Chapter 6
Elliot pulled the car up to the front of the hospital. He had already notified Captain Cragen that Lael Ness had been found. The captain had returned to the station to pick up her parents and bring them to the hospital. Gibbs had buckled the girl in and sat with his arms around her the entire ride. Elliot heard him explaining the reason for the trip to the hospital, he saw the small girl shudder and nod her head. She asked Gibbs about a boat and he watched the older man smile before he starting talking about the work he was doing to finish a sailboat. Again, the suspicion that Gibbs was more to her than a just an aquaintence settled in Elliot's gut. Narrowing his eyes, he decided to get to the bottom of this.
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At the hospital, a nurse took Lael into the examination room and her mother went in with her. Gibbs was talking to John Ness. The doctor walked into the examination room. Everyone noticed this and seeminly held their breath to see exactly how far this monster had taken his sick game. John started to walk into the room and Gibbs shook his head.
"You'll see her soon, but you don't need to be in there right now," Gibbs told him.
Shaking off the restraining hand, John paced back to the other side of the room. Hearing the door open, he whipped around. Silently he strode up to the doctor and glared at him. The doctor swallowed hard before telling him, "From what your daughter has told me and from the exam I just completed, she was touched and fondled but there was no penetration."
The doctor didn't say what everyone was thinking, that Richard Moore just hadn't gotten that far yet. John nodded at the doctor. "I can go in now."
It wasn't a question and the doctor knew this. Opening the door for the father, the doctor stepped away to talk to the agent and detectives in the waiting area.
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Ziva paced softly in the little room. She had turned her phone to silent and was listening for sounds outside and watching for any messages across the screen telling her that Moore was outside. They didn't want to chance that Moore would suspect he'd been caught and since there was no record of him renting anyplace in the city they'd just have to wait for his return. Several hours had already passed by since Lael had been rescued. No news of them finding her had been leaked to the press and none would since Gibbs was in control of everything.
Looking at the time on her phone, Ziva realized it was late afternoon now. It would be dark soon. The feeling that he would wait until dark to finish what he started wouldn't go away. Ziva sat on the bed. Pacing would only keep her mind occupied for so long and it hadn't been working this past hour. All the details of the previous cases and of what Serena Johnson had told them kept running through her mind. Smiling to herself, she knew that Moore would resist, at least her report would say that. Knowing that Tony and Tim would give her several minutes before coming in and that Olivia would follow their lead, she started planning.
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Gibbs sat quietly in the waiting area. Abby and Ducky had joined them at the hospital and Abby had fallen asleep with her head leaning on his shoulder. Dr. Huang was in the room with the Ness family and had been in there for some time. Ducky assured him that Lael's willingness to talk about things was a good sign and that she would recover from this ordeal. Gibbs watched Elliot Stabler watching him and nearly smiled. Knowing what the man wanted to know brought him near to laughing. He wondered when Stabler would ask him. Turning to look down at Abby, he smiled finally. She had worked so hard on this case, on every case but particularly this one. She knew how important it was to get Lael back unharmed and she had come through it like a trooper. Deprived of her Caf-Pows since New York didn't seem to know what they were, she had been running for two days on the "puny amounts of caffeine in a Coke". Remembering how she looked when she told him those very words, he laughed quietly, shaking her head off its perch.
Blinking, Abby looked up at him. "What's up Gibbs?"
Shaking his head, he signed to her, 'You are amazing.'
Smiling, still sleepy, she signed, 'Thank you,' and put her head back on his shoulder to sleep.
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Muscles tensed and readied for fighting as the door knob to the room turned. Not hiding from him, Ziva was to the left of the door as Moore walked in. She kicked out and swept him off his feet. He looked up, dazed and surprised at her as she informed him that he was under arrest. As he tried to get up, she moved behind him, restraining him by the neck. Keeping the pressure consistent, she told him, "I could kill you right now and be done with you. With this pressure, you'll pass out in minutes and if I keep the hold, you'll die from lack of oxygen getting to your brain." Tightening the hold more she continued, "I could simply snap your neck and say you were resisting arrest. The world would be rid of you and the children would have peace. But you need to suffer more than that. You deserve to go to prison. They'll like you there." Ziva laughed as she felt him start to go limp. Letting go, she slipped the handcuffs on him as she heard three sets of footsteps coming up behind her.
Dragging him up by the cuffs fastened around his wrists. Ignoring his muffled cry of pain, she shoved him towards the door. Telling Olivia to read him his rights, she left them there and walked outside to calm down, the urge to severely damage Moore still making her tense.
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Back at the hospital, Gibbs got word that Moore had been caught. The police department was preparing a statement for the press and Ziva, Tony and Tim were on their way to the hospital to pick up Gibbs, Abby and Ducky. Lael was discharged from the hospital and walked out of her room, holding tightly to her mother and father's hands. Seeing Gibbs she let go and ran to him once more. Wrapping her small arms around his neck in a bear hug, she said, "Thank you for finding me Uncle Jethro."
Gibbs smiled through his tears and hugged her back. "You knew I'd come for you Lael. I'm there whenever you need me."
Lael nodded against his neck. "You have to go home now?"
Swallowing hard, he tightened his hold on his niece that so reminded him of his Kelly. "Yes, I do. I'm coming for a visit in three weeks though, remember?"
Lael pulled away to look up at him. "Of course I remember! You'll be here for my birthday party!"
"Yes I will," he promised and kissed her forehead. Handing her over to John, he shook his hand.
"Thank you for finding her Jethro."
"You're welcome John."
Lanie couldn't hold back. She threw her arms around her brother-in-law and hugged him tightly. "Thank you so much Jethro!" She let him go and looked up at him as she took John's hand. "Shannon was always so proud of you."
Looking away from her, Gibbs blinked for a moment. He felt a hand on his chin and turned to look back at Lanie. "You're still that man Jethro. You're still the same person she loved. You've only grown more determined as the years have passed."
Impulsively hugging her, Gibbs told her, "Thank you, Lanie."
She smiled at him when he released her and he watched them walk out the waiting room.
"Your niece?" Stabler asked.
Giving him the stare that shut his agents up, Gibbs stayed silent.
Clapping the other man on the back, Stabler told him, "One, you're a hell of an agent and you did a good job here. Two, that look doesn't work on me."
Laughing as Ziva, Tim and Tony came into the room, Gibbs shook Stabler's hand. "You're a hell of cop, Stabler. If you ever want to change that to agent, let me know."
-The End-
-Calalily-