Chapter 7

The sounds of the horses hooves pounding on the frozen ground, coupled with the call of the huntsman's horn gave AJ a moment of surrealism…was this how cavalrymen felt riding into battle? "All in the valley of Death rode the six hundred," he quoted the Longfellow poem under his breath, then as chatter erupted in his ear from less disciplined members of the team, namely Brennan and Booth, he remembered they were all outfitted with microphones and earpieces.

"Shut the hell up!" Gibbs ordered testily to one and all as the thirty couple of hounds began to bay. From his position on the west hill, he observed the field

Rosalind was easy to keep in sight. She rode with that same certain elegant style with which she did everything. Her hair even had some red highlights in it. He sighed. Somehow he didn't think he could keep company with her crowd, though the Admiral was manfully trying to do so as he followed Rosalind over the first jump and managed to look credible on the landing. He had to give the man credit. SEALS were tough. Not as tough as Marine Recon. But tough.

Their quarry, Clyde Smith Clyde, wore a red jacket for some reason Gibbs didn't understand, but it made him easier to keep track of when he suddenly veered away from the pack and headed up the hill toward where McGee was stationed with his surveillance equipment. Clyde acted like the horse was running away with him but the minute the field left him behind, he regained perfect control of the prancing mount. For an overweight, out of shape, cigar smoking, bureaucrat, Clyde Smith Clyde was a damned good horseman.

There was a gully running along the base of the ridge that was covered by overgrown bushes and small trees. Smith Clyde backed his horse into the gully and waited. It wasn't long before Dunlop appeared, riding a sweated up blood red gelding.

"I can't hear what they're saying McGee," Gibbs warned. "Somebody get over there, but not too close."

Harm and Mac nodded at each other, "On our way, Gibbs," Mac reported before sprinting behind Harm toward the gully.

Gibbs swiveled around, looking for Rosalind and the Admiral, not to mention Clayton Webb. They had all bunched up together toward the back. Tony, doing remarkably well was toward the head of the field with Libby beside him. At least he was keeping track of her.

"Where is she!" suddenly Clyde's angry voice burst through the communication device. Harm and Mac were in position. "What have you done with Maggie! Where is my wife!"

"Safe enough for the time being," Dunlop replied. "And what have you done with my guns?"

"I can't divert any more shipments. My company is suspicious, the government is suspicious, Blackwater is all over everyone because they're not getting their supplies. It's gone too far, Dunlop. What ever you said to Rosalind last weekend has AJ Chegwidden's shorts in a real twist. He's got protection all around her and this damned hill. I'd bet you couldn't piss behind a tree without him hearing you!"

"And what is a used up Admiral got to do with your problems, Clyde?" Dunlop queried. "We had a deal. You broke it. I am, as you might say, familiar with other means of payment."

"Don't hurt my wife," Clyde's desperation came through loud and clear.

"Why not?" Dunlop sounded surprised. "You don't love her…the little money she had is long gone…she is of no use to you."

"She's…" Clyde choked. "Damn you, Dunlop – you killed that other girl and set that Navy Commander up for the killing and now you're going to do the same with me and Maggie.

"Ahh, so it isn't her that you are worried about – it's your own skin, is it Clyde? If you're framed for the murder of Maggie, then you lose everything, don't you? Why, you'd be so distraught, you might commit suicide even."

There was a sound of a click.

"That's a stupid trick. You'll be caught in five minutes." Clyde found some contempt in his soul.

"There are other ways to die," Dunlop was playing the cat. "For instance, I could shoot the ground in front of your very nervous horse….:"

"GO, GO GO!" Gibbs shouted.

But it was too late. Dunlop let loose a pistol of filled with ratshot into the frozen snow, startling the horse, which reared back, unseating Clyde. He may have meant only to scare him, but ill luck brought Clyde down on a broken branch, his own weight impaling him through his rib cage.:

Harm and Mac charged Dunlop even as the Admiral rode up, charging as if he were indeed one of the Light Brigade, Clayton Webb behind him. DiNozzio was unsuccessfully trying to keep both Rosalind and Libby away from the scene, but Brennan was right behind him.

"I'm a doctor," she said to Clyde. "You're very badly injured and you're going into shock."

"Does he need to know that right now?" AJ found himself whipping off the stock that Rosalind had so neatly tied that morning and using it as a compress to try to cushion the wound. It was cold, and there was very little blood with a puncture wound, so it would have seemed Clyde might have a chance, but then blood started to trickle out of the side of his mouth. A long was punctured.

"Chose the wrong one, AJ." He whispered in a raspy voice. "Should have taken the bell.."

"What the hell is he talking about," AJ looked around wildly as his old comrade closed his eyes and breathed his last. His only thought was the bell that dropouts at BUDS training rang.

"He's talking about Rosalind," Webb said quietly. "In her youth, at school, she was known as the Belle of Virginia."

AJ shook his head and hardened his mouth. The damn fool's last words were about another woman. If Maggie was alive, she'd never hear that.

"You blew it Dunlop," Harm manjacked the Irishman to his feet. "You killed this one instead of tricking him into a prison sentence. Now what the hell happened to Loren Singer?"

"She fell off a bridge, poor careless girl." Dunlop managed to look smug. "Nice little girls shouldn't try blackmail."

"Get him the hell out of here before I – " the Admiral rose to his feet, a blood mist in his eyes.

"I'll take him, Commander," Booth took over the very uncomfortable grip Harm had on the villa's face and slapped handcuffs on him. "You're under arrest by the FBI."

"Booth, how did you get here so fast?" Brennan demanded.

"She drove," he jerked his head at Ziva.

"You never let me drive!" Brennan complained.

"Yeah, and I'm never going to let her drive again either," Booth shoved Dunlop toward the jeep. "Johnny Dunlop, you are under arrest for crimes committed against the United States government. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law and you're damned sure going to need a lawyer…"

"AJ," Rosalind gripped his arm. "Where's Maggie? You need to find Maggie."

"We'll find her." AJ looked around at the team.

"We should look at Bolton Landing." Webb suggested. "He may have simply shut her up in a shed. He and Clyde were already there when we arrived and Clyde didn't look nervous then, yet."

.

"I saw them too and Clyde didn't look the least like a man who'd just been told his wife had been kidnapped," AJ agreed. "Gibbs?"

"We'll handle it, Admiral," Gibbs said laconically. "Ziva, McGee, get on it." He looked around. "Where in the hell is Tony."

"Last I saw he was just behind the master going over the coop at Badger's Run," Webb fought for control of his flighty horse as another rider unwisely came up behind him.

"Nobody's going anywhere until someone tells me what the hell is going on around here!" Andrew Jones, the local sheriff pulled up his horse and pulled out his badge.

"It's a federal matter…" AJ began, then interrupted himself. "Does everyone fox hunt around here?"

"Pretty much – and this – whatever it is - is in my jurisdiction." Andrew swung off his horse to look at the body. "Jesus, that's Clyde Smith Clyde – and Dunlop's horse. What the hell happened?"

"I can assure you, he's quite dead," Bones commented. "Dunlop killed him. He is now in in FBI custody for arms trafficking, among other things."

"At least one of you is talking. Rosalind, how did you get mixed up in this?" It was a question for which he didn't beg an answer. Andrew pulled out his radio. "Now can we let the locals have a little fun? Can I at least bring in the coroner?"
"Actually no," Bones rose to her feet. "I'm a forensic anthropologist and all of this crime scene will be processed through the Jeffersonian."

"With assistance from NCIS," Gibbs stepped forward, waving his own badge. "Sherriff, we'll lay it all out for you, some place nice and warm."
"Webb, do you have anything to do with this?" Andrew turned to the one person he'd known all of his life.

"Let them do their job, Andrew. It's way too much paperwork for you." Webb reined his horse in closely. "But we have to find Maggie Smith Clyde. She may be at Bolton Landing, at Fair Hill or somewhere in between."

"I saw her very early at Bolton Landing – she was going to the stables to look at a new mare that Dunlop had brought over from England…" Andrew's face hardened as the NCIS team headed for their jeep. "Wait a minute, damn it!"

Webb released his grip on the reins and the mare rose to the occasion. If Ziva wasn't driving, he'd be close to beating the jeep back to Bolton Landing. Of course, he didn't have to look for a gate. For just a moment, AJ admired the man, his courage, and his damned fine seat on a horse."

"Webb—" Sherriff Jones hissed through his teeth.

"Rosalind and I'll ride with you Sherriff," AJ soothed him. "And explain on the way."

"Yes, but who will tell Sister Jane she's lost half her field!"

"Tony and Libby are still with the field," Rosalind soothed him. "Please, Andrew. I'm very cold and feeling just a bit sick."

"Of course, Rosalind," Andrew's southern manners came to the fore. "You'll stay with the body?"

"Yes, to preserve the chain of evidence," Bones agreed. "Booth will send my team back and meanwhile, Commander Rabb and Colonel MacKenzie can be of some assistance in setting up a perimeter."

"Evidence," Rosalind murmured, shivering, as they rode away. "Is that all he really is now?"

AJ's earpiece exploded. "We've got the wife. We've got the wife." Ziva reported in her professional manner. "An ambulance is being called. She's been drugged and she's very cold, but she's alive."

"Maggie's been located. She's alive." AJ touched the earpiece. "Roger that, we're coming in."

The crackling fire and warm brandy made the events of the morning a distant and bad memory. Rosalind unashamedly huddled against AJ, drawing strength from his firm body. "Why did he risk everything? Maggie's family had money…"

"Not as much as you may have thought. She apparently thought that Clyde's prospects were somewhat better than they turned out to be," Booth, who had spent the better part of the day interviewing Maggie in the hospital had the timeline pretty well figured out. "She wanted to be an admiral's wife and when he lost his command due to that incident…well, she threatened to leave him. That's when she found out they were in debt up to their ears…"

"Wait a minute," Rosalind sat up. "Do you mean to say that Maggie knew what Clyde was doing?"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Strasser but yes, she was very much a partner. Which was why Dunlop had to get rid of her as well as her husband."

Rosalind sank back against AJ, tears welling in her eyes. "My poor Mags." She raised her head. "You know there were a pair of characters in a Dickens novel. Each thought the other had enough money to settle their private debts – and both were fooled. They ended up traveling Europe running con games." She shook her head. "I never would have thought it. Is Maggie under arrest?"

""Yes, ma'am she is," Booth said quietly. "She's got an attorney and they're talking out a deal. It's best if you not go near her."

"There's also the matter of Loren Skinner's actions," Gibbs said quietly. "According to Dunlop, she was also in on the scheme. Blackmail at the very least and not about the father of her baby."

"I don't think she was," Something suddenly clicked in Mac's mind. "She figured out what Dunlop and Clyde were doing and that Commander Lindsey was somehow involved –" she interrupted herself. "How would Commander Lindsey be involved, Admiral?
"As SecNav's aide, he'd have access to defense contractor contracts and probably be able facilitate contacts for Dunlop and Clyde." The Admiral sighed, realizing that there was probably going to be another investigation, maybe even at the Congressional level, of the SecNav's office. It would likely screw up his promotion too.

"That would make sense, Mac continued. "She discovered the plot, and Lindsey's involvementand she was going to report it. Loren Singer was a manipulating cheat when it came to the courtroom but she wasn't a traitor and her main motivation was to advance her career. How better to do that than to reveal an arms smuggling operation?"

"That's it!" Rosalind sat up. "I remember what she said to Dunlop! She said, "Leave me alone, I'm going to talk to Rosalind," and he grabbed her arm and prevented her from coming to me."

"Why would talking to you frighten him?" AJ frowned.

"Look around, Admiral." Webb commented. "Rosalind has a reputation for tapping the right people to solve complicated problems. If Loren Singer had revealed what she knew about these contracts, Rosalind would have found the right people to take care of it."

AJ shook his head. "My very own Miss Marple," he took her hand. "Though much younger and infinitely more beautiful." He kissed her with his eyes and snuggled her against his chest as she began to cry in earnest.

"That poor girl. If only I'd…"

"Rosalind, it's not your fault," AJ said sternly. "Loren Singer always had her own agenda. Her own way of doing things."

"That doesn't explain why Lindsey confessed to killing her." Harm pointed out.

"He probably did kill her, at Dunlop's orders." Mac suggested.

"But he thought he was the father of her baby," McGee reminded them. "I remember in the interview room when we told him, the baby wasn't his, he slumped in his chair."

"Because he thought the baby was Dunlop's and that we were close to uncovering the arms trading. At that point, he thought he might have been able to beat the murder rap, but if the arms trading was discovered, he'd surely lose everything." Mac put forth.

"Okay, I'll buy that," Harm agreed. "But what about the airline ticket, Mac." Harm returned to the part of the puzzle that bothered him the most. "Why would she be going to Ireland for any reason but to meet up with Dunlop, who probably was the father of her baby."

"Dunlop was here, in Virginia at the time. She wouldn't be flying to Ireland to meet him. From Ireland, she could have gone anywhere in the world, including Moscow," Bones broke into the conversation. "Harm, have you ever thought that you and Sergie are not brothers? Perhaps you both believe something that really isn't true? You only assumed your DNA would reveal a close relationship to the baby if Sergie was the father, but there was never a comparison of your DNA to Sergie's to determine if you are in fact brothers. My lab could do the comparisons rather quickly and if there is fetal tissue …"she glanced at the NCIS agent Gibbs.

"Never mind, Dr. Brennan." Harm said quietly. "Sergie is my brother and that's the end of it."

"But-" Bones started to speak then checked herself. "I understand, Commander. Everyone needs a family."

As Booth smiled at her with pride, AJ tightened his arm around Rosalind. "Yes," he agreed quietly. "Everyone needs a family."

"Here, here," Tony raised his glass and unabashedly kissed his fiancée. "And you're all invited to the wedding!"

Later that evening when all had retired, AJ came out of the bathroom after a hot shower pummeled every sore muscle he had, including his butt, wrapped in a heavy terry robes. He was looking forward to one last glass of whiskey to ease the remaining soreness from his muscles. He found Rosalind holding back the heavy damask draperies staring pensively out of the window overlooking the back pastures of Sunnyfield. In the distance one could just see the glow of the lights of Fair Hill, now empty, its owners ruined. Her face was in profile against the flickering firelight of the gas fireplace and low lamps burning around the large master bedroom and he could see the tears on her cheeks.

"You're freezing cold," he wrapped his arms around her and drew her against him, her silk wrapper immediately cooling his chest. "Come by the fire." He sat with her on the love seat set at an angle toward the fire. A tray with a decanter of whiskey and two classes sat on a low table beside him. "Here, have some of this blackberry brandy, purely medicinal."

"No," she shook her head pensively. "I was just thinking that you could know someone a lifetime and never really know them, and then know someone just a few days or weeks and feel like you're part of that person," she glanced up at him almost timidly.

He smiled reassuringly and touched her soft hair, flowing down past her shoulders. "I feel the same way," he assured her. "You and I, Rosalind –I dare not think about it too much in case I'm dreaming." He drew a deep breath. "But I was thinking that perhaps you'd like to go to Italy?"

"Italy?" she raised her brows. "Why Italy?"

"Well," he carefully arranged her hair. "You've shown me something of your life, and I've met at least one of your children and hope to meet the other two soon but you haven't met my daughter and aren't likely to do so in the near future unless we go to the spring fashion shows in Milan."

"Is this an attempt to take my mind off Maggie and Clyde?" Rosalind asked very seriously.

AJ shook his head. "No, you'll reconcile all that in your own time. This is just a very real attempt to share some of my life with you."

"I would love to go to Italy," she kissed him gently, then settled back in his arms, staring once again at the fire. Her expression had somewhat changed, though it was obvious she was still thinking about a problem.

"What is it?"

She sighed. "Shoes.." A small smile began to show at the edges of her mouth. "All kinds of Italian shoes. I think I'm going to have to do some clearing out in my dressing room."

AJ chuckled and drew her even closer. "You can start that tomorrow."

Hope you enjoyed all of the crazy mixed up characters….stay tuned for "February" adventures…..