Chapter 12: Advice comes from unexpected sources

Once in the woods, she cried and she cried about her lost future. She was found by the old hag, the same one who had consoled the queen.

When questioned why she was crying, the maiden informed her what terrible plight she was about to suffer. The old hag, aware of the terrible curse over the Lindorm, gave her very specific instructions on what to do in the wedding night.

If she followed it, she would have a life filled with happiness.

If not... death waited her in the morning.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

We reviewed the traffic cameras as soon as we came back, and between Abby and me we were able to identify a dark blue Suburban with tinted windows which had travelled in the street where Jessica had been left, which matched the timetable we had for her release.

Ziva was the one to point out that the van had a disability stamp on the mirror, which would explain why our killer had arrived to the places where he killed unnoticed. There were disable parking spaces just across the street where the murders had happened.

We immediately started doing a search on possible cars with those characteristics, and what was our surprise when we found a matching Suburban listed in the name of girlfriend of the first victim. Gibbs immediately ordered us to bring her to interrogation and we put her into interrogation room number two, with orders to let her simmer for a while before he would get in to grill her.

Tony and I went to the observation room and saw the not so grieving woman puffing lightly for being forced to wait. She would glance uninterested to her carefully manicured fingers, before tapping them rhythmically on the table showing her impatience.

I was still angry about the events of the previous night, and I tried to stop thinking about what had gone wrong and how I could fix things with Laura. She's not a bad person, just someone who has been badly burnt before therefore she thinks that everyone is a creep like Thoreau. Ah crap, how I wish I could have five minutes alone with him, so I could teach him how to treat a lady like Laura.

Sweet Laura, who played with Jessica's bunny ears and who looked at me with those huge green eyes filled with tears and begged me not to reveal to anyone our little indiscretion. But it wasn't an indiscretion. At least it didn't feel like that to me.

Ah, man, why do I have to do that to myself?

I've suddenly became aware of Tony's gaze studying me, with a little grin on his lips, that sarcastic smile that shouted that he knew something that I wasn't aware yet..

"What?"

"Nothing." He turned again to the glass. "Just that you are attracted to her."

"Mrs. Trask? Come on?"

"Not Mrs. Man-eater over there," Tony pointed to Mrs. Trask who was looking uninterested to the mirror surface of the glass behind which we were observing her, "but Little Miss Sunshine, whose bright green eyes shine whenever you walk into a room, before going back to her folders whenever you look at her."

"What?"

"Are you going to deny it?"

"This is ridiculous!" I am not giving Tony ammunition to make my life hell.

Tony smirked as he watched Mrs. Trask. "I can see why. She is curvy. Long reddish brown hair with those mysterious green eyes."

"I'm not attracted to her."

"Her personality is a problem, but as long as you kept her quiet with your kisses..."

"Tony, I'm. Not. Attracted. To. Her. She's has a huge stick up her ass and the personality of a Schnauzer fighting for a bone ..." as I spoke, the door behind me opened and closed letting someone in. Tony turned to look at me and he immediately made a terrified face to me but I was incensed, bulldozing my way out. "And I would never, ever, even in a million years, have any kind of relationship with someone like her."

Tony cringed at that, making me frown. "What's wrong with you? Are you passing gas?"

Tony shook his head and looked over my shoulder, just when a soft alto voice spoke directly behind me.

"That's good to know because you're not my type anyway."

I gulped and closed my eyes, mortified, before slowly turning around to find accusing green eyes staring at me. For a moment I saw how deeply I had hurt her, before she gathered all her hurt and turned it into anger.

And all that anger was completely directed at me with good reason.