AN:I really didn't mean to leave it this long between chapters, but things have been crazy lately. I'll try not to leave it too long before the next chapter. Don't want any of you hunting me down with pitchforks...
Chapter 15
"Abbs, whatcha got?" Gibbs walked into the lab, McGee on his heels. Abby and Ziva were standing in front of the big plasma screen.
"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, this is bad. Like really bad, worse than when Ari was after us or my crazy stalker or when Sharif got you with the BZ gas or-" She didn't stop until Gibbs put a finger to her lips.
"OK, Abbs, we get it," McGee said. "What's so bad?"
"We do not have two serial killers, we have one." Ziva pointed to the cases on the screen. "The three dead MPs, they also are part of this. They represent Agent Cassidy, Tony and Jenny."
Gibbs stared at the pictures on the screen, remembering the two dead agents. He barely heard McGee's objections.
"But Cassidy was only with us for a week. Why kill her?" The agent started pacing. "Abby, are you sure?"
"It was the director who made the connection." Ziva spoke, then turned to the team leader. "Gibbs?"
"How many?" Gibbs looked at Abby.
"If we're right, eight." She chewed her lower lip. "Gibbs, he changed his signature between the first two and the others. That doesn't make sense."
Gibbs frowned. Abby was right. Before he could say anything else, DiNozzo and Dorneget walked in.
"Abbs, got some-" Tony broke off. "Whoa, what'd we miss?"
Gibbs let McGee explain, while he watched DiNozzo's face to see his reaction to the news that the killer included Cassidy in the team. But except for a tightening around the eyes, DiNozzo didn't let on.
"Well, crap." DiNozzo put the evidence box on the desk. "So are Abby, Ducky and Jimmy not included because they're not field agents, or because Creepy Killer Dude just hasn't gotten there yet?"
Abby twisted a pigtail around her fingers. "Vance is warning Jardine, Keating and Dwayne Wilson," she said. "If this psycho counted Cassidy, he might count them, too."
Gibbs nodded. "Dorneget, you stay here with Abby. Ziva, need you in the bullpen. We need to figure out who the hell this bastard is, fast."
~NICS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~
Tony didn't say anything on the way up to the bullpen. His thoughts kept bouncing between Paula and Jenny, two women he couldn't protect. He swallowed, remembering the night Ari shot at Abby in the lab. The day Kate died right in front of him, her blood staining his face.
"Boss, we can't leave Abby down there alone." He knew his voice sounded desperate, but he didn't care if it meant Abby was alive. "What if-"
Gibbs smacked the back of his head. "He's not going to get her."
Tony crossed his arms and flipped the emergency switch. Ziva and McGee pressed themselves back against the walls. "Boss, we don't know who he is. We don't know why he's doing this, or how. You can't promise Abby's going to be safe."
Gibbs glared at him, but Tony refused to look away. Gibbs broke first, his eyes dropping.
"Faster we find him, safer she is." He looked up, and Tony saw something he'd rarely seen in Gibbs' expression — fear. "I'll get Leon to put extra guards down there, but need all of you working to figure this out."
Tony held Gibbs gaze, then nodded and flipped the switch. He didn't like this, didn't like anything about this case. But Gibbs was right.
When they returned to the bullpen, McGee put all the cases up on the plasma. Tony studied the case files, one hip on his desk. "We're missing something."
"Ya think?" Gibbs sat at his desk, casefiles stacked across the top of it.
Tony pointed to the file of the MP that represented him, and McGee pulled the other ones off the screen, blowing that one up.
"See anything?" McGee looked over from his desk.
Tony scanned the file, stopping a few lines from the bottom of the second page.
"Boss, I think I know..." His voice trailed off.
"What, DiNozzo?" Gibbs prompted.
"They thought this case was a jealous husband or boyfriend because the Polaroid had a heart on it," Tony said.
McGee looked over his computer monitor. "The photo was the signature. He switched from photos to metal charms, but his signature is a heart." The junior agent's fingers started tapping. "Boss, that idea about it being a spouse of somebody we jailed-"
Tony cut him off. "That can't be, McGuesser. This guy knew Paula had been on the team. He knew about Jenny. That's some serious intel. It has to be more than just somebody pissed off that we caught their sweetheart."
Ziva cleared her throat. "Perhaps we are looking at it backward." She paused. "Ari wanted to hurt Gibbs, so he went after those he cared about."
Tony tried to swallow, but couldn't manage it. "But-"
"Why not Jack?" McGee stood. "Boss, if this guy is trying to hurt those you care about, the people he thinks you love, why hasn't he gone after Jack? Or Abby and Ducky?"
Tony turned to look at Gibbs, who still sat in his chair, shoulders slumped.
The team leader shrugged. "He's a bastard."
But there was no intensity in Gibbs' voice. It wasn't right. Tony forced himself to swallow, to find his voice. "McGee's right. Gibbs might be the ultimate target, but it's not that simple. We're still missing something big."
Ziva nodded, but before she could speak, Gibbs' cell rang.
"Yeah, Gibbs." He stood as he listened, then disconnected. "Abby's lab. She's got something on our SEAL."
~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~
Abby didn't mind Dorney's presence, but she was glad he wasn't talking right now because this was bad. Really bad, like worse than even-
"Whatcha got, Abbs?" Gibbs walked in, the rest of the team following behind him.
"Gibbs, this is bad, I mean really bad. I mean, even worse than the really bad we thought it was when you were down here before because this, this is not going to-"
"Abbs, spit it out." Gibbs rested his hands on her shoulders, and she felt a little calmer. Sort of. Kind of. Well, not really. Because this was bad.
"Gibbs, our SEAL was going to die even if he wasn't killed." Abby pulled up the bloodwork results. "He had a triple dose of midazolam in his system, it's a benzodiazepine used for insomnia — and it's water-soluble, the only benzodiazepine that is. He also had a blood-alcohol level of .09, so between the drugs and the drinks, his reaction times were way slow — he would have wrecked his car for sure if he tried to drive back to base."
"Water-soluble?" McGee walked over to the plasma. "So somebody could have slipped it into his beer without him noticing?"
Abby nodded, her pigtails flying. "And then waited to ambush him in the parking lot."
"One of the vendors at the stadium?" Tony crossed his arms and went to stand by McGee. "But they wouldn't have been able to leave before the game was over."
"A team?" Ziva paced between the cooler and the door. "One to administer the sedative inside the game and another to lie in wait."
"That would explain why we can't find any common names on the base logs for the various cases," McGee said. "Two people working together."
"For six years?" Tony shook his head. "I'm not buying it. One of them would have slipped up by now."
"Maybe our mad killer just brought somebody in recently. Before, the bodies were spread out. Now we've got four in a couple of weeks. He's speeding up, maybe he needed some help." McGee frowned.
"Or maybe we're still missing something," Tony retorted.
~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~
Dorneget listened as the team discussed theories, bouncing around evidence.
"Um, guys." He fidgeted as he waited for somebody to hear him. "Guys?"
"Yeah, Dorney, what is it?" Tony looked over at him.
Dorneget fought not to turn red. "Maybe I'm missing something, but this guy's a serial killer, right?"
Gibbs glared at him, and Dorneget looked away before looking back.
"What is it?" McGee asked.
"Um, maybe it would be easier to start with serial killers you guys investigated who used a heart as a symbol." Dorneget looked at the team.
Tony's eyebrows furrowed, while McGee's eyes went wide. McGee looked over at Abby, who had turned even paler than normal. McGee, Abby and Tony spoke all at once.
"But he's dead."
~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~
Tonight's victim will be easy to take out. That leaves me time to plan for tomorrow. It's the details that matter. Always the details. The smallest things, they tell me something about a person. They way they stand, their little routines and rituals. McGee checks his shoelaces right before he starts his morning run. Gibbs scans the street from his porch when he walks outside. Ziva David walks once around her car before she gets in, looking around the base and the wheel wells. Abby stops to pet the cat that hangs around her apartment building every time she goes in or out. Ducky Mallard washes the windows on his brownstone each Sunday morning. Palmer twists the doorknob once as he leaves for work, checking to be sure it's locked. Tony finishes his morning run with a three-block sprint every day. The director pauses when he gets out of his car at home in the evening, then walks up the path with a smile on his face. My first victim from the team likes to drive with the windows down in nice weather, fingers tapping to the beat of the music. I do hope it's good music tomorrow. Such a shame to ruin your last day on earth with bad music.