19.
Billy Giles heard the shots and moved to where they came from. He reached the summit and saw his sister holding her hand to her head. "What happened?"
"The bastard threw a rock at him, got me in the forehead. Damn thing made me squeeze the trigger on the gun."
"Did you get him?"
"I don't know. He disappeared over the side. Go look."
Billy leaned over the side, carefully hanging on to his balance. He could see a body far below, partially covered with snow. The body wasn't moving, but he didn't want to go down the hill. Billy looked back at his sister. "He's dead."
"He'd better not be," came a voice as cold as the snow falling to the ground.
Annabelle and Billy looked up to see a man with salt and pepper hair, hard blue eyes, and a very steady gun aimed at them.
"Billy, he can't get both of us, we're spaced too far apart."
"Don't bet on it, Billy. Even without my associates, I could take both of you down before you got one step past your present position."
"Who are you?"
"His boss," Gibbs replied. "I'm the only one with the right to kill him. Ziva, cuff them."
The Israeli stopped just out of reach of the suspects, waiting for McGee to arrive. "I need your handcuffs, Tim."
"Oh, sure." He looked around. "Where's Tony?"
Ziva nodded over the hill where Gibbs' head was disappearing from sight. "Down there. Billy boy claims Tony is dead."
Tim's eyes widened. "No!"
"So he claims. Of course, Billy didn't go down to check. That's what Gibbs is doing."
After handcuffing both kidnappers around a thick and sturdy tree, the agents walked to the other side and looked down to where Gibbs was still making his way to where Tony sprawled, motionless.
Their team leader seemed to hesitate before placing his fingers on Tony's neck, searching for a pulse. Ziva and Tim held their breath as they waited for the verdict.
"He's alive! Get Ducky and an ambulance here on the double. Have the local police take custody of our miscreants." Gibbs began a cursory examination of his unconscious agent's battered body. "Damn, DiNozzo, you certainly can find more trouble than ten other agents combined."
TBC... /just a little bit more, I promise/