FREEZE FRAME 4: Dead Man Talking
SUMMARY: –A dead Marine, a burned out car, a poker chip, a trophy bullet, a cold case, a bunch of lies and a broken promise. What do these things have in common, and how will these threaten Marley's new life with Gibbs and Gill?
Fourth in the Freeze Frame series.
DISCLAIMERS: I do not own NCIS.
Previously:
Gibbs has interviewed Nic Hanson, believed to be the last person to see Patrick Devlin alive after an altercation over Patrick's relationship with Rose. Patrick is Marley's biological father. To an extent Marley appears unfazed; she is more concerned about Nic's innocence and not losing the family she now feels safe and normal with. Interviews with Patrick's parents and his poker buddies have been organised, while Abby and Tim search for connections to Patrick's work and gather information regarding Patrick's phone records hours before his disappearance. Gibbs decides to keep everything as normal as possible for Marley, including disciplining her for getting the Semper Fi gang to steal evidence. He intends to deal with the boys, too.
Add to your clues….
Hanson was the last to see Patrick alive. They argued.
The poker buddies hid Nic's involvement.
Franks has a file with information not officially on record.
The poker chip found at the crime scene should not have been in Patrick's possession and belonged to Nic. However, there was another missing.
It is not known whether Jonathan Hanson or Rose Hanson spoke or had contact with Patrick prior to his disappearance.
It is believed that Rose did not discuss the fact that Patrick was Marley's father with her or any other person. It is also conjecture at this point whether, due to bi polar episodes at the time, Rose remembered the night of Marley's conception or that Patrick fathered her child.
Chapter 6 : Got Your Six.
FREEZE FRAME: Cut to Close-up of Gibbs with a pensive expression on his face. Convert Black and White. CUT
Fade into Gibbs's living room in the early hours of Sunday morning. Long shot. It is early morning, and the sun is rising. An ochre summer glow from the sun simmers on the edge of the sofa where Gibbs is dreaming.
Shannon sat on the arm of the sofa. "The house is warmer, Gibbs."
"Morning sun always did hit this room first," stated Gibbs as he rolled onto his back. He stared at Shannon, mesmerized by the sun lighting her long red hair.
"Hmmm, then Kelly's then ours. We made a mistake there, Gibbs; she'd always wake before us."
"Never before me," he smirked and folded his arms behind his back, cradling his head.
"Never!" agreed Shannon. "It's nice to have her room warmer ,too. You scared?"
"Yup."
"You haven't lost her. The little one is where she belongs."
"You like her?" asked Gibbs.
"I do. Wish I'd had a dozen, Gibbs."
"Me, too."
"She's not Kelly."
"I know. Kelly, she'd be thirty."
"You know what I mean."
"I know what you mean. She'd be thirty and beautiful and alive. I'm sorry."
"Stop apologizing. She'd be thirty, beautiful and alive and loved just the same. Loved like she is now, remembered and shared."
"I don't think I could have shared her with anyone…"
"But, you have," smiled Shannon.
"Hi, Daddy. You racked out on the sofa again. It's warmer in my room," chirped Kelly as she skips off the bottom rung of the staircase and wanders into the lounge. "Tell Marley the bear is hers, but the Polly Pocket? She's dead meat if she touches her hairdo."
"Marley's too old for dolls. I don't think she'll muck up the hairdo," chuckled Gibbs, looking at the child he so dearly missed as she jump onto the sofa at his feet.
Kelly laughed. "Yeah, and so am I, Daddy. But big sisters, well, they have to give little sisters some rules, you know."
"Yup, rules are good."
"Only when they protect, Gibbs; not ruthlessly set in stone. They are not meant to entomb," advocated Shannon
"Boy, too serious for me, you two," broadcasted Kelly, as she jumped up and headed for the door. "Bye, Daddy. See you later. Tell Marley what I said."
"Bye, baby, see you soon."
Shannon and Gibbs watched Kellyrun through the front door, then suddenly return and throw her jacket up the stair well, "Won't be needing that; it's a beautiful sunny day." Then she headed through the door again.
"Hey, back up, go hang that up," growled Gibbs, trying to keep the joy that had accompanied the reminiscent image out of his voice..
"Later, Daddy," echoed Kelly before dissipating into the sun's rays.
Gibbs and Shannon looked at each other and burst into laughter.
Crossfade, to close-up of Gibbs rolling over, the laughter still in the air. He stops when he realizes he is awake. Zoom out to long shot of Gibbs as the morning sun envelops the room.
Squinting his eyes from the sun streaming in Gibbs deciphered the time on the mantle clock: 0600. He just lay there, letting his eyes adjust and listening to the quiet sounds of the house and the neighborhood. He closed his eyes knowing if he listened hard enough he could probably hear Marley purring away. Yep, there it was; his eyes sight might be crappy when it came to reading fine print, but his hearing was as astute as ever.
"Hey, aren't you hot in here, Jethro?"
He smiled and grabbed the figure that had come to sit beside him and pulled her close. "Nope it's nice and snug, Gill," he said, then pulled her into a warm embrace and passionate kiss before opening his eyes.
"How did you know it was me?"
"I didn't, lucky guess."
"Funny man," she scowled before slapping his shoulder.
"A not so funny mom," said Gibbs swatting her backside. "What are you doing here at this time of the morning? You must have left around two am to get here. I thought I told you I didn't want you traveling that road at night.
"Hmmm, I know but I'm lonely and worried, and all is well organized down there. Alastair has everything he needs, and I'm not expected back until next week. But ..."
"You're needed here." said Gibbs giving a reassuring smile.
"Am I?"
"Wanted and needed," confirmed Gibbs.
"Good, then I'll cook breakfast. I stopped for groceries." Gill said, holding up a bag of items, like it was a trophy from a African hunt.
"I think that can wait a little, Marley isn't up yet. We could go on snuggling a little more."
"I like the idea." Gill lay down on the sofa and drew up beside him, fitting her form into his arched body. They lay like that in silence for a couple of seconds. Gibbs, with his arm wrapped around her waist, pulled her in close to his midriff.
"Why do you sleep down here?" she asked, though she suspected the reason.
"Too lazy to climb the stairs," he mumbled.
Gill smiled. She realized he wasn't ready to be too open yet about a lot of his feelings, and that was fine. She knew they would reveal themselves in other ways. Right now she felt his confidence and support. He needed that as much as her.
"What are you worried about?" asked Gibbs.
"Marley."
"About her not wanting to acknowledge Patrick Devlin as her father?"
"No, that doesn't surprise me. Marley prioritizes her emotions and her stress, always has. She doesn't put it in the too hard basket or bury it, pretending it never existed. She just puts stuff like that on the backburner and moves forward in the direction she was going, the direction where her footing is surer and stable."
"Smart girl."
"Very, in some ways, really mature, and in others, just a freighted little girl."
"So what's the other frightened girl scared of?"
"Me? I wish I could be like Marley, but there could be … I don't want anything to change either, but what if Patrick's parents want to seek guardianship?"
"They can only do that if they know about Marley. Marley's files are sealed."
"I know…That's good right? I'm just worried that with Nick being a suspect and… well, we might lose…"
"Not gonna happen."
"It won't, will it?"
"No, I've gone over Franks's files," said Gibbs pointing over to a cardboard filing box sitting on the small table in the corner of the room. "Nic's alibi works out. He checked into the sterile ward just half an hour after his fight with Patrick. He would not have had the time to murder Patrick Devlin, dump his body in the national forest two hours away, then return to the hospital. He logged in with his CO on base at 1300 the next day, fifteen minutes after he signed out at the hospital."
"Great, so he's clear then. Marley know yet?"
"Not yet."
"I guess there might be a few hurdles still for Marley, though, and Marley may want to eventually know about Patrick's parents, her grandparents. You know that could be good for her. But for now…"
"We can deal with it if or when that comes."
"We can… We?" Relieved Gill rolled over and looked into Gibbs's face. "I love you."
Gibbs stared a moment, not in surprise but in comfort. He leaned in and kissed Gill passionately, then pulled back, brushing a strand of her long strawberry blonde hair that had gotten caught on his cheek out of the way. Gibbs looked intently back at her with a sincere diminutive tear teetering in the corner of one eye, then he winked at her. "I don't blame you," he smirked, breaking the silence and dispersing the tear, before it could build and fall.
Gill cocked her head to one side, trying to read his face. "It's there, Jethro," she whispered.
"Yup," he whispered back and pulled her in for another kiss, this time, soft, slow and gently. They stayed that way, sharing each other's space.
"Ohhh gross!" exclaimed Marley as she came bolting down the stairs and rounded off to a halt in front of them.
"Oh gross, yourself, madam," said Gibbs looking over Gill's shoulders.
Gill turned around, and called Marley to her. "You gonna help me cook breakfast?"
"Sure, but I gotta check out the tree house first. Ziva and Tony raided it yesterday, looking for more evidence."
Gill looked confused, "What, have you been up to, Marley?"
Marley came over and sat on the edge of the sofa where she could look and Gill and Gibbs, still in a casual embrace.
"Me? Not me this time, but an even smaller world again, Gill. Ben and Ethan found a bullet up at the forest last year and some other stuff, too. Tony and Ziva were doing a search in case any more stuff was left by the bad guys."
Marley sprang off the sofa ready to dash outside. Gibbs grabbed her by the hem of her tank top."Shoes," he ordered.
Marley rolled her eyes, "Jeeze, it's just outside."
"Shoes!" ordered Gill.
"Okayyyy!" Marley, ran to the front door, flipped her slippers off her feet, grabbed her sneakers and shoved her foot into them without undoing the laces or adjusting her heel at the back, and then dropping her slippers at the base of the stairs, she shuffled towards the back door.
"Hey!" said Gibbs, "Pick, them up."
"Later Dad," yelled Marley as she disappeared into the back yard.
Gibbs smiled.
Gill jumped up and headed for the kitchen taking her bag of groceries with her. Gibbs sat up, swung his legs around to the front, and planted his feet on the ground. He laid his head back against the head rest, "So much for a quiet Sunday morning sleep in," he mumbled to himself.
"Gill's right, Gibbs; it's there. I like her, it's time to give it back." stated Shannon as she appeared again sitting on the arm of the sofa. She looked over to the archway into the kitchen where Gill was humming away as she ground some beans for the coffee machine. "She loves you and you..."
"But, they all ..."
"They all loved you, Gibbs. Move forward, I've had your six. These two have now," whispered Shannon as she dissolved through the front door. Her image reappeared and remained on the porch looking back through the glass panes on the side. She was still there as Gibbs walked past the door, and only disappeared, her smile a soft afterglow, when he entered the kitchen.
Cut away to long shot of kitchen. Marley, Gill, and Gibbs are sitting down enjoying the last of a morning meal. Gibbs sips on a cup of coffee, as Gill stands and puts a piece of bread in the toaster.
"So Nic doesn't have to come home… I mean, not yet. And he's not a murderer. It means that, doesn't it, Dad?"
"Yep."
"So now you can hone in on all the other suspects, right, Gibbs? Who are they?"
"None of your business."
"You sure?"
"No, but when it is your business, I will tell you. I promise."
"Even if it's..."
"Even if it's who?"
"Well what if Rosie or Grandad… But that's crazy, right? It's probably bad guys like that Ray Isles. He probably had information they wanted, or he was going to catch them out on something. He had a pretty important job, you know. You should check that out, Gibbs."
"Good idea, Marley. I will."
Marley grinned before chomping on her heavily laden peanut butter and toast.
Suddenly there was a knock at the kitchen door. Marley jumped up before anyone could turn to see who it was and answered it. Chelsea stood there with her hand on Jarrod's shoulder, with Ben standing just behind them.
Marley's eyes went wild. Damn Gibbs must have asked to see them. " Run, HQ ! Now!" whispered Marley.
The boys didn't wait for any further details and took off around the back of the house before Chelsea had a chance to open her mouth.
"Oh, Mrs Gillard, come in. Mom, look Chelsea's here," called Marley, before taking off through to the living room, rambling as she went. "I need to use the bathroom. I'll be back in a minute."
Chelsea walked into the kitchen.
"Chelsea, hi…What's that all about?" Gill wondered out loud as she saw the boys take off then Marley about face so quickly.
Chelsea shrugged. "Agent Gibbs asked me to bring Jarrod over for a talk. David said that Gibbs wanted to see Ben, also, so I picked him up. David's on duty."
"David?"
Chelsea blushed. "Yes, David Lindsey, the fire chief at the park,. Well, I'm just helping out the guy. "
The girls turned around to Gibbs who had not moved from his place at the table, just flipped over another page of his newspaper.
"Jethro, I think your witnesses just bailed out on you," laughed Gill.
"They won't go far," replied Gibbs, unperturbed and well aware that the boys had been warned by Marley.
"Is there a problem, Agent Gibbs?" asked Chelsea, not quite sure of the necessity of the extra interview, albeit informal.
" Just call me Gibbs, Mrs Gillard. Jarrod's mom?"
"Yes, that's right, but please call me Chelsea. I'm Gills friend and work colleague, and well, I feel I know you."
"Oh, you're that Chelsea…"
"Huh?" said Chelsea.
"Let Mother Nature decide," smirked Gibbs, before going back to the paper.
"Jethro!"
"What?" Gibbs asked feigning confusion, then took another sip of his coffee , disguising the smug twitch of his lips.
Chelsea finally got the reference and blushed. As did Gill when she realized her friend had recognized the reference to the political marches of their youth and a particularly embarrassing photograph that had been in her file. Gill glared at Gibbs. "What do you need to see the children about? Is it serious?"
"No, it's nothing major. They helped Marley hide evidence they got for her from the storage shed."
"Uh oh, my fault too, I'm afraid," admitted Chelsea. "Jarrod said he had gotten a text from Marley. She needed something of hers. I just presumed it was some clothes. I didn't think it was evidence. Boy, this lot can sure find themselves in a pickle."
"Yup."
"Well, they're all yours, Agent Gibbs."
"Don't worry, there will be no official charges. I have known Ben and his family for a number of years. I know his parents would approve of me talking to Ben about it and correcting the behavior."
"Oh, David, too. He's been watching Ben while Jan's working and Rob's away, but he knows of you. The Semper Fi gang talk about the tree house and Gibbs and nothing else."
Gill shook her head, really finding the whole thing amusing. "Do you think that's where they are?"
"Nope, but they will think I do," chuckled Gibbs. "This should only take me about half an hour and then they're all yours again."
"No worries, Gibbs. We've got plenty of time anyway. We're having a picnic up at the park. I'm meeting David there with Jessica and Ethan. Why don't you guys join us?" asked Chelsea.
"Oh... I…" Gill hesitated wondering if Gibbs preferred a quiet day at home. There was not much that could be done on this case until Monday, and Gill knew he was looking forward to a quiet Sunday ... A normal one at least. Plus, Gibbs didn't seem like the social type, especially with people he didn't know.
"That might be a good idea. I've got to go into work later, for an interview."
Gill looked at Gibbs surprised. When he returned a genuine smile she replied with delight. "Well then, we'll meet you there sometime after noon."
" Hey, why don't I take Marley with me? That way you two can have a little time alone."
Gibbs looked at Gill for the cue here. In essence he was all for it, but he really wanted to spend some more time with both.
Gill had been surprised at Gibbs's acceptance of the invitation to the family picnic. It was a nice surprise, and she suspected he thought it was a good idea, considering that he would be interviewing Marley's paternal grandparents. Neither she nor Marley really wanted to be there for the interview, though she was somewhat curious, but Gill was sure Marley needed to spend some time together; just the three of them. She shook her head. "No, we'll meet you there. Marley needs a bit of us time, I think. There have been a couple things come up, Chelz, that I can't elaborate on now. This afternoon sounds fun, though."
Chelsea nodded, "Well, Agent Gibbs, you better go find those suspects of yours. Here, you might need this…" Chelsea leaned behind Gill and grabbed a wooden spoon from a utensils jar on the kitchen counter.
"Hmm, thanks," he said, taking it.
"Got your six, Gibbs, I'm ex- navy, too."
"No such thing," said Gibbs.
"Oh, I don't know about that," quipped Chelsea.
Gibbs laughed again. He stood up as he downed the last of his coffee and placed the empty mug in Gill's hand, then went in search of three menaces.
Cut away to mid shot of three children resting on their haunches, backsides up and poking out of a bush, pan to front where their faces are seen through gaps in the foliage.
"Gee, he's taking his time," groused Ben.
"Reckon he's telling mum everything!" complained Jarrod.
Marley scanned the area in front of them. They had a good view of the tree house and was sure Gibbs was going to appear any minute looking for them. "Sorry, fellas. Honest, I didn't tell him. He knew. I don't know how he found out."
"He's Gibbs, and now that he's technically your dad, you better be more careful from now on," advised Ben.
"Believe me I'm learning." Marley retorted sarcastically. Subconsciously, though, she was very happy that Gibbs was both dad and a top investigator. She liked the constant in her life and feeling this was where she belonged. " Still, I didn't think I'd get you two into more trouble."
"Ahh, don't worry about it. We had your six."
"He'll appreciate that, won't he?" asked Jarrod, worried and still not sure about Gibbs.
"Yeah, probably. Though I don't know why we're hiding, he's gonna come looking for us. He knows everything already," deliberated Marley.
"We should just man up and cop to it then. He's likely to go a bit easier," suggested Jarrod.
Ben kept his eyes out for Gibbs. "I wouldn't count on that too much. I remember once I ran across the road without looking. I was about six. Gibbs grabbed me just before Lawrence Fisher came skidding around the corner. The dick had just got his license and was showin' off, just missed me. Mom nearly puked with fear. Gibbs saved my life that day, and then he busted my tail."
"Wow, what he'd do to the dickhead, Lawrence?" wondered Jarrod.
"Mom told me later. He dragged him down to the navy yard where he works, had a friend down there who worked in the morgue."
"That would have been Ducky," revealed Marley.
"Huh?" the boys chorused.
"Doctor Mallard, he does the autopsies on the dead people."
"Yeah, probably him." concurred Ben. "Gibbs took the kid down there and showed him what a real accident victim looks like."
"No way would Dad do that, neither would Ducky. They might have showed him pictures, maybe, or let him see victim's family members crying or something. You know, to let him know what it's like for the people whose loved ones have died. Then he'd bust his ass."
"So have you been in the morgue, seen dead people?" asked Jarrod.
"Yeah, my mom, but they didn't let me see her for a couple of days, and Abby made her look real pretty. I got to see her and say goodbye. It was hard, but I'm kinda glad I did it. Don't mean I wanna do it again, though"
Ben jumped, thinking he heard something to his right. When he saw a small squirrel scuttle up a nearby tree, he relaxed a little. "So you haven't been down to see the skeleton guy?" he asked.
Marley, not taking hes eyes of the parameter in front of them, responded. "His name is Patrick Devlin."
"So what was with the poker chips? They were your uncle's' right?" confirmed Jarrod.
Marley pulled a leaf from the bush beside her and chewed on it. "My uncle was a friend of his. He was a suspect, but... "
"No way..." both boys chorused and looked at Marley.
Ben dry rubbed his face. "We are so gonna get our butts kicked, stealing evidence."
Marley threw the leaf away. "Maybe not, Uncle Nic is in the clear, now so..."
"OW, shit!" yelped Marley.
" But, you lot aren't," declared Gibbs after swatting Marley's backside, peeking from the bush at his feet.
"What's the?" All three chorused trying to bust through the bush.
"OW! Yelled Ben on her left. "What the fu..."
"Language, Benjamin!"
"OW!" yelped Ben again, "Far Out!"
"Huh?" At Marley's right, Jarrod was a tangled mess. He was going neither forward or backwards fast enough to get out of the line of fire. "OW! Fu… no bugger, no I mean, fruit…FARUIT!"
Gibbs stood behind the three, waving the wooden spoon around. "Get out of there."
Marley, Ben, and Jarrod shuffled out of the bush backwards as quickly as they could go, not really sure if Gibbs was going to swing again. The three jumped up rubbing their backsides, before bothering to pick the leaves and twigs stuck to their clothing.
"See what I mean? He's good," declared Ben.
"Did anybody see him? I didn't see him, and he's scary."
"Yeah, Jarrod, what happened to man up?" quipped Marley.
Gibbs was trying to keep a straight face, but the surprise and resignation on the faces of the three culprits in front of him was making that difficult.
Jarrod drew in a huge breath. "We were coming in, sir, Agent Gibbs, honest. We just wanted to..."
"Get the low done on our misdemeanor, sir, and help Marley," qualified Ben.
"Okay, pow wow in the tree house, pronto!" ordered Gibbs.
All three took off toward the ladder and had scaled it in seconds. They were all sitting in a row when Gibbs's head popped through the open hole in the floor. He pulled himself up and sat opposite them, then looked around.
You sure the tree house can take your weight, Dad? I wouldn't like you to get hurt if it collapsed."
Ben rolled his eyes at Marley and her 'kissing ass' comment, not a good tactic. "He should be fine. He built the thing. He is a master of the trade." Well a little ass kissing couldn't hurt…Perhaps, thought Ben.
Gibbs ignored the well founded, yet convenient compliments. "Not too much of a mess, Ziva and Tony must have found everything they wanted easily."
"Should have, we kept in all in the artillery hold. We wanted to help, Gibbs, honest. We gave up everything we found in the forest," assured Ben.
"And that was a help."
Both boys got excited at the prospect that they were involved in a real case. "Do you think the knife and that other stuff had anything to do with that guy's death?" asked Ben.
"Yeah, now that Marley's uncle's been cleared, I wonder who the other suspects are," Jarrod mused out loud.
Ben snapped his fingers and pointed at Jarrod, grabbing his attention. "Maybe there are some traces of DNA on that stuff."
Gibbs held up his hand. "You boys watch too much television."
Ben blushed, embarrassed at his childish excitement. "Not that easy, huh, Gibbs?"
"No, but let us do the investigating. That's how you can help, unlike taking the poker chips and smuggling them to Marley. Did you know they were evidence?"
"I didn't," Jarrod piped up in self defense.
Marley re-instated her position on the matter. "I didn't know for sure, Dad. I already explained that."
Ben was quiet for a moment chewing on his bottom lip, then looked Gibbs in the eye before speaking. "I had a pretty good idea that they were important, I guess. Not as important as real evidence, Gibbs, otherwise Marley would have got them herself or got you to get them. I did figure she didn't want you knowing she had them, though."
Marley paniced., "Wait that sounds bad," she scowled at Ben.
"I'm just being honest, Marls."
"Okay, I didn't want you to have them, Dad, that's true. I was giving them to Abby, honest. Gibbs, I'm not lying. I haven't lied to you ever... Well, just that one time when... "
Gibbs held up his hand. "Marley, I know you were honest with me and your indiscretion has been dealt with."
"We thought we were helping Marley out, Gibbs, Sir," stated Jarrod.
'I know, and I think it's great you have each other's back."
"That's what boot camp buddies do, that's when the pact is made. We look out for each other, always."
Gibbs thought about Patrick's boot camp buddies, the 8 Bells poker group. They had each other's back. He was looking forward to meeting them. "Yep, everybody's got everybody's six. That's good. But it's about protecting them and keeping them safe, not about lying for them or covering up a crime."
"Got you, Gibbs." nodded Jarrod.
Ben agreed also. "Yeah, we're on the same page here, Gibbs."
"Good, because you break that rule again and there will be more than a couple of swats coming your way," warned Gibbs.
"Okay, that's a direct order. From now on any more evidence we find or information pertaining to the demise of one Patrick Devlin will be passed on to the numero uno, Agent Gibbs," announced Ben.
Gibbs leaned in close, giving his most intimidating glare. "This case is off limits. You've done your bit. I don't want any more misadventures or interference. CLEAR?"
The boys and Marley scowled and screwed up their faces, disappointed with the order. When Gibbs raised an eyebrow, they reluctantly but quickly nodded.
"Words!"
"Sir! Yes Sir!" all chorused.
"Good, let's get out of here."
Gibbs climbed to the bottom of the ladder and waited for the kids to drop down in front of him. Marley and Jarrod jumped down first. Ben started to come down front ways, but suddenly paused on the top rung.
Gibbs looked up at the boy. "Ben, get down here."
"Wait, you said a couple of swats, but my reckoning you've only given us one a piece. You gotta another missile strike planned, Gibbs?
"Oh yeah," Gibbs chuckled. The kid was smart.
Marley and Jarrod about faced and started moving backwards towards the fence. Ben watched them go, never taking his eyes off Gibbs. "When?"
"That's highly classified."
Ben conceded the inevitable, nodded and moved down the rungs. Once he got to the bottom step, he jumped off and stood in front of Gibbs. "Marley's okay, Gibbs. All is good, right?"
Gibbs smiled and tussled Ben's head of thick blonde hair. "Yup, all is good. Get going."
Ben turned around and away from Gibbs's spoon wielding hand and ran to catch up with Jarred and Marley.
They were about to climb the fence when Gibbs bellowed again. "Hey no, over here."
The three hightailed over to where Gibbs was standing by a gate. He pulled the lever and a well camouflaged opening that would gain them access to the back yard appeared.
"Hey, Dad, you put in a gate. Aww, but it's much more fun to jump the fence," said Marley.
"Fun for you, not so for me," replied Gibbs.
Gibbs held the gate open while each child bobbed under his arm and then was almost catapulted through to the other side when Gibbs's other arm applied a resounding thwack with the wooden spoon to their backsides.
Ben expected as much, but couldn't help but join in with his comrades and yelped as they quickly ran to the porch, rubbing their butts furiously.
Gibbs closed the gate and reset the lever that was hidden amongst some vines growing on the fence. He turned to see the last of the kids, Ben, turn and smile at him once more before entering the house.
Gibbs stood for a moment longer thinking about the case. Marley had obviously not told the boys about Patrick being her father. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, though he was glad that she felt safe and secure about it all. Ben was a smart kid indeed, reminded him a little of DiNozzo,. If Marley had told them, both boys would have asked more questions. Questions Marley didn't need to be wondering about. She had picked up that while perhaps her uncle was no longer a suspect, Rose and Jonathan Hanson were. They were notably absent for some hours on that night. Like Nick, he wanted them off the suspect list. Hopefully the phone records and the rest of the interviews would shed some light. He would also get Abby to go through Rose's belongings, evidence retrieved from her case. They had Rose Hanson's physiological profiles. They could probably match up dates, as well decipher any reference to Patrick in her counseling sessions. He would have to ask Gill about that as well.
Though there was a more pressing question he wanted to ask Gill.
FREEZE FRAME: Cut to Close-up of Gibbs with a pensive expression on his face. Convert Black and White. CUT.
TBC
Chapter 7: ROE; Rules Of Engagement
A.N Okay only one more clue to add, Nic's alibi stacks up. Short I know, sweet I hope. I figured we all needed a break to re-group. LOL. Some fluffy time. Sorry if I've missed stuff. I usually to another check after Harliquinn, but then I wouldn't get to post untill tomorrow. Any bad, bad mistakes let me know, please. I will chapter replace.
As usual a big shout out to Harliquinn for the edits and suggestions. Pulled me up on Shannon's calling Gibbs, Gibbs, I had Shannon calling him Leroy so I could differentiate between Gill and Shannon, but Harliquinn, is an expert… In heartland Shannon meets Gibbs at the train station and says she will call him Gibbs; a brilliant memory too.