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Again, these characters aren't mine. I am only using them for entertainment purposes.
Out of the Dark – Chapter Three
Gibbs jumped from the open door of the sedan almost before the car had come to a complete stop; DiNozzo, riding shotgun, was the one who ultimately made sure the gear was firmly in park before joining his boss and McGee at the entrance to the now bustling warehouse. Gibbs recognized the agents in charge of two other teams; Director Morrow's car was just pulling up with Ducky's medical examiner's truck right behind it as he slipped underneath the crime scene tape that blocked the doorway.
His blue eyes, now hard with anger and worry, took in the scene.
"So much blood," whispered McGee from behind him.
"Ya think, McGee?" The subdued tone of Gibbs' admonition took away most of the sting.
The bodies of Pike and Salaz lay where they fell, eyes open, each staring sightlessly into eternity. Weapons still clutched in their dead hands, it was clear that they'd gone out fighting. NCIS agents already on scene took photos and sketched the layout, anything they could do to process the area while staying well clear of the bodies until they could be examined by the M.E.
"What about Kate?" demanded Gibbs of the Director who now stood next to him.
"Agents Todd and Carlson were critical when they were airlifted to Bethesda," said Morrow. "They're each in surgery, but there's no more information than that, I'm afraid."
Gibbs' eyes followed Ducky as he and Palmer ducked under the tape and began examining Salaz. "What do you see, Duck?"
With Palmer's assistance, Ducky rolled Salaz this way and that so he could examine the numerous wounds. "They shot her in the back, Jethro," he said, disgust clear in his tone. "But this was likely the shot that killed her." Ducky pointed at the bullet hole that pieced the right side of the woman's neck. "The amount of blood on and around the body as well as the pattern of the blood spray would seem to indicate that this bullet nicked the carotid artery. I'll know more once I complete the autopsy."
Pike's cause of death was, unfortunately, a bit easier to determine – two bullets had struck him in the forehead and another had sheared off half of his jaw.
"Two dead," Gibbs muttered under his breath, hoping that they wouldn't soon add two more.
"Three, actually, Jethro," Ducky rose from Pike's body. "Agent Salaz was pregnant, if you'll remember," he said sadly.
"She was slated to start her desk assignment in a few weeks – after Thanksgiving," Morrow confirmed.
"Boss!" McGee's voice summoned Gibbs deeper into the warehouse where he stood next to a lonely stack of bullet-riddled pallets against the wall. His gaze was trained on the floor and a large pool of congealing blood.
Kate's blood-smeared Sig lay abandoned on the ground, and her gear was scattered wildly about. Closer to the wall, in a smaller pool of blood, her cell phone lay open; its display still glowing faintly in the dim light. Even from a distance, Gibbs could see a bloody fingerprint on the nine key – Kate's speed dial number for NCIS Headquarters.
"Kate made the call?" Gibbs spun around to face the Director. "How long did they lay here?" he demanded, pointing to the bodies of the dead agents.
Morrow clenched his jaw. There was no denying that mistakes had been made. When Carlson's team missed their scheduled check in, the appropriate protocol had not been followed. Heads were sure to roll …
"HOW LONG?!" Gibbs' roar echoed through the cavernous maw.
"At least 90 minutes," Morrow admitted, meeting Gibbs' intense gaze.
McGee closed his eyes as if in physical pain at the news. DiNozzo turned away, his jaw tight; Ducky removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes.
Gibbs continued to stare down the Director until the older man finally broke the contact. Gibbs then turned and knelt before the pool of blood that had spilled from Kate's body; he studied his scarlet reflection in its mirror-like surface while he tried to regain his composure.
"Go get cleaned up and go to the hospital, Gibbs," said Morrow. "Cutshall, Giller, and their teams will work the evidence here."
"We're not giving up the case," said Gibbs his eyes not leaving his reflection.
"You're too close to it, Agent Gibbs. It will go to Giller's …"
"You really think I give a damn who you think it should go to?" seethed Gibbs, rising to confront Morrow directly. "I said we're not giving up the case, sir."
"Jethro …" Ducky cautioned, gripping his friend's shoulder.
"You're out of line Agent Gibbs …" barked Morrow.
"Director," interrupted McGee, stepping between the two angry men in a move that stunned even him, "meaning no disrespect to you, Agents Cutshall, Giller, or their teams, but you need the best you have running this case. We've lost two good people today," McGee swallowed hard to clear his throat for his next words and the images they evoked in his mind, "and we may lose two more. We're probably too close to the case, but if you want to get the dirt bags that did this to our people, you need Agent Gibbs, and I think you know that, sir."
Morrow looked from Gibbs to McGee and back again, trying to tamp down his own anger over the whole situation. However, he couldn't ignore the truth of McGee's words. "Gibbs, take your team to the hospital. See to your own …"
"Director …" Gibbs protested.
"See to your own for now," Morrow emphasized. "Cutshall and Giller will work the scene here and bag and tag the evidence, but the case is yours. We'll post guards until you decide to release the scene." Gibbs nodded in agreement, unwilling to voice a 'thank you' given the circumstances, and the Director left to inform Agent Giller of the plans.
Gibbs turned to his medical examiner. "Ducky …"
"I'll see to them, Jethro," Ducky nodded. "I'll meet you at the hospital when I'm done with the autopsies. Let me know once you know the extent of Caitlin's injuries, please."
"I will." Gibbs turned on his heel and walked across the warehouse to the taped-off doorway.
"Well done, Timothy," Ducky told McGee once Gibbs was out of earshot.
"Yeah, quick thinkin' for once, Probie," agreed DiNozzo.
McGee blew out the breath he had been holding. "Well, I figured the Director would either agree with me or put me on the first bus back to Norfolk." He shrugged his shoulders. "The Boss needs to be on this case. It was worth the risk."
"DiNozzo! McGee!" Gibbs called out to the two men, pointing at the car behind him. "You two coming or do you need an engraved invitation?"
"On our way, Gibbs!" DiNozzo replied as he and McGee raced to the car.
As the men reached the car, Gibbs paused, hooking an arm over the open driver's side door. "McGee," he said.
"Yeah, Boss?"
"Never interrupt a conversation between me and the Director. Do that again, and I'll be the one to put you on that bus back to Norfolk."
"Right, Boss," he stuttered, amazed that Gibbs had apparently heard his comment to Ducky. "Won't happen again." McGee turned to DiNozzo as Gibbs got behind the driver's seat. "How does he do that?"
"That's a phenomenon in this life best left a mystery, Probie," DiNozzo muttered before joining Gibbs in the car. McGee shook his head in amazement.
"McGee!" barked Gibbs from inside the car.
McGee jumped. "Ready, boss," he said and climbed into the back seat.
Moments later the sedan was speeding through the streets of Arlington on its way to Bethesda and the critically injured Caitlin Todd. It was a quiet ride – each man alone with his own thoughts and fears of what would await them when they arrived.