Prologue

It was late in the evening, Gibbs just returned from Kate’s funeral. He sat behind her desk, thinking of her. The office was dark, the only light came from a lamp on Kate’s desk. He stared at her picture and felt tears came up. He opened a drawer and went through her personal stuff. He didn’t want to give her parents an unpleasant surprise about their daughter. He looked through her documents and diary. When he putted the diary on the safe pile, a picture fell out on the ground. He picked it up and looked at it. On the picture stood a smiling girl, Gibbs could tell it wasn’t Kate, but the girl looked just like her. He wondered who it was, Kate never mentioned a younger sister. He turned the picture to see if there was a name or something on. ‘Joey, my girl’ he read and recognized Kate’s handwriting. He frowned, her girl? He picked up his phone and dialed a number. “Yeah, Abs. It’s me. Can you come down here for a sec? Thanks.” He hung up and stared at the photo. She had same eyes as Kate, she even had the same twinkle in her eyes as Kate. “What’s up, Gibbs?” Abby showed up in front of the desk. “You know this girl?” He held up he photo. Abby glanced at it. “That’s Kate…” she whispered and took over the photo. “Nope. It’s a girl called…” “Joey,” she interrupted him and looked up to him to find frowning in surprise. “Kate told me about her,” she started rambling. “but never showed me this. God, she looks just like her.” With a grin she stared at the photo. “Who is she and how does her photo and up in Kate’s diary?” Gibbs asked. “Joey is Kate’s daughter,” Abby said. “Can I keep this?” Gibbs nodded and she walked away with it.

Gibbs stood in a portal in front of an apartment in sunny Florida. He rang the bell and waited impatiently for the door to open. After a few seconds the door swung open. A young woman with brown hair in a pigtail stood in the doorway. “Yes?” she asked. Gibbs hesitated, this girl reminded him so much of Kate that it hurted. Even her voice was the same. “I’m looking for Joey Todd,” he said, although he was sure she stood right in front of him. “Who wants to know?” she asked, her eyes narrowed. “Jethro Gibbs. It’s about your mother, Kate,” he added, hoping that would convince her to let him in and talk. A shadow slid over her face, hearing that name. She stepped away and let him in. She walked him to the living room. “Have a seat, please,” she said soft. He sat down on the couch, she was sitting in front of him. “Did something happen to her?” she asked, glancing up to him. He nodded and took a deep breath. It hurts to talk about what happened. “She got…killed. I’m sorry,” he told her. Joey just stared at him, to devastated to say something. Suddenly she stood up and walked to the window. He saw her body shaking, she cried. He felt the urge to hold her in his arms, just like he did with Kate when she cried. She turned to face him. “It’s weird,” she said with a husky voice. She walked back to the couch and sat down. “What is?” he asked soft. “How you can be sad over some one you barely knew,” she explained. “Did you knew her?” she asked then, looking into his cloudy eyes. “Yes, I did. She was part of my team. I was with her when…” his voice broke. Instinctively Joey laid her hand on the back of his hand, she felt his pain. This sudden message hurted her too, although she met Kate just once in her life, a few years ago. “You said you barely knew her. Why? I mean, she was your mother,” he asked, finding some strength to talk. “I know. She’d gave me up for adoption. I only met her a couple of years ago, when I was trying to find her. It was great to see her, I liked her immediately. But she worked for the government and I just had a new job, so we couldn’t see each other much. We decided to take some distance, until we both had more time,” she explained. After her story it was quiet in the room. It explained a lot why Kate never mentioned a daughter. Suddenly a phone rang, ripping of the silent. They both startled and Joey rose on her feet. “Be right back,” she mumbled and walked away. Gibbs heard her answering the phone, but couldn’t hear what she was saying. He studied the room, it looked clean. To clean in his opinion. Or she wasn’t much around in this room, or she was away a lot. Though it was clean, it had something, it was cozy. Joey entered the room, she looked stressed. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. Work emergency,” she explained. He stood up and she walked him out. She opened the door for him. “Thanks for telling me, Jethro,” she said soft. He nodded. “If you ever wants to know more about Kate or just talk…” he handed her his business card. “Call me.” He got out and disappeared around the corner. Joey stared at the card, knowing she wouldn’t call. She closed the door and went into her bedroom.
The race against time has begun…