NCIS

The Protection Of Emily Palmer

Chapter # 2

Jimmy made it back to the car, but did not see his Mom. He scanned the area for her, but saw nothing. Then he heard a gunshot coming from the alley.

He raced towards it, praying that his Mother was no where near the gunplay. Then he heard two more shots ring out, one right behind the other, and saw his Mom running from the alley.

"Mom!" Jimmy cried out, as he reached her.

"They shot him!" she exclaimed in a frightened voice.

Jimmy grabbed his Mom's arm and pulled her behind a parked car, "Stay here." He ordered.

Then he quietly made his way to the alley. Peering inside, he saw a man laying on the ground but no one else.

By this time, several people were standing in the parking lot, wondering what was going on.

Jimmy rushed to the injured man's side, but discovered that the man was dead. The man was in the uniform of a Petty Officer.

"Nobody enters the ally." Palmer said, standing up and showing the gathering crowd his ID. "NCIS Medical Examiner, please stay back."

Jimmy was only the assistant ME, but he didn't think they needed to know that. He had to make sure the scene was secure. He had never been the first one on a crime scene, but he thought he knew what to do. The first step was to call Gibbs.

The Navy Yard was only a few block away, so it didn't take long for Gibbs and the others to get there. Gibbs noticed that there were many people milling around, but none were in the ally. The ally was blocked off with white receipt tape, from a cash register. Jimmy was standing on the other side of the tape.

"It was all I could think of." Palmer said, when Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"It works." The older man said. "What happened?"

Jimmy told him everything he knew. "No one entered the ally but me. I only moved the body enough to determine that he was dead, I didn't check for ID."

"We know who he is." Tony said, as he was kneeling by the body. "Our missing Petty Officer, Henry Greene."

"Oh God, Agent Gibbs." Jimmy said, as his face paled. "Mom saw it, they saw her."

"Did she get a good look at them?" Gibbs asked.

"I..I don't know, but they had to have seen her." He started shaking and his voice raised an octave. "They saw her."

"Hey!" Gibbs barked, getting the younger man's attention. Then his voice softened. "You did a great job securing the scene, you kept your head. You have to stay calm a little while longer, for your Mom's sake. You have my word that we will protect her, we won't let anything happen. But you have to stay focused."

"Okay." Jimmy said in a much calmer voice. Then he smiled, "You think I did a good job?"

"Yes."

Jimmy's smile widened.

A few minutes later, Gibbs, Tony, and Jimmy walked to the Jimmy's car. Mrs. Palmer was standing beside it.

"I don't hear an ambulance yet." The woman said, visibly shaken. "So I assume that the poor man has died."

"Yes Ma'am." Jimmy said. "Mom, this is Special Agents Gibbs and DiNozzo. They need to ask you a few questions."

"Of course."

"Ma'am." Gibbs said. "What happened?"

"Jimmy went back into the store, and I heard shouting coming from the ally. So I went to see what was wrong."

"Wait a minute." Jimmy cut her off, glaring at her. "You heard shouts and went to investigate. What the hell were you thinking?"

"Young man." She said sternly. "Do not use that tone with me and do not raise your voice to me. And you never use foul language in front of your Mother. You may be an adult, but you are not too old to get your mouth washed out with soap."

"I'm sorry, Mom." Jimmy said, his face turning red. He couldn't believe his Mom just threatened to wash his mouth out in front of Gibbs and Tony.

Tony was smirking, and Gibbs was trying to keep a straight face.

"What did you see?" Gibbs asked.

"Two men were standing over a man on the ground. One of the men shot him, and I yelled out. I know it was not the smartest thing to do, but I was startled. They saw me and shot at me, but they didn't chase me."

"They knew the shots would draw attention." Tony said.

"Do you think you could remember what they looked like?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes, I got a good look at them." Then she felt her knees start to buckle and grabbed her son's arm to steady herself. "And they got a good look at me."

"Don't worry, Mom." Jimmy said, as Gibbs opened the car door for her. Jimmy helped her into the car. "You're safe."

"David." Gibbs barked, Ziva stopped taking pictured and walked over. "Go with Jimmy and Mrs. Palmer back to NCIS. Make her comfortable."

Ziva nodded and handed the camera to Tony. She climbed into the backseat and Jimmy got behind the wheel. They made a quick stop at Jimmy's apartment to unload the bags, then went to NCIS.

Once they got to NCIS, they headed to Abby's lab. Mrs. Palmer winced at the loud music blaring from the radio.

"Ziva." Abby said, rushing over to the trio. "Jimmy." Then she looked at the older woman. "You must be Mrs. Palmer, Gibbs said you were on your way."

Abby turned the volume down and said. "It is so good to meet you."

"It's good to meet you too, my dear. Jimmy has told me a lot about you."

Come and have a seat." She motioned her towards a chair. "Gibbs wants me to do a sketch of the bad guys."

"You draw?" the older woman asked, as she sat down.

"Computer sketch." Abby replied.

Gibbs walked into Abby's lab and say Jimmy slouched against the wall, a dejected look on his face. Mrs. Palmer, Ziva, and Abby were sitting in a circle laughing.

"Then he ran through the house naked, screaming that he was Tarzan." The older woman said, causing more laughter. Gibbs smirked, now he knew why Palmer looked so miserable.

"How'd the sketch go?" Gibbs asked.

"Great." Abby said. "Beyond great. Mrs. Palmer has a great memory."

"Please, dear. It's Emily."

Abby typed a few keys on the keyboard and two pictures popped up. "I'm running them through the face recognition now."

"Mrs. P… Emily." Gibbs said. "We will catch them, you have my word. But in the meantime, you are to be placed under our custody."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you are not to go anywhere without me or one of my agents with you."

"I'm a little too old to be grounded."

"Maybe, but it's for your own good."

Emily laughed and said, "That's what I used to tell Jimmy when I grounded him. But you will have no trouble with me following your orders. I like living and plan on doing it for a while longer. I know those two men may be looking for me."

"Do we move her to a safe house?" Ziva asked.

"My house."

"Can I stay there too." Jimmy asked.

"Of course. Ziva, take her to Jimmy's to gather some things then take her to my house."

Ziva nodded, as she stood up. "Come On Emily." She said. "You can tell me more about Jimmy's childhood on the way."

"I want to go." Abby. "I want to hear about it too."

"You've got work to do." Gibbs reminded her.

"So it is not only my son that you work too hard." Emily said, pinning Gibbs with a stern look.

"Mom." Jimmy warned, trying to keep her quiet. "It's time to go."

"People respond better to niceness." Emily told Gibbs, ignoring her son. "And they need proper rests and time for themselves. My baby boy's living on tv diners and takeout, it is not healthy." Then without another word, she turned and followed a laughing Ziva and a very nervous Jimmy.

Abby laughed and said, "You're in trouble Gibbs."

Gibbs glared at her, and she stopped laughing.

Gibbs walked into the bullpen where McGee and Tony were both at their desks.

"McGee." He barked.

"Boss, Henry Greene was just getting by until three months ago. A deposit of five hundred thousand dollars was deposited into his account. The money came from a numbered account on the Caimans."

"DiNozzo."

"The guys clean, not even a parking ticket. But his brother, Harold Greene has a long criminal history starting when he was fourteen and started stealing cars. He's into a loan shark named Vinny Hanson for over a hundred thousand. Hanson's the type that don't like people getting behind on their payments. He's been arrested four times for murder, but was never charged. The only witnesses that said they would testify against him either died or vanished."

"Address for both?" Gibbs asked.

"The brother has no known address. "I've got a home and work address for Hanson."

"Take McGee and check him out."

"On it Boss."

More to come soon. Hope you like it. Please let me know that you think.