Unearthed Secrets
AN: Thankyou to Kate for her ongoing support and inspiration!
Tony squinted at the report in front of him, trying to recognize the black smudges that were words. After trying to read the same paragraph several times, he put the report down and rubbed his eyes, wishing that he'd got more sleep last night. He couldn't have got more than three hours sleep, and that was pushing it. The latch on the bathroom door was broken, making the door bang all night. And the wind from the window was just strong enough to slam the door if it was left wide open. So, why not just close the window? Because it was locked open and the key was nowhere to be found.
Looking over at Kate, he realised she looked exactly as he felt. He'd caught her having a nap a few hours after they'd started work. She insisted that she hadn't fallen asleep, she was merely thinking with her eyes closed, which in his words was the same as 'studying the back of your eyelids' – essentially, sleeping.
Tony answered his phone after the second ring, glancing at the caller ID. "Hey Abs, whatcha got for us?"
"How'd you know it was me?" Abby asked
"Now that would be telling" Tony replied
"Okay, I don't have a lot, but you guys might wanna come and see this" Abby responded
"We'll be right down" said Tony, hanging up, "Kate, we're wanted in the lab"
Kate sighed and put her report down, following Tony to the elevator. They rode down in silence then walked into the lab. Tony scrunched up his face as he walked in, the loud music still a bit too loud this time in the morning. He walked to her stereo and hit the pause button, before walking back to Abby.
"Hey! What'd you turn my music off for?" Abby asked
"Because I could barely hear myself think" Tony replied, then walked up to stand in front of the plasma
"Okay, so you wanna know what I've got for you?" Abby asked
Tony slowly turned around and gave her his best Gibbs glare.
Abby studied his face for a second, before stating, "Nah, you still don't have it down yet. So, I enhanced the sounds in the background to try to get a location" after clicking a few times, she made the tape play again, then slowly cleared the noises.
"A train" Kate commented
"Yeah. I was able to identify what kind of train it is as well" she clicked a few more times then played it again, "Freight train. Now, towards the end of the recording you can also hear a bell tolling" she fast forwarded the tape so they could clearly hear it.
"That doesn't narrow it down too much, Abs" Tony commented
"I haven't finished yet, Tony. Going back to the train, if we focus on that sound for a bit longer, we discover…" she paused and clicked her mouse again
"A tunnel" McGee interrupted, before the recording had sounded
"Hey, don't spoil my fun, Timothy" Abby scalded
"So, where does that leave us" Kate asked
"But wait, there's more" Abby said, then ran another program, "If we measure the intervals of the boards on the tracks, we can calculate the width of the track and the rail."
"You have a location?" Kate asked
"Almost" Abby replied
"Okay, send it to my PDA. Probie, you're with us, let's roll" Tony said, walking out the door
"Hang on a sec, Tony" Kate called as she watched the map narrow and identify the location
Tony walked back into the lab with a questioning look on his face. Kate pointed to the map, "That's where the police found the abandoned van yesterday"
Tony looked at the plasma, his face falling, "Crap" he said under his breath, "Wonder if they found anything"
"What happened yesterday?" McGee asked
"The police rang Gibbs at home and told him that they found an abandoned van that matched the description of the one that Leroy was driving." Kate explained
"So, we have nothing" Tony stated, heading out of the lab
Opening his eyes, he noticed that the place he was in wasn't almost completely dark; he could see the four walls which kept him captive. He tried to sit up, but decided against it when his head began to pound. Touching the side of his head, he remembered trying to fight against that strange old man. His dad had been giving him lessons on how to fight and he'd listened attentively, absorbing the knowledge like a sponge. However, despite how good he may have been, he didn't like having to fight against anybody. Yesterday had been an exception; he hadn't been given a choice. Shivering, he curled into a tighter ball and tried to block out the pain. He wished his dad was rescue him soon. He didn't like this place or that creepy old man who'd picked him up from school.
Sighing, he thought, 'picking up' from school was perhaps the wrong term; it implied that he had some kind of choice. No, the term was more like 'being forced' to go with him after school. The man had pulled him into the back of the van, then held a gun at him whilst he'd been bound and gagged. The gag and rope were gone now, but they'd definitely left marks which would eventually turn into bruises.
He blinked against the darkness and heard the sound of gravel crunching from outside, he was coming back. Getting up from his position, he made his way to what appeared to be the door and patiently waited to one side of it. The footsteps got louder, then he heard a key and the rattle of chains.
As soon as the door opened, he kicked into the middle of the door, hitting the old man in the groin, making him double over. Taking the chance whilst he had it, he jumped out of the van, jarring his foot as he landed. With a cry of agony, he fell to the ground.
The old man laughed, straightening up, "Well, you're definitely my son's son. Stupid, reckless, wild, rebellious. You think you're tough, Jake?"
Jake breathed hard into the gravel, summoning up his energy. Suddenly he jumped up and punched the man in the face and tried to run off, but only succeeded in doing a fast hobble. He heard the man run to catch him up and he tried to run faster. All of a sudden, his feet were swept from beneath him, making him collapse to the ground again.
"Where do you think you're gonna go, Jake? You're in the middle of nowhere" the man was yelling at him, "Do you think I'm stupid? You think you can outrun and outsmart me? Look at me, goddamn it!"
Jake slowly rolled over and found himself looking down the barrel of a shotgun.
"Not so brave now, are ya?" the man asked
"Speak for yourself; you think you need a shotgun to control somebody a tenth your age?" Jake asked
The man's expression darkened, he motioned with the gun, "Get up, smartarse"
He rolled into a crouching position and slowly stood up. Hobbling back to the van, he bit back the pain in his foot; he wasn't going to show weakness in front of this bastard. By the time they got back to the van, Jake was breathing heavily, uncomfortably aware of all his injuries. He turned back to the man, "Can I go to the head?"
The man studied him, obvious tossing up whether or not to let him relieve himself. Eventually he shrugged, "Don't try anything"
He hobbled till he was behind a tree and did his business, all the while looking for anything that might aid him in his attempt to escape. Finding nothing, he sighed and went back to the van. After getting into the van, the man threw him a bag and closed the door, locking it again. Frowning, he let his eyes adjust to the light before opening the bag, which revealed a burger, some cold fries and a bottle of coke. He gave a small smile, before he devoured the food. In the background, he was distantly aware of the engine starting and the van moving again
That's it for chapter 10!...Please review! Tell me what you think!