A/N Since I may not be able to post for a few days, I thought I would go ahead and put up the next three chapters since I had them ready. I hope you enjoy them. Thanks!
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Gibbs was furious. No one had seen either McAbee or McGee since the wedding the day before and no one knew or were willing to say where McGee had been staying since he moved to the mountains. Unless they could find the snake that bit Lt. Amos they really couldn't prove that it had been done on purpose despite the fact they were certain it had been murder. None of the snakes in the store room could have delivered the fatal bite. Even if they'd all had their poison sacs intact, none was remotely big enough. Gibbs was certain the answer lie with McAbee. Gibbs suspected he had a poisonous snake hidden away someplace that he brought out as needed. They'd thoroughly searched his house with no results and now he was worried they'd skipped town but where did that leave McGee? Was he with them? Was he even still alive? Gibbs rubbed his aching head.
He couldn't help but feel he'd pushed McGee into this. Gibbs again felt that rush of guilt. Matt's case hadn't been his and he shouldn't have let it interfere with the running of his own team. Despite his skill and intelligence, McGee's self-confidence could be shaky at the best of times and unfortunately, when pushed too hard, McGee became more insecure than ever. Gibbs should have remembered that. He sighed. Now McGee was married to a woman they were certain had been responsible for the deaths of at least four other men. She knew they were suspicious of her and he felt in his gut that she and her father would waste no time in getting their hands on Tim's money and once that happened, McGee was as good as dead. He would have Abby check on that as soon as possible.
He decided to leave Tony and Ziva in Providence for a few days to see if they could get any leads on the McAbees or McGee. Finding the Reverend was the only way they could ever solve this case. It just never got easier.
Now came the part he really dreaded: telling Abby. He had promised her that he would keep Tim safe from Emmy and her father and now the worst had happened. How was he going to explain to her that not only had McGee married the girl but they couldn't find him?
The elevator doors opened onto the forensics area. The lab was silent as Gibbs stepped out peering around for the young woman. "Abby?"
He walked in further and found her huddled in her desk chair gripping Bert, her stuffed hippo as if he were the only thing keeping her together. She refused to meet Gibbs' eyes. Gibbs stepped closer. "Abs? You all right?"
There was a long moment of silence. "He did it, didn't he, Gibbs?" she asked softly, a slight hitch in her voice. "He married that girl."
Gibbs sighed. "Yeah, Abby, he did."
Again there was silence. "I checked his bank accounts, Gibbs. I just had this feeling something was wrong and I was right. All his money was gone; his accounts cleaned out! You know what that means don't you?"
Gibbs closed his eyes for a moment. Oh yes, he knew exactly what that meant.
Suddenly Abby leapt to her feet and turned on him, her eyes blazing. "How could you let that happen, Gibbs!?" she shouted tears now starting to trickle down her pale face. "You know what kind of woman she is! You knew he was being drugged! He wasn't thinking straight! Tony told me he and Ziva saw Tim at the church. Why didn't they grab him and get him out of there!?" With each word she pounded on his chest as Gibbs stood silently, his own face reflecting her anguish. What could he say? Because he had been so caught up in his own problems, he had misread this entire situation so terribly, it may very well cost the life of an innocent young man.
Finally, Abby collapsed sobbing in Gibbs arms. He held her gently waiting for her tears to subside. "Abby," he said quietly pushing her from him so he could look directly into her eyes. "We will find him, I promise you that. We won't let them get away with this."
Now Abby's look hardened. "That's what you said before, Gibbs. You promised me you wouldn't let that black widow get him and she did. Now that she's got his money, he's probably already dead!" She paused shaking her head as she turned away, tears still flowing. "I'm not sure I can believe you this time."
Gibbs stared at her and realized that was the harshest cut of all.
As dusk fell, Emmy embraced Tim tightly then the two climbed into Tim's jeep with Emmy driving. She'd convinced him that he needed to pray and as she knew the way, it made sense for her to drive. He'd willingly acquiesced as he was again feeling what he could only think of as withdrawal from the elixir. Deep inside him, that worried him a lot but he allowed himself to be carried off into the dark woods as he silently prayed for strength to succeed in whatever this trial involved.
It seemed to take hours to arrive at a small shack high in the mountains. It consisted of a single room with a dirt floor. Tim frowned to see stakes driven into the floor. The glow of numerous candles provided the only light. Reverend McAbee knelt before a small altar at one end of the room. On the altar perched an enormous wooden snake box, intricately carved with images of serpents and penitent worshipers. In the Reverend's hands he held a silver goblet. He was apparently praying over the goblet and its contents. Tim and Emmy stood silently in the dim light and watched quietly until finally the Reverend utter a heartfelt "amen" and rose smoothly to his feet. He turned to face his daughter and son-in-law.
"Timothy McGee," he intoned holding the cup before him, "Your Faith in the Lord has been called into question. There are those who feel you are not a True Believer. Some feel you are a Judas in our midst and are here on behalf of Satan to tempt our Savior and as the Good Book says Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents."
Amen!
Tim suddenly became aware that several men now stood behind him. He never heard them enter but quickly recognized them as the church elders. With a pang of fear, he realized Emmy had left his side and now stood behind the men watching him with sadness in her large eyes.
"I don't understand what you want of me," said Tim firmly although he could feel his heart racing.
"To prove you are a True Believer!"
McAbee slowly moved forward and offered the goblet to Tim. McGee could see the candle light faintly reflected in the dark liquid within like stars in the night sky. Almost reluctantly, Tim took the cup with a shaking hand and drank. He instantly recognized the bittersweet taste of the elixir. He took a deep breath and staggered. The elixir seemed much stronger than in the past. The room was spinning and he suddenly felt a rush of energy followed by the familiar euphoria. "I believe!" he cried jubilantly, twirling in a circle all inhibitions having disappeared. McAbee took the goblet from him and handed to one of the men who took a drink before passing it on to the others.
"Brother Timothy!" roared Reverend McAbee. "Do you feel the power of the Lord!?"
"YES!"
"Do you clothe yourself in the cloak of the Holy Spirit!? Do you accept the Holy Ghost into your heart!?"
"YES!"
"Brother Timothy, do you submit yourself to the Trial of Truth! Will you prove to us that your intentions are True and you mean no harm to the church and its believers!?"
"I DO!"
Reverend McAbee nodded to three of the men who took hold of McGee and guided him forward then like Lt. Amos before him, lowered Tim to the ground where they adeptly tied his hands and legs spread-eagled to the stakes embedded in the ground. The men quickly stood back and Emmy watched as Reverend McAbee turned to the box and with the help of another man, lowered it carefully to the ground. Inside, they could hear the angry rattle of a very unhappy snake. The man quickly retreated behind a low barrier that divided the ceremonial area from the front of the room. Everyone was silent as McAbee opened the door on the side of the box and rapped on the top loudly several times.
"Timothy McGee," intoned Reverend, "Now you must face the devil himself. You must meet Beelzebub. If you are true in the Lord, He will protect you and keep you safe from the poison of Satan!"
There was a hush in the room as the largest diamond back rattler any of them had ever seen slowly slithered out of the box hissing furiously as McAbee prodded it with the rod. Its dry, crisp rattle made more than one observer take a step back. The snake must have been over seven feet long and big around as a man's leg. It was a terrifying, ill-tempered beast and enraged at being disturbed so rudely.
It took a few moments before Tim became aware of what was going on around him, so absorbed was he in the affects of the elixir but when he spied the huge serpent making its way towards him he froze in terror. No amount of drug could subdue the instinct to survive and when Tim saw that snake approaching he knew he was looking directly into the eyes of death. He desperately struggled against the restraints binding him to the ground. This frantic movement just seemed to aggravate the snake even further, causing it to hiss menacingly as it began to coil up preparing to strike.
Tim looked around wildly for help. The men and McAbee watched impassively but Emmy had an air of sorrowful resignation as if she knew already the outcome of this so-called trial. He turned back towards the snake just in time to see it lunge forward burying its inch long fangs deep into the flesh of his thigh. With a scream of agony McGee's body arched painfully as it convulsed against the pain. It was like two white hot needles had been plunged into his leg. Timothy's world became awash in red tinged pain before slowly fading to white and then mercifully, to black.
Reverend McAbee and the men stood silently as they watched the snake furiously pump its venom deep into McGee's leg. Emmy now sobbed quietly. The snake, its fury finally spent, disengaged, retreated from Tim's unconscious form and allowed itself to be herded back into its box. Once it was safely secured, McAbee approached Tim and with a knife carefully made a slit in the leg of Tim's trousers just above his knee to reveal two angry punctures, the skin around them already swelling and becoming discolored. He looked up at the other men and sadly shook his head. "He was not True. He was not a Believer. He is now dead to us."
He is dead. Amen.
He nodded to two of the men who cut Tim loose from his bonds then carried him out of the cabin to a waiting four wheeler. Like a number of Unbelievers before him, Tim would be taken out into the woods and dumped. If perchance he survived then he would be welcomed back to the fold with open arms having passed the Test. If not, then it was God's will. McAbee went to Emmy and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. They exchanged knowing glances. To them, it meant money in the bank. It was now time to move on. A moment later, the silence of the night was split by the sound of gunfire.
