~Calalily~

Chapter 9

Gibbs walked into the kitchen to see Emma at the stove. She was heating some stew. “How long do you estimate we have before he starts watching us?” he asked.

She blew on a spoonful of the stew and held it out to him to taste. “Maybe a day, two at the most. If I’m right, he won’t wait long.”

“If you’re right?” He asked and took hold of the wrist of the hand still holding the spoon.

She fixed him with a look from her light brown eyes once more and told him, “I’m right. He wants me dead and he’ll come after me. I know he will.”

Tasting the stew and surprised to find it quite good, he nodded. “You’d better be right.” 

“Besides, your entire team and Army CID is working the case. Between this and them, we’ll get him.” Emma said as she turned off the burner and got two bowls down for them to have supper.

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Drew had been instructed to observe and stay out of the way. So she asked Agent McGee where the lab was. His eyes had widened for a moment before giving her directions. She took the elevator down a floor and walked the short distance to the automatic doors. Music was playing in the lab but low enough that Drew could hear a female voice muttering. 

“Why’d you have to agree to this? I was cool when you brought me the idea then you left on that helicopter and I realized you could get hurt. Now I’m ready to smack you Gibbs.”

Drew looked around to see a woman with black hair pulled into pig-tails talking to a picture on her monitor. Thinking it was a good moment to interrupt, she said, “Hello.”

The woman whipped around and glared at her. “Who are you?”

“Drew Toscani. I’m with the FBI. I came down to…”

“To what? Check my progress? My progress is the same as it was when Agent Sacks was down here. And when you see him, tell him I’ll skin him if he comes in my lab uninvited.”

“Oo-kay.” Drew said then looked at the computer screen. “He’s your friend?”

The woman’s mouth tightened and she said, “Yes. And I don’t like it when I don’t know what is going on.”

Drew told her, “Emma’s my partner and my best friend and I never like it when I get shut out.”

Eyes going from narrowed slits to curious looked her over. “You’re Emma’s partner from Chicago?”

Drew nodded and found her arm in a tight grasp as the woman pulled her to a chair. “Sit. Tell me everything about her and how she’ll keep Gibbs in one piece no matter what. I want to know everything. And my name’s Abby.”

Drew smiled. “Ok, Abby, all there is about Emma and then some….”

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Jenny was staring out the window of her office when she heard the door open. “Close the door behind you, Fornell.”

Tobias turned to do as he was told. It was always good to try and stay on Jen’s good side.

“What do you know about these two agents from Chicago?” She asked him.

“Well, they have one of the best closure rates in their entire department. Apparently this case is one of three they are still actively investigating along with going over cold cases from other agents. From that I gather they don’t have much of a life outside the office. Then again, how many of us actually manage that successfully?”

Jenny turned with a smile at that comment. “Some of us manage, Tobias.”

Sharing her smile for a moment he told her, “They’re straight shooters, Jen. They say what they mean and don’t start something they don’t intend to finish. Neither of them likes vacations which is probably why both have landed in your lap.”

With a sigh, Jenny met his eyes. “Jethro is too good an agent to lose again, Tobias.”

For a long moment he held her gaze. “I have a feeling you won’t lose him, Jenny. I think Agent Jordan was sincere when she said she’d protect him with her life.”

“Gibbs’ gut rubbing off on you, now?” She asked as he walked to the door.

“Gibbs isn’t the only man on the planet with instincts, Jen. Remember that.”

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He smiled as the husband’s body went limp, indicating he was finally dead. Turning his gaze on the wife, she whimpered. His nostrils flared at the stench of her fear. Feeling the rush through his veins his smile grew and she started to shake. Reaching out with the knife, he flicked it gently over her thigh. Watching the streak of red that appeared, he stared into her eyes as he moved his hand over and over again. Superficial cuts were all he made until she started to cry in earnest. That was when the blade slipped deeper and deeper into her skin. Finally when he was tired of toying with his latest, he pulled her head back by her hair. Showing her the knife, she also saw the grin that hadn’t left his face. Her eyes registered what he was going to do a moment before the knife slit her throat.

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Ziva was typing a report when the call came in. Local PD found a couple, bound and tortured in their home. They knew the case was too similar to what NCIS was investigating so they turned the scene over. If she didn’t have such a bad feeling about things she would have smiled at how DiNozzo and Mann argued over who was in charge.