Disclaimer on chapter one.
AN: No rants this time :-) Another chapter posted. Tell me what you think, dark rolling sea.
Chapter Five
The bullpen was quiet the next morning as Tony came in and slumped into his chair. McGee was already at his desk with his head down. The day of travel and searching had been exhausting for them. Kate was at her desk checking her emails and voicemails, wondering if Levi Brown had left her a message. She had left three more messages for him before heading home the night before.
Gibbs sat at his desk, coffee in hand, staring at his computer monitor. He was thinking about everything they had learned in the past twenty four hours and suddenly got an idea. He looked up at his team wanting an update.
"No call back from Levi Brown. I'm working on getting another way to get in touch with him," Kate offered when she looked up and saw Gibbs searching the room. Tony looked up when he heard Kate's voice and McGee slowly raised his head.
"We got a bunch of letters to Abby last night. She is analyzing them as we speak," McGee replied, stifling a yawn.
"The only thing we got from the mother led us to the letters Probie is talking about," Tony added with a weak smile. Gibbs looked down at this desk, hands flexing on the top.
"So we got nothing. Kate, I want you to run a check on our dead Gunny," Gibbs continued.
"Against what?" she asked.
"Grayson Wilson or Brown or whatever the hell his name is," Gibbs replied.
"Who's that?" Tony asked, sitting up straighter in his chair.
"Miranda Mathews' son," Kate responded.
"No, her son is Zack Quinn. She told us he was her only child," McGee replied confused.
"Well she lied," Gibbs said as he stepped around his desk. "And find Levi Brown," he growled.
"I'm trying," Kate mumbled under her breath. Gibbs walked past and headed to the elevator. He rode it down to the lab.
Abby had her music loud and her attention occupied on the letters Tony and McGee had brought to her, so she didn't notice when Gibbs came up behind her. He stood for a moment staring over her shoulder, before he leaned in a little closer.
"Find anything yet?" he barked in her ear. Abby jumped and spun on the stool. Gibbs flashed a grin as she glared at him, before she reached over and turned the music off.
"Don't do that," she scolded him before she turned back to the letters on the desk. "And yes I have found some things out."
"Well?" Gibbs asked as he scanned the letters.
"First off, they were all written by the same person. They came from four different return addresses, and for the most part the postage lines up."
"For the most part?"
"There are three instances where the postage stamp and the return address don't match. It would have been mailed away from home."
"If the address is indeed a real address."
"I thought of that too. I did some checking and found that three of the four addresses check out."
"Three of the four?"
"I'm having problems finding the fourth address. One address is in Los Angeles. That seems to be the first address he started using."
"You're sure the author is a he?"
"Well, statistically yes. The penmanship has the attributes of a male writer. It really is a complicated science, Gibbs," Abby said with a smile.
"I'll take your word for it. The fourth address?"
"Right, the first one is on most of the early letters in chronological order. Then they start flipping around. Which makes me think he started using a fake address after the first one. The second and third addresses are in Colorado and Nevada. The fourth address is a PO Box in San Diego but I can't seem to locate the box. That doesn't mean it's not a real address, I just haven't found the company that issued it. It's not a normal postal service box."
"Colorado, Nevada, and California."
"Yes."
"Anything useful in the dialogue?"
"Mostly happenings of life. Whoever was writing the letters didn't see the addressee in person."
Gibbs nodded and left the lab. He sighed as we waited for the elevator to come. Once he was back in the bullpen he stopped at Kate's desk. He leaned down and raised an eyebrow at her. She gave a small smile before she looked at the notes in front of her.
"I found a cell number and an office number for Levi Brown. I've left messages on both. I had LAPD check his house and there is no one there, they said it was all locked up and didn't look like anything was amiss. They are keeping an eye out for him and his nephew."
"Anything more on Grayson?" Gibbs asked.
"I'm still cross referencing Wilson with the Gunny. Right now nothing has come up except that Gunnery Sergeant Corbett is from Los Angeles."
"Did they know each other?"
"I haven't found anything yet, but I'm still looking," Kate replied.
"Keep it up," Gibbs said before heading out the door. He needed coffee.
Levi snapped his cell phone shut and sighed. Grayson came up behind him slowly and waited as Levi turned around. The older man gave Grayson a smile before he spoke.
"Dusty got them to the cabin without incident. He says the perimeter is secure," Levi stated.
"Good," Grayson said feeling relief.
"I've got three messages on my home phone, two on my cell phone and three on my office phone from NCIS Special Agent Todd," Levi continued softly.
"What does she want?" Grayson asked confused. "How the hell did they get your name and number?"
"It could be unrelated but…" Levi began.
"No way, Lee, there's no way it's not related to me. How'd they find out so quickly?"
"You want me to call her back?" Levi asked his cell phone in his hand. Grayson thought it over for a moment.
"No. They're reaching, no one has tried to contact me. Can you get us a flight to Washington?"
"Sure," Levi said with a nod as he eyed his young friend. He could see the strain on Grayson face. Levi reached out and gripped Grayson's shoulder lightly, giving him a slight squeeze. Grayson gave him a small smile before Levi let go and used his phone to acquire two tickets to Washington DC.
Grayson made his way to his room and packed a small travel bag. He had to pack light in order to get on the airplane and knew that he would feel vulnerable until he reached his destination. When he came down he saw Levi sitting at the table waiting for him.
"I booked two seats," Levi said.
"Good," Grayson said as he set his bag down. He took a deep breath and looked around. "I need to talk to my aunt. When is our flight?"
"Couple hours. It's going to tap the fund but I think Dusty can help me cover it."
"I'm sorry," Grayson said looking at the floor.
"Hey," Levi said softly waiting for Grayson to look at him before he continued. He let Grayson see the seriousness in his eyes before he spoke. "Anything, remember that."
"Why? Why do you do what you do for me? I didn't…don't deserve it."
"You know why," Levi said, his voice cracking as his eyes focused on the table in front of him. Grayson nodded and walked away to find his aunt. She was sitting with his grandmother. He stood in the doorway, leaning on the jamb, watching the two. He felt the tears come to his eyes as he took a deep breath. Janie looked up at him and immediately got up from her chair.
They stepped into the hallway and Janie waited for her nephew to speak to her. She could tell he had a lot on his mind and something was gnawing at him. She reached out and embraced him drawing him tight against her. When she finally released him, he spoke.
"I have to go for a while. I have some things to clear up for Zack, and myself. It's not safe for you two if I stay here. I promise to let you know how I'm doing when I'm gone, but if any stranger comes to the house don't let them in."
"Grady, what's going on?" she asked. He could hear the strain in her voice.
"Zack is in trouble because of me. I need to help him and finish something that started a long time ago."
"Please be careful."
"I will. I'll be back, I promise."
Janie could only nod as the tears ran down her cheeks. Grayson could no longer hold his own, as his own cheeks became wet. He then left his aunt standing in the hallway and returned to the kitchen scooping up his bag and walking out to the truck in the driveway. Janie walked to the kitchen and looked at Levi. He could only giver her a small sad smile, seeing the pain and fear in her eyes.
"Take care of him," she whispered. Levi nodded and then walked out of the house. Grayson had climbed into the passenger side of the truck, so Levi took a seat behind the wheel. The keys were already dangling from the ignition. They pulled from the house and drove towards the airport in silence.
He watched the house from the woods. His binoculars were powerful enough to see through the windows of the house. He counted three bodies in motion, Grayson, Levi, and a woman he did not know. He felt his adrenaline surge as the prospect of finally catching Grayson Wilson coursed through his veins.
He had waited years for the moment to exact his revenge. His recovery from their lasting meeting had taken its toll on his mental and physical stability. But he had overcome many obstacles, using his rage against Wilson as fuel to succeed. His plan had taken two years to plan and execute, tracking down Wilson's brother, gathering the necessary evidence, and picking the perfect victim to tie it all together.
He had easily set his plan in motion in Norfolk, killing Gunnery Sergeant Corbett and planting indisputable evidence against Lieutenant Quinn. He had crafted the letter perfectly to spook Quinn sending him running to his brother, drawing Wilson from the rock he was hiding under.
Following Quinn had been easy and he had found a suitable place in the mountainous woods to set his base of operations to keep an eye on the house. He had debated with himself when he saw Quinn leave with the unknown male, but decided that Wilson was the prime target and he would continue to watch him instead.
He was waiting for the moment he would be able to make his move and exact his revenge. He watched as Grayson got into the vehicle and sat waiting. He was confused, until Levi came out and joined him. They were pulling from the driveway as he scrambled to his own vehicle.
He wasn't worried about losing them. In the night he had planted a tracking devise on Grayson's truck, the signal being sent back to his laptop, which was on the seat of his SUV. He slid into the seat and powered up the computer waiting for the tracking program to load. As the computer hummed he started his vehicle and drove towards the access road, heading towards the main highway.
He easily tailed Grayson from a distance as the computer beeped with his every turn. It wasn't until he saw the road signs that he realized they were heading for the airport. He had to smile to himself wondering where Grayson was planning on flying too. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and started calling the airlines looking to see where Grayson had booked his flight too.
He was parking his SUV in the long term lot when he finally found the destination. He then hung up and dialed a different airline booking a flight to Washington. He would be two hours behind Grayson and Levi and needed a way to track them once they landed in Washington.
He retrieved another transponder from his bag and tested it. Satisfied with its working capabilities he looked over the pen it was hidden in. He smiled to himself as he entered the airport, staying a step behind the two he was following. When he was sure neither were paying attention to him and slipped behind Grayson and gently dropped the pen into a pocket of his bag, before quickly moving off and out of sight. After testing the transponder on his computer he couldn't stop the grin spreading over his face, this was too easy he thought to himself.
TBC…