Working with Gibbs (a NCIS story)

Chapter 52: The Truth Comes Out

-a little bit later-
The team went down to autopsy to go over the results with Ducky, but Grace stopped at the door for a moment- she didn't know if she could do it.  She took a deep breath and walked in. 
"...as you can see, death was sadly slow for this young fellow, because of the injuries sustained, it appears he was in an altercation before his demise." Ducky explained.  He looked up from the body and saw the look on Grace's face.  "Are you alright?" He asked.
"No...not really..." she replied.  She looked down at the body and, now that it had been cleaned, she could see the family resemblance...but that didn't help the pain she felt.  If anything, it made it worse.  "I think I need to sit down..." she said. 
"C'mon" Gibbs said as he led her to a chair at the side of the room.  While he tended to her, Ducky looked at Tony and Tim in confusion.
"This is her brother...she didn't know about him until now" Tony explained.
"Oh my...are you sure you want and need to be down here?" Ducky asked, looking at her. 
"Can everyone please stop looking at me? It certainly isn't helping..." she replied, not looking up from the floor.  "And yes, I feel like I need to be here.  So please, continue" she added. 
"Right...it would seem that the weapon, or in this case weapons, used was a combination of a small bladed knife and some sort of blunt object - I've taken fibers from the wounds up to Abby to process."
"Thanks, Duck.  Tim, you go help Abby.  Tony, you go back to the scene, question witnesses." Gibbs instructed. 
"What about me?" Grace asked. 
"Unfortunately, I can't let you work this case.  It's a conflict of interest since this is a family member." He replied.  She really didn't like that idea, but she also knew he was right. 
"Fine...so, what? Do I just go home?" She asked.
"Didn't say that, but maybe it would be best - seems like you're off your game." She bit back the snappy response and just nodded.  "Come on, I'll take you home."
-a little later-
She was at home upstairs while the babysitter stayed downstairs with the kids - she requested the babysitter stay so she could have some time to herself to think.  She wracked her brain for a while trying to figure everything out, but wasn't getting anywhere.  Then, she remembered something.  She got up and looked under the bed for her keepsake box and when she found it, found a still unopened letter inside - the envelope said 'open if and when something happens to us - mom and dad'  She took a deep breath and opened the letter.
'It's time you knew the truth...' the more she read, the more she understood - she was a very sick little girl, and when she was just under a year old, her mom had another baby but they knew that they couldn't keep him because of the care she needed, so they put him up for adoption.  The last line of the letter got her attention: 'your brother has a letter just like this one, and he may come find you' she got out her phone. 
"Hey, what's up?"
"Abby...I have a question, and I'm asking as a family member - was there a letter on my brother's person? Like in his jacket or anything?"
"Not that I can recall...but I'll look again to make sure...what's going on?"
"I'll explain later..." she replied, then hung up.  Then, there was a knock on the door.  Ever suspicious, she grabbed her gun from the night stand and hesitantly went to the door.  When she opened the door, she didn't even get a word in before she was hit in the head and knocked out and taken from the house, the letter on the floor.