"Corporal Chambers. We've been looking for you."
Ziva eyed the young Marine, who sat at a simple wooden table in a holding room of the Highway Patrol's Lenoir barracks. His right wrist was handcuffed to the table. He also made no eye contact with either her or Tony.
She took a seat across from him, while Tony stood against the wall, arms folded.
"Actually . . ." She intertwined her fingers and stared directly at the crestfallen Corporal. "We're not the only ones who had been wondering what happened to you. Your commanding officer, Lieutenant Hackett, was rather anxious to know why everyone in his platoon assembled when the order was sent out, except for you."
Chambers glanced at her. "I . . . uh . . . uh . . . I had to . . . uh . . ."
"Lemme guess," said Tony. "Your CO sent you out to pick up a bag of ice, or you had to return a movie to Blockbuster before you could go hunt the monster, or you had to come all the way out here to Lenoir to fill your canteen because the water here is just so good."
Chambers lowered his head as Tony continued. "Whatever load of bullcrap you're thinking of serving up to us, forget it. We've been through your quarters, we saw the image of that thing you and your buddy Conti shared."
"And let's not forget the other piece of incriminating evidence we found." Ziva never took her eyes off Chambers. "Or rather, the highway patrolman who spotted you at that gas station found it in your glove compartment." She checked her notes. "A Hi Point 34010 semi-automatic pistol. Forty caliber, the same as the shell casings we found near the remains of Corporal Conti. I believe forensics will match your gun to those rounds."
She leaned forward, eyes narrowing. "So, Corporal Chambers. Care to talk?"
Chambers' breathing quickened. He whipped his head left, then right, nervousness radiating from his face.
"Corporal." An edge emerged in Ziva's tone. "You're already in a lot of trouble. The Marines don't look kindly on one of their own abandoning their post. And now it appears that you had knowledge of a dangerous animal running loose on your base and did not alert anyone to its presence. Because of that, three more people besides your friend are dead. Talk to us now, and your cooperation may be taken into consideration at your court martial. Otherwise, you will be spending a very long time in a military prison, maybe even the rest of your life."
Chambers finally looked up at her, visibly shaking. "I . . . I'm sorry. I-I was scared. I didn't . . . I didn't mean for anyone to get killed."
"So what happened?" Tony aimed a harsh gaze at him. "How did you find that animal?"
Chambers slumped in his chair, staring at his lap. "The . . . The other week, I was looking around the beach. Some of the guys in my platoon said that pirates used to hide treasure in the caves along the beach, so I went looking for it. I didn't find anything in the first few caves I went into. But then . . . then I went into this one cave, and there was this crate there."
"What did the crate look like?" asked Ziva.
"It was wood. Big."
"Anything written on it?"
"Uh, yeah. Somebody wrote on it 'Arctic Expedition, 1834.'"
"Don't you mean you found it in a lake?"
Chambers gave her a perplexed look. "Ma'am?"
"Well, it's just we have information that puts the crate you found at the bottom of a lake. So how did it get from the lake to this cave?"
The Marine's mouth hung open silently for several seconds. "Ma'am, I . . . I don't know nothin' about a lake."
"Then how did the crate get into this cave?"
"I don't know," he answered frantically. "I swear, I don't know anything about this thing being in a lake. I found it in the cave. Maybe someone else put it there before."
Ziva studied Chambers' face. The young man's eyes widened, pleading with her.
Maybe he is telling the truth. She decided to accept that . . . for now.
"So what happened when you found the crate?"
He took a few breaths to settle himself before answering. "It was locked, but I was able to lift the lid a bit. That's when the whole thing started shaking, and there was this growl that came from it. I got out my phone and held it up to the opening and snapped a picture. I didn't know what it was. Some sort of monster. I was gonna tell the lieutenant about it, really I was. But then . . ."
"Then what?" Ziva insisted.
"Well, I thought maybe I could make some money off it. And I told Tom about it. He had all these gambling debts, and I thought this would help him out."
"How were you planning to make money off this animal?" she asked.
"The major who commanded the first unit I was assigned to after I finished training on the LAV-25, Major Simmons, I heard he got promoted and got assigned to the DIA. And, well, you know all those movies on Sci-Fi Channel, where they have the military create giant monsters and stuff. Well, I thought the DIA might be interested in what I found."
Ziva blinked and tilted her head. You have to be kidding me.
Chambers continued. "We went on the DIA's web site, but we couldn't find any e-mail for Major Simmons. I thought maybe they might have some kind of science department or something, but we couldn't find that either."
"Yeah, I doubt the DIA is gonna advertise 'Experiments With Monsters' on their web site." Tony gave the Marine a sarcastic grin.
Chambers frowned.
"What happened next?" asked Ziva.
"Tom said we needed to have a better picture of this thing, otherwise no one at the DIA would believe us. So I got some bolt cutters and a new lock. We were gonna open the crate real quick, take a picture, and close it and lock it fast."
She inwardly groaned. I can see where this is going.
"I had Tom open it while I held the camera. But the thing tried to get out of the crate. Tom slammed the lid on it a couple times, but the thing kept pushing back. Finally we just booked outta there. But . . . it came after us. It got Tom and . . . and I had my Hi Point, just in case, and shot it. Nothing." He shook his head. "It didn't even feel it. So I ran. I left Tom to die. I mean, Marines aren't supposed to leave their buddies behind, right? But what could I do?"
"And you didn't report this to anyone?" Ziva didn't attempt to hide the disgust in her voice.
Chambers shook her head. "No. I couldn't. I'd get into trouble."
"Newsflash, Corporal Genius," Tony said. "You're already in trouble."
The Marine's jaw quivered.
"I take it the cave is close to where you left Corporal Conti?"
Chambers nodded in response to Ziva's question.
"How far away?"
"Sixty, seventy meters. Right in that rocky outcropping."
Ziva looked to Tony and nodded. He nodded back. She got up and headed for the door, Tony following. Chambers folded his arms on the table and lowered his head onto them.
"So what do you think?" Tony jerked a thumb toward the door after Ziva closed it.
"About what?"
"Chambers. Did you hear all that stuff? Trying to sell a monster to the DIA. And the pirates and hidden treasure? He actually bought that load of crap?"
"I'll admit, he doesn't seem very bright."
Tony snorted. "That's generous. I think he and Conti were made for one another. How smart could that guy have been to go along with a moronic plan like that?"
"Chambers may be an idiot, but at least he told us where that crate is. And since it's still daylight, the creature's probably sleeping in it right now."
"Meaning the Marines can blow the cave and bye-bye ape monster." Tony grinned at the thought.
"We'd better tell Gibbs." She took out her cell phone. Gibbs answered on the second ring.
"What do you have, Ziva?"
She ran down Corporal Chambers' confession.
"I'll pass along the cave's location to Colonel Walling. Meanwhile, you and DiNozzo bring Chambers back here."
"We will." She hung up after he did and stuffed the cell phone back in her pocket. Then she turned to Tony. "Gibbs wants us to bring Corporal Chambers back with us to Camp Lejeune."
"Good. Let's get him and go."
Ziva cranked an eyebrow. "Why the hurry?"
A determined look set in on Tony's face. "Because I wanna have a front row seat when the Marines blow that monster to hell."
TO BE CONTINUED