Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters.
Chelsea 1234 - hope you like it!
Chapter 23
Within twenty four hours of finding the fireworks Taylor had managed to pocket the keys of the padlock on the storage shed. Now Lucas stood inside, by the window keeping watch, while Taylor split open each firework with a penknife and emptied the powder into a Pringles tube. Taylor didn't trust Vicky not to check that she hadn't broken her promise, so she carefully replaced each empty firework in its original position. As long as no one looked closely they'd never realise the fireworks had been tampered with. Hell she could be in college by the time someone made the discovery. With the can almost full she sealed it with the plastic lid and stuffed the fuses into her pocket. Mission accomplished, they left the shed exactly the way they'd found it and went in search of the perfect target.
o
Finding a suitable tree was taking a lot longer than they had anticipated, and after two days both Taylor and Lucas were becoming inpatient. They had started their search as far away from the town as possible, but the best tree they'd found was closer to the houses than they would have liked. The hollow was also much higher up the trunk than the one that had been on YouTube, maybe fifteen feet. Still, the can fitted perfectly inside the tree, and there was a fallen trunk a safe distance away where they could record the whole thing. The decision was made. This was the spot.
o
Taylor sat about halfway up the tree, beside the hole that the explosives were going to be placed. Lucas stood below, watch in hand.
"Three, two, one, go!" He shouted.
On Lucas's command Taylor started to climb down. They were trying to figure out how long the fuse would have to be. It had to be long enough for her to get out of the tree and safely go cover before igniting the powder. As Lucas timed, Taylor counted it out in her head. They did this a number of times until they were satisfied they knew how much time they would have before the tree exploded.
"We need to practice on something smaller first, so we can time the fuse."
Lucas nodded. "What do you want to practice on?"
"I don't know, you can pick. It can be anything as long as you can pour the powder into it. We'll have the test run tomorrow, so if it works we can do it for real. You sure you can get the camcorder?" She was getting excited now.
"It's already in my bag, charged and all."
Taylor checked the can was sealed properly before slipping it carefully into her backpack. "Oh, and we'll need matches, or a lighter. I'll sort that."
"You really think this is gonna work?" Lucas asked.
She grinned at him. "We'll find out soon enough. If it's anything like the one on the net its gonna be awesome. Vicky has no idea what she's gonna miss."
"You gonna let her see the video?"
Shrugging, Taylor lifted the all important backpack. "Haven't decided yet. Wouldn't want her running to my mom or dad. Besides I hardly see her anyway, she's always with Patrick."
"Pity Ethan's not back yet. Could have blown up his car." Lucas began to follow Taylor back towards town.
"Nice idea, but that's a bit drastic. Don't really wanna go to jail."
"Suppose. You don't get arrested for blowing up a tree do you?" He sounded worried, and stopped walking.
"Nah, its only a tree." Taylor tugged his arm to get him moving again. He couldn't chicken out now. "Just you start thinking about what we're gonna do our test on."
o
Flamin' typical Taylor thought, it just had to rain today didn't it. Everything was packed and ready in her bag as she waited with Lucas in the store for the rain to stop. His backpack was stashed beside the door right beside Taylor's. At least Lucas had shown up. He'd been late, really late, but he had eventually appeared, out of breath and wet. When she asked him what had happened he had just blushed and shaken his head. Taylor just assumed that he didn't want to explain in front of her grandpa and left it at that.
o
"Rain's stopped grandpa" Taylor announced as she grabbed her bag. He had barely glanced up from his paper. "Stay out of trouble."
She didn't hang around long enough to answer and when Jackson looked up again the door was swinging closed on an empty store.
Running at a decent pace it only took the pair fifteen minutes to reach their target. Once they'd got their breath back Taylor lifted the can of powder out. "What'd you bring?"
From his bag Lucas produced a doll. "Sorry. That's why I was late, I forgot all about it, and this is the first thing I found. I know it's dumb, but it should work, shouldn't it?
Taylor nodded, trying not to laugh. Lucas's little sister wasn't going to be very happy. It would look good on tape though. She pulled the head off the doll and carefully poured in some of the powder. Then tying a few of the fuses together she put one end in the doll and finally replaced the head. "There, good to go."
Lucas took up position behind the fallen tree where he had the camcorder set up and hit record before giving her the thumbs up.
"DON'T FORGET TO TIME IT!" She yelled at him. Watching Lucas remove his watch she only knelt down beside the doll when he gave her another signal. Swallowing hard, Taylor opened her dad's zippo and spun the wheel over the flint. A flame appeared at her first attempt and she held it to the fuse. As soon as the fuse started to burn she bolted to where Lucas was shielded by the trunk, the whole time counting in her head. both kids peeked cautiously over the top at the toll, then jumped when it exploded into little pieces. The bang echoed through the trees as bits of plastic flew in every direction.
Taylor looked at Lucas. "Think it worked. Your sister's not gonna be pleased with you."
"Why not?"
"Cause you just killed her doll."
Lucas looked a bit sheepish. "It's not hers, I told you I forgot all about it. I was nearly at the store when I remembered. There was no way I was going to go all the way home again, I was already late, so I kinda 'borrowed' it."
"From where?"
"I ah ….." He shook his head, trying to figure out the best way to put it. "The only place that was open …."
Now Taylor was worried. "Lucas, just tell me!"
"I got it from the church. I knew there was a load of stuff stored in the big cupboard just inside the door. It was either the doll, or one of the lambs."
She looked at him, not sure if she should believe him, but his face was now a deep shade of red, and he definitely looked guilty.
"You gotta be fuckin' shittin' me. Tell me we did not just blow up baby Jesus!"
o
Vicky and Patrick were just heading into the coffee shop when they heard the small explosion. Immediately she let go of Patrick's hand and spun round trying to locate where it had come from. Either that was an extremely loud gunshot or it was Taylor, people did not set off fireworks unless it was dark. "SHIT!"
"What's wrong?" Patrick asked, worried that he'd done something to upset her.
"I gotta check on Taylor." Not hanging around to explain any further Vicky sprinted across the street towards the store.
o
"Where's Taylor?" Vicky blurted out the instant she was through the door.
Jackson straightened up behind the counter. "Think she's with Lucas, why?"
Vicky was through the store and into the kitchen before Jack finished his question. Ignoring her aunt and uncle at the table she pulled open the drawer where the keys were kept and rifled through its contents. As soon as her hand closed around the key of the shed Vicky was on the move again, this time out the back door. Lock open, Vicky made straight for the metal box, throwing the lid back. Seeing the boxes of fireworks she let out a long relieved breath. Then jumped, dropping the lid when someone right behind her spoke.
"What's going on?" Jethro asked calmly.
"I just thought ….." Now she knew Taylor didn't have the fireworks she didn't want to land her in trouble.
Jethro reached past her and opened the lid again. He was not as easily fooled as his niece and lifted one of the boxes out to examine it more closely. It was way too light. "You thought what?" He demanded, panic building up in his gut as he opened the box and checked out a firework.
"I heard an explosion and thought Taylor might have taken them, but she didn't."
Gibbs ran his finger along the opening his daughter had made with her knife and pulled it apart. He passed it to Vicky. "They're empty."
Quickly checking the weight of all the other boxes he tried to estimate just how much powder was missing. It was a hell of a lot.
"But ….. she promised!"
"What was she gonna do with them?"
"She promised." Vicky repeated, not quite believing Taylor had gone back on her word."
"VICKY! WHAT IS SHE GOING TO DO?" He demanded again.
"She said something about making a tree into, I don't remember exactly, but some sort of bomb like she said she'd seen on YouTube."
"A pipe bomb?" He asked, incredulously.
"Yeah, that's it."
Grabbing her arm he dragged his niece outside. "Show me where the explosion was!"
She just stared at him.
"NOW!"
Vicky ran her eyes over the trees, then pointed. "I think it was somewhere in that direction. But it wasn't a very loud bang, maybe it's not her."
"Go tell your aunt what's going on." With that, Jethro started to run.
o
Taylor sat, legs crossed on the damp ground tying what was left of the fuses together. Math had come in useful after all. She had easily worked out what length it had to be. Lucas was still trying to convince her that there was nothing wrong with stealing from the church. The only two things that made her fell better were the fact the theft probably wouldn't be discovered until Christmas and it had been Lucas not her, who had stolen it.
Fuse securely attached, Taylor climbed the tree while Lucas checked out the camera again. She wedged the Pringles can firmly into the hollow, leaving the fuse trailing out through the hole before giving Lucas the thumbs up.
"Shit!" Taylor realised the lighter wasn't in her pocket she scrambled out of the tree again.
As she searched through her backpack for the lighter she could hear someone shouting in the distance. It sounded very like her name that was being called out.
Taylor froze, hand gripping her dad's zippo, and listened harder.
"TAYLOR!" That was definitely her name and her father's voice.
For a few seconds Lucas and Taylor stared at each other, not sure what to do.
Taylor made the decision. "We have to do this quickly, so don't fuck it up." Her dad's voice was getting louder. " Camera ready?"
Lucas was distracted by Jethro's voice behind him.
"LUCAS! CAMERA!"
He looked at her in awe, she was really going through with it. "Okay, it's ready."
Racing over to the tree again she climbed back up to a branch level with the fuse. Flicking open the lighter she put her thumb on the wheel. Her dad was in view now.
"TAYLOR JACQUELINE GIBBS DON'T YOU DARE LIGHT THAT!"
Taylor looked from the lighter in her hand, to her dad, and back again.
"TAYLOR! LOOK AT ME! YOU'VE USED TOO MUCH POWDER!" He was still a fair distance away.
She dismissed what he was telling her. They'd come too far not to go through with it now. Her dad was closing in on Lucas now, who was also watching to see what she was gonna do. 'Fuck it!' she thought and raised her thumb.
Spinning the wheel, hands shaking, Taylor held the flame to the end of the fuse. The instant it started to burn, Taylor pocketed the lighter started to climb down. The branches, still wet from the earlier rain weren't as easy to negotiate at speed as they had been the day before. Her foot slipped, but Taylor didn't fall far. Her hooded sweatshirt caught on a slightly lower branch. The relief she'd felt when she stopped falling passed quickly. Taylor wriggled to free herself, but she was well and truly stuck, and the fuse was out of reach. If she hadn't been so scared it would have been funny, it looked like a cartoon bomb. But Taylor was still counting in her head and knew she was running out of time, and fast.