Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters.

Chapter 34

In a flash the sheriff placed himself between the two men, fully expecting Jethro to strike the minister. Not that the man didn't deserve it, he just didn't want a bloodbath on his hands.

Instead of trying to get past Ed, Gibbs stepped away before he did something stupid. The revelation shocked, but didn't surprise him. Melissa had only ever thought about Melissa, and if a meal ticket like Moore presented itself she wouldn't have thought twice about taking it. It also explained why she had finally up and left shortly after their return to DC. Not only had she cleared out their joint bank accounts, but the Reverend Moore's too.

"It's alright Ed. I'm not gonna kill him." Jethro didn't speak again until the sheriff returned to his chair. "You think that justifies terrorising a child? Just because you couldn't keep it in your pants? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't adultery included in the ten commandments?"

The self righteous expression Moore had been wearing transformed into one of fury. Evidently he had seen himself more as a victim than a sinner. "You don't seem very surprised by your wife's behaviour. You really think that's the only time she ever screwed around?"

Finding it increasingly difficult to curb his temper, Jethro clenched his fists, but said nothing.

"Are you one hundred percent sure the little bitch is actually yours?" He added with a sneer.

That was it. Gibbs snapped, punching the minister square in the jaw, and knocking him to the ground.

Moore pushed himself to his feet. The second he was upright, Jethro swung again and put him back on his ass.

"If I were you Reverend, I'd stay down." Ed advised from the chair.

Realising there was going to be no support from the lawman he stayed where he was.

The sheriff continued. "The way I see it, you have two choices. The first is that I arrest you now for assaulting a minor and you can stand trial. That way everyone finds out about your dirty little secret and the church kicks you out on your ear. Won't matter much though, you'll probably get jail time."

Moore looked from one to the other. "And the second?" He asked, rubbing his jaw.

"You write your resignation here and now, and leave town tonight." Pushing himself out of the chair he stared down at him. "It's your choice."

Ed gave him a moment to make a decision. "Well, what's it going to be?"

"I'll leave." Moore snarled.

o

The letter had just been signed when they were interrupted by someone pounding on the door.

"Aren't you going to get that?" Ed asked when Moore just looked towards the hallway.

He shook his head.

When the banging continued Jethro took it upon himself to open the door.

Reverend Moore shot to his feet as Jackson stormed into the room and headed straight for him.

Without hesitation, Jackson drew back his fist before slamming it into Moore's face, and once again the soon to be ex-minister found himself on the floor.

"Don't you even think about touching, or coming anywhere near my granddaughter again!"

Placing a hand on his father's shoulder Jethro tried to calm him down. Getting wound up, no matter the provocation, wasn't good for him. "It's alright, he's leaving tonight dad, and unless he wants to find himself in a jail cell, he won't be back."

Jack looked at the man on the floor with disgust, before turning towards the door again. "Come on son, Patricia's worried. I'm sure Ed can take it from here."

The sheriff nodded. "I'll make sure he sticks to the agreement."

This time the minister had the good sense to stay where he was on the floor, until the Gibbs posse left.

o

When Taylor looked up from her book she expected to see Vicky coming through the bedroom door. Instead it was her mom and dad. Swearing to herself, she set her book down and eyed them warily, it looked like a deputation. Taylor's natural instinct kicked in.

"I didn't do nothin'." She immediately protested, then tried to work out if she had.

"Relax, you're innocent." Her dad told her as he sat down on Vicky's bed. "This time anyway. We just want to talk to you."

Taylor sat up and moved to give Patricia enough room to sit beside her.

"Okay. Wait a minute, what do you mean this time?" She wasn't sure if she should be offended or not. Then forgot about being insulted when her mom reached for her hand.

Jethro ignored the question. "He's not going to hurt you again Taylor."

She looked over at him, confused by the statement. "Who isn't?"

"Reverend Moore."

Taylor's jaw dropped, and she freed her hand from Patricia's. Was he guessing? He had to be. "Why would HE want to hurt me?" If she was honest with herself, she was a more than a little pissed that her dad had figured it out. It hadn't been easy trying to hide it.

"Are you telling us it wasn't him?" He asked calmly.

Taylor tried to maintain eye contact, but only lasted a few seconds. She found it much easier to hold her tongue, neither confirming nor denying anything. Unfortunately Taylor was the only one in the room who considered the silence to be acceptable.

"I asked you a question Taylor." Gibbs prompted.

"I'm not telling you if it was or wasn't. If you want to think it was him, go ahead, you do that." She picked up her book in the hope they'd get the message and leave.

They didn't. When she snuck a glance over at her dad it was clear that she wasn't the only one building up a head of steam. It was time to cut her losses. "How'd you find out?"

Jethro's temper receded quickly. "I didn't, your mom did."

Taylor looked up at her mom. "You did? How?"

"They have security cameras at the bookstore."

"Oh." It was just as well she hadn't denied it. Then she remembered why she'd been hiding it. "You didn't tell grandpa, did you?"

"He knows." Jethro told his daughter then waited for the explosion.

"What did you do that for? WHY THE HELL COULDN'T YOU JUST LEAVE IT?"

"You'd better get that temper under control Taylor." Her dad warned. "I'm not gonna put up with much more."

Taylor glared at him, then shuffled down the bed until she could climb off past her mom and stood up.

She wasn't going anywhere, just wanted to leave her options open in case she needed to make a quick exit.

Jethro scuppered her escape plan when he reached out and pulled her closer and onto his lap. "Why didn't you want your grandpa to find out?"

"It doesn't exactly matter anymore, does it?" She mumbled, pouting.

"It matters." He whispered into her ear.

Taylor whispered back. "Cause I've made him mad all summer, and now he's gonna get mad at me all over again cause I made the minister so angry, you know, about the baby Jesus thing."

"Do you honestly think your grandpa wouldn't want to know that Reverend Moore hit you?" Patricia leaned towards her, and brushed the hair out of her eyes. "No one has the right to hurt you like that, no matter what the reason."

"Your mom's right Taylor, and just because the man was a minister doesn't make any difference. Your grandpa has a right to know what's been going on, and to make his own decisions when it comes to his friends. He's not angry with you, I promise, but I'm sure he'll tell you himself tomorrow."

That made sense, sort of. "Bet the minister is though, isn't he gonna come after me even more now?"

"He's not going to be around to hurt you anymore."

Taylor looked at her father suspiciously. "You didn't shoot him did you?"

He reached round and tickled her. "No. I did not shoot him. He's decided to leave."

She swatted his hand away to stop him. "He did? When's he going?"

"Tonight."

Twisting off his lap, Taylor stood up. "Tonight? But he can't, not before …."

Jethro also got to his feet in an effort to get his daughter to see sense. "Before what? If you're thinking about confronting him you can just put that idea right out of your head."

Taylor considered what her dad had said for all of two seconds, before storming out of the bedroom.

When Jethro stood his ground Patricia made to go after her, but he stopped her by putting a hand on her arm.

"Aren't you going to stop her?" She asked, not understanding why he was letting her go.

"No. Just give it a minute, she'll be back."

Both stood and listened as Taylor stomped halfway down the stairs, then stopped. For a few seconds they heard nothing, then their daughter's voice drifted up to them.

"CRAP!" Taylor reappeared shortly after, complete with a scowl on her face. Kicking off her sneakers she ignored her parents and threw herself down onto her bed.

Patricia looked at her in amazement. She would never have predicted that, not in a million years. She'd expected Taylor would have to be brought back, kicking and screaming. "What made you come back?"

Taylor looked up at her, guilt written all over her face and shrugged. "Just changed my mind."

While her mom might have been impressed by her newly acquired common sense, her father was not so easily fooled. Standing behind Patricia he shook his head at their daughter, but didn't rat her out.

Luckily Vicky chose that moment to return home, and Patricia who'd been waiting for her to show up, left the bedroom before she could ask any more awkward questions.

Gibbs trapped Taylor in an accusing glare.

"What? I came back didn't I?" The way she figured, her dad might have his suspicions, but he couldn't prove a thing.

"Oh you know what! Sit up, we're not done talking yet."

As soon as Taylor moved, Jethro took her by surprise, grabbing her arm and tipping her over his knee.

Taylor looked back over her shoulder, trying to push herself up at the same time. "What'd I do?"

He held her firmly. "Nothing. I just thought it would improve your memory."

"You what?" She'd stopped struggling, but wasn't happy.

"Do I need to remind you what'll happen if you take it upon yourself to sneak out in the middle of the night?" Just because Taylor had given up the idea of paying Moore a visit right now, didn't mean she wouldn't come up with some crazy way to do it later that night. That was not going to happen.

Indignant at the accusation, Taylor scowled. "I haven't done that in a long time dad!" Her protest was accompanied by a few experimental wriggles, just to see if her father had loosened his grip."

He hadn't. "That's not what I asked."

Not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she was still afraid to repeat the offense, Taylor tried to get away without answering.

"Alright, maybe this will jog your memory." He raised his right arm, even though he had no intention of smacking her. It had the desired effect.

"No, you don't have to remind me, I remember just fine!" Taylor reassured him. She'd spoken so quickly she sounded like Abby after one to many Caf-pows.

"What'll happen Taylor?" He wanted to make sure they were both on the same page.

Acutely aware that her father's hand was still poised above her backside, she answered just as fast. "I won't sit down for a week!"

Lowering his arm, Jethro helped her up. "Good. Now we've got that straight it's about time you were in bed."

Her dad was almost through the door when Taylor noticed him remove a small silver square from his shirt pocket. She hadn't realised Vicky was still being given patches.

"You know being attacked by a minister was very traumatic dad."

Jethro paused, turning back to her.

"It is, huh? You don't seem very traumatised to me."

"Maybe I just hide it well." Taylor wasn't entirely convinced he believed her, but what the hell, it was worth a try. "There is something that might help me get over it."

Retracing his steps Jethro bent down, kissing her cheek. "Nice try Taylor, but you're still not getting a nicotine patch."

Patricia was waiting for Jethro at the bottom of the stairs. "Alright, how did you know Taylor was going to see sense and come back?"

Jethro grinned at her smugly. "It's a highly trained special agent thing, you wouldn't understand."

"Do you want to sleep on the couch tonight? Because if you do, you're going the right way about it!" Patricia threatened.

He pulled her close, into an embrace, then whispered into her ear. "Taylor has absolutely no idea where Reverend Moore lives."