Chapter Three: Chryslers and Crime Scenes
The entire car ride home was filled with laughter, smiles, and more introductions. While in the limo, I learned that Tim, who was nicknamed "McGeek" by Tony, is the "techy," so to speak, of team Gibbs, a junior field agent, and an MIT graduate. I learned that Tony was like a younger version of Gibbs – always following his gut and protecting those who are important to him. I learned that Ziva, who had just recently attained her citizenship, was a former Mossad agent whom who father sent out on a suicide mission, then later, joined NCIS. Uncle Ducky also told me about his medical assistant, Mr Jimmy Palmer, a rather distracted young man that would be meeting us all at the house later that evening. Gibbs, however, remained silent for the duration of the ride, observing my every move. At one point during the ride, I caught him staring. As if that would get you any closer to my secret I sneered inwardly, smirking to myself. I just glared back until he smiled and turned away. Note to self, I thought, Gibbs= strange blue-eyed man who laughs when people glare at him. I stashed that little note deep in my subconscious for later. When we finally arrived at Uncle Ducky's mansion-like house, every one helped me carry in my luggage, silently thanking me for the free limo ride.
My luggage was put on the floor of my room, on the west side of the second floor. My room was painted royal purple with white trim and a light violet colored ceiling. The floor was carpeted with a soft violet rug that matched the ceiling perfectly. Attached to the room are a fairly large walk-in closet and a personal bathroom – complete with a huge whirlpool bath tub. I smiled contently, sitting down on my plush, queen-size bed. "Do you like it?" Uncle Ducky asked, appearing in the doorway. I smiled, getting up to hug the man for the millionth time that day. "I love it, Uncle Ducky, thank you, for everything." I squeezed him tighter. "Nonsense, my dear," he said, releasing me, "you know I'd do anything for my favorite niece." "I'm your only niece, Uncle Ducky," I laughed. He smiled, kissed my forehead, and went back downstairs to entertain our guests.
I was in the midst of unpacking one of my many suitcases, when I heard a knock on my door frame. I looked up to be met with Abby's moss green eyes, hovering in my doorway. "Hey Abby," I said, "what can I do for you?" "The question is not what can you do for me," said Abby, walking into the room, "but what can I do for you?" "Kennedy?" I questioned the origin of the quote. Her smile grew as she gave me a sharp nod, picking up my suitcase filled with my electronics and music. I had brought three surround sound stereo systems – one for each room – my iPad and docking system, three iPod nanos – one red, one black, and one violet – a few sets of head phones and a small portion (121) of my CDs.
Abby just stared at the surplus of music and electronics that sat before her. "Abby?" I said, snapping her out of her trance. She rushed over to me, squeezing the life out of me with a hug. "Aw, Madi, you're like the little sister that I've always wanted!" I smiled and hugged her back. "Aw, Abby, I feel the same way about you!" We released each other at the sound of a knock at the door. I opened it up to reveal McGee. "Ducky sent me up to get you," he explained, "there's a man at the door saying something about a snake or something." My face lit up as I brushed passed him and ran down the stairs. Running outside, I was greeted by a man who had pulled up in one of my mom's boutique vans. Using the highest degree of caution, he lifted my baby out of the trunk. "Your father had it registered for you this morning," said the man as I signed the delivery papers.
I heard the front door open as the man got back in his car and drove off. I looked over to see Abby, Tony, and Tim walking towards me. "This," I said, patting the imported leather seat of my bike, "is the Black Mamba." I saw a wave of relief pass through Tim's eyes, thankful that the "black mamba" that the delivery man was referring to was a motorcycle and not a highly venomous snake. Abby was the first to make a move, running her fingers over the soft leather seat. "Where did you get this?" she asked, facing me, a confused expression painted on her face, "I've never seen anything like it." "That's because there's not anything like it," I said, "at least not on this planet." She looked at me like I was crazy, waiting for me to proceed. "I built it myself," I elaborated, "engine and all." They all stared at me, mouths agape and eyes wide in disbelief. "There is no way you built this," said Tony, only half aware of the words that had just been spoken. "And why would that be, Agent DiNozzo?" I challenged, ticked off by his sexist attitude. I glared at him for a moment longer before letting out a sigh and letting go of it. "So," I said, picking up my helmet, "who wants a ride?"
I tossed Abby a helmet and mounted my bike; she jumped on behind me. I flipped open a panel on the body work to reveal a print-scanning LED touch screen. "Nice," Abby commented, looking over my shoulder. I smiled and pressed my right index finger to the scanner. Suddenly, the near-silent engine came to life and the violet LED head lights glowed. I typed a few codes into the screen and shut my visor as Social Distortion blasted through the helmet's speaker system. A virtual map lit up the inside of my visor as we sped away down the street, creating a street view of the DC area inside my helmet. I sped down a few side streets, getting a feel for the area before I heard Abby say something through the helmet's com-link. "Hey Madi, do you think we could swing by the lab real quick? I forgot my hippo." "Your hippo?" I questioned, not seeing a semi-aquatic mammal in her lab earlier that afternoon. "Yeah, Bert, the farting hippo. I must have forgot him in the lab when we were all leaving to go to Ducky's house." she clarified; I could almost hear the smile in her voice. "Okay then," I said, hitting the breaks and spinning the tail end of my bike into an impromptu u-turn.
Pulling into the lot, I cut the engine and let Abby off. "I'll be quick," she said, running off towards the building. I stood up, took off my helmet, and shook out my long blonde hair, stretching my stiff limbs in the process. I then proceeded to walk around the lot for a bit, examining the agents' cars. Then something caught my eye. I walked up to a sleek Navy Blue Chrysler 300, admiring the handy work of the body's mainframe. I was next to the driver's side mirror when I saw the blood. I ran back to the trunk of the car, where the blood was dripping from. I quickly scanned the lot for anyone's presence, before hunching and pulling a bobby pin from my hair. I quickly sharpened it with my razor sharp nails and proceeded to pick the lock.
The familiar click sounded from the lock as I turned the pin. The hood of the trunk rose, shedding light on the near-dead woman in the trunk. She was unconscious and had three bullet wounds in the upper left portion of her body. I carefully lifted her up and placed her on the ground behind the car. I put my head close to her chest, listening for a heartbeat. It was extremely faint, but it was there. Applying pressure to the most serious of her wounds, I kept a highly trained ear out for anyone and anything that might be approaching. Suddenly, I heard the sound of a cell phone ringing in the woman's pocket. I fished it out with one hand and looked at the caller ID. Gibbs I thought, thank you Lord! I flipped it open. "Gibbs, it's Madi, get an ambulance over to NCIS ASAP!" I yelled through the phone. I heard it click off, ending the call before I could say anything else.
That's when Abby came out of the building, carrying her grey stuffed animal and a ring of keys. "Abby!" I yelled out, "Come here quick!" She ran towards me, tossing her stuff on the hood of a car. "Director Sheppard!" she gasped, tears welling in her eyes. "Abby? Abby, listen to me, okay?" I said, literally smelling the panic oozing from her pores. She nodded her head, a few tears gliding down her face. "I need you to let me use your phone," I said gently, "call Gibbs and put him on speaker; then I need you to get the med kit from the trunk of my bike." She nodded once more, pulling out her phone with a shaky hand and hitting a few buttons. After a moment, she put the phone down on the ground next to me and walked to get my med kit from my bike. "The code to the trunk is seventy five, forty three!" I called after her. That's when Gibbs picked up the phone. "Where the hell is my ambulance, Gibbs?" I yelled at the phone. "On its way, what the hell is going on over there, Redmond?" I growled to myself, not taking lightly to being called by my last name. "I was walking around the parking lot because Abby had forgotten something in her lab. I was looking around at the cars when I saw the pool of blood at the trunk end of the Chrysler. I picked the lock only to find a body inside," I paused for a moment, taking the equipment from Abby. "She's going to be okay," I assured her with a sympathetic smile. "Who is?" Gibbs yelled through the phone line. "Director Sheppard," replied Abby, beginning to calm down with the reassuring news. "I found the director in the trunk of the car. Two bullets in her left humorous, one in her left deltoid muscle, I'm working now to get them out," I said, grabbing some forceps from the med kit. I heard the revving of an engine on Gibbs' end of the line before he ended the call.
I let out a sigh, carefully pulling out and examining the first bullet. "It's a CQTA," said Abby as I dropped the bullet in an evidence container. "Close Quarters Target Ammunition?" I confirmed, "Well that would explain why the slug didn't hit too much bone." I dressed the wound in gauze and was about to get to work on the second one when I heard the squeal of rubber against asphalt. Then came the sirens. Before I knew it, Gibbs was out of the ambulance and squatting next to me. "You commandeered an ambulance?" I yelled at him as Tony rolled the gurney over to us. Ziva smiled proudly as Gibbs helped me move the director from the ground to the stretcher. Since there was obviously no medic with them, I hopped in the back with Gibbs, throwing Tony the keys for manual operation of my bike. "Don't break her, or else I'll break you!" I threatened Tony as Ziva shut the back doors, her and Abby sitting up front. I felt the ambulance speed off. Gibbs opened the separating window between us and the two female agents. "Careful, Ziva," warned Gibbs, "there's a CCP back here!" I rolled my eyes, ignoring everyone as I extracted the second bullet. I placed it in another evidence container and patched up the hole as the ambulance came screeching to an abrupt halt.
The blinding sunlight filled the rear compartment as Ziva threw open the doors. "The medics have an operating room and life support system prepped and ready to use if necessary," said Tony, who appeared at my side as we uploaded the director. I nodded my head as we ran alongside the gurney and into the hospital. The stretcher was handed off to the head doctor, who proceeded to bring her into the operating room.