Chapter 3
An hour later Ziva and Tony arrived back at the office. Gibbs was waiting for their results at his desk.
"What'd you find?" he asked, noting their smiles.
"Something very interesting, Boss," said Ziva, and surprisingly let Tony explain. Weird, thought Gibbs, they're not fighting, this must be good.
"We checked all the cars in the lot, and surprisingly, Abby's is still there, but both of their keys are also there. We also found more prints on the door; they didn't belong to Abby or Tillon. McGee's running through the system," he told Gibbs. At that moment the phone rang.
"Gibbs," he said into the receiver when he answered, listening for a moment, before replying.
"We're on our way," he said and hung up, "McGee has our results," he said in answer to Ziva's questioning look. She nodded and the three of them headed down to the lab.
As they walked into the lab, the first thing that they noticed was the lab temp, hovering over a computer, and shooting nervous glances at McGee. She was a small thin woman, in her late twenties, with red hair and glasses. McGee cast her an angry look. He couldn't even believe her nerve! Who did she think she was, coming in here and doing Abby's job, in Abby's lab, using Abby's computers? It was an insult to Abby. Tony shot McGee a look, that clearly read, ‘be nice'. McGee rolled his eyes.
"The fingerprints you guys found belong to Jonathon Wesley," he told them and a picture of him came up on the screen. He was a thin man, tall with wiry brown hair. McGee continued, "Wesley is wanted for theft, murder, you name it, he's done it. NCIS helped put him away a few years back for murder. He broke out last year and has been on the run ever since. Gibbs nodded, he remembered Wesley, he had helped with the case.
"So either, he and Abby are in some heist together, or Wesley's out for revenge on Gibbs, through Abby," said Tony.
"Exactly," replied McGee.
When Abby woke up she had momentarily forgotten what had happened to her. Then all at once her memories came rushing back to her, including what had happened when she had answered the door last night, or was it two nights ago?
It was becoming difficult to keep track of how long had passed since she had woken up the first time. She replayed that night in her head;
Krystal had been at the door when she answered, slightly drunk, and bearing the gift of a six pack. Abby had let her in, she felt terrible about their fight. When she had entered the apartment, Krystal had pulled out a gun. She had threatened Abby with it, said that she had to kill her, it was her job. Thinking fast, Abby had grabbed her knife, off of a nearby table. It was her least favorite one, Tony had given it to her on her last birthday. He had been so excited about it she couldn't refuse it.
Abby had knocked the gun out of Krystal's hand. They proceeded to fight, punches and kicks flashing between them, until Abby was forced to stab her in the stomach as she reached for the gun. That hadn't stopped Krystal though; she fired a round at Abby, missing her by inches. So Abby had been forced to do the unthinkable. She stabbed her in the chest, once, then twice. When she had realized what she had done, she threw the knife away from her and sat sobbing over her dead friend.
Her flashback ended as what had happened next faded from her mind. She could no longer remember, but that didn't really worry her right now.
Abby began to sob. She cried for Gibbs to save her, for her whole helpless situation, but most of all, her body shook as she cried for her fallen friend.
Back at the office, McGee was showing Gibbs what they assumed had happened. A computer simulated apartment, an exact replica of Abby's came up on the projection screen. A digital Abby, complete with black pigtails and spiky jewelry appeared, standing in the middle of the computer generated room.
"This is what we know so far," explained McGee to the rest of the team, who had congregated in Abby's lab. He clicked the mouse, and another figure appeared outside the door.
"At some point last night, Tillon showed up, and Abby lets her in," as he explained the computer simulation did exactly as he said. "Something happens there, and Abby pulls out the knife-"
"That I gave her," interrupted Tony, proudly.
"Yes, Tony, the knife that you gave her," said Ziva exasperatedly, "Go on, McGee."
"Thanks. According to Ducky all three times that Tillon was stabbed, she was standing. So it's possible that all of this was in Abby's self defense."
The digitalized Krystal suddenly appeared to have a miniature gun. The team watched transfixed as the simulation ran again. Abby was threatened with the gun, she pulled out her knife and there was a flurry of motion, in which the end result was Krystal dead on the floor.
"We found the knife several feet away from the body, so if this is true, it would appear that she threw it away. If she had been trying to get away with murder, then she wouldn't have left such obvious evidence." As he spoke the digital Abby did as he said, throwing away the knife and standing over the body.
"The main thing here," said McGee, "is that the whole time, the door was unlocked, and partially open. We found Jonathon Wesley's prints on the door, so what if he snuck in and came after Abby?" A simulated man snuck into the room, grabbing Krystal's fallen gun, and threatening Abby. He led her out of the room at gunpoint.
"All of this is just your guess though?" asked Gibbs.
"Well yes, but the door was open, and his prints were on it," argued McGee.
"Then we have to find Wesley," stated Gibbs.
"Way ahead of you, Boss," Tony informed him, "Put out an APB on Tillon's car, nothing yet, but I would bet a date, that whoever has that car, has Abby."
Author's Chapter Notes:
More evidence is found, speculations are draw, and tears are shed.