9 months later

Chapter 1

Carly was dusting the tops of the cabinets when Tony walked in, pretending to cough through the dust in the air.

"Oh stop it!" She said and threw the dust rag at him.

Abby laughed when he refused to catch it. "It's just dust Tony. Regular household dust. Nothing you don't have at your apartment."

Tony looked at Abby, his expression hurt. She walked over to him and kissed him, grabbing his ass at the same time. When he jumped she smiled. "Stop acting like I hurt your feelings and get those boxes loaded for Carly."

He winked at Abby and flashed Carly a smile. "Sure thing."

-----------------

Gibbs was standing in the doorway watching as Abby and Carly set boxes down in his kitchen. He must have had a strange look on his face because Carly walked over to him and told him to relax. "Whatever you don't like can go into storage. Don't panic, this doesn't have to be painful."

He smiled and kissed her deeply. Ducky walked in and chuckled at the sight. "Well, Jethro, I believe this means you've properly retired Rule #12."

Ziva laughed and set down the box she carried. "At least it's retired when we aren't at work, Ducky."

Abby was watching those two closely. Gibbs noticed she was about to say something and so he gathered the men together to go get more boxes. As the walked outside, Tony remarked, "I never thought I'd see the day when you had a woman move in with you, Gibbs."

"Never thought I'd see the day you'd stay with one woman for a year, Tony. Doesn't mean it can't happen. Just means it's not expected." Gibbs explained. He saw Ducky staring at the boxes and asked, "What's wrong Ducky?"

"I think I'll let you take this box Jethro." Ducky said and handed it over. Written on the top was 'Lingerie'.

Tony started laughing. "That's Abby's handwriting. I think she's added a few new pieces to the collection, Gibbs."

Gibbs just walked away with the box in his arms.

------------------

"So, Ziva, what's going on with you and Ducky?" Abby asked and Carly stopped unpacking her clothes to watch the other woman answer.

"What are you talking about Abby?" Ziva questioned.

Carly smiled. "Yep. She answered a question with a question." She pulled out 5 bucks and handed it to Abby. "Of course you know what that means, right?"

Abby handed over another box and nodded. "Means we've struck gold. There is something going on."

"Nothing is going on." Ziva told them as she pulled out Carly's jewelry box from the box she was unpacking.

Carly quickly took it from her. "That stays in storage." She put it in a box marked to go to storage and then ignoring the looks she was getting said, "You and Ducky have been having tea an awful lot lately. Either you have a lot in your life that's going wrong, or you like spending time with him."

"Ducky is an interesting man," was all she would say.

"Ah, we get it." Carly and Abby said to each other. "You two have a lot of 'stories' to share." They grinned as they said it.

"I'm not going to talk about this. If you want my help, let’s get started." Ziva told them.

The other two women turned and started hanging and folding the clothes Ziva handed them. Gibbs walked in and cleared his throat before handing over the box marked 'Lingerie'. Abby laughed. Ziva turned away to hide her smile and Carly grinned like a Cheshire cat when she noticed the light in Jet's eye. Yep, they'd be going through this box later tonight.

Carly was agitated. Jethro had been watching her all afternoon and he had the source narrowed down to the one box she had to have moved to storage right away. He had eliminated the possibility of nerves from her moving in since she had practically lived with him for the last several months as it was. She was in the shower at the moment but he knew she wouldn't be in there long enough for him to look. Besides, if it was anything illegal she wouldn't have brought it to his house.



He walked into the kitchen to check the chicken. Carly had already cooked the rice and gravy and scalloped potatoes. When he saw the chicken was done, he took out plates and glasses. This had become routine for them on the nights they were home early enough to cook. He was puzzled by her behavior but knew it was only a matter of time before she told him. Abby didn't refer to him as the confessor for nothing. He had a knack for getting information from anyone.



-------------------



Carly stood under the spray of hot water, letting it run down her face, sweeping the tears away with it. That damn box. Why did it have to show back up now? Turning away from the water, she wiped her face with her hands and took a deep breath. Turning the taps, the water stopped and she stepped out, reaching for her towel. Quickly drying off, she smiled at the lingerie she had picked out to wear for Jet tonight. Abby had picked this out for her a few days ago and Carly had loved it right away. Two pieces of silky white fabric, a camisole top that hugged her chest and stomach ending a good two inches above the top of the tiny tap pants. She slipped into the outfit and covered it completely with one of Jet's dark gray tshirts. Brushing her hair out and leaving it damp, she went downstairs greeted by the sight of Jet dishing food onto plates. He turned just as she entered the kitchen and smiled at her.



"This looks wonderful Jet." She told him and watched his smile turn into a quick grin.



"You cooked it."



"But you make it look so pretty on the plates." She said and laughed when he narrowed his eyes at her.



They sat down to eat and talk about their day, their friends and the case they were working. By the time dinner was finished, they were both more relaxed than when they sat down. Working together, they had the food put away and the dishes washed in short order. Carly took Jet's hand and led him to their bedroom. Their bedroom. She smiled when they walked in and she pushed him toward the bed.



He stared at her and she could see he was wondering just what she was wearing under his shirt. Pulling it over her head, she let it drop to the floor and did a slow turn for him to see the entire outfit. Looking back at him, she saw it had the effect she hoped for. His eyes had darkened and color stained his cheeks. She walked slowly towards him. When she was within reach, he drew her to him and pulled her onto his lap for a passionate kiss.



His hands slid down her camisole top following the curve of her body to grip her hips, holding her tight against his hardness. Moaning into his mouth, Carly pulled his shirt over his head and then, impatient to feel his skin on hers, she shimmied out of her top. Coming back to his lips, she kissed him, pressing her breasts against his chest, her hips moving against him, showing him without words what she needed. He flipped her onto her back and stripped her of her tap pants, kissing his way down her body before placing his mouth on her, licking and sucking until she cried out her release. He stood then, removing his own pants and joining her back on the bed. He kissed her lips as he covered her body with his, his hands reaching under her to raise her hips for him, he thrust into her. Carly gasped and wrapped her legs around his waist while holding onto his shoulders. Every touch and sound she made urged him on. The slightest change in her grip and he instinctively slowed or quickened the pace of his thrusts. Deeper and harder, slower and teasing, he drove her up and beyond her limits and she cried out again and again, trembling in his arms as his release found him and they lay in each others arms, spent, content. Finally, after one soft kiss, sleep came and found them.

Tony was watching Abby lay beside him. He could almost see the gears turning, he knew something was bothering her. What frustrated him was the fact that she wouldn't talk about it. Yet she couldn't sleep and that meant that he wouldn't sleep. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her neck.

"Whatever it is, you won't get it worked out by being tense, Abs. You need to relax and get some sleep."

"Really?" Abby said, turning to him with a light in her eyes. "And what do you suggest to help me relax."

Tony grinned and quickly rolled her under him. She was laughing as he said, "I might have a few ideas." He kissed her until she stopped laughing and then saw to it that she relaxed properly.

--------------------

The following Monday dawned bright and early and turned wet and rainy quickly. Abby and Carly were listening to the rain instead of music and enjoying the sound of it hitting the ground right outside the lab windows.

Abby was staring at a sample in the microscope when she asked, "How did the rest of your weekend go?"

Carly grinned thinking about it. "Considering we both had the same smile this morning, how do you think it went?"

Abby looked up with a big smile. "That good?"

"Oh yeah!" They laughed and looked at the monitor of Abby's computer as it beeped to let them know they had a match.

Abby punched a few keys and brought them up on the big screen. She and Carly stared for a moment then looked at each other and said, "Uh-oh."

-------------------

Ziva was on the computer searching for a book when Tony read over her shoulder, "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, First Edition?"

She quickly closed the browser and pulled up the report she had just filed. "Don't you have a report to finish Tony?"

"Nah, I gave it to Gibbs half an hour ago. So, who's the book for Ziva?"

"Believe it or not Tony but some of us prefer to read than spend all our time in front of the 'boob tube'." She looked to McGee to see if she got the phrase right and he nodded his head as he was typing away on his keyboard.

"That's right, you don't have a tv." Tony said then he grinned. "We'll have to pitch in and buy you one for your birthday."

Shaking her head, Ziva scanned her report once more before closing it out and standing. "Tony, if you are good enough to find out when my birthday is, I'll let you buy me one. But you can't ask Abby."

Tony's smile grew bigger. He loved challenges.

------------------

Abby and Carly were frowning at Tim's reply to their message. Not only was there no problem with their system, the match had been verified several times. Adrian Selachi was back. Carly had read over the file on Adrian not long after she started working at NCIS because Abby made a mention of the case. She looked at Abby. Which one of them was going to tell Gibbs?

He knew it was bad news when they both showed up at his desk. Unfortunately, Carly had chosen that day to wear a skirt the size of Abby's to work and her legs managed to distract him for several moments before he looked at them. The look on their faces confirmed the feeling in his gut. "What did you find?"

Abby bit her lip and Carly looked worried. He raised his eyebrows and Carly took a breath. "We got a hit on the fingerprints, Gibbs." She still wouldn't call him Jet or even Jethro at work. That amused him until she named the person the fingerprints matched. "Adrian Selachi."

DiNozzo and McGee stopped what they were doing when the name was mentioned. Ziva was watching them puzzled. He just clenched his teeth. When Carly tapped her finger twice to her jaw he realized what he was doing.

"DiNozzo..."

"Find out when she was released and why we weren't notified."

"McGee..."

"Talk to her parole officer and see when she last checked in."

Both men picked up their phones and started dialing.

Ziva was still in the dark, but he didn't have time to explain. He stood and marched up the steps to the Director's office. She needed to know about this.

--------------------------

"Who is Adrian Selachi?" Ziva asked when Gibbs was out of sight.

Tony glanced up with his phone tucked between his ear and his shoulder. "How long have you know Jen, Ziva?"

"A long time." Ziva answered.

"Then you knew she had a sister? A sister that was killed?" Tim questioned.

"Yes, but what..." Ziva stopped and realized the person that had killed the young woman on Ducky's table had killed her dear friend's sister.

The five of them stared at each other when it hit them who the dead woman downstairs reminded them of. Jenny Shepard.

------------------------

"Agent Gibbs, she's on a call with the SecNav."

Gibbs walked right past Cynthia and into Jen's office. He just looked at her until she excused herself from the call and hung up.

"Jethro, I hope this is important. I was on the phone with the SecNav..."

"Adrian Selachi is out."

Jen dropped her pen and started shaking her head. "There's no way, I was to have been notified if she was up for parole."

"I've got Tony and Tim looking into that now. We should have answers soon. The evidence we collected at the crime scene proves that she's out. That apartment building was completed six months ago, the victim moved in last month. There was no other way Selachi's prints could have been at that scene."

He watched as she laid both hands on her desk, a sign that she was physically taking control of her emotions. "I want to know everything, Jethro, the minute you know something."

He nodded. "As long as it doesn't slow us down, I'll call you myself."

"Thank you, Jethro." Jenny said.

"You're welcome." He told her and left to see what his agents had found out.

------------------------------

"Well, my dear, you are quite young and very beautiful. It's a shame that life had to end this way for you." Ducky said to the young woman lying on his table.

"Dr. Mallard..." Jimmy started and stopped to swallow.

"Yes, Mr. Palmer?"

Jimmy shook his head. "What causes someone to..."

"To stab someone repeatedly this many times, Mr. Palmer?"

"Yes, Doctor."

"Jimmy, do you remember how you felt when Michelle was taken?"

"Yes, I remember."

"You remember that anger you felt?" When Jimmy nodded, he continued, "Multiply it several times and you have yourself a 'killing rage'. Of course that's just one reason someone would do something like this."

"What are the other reasons, Ducky?" Gibbs asked interrupting the conversation.

"Well, Jethro, there are crimes of passion and crimes of rage. Sometimes the two overlap, but in our young petty officer's case, I would say it was rage, not passion. The wounds are too clean for the killer to have had any feelings towards our victim. If it had been a crime of passion, the stab wounds would have varied in depth and severity. All these wounds are to the same depth and the first several wounds would have killed her within minutes. There was no need for all these unless there was a deep anger behind it, deeper than something a fleeting passion would inspire."

He watched as Jethro walked away without a word. He glanced down at the young petty officer and up to Jimmy before returning his gaze to the face of the victim. "Oh dear Lord."

Abby and Carly were back in the lab processing the rest of the evidence collected from the scene. They were silent and the music was off. Fingers flying over the keyboard, Carly nearly gasped out loud when a pain exploded in her head. She looked over at Abby and her vision was blurry. Mentally struggling to work through the pain in her head, she clenched her teeth. Abby slowly came back into focus as the pain receded and Carly took a deep breath. Trying to act like nothing was wrong, she asked, "Has Tony seen your new outfit yet?"

Shaking her head from over the shirt she was processing, Abby said, "Not yet. I was going to last night but he wasn't patient enough."

"Wasn't patient enough for what?" Gibbs asked, walking in with a Caf-Pow and a coffee.

Abby looked up with a quick grin and quipped, "For dinner out."

With a look that said he didn't believe her, Gibbs handed her the Caf-Pow and asked, "What have you got for me?"

Abby started. "I found residue on the inside of the petty officer's skirt. Turns out it was a lubricant and I've already matched it to her..." Abby trailed off as she pointed to one of the objects bagged on the table.

Turning from Abby to Carly, he raised his eyebrows. Carly sighed. "Apparently our petty officer had an online friend who insisted she meet this 'hot, older woman' and everything I've found shows the meeting was for last night. What doesn't make sense is that for a smart woman, our petty officer agreed to let this woman come to her house instead of meeting over drinks or something."

"What makes you say she's a smart woman?" Gibbs asked.

Carly was startled. "Well, um, she graduated first in her class at the academy, her security measures on her laptop were several levels higher than your average user and well, her journal."

"Her journal?" He asked.

"She didn't mention who the woman was in the journal, only that she was meeting someone new and that she was nervous. It was her first true blind date."

Setting the coffee down beside her keyboard, Gibbs turned to walk out. "Too bad it was her last as well."

-----------------------------

Tony and Tim were watching as Ziva and Gibbs questioned Petty Officer Russell's friend. "I'm being honest with you. This woman approached me a week ago and asked if I knew any pretty red-heads. I said yes, I had a few friends she might be interested in. She was HOT. If she had wanted a brunette, I'd have jumped right then."

"You'd have been dead if she wanted a brunette." Ziva informed her bluntly.

The woman looked from Gibbs to Ziva. "What? Faith's dead?"

"Yes." Gibbs told her quietly.

"When? How?"

"Is this the 'hot' woman you told her about?" Ziva asked and slid a picture across the table to her.

She took one look and paled. "She's an ex-con? But she..."

"Looked so nice in the bar?" Ziva finished for her.

"What did she do?"

"She killed a woman. Her lover." Gibbs said and slid another picture across the table to her.

Sydney Poole put her hand to her mouth and shook her head. "No." She said from behind her hand.

Gibbs and Ziva stood as one and, taking the photos back, walked out. Gibbs looked in the observation room and said, "DiNozzo, McGee, see her out, follow her and sit on her location. If she moves, you move. Adrian knows she's left a witness. She'll be back."

The two men nodded and went to help Ms. Poole to her car.

-------------------------

Jenny sat at her desk, staring blankly at her computer screen. Her sister's face was fresh in her mind. The image as if she had just seen her, not as if it had been nine years. Nine years, how could someone be released from prison after only nine years? Narrowing her eyes, Jenny pulled up the case file. She was going to do a little investigating of her own.

Jenny was standing outside a house in Georgetown. She looked up and down the street before circling to the back and checking the door. It was ajar and Jen pulled her gun. Entering and cautiously clearing the kitchen and dining room, she moved into the hallway. As she entered the office, she heard sirens approaching. She was about to go out the way she came in when the police burst in and shouted, "Put the gun down! Put the gun down!"

With two fingers, Jenny put the gun on the small table beside her and said over her shoulder, "My name is Jenny Shepard, I'm the Director of NCIS."

"Lady, we got a call saying there were shots fired at this address, put your hands behind your head." The first officer in the room said.

Narrowing her eyes, she did as she was told. "Officer, I'm telling you, I didn't fire my weapon."

"We'll determine that at our lab, Ma'am." A second officer said.

"Trenton, Mathers, you'd better come take a look at this." A third officer said.

Officer Trenton turned Jenny around roughly and marched her along with them to a game room that was off the side of what had to be a viewing room. It had a large screen on one wall with a projector at the other end of the room. Officer Mathers made a comment under his breath about the way the "upper crust" lived. There between the pool table and the wet bar was a very dead Judge Rufkins.

Immediately, Officer Trenton started reading Jenny her rights as Office Mathers called in homicide. Not bothering to listen to her story they took her right to the station and left the other two officers at the house to secure the scene.

-------------------------

Abby was watching Carly. Every so often Carly would reach up and rub her forehead. Wondering what the hell her friend was keeping from her was driving Abby crazy so she decided to do something about it. "Where'd you find her journal?"

"What?" Carly asked.

"The journal you told Gibbs about. Where did you find it?"

"Her online journal. She had it linked in her favorites." Carly answered.

Abby was still skeptical. "How did you guess her password?"

Carly looked down and away. Rubbing her head once more, she quietly told Abby, "I haven't yet."

Abby almost exploded from her chair. "What do you mean you haven't yet? You told Gibbs that you had read it! What the hell is going on?"

Carly shook her head. "If you can access her journal, you'll see that what I told him was true. But please, can we talk about this later? I can't ... I can't work with this damn headache. I can barely see straight right now."

Abby was concerned and upset all at the same time. "How long has it been since you've had a headache this bad?"

Eyes closed, Carly's voice grew even quieter, "Nine years."

Abby picked up the phone and punched in a number. "I need you down here." She said quietly so that she wouldn't cause Carly any more pain.

Gibbs arrived within two minutes and took one look at Carly. Nodding at Abby, he walked over and picked her up from the chair she was sitting in. Still in pain, Carly didn't open her eyes. She whispered, "I'm sorry, Jet."

He walked to the elevator and when the doors shut he kissed her forehead. "It'll be ok, Carly. I'm taking you home."

Abby sat thinking for a moment and then turned to Petty Officer Russell's computer. She had to get into that journal and make sure Carly was right. After all her two friends had been through, she wasn't about to let something like this come between them.

Tony walked into the lab not long after Gibbs had taken Carly home. Her sudden headache was worrying the boss but Tony wondered if it wasn't a way for Carly to get them out of the office for a little middle-of-the-day fun. That line of thinking had him heading down to the lab and there he was, watching Abby attack the keyboard with her usual ferociousness, a worried look on her face. After several minutes, Abby stopped and read what came up on the screen. He heard her mutter, "I'll be damned. She was right."

"Who was right Abs?" He asked, walked over to the screen.

Abby hit a button and the screen went blank. "Carly." She grinned at him. "She told me you would like this outfit I bought the other day and I was just thinking about wearing it tonight."

Smiling, Tony asked, "What does it look like?"

Abby laughed, "I'm not telling, but I promise you'll like it."

Leaning in to bite her neck at her collar, Tony pulled her up against him. "I like everything you do, Abs."

Abby's eyes widened and she gasped as she felt Tony's hardness at the juncture of her thighs. "Tony!"

Growling, he kissed her lips passionately. "Did I mention that everything you do drives me crazy with lust?"

Wriggling against him, Abby's response was to wrap her legs around Tony's waist. "Why should you be sane when I can't think straight when you come down here?"

Kissing her again, he pushed his hips forward to tease her and groaned when he felt her heat. "Abby!"

Her hands quickly went to the waistband of his dress pants and unfastened them, opening them and pushing them and his underwear down slightly. He had to catch his breath when her hand wrapped around his rigid manhood. "ABBY!" He said in a warning tone.

He reached under her skirt to find her panties were moist. Abby kissed him then while stroking him up and down. His fingers wrapped around the strip of material covering her feminine center and he ripped them. Pulling her to the edge of her chair, he let her guide him into her, both of them sighing when he was completely inside.

Trying to take control of the situation, Tony said, "Abby, this may not be the best place..." his voice broke when she tightened her muscles around him, squeezing him. "Geez, Abby!" His fingers found her small bud and without moving a muscle he drove her to climax. Her inner walls milked him and he groaned, kissing her as his release overcame him.

Breathing hard, Tony rested his forehead against Abby's. "See what I mean? Everything you do makes me this way."

Abby grinned. "What am I going to do for panties Tony?"

He grinned himself as he stepped back and fixed his clothes. Slipping the ruined undergarment off her, he stuffed them in his pocket. "Go commando and I'll enjoy that thought all day."

When she hit him, he laughed. Walking over to her office, he pulled out a drawer in her file cabinet and picked out a pair of panties that she had stashed with some clothes. He helped her step into them and said, "There, now is that better?"

"Is what better DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, walking back in the lab. Tony and Abby stepped away from each other guiltily. When they didn't answer Gibbs turned to Abby, "Carly said you might have the journal up for me to go over myself?"

"Right, it's right here." Abby told him putting the journal up on the plasma.

He was halfway through reading it when his phone rang. "Gibbs." He answered. "What? Where are you Jenny?" He listened for a moment more. "We'll be right there." He closed his phone and tossed the keys to Tony. "Bring the car around, the Director's been arrested for murder."

They walked out leaving a stumped Abby behind. The Director arrested? And how had Carly known she would have gotten into the journal by the time Gibbs got back?

Gibbs marched into the police station; ignoring the desk sargeant, he headed straight for the Captain's office. Unannounced, he walked in and held up his badge. "Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS."

Captain Downey looked at the badge and at the agent in front of him. So here was the man that would make his life a living hell.

"Agent Gibbs, wha..."

"Special Agent and don't give me any run around. The Director is here and you have no evidence to hold her." Gibbs stated bluntly.

"Now we don't know yet about the evidence, Special Agent Gibbs."

"Was her gun fired? Have you checked for GSR on her hands and clothes? Has ballistics been able to match the bullet that killed Judge Rufkins to Director Shepard's gun?" He spit the questions at the Captain rapidly.

"Special Agent Gibbs..." the Captain said while standing to assert his power.

"My gut tells me you don't have anything on her and until you do, you will release her. We have a Federal Agency to run."

"It's not that simple Agent Gibbs and you know it." Captain Downey tried to explain when Officer Mathers walked in and handed some paperwork to him.

"The results for Ms. Shepard, Captain. Just got them from the lab." Officer Mathers said.

Gibbs reached over and took them from the Captain to read over. "Here's your proof Captain. Have your officer bring my Director up." Gibbs stared at the Captain waiting. "NOW!" He ordered.

Captain Downey nodded to Officer Mathers and the officer ran to do as he was told.

---------------------

Jenny buckled in and held on to the dash as Gibbs took off away from the police department. She watched him closely but had no idea how mad he was at this.

"What the hell were you thinking, Jen? Were you thinking? You are the Director of NCIS. You can't be involved in this case any more than you already are. I wouldn't be surprised if you were asked politely to step down while this case is going on, especially now that Judge Rufkins has been murdered. You've just made finding Adrian that much harder since the FBI will probably be breathing down our necks now." She turned toward the window and said nothing which only served to irritate Gibbs more. "Answer me, Jen!"

"I'm still your boss, Agent Gibbs." She told him coldly.

"No." He gave her a hard stare before turning his attention back to the road. "In this, you are not my boss. And if you screw up like this again, someone up higher than you is going to make sure you aren't my boss at all."

"He let her out, Jethro. All I wanted were some answers. When I got there, the door was open and I went in." At the look he gave her she agreed, "I should have called for backup. I should have taken you with me. But I needed to know why and how he influenced the parole board to let her out. I have to have answers Jethro."

"Damn it, Jenny, I'm working on getting you those answers and putting Adrian back in prison. You need to stay out of the way."

"You're right. I know you're right, but it's so hard to step aside and let someone else take care of this."

Gibbs looked at her for a moment. "I know it is, Jen, but sometimes that's how it has to happen."

Jenny nodded. "I trust you Gibbs. I know you're going to get her and I thank you for that."

With a short nod, he pulled into a parking spot at headquarters and they stepped out of the car to find Fornell waiting for them.

"Tobias." Gibbs said shortly, not in the mood for any FBI involvement.

Fornell held up his hands. "I'm not here to take the case from you Gibbs. As of twenty minutes ago, I was on vacation for the week. I'm offering my help as part of your team. Just don't be surprised when the FBI shows up sometime later today. I only had so much time to stall them and it won't work for long."

Gibbs stared at him for a long moment and then nodded. "What have you heard about the judge's murder?"

Fornell shook his head. "Not out here."

The three of them made their way into the building and to the elevator. Once it started moving, Jenny moved to flip the switch. Fornell looked at Gibbs as if seeking approval to talk about this in front of her. After a slight nod of Gibbs' head, Fornell started. "Judge Rufkins got a huge influx of funds a week ago. We're trying to trace it but haven't come up with anything yet. Whoever sent him the money arranged for the release of 3 other prisoners besides Adrian. Two men and a woman. All three are suspected to have connections to a terrorist cell here in the DC area."

Fornell paused to let Gibbs process the information. "Adrian was released as a distraction for us?" He voiced Fornell's suspicions immediately.

"That's my theory." Fornell confirmed.

---------------------

"Ink Art, this is Lacey."

"Lacey, I need a favor." Carly said in a low voice.

"Sure! What's up?" Lacey asked, her usual cheerful self.

"I need a ride back to work and I was hoping you could drive me."

"You need a ride? Where's your car?"

"It's here, but I can't drive. I have a splitting headache and Jet brought me home."

"Well, if he did, I'm not sure you need to go back to work Carly."

"I have to Lacey. I can't explain it but I have to go back."

"Gibbs' gut feelings aren't contagious are they?" Lacey asked.

When Carly said, "Please, Lacey," Lacey knew something was wrong.

"It will take a few minutes for me to lock up here but I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thank you Lacey." Carly said and hung up the phone.

----------------

Tony, Tim and Ziva were busy pulling backgrounds on the three other people released from prison. Nothing they found was good and none of it would help clue them in as to what was being planned. Abby came running into the bullpen with a note for Gibbs and he immediately called a halt to what they were doing.

"Adrian has the Director." He announced to everyone.

"What happened to Fornell?" Tony asked.

"He was knocked unconscious." Abby told him. "Apparently it wasn't Adrian that killed the judge and all she's interested in is getting even with Jen for sending her to prison."

"She killed Jen's sister." Ziva said and Tony thanked her for stating the obvious.

"We know that." Gibbs said. "What we didn't know was that Jen tried to break up Adrian and her sister because she knew something was off with Adrian. The night her sister was killed, she was staying at Jen's and Adrian killed her by mistake."

"She meant to kill the Director?" Tim asked, surprised by this.

"Yes." Abby answered him and read the note aloud. " 'Even after all this time you still get to me, Jenny Shepard. Today, I'll get to you.' This note was waiting on the windshield of her car and Fornell was knocked out when he picked it up. He made it to the front door and that's where I ran into him. Ducky took him to autopsy and I came straight here." she finished in a rush.

The elevator doors slid open and Gibbs turned expecting to see Fornell. Instead Carly walked in followed closely by Lacey. "What are you doing back here?"

Carly shrugged her shoulders and Lacey told him. "I've been trying to talk her out of coming back in since she called, but she insisted."

Gibbs nodded to her as he watched Carly walk slowly over. "What's happened?" She asked and he filled her in.

"So you need to find the Director and someone needs to be looking for these three." She said and nodded towards the plasma screen.

"I've located the Director, Boss." Tim said from his desk. He had been punishing his keyboard from the moment Gibbs said the Director was missing. "Well her phone at least."

"Pull it up McGee." Gibbs ordered and they watched the plasma as the GPS locator kept moving. "She's taking her somewhere. McGee, get the car. Abby keep tracking her phone. Let's go!" He ordered and the team rushed out leaving Abby, Carly and Lacey behind.

"We'd better get to work." Carly said and took a seat at Jethro's computer.



Abby and Lacey stared at each other until the phone started ringing and Abby put Gibbs on speaker.



"Where is she headed Abs?"



"Falls Church, Virginia, Gibbs. They're almost there. Don't know if that is where she will stop or not."



"Oh she'll stop," Gibbs said and Carly nodded in agreement.



"How do you know?" Abby asked and realized Gibbs had hung up. "He doesn't even know where she's going to stop."



"He knows." Carly told her and pulled up the file on Jen's sister. Pulling up the address and owner information of the house Jen used to live in, she found that it was empty. "The house Jen lived in is owned by a realty company. It's been on the market for the last year."



"I hope they get there in time." Abby and Lacey said together.



Going back to the computer search for the terrorists, Carly told them with certainty, "They'll get there. Trust me."



---------------------



Gibbs pulled up to the house and all four of them piled out and stayed low. The street was quiet, most people were at work at this time of day. As they neared the house, a shot was fired. Rushing in, Gibbs and team found Jenny lying on the floor bleeding from the shoulder.



"It was supposed to be you!" Adrian was shouting. "You should have died! She loved me and you were taking her from me!"



"Federal Agents, drop your weapon!" Gibbs and DiNozzo shouted at the same time. Gibbs and Tony were standing while Ziva and Tim were crouched near the floor, all four agents had their weapons trained on the woman across the room.



Adrian looked at them in contempt. "I'm not afraid to die. She took the woman I loved and turned her against me. She has to pay for that." Raising her gun towards Jenny, four shots were fired in quick succession. All four shots hitting center mass. Adrian Selachi was dead before her body started to fall.



----------------------



Jen was taken to the hospital and straight to surgery for her shoulder. Fortunately, Adrian's motivation for shooting her was to watch her suffer without causing major damage so the wound would heal rather quickly. Fornell had opted to stay behind and not argue with the doctor about his concussion since it only made his head hurt worse. Gibbs drove the team back to headquarters and they found Carly looking much better than when they had left. She was busy searching all known locations for signs of the three escaped terrorists. There was a hit for one of the men on a traffic camera and agents had been sent to find the car only to discover it parked near a strip mall and wired to blow. Quickly setting up a perimeter around the car and evacuating the few patrons and shop owners, the agents sat and waited for the bomb squad. Nearly three minutes before they arrived, the car blew up. The explosion was heard throught the speaker phone on Gibbs desk as Carly was on with one of the field agents at the scene. She bit her lip and smiled a small smile at Jethro. He narrowed his eyes.



"What did you do?" He asked.



"Well..." She said and Tom Morrow told him, "She followed orders, Agent Gibbs."



"Tom? What are you doing here?" Jethro asked him.



"I was called in to keep you all in line while the Director is recuperating. When Carly told me she had possibly located one of our suspected terrorists I sent a team of agents out to find the car. That explosion was the car blowing up."



"Was anyone hurt?" Jethro questioned.



"No one, Gibbs." Came a voice over the phone. "Carly got us here in time to get everyone away but the bomb squad just pulled up so I need to get off here."



"Good work." Jethro told the agent and disconnected the call. He raised his eyebrow at Tom and was silently directed up to his temporary office.



Abby watched as Lacey and Tim snuck off to the stairs. They hadn't had a lot of time together lately. Then she turned and watched as Carly smiled and scanned the pictures coming up on Gibbs computer.



"What happened to your headache?" Abby wanted, no needed to know.



Carly glanced up at her and pushed away from the desk. She walked around and hooked her arm through Abby's and started walking toward the elevators. "Abby, I have something to tell you that you might not believe."



~The End~

~Calalily~