Into the Fold Chapter 9
Sunday Morning 7 AM
As Tony dressed in blue jeans and a black t-shirt his hands shook. He could blame it on the large in-take of coffee he had consumed over the past several hours but he knew it was because he felt nervous. He hated that he was about to violate Jackson Gibbs privacy. He had become very fond of Gibbs Dad over the last few years. He was a wonderful man and Gibbs was lucky to have had such a great guy raise him. Tony wished he could say the same about his own father. He and his Dad had rebuilt some bridges but Tony never felt he had the childhood so many others had been lucky to have.
As Tony tied his shoe laces he wondered again how Gibbs had come to be a vampire. Did Jack raise him knowing he was a vampire? What would that have been like?
Tony slipped on a baseball cap he had purchased at the diner gift shop. It was green and had a John Deere tracker logo on the front. He looked at himself in the mirror and smirked at his reflection. Not his greatest look but when in Rome….he grabbed the gear he needed and headed out to the car.
Tony left Bloomsburg and headed to Stillwater.
He parked his car several blocks away from Jackson Gibbs' home. He had his digital binoculars with him. As he waited for signs of life from Jack's home, Tony viewed the photos he had taken of Gibbs and Dearing. Tony's blood ran cold with every click to the next photo. Gibbs was enjoying the kill too much. Tony decided after seeing the last photo he would eventually delete them all but for now he needed the validation that his future actions were justified.
He saw Jack leave promptly at 8 am and get into his truck. Tony watched as he drove away. He waited 10 minutes and then approached the house. Standing on the front porch Tony looked around. It was a quiet Sunday morning in a small town. Most people were probably having breakfast and getting ready for church.
Tony knew Jack never locked his front door so when he turned the knob and the door swung open he was not surprised. Tony entered with slight apprehension. He figured he had about 3 hours to find out as much info as he could. He took a deep breath and thought "Let the hunt begin."
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Jackson Gibbs home was modest, neat and clean. The Gibbs men were a humble lot and Tony loved that about them. Tony's upbringing was affluent and lonely. He loved the simplicity in which Jackson lived his life. Until Tony discovered Gibbs was a vampire, he would say what you saw is what you got with the Gibbs men.
Tony started upstairs first. He began in Jack's room. His search was quick. Nothing grabbed his attention there, so he moved over to Jethro's room.
This room was frozen in time. Tony knew Gibbs had graduated from High School in 1976 and entered the Marine Corps soon after. Tony found yearbooks from 1973 through 1976 on a book shelf. He leafed through them and found photos of a young Leroy Gibbs in every one. Tony put them back and again wondered when Gibbs became a Vampire. These photos showed the natural progression of a young man growing into adulthood.
He rummaged through Gibbs closet, desk drawers and under the bed. Nothing to be found there either.
Tony skipped the bathroom. He noticed there was an attic crawl space but decided he would save that for last if he found nothing else in the house.
He was walking down the stairs when he heard the telephone ring in the kitchen. After 3 rings Jack's voice could be heard saying:
"Sorry to miss your call. Please leave a message."
Tony smiled hearing Jackson's kind voice. Jethro Gibbs definitely did not learn phone etiquette from his Dad.
Tony froze when he heard Gibbs voice leave a message "Hey Jack…I was wondering if you have heard from Tony? Give me a call if you do will ya? Oh, and if you see him Dad don't let him know I am looking for him okay? Thanks….talk to you soon."
Tony couldn't move for a few minutes. He debated erasing the voice message but decided to leave it. He checked his time. He was still good. He searched the main floor of the house and after a half hour still had not produced anything that might solve the mystery of Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
Tony went to the basement stairs. He had his flashlight just in case. He hit the light switch and made his way down the stairs. He wondered if he would find a boat in this basement. He didn't.
Jack's basement was relatively empty. There was a washer and a dryer and he had a clothesline that ran the length of the room. Tony sat on the stairs in defeat. He was about to head up to the attic when he decided to run his hand along the paneled walls looking for a hidden space. He had done the same thing on the upper levels of the house and had no luck. Best to cover all his bases though.
Forming a fist he started at one end of the room and began to walk slowly along the wall.
Bang! Solid wall, Bang! Solid wall….he kept up this pace and just before he reached the washer and dryer the sound changed from bang to thump. He pushed against the panel and it flexed inward.
EUREKA!
Tony felt along the end of the wood panel until he found the release. He felt his heart begin to beat a little faster as he was able to pull the panel forward. There was a crawl space behind this false wall. He turned on his flashlight and pointed the illumination into the black depth. The space smelled of dust and mold and there were cobwebs weaved throughout. The flashlight beam rested on an old steamer trunk.
Tony sat back and took a calming breath. He then reached in and pulled the trunk out into the basement. He checked his time. He needed to hurry.
The trunk was very old. Thankfully it did not have any kind of lock on it. Tony held his breath as he lifted the lid. He did this for two reasons. One, the trunk was dusty as hell and he needed to protect his lungs and two, he was so damn excited at what might be inside. He hoped it wasn't a body.
When he finally took a breath his nostrils were assaulted with the rich smell of cedar. Made sense as cedar protected against moths and the like. There was a folded quilt on the top that covered the entire length of the trunk. Tony could tell it was hand-made as he removed it and placed it on the washer. He then found a blue wool uniform that he recognized as a civil war era artifact. There was also a sword of that era and a side arm. Tony placed those on the washer as well.
Tony knew that Gibbs family had a long history in America so it made sense that he had family that served in the American Civil War. Tony was a second generation Italian American. His family had emigrated from Italy in the early 1900's. He had never traced his Mother's ancestry in America so he didn't know if he had any relations on her side that may have fought in the "War between the States". He wasn't a big fan of the Civil War anyway. His Dad had been and dragged him to several reenactments. He could have lived without that experience.
Tony then found a leather gun belt with what looked like an 1880 Colt single action revolver. The whole rig looked authentic-like something a gunfighter would have worn in the old west. It was beautiful and Tony wondered who it had belonged to. He placed that on the washer as well.
There were other articles of clothing which Tony added to the pile he had going on the washer. He finally came to the bottom of the trunk. This is where he found a large family bible. There were documents inside the binding of the bible. He checked his time. He needed to get the hell out of there soon. As much as he hated to take anything from Jack's home he needed time to go through everything. He ran upstairs and grabbed his backpack. He returned to the basement and gingerly placed the bible inside his pack. He returned everything else back into the trunk as he had found it and slid the trunk back into place. He closed the panel and brushed away any evidence that the trunk had been removed from behind the wall.
He glanced around and was satisfied he had covered his tracks. He took the stairs two at a time and when he reached the main floor he heard Jack's truck pull into his drive.
SHIT!
Tony waited until he heard Jack open the front door. As Jack entered the front door Tony slipped out the back door. He ducked as he made his way to the front of the house. When he felt it was safe he took off at a quick pace towards his car. When he got to the car he sat and watched Jack's home for several minutes. It looked like the coast was clear. Tony started the car and turned down the opposite end of the street.
He made it back to his motel room in 30 minutes. He bought lunch at the diner and carried it back to the room. He ate quickly and fought down the excitement that had been threatening to burst from him since he found the trunk.
He pulled latex gloves from his backpack and put them on. Tony did this out of respect, treating the bible like the antique it was. He gently placed it on the motel room desk.
He took a deep breath and opened the book.
Like most family bibles from the early years in America, it contained the Gibbs family records of births and deaths. Tony traced the family tree and found a Leroy Jethro Gibbs born 1841, died 1863. Was this his Gibbs name sake? He found Jackson Travis Gibbs born 1922, no date of death. Gibbs Dad? Then there was another entry for a Leroy Jethro Gibbs born 1958. This looked like his Gibbs. Tony scanned the other entries, they meant nothing to him. He did notice there was no mention of Shannon or Kelly or any other wives of Gibbs.
Tony thumbed through the bible. He found several flowers that had been pressed and placed in certain areas. He wondered when these were placed there and by whom. He found some deeds to property in the name of an L.J. Gibbs and there were some ancient looking stock certificates for companies Tony had never heard of. These were dated in the 1880's and in the name of L.J. Gibbs. How could that be if the first Leroy Gibbs died in 1863?
Tony soon solved that mystery when he pulled out an old sepia photo hidden in the back of the bible.
There were four people in the photo.
On the far left was a young man dressed in a Civil War uniform. He fought for the Union. This young man had fierce looking light colored eyes. He wore mutton chop sideburns that were popular in that day. He was thin lipped and serious looking. Tony turned the photo over and written on the opposite side was the name Ezra Culpepper. There was also the date and place the photo was taken-1863, Gettysburg.
Tony turned the photo back to the front to look at the beautiful young woman standing next to Culpepper. She too had light colored eyes. She was not smiling, none of the subjects of the photo were, but there was no mistaking the camera caught her beauty. She had an almost angelic heart shaped face and what looked like a sprig of Honeysuckle pinned in her hair.
Tony turned the photo over and read her name: Katherine Maddox
It was the two young men that stood next to Katherine that caused Tony's breath to hitch. He fought down the shock and awe he felt seeing two faces he knew very well. Dressed in blue union uniforms these young men, boys really, looked scared and so innocent.
He turned the photo over anyway and read what he already knew would be there.
Flipping the photo over again, staring at the two boys, he said their names aloud:
"Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Tobias Fornell"
The photo slipped from Tony's fingers as he sat back and brought his hand to his mouth.
He fought the shock that threatened to overcome him.
All he could say was "OH MY GOD!"