Ch 27: Troubles, Home Again, News, Change in Strategy
In Jaxton, James sighed as his wife took the elevator upstairs, knowing she was very upset about the separation from Tim and his family. He was thankful his in-laws would still be here for the birth of their grandbaby and would stay for the first few months, that would greatly help and of course his parents were planning to live here with them. However, as much help as they'd have, Sarah hated the thought of not being allowed to speak with Tim unless there were other, non-NCIS people there to witness the conversation. He thought if the time frame was a couple of weeks, even a month, it would still be difficult but bearable.
He, Nikki, Jimmy and Ned before he left for San Diego had several conversations about the situation and the best they could come up with was to always have a third party, someone not connected to NCIS, and who would make a credible witness, with them when one of them or their spouses wanted to speak with Tim. That meant a complete lack of privacy but there didn't seem to be any other way.
While it might be a little easier when Tim and his family, Jethro and Lu moved to the US, it would also be even more heartbreaking and James found himself condemning the criminals to the hottest corners of hell for all the pain and misery they had caused and were again causing.
He mouthed a thank you to his mum as she followed Sarah upstairs. He'd also discussed the situation with his dad, the retired detective, and was further disheartened when his father wasn't surprised at NCIS's stance.
His father sighed when James asked him about the situation, "There's always been that danger with the five of you working at the same agency, particularly with the four of you reporting directly to Tim. The workaround for your evaluations is fine, it's this damned situation and in reality, I suppose there's always been a possibility that something like this could happen at some point, although the length of time this may last makes it nearly incomprehensible. The total ban on private conversations with Tim for you, Jimmy, Nikki, Ned and your spouses, especially with Sarah, Ned and Jimmy being his siblings, isn't something I've ever heard of happening."
He patted his son's shoulder, "Perhaps the trials won't take as long as expected. And remember, he only has to attend the ones for the criminals who hurt him. If those happen first, they may be home sooner than the 3 year timeframe. I suppose it could even be 18 months, although I don't see them being finished any sooner than that. And once he's released from the trials, the restrictions will be lifted." George sighed, "I'd be happy anyway but the timing for the arrival of our baby couldn't be better. You two will be so busy, Sarah will be so involved, that should help. It's the waiting now, for the baby as well as the roundup of the criminals and the beginning of the trials, that's very difficult."
With a woebegone smile, James nodded, thankful for his support, before heading upstairs to console his wife.
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The flight home from San Diego to the UK and Greece left Monday evening with Tim and those who had joined them aboard.
After the tour on Sunday, Tim and Artie knew how they felt about the property and also asked those who'd physically been with them for their opinions. That happened in an impromptu meeting after the children were asleep. After that meeting, the couple wrote an email to those viewing via Skype, also asking for their opinions. They both smiled when they logged onto their joint email finding several people had already sent their opinions.
When Tim found a sad note from Sarah, he sent a sweet reply, openly copying Special Agent Andreson, the man in charge of investigating toddler Jeffrey's "disappearance" as well as the overall 'mad scientist' case.
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Artie and Tim also contacted their agency relocation agent for some advice. She answered almost immediately that she would contact the listing agent, that is the realtor who'd given them the tour, with their questions and would let them know the results.
While Tim had hoped that with the 3 hour time difference between the US East Coast and West Coast that he might hear something on Monday, his phone was quiet all day. He mentally chastised himself for even hoping, realizing that with the plan Chegwidden had laid out, he'd be lucky to hear anything that week!
Although they'd been afraid Monday would be a long day, between sorting everything, searching their hotel rooms and suites for anything that might have fallen on the floor of a closet, under a bed or various other places, packing for the 6 of them took longer than usual. They guessed that was because they'd brought some different things with them and because they were tired. After a group lunch they took the vans to the closest beach, taking photos of each of them with their toes in the chilly Pacific ocean. It was a cloudy, somewhat breezy day that reminded them of Varkiza on a wintry day and that made them smile, knowing they'd be home tomorrow morning. The temperature today was 63° F. Although 2 degrees below average for February, it was certainly nothing to complain about and Artie and Tim chuckled, thinking that 63° would be a lovely, pleasant day at home in Jaxton.
Remembering they needed to exercise before the flight those so inclined ran along the shoreline for several minutes. The children were ahead of their parents but never got too far from them. The two new foster kids Brian and Mia reveled in the weather and being on the beach in February! They'd been to the beach in Varkiza but this was the US.
After everyone had enough fresh air and however much exercise they wanted, they returned to the hotel to swim in the heated pool. Those still on site, that is, Grandpas Jack and Mac, Uncle LJ, Richard Baxter, Uncle Charlie and Tricia, Lu, Jethro, Rob, Bill, Geo, Bec, Brian, Mia, Bec's dad 'Grampy' Ben, the Barnes-Gibbses, Maggie's father Dick and Artemis' mother Sophia, Athena and Ducky and the Timothy Camilo-Gibbses, had a wonderful time playing in the pool and were even happier to partake of the warm showers adjacent to the pool.
As they didn't have to be at the FBO until 7 PM, they changed into dry and warm clothes, washing their swim suits and towels and drying them in the hotel's guest laundry room. While their beach towels were drying, the group had 'tea' in the hotel dining room, with plenty of tea, coffee, hot chocolate and snacks.
By 5:30, they were in a chartered bus returning to the FBO, anticipating heavy vehicle traffic on the way. Once there, they went through their normal process, happy to hear air traffic was lighter than anticipated, which meant they would likely be cleared to leave earlier. They cheered when told they could board, the flight attendants took all the safety seats for the children and quickly fastened them into the rows and seats each family usually sat in. By now the Paddington flight attendants were familiar with who liked to sit where.
Seated, toys, games and books tucked into seat pockets, and buckled in, the group relaxed as the jet pushed back from the gate and trundled to the queue of aircraft.
With all their activity that day, by the time the 'Fasten Seat belt' sign was off, many of the group were dozing. Tim played cards with his children for the first hour or so while Artie fell asleep almost immediately.
By the time the flight attendants started preparing dinner for their passengers, they chuckled to themselves as all of them were asleep! Knowing this crowd as they did, they woke them up, giving them time to visit the restrooms and wash up before they brought the carts around.
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When the flight landed in London nearly 11 hours later, everyone was awake. The few disembarking here, Rob, Geo, Bec, Brian, Mia and their Grampy Ben had freshened up, made sure everything was back in their carry-on bags and said goodbye to everyone continuing to Athens. Rob and Geo each leaned in, kissing first their parents, then their brother and sister-in-law as well as the children.
After they disembarked, those remaining said a happy hello as Nikki boarded. She grinned at them, "Surprise! I decided to spend the week in Jaxton and work at the office where there would be people I know, rather than at the embassy. Now I've had a taste of cold weather, enough for the year, thank you! Oh, have I said anything I shouldn't have? Are we allowed to talk together at all?"
Tim nodded, "It's all right as long as you and I don't talk about work but we do need to record it." He looked at his mother, "Mom, would you mind recording us?"
She grinned, holding up her phone, "I already am!"
Jasper was already in his mother's arms and stayed there until the doors were closed. Then he went back to his safety seat between his dad and mom, a very happy little boy. When the aircraft once again reached altitude for the 4+ hour flight to Athens, those still awake got up to walk for nearly 30 minutes before they heard the snack and beverage carts being prepared in the galley and returned to their seats.
Landing in Athens, the passengers smiled happily, if tiredly, when they spotted Peter and Rhode there to greet them. They'd chartered a bus, although smaller than the ones they usually had in London and Virginia, to take them home to Varkiza. Peter told them their rental vehicles would be brought to them that afternoon.
While Tim briefly considered going to the Embassy to work for a few hours, he again talked himself out of it, and telling Nikki, she agreed, mentioning she'd gone in early this morning. Tim nodded, he'd catch up at the house.
Being home felt wonderful and the kids ran around the house, saying hello to everything and laughing at themselves. The temperature gauge said it was only 2 degrees warmer than the beach in San Diego had been on Sunday. However, when they walked down to their beach and ran on the sand, it seemed much warmer. When his love said that, Tim chuckled, saying, "It does, although I don't know why. Because it's home? You'd think that if the air felt different here, it would feel cooler because I know we're all tired."
She opened her mouth to say something but instead a jaw cracking yawn escaped. Laughing, Tim kissed her before whistling for the children. They'd been home for nearly an hour by that time, it was time to go home, have something to eat and then have their first jet lag naps.
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The Field Agents were making decent progress in untangling the case of the rogue scientists and had quietly arrested and formally charged all of those still living and had confirmed the rest were deceased. Those arrested were a mixed lot as far as their successes and failures in their chosen fields. Only a few of them had achieved anything at all.
Two became science teachers in middle and high schools and had at least inspired interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, collectively known as STEM, in a new generation.
Three others had had some success in their lab work, although none of the three had ever published anything.
Of the rest, including those who were deceased, few had accomplished much of anything in their lifetimes and eight had abandoned anything to do with science altogether. Some of the rogues never left the shady lives they'd started while still at university and it was by making a thorough investigation of their lives that Andreson's team and their associated team members from NCIS along with a few FBI agents came to some disheartening conclusions and discoveries.
The first, and this was a good thing to find, were the identities of the rogues' financial backers. There had been a group of seven wealthy citizens who'd agreed to fund the experiments. Two were scientists of some repute, the other five were followers of the two. Three of them were deceased but the other four were quietly arrested and charged.
The second finding, and this made Jeff sick, was that while many of the captives had been kidnapped, some of the children had been sold to the rogues. The 'hook' or misinformation the rogues put forth was that they were looking for children who showed abilities and functions far above their age group. They would, they promised, pay the child's parents for several sessions so the child's abilities could be mapped and perhaps enhanced even further. While there might be one or two overnights, the sessions would mostly be held on a daily basis with the child returned home every afternoon.
Those in charge of acquiring the test subjects were cautious about which families to approach. The profile had to include an immediate need for cash, preferably an embarrassing or illegal need and they would stress that cash paid to them for the child's time would be non-taxable income. They preferred parents or guardians who weren't as involved in their child's lives as they should have been, who wouldn't call the authorities right away, or ever, if a child didn't come home. People who lived in the shadows, whether afraid of legal or family problems, were also preferred targets. The rogues would pay half the money in cash up front and the rest, also in cash, after the child's first two sessions; in reality, none of the families ever saw the go-between, their child or the promised funds after the child left for the first session.
There had been a few special deals made. A couple were for families whose members had gambling debts, they'd need all of the money immediately. When those desperate people signed contracts for the rogues to keep their child for a specified amount of time, they were paid the full amount in cash, possibly saving the gambler's own life while just as possibly forfeiting the life of their child.
Two other contracts were signed, not to provide instant cash but to provide transport out of the country for a wanted felon in the family.
In both scenarios, the adult who signed the contract essentially sold their child to the rogues.
While the initial idea had been to experiment only on children so they could be watched for results throughout their lives, within a couple of years the various groups of rogues concluded that children were too much trouble. They had to be fed, clothed, educated or kept busy and worst of all watched at all times. After a spectacular failure in which their youngest subject fell into a coma, they quietly left the child at a hospital and moved the rest of the children into various foster agencies around the country. Prior to the child in the coma, four other children had already died from the experiments, their bodies carefully disposed of and none of the child test subjects were ever returned to their families.
In the meantime, the rogues switched to working on adults of various ages and health. They were much easier to handle, the rogues keeping them sedated much of the time.
In all, they kept their "experiments" going for nearly 4 years before their financiers decided they were done with the idea of changing the DNA of living people. Each of the scientists went his or her own way, many staying in the shadows for the first few years, if not longer, lest their work be discovered.
As for that work, the rogues still had their documentation and now their notes and records were studied by experts sought out by the NCIS teams. The experts, working separately, concluded there had been no success in changing DNA and that most of the so-called experiments had nothing to do with attempting to change a person's DNA and that their subjects had been tortured.
As Jeff Andreson's science oriented co-workers told him, changing the DNA of a living human had not yet been successful* and this was more than two decades after the rogue scientists' blundering and frequently brutal attempts. None of their work had been published or shared, nor would it have helped, except to alert the authorities to the atrocities.
In all, there were records for 57 test subjects, nearly double what the investigators had originally thought. Of them, 4 of the 10 children involved had died during the process, the 6 survivors were in varying degrees of mental and physical health with only 2 living normal lives, the two youngest of the entire group.
Among the 47 adult test subjects, 32 survived the experiments although 28 of them were now deceased, having either committed suicide or lived out their lives in mental institutions. The remains of the other 15 were never found.
While most of the investigative teams were involved with the capture of the rogue scientists, there were also teams examining the various contracts signed by parents or guardians of the children. While Tony had agreed to consult with NCIS, after a point he made the decision to bow out. Knowing the experiments they were investigating had been carried out on his brother was too much. He was grateful his contacts found Carpenter but didn't want to do or know more than that.
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At the Southwest NCIS Field Office in San Diego, Jeff Andreson handled Carpenter's, aka 'Ken', interrogation. First he took the man through his connection to the rogue scientists, asking when and how he'd become involved.
Carpenter sighed at the question, "My cousin Bruce, my mother's nephew, raised me from the age of 11. He was older than me and was an emancipated minor at age 15.
"My mother died when I was 10 and my father was a violent man who had no use for children. By the time I was 11, Bruce was 18 and of legal age to become my legal guardian. One Friday he appeared outside my classroom when we were dismissed and told me he was taking me home with him, that he was now my guardian. He'd already been to the office to show them the paperwork for his guardianship. When I worried about my clothes, books and things, he said he'd already been to our apartment, saw the manager and showed him the legal papers making him my guardian. So he was allowed in to pack my things. My belongings were already at his place and now I rode on the back of his motorcycle to my new home, his apartment near Carmichael University.
I lived with him until I finished high school and turned 18.
"I was attending community college in town, only it was called a junior college then, when Bruce found out about the challenge. He was very excited about something but wouldn't tell me exactly what. I only knew it had to do with science and probably DNA, as that was his biggest interest. In another year, I'd graduated junior college, was working and had my own place when Bruce came by to tell me he needed my help. I owed him everything, he'd saved me from my father's cruelty, likely saved my life, and given me a home. So of course I said yes. That is how I became involved in helping my cousin and his colleagues with their dirty work."
"Where did you work, in what state and town? And how long did you work for them?"
"They moved every few months. When I was first with them, they were in southern California, east of San Diego. They changed houses and towns there, before they moved out of California, further east and then went north. We were in 3 places in Nevada, 2 in Utah and finally in Colorado when I left them.
"As for how long I worked for them, it was off and on for two years. I was brought in to care for a small child they'd purchased from the parents. He was a wonderful boy, very smart. One day he called me Superman when I did something to help him, I don't remember what it was. I told him that I was not Superman as I could not fly but that I could be Clark Kent, Superman's human doppelganger. As young as he was, he could not pronounce the name Kent with the T on the end. So I became 'Ken' to him."
"What were your responsibilities?"
"They were all for the boy. He was very young, just two when he was acquired and he needed a lot of care and attention. He was younger than they liked but they'd been approached by a friend of the boy's father, who was desperate for money to pay his gambling debts. They'd done one other similar contract and knew this meant another chance to acquire a child who would essentially be theirs as long as they wanted. So they paid the man the money he needed and took the child. He was not yet toilet trained, so I was responsible for changing his diapers and taking him through toilet training when he was a little older, bathing him and making sure he had healthy food he could eat. I was responsible for his physical and emotional recoveries from each of the experiments they did on him as well as feeding, clothing and teaching him various subjects. I held him when he needed comfort and was scared. I played with him, read him stories from the books I was allowed to buy for him and taught him everything he could understand and absorb. I would be with him for two or three weeks at a time, sometimes longer depending on the necessary recovery time. At my request, they stopped their work on him while I was toilet training him, otherwise it just wouldn't have worked.
"I would be told to leave, they always gave me 24 hours' notice so I could tell the boy I had to leave for a time. Even at his young age, he was so smart that he soon figured out that my leaving meant hurtful things would be happening to him. Twice they had trouble bringing him out of the anesthetic they'd given him. The second time was the end of my time with the boy. Whatever they did to him, and I was only told specifics if I needed to know to help in his recovery, he fell into a coma and after a few days, they called me in, saying they'd made the decision to give him up, to leave him, as anonymously as possible, at a hospital. I believe at the time other young test subjects had already died and they didn't want this boy to also die."
He stopped for a sip of water and then sat back, with a sigh. "I took him to the hospital. On a Saturday 10 days after he'd fallen into the coma, I disguised myself and then wrapped him in blankets I stole from a laundromat, stole a car, muddied the license plate and drove over 100 miles from our location outside Colorado Springs. It was late night when I arrived at the hospital I'd selected and the Emergency Room was overflowing. I carried him into the Emergency Room, still wrapped in the blankets and yelled, 'This child is unconscious. I found him lying on the side of the road, please help him!'
"Then I left, after watching to make sure my boy was attended to. When I saw a man in scrubs picking him up and putting him on a gurney, I stole another car and left."
"Where did you go from there?"
"When I first realized what my cousin and his colleagues were doing, the experiments, I decided I'd better have a safe place to go if things went bad. When I was in high school and college, I'd been part of an outdoor group, hiking, backpacking, learning to live in the wild sort of thing. It was fun, physically and mentally challenging and completely different than anything else in my life and Bruce, although he supported me, had never attended a meeting or done anything with me in the club, or anything else in the outdoors. I decided using the skills I'd learned would be a good idea, keep me safe.
"Whenever I was on a break from taking care of Johnny, I started gathering what I thought I might need. By that time, the group was in Utah and Bruce told me we'd probably be moving to a town in Colorado. After he told me, I rented a storage unit within about 75 miles of that town and started stocking it with what I'd need, survival gear.
"That night, after I took Johnny to the hospital, I drove toward my storage unit. I ditched the car off the main road outside of the town with my storage and hiked in. By the time I reached the facility, it was open and I slept in my storage unit that day. I had my outdoor gear, including some dry food, stored there and I had a jug of water with me so I was fairly comfortable. I also had a 4 wheel drive truck with a camper stored there so when I woke, I made it driveable and then drove it around to my unit and took my outdoor gear, tent, etc., as I couldn't be sure where I'd end up or how long I'd need to stay away from civilization. I also had things I could barter or sell.
"Basically I took everything out that was usable or worth anything before leaving. Then I drove into the mountains until I found a spot I thought was remote enough. I stayed there through the winter, changing my appearance when I had to go into the nearest town. I had an ax and a bow and arrows with me, I also had a rifle but didn't want to use it because of the noise and having to buy ammunition. It would be easier to make more arrows. I brought all that with me, hunting when necessary and cutting wood for my fire bowl. I lined the inside of the camper and had foam pads and several thermal blankets underneath my sleeping bag, inside the bag and on top. I also had a heater, so I heated the camper before I went in for the night and I had an oxygen meter that one of the members of the outdoor club made for each of us. All in all, I was pretty comfortable in the camper and I had a radio for company.
"When the snow stopped and the air started getting warmer, I drove to another town and bought enough canned and dry goods to keep me fed for a year. Back at my camp site, I packed up, cleared any traces I'd lived there, just as we used to do when backpacking in the wild and drove farther into the mountains, northeast of where I'd been. All in all, I was in those mountains for a little over 3 years, repeating the process of buying enough food to last months, hunting and fishing for protein and moving every spring. When I got lonely and bored I decided to find somewhere I could live quietly and anonymously."
"And where was that?"
He told them the name of the place, a medium sized city where other people would be around, he could find work and live quietly without the noise and commotion of a larger city.
"We know you served a couple of years in jail. What was that about?"
Carpenter sighed, "Bruce tracked me down. Luckily, I saw him before he saw me. I went straight to the nearest police station and turned myself into the local police for the theft of the car from the hospital parking lot. It was 8 years since I'd dropped Johnny at the hospital and I thought confessing to that theft would be better than to the original theft. I told them my conscience was bothering me and where I'd ditched the car. They put me in their lockup while they investigated and then, as I'd already confessed, I was sentenced to three years. Since it was my first offense and I'd turned myself in, I was out in a year and a half with a year's probation and I lived as quietly as possible until that was finished, always watching over my shoulder.
"When I completed my probation, I packed my bags and moved to Europe, where I finally felt safe. My mother was German and met my father while he served in the US Army and was stationed in Germany. I was born in Germany so I am both a US citizen and a citizen of Germany as well as the EU, and knew my entry would not be a problem. I remembered that Bruce hated to travel, there had never been news of any arrests and I thought I was finally home free.
"I lived in towns small enough that strangers were immediately noticed but large enough to have work opportunities and decent housing. I also subscribed to an American newspaper. Eventually I bought a computer and when I looked for my cousin, found an obituary for him. I wasn't and am still not sure it was him but no one's come after me until now."
"The obituary was legitimate, he was killed in a motorcycle accident. That's now being investigated."
"Out of curiosity, how did you find me?"
"The little boy you took care of kept the drawing he did when he was first captured, sold, to your group. You handled that drawing and left your DNA on it. While you were in prison, your DNA was taken and entered into a database on a computer. When the national database was created, the prison added the DNA records they had, including your name.
"Once we had your DNA, we found the rest of the information we needed to find you. I will say, you were difficult to pin down but a colleague with international contacts got in touch with them and we had your location within a couple of days."
Carpenter nodded with a sigh. "And little Johnny, how is he?"
"He's doing well. He'll be better when this mess is over with, it's been hard on all the survivors."
"You've arrested the others?"
Andreson nodded and Carpenter relaxed a little. "I never knew how many there were, just the group that worked with my cousin and that varied between 9 and 12, there were three who worked with another group besides my cousin's. I've always been afraid they'd come after me if they thought I was a danger to them."
Jeff nodded again and Carpenter continued, "What happens now?"
"You're being charged as an accessory to kidnapping of minors, trafficking of human beings, the illegal experimentation and unlawful detainment of minors and adults as well as torture of minors and adults and the theft of the first vehicle."
"Only one minor, I never hurt him nor did I kidnap anyone! I heard about but never saw any of the other test subjects. I suppose I should have a lawyer. If I don't know any, will you arrange for one?"
"We can arrange for a public defender if you'd like. I'll take care of that now." Jeff sent a text and then sat back. "One of our agents is calling the Public Defenders' office now. Our conversation is done until your attorney gets here. What we need in the meantime is for you to write your statement just as you've told me."
"All right. Uh, I need a restroom."
He jumped when a door opened and another man in a suit walked in. "I'll escort you to the restroom, Mr. Carpenter." There were actually two escorts, one who went into the restroom with him and another who apparently guarded the door.
While he and his escorts were gone, one of the staff from Legal entered the Interrogation room. "Special Agent Andreson, the Public Defenders' office called. They won't be able to get anyone here until 0900 tomorrow morning."
Jeff nodded, "All right, thanks. You heard his statement?"
The woman nodded and the agent continued, "I'll read him his rights, formally charge him, then he can spend the night in our lockup, we don't have anyone else in there right now. He'll need water, dinner and breakfast." He looked up at the paralegal, chuckling, "Sorry, Ms. Santos, I was talking out loud to myself. We'll take care of his accommodations."
Carpenter's statement was written, he summarized his years hiding in the mountains, the Legal Department scanned his statement into the system, he gave his electronic signature and then he was Mirandized and formally charged. While escorting him in handcuffs to their lockup, he was asked what he would like for dinner and breakfast. The prisoner briefly found that amusing although the knowledge that he was in deep trouble quickly removed the humor from the situation.
Realizing their prisoner would have jet lag and that as an older person he might be more susceptible to cooler temperatures, his bunk in lockup had additional padding for the thin mattress and extra blankets.
He had another question for Andreson, "Would it be possible for me to see or even just speak with Johnny? I've worried about him all these years."
Jeff shook his head, "No. I've told you his status, that's all the information you'll be given."
Carpenter sighed as he sat on his bunk, surprised at how much more comfortable it was than the bunk in his prison cell all those years ago. He scrunched his face, "I have a book in my suitcase, would it be possible to have that – and my reading glasses?"
"I'll leave word with the security officers that you may have the book and your glasses. Is there anything else in your suitcase that you'll need? Medication?"
"I'm not on any and no, oh, yes, I have a deck of cards in there, I can play solitaire. I do have a sweater, I get cold in the evenings. If possible, I'd also like that."
"All right. Since you've flown across Europe, the Atlantic Ocean and the US in the last 24 hours, you will be jet lagged for the next few days. Sleep when you can, it's quiet in here, it won't be in the county jail where you'll await your trial."
"Will that be here, in this county?"
Jeff shrugged, "Ask your attorney. That's not in my hands." He hoped it would be as the first kidnappings, purchases and operations had taken place here and in neighboring southern California counties.
After leaving the prisoner, Jeff stopped to tell the watch commander that Carpenter could have his sweater, book, reading glasses and a deck of cards from his suitcase. Then he thought about that, adding, "He's avoided capture for 40 years. Better have the sweater, book, his glasses and the deck of cards scanned by Lang Ng in the lab. Actually, let's look at his whole suitcase, then there won't be any surprises. He flew from Europe to DC on a CIA jet, don't know if they or our arresting team searched his belongings."
The officer agreed and Jeff left. Heartsick as he thought of the children sold by their parents and those who'd been kidnapped, he walked from the lockup in the basement up to his desk on the second floor, needing the exercise and the time to clear his head. Back at his desk, he read Carpenter's statement again and then, looking at his watch, sent texts to the SAC, his immediate boss, and Director Vance, asking for a video meeting.
When Vance said yes, Andreson joined MacDonald in his office where they pinged the director.
Vance frowned at the look on Andreson's face. "You all right?"
"Overall, yes, thanks. However, I'm bothered by what I've learned and I'm sorry to have to share this with you."
"Carpenter's statement?"
Jeff nodded and then quietly told the other men about little 'Johnny', their own Timothy Gibbs, having been, for all intents and purposes, sold to his captors. Vance held up a hand and moved out of camera range for several minutes, while Mac closed his eyes.
When Vance returned, his eyes were red but he was calm. With a sigh he said, "I once asked Gibbs how he dealt with everything he'd experienced and he said that along with building boats and toys in his basement, he kept a pile of logs outside and sometimes chopped wood with an ax until his hands were too blistered."
Mac took a deep breath, "I might try that myself."
Jeff nodded, "Do we have, that is, does Tim have to know this? About being sold?"
The other two looked at him and he nodded, "Right. He'll know there's something we don't want to tell him, which means it's bad and he won't let up until he knows. Do we tell Gibbs first?"
Vance shook his head, "No, we tell them together and gentlemen, I'll do the telling, in person."
The other two opened their mouths to disagree when Mac shook himself, saying, "You've known him so long, longer than either of us, you're a member of his family. Leon, I'm sorry for you that it makes sense you tell them."
"That man, Langston, he's dead, right?"
Jeff nodded, "Yes, sir, died in the '80s."
"Then before I meet with Tim, we need to know what his birth mother knew and when. If she knew anything, even after the fact, and did nothing, then she's an accessory to human trafficking, an accessory to everything else the scientists are being charged with and she'll also be charged with obstruction of justice."
Agent Andreson pulled the file up on his phone. "I haven't said anything before now because I wanted to see what we uncovered. The first report of Jeffrey Langston's disappearance was filed 7 days, an entire week, after William Carpenter was hired by his cousin to take care of Johnny, their name for our toddler. And it was filed by his paternal grandfather, Admiral Langston, from his home in Virginia."
Vance frowned, closed his eyes and then sighing, asked, "How complete are the scientists' records?"
"From what I've seen and been told by our experts, very organized." Jeff was quiet as he pulled up the file with the records. He stopped, taking a deep breath and holding it before exhaling and continuing his report. "The contract for the sale of Jeffrey Andrew Langston is dated the same day as Carpenter reported, a week before his disappearance was reported. And it's signed by Daniel F. Langston and dated that same day."
"So we have proof they delayed reporting his disappearance. Isn't that grandmother still alive?"
"Both of them are, Director. The paternal grandmother, Penelope Langston, is currently lecturing on women's rights in various places in Africa."
Vance's smile was spontaneous, "Really? That's something, I hope she's not as horrid as her son and daughter-in-law."
"Unless it's her guilty conscience." Jeff continued, "Sir, I have a large amount of information we've found that doesn't necessarily figure in the case, except as a character sketch of our toddler's parents."
"Why do I think I'm not going to like the information?"
"Because of the way it adds up, for the time in which things happened. These days, it wouldn't be a 'thing' but back then it was big and bad."
"Starting with?"
"As we all know, it's standard procedure to verify every piece of information we gather on a case. When we went to the hospital where Daniel Langston died, with a warrant to look at his medical records, the cause of death in his medical records but not on his death certificate, is listed as HIV-AIDS. His death certificate lists cancer as the cause of death. As tragic as it is that he had AIDS, it is not the 'thing', the next bit is.
"From there, we did some digging and found a few comments that Lieutenant Langston was a homosexual protected and advanced in the Navy by his father the Admiral. There are at least 3 instances where his father seems to have manipulated things so that Daniel was transferred to a Navy base away from the spotlight. And although he had a guaranteed place at Annapolis, he chose instead to attend OCS after graduating from college, a civilian college with a high ranking. The problem seemed to be that the Admiral always made sure his son was promoted or transferred. And I guess maybe if I'd been in the Admiral's position, I would have done anything to protect my son but back then, there was a lot of resentment. And from what we've been able to discover, it was the un-warrented promotions that people didn't like.
"Less than a month after his OCS graduation, Ensign Langston met Lily Hubbard and they married within weeks. This part is hearsay but they lived on base after they were first married and neighbors reported screaming battles between the two. One woman is quoted as saying that the new Mrs. Langston was the unhappiest bride she'd ever seen.
"Two months later, Langston is suddenly and, again this is hearsay, totally without merit promoted to a Lieutenant Junior Grade and they were transferred to Bremerton, Washington where nobody knew they'd met less than three months previously. In November, 5 months after they met and married, the new Mrs. Langston had a baby they named Jeffrey Andrew and all was well.
"At one point, they were transferred to Point Mugo, in California, with Langston assigned to an administrative position. Months later, he was promoted to a full Lieutenant and they were transferred here, to San Diego. They lived off base and by now any rumors had been silenced by his marriage and the birth of his son.
"Shortly after the date of the transfer, we began to see financial problems in the couple's records and we uncovered what looks like gossip but may have been a unofficial inquiry. Because they lived off base, at first there wasn't much gossip about them. However, Mrs. Lieutenant, who had been a volunteer at a hospital in Bremerton, was reportedly now employed at a church school as their secretary. They may live off base but the news that the wife of a supposedly up and coming officer has a job gets around.
"When we examined their financials, we found that their savings account, which was in good shape after their wedding and again after the birth of their son, had been drained, with every withdrawal having the Lieutenant's signature on it. Weeks later, their checking account is less than a dollar from being overdrawn when Mrs. Lieutenant deposits $17.00. He's still in the Navy, being paid regularly. She's still working and depositing her paycheck regularly. The rent on their home is well within their combined income. Where is that money going?
"I found out today when Carpenter said one parent sold his toddler son for cash up front to pay off his gambling debts. The contract states that the boy will be in the care of the rogue who signed the contract for a minimum of two years. Our victim is the only toddler in the entire group, that can only mean Jeffrey Langston."
Vance again closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, he looked at the two men. "Next steps?"
"There are no records anywhere, not any law enforcement entity, federal, state, county, city or town, of Lily Hubbard sharing any information about the day her son disappeared, not even much about what she did upon discovering her son was missing. As I said earlier, the first notification came from Admiral Hubbard from his home in Virginia 7 days after the baby's disappearance.
"I plan to arrest Lily Hubbard for collusion with her husband regarding the 'sale' of the baby as well as obstruction of justice. I also want to meet with her twin brother the Navy Captain and probably her mother and former mother-in-law, no matter where she is. I would like to bring Lily here and at the same time, meet separately with the others."
"Where does she live now?"
"She lives in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and teaches at a nearby community college. However, we had a report overnight from the Boston team. They found the house locked up with her mail on vacation hold for 14 days. I've got eyes on the Captain's house, off base, to see if she shows up there and at her younger son's home in Santa Barbara in case she's there. However, neither the younger son nor his family are around and there are tenants in their house. We made discreet inquiries at the wife's place of employment and were told she'd had to quit because her husband had a new job in either Greece or England, the people I spoke with weren't sure. So they're in the wind and we don't yet know where Lily is."
Vance nodded, glad he could help with something, "The son is either in Varkiza or Athens, Greece, with his family. He's teaching at a university there, I'll get you the name. When the term ends there, he and his family are moving to the UK, I believe they were looking for a place to live in a town outside London called Brambury. He's a math guy as is Timothy. Mello held a lecture that Tim signed up for before they relocated to Greece. When he realized he couldn't attend, he wrote the organizers of the lecture, asking if it would be recorded. Long story short, Mello contacted him and the two hit it off, spoke again, I believe on two or three more occasions, once for as long as two hours, according to Artemis, Tim's wife.
"During their third chat, Mello told Tim he'd been offered a professorial position at a university in the town of Brambury, near London. The university name also starts with a 'B' but I don't remember what it is. Then he was also invited to teach the spring semester at the university in Greece and accepted both. By this time they were Tim and Matt. However, although he's younger than Tim and couldn't have been involved in baby Jeffrey's situation, Tim now believes the man had ulterior motives in befriending him after Tim's first call to ask about recording the lecture.
"There was some sort of smug gesture or look between Mello and his wife when Tim and his wife picked them up at the Athens airport and that's when Tim came to the conclusion that he didn't want to live with this anymore. Mello may know more than he should. Hell, everyone in that family may know more than they should, without doing anything about it! I trust you and your team will interview each of them?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Then bring Lily in as soon as possible and assign a separate team to visit the Captain and the grandmother. Tell me about the younger son again. I know you detailed him before but now I have a different perspective. "
"He's a fraternal twin, his twin is named Colleen. He's married to a Michelle West and they have two sets of twins, both fraternal. He is or was a Mathematics Professor at UC Santa Barbara. His sister Colleen is also married with one child and they live near San Francisco where she's a practicing psychologist. As she doesn't seem to be involved, we haven't probed any deeper into her life.
"Matthew and Colleen have two half-sisters, also fraternal twins, born to Lily and her second husband, Rafael Mello. Mr. Mello died three years ago. The younger twins are in university in the UK and do not appear to be close to their Hubbard family. Their father was the son of Portuguese immigrants to Canada and the young women seem to spend more time with their Mello relatives in Portugal than with the Hubbards.
"Here's another item of minor interest: Rafael adopted the older twins after his marriage to Lily. At the insistence of their biological paternal grandmother, the older twins kept Langston as their surname but hyphenate it with Mello and both generally just use Mello. Colleen's son's middle name is Rafael and one of Matthew's daughter's name is Rafaela."
"Thank you, I think we all needed those slight touches of love and loyalty!" He sighed, "I want to have this all wrapped up as soon as possible."
Mac nodded, "Everyone's made great progress, Director, I can see that happening. Not the trials but we'll have everyone concerned behind bars before then."
Jeff held up crossed fingers and Vance smiled before shaking his head, "Thank you both. The problem with the trials is that our victim cannot be alone or even speak with his NCIS family members or their spouses, three of whom are Tim's siblings, without a third party witnessing and/or recording until the trials are over, years from now and that's affecting the entire family."
He closed his eyes and Andreson nodded, "I know, sir, I'm being copied on emails and get sent texts with photos of texts that Tim sends to his family."
"We need to revisit this as soon as possible and determine whether the block is absolutely necessary. This is only the second time in my years with the agency that I've seen the block used and in the earlier case, they were all previously convicted criminals. That is certainly not the case here and it's not only affecting Tim's family members, it's deeply affecting him. He's already deeply affected by what happened to him, he should be protected by us, not made to feel that neither he nor his family can be trusted. Although his emotional health and that of his NCIS family members and partners are in danger, I also fear losing Tim as an employee as well as his NCIS family members. Each of them is an exemplary employee and would have their pick of employers should they decide to leave us. As for their spouses, they're all trustworthy individuals. I know them all, my family is part of their extended family. That means I'm also restrained from working with my employee. I don't like it and I've had to bite my tongue to keep from advising Timothy to hire an attorney, who will certainly be able to overturn the restrictions we've imposed."
Jeff took a deep breath but his SAC spoke first. "To be honest, Director, this has been a topic of much discussion between us. Considering the Gibbs' family, neither of us understand why the block was necessary. I'd never even heard of the 'block' before this case and do not understand why the usual Non-Disclosure Agreement forms aren't being used."
Nodding, Jeff added, "The federal agent protection teams for the family have made a point of including changes in Tim in their reports. He's lost weight, no longer smiles or speaks much, his eyes are dull. I don't know him well but I do know that his eyes are expressive, or were expressive. While we hope he's different with his family members and we know we're not doctors of any sort but all this speaks to me of deepening depression. And that's not what this is supposed to be about. We're hurting not only Tim but everyone else involved."
Leon nodded, "All right, the ball is in my court. I listened to our Legal Department but you're right, this is not working. I'll schedule a call," He shook his head, "No, I need to see them in person. If you need me for anything, I'll be in Greece to meet with Tim and whoever else is in residence and then I'll fly to London to meet with the rest of the family. Tim's brother-in-law, SSA Ned Dorneget, is in Arizona on bereavement leave. I believe he is flying home at the end of the week so he may be either the first or the last to know.
"While I'm gone, continue with the case. Our next priorities are one, Lily, followed closely by her brother, mother and younger son and the former mother-in-law if you can meet with her during her travels, don't wait, I'll authorize any unusual travel. If she remains in Africa, assign the Naples' team to interview her. If we have any grounds to arrest her, do so.
"Also, while we are removing the block, all the NCIS agents, except for the absent Dorneget, in Europe report to Tim which means the younger son needs to be interviewed by someone outside of the European offices or outside of NCIS."
He looked at Jeff, who blinked. "Sir?"
"You haven't found the mother, Lily, yet, right? Fly overseas with me, interview the younger son and then fly home. By that time, your teams will have found the mother. Otherwise, we'll have to send someone from here and there isn't anyone who isn't friends or at least friendly with Timothy."
"How about the FBI?"
"Not from DC. He worked for them for two years and before that Gibbs' MCRT solved a lot of FBI cases for the local agents."
Jeff nodded, "When are you leaving?"
"As soon as you get here! Mac?"
"Yes, Director, I've already ordered the jet."
"Good, now back to Lily. You intend to arrest her."
"Yes, sir and our attorneys agree. Unless it turns out that Lily clearly doesn't know anything about the contract and our toddler being taken when he was, which considering the week's delay, I strongly doubt.
"I also want to charge her with obstruction of justice for the delayed report. As soon as we find her, we'll bring her in and her brother Captain Hubbard and his mother will also be questioned. We believe the brother will have more information than his mother, Jeffrey's maternal grandmother. If she's not there, we'll speak with her later."
"Very well. Everyone's doing a wonderful job on this, my congratulations to all. I had nightmares that it would take years to unravel."
Mac nodded, "It might have, if the professor hadn't written that letter to the FBI."
Leon nodded to Jeff, who left the call, hurrying to his workstation to pull together what he needed to interview Matt Langston Mello.
"Speaking of the Bureau, how are the probies doing that they foisted on us?"
Mac grinned, finally saying, "We anticipate requests for transfer to NCIS shortly after we release them from the case. We kept this as a surprise for you, Jethro Gibbs has spent several hours on Skype, working with them."
Happy although not the least bit surprised, Vance chuckled and that ended their call.