Murderer on the Moor
The night was dark: dim and dangerous. Twigs snapped all by themselves. Wolves howled harrowing, haunting howls. Snakes slithered through the stark stench of their prey`s carcase. The moorland was a bleak ocean: there was no civilisation for miles. Only endless stretches of moorland. Where only danger lurked. The night was silent, far too silent. Silence can be broken. Like it was about to be...
"Tony!"a high pitched squeal filled the air."You put a snake in my sleeping bag!"
"It was Probie, Kate" Tony gruffed."Stop waking the rest of us up!"
A lazy snore breezed across the air. A collection of tents huddled together in the middle of the marshland.
"McGhee is still asleep! Admit it Tony it was you."Kate snapped.
"I will not confess to something I did not do, "Tony callously yelled.
"Confess to what DiNozzo?"Gibbs queried. He sounded tired.
"Kate is accusing me of putting a snake in her tent, boss!"Tony confidently replied.
"You did so!"Kate defended.
"I did so not!"Tony retorted.
"Cut it out the pair of you!"Gibbs roared.
"What`s going on?"a sleepy voice queried.
"Kate, you woke Probie up" Tony accused.
"I did not."
"You..."
"Calm down. The pair of you," Gibbs boldly interrupted, "McGhee turn a light on."
A minute later an amber torch glow beamed across the moorland. McGhee stumbled out from is tent. His eyes were dimmed and his hair had been dragged through a forest. His navy fleece was coated in a swarm of tawny hairs.
"Somebody has been sleeping in a fur ball. Ehh! McGhee," Tony cattily remarked.
"Very funny Tony but guess what nobody is laughing," McGhee insulted.
McGhee was tired. He wanted to throttle Kate and Tony for waking him up. Why did he go on this camping trip? Gibbs had told everybody it would help them work together as a team. There was hardly a chance of that happening. It would be one long week of Tony and Kate bickering, Tony and Kate playing tricks on him And Gibbs hitting Tony and Kate on the head. What a brilliant way to spend the week. Especially as they were in the middle of nowhere. McGhee cursed as he tripped over a log. Everyone else ignored him.
"Show me the snake!"Gibbs ordered.
He knew this wasn`t going well. Why had the director ordered him to do this? The last thing he wanted to do was to spend a week with his team. They hadn`t even gone a single night without Tony and Kate causing trouble.
Kate appeared in a navy fleece lined tracksuit holding the snake in a plastic bag. The snake`s slimy tongue was spitting at them venomously. It was a slender beauty: mewled with eager emeralds and rustic rouge rubies. Two black eyes whined in protest. Gibbs knew instantly that this snake was harmless. Gibbs also knew that his team did not know the snake was harmless. It was time to have some fun...
Gibbs stared at the snake in astonishment. Then he walked over to Tony and McGhee. Tony was still huddled in his sleeping bag. His eyes were irritated but mischievous monkeys. Gibbs stared at DiNozzo and McGhee violently.
"Is there something I should know?"Gibbs vociferated."Who put the snake in Kate`s tent!"
"I didn`t boss. I was asleep!" McGhee exclaimed.
"I haven`t touched or even gone near any snakes boss."Tony answered."Why?"
"This snake is poisonous. If it had bitten Kate she would have died within minutes!"Gibbs roared.
Everyone`s faces were shocked. Gibbs looked furious. On the inside he was nearly laughing his head off. The look on his team`s faces was hilarious.
"Someone tried to kill Kate," Tony stated. His voice was solemn.
"I hope that this was some silly prank of yours and we do not have a murderer on our hands!"Gibbs vociferated at his team.
"We have a murderer on our hands," Tony stated slowly in disbelief."We have a murderer on our hands!"
Across the moor a man shared similar feelings. He had been listening in on his soon-to-be victims' conversation. How could they know; he hadn`t even attempted to kill them yet! He hadn't even planned on how he was going to kill them. He only knew one thing. Now he had to kill them.
The golden rays of mother sun abolished darkness from the land. McGhee and Tony searched the campsite for evidence. Meanwhile Kate cooked breakfast. The eggs were scaring her. They reminded her of Ari`s eyes. She felt a compelling urge to kiss him. She wanted him to be here. Kate didn`t know why she felt this way; Ari had held her and Ducky hostage. He had shot Gerald in the arm. He was a monster. Why was she so madly in love with him! Was an hour or two at most long enough for someone to catch Stockholm`s Syndrome? Kate had no clue. Kate had no clue...
"Perhaps it was that terrorist, Ari, who held Ducky, Kate and Gerald hostage," McGhee suggested helpfully.
"Unlikely," Kate replied," if it was Ari he would have done something more dangerous and we would all be dead by now"
"It could have been that terrorist on Air Force 1 who Gibbs spontaneously stopped him," Tony suggested.
"What terrorist on Air Force 1!"
McGhee was bewildered.
"Long story," Tony explained, "but it involved secret service agent Kaitlin Todd joining NCIS, me posing as a dead body in a body bag to fool the FBI and Gibbs using his minute knowledge of movies to stop an attack on the president. Oww! Sorry boss!"
Tony only realised Gibbs was behind him when the infamous smack sent a bolt of pain ricocheting through his head. McGhee chuckled softly.
"Have you found anything yet McGhee?"Gibbs asked in his usual exasperated manner.
"No, sor..."McGhee began then he remembered Gibbs did not like apologies.
"And you DiNozzo?" Gibbs angrily asked Tony.
"Yes, I have found something but I`m not quite sure it was what we are looking for."
Tony`s face was astonished. He slowly held up a battered copy of, "Snakes and how to deal with them."
The book was tattier than a pile of tatties. It was mud stained like a muddy hippo. Tony opened it carefully. Inside there was a picture of a heart and a message. The first half was to damaged to read but the legible part read "loves Leeroy Jethro G"
"Gibbs, I think you should take a look at this!" Tony said uneasily.
Tony knew that if it was one of Gibbs`s ex-wives who tried to kill Kate, they were in for one hell of a week. Gibbs would go mental. Gibbs leant over Tony`s shoulder. Then he began to laugh manically. Everyone stared at Gibbs.
"My haha ex ahaha through this ahhaha across the ahaha moor when we went ahaahahahahaha camping"Gibbs tried to exclaim but was overcome with bursts of laughter.
"The eggs are fried!" Kate called.
Gibbs was still laughing by the time they reached Kate. Kate took one look at Gibbs and asked, "Why is Gibbs Laughing?"
"We found a copy of a book on snakes that one of his exes threw out when he took her camping," Tony explained in a rather droll manner.
Kate handed everyone a fried egg. They all ate quickly. No-one wanted to be off their guard for long when there was a murderer on the loose.
"You know we are stuck here alone with no means of communicating with the outside world."Tony began in his dreamy tone.
Kate and McGhee cursed silently they knew only too well what was coming: a movie reference!
Tony carried on," we have no computers, limited resources, virtually no firepower and we have to track a killer. This reminds me of a good movie I once saw. There were these two cops and..."
"DiNozzo shut up!"Gibbs interrupted.
"But Gibbs it was a really good movie!" Tony protested.
"Shh!" Gibbs cut him off. His voice sounded urgent.
A buzzing whine ripped the air apart. Then there was an eerie silence. Suddenly there was a wail of doodledoodledoodle!
"It's a V2!" Tony yelled, "Take cover!"
No sooner than Tony had spoken this warning there was an explosion nearby. Clumps of turf rained down on them. The turf felt like rocks (heavy rocks.)
Gibbs looked up. Their tents had been destroyed in the blast. He swivelled round to face his team. Kate and McGee seemed fine but shocked. Gibbs looked for Tony. He couldn`t see him.
"Tony`s not here!"Kate stated.
She gasped in horror. Where Tony should have been a pool of blood resided...
Footnotes
V2- bomb used in world war two. It could fly on its own for long distances and was distintly known for the doodle noise it makes.