A/N: Thank you for stopping by and reading this. Also, thank you for the reviews and a big thank you to the people who have put this story on their alerts. I know it's been awhile since I've updated, but I have been busy with College stuff.
Anyway, here's the next chapter…
They had gotten back to the Navy yard 30 minutes ago and had started to look through the file of Admiral Fleming, trying to find any enemies or anything else that stood out. They hadn't found anything yet, Gibbs hoped Abby would find something on the Admiral's laptop.
"The Admiral has a life insurance policy worth 2 million dollars, his son would get everything and his wife doesn't get a penny." McGee announced.
"Maybe she hired someone?" Tony said.
"DiNozzo and Ziva pick up Mrs. Fleming and bring her in." Gibbs ordered and stood up to see how far Abby had gotten with the laptop. He also needed Abby to put some good protection on Ryan's and Parker's files.
2 hours later the clock had just turned 6 and Gibbs was waiting for the Doc. Right now Mrs. Fleming was the only lead they had and it was a very strong lead. Mrs. Fleming had disappeared, she had cleared out her bank account and had driven off somewhere. His team was working on finding her.
Gibbs had told them he was interviewing a suspect. As he had passed Ziva's desk he had seen the look she shared with Tony, as if they knew what was going on. Ziva had probably figured out he was dating Ryan, she had always been good at reading people. He wasn't yet to confirm her suspicions.
He was in the kitchen seasoning the steaks, when there was a knock on the door.
"It's open!" He yelled while walking to the living room , he already had the fire going and it had reached the right temperature for putting the steaks on.
"Why do you even have a kitchen?" Ryan asked as they entered the living room.
He turned to greet them and for the first time he was face-to-face with Parker. Gibbs knew from the file that he was 13 years old and that he is a good student. He did look like a typical teenager. He had short black hair and the same grey-brown eyes like his mom, right now they even looked at him with the same curious expression. He was wearing a black Metallica t-shirt, a band Gibbs had heard about or at least Abby had mentioned them. He could already see Abby and Parker playing loud music in her lab. With his shirt he was wearing blue stonewashed jeans and a pair of very worn out black Converse.
"Well the kitchen came with the house. Hi I'm Gibbs, it's nice to meet you Parker." Gibbs stuck his hand out and Parker shook it, at the same time he took a good look at Gibbs as if he was trying to figure out if he could trust the man. "Why don't you guys take a seat, while I put the steaks on the grill?" Gibbs told them and pointed to the dining room.
Gibbs joined them and took a seat so that he was at the head of the table and Parker was on his right side.
"Now, before the steaks a ready, I have a couple of questions about what happened today. Has your mum told you what my job is?"
"No, but I know you're the one she talked to on the phone today, so I know you're a cop." Gibbs heard his voice for the first time and he sounded a lot older than thirteen, also he sounded very clever. McGee would like this kid, Gibbs thought with a smile.
"That's right I am a cop, a Navy cop to be exact. Are you ready to answer some questions?" He waited until he got a nod in return. "Good. Now, since we're not at the Navy yard we have to do this the old fashioned way." Gibbs stood up and walked to a bookcase in the living room to get a tape recorder. On the way back he flipped the steaks.
"Keep an eye on the steaks for me." He said to Ryan, it gave him the chance to talk with Parker in private.
He waited until they were alone before he turned on the recorder and asked his first question "Can you tell me what happened today?" He asked in a gentle voice.
"I was supposed to meet Jordan at lunch time, we always eat together. But today I was late." Gibbs could see Parker was trying very hard to keep his voice strong.
"Why were you late?"
"Mr. Williams, he's my science teacher. Anyway, he had some questions about my project so he made me stay late."
"Okay. What happened after you left?" They were getting to the hard part and he could see just how hard on Parker's face. His eyes were focused on one spot on the wall and his knuckles were turning white from holding onto the table very tightly.
He took a deep breath and then he started talking a controlled voice "I was walking along the hall when I heard a lot of screaming coming from the yard, so I hurried until I was outside. Everybody was running around trying to get away from the spot I usually meet Jordan. When I walked closer I could see him lying there and the blood everywhere." At that last part his voice cracked, so Gibbs reached out and squeezed his hand telling the boy that he had heard enough and had everything he needed.
"I'll go check on the steaks." As soon as he said it Ryan came rushing into the dining room again. He left mother and son alone giving them the chance to calm each other.
The steaks were maybe a bit over done for his taste, but it didn't really matter much. As he was putting the steaks on plates he listened as Ryan talked to Parker.
She was trying to get him to talk about it more, but Parker just kept saying he was okay. Gibbs knew what was going on, Parker was good at keeping stuff to himself. Bottling things up was never a good thing, again Gibbs knew what he was talking about.
"I said I am fine, mum!" Parker said forcefully as Gibbs came back to the dining room with the plates.
They ate in awkward silence. Parker seemed to be in his own little world of thoughts while eating his steak. Ryan meanwhile was keeping a close eye on her son, something told Gibbs that she not always could read what her son was thinking.
"Well that was a delicious steak, right Parker?" Ryan said and her gave her son a little shove with her elbow getting him to nod.
Gibbs took their plates and brought them to the kitchen and started doing the dishes. But the soap was snatched out of his hands. "You cooked, I will do the dishes." Ryan said and pushed him back to dining room.
He found Parker still sitting at the table still in his own little world.
"You know what I do when I need to think about some stuff?" Gibbs said and walked to the door of the basement. He waited a little but Parker didn't come, so he walked back to the dining room. "When I say it like that you really should follow me." He said and walked back to the basement again. This time Parker did follow him.