Chapter 4

"Good Morning, Leslie." Rachel greeting when she open the door, finding her sitting on her bed. "How are you feeling, today?"

"OK." Leslie replied.

Seeing that the other bed was still empty, Rachel walked over and sat down on it. She had told Gibbs that she wanted to be alone for this, so Gibbs gave her a list of questions to ask…assuming Leslie would answer any.

"Do you know what day it is?" She asked.

"Wednesday." Leslie said, then started shaking her head. "I'm not crazy, you know."

"Nobody ever said you were." Rachel replied.

"Then why can't I leave?" Leslie asked.

"Leslie," Rachel began, "do you even remember why you were brought here?"

Leslie just stared at her.

"Do you want to go home?" Rachel asked.

"Yes." Leslie answered, without hesitation.

"The only way you can do that is by answering some questions." Rachel advised. "The police had some concerns about you…we have to answer those concerns before we can release you."

Again, Leslie just stared at her.

"If you want to continue this later," Rachel said as she started to get up, "just let the staff know that you want to talk to me."

"Wait." Leslie put her hand up to stop her. "If I cooperate with you, can I go home?"

"I'm not promising anything." Rachel replied. "All I will tell you is that you will have a better chance than if you don't cooperate."

Leslie stared at the window for a few seconds, appearing to consider this, then turned back to Rachel.

"OK." She said. "What do you want to know?"

"McGee." Gibbs said as he rounded the corner.

"Yea, Boss." McGee replied.

"I want to know of every public record concerning Admiral Garrett and his daughter…either separate or together." Gibbs ordered.

"Am I looking for anything in particular?" McGee asked.

"He didn't seem too concerned that she had dug up a skeleton…or that she was in the hospital." Gibbs told him. "He claimed he hasn't talked to her since his wife died…I want to know why."

"On it, Boss." McGee said as he started typing.

"Who was she?" Rachel asked.

"My sister." Leslie replied.

"There is no record of you having one." Rachel told her.

Leslie shrugged. "I can't answer that." She said. "My mother had her."

"What was her name?"

"LeAnn."

"How did she die?"

Again, Leslie shrugged. "I don't know for sure…I heard my parents arguing, and later that night, they told me she was dead."

Rachel nodded. "Why was she buried in your back yard?"

"My mom did that." Leslie told her. "After my father left on another deployment."

"Why would she do that?"

Leslie paused for a moment before answering.

"By that time," She said, "even I could tell that my mother was having…issues."

"Boss?" McGee said. "You should see this."

Gibbs walked over and looked at McGee's monitor.

"I just found a birth record for one LeAnn Garrett…daughter of Michael and Crystal Garrett…in April of '94."

Gibbs clenched his jaw. "Why didn't we discover this before?" He asked.

"We checked DEERS…which is where all military dependents are registered." McGee answered. "There was no record of her."

"Anything else about her that there is no record of?" Gibbs asked.

"I just discovered this." McGee said. "I will keep looking."

"You do that." Gibbs told him as he headed to the elevator.

"The plot thickens." DiNozzo observed after Gibbs was gone.

"So this is one of your Hitchcock plot twists?" Ziva asked sarcastically.

"The first of many." DiNozzo replied. "The first of many."

"When was the last time you saw your father?" Rachel asked.

Leslie became uncomfortable. "My mother's funeral…or rather, after I turned eighteen, which was a few weeks later."

"Can you tell me why?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Leslie." Rachel replied. "Your…condition…when you were found scared a few people. Something happened to you…the first step towards a recovery is to find out why."

Leslie sighed. "By 2000, my mother was obviously sick…but my father refused to get her help."

"Why is that?"

"Who knows?" Leslie rolled her eyes. "But I think it was because of what he thought would happen to his career."

"I don't understand."

"My father had certain goals." Leslie clarified. "He felt that the…stigma…of having a wife diagnosed with a mental illness would hinder them."

"But he never told you this." Rachel stated, wanting clarification.

"No." Leslie shook her head. "But I could tell."

"Tell me something, Abbs."

"Still waiting on the mitochondrial test results." She replied.

He sighed. "What about the Bode…"

"Bode Technology Group." Abby picked up. "I got the results from that, but I need another sample to compare it against."

"It won't tell you if it's related to the Garrett's?" He asked.

"It's not designed to." Abby confirmed. "But, like I said, I was able to get a sample to run a mitochondrial test…that will tell us if it's related. If it is, and you can get me a sample from who you think it is, I will be able to tell you yes or no."

Gibbs turned to leave.

"You haven't brought me a Caf-Pow, lately." She complained.

"You haven't earned one, lately." He countered.

"Gibbs…I can only test what you bring me." She defended. "I can't perform miracles."

"You always have before." He called as the elevator doors closed.

"Anything, Duck?" He asked.

"I'm afraid not." Ducky replied. "Whatever this child died of…it did not affect the skeletal structure."

"This case is going nowhere." Gibbs sighed.

"I sympathize." Ducky replied. "Any leads on finding out who she was?"

"McGee found a birth record for another Garrett daughter." Gibbs told him. "Time frame is right…he's trying to track down what happened to her."

"If it is her, how in the world did she end up in a hole in their back yard?" Ducky asked. "I mean…she was two years old…didn't somebody notice she was gone?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out, Duck." Gibbs said as he turned to leave.

On Wednesday afternoon, DiNozzo looked up to see Matthew exit the elevator and head their way.

"Hi." DiNozzo greeted, causing everyone to look up.

"Hi." Matthew replied.

"How did it go in California?" Ziva asked.

"I got the ball rolling." He shrugged. "Who would have thought it would be a six week process."

Matthew saw the present that Sarah had given McGee and just stared at it.

Ziva saw the pain on his face and followed his gaze.

"Abby's in her lab." She said as she got up. "Come on."

Gibbs watched them enter the elevator and picked up his phone.

After she pressed the emergency stop, she turned to him.

"How are you doing?" She asked.

He just shrugged.

Looking at the sadness in his eyes, Ziva thought about forgetting the conversation she wanted to have. But then she thought of Abby, and a phrase from her childhood came to mind.

Tough love.

"Matthew, you may not like what I am about to say." She began. "But I care too much about the two of you to not say it."

He just stared at her.

"I'm not going to stand here and tell you that I understand how you feel..." She began, "because those would just be meaningless words. But what I want you to understand is that, you aren't the only one grieving right now."

She paused and stared at him, but he didn't respond.

"Look…I know that you just lost your daughter, and I know how much you loved her…but Abby loved her too. And right now, she is hurt…and confused…and the only person who she can connect with is pushing her away."

"I'm not…" He tried to interrupt.

"You may not think you are." Ziva continued. "And she doesn't even realize that you are…but I talked with her yesterday, and asked her how the two of you were doing…and she didn't know."

He just looked down.

"Your pain right now must seem unbearable." She said. "But how much more will it be if you also lose Abby. And how much more will hers be if she also loses you."

"What should I do?" He asked after a few seconds.

"For starters? Talk to her. Make sure she knows how you feel." She said. "When she comes to work tomorrow, if I ask her how the two of you are doing, make sure she can answer it…but I think it would be even better if she didn't come in tomorrow, because the two of you had decided to go somewhere, just to get away and spend some time alone…together."

He stared at the floor for a few seconds.

"Thank you." He finally said.

"For the record." She said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "We all share your grief. There isn't a person in this building who didn't love Sarah to some extent. If there is anything I can do, just name it."

"Thank you." He repeated as she released the emergency stop.

.

She was standing at her computer, watching it compare the DNA of the child to the Garrett family, when someone walked up behind her and put their arms around her in a hug.

Recognizing Matthew's touch, she smiled and leaned back into him.

"Welcome back." She greeted. "I thought you said Friday."

"I finished everything I could…so I decided to come back early." He said. "I didn't call because I wanted to surprise you."

She smiled and turned around to hug him.

"How did it go?" She asked.

"I got the ball rolling." He replied. "My attorney will have to finish it."

They just held each other.

"Abby," He began, "I want to apologize if I've seemed…distant…lately."

"No need to." She shook her head. "You just lost a daughter…I can wait until…"

"No." He interrupted. "That's just what I'm talking about. You loved Sarah too…we should be comforting each other, not waiting for anything." He looked down. "And I want to thank you…for everything." He looked in her eyes and smiled. "You may not realize it, but very few people would have done what you did."

She just smiled and hugged him again.

"Wanna do an early dinner?" He asked.

She nodded. "I'd like that."

As soon as she said it, her computer chirped.

Smiling, she turned around to see what the results were.

"Positive." She said. "The skeleton is definitely related to the Garrett's."

"How?" Gibbs asked from the doorway.

Abby turned to see Gibbs and Ziva.

"How long have you two been standing there?" She asked.

"Just got here." He said as he walked up to her.

"I don't have DNA from the mother." Abby said, turning back to her monitor. "But, according to this, Leslie and the child had the same mitochondrial DNA."

"Sisters?" Ziva asked.

"Since Ducky's age estimate for the remains puts Leslie at from ten to twelve years old…" Abby replied. "I would have to say yes…it's a safe bet that they are sisters."

"Good work." Gibbs said, then looked at Matthew and back to Abby. "We can take it from here…take the rest of the week off."

"In the middle of a case?" Abby asked.

"McGee can cover for you." Gibbs shrugged, then headed to the door. "Be back on Monday…that's an order."

Thirty minutes later, they exited the elevator and Abby stopped at Gibbs' desk to give him her report.

Rachel, who had come over as soon as Gibbs had called, was leaning against Ziva's desk, talking to her, and stood as they approached.

"Abby," She began, "do you mind if I borrow him for a few minutes?"

"Make sure you bring him back." Abby laughed. "We're going to dinner."

"I promise." She smiled and led him to the conference room.

"How are you feeling right now?" She asked as soon as the door was closed.

Instead of answering, he looked around for a few seconds.

"I don't know how to answer that." He finally said, shaking his head.

"Believe it or not," she replied, "that is exactly the answer I was hoping for."

He cocked his head and gave her a puzzled look.

"The loss of a child is one of the most traumatic things a parent can face." She continued. "Nobody should be able to answer such a question so soon after."

When he didn't reply, she continued.

"But answer this…How are you going about your everyday activities?"

He laughed. "I had breakfast this morning at the airport…and ordered hers, too."

"What did you do when you realized your mistake?" She asked.

"I didn't." He shook his head. "Until after I sat down and started to give hers to her."

"What did you do?"

He didn't answer for a few seconds.

"I lost my appetite." He finally said. "I threw the food away and went to the terminal."

"For six years," She said, "everything you did included her…it will take some time to adjust."

"It's hard." He said, tears forming in his eyes. "Hard to do anything anymore…now everything I do reminds me of her."

"And sometimes, you feel like quitting." She said.

"Sometimes." He nodded. "She is what kept me going after my wife died. Now…"

"You have Abby." She offered.

"I do." He smiled. "And she is what I think about when it gets to be…too much."

"Everything you're feeling is perfectly normal." She said. "But, if it gets to be too much, or if you feel like hurting yourself, promise me you'll tell Abby…immediately…OK?"

"Don't worry." He shook his head. "But I will."

"I know you're on vacation." Rachel smiled. "But I want you to come to my office next week for a chat…Monday? 9 o'clock?"

He only nodded.

"Remember, Matthew. All we can do is to take life one day at a time." She told him. "What are your plans for this weekend?"

"Gibbs gave Abby the rest of the week off." He said. "We'll start with an early dinner…then go from there."

"That's good." She nodded and started laughing. "Now, let's get you back before Abby gets mad at me."

After Abby and Matthew were gone, Rachel turned to Gibbs.

"I have some news." She said.

He just looked at her expectantly.

"I believe I might have an identity for your body." She continued.

"LeAnn Garrett?" Gibbs asked.

She stared at him for a few seconds before responding.

"If you knew…" She said, "why did you want me to ask her?"

"I didn't know." Gibbs replied. "McGee found a birth record for her outside of the military system, but we don't know what happened to her." He turned to McGee. "Do we?"

"Still working on it, Boss." McGee replied.

Gibbs turned back to Rachel and smiled.

"Well, it's who Leslie claims it to be." Rachel told him.

"Did she say why LeAnn was buried there?" Gibbs asked.

"Claimed her mother did it." She told him. "While her father was away on deployment."

"That doesn't make sense." Gibbs thought aloud. "Garrett would have noticed his own daughter was missing."

"Leslie claims he was there when she died." Rachel said.

That made Gibbs even more confused.

"I will get clarification on it tomorrow." Rachel told him. "To be honest, I didn't notice that discrepancy. Make me another list of what you want me to ask. She's pretty cooperative right now…wants to go home."

"Any chance Ziva can go with you tomorrow?" He asked.

"Give me one more day by myself." She told him. "If you have any other questions beyond that…Ziva should be able to get them answered, without my presence."