Chapter 1
"This is so cool!" Fran Tucker exclaimed. "I can't believe this place is over a hundred years old! And we get to study in here! Do you think there might be ghosts here?"
Dabi Moore-Gibbs grinned at her friend, who was bouncing on her heels with excitement.
The building in question was formerly a mansion built in the colonial times of Washington, D.C. and was a grand building that had later been converted to a library for students at a local college.
Dabi was studying business management in preparation for taking over her grandparents' bakery, Kranz Bakery. Fran, on the other hand, was studying criminal psychology in preparation to become an NCIS agent.
Dabi was five-eleven, with grey eyes, tanned skin, and red hair currently in a braid down her back. Her constant companion was Gibor, a small dog of unknown heritage, her Hearing Dog; Dabi was deaf, caused by meningitis at a young age. Her dad was Supervisory Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs of NCIS, of the Major Crimes Response Team, and one of the best agents around.
Fran Tucker was five-six with cropped brown hair and sparkling brown eyes. Hailing from Stillwater, she had met and befriended Dabi while Dabi and Gibbs were on vacation, visiting his dad, Jackson Gibbs, called Grandpa Jack by Dabi. Dabi had punched out Fran's younger brother, Tommy, after he'd made a crude joke about red heads and as far as Fran had been concerned, it had been deserved. Then Fran, Dabi, and Gibbs had gotten involved in a murder investigation involving a forty year-old secret, a missing Marine, and a greedy grandson. It came as no surprise that Fran followed Dabi and Gibbs back to Washington with the firm intention of becoming an NCIS agent. This was the reason she was studying criminal psychology. Dabi and Fran were even roommates, with Fran staying in the room that had once belonged to Dabi's mother before a drunk driver had taken her life when Dabi was eleven. Sharee and Daniel Shemo had accepted Fran, seeing that the girl brought Dabi out of her shell and showed her there was more to life than just school, the bakery, her dog, and her dad and his team. Fran made life interesting for Dabi, especially when the girls were working together. Fran usually manned the front of the store when she needed a bit of extra cash. There was just one teeny tiny problem. The baked goodies were not exactly meant for someone who had to watch what they ate.
"I'm gonna have to jog ten miles a day if I'm ever gonna keep those goodies off my hips!" she had moaned upon learning she could help herself to the baked goods at no expense.
"I could always put some steak juice on your shorts and let Gibor chase you," Dabi had teased.
"And so would every other dog on the block!" Then a gleam had come into her eyes. "Can we do that to Tony instead?"
Now they were at the Fitzworth Library in Georgetown and were about to head in to do some studying for their individual classes.
"The Fitsworth Library," said Fran, reading the memorial plaque on the outside of the building. "Originally built in 1853 by Byron Fitzworth, who had immigrated from Essex, England in 1849, as a gift to his bride, Melissa Mayfaire. The home was cared for and passed down through generations of family until it was generously donated to the Washington Historical Society and converted to a library so that future generations might enjoy it's rich history. 1853? This place has some serious history!" Fran breathed. "There has got to be at least one ghost here!"
"Even if there is, the Historical Society is not about to let you go poking around," Dabi said, snagging her friend's arm and hauling her inside. "Besides, we're here to study, not ghost hunt."
"Who says we can't do both?"
"The last time we did, Dad nearly had a heart attack, remember? And we didn't find any ghosts, either."
"Yeah, but it was still fun," Fran shot back, grinning. "I love that old box we found."
"Maybe you should be an antique dealer instead of a federal agent."
"Nah. Then I'd never get to beat up on the bad guys."
Dabi groaned and shook her head.
For all her teasing, though, Fran was serious about studying and both girls quickly buried themselves into their respective studies.
Then Dabi got a message from Gibbs.
"Have to head to Norfolk this weekend; someone's been playing pranks on an officer that have gone way too far."
"How far?" Dabi sent back.
"A rattler in his desk too far."
Dabi's eyes went wide. "Hope nobody got hurt."
"No but brass is pissed."
"Have fun. I'll leave Tony's desk alone this wknd; too busy studying."
"Which means he's going to be convinced you did something even though you didn't."
":)) As BJ Hunnicutt once said, the greatest joke of all was the one that never came."
":))"
At NCIS, Gibbs smiled as he sent the last message. He loved having Dabi around. She was smart, friendly, and a joy to be around. Sometimes, though, he wondered why her mother, Amanda, had never told him about her. He would have gladly worked something out with her just to keep Dabi in his life, new marriage or not.
"How's Dabi?" Ziva asked. Tony was driving, with Gibbs riding shotgun. Tim and Ziva were in the back seat. Ziva knew that if her boss was texting, it was more than likely Dabi he was texting.
As far as Ziva was concerned, Dabi Moore-Gibbs was a blessing for Gibbs. Having lost his first wife and daughter years ago by a murderous Mexican drug dealer, Gibbs had never gotten over the loss. Then Dabi had come into his life and it was like a light had been turned on in a dark corner of his heart and he had begun to really live again.
"She should be at Fitzworth Library, studying, with Fran."
"Fitzworth Library? Fran will have a field day," said Tim. "There's been rumors circulating for years about a ghost there."
"If she goes ghost hunting and drags Dabi with her, I'm paying a visit to Ducky," Gibbs muttered.
Fran had convinced Dabi to check out an old plantation house that was rumored to be haunted. While exploring, they had gotten lost and nearly trapped in the house and a frantic message to Gibbs was the only thing that had stopped the situation from getting worse. Some local kids had apparently decided to scare the two girls and managed to accidently trap them in one of the old rooms on the third floor. The only way out was a broken window and a thirty foot drop to a very unforgiving ground. Gibbs was sure he'd broken every traffic rule in the book getting to the house and had dearly wanted to strangle Fran once they were out of the house, but had refrained upon Dabi's plea for leniency.
"Hope she leaves my desk alone this weekend," Tony muttered darkly.
"Says she'll be too busy studying to do that," Gibbs replied.
"Yeah, right. I believe that," Tony said. "I'm still finding baby powder from the fan thing."
"What about the floor?" Tim asked. "If I remember right, she buttered your kitchen floor."
"Had to use a whole bottle of dish liquid to clean that up and I'm still not sure I got it all," Tony groused.
"Then you shouldn't have thrown her in the river," Gibbs replied calmly.
"I got thrown in the river!"
"Courtesy of Fran Tucker, Dabi's new friend," said Ziva.
"And partner in crime," said Tim. "Hey, maybe they can help us figure out the nature of these pranks against Captain Reynard." Captain Othello Reynard was the victim of a recent string of pranks that had escalated to finding a live rattler snake in his desk that morning. The top brass, namely Reynard's supervisors, were demanding that NCIS find the culprit and put a stop to the pranks, before someone got seriously hurt. Hence the trip to Norfolk, where Reynard was stationed and the pranks were originating.
"Not unless we have to. I'm not dragging Dabi away from school any more than she needs to be," Gibbs replied.
Somewhere in Norfolk:
The package was almost ready. All he needed to do was set the spring and load the powder and it would be ready. Reynard was not going to be laughing when he got the package. In fact, he was going to be too busy dying.
