All of the color drained from Alice's face, and she clapped a hand to her mouth in horror as she whispered, "Oh, my god."
Father Thomas offered gently, "Alice requests memorial masses for all the lost children, Mr. Gibbs, so they are not forgotten. We meant no offense, neither of us knew you were coming this evening or we would have asked you first."
Gibbs shook his head lightly and said a little more abruptly than he actually intended, but if he didn't just say it outright, he didn't know if he could bring himself to say it at all, "I went out there to visit... them, earlier today and saw the flowers. And I just wanna know why you do it. Why do you take care of the graves of other people's children?"
Her voice was small as she answered sadly, "Because I don't have one for my son to take care of, Mr. Gibbs."
Father Thomas could practically feel the pain rolling off of the both of them and he offered, "Please, why don't we go back to the residence for some coffee?"
Alice shook her head, "I can't, Father, I have to go. I am sorry, Mr. Gibbs." And before either of them could say a word she turned and quickly left.
Gibbs watched her leave, and found himself saying softly, "It's Jethro."
He then turned to Father Thomas and asked bluntly, "What did she mean about her son?"
Father Thomas clapped him on the shoulder and said, "Come. We'll talk over coffee."
---------------
Father Thomas went through the motions of making coffee as he shared the highlights of Alice's story, the parts that were well known to everyone as not to break her confidence as her priest, "Her three year old son was abducted four years ago. Alice's husband was a Marine that was killed in Afghanistan before he could be brought home on emergency leave when it happened."
Those two statements tore through Gibbs, and he asked, "Did they find her son?"
"No. Not a trace."
"Who handled the investigation?"
"The FBI and state police. There was an intensive search for him, Mr. Gibbs. The trail just went cold and there hasn't been anything new in a very long time."
"So she just started taking planting flowers in the cemetery?"
Father Thomas sighed, "No, not right away. It was months after she buried her husband and the investigation got put on the back burner. She didn't mean to offend you, it's just her way of coping, Mr. Gibbs."
Gibbs stared at the mug in front of him, trying to imagine what it would be like to have a child simply missing. The pain of Kelly's death was almost too much to bear, and he just couldn't envision the not knowing that must be eating at Alice. Although Kelly was lying in that cemetery, he didn't have worry about where she was or what unspeakable things someone might be doing to her. His father's heart ached for Alice. And with a familiar determined set to his jaw he said, "Actually Father, it's Special Agent Gibbs, with NCIS. I joined the agency after... after Shannon and Kelly... And I'm making you a promise right now, I am going to find out what happened to Alice's son."
---------------
The next morning Gibbs hit the local FBI field office bright and early and was instantly stonewalled by the FBI agent in charge. Gibbs took a breath and stepped outside before flipping open his cellphone and hitting a speed dial.
The gruff voice on the other end answered, "Fornell."
"I need a favor, Tobias."
He explained that he wanted access to the Boyd case file.
"Not that I mind you putting man hours in on one of our cases, but why is this so important to you, Jethro?"
"I'm out here at Pendleton. I found out yesterday that Alice Boyd, the missing boy's mother, has been... taking care of Shannon and Kelly. It's just something I have to do."
"I'm sorry, Jethro, I didn't realize what the date is. Give me a minute after we hang up and you'll have what you need."
"Thanks."
"And Jethro."
"Yeah?"
"I hope you find him."
"Me too."
---------------
It had actually taken five minutes, but the thoroughly chastised agent escorted Gibbs to a conference room and had the case file and evidence brought up to Gibbs.
Bit by bit he read it all, Alice and Walter Boyd had gotten married in 1998, a year later their son Andrew was born. Walter was a Marine munitions specialist with a good service record. Alice ran the small nursery that had been left to her by her father. Now he understood the flowers. They lived in the house Alice grew up on the property. Their lives seemed ordinary, sedate even. At least they were until Andrew was snatched right out of his bed one night.
Alice had gone to get Andrew up and dressed when she found him to be missing. The FBI found a rag soaked with chloroform left in the bedroom, and the window had a pane missing so the abductor could unlock the window. They had found several foot prints in the soft flower bed below the window, and a small piece of ripped cloth with a trace of blood on it that had been caught on one of the rose bushes. There were also two single fingerprints that were found, one on the headboard of Andrew's bed and the other on the removed pane of glass. Neither matched Alice, Walter or Andrew. They had no other leads, nothing else to go on. Canvasing the extended area around the Boyd home yielded nothing. And the tip line hadn't produced anything even remotely credible. The Boyds were not rich by any means, the nursery and the house on the property were mortgaged, and the business was barely breaking even. It did not appear at first glance that ransom was the motive, and was confirmed when none was requested.. And as the days turned to weeks, months, then years, the FBI still had no breaks in the case.
As he stared at the forensics report about the blood on the ripped cloth that had proved to be fruitless he had a flash of inspiration and pulled out his phone.
"Gibbs!"
"Hey, Abs. Got a sec?"
"I've got lots of secs for you. Well, time secs, not sex secs. Er, ah, I don't think that came out right."
"Ya think, Abby? Talk to me about the differences in DNA matching from four years ago versus now."
Abby happily went on and on about the recent advances in both testing and match searching.
"I'm gonna have some evidence sent to you, can you work your magic on it and see what you can find? Any sort of partial match might give us a place to start looking."
He hung up with Abby and his eyes fell to a picture in the file. It showed Alice, Walter, and Andrew on the steps of their church dressed formally, for Easter it appeared. His mind flashed to a similar picture tucked in his bookshelf at home. Alice lost everything in such a short period of time and he wondered how she was even still standing. He had almost eaten his gun in his grief, and it was only by putting a bullet in that drug dealer's head that he had found the strength to go on, where did she get her resolve?
He arranged to have the evidence shipped to Abby, and he made a quick photocopy of the case file then headed for Alice's nursery.
---------------
He found her watering trays of seedlings, her expression nervous when she saw him approach. She started to stammer something out, "Mr. Gibbs..." but he put a hand up to stop her and said lightly, "It's Jethro."
She tried again, "Jethro, about yesterday, I am so sorry."
"Nothing to be sorry about. It all just took me by surprise and that doesn't happen very often, I didn't mean to be so abrupt."
She coiled the hose and dropped it on a handy hook and wiped her hands on her jeans before extending her hand, "Maybe we can try again. Alice Boyd."
"Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, NCIS."
"NCIS?"
He found himself giving her the same response he had given Father Thomas, although this time there was no hesitation, this woman knew his pain, intimately, and he didn't need to try and hide it from her, "I joined the agency after Shannon and Kelly died."
To her credit she didn't say she was sorry, didn't offer condolences, she simply nodded in acknowledgment. But before they could continue the conversation, a pickup truck pulled up and a handsome man about Alice's age got out. Sporting a high and tight and a well toned, healthy physique, Gibbs would wager that the man was a Marine. And sure enough, it was a Marine Corps t-shirt he was wearing. It was only years of self-discipline that kept Gibbs from wincing as he took in the mechanized prosthesis where the man's right arm used to be. He heard Alice say, "Excuse me just a minute, Jethro."
He was surprised to see them exchange a kiss on the cheek and he could hear them as they talked for a minute about an order she had put together for him. She also stepped into the little shed-like office building and came out with some plant in a terracotta pot that she handed to him. He laughed and took it from her and put it safely in the cab of his truck.
She rejoined Gibbs while the guy loaded his order into the back of his truck. Her demeanor was much friendlier now, the mood lighter, and whoever the man was he had brought a smile to her face.
Gibbs gestured around at all the plants, "You have quite the green thumb."
"I grew up in these greenhouses. My dad could make anything grow and I spent every minute I could out here with him. And now it's mine. I'm not quite as good as he was, but I come pretty close."
"And here I am just happy when the crab grass doesn't take over."
They started walking back towards the entrance, the man had finished loading his order and as he waved goodbye he tossed out, "I'm outta here. See you Saturday, Al."
She waved back and called out, "Bye, Andy."
The name struck Gibbs as odd, and he was not one to believe in coincidence. He was trying to put pieces together in his head when Alice turned to him, "He was the last one I'm expecting today, have you had lunch yet? I can make us some sandwiches."
The headed for the house, and she had him settle in at the table in the large eat-in kitchen while she puttered and gathered the fixings for lunch.
He wanted to be upfront with her, and said lightly, "I spoke with Father Thomas last night."
She nodded, "I figured you would. I assume he told you about Walter and Andrew?"
"Yeah. And I visited the FBI field office earlier and read your case file."
That nervous look returned to her face and she said quickly, "I did not hurt my son, Jethro."
He had been about to tell her that he was sending the evidence back to NCIS for further testing but her words stopped him dead in his tracks. Of course she would have been questioned along those lines given the circumstances of the case. But the thought of her being grilled in an interrogation room while her son was missing made him clench his jaw in anger. "I didn't even think that, Alice. Not once." And that was true.
Her posture relaxed, "I don't mean to be defensive, it's just that there are a lot of people out there that still think I had something to do with Andrew's abduction."
They talked openly as they ate, and she put the human face on the case file for him. Their conversation branched out over coffee and he found himself asking, "So what's Andy's story?"
A little blush crept up her cheeks and she said with a grin, "He was Walter's best friend. The two of them grew up together and went and joined the Corps together right out of high school. They were like brothers. He, ah, lost his arm two years ago in Iraq. Damn IED. Anyway, he took the discharge and started his own landscaping business and he's doing really well."
There was a hint of pride in her voice, and something else, and he offered gently, "So the two of you?"
She rolled her eyes and replied, "That's complicated."
"Wouldn't be the first time a Marine and a buddy's widow fell for each other. Or is it more than that?"
Alice fiddled with her coffee mug, "I'm sure you noticed the name thing by now."
"Yeah."
She sighed, "Walter was sterile, he had gotten a bad case of mumps as a teenager. We were trying to go through a sperm bank but it was too expensive and we just couldn't afford it. Walter and Andy had gone out one night and gotten pretty liquored up and Walter told Andy about it. A couple days later Andy showed up at the house and offered up his sperm if we wanted it. And that's how we had Andrew. Everyone thinks he's named after Andy just because he was Walter's best friend, only a few of us know the real reason."
None of that had been in the case file he had read earlier. He replied, "That was quite the gift, he sounds like a good man."
"He is. The best, Jethro. He brought Walter home, and helped me through that, and got me through the first couple of months Andrew was missing. But then he had to go back to Iraq. It was on his second tour there that he lost his arm, and then it was my turn to take care of him. And we've just sort of been taking care of each other ever since. But it doesn't go beyond that."
He nodded, she was right, it was complicated. But he had seen relationships based on a lot less, hell, he had had relationships based on a lot less.
She smiled and teased, "My turn. So what about you? Did you remarry?"
It was Gibbs' turn to roll his eyes and chuckle, "Oh, yeah. Three times actually. And just as many divorces."
Alice had taken another sip of coffee and almost choked at his answer, "Three?"
Before he could reply, a little electronic beep reverberated thorough the kitchen. Alice stood and said, "Customer. I'll be back. Make yourself at home."
He helped himself to more coffee and walked to the window that looked out over a little fenced in yard. It was play area for a child with a small swingset and a sandbox. It would have been a safe place for a child to play without being able to run out into the traffic of the nursery. But not just any child, her child, her son, the son she struggled to conceive. The child that was the son of two Marines, two heroes, one that was raising him and one that made his existence possible. And someone had stolen that child right out of his own bed, his own home, while both of those honorable men were in Iraq doing what their country asked them to do. For some reason that insulted Gibbs, and made his anger burn even brighter, and it also made him even more determined to find out what happened to her son.
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tbc...
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