Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters.

Chapter 33

Patricia and Taylor were both in the kitchen when Ed and Jethro stomped in through the back door.

"What took so long? I thought it was one little tree you were planting." Patricia lifted two mugs down off the shelf as Jethro reached for the coffee.

"One tree? The woman has a list of jobs about a foot long that she wants done. We're only here to pick up a few things, we have to go back again."

Taylor put a hand over her mouth to hide her grin.

"Can I shoot her Jethro?" The sheriff took a step towards her, and Taylor stopped trying to hide her smile.

"Nah. We'd just have to dig another hole." He leaned against the counter.

Ed sat down beside her. "Looks like you've been in the wars." Putting his finger under her chin he eased her head to the side to get a better look. "What happened?"

She shrugged. "I didn't duck fast enough."

"I can see that. Who was swinging?"

"Doesn't matter." Taylor quickly changed the subject. "Was Mrs White mad?"

The sheriff narrowed his eyes and frowned. "What do you think?"

"Yeah, payback's a b…"

"Taylor!" Her mom warned.

"Bad thing." Taylor innocently finished her sentence. "You really gotta go back?"

"Yeah. Maybe we should send you instead, it is all your fault."

"I'd like to see you pin that on me, I have a good alibi."

"You do?"

"Yeah. I wasn't born. Besides, we're goin' out, aren't we mom?"

"In about two minutes." Patricia looked over at her. "Are you planning on wearing shoes, or are you going to walk about town in your socks?"

Taylor ducked her head under the table to check her feet, before hastily going off in search of her sneakers. It wasn't always easy to remember where she'd kicked them off.

Ed watched Taylor disappear down the hall before turning back to her parents. "Nasty bruise. You have no idea who did that to her?"

"We've tried, but she's not talking, and we can't exactly force it out of her." Jethro knocked back the last of his coffee. "Drink up. I'll go grab the tools."

"What happened to lunch?" The disappointment was clear in Ed's voice. He'd been planning on taking a longer break.

Jethro shouted his answer back down the hall. "You don't deserve to eat. I just remembered whose idea it was to steal the apples."

o

Taylor trailed along happily beside her mom towards their first stop of the afternoon, the bookstore. Under normal circumstances this would not have appealed to her, but a combination of boredom at being stuck indoors and her mom trying to convince her to try reading something just for fun, Taylor had agreed to give it a go. It wasn't as if she'd never read books before, she had, but that was for school so fun didn't enter the equation. Tony had always told her that reading books was a waste of time, because if they were any good they'd be made into movies anyway. That made a lot of sense. Her mom had explained last night that reading was a lot like watching a movie, except it played in your head and you could pick any actors you wanted for the characters. So Taylor had agreed to try, and because she was new to the whole book thing, her mom was going to help her choose a good one.

Patricia pointed her in the right direction, then waited patiently as Taylor lifted one book up after another, carefully reading the back of each before putting it back where she'd found it. It was a big decision. Her mom had been so excited when she'd agreed to give it a go Taylor didn't want to disappoint her by picking a bad one. Picking the wrong one would result in her giving up after only a few pages.

Finally, Taylor passed one of the books to her mom. "Can I have this one?" If it had been a DVD she would have rented it, so that couldn't be a bad sign.

She read the description before answering. "You've picked a good one. You want to keep looking while I go and pay for it?" Patricia was hoping Taylor would spot something that might entice her back again. After all, the kid had a great imagination, that's what landed her in trouble so often. Reading should be something she enjoyed, but Taylor had never given it a chance before.

As she joined the queue Patricia smiled to herself. The monitor behind the counter showed Taylor, at the other side of the store, eagerly searching through more books. Just about to look away, her attention was drawn back to the screen when Taylor dropped the book, then backed up slowly, until there was nowhere else to go. It took her brain a few moments to process what happened next. The Reverend Moore appeared on the left of the screen. Patricia watched the man stride straight over to Taylor and almost lift her off her feet, as he grabbed the front of her t-shirt and shook her hard enough to bang her head off the wall. There was no sound to accompany the picture, but Taylor was shaking her head in response to whatever he was saying. Abandoning the queue to go to Taylor's rescue, Patricia only managed a few steps before the minister stormed out of the store, door slamming behind him. Glancing at the monitor she could see Taylor rubbing the back of her head before picking up the book and setting it back.

All the pieces fell into place. Patricia, aware that Taylor was making her way over to her, stepped back into the line again. She wanted to see if she said anything about the incident. Taylor was soon beside her, hands in her pockets and although she looked rattled, said nothing about what had just happened.

"You okay?" Patricia asked.

Taylor nodded and leaned into her, keeping her eyes locked on the door. Placing her arm around her daughter's shoulders she thought about what she was going to tell Jethro and Jack. The only thing Patricia was sure of right now was if they didn't kill him she just might.

o

Jethro returned later that afternoon to find Taylor sprawled out on the couch engrossed in her new book. His wife was waiting anxiously for him at the kitchen table and he immediately knew something was wrong. Pulling out a chair he sat down and waited for Patricia to speak.

At first she just stared at him, suddenly doubting herself and what she had witnessed. Then Patricia remembered Taylor's reaction. Her daughter was a fighter, and had just stood there allowing that man to shake her like that. Hell, the 'normal' Taylor would have gone for, at the very least, a kick to his shins.

The thought was enough to loosen her tongue. "I know who hit Taylor."

That made Jethro sit up straighter. "Who?"

"Reverend Moore."

He looked at her in disbelief. "She told you that it was him? You sure she's not trying to pull another 'Mrs White'?"

"No, Taylor didn't say anything. I saw him. She doesn't even know that I know." Taking a deep breath, Patricia began to relate what had happened in the bookstore. By the time she'd finished Jethro was fit to be tied, and the only thing stopping him from tracking Moore down right there and then was his wife.

"I've been thinking about it all afternoon Jethro. I can understand why Taylor's been reluctant to say anything, I don't think she wants to upset your father. But no matter how hard I try I can't come up with a reason why he would do anything like that in the first place. What's made Moore so angry with her?"

Before Jethro had the chance to say anything Taylor walked past, book in hand still reading. She managed to navigate straight to the refrigerator without lifting her eyes from the page."

Jethro watched. "What? No hi dad? No, hope you didn't have to work too hard dad?"

Taylor peeked around the refrigerator door at him. "Hi dad, steal any more apples?"

"Funny. What's that in your hand?"

"Bottle of water." She held it up.

"Not that hand, the other one. It looks very like a book."

"That's cause it is. Mom bought it for me, it's a mystery, see!" Taylor passed it to him.

Jethro turned the book over in his hands, inspecting the cover, then looked at her carefully. "So you had a good afternoon then?"

There it was. That little flicker of uncertainty before she replied without actually answering the question..

"Probably better than yours. Does the sheriff still want to shoot me?"

"I think he's too tired to shoot anyone." He handed the book back and Taylor retreated to the living room, safe from any further questions.

"What are we going to do?" Patricia asked when Taylor was out of earshot.

"He's going to deny it." Jethro ran his hands over his face. "As much as I want to pay him a visit right now, it might be better to talk to Ed first, maybe he can get a hold of the security video from the bookstore. At least now we know who to protect her from. Lets face it, we'd never have figured that one out."

o

The instant the Reverend Moore opened his front door Jethro went on the offensive, driving the man back down the hallway and deeper into the house. Ed followed close behind.

"Wh … what's going on?" Moore's question was not directed at Gibbs, but at the sheriff. "Are you just going to stand by and allow him to treat me like this?"

They found themselves in a large room, filled with a variety of mismatched chairs and couches. Jethro had the man pinned up against the far wall now.

Grabbing him by the shirt Gibbs shook him. "Not nice when someone pushes you around, is it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about! Ed, stop him!" Moore's eyes widened when, instead of coming to his aid the sheriff ignored him and made himself comfortable in one of the chairs.

"Did you honestly think I'd let you get away with hurting my daughter?" Jethro gave him another shake when it looked as if the man wasn't going to answer.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Had a feeling you'd say that." Afraid he was not going to be able to stop himself punching the scumbag, Jethro hauled him over to the nearest chair and pushed him into it.

Moore held his hands up. "Look, I don't know what that brat of yours told you, but she's lying! You can't seriously believe a word she says."

"Taylor didn't say anything, she was more interested in protecting her grandfather than what you did to her!" His anger steadily building up.

That confused Moor, and knocked a little confidence out of him.

Ed spoke for the first time. "Did you forget the bookstore has security cameras, or didn't you know they were there?"

The minister visibly paled, but didn't respond.

"When you bounced a twelve year olds head, MY TWELVE YEAR OLDS HEAD!" Jethro roared, then took a deep breath to calm down, "Off the wall I take it you noticed the damage you did to her face when you backhanded her."

"You can't prove that."

Gibbs gave him a dangerous smile. "Oh we can prove it." Reaching into the inside pocket of his jacket he produced a swab. "Nice ring you have there. Wear it a lot do you?"

Moore subconsciously rubbed the cygnet ring on his pants.

"Hold out your hand." Jethro ordered.

Protesting, the minister curled his hand into a fist. "I don't have to …"

"Do it!" The sheriff ordered.

Reluctantly, Moore allowed Gibbs to swab the cygnet ring, and watched as the cotton tip turned pink when the reagent was added.

"Positive reaction for blood. Still want to deny it REVEREND?"

o

The Reverend Moore appeared to have taken a vow of silence.

"WHY? Jethro roared at him. He wanted answers and he wanted them now."

"She deserves everything she gets. If you can't stop the little bitch turning out just like her mother, I will! She runs around, doing whatever takes her fancy, no matter what the consequences."

Jethro clenched his fists. "What does Taylor's mother have to do with anything? You only met the woman once, and that must have been ten years ago."

When it looked as if Moore wasn't going to answer, the sheriff gave him a little incentive. "Either you answer the question, or I put you in handcuffs right now."

"Melissa …" He spat out with a hatred Jethro had seldom heard. "Bled me dry for almost five years, until my wife died."

"Blackmail?" Gibbs shook his head, not sure where this was going. "What the hell did Melissa have on you?"

For the first time the minister had the decency to look ashamed, but he couldn't seem to get any words out.

Then it clicked and Gibbs stared at him in disbelief. "You slept with my wife?"