Chapter Six
Ducky and Gibbs walked into 4B just after midnight. Tony took Laurents away from the scene after getting evidence off him (i wasn't sure where) and returned a few minutes afterward. I pulled myself together a little by the time Gibbs began taking pictures. I still couldn't hold my camera without shaking, so I placed evidence markers for Gibbs instead. Even Ducky was silent as he worked on Ava's body.
Palmer pushed in the gurney and broke the silence. "Late night." His voice was flat.
"Indeed, Mr.Palmer, death never takes a break." Ducky pushed a liver probe into Ava's skin. "Time of death was about three hours ago."
"So noted, doctor." Palmer marked in a small book.
"Apparently murderers don't either, Duck." Gibbs looked at me, and then to Tony. "She was dead when you began night watch."
Tony spoke before I could. "CID Agent Carl Blythe was in the head when the murder occurred. Infra-red didn't catch the victim's body temperature drop for a couple of hours. She was very warm, and then got cold quickly."
I continued. "And we lost visual and mics, so there was no way anyone could have known."
"The CID agent should have known, and he went to the head instead of saving her life!" Gibbs pointed to Ava's body, and then punched the wall with his gloved hand. small knuckle indentions were left on the wall when he pulled away.
"Another CID agent drops the ball. Secretary of Defense will not be happy to hear that report." Ziva showed up in the doorway.
Everyone went silent for a few moments. I could see lips moving, but my mind was flooded with probabilities and scenarios. I was thinking so loudly it must've shown on my face.
"What are you thinking about?" Ziva walked over and turned me to face her, my back to everyone else.
"What if Silvers didn't stay long with Lisa because he knew he would kill Ava first?"
"You think this was premeditated?" Tony walked up.
"It looks that way to me. Room mate has a study schedule..." I pointed to the left wall, where a calendar was hanging. "...Silvers chose a night where Laurents would be gone for a while. Gives him time to kill Ava, pack, and run. When the roommate came back, he'd be stuck with the body..."
"...And suspected of muder." Gibbs finished as he also joined the circle.
Ducky and Palmer put Ava into a body bag, and hoisted her onto the gurney.
"Excuse us." They pushed past all of us, and left the dorm room.
Gibbs looked around the room. "Bag and tag. I'll take evidence back to the lab. Put a BOLO out on Silvers' car: 2006 Silver BMW, virginia plate Alpha, 7, 6, 9, Tango, 1."
Ziva and Tony moved immediately. I got to work on my phone to send out the BOLO. Tony and Ziva grabbed sheets, the murder weapon, anything and everything, and began bagging it. We had plenty of evidence now to get Silvers. Now we just had to find him...
Gibbs watched all of us for a moment before speaking again. "After you finish, go home. We have to catch Silvers, but you all need some rest. Report back at the Navy Yard at 11. And McGee?"
"Yeah boss?"
"Your first stop better be Ducky."
I nodded.
Ziva, Tony, and I worked as quickly as we could deprived of two nights of sleep. We made sure not to miss anything, and rechecked twice before leaving.
Ziva and Tony left the dorm room first. I turned out the lights, taped crime scene tape across the door, locked the room, and left as well.
The lull of the elevator made Tony sway a little as he fell into a standing doze. Ziva supported herself on the wall; I knew she was tired.
"I'll drive," I offered.
No one argued as we reached the car. We climbed in and I pulled the "Georgetown U" decal from the rearvierw mirror, stuffing it into the glove box.
Tony collapsed into the back seat and Ziva buckled her seatbelt and leaned her head against the window. She soon slid down in her seat, fast asleep. (She didn't snore sitting upright.) I took off my leather jacket and covered her with it. I looked into the back seat and Tony had his head resting on his arm, his back against the back of the seat. He started to say something, but his head slipped down onto the seat and his breathing slowed. He curled up and fell asleep.
I put in Lisa's David Gray CD and drove on the deserted highway back to the Navy Yard. It was almost 3 in the morning. I tried to block everything from my mind, pushing the images from tonight and the previous nights into the deep corners of my thoughts.
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"Ziva, Tony." I gently pulled Ziva upright in her seat. She groaned. "Are we here already?"
"Afraid so, but now you can go home." I smiled drowsily, and she returned it.
"Tony, get up!" I reached into the back seat and smacked him in the stomach.
Tony stirred. "Ugh.........McGee, I am going to kill you." Tony rolled over and pushed himself up out of the seat. We all got out of the car, and headed toward our own.
"I'll see you guys at eleven." I found my car, punched in the keycode, and opened the door.
"I forgot McHeartbreaker has a lady waiting at home." Tony teased me, and yawned. Always able to crack a joke.
Ziva giggled, and winked at me.
I was dog tired for the first time in a while. This exhaustion seemed to magnify the power of the images in my mind that weighed me down, but I pushed them away again.
We all got into our cars and headed toward the gate. Tony turned left and honked a 'goodbye' as Ziva and I turned right.
Ziva followed me on the highway for twenty minutes and then merged to the right, as always. she pulled beside me and waved, then disappeared onto a side street.
I got to my apartment at 3:45. I figured Lisa might still be awake. I opened the door and heard quiet jazz coming from my kitchen radio. All the lights were out except the one above my typewriter, which always stays on. There were two dishes in the dishwasher: A cup and a plate. There was a small note on the fridge, in Lisa's handwriting:
"I ate a HotPocket and made some Iced Tea. Hope that's OK! ~Leese"
Of course it was okay.
I headed toward the bedroom.
I found Lisa asleep in the middle of my bed. Her hair was spread across the pillow behind her, like she had just turned over. Her legs were bare, and I could tell she was wearing my MIT shirt. she was hugging a pillow, and halfway under the sheets. I covered her legs, and went into the bathroom to change.
I layed out pajamas this morning. Somehow I knew I'd be too tired to dig through a drawer. I pulled off my 'undercover clothes', and put on a loose blue T-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts. I brushed my teeth, washed my face and hands, and folded my dirty clothes. I was too tired to take a shower. I turned out the bathroom light before opening the door as not to disturb Lisa.
I felt for the hamper in the dark, and threw my folded dirty clothes into it. I opened a smaller closet next to the one that held my clothes, and pulled out a sleeping bag and a fresh pillow. I threw it into the floor and crawled onto the sleeping bag. I sighed deeply and closed my eyes.
"Tim...?" Lisa leaned over the edge of the bed and peered down at me in the dark. I opened my eyes and could barely make out her silhouette.
"Yeah?"
"You can come up here, I'll take the floor."
"No, it's okay. And I wouldn't let you sleep on the floor."
"No, really. just come up here, I don't bite."
I was too tired to argue. She slipped on the lamp next to my bed, and slid over. She pulled the sheets down, and i tried not to look at her. I turned out the light and pulled the sheets back over us.
"Goodnight." Lisa rolled over, her back toward me.
"Night." I rolled over and unplugged my alarm clock. It read 4:30 before going blank.
My mind was too tired to create dream images, but I could still smell things. It was like sitting in darkness with bottles of perfume. Flowers and Lisa's perfume, 'Dew Covered Lilacs', lingered in my mind. The smell changed to Abby's red lipstick, that smelled like cherries and glue. A new car smell appeared, and then Ziva's cooking. Sawdust and Gibbs's basement covered that. The leathery smell of Tony's Ohio State jacket showed up....Ducky's tea brewing in Autopsy...and then an old smell....Kate, who always smelled like art supplies and shampoo...
I opened my eyes to the sun shining through the blinds. I realized that my arms were around Lisa, her back pressed to me. I tried to pull away without waking her, but she began to stir. She turned over and looked at me. Her hair in the sunlight looked like fire, and her eyes were bright and soft.
"I'm sorry," I began.
"It's okay." She leaned up and pulled back the sheets. Her feet hit the floor and she got out of bed, revealing pink shorts that she had slept in. "What?" she looked at me again.
I leaned up and stretched. "I've just never seen an Army CID agent in pink shorts before."
"oh, shut up!" She ran back to bed and smacked me with a pillow.
I fell out of bed, flat on my back into the sleeping bag I had left in the floor. Lisa laughed as I got up and rubbed my back. I gave her a dirty look. "What time is it, anyway?"
She leaned out of my room and looked at the clock above my typewriter. "9:34."
I had barely gotten five and a half hours of sleep, but I felt recharged. I still felt the residue of sadness on my mind, but rubbed it away again. "And why aren't we still asleep?" I thought out loud.
"Because you got embarrassed about cuddling in your sleep, and I am going to cook breakfast."
I tried not to blush. "We have to be back at the Yard at eleven."
"I'm a fast cook."
I followed Lisa into the kitchen, the jazz from last night still playing on the radio.
"We need some wake up music!" Lisa fiddled with the radio until she found something with a catchy beat, and began to sway a little. "Why don't you relax while I amaze you with my cooking skills?" She pushed me out of my kitchen. I sat on a new stool on the other side of the island that separated my kitchen from my living room, and watched Lisa work her magic (and make a mess) in my kitchen.
Lisa pulled two elastic ties from around her ankle. She pulled her hair into a bun, and then pulled my MIT shirt at the bottom until it was tight around her waist. she bound it with the other elastic band. I figured it was so she wouldn't burn it leaning over the stove.
She pulled out utensils, pans, eggs, butter, milk, orange juice, bacon, bread, cinnamon, sugar, two plates, and two cups, along with other ingredients I never use. "How do bacon, eggs, and french toast sound?" She smiled and poured me some orange juice, then milk for herself.
"That sounds amazing. as long as I can have some coffee too."
"Done," she said, and turned on the coffee pot.
Lisa wasn't lying when she said she was a fast cook. She had mine and her eggs and bacon done in less than ten minutes, and threw my plate up onto the island.
"Order up!" she laughed. I gave her an astonished look as I brought my plate in front of me, fork in hand.
"I was a short order cook for a while after basic training. I started out as a reservist and needed something to do." Lisa shrugged.
"I believe you." I began to eat slowly. Maybe warm, home cooked food would stop my stomach from churning. Her food was good. Better than mom's...
Lisa continued to dance with two pans in her hands. She kicked her feet, spun in circles, and threw the pans into the sink. I cracked a smile as she turned and started on the french toast.
"Come help me! French toast needs at least four hands to make."
I took another bite of eggs and my fork clanged against my plate.
"Well, come on!" She threw a spatula my way, and I caught it.
"You have to dance if you're going to cook with me." Lisa watched as I tried to shuffle a little. She laughed at me.
"I can't dance..." I looked down.
"Anyone can dance, you just can't be shy!" She punched me. "Flip the first batch."
I found myself really liking this carefree Lisa. She made everything lighter. I began to recede from my darkness, and even danced a little. You'll never know what you've done for me, Lisa...
"Okay, that's better!" Lisa cranked up the music, and we both bounced around my tiny kitchen in our pajamas. She pulled the first batch of french toast off the stove and put some on my plate and hers. I took the pan from her and tossed it into the sink. My kitchen was a mess, but I didn't care.
"Let's eat! I need a break." Lisa exhaled loudly, and I laughed at her. We started to leave the kitchen, plates in hand.
Suddenly my front door flew open. I stepped in front of Lisa, and froze.
James Silvers stood in the doorway, with a cut across his forehead, and his hand grasped around a large knife. He had a wild look on his face.
Lisa dropped her plate, and it shattered into a million pieces as the Radio continued to thump in the background.