Chapter 1099: A Tragic Ending (Patreon)

Jack helped prop up the unconscious Luke Doran. Clay quickly pulled a cloth from his pocket and blindfolded him—only then noticing Luke’s arms hung limp. His shoulders had been dislocated during the scuffle.

Without a word, Jack cuffed Luke and reset his shoulders. The blinding pain jolted Luke back to consciousness, and he groaned loudly.

“Don’t move, Luke,” Jack warned, pressing his knee hard into Luke’s lower back, but he couldn’t stop the man from thrashing—especially after hearing the voices of his wife and daughter.

“Daddy! Daddy, are you okay?!”

“Luke, sweetheart, stop it!”

Escorted from the military truck, Luke’s wife and daughter tried to run to him, only to be held back by Hannah and JJ. Their cries were filled with helpless anguish.

Jubal knelt in front of Luke, trying to sound as gentle as possible. “Listen to me, Luke. You were in a car accident. The impact affected your brain—it’s distorted how you process visual information.

There’s no conspiracy. Everything you’ve imagined—it’s all just a delusion. We’re with the FBI, and this is Agent Gibbs from NCIS. We can all confirm the truth.”

“Lies! You took my family. I saw it with my own eyes!” Luke screamed, struggling violently despite the cuffs tearing into his wrists until they bled.

“Stop! Please, Luke!” Jenna shouted, stomping in panic. At Jack’s subtle nod, Hannah released her. Jenna sprinted forward, throwing her arms around her husband’s neck, tears streaming down her face.

“We’re here. We’re safe. It’s us. They were just protecting us. Darling, it’s not your fault—you’re sick. Please, stop this.”

The earlier “transfer” of his family was a deception, devised on the fly by Jack and the team. Using the military truck and the Suburban to block the view, they had swapped the fake hostages with the real ones.

Aubrey, dressed in an outfit similar to Jack’s, completed the illusion.

Reid had been right about Capgras Delusion—when deprived of visual stimuli, Luke could still recognize voices. Once blindfolded, the sound of his wife and daughter began to calm him.

“Daddy, Mommy says you’re sick. Maybe if you lie down, you’ll feel better. I was so scared, Daddy. Please stop this. I just want to go home. Please…”

The little girl’s innocent words had everyone fighting to keep their emotions in check. Luke Doran, however, broke completely—tears pouring from beneath his blindfold.

“My mom and dad… where are they? You replaced them with fakes. You took my real parents away…”

The team exchanged uneasy glances. No one knew how to respond—until Gibbs finally exhaled and stepped forward, his voice heavy.

“They’re dead, Luke. You killed them. And your best friend—your former CO, Adam Weiner. They weren’t imposters. That’s what you believed, but it wasn’t real.

They say you still have some reason left. Then think: if the government wanted to silence you, would they really go about it like this?”

“No! You’re lying! It’s not true! You’re all lying!” Luke howled, thrashing violently again.

Seeing the situation deteriorate, Hannah and JJ rushed in and pulled Jenna and Ellie away. Jack took a syringe from Aubrey and injected the sedative into the former SEAL’s arm.

Luke’s body finally went limp as the drug took hold.

—

“This really is a sad ending,” Hannah said softly as the ambulance drove off, carrying Luke Doran and his family. Her head rested against JJ’s shoulder, who gave her a comforting hug.

The others remained silent, standing beside Clay. Their expressions were grim—clearly thinking the same thing as Hannah.

“But everything we did wasn’t for nothing. At least for his wife and daughter—we saved their husband and father,” Clay said quietly, forcing a small smile.

“Regardless, thank you all for your help. You FBI folks really opened my eyes,” Gibbs said, shaking each of their hands sincerely.

“And thanks to NCIS for the support. Without your cooperation, we wouldn’t have wrapped this up so quickly,” Jack replied, saying all the right things. But inwardly, he just wanted to get his team out of there. He was sure Gibbs had ulterior motives.

Jubal, watching the exchange from a distance, couldn’t help but smirk. Even within the FBI, he’d heard of the legendary exploits of the silver-haired former Marine.

There were stories—some absurd, some believable. Rescuing the President aboard Air Force One. A solo mission into Mexico to take down a cartel lord after his wife and daughter were killed. Secret operations in France that ended with the assassination of a Russian arms dealer and his mistress.

“Doesn’t Gibbs remind you of someone? Oh, and I heard he has four ex-wives. And more secret lovers than that.”

On the ride back, Jubal finally broke the somber mood with a dose of gossip.

Though the ending hadn’t been perfect, the case was closed. And perhaps because they'd grown used to the cycle of sorrow and resolution, the seasoned agent indulged in a rare moment of levity.

“I also heard he only dates redheads. Even had a fling with one of his bosses,” Alice added.

Everyone turned to look at her, surprised.

Alice shrugged. “Come on, office gossip isn’t limited to just one federal agency. Everyone shares info. NCIS’s Gibbs and FBI’s Rossi used to be the eye of every rumor storm. Of course, now…”

Driving ahead of the command vehicle in the Audi R8, Jack silently listened through his comms. His eye twitched, but he wisely said nothing.

With both Christmas and New Year’s having been anything but peaceful, Jack had racked up a ton of comp time after filing multiple reports.

It had been a while since he’d hung out with that writer, so he figured it was time to call up Rick Castle for a trip to Vegas.

Jack had promised Masitao and Jiang Zhentai he’d help them clean up their $2.5 million. It wasn’t a lot of money by certain standards, and as foreigners, it wouldn’t draw much attention—he just needed to give the income a paper trail.

All it would take was Chris calling in a favor, and some poor sucker at a Vegas blackjack table would end up losing a small fortune to two mysterious Asian high-rollers.