ever need anything..."

"We'll call".

Ziva drove them back to the hotel to collect their bags and then on to the airport where there was a plane leaving to New York in just two hours.

At the gate she shook their hands and waved them off. They were a good pair and excellent detectives.


Sitting on the plane, Karen once again began to panic. Her nail were digging painfully into Jim's arm the whole way home.

"You are going to leave me permanently scared" he joked.

"Add them to your collection then" she replied waspishly, having seen many of the ones that littered his lower legs after bumping into numerous objects.


Getting off the plane Karen caught someone waving at them.

"Christy's here" she told him. She was a little jealous that Jim had someone who cared enough to come and get him. She would be getting a taxi back to an empty apartment.

Christy came running towards them and hugged Jim tightly.

It was a beautiful day as they walked out to the car together, after saying goodbye to Karen who had refused their offer of a lift home. They had a lot to talk about, but they would be alright.

I didn't really like this story much so I'm glad its over. Tell me what you thought.

THE END