Here's chapter 2 of Love will come again, enjoy! Thank you to those who reviewed the first chapter!
Chapter 2:
June 15th 2012
Leroy Jethro Gibbs stepped off the elevator and made his way to his desk.
"Boss, I got a message for you," Tony started. "Someone named Pam Harmon called; she'd like to set up a meeting with you."
"Don't know her; don't know why she'd be calling me," Gibbs said before sitting at his desk. "Why were you at my desk DiNozzo?"
"It sounded important boss, maybe you should call…" Tony trailed off as Gibbs gave him a look. "The phone was ringing; I felt it best to take a message so McRibs here could stop being distracted."
"I was ignoring it just fine Tony, you were the one who was distracted by the ringing." McGee corrected.
"I agree," Ziva concurred. "However, you were not even trying to concentrate on your work, were you Tony?"
"That's not the point, Boss had an important message and…" Tony started.
"DiNozzo, I have voice mail…" Gibbs started. There was an edge to his tone.
"Gibbs," Vance spoke up from the stairwell. "I'd like to speak with you."
Despite the three pairs of eyes focused on him, Gibbs got up and went to the Director's office.
"I hear that a lawyer is trying to get a hold of you," Vance started, once the door was closed.
"Not sure what you're talking about," Gibbs casually evaded.
"Pam Harmon," Vance dropped the name and waited for a reaction. None came. "We just finished talking; she needs to speak with you; said it's important." He sat down and tapped his finger on the desk. "I know this particular lawyer; won't give up until she gets what she wants. And what she wants is a meeting with you. Now. So, the sooner you can take care of this, the sooner we can put this behind us and get back on the case. Understood?"
Gibbs jaw tightened. "Are you giving me a direct order, Leon?"
"Sometimes you need one."
"My track record with lawyers isn't what you would call...pristine."
"All the more reason to get this one off your ass ASAP!"
Gibbs looked Leon in the eye for a long moment. Finally he got up and went back to his desk, he found the message that Tony had left on his desk and dialed the number on the paper.
"Harmon and Murrary. Pam Harmon's office." A secretary picked up the phone.
"This is Leroy Jethro Gibbs; I'd like to speak to Pam Harmon please."
"I'll transfer you directly," the woman said. There was a pause before another woman picked the phone up.
"This is Pam Harmon."
"This is Leroy Jethro Gibbs; you wanted to speak with me?"
"Yes, I'd like to set up a meeting with you. It appears there was a codicil in Ms. Virginia Shepard's will to be opened upon her mother, Elizabeth's death. You were mentioned, I'd like to meet up to fulfill the wishes of Ms. Shepard."
"You do realize that Jenny Shepard has been dead for nearly six years." It was not a question.
"I am well aware of when she passed, Agent Gibbs. But this concerns her mother. That is why I need to meet with you in private."
There was no way he was getting out of this. "All right," Gibbs said. "I'm free for lunch today…if that works for you."
"I work out of Baltimore, but I can come to you," Pam agreed. "How about we meet at The Breakfast Café in Norfolk in say…" she looked at her watch, "…an hour?"
"Sounds good to me." Gibbs hung up the receiver.
"Wow! Date with a lawyer - bet you haven't had one of those since ex-wife number three, huh boss?" DiNozzo joshed.
Gibbs turned to the younger agent, simply raising an eyebrow. DiNozzo suddenly found something to work on at his desk.
"Do you need for one of us to come along with you Gibbs?" Ziva offered.
"No thank you Ziva; I can take care of myself."
"I did not mean to inter that you couldn't…." she apologized.
"Infer, Ziva," Tony corrected.
Ziva looked confused. "That's what I said, is it not?"
Nearly an hour later, Gibbs left the Navy Yard and went to the café that the lawyer had spoken of.
He walked into the café, looking around for the lawyer, he'd recognize one anywhere.
"Special Agent Gibbs?" A voice made him turn.
"Yes?"
"Pam Harmon, we spoke on the phone."
"Nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too." She motioned to a booth and they both sat down.
"What did you need to speak to me about?" he inquired without formality.
"There was a codicil in Ms. Jenny Shepard's will that was to be opened upon her mother's death," Mrs. Harmon explained.
"I heard that part earlier. How am I involved?"
She watched his body language: stoic, but tense. The news had hit a nerve. But she didn't have time to consider his feelings. "It mentions you."
Gibbs shrugged indifferently. "Whatever I've inherited. I don't want it."
"Well, this has been instructed upon her mother's death to be given to you." She handed over the envelope with the legal forms and papers.
"What, her house? Her car? What could Jenny give me now that she couldn't give me before or right after her death?"
"Your 13 year old daughter."
Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "Ms…." He trailed off as he tried to remember her name.
"Harmon," she finished with ice in her tone.
He snorted. Hard. "Ms. Harmon," he shook his head as he looked over the papers, "I think there's been a mistake; I never had a daughter with Jenny."
The lawyer pulled out more papers and a picture, placing them both in front of the agent. Glancing at the papers he looked more at the picture. It was clear that the girl was Jenny's daughter - they had the same hair, and smile. But there was something in her face that reminded Gibbs of someone close to him. His mother.
"When's her birthday?" Gibbs asked.
"April 28th 1999." The lawyer looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
Gibbs subtracted from April. The girl would have been conceived sometime in July. They were still in Paris at that time.
He grabbed the paperwork and looked over it. It was a copy of Jenny's will. On the last page there was an addendum that said that if her mother died before April 28th 2017 then Cathlynn Jackson was to go live with Leroy Jethro Gibbs, her father.
"I'll want a DNA test to be done," Gibbs said shortly. He was too well trained to let his feelings betray him through facial expressions.
"All right, but we will have to figure out what to do with the girl while it's being done."
"I don't really have the means to take care of her," he explained. "What are some other options?"
"Foster Care." The air was heavy with anticipation. Surely the girl had more then one option. When the woman didn't continue to speak he leaned back in his seat.
"Before I believe that she's my daughter, I want proof, like a DNA test." Gibbs repeated shortly.
Pam nodded. "I know of a good clinic that can do the test. I can set it up to happen as soon as possible." She grabbed a business cared from her purse. "This is their number. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, I think you know that the easy will benefit everyone in the end, even if she isn't your daughter."
Gibbs nodded again and looked up at her as she got up and began packing her things up. "When will you have the girl's DNA ready?" he asked.
"I can have Cathlynn ready today after school. Her last class gets out at 3:00."
Gibbs nodded. "I'll be there about 3."
Pam nodded and began gathering up her paperwork. By the time she had closed her briefcase, Gibbs had left the café.
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