Hi folks!
So sorry for such a long delay in between chapters, but I'm finally back from my long road trip. One job actually turned into three (in two different cities). For more than four weeks I worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, staying in multiple hotels and it's taken me a while to catch up enough to be able to work on this story. I appreciate y'all hanging in there with me.
And now, here are the winners of my "Name That Horse!" contest over on my blog….drumroll please…
Tony's horse is Brittles – congrats to AZGirl!
Gibbs' horse is Ahab – congrats to Pandi19!
McGee's horse is Gandolph – congrats to Sensue!
Ziva's horse is Bowie – congrats to Hannah!
Dina's horse is Comanche – congrats to Twomoms!
Once again thanks to everyone who voted, I had tons of fun picking out the names as y'all came up with some great suggestions! The horses should be making their appearance in the next chapter. :o)
Also a special thanks to AZGirl for her help with details about Arizona, its climate, roads, etc that have been invaluable to this story.
Until then, on with the story…..
Chapter Four
Blood.
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"Clear," Tony called out clearly, holstering his weapon as the rest of the team did likewise. One sweep of Dina Rici's house and they all knew that no one was there.
"McGee," Gibbs said quietly, pointing to a laptop on the small desk nearest the front window. The view outside was spectacular, a mountain and desert landscape that made it easy to see why the woman chose the spot for her computer. She often painted outside and Gibbs guessed she wanted to be as close to nature as possible. Even when dealing with the mundane task of checking her emails.
"On it," the younger agent replied, sitting down and going to work on the machine.
"DiNozzo," Gibbs indicated with a sideways dip of his head for his Senior Field Agent to check out the back yard of the property.
One more nod from Gibbs and Ziva was on her way to check out Dina's bedroom. The team may not be on an official case, but each of them took their assigned tasks seriously. They were searching for anything that might tell them who might be after the artist.
Gibbs walked around the living room, listening to the sound of McGee's fingers tapping away on the keypad nearby. He already knew from Dina's message that it wasn't likely they were going to find the woman at her home. But Gibbs also knew that if Dina had made the call under duress (say with someone holding a gun to her head), she could have said that just to keep them away. Better to be safe than sorry, that was one of Gibbs' mottos. He wasn't sure anymore, but it might have even been a rule. The list was getting so long, it was hard to keep track.
Finding nothing out of the ordinary, Gibbs started to walk towards the bedroom to get an update from Ziva when the Israeli walked back in to the living room.
"It appears she left of her own accord, Gibbs."
"Yeah, why is that?"
"Some clothes and a few personal items are missing from her room and bathroom. It appears she packed lightly, perhaps for a weekend jumpaway."
"Getaway," McGee corrected automatically without looking up from the screen. "Boss, there's nothing on her computer or in her emails. If someone was making threats, they weren't doing it by any online means I could find."
"Then how?" Ziva asked curiously. "Mail?"
"Or hand delivered," Gibbs replied, his eyes going towards the back window where he could see Tony slowly walking around, the man's eyes peeled on the ground below him.
Tony had been happy to take the duty outside, hoping that the fresh air would help with his headache. He'd thought that it was just from the change in air pressure from the flight but even after over an hour on the ground, the dull ache in his skull was still there.
Deciding to put his mind on his work and off of the various aches and pains running through his body, Tony began looking around the back of the house. As he looked around him, he squinted against the mid-day sun, surprised how much brighter it seemed that in D.C. Pulling his hat father down on his head, he slid his sunglasses farther up his nose, trying to block out as much of the glare as he could.
Tony found Dina's car parked in the car port with no signs that the woman had been in a rush when she'd put it there. Walking towards the fence that ran along the edge of the property, his keen eyes spotted something and he slowed, taking a closer look.
"Got something, DiNozzo?" Gibbs' voice rang out from the back door, his timing as perfect as ever.
"Looks like footprints, Boss. One set, kinda small, but not circus freak small. So I'd guess they're either made from a tall female or a not so tall male. Looks like the same person came….," he paused, looking around to get the details right. "…once…no wait, make that twice, up to the house."
Gibbs stayed where he was, not wanting to disturb any other footprints and letting Tony finish the job on his own. As he watched, DiNozzo paused to tug at his cap reflexively, rubbing at his temple. The team leader began to wonder if the other man was as well as he claimed, but an instant later Tony looked fine again. Deciding that Dina's safety had to take precedence and vowing to check more closely on his agent later, Gibbs turned from the door and headed towards the kitchen while Ziva and McGee looked around the living room. Thinking about the footprints outside and the mention Dina had made about threats, Gibbs' gut threw out a suggestion.
Going to the trash can next to the refrigerator in the corner, Gibbs flipped off the lid and tossed it on to the floor. Reaching in with gloved hands, he perused through the contents. Ignoring the smell (this wasn't his first foray into someone's old trash, though he honestly could say he wish it would be the last), he pulled out various items and laid them on the floor until he found what looked like an envelope.
"Got something," Gibbs said to his team, pulling out the object and reading the scrawled words inside.
The others walked in to the kitchen, Gibbs showed them the note and McGee's eyebrows shot up when he saw the image of the bleeding heart and the words "Your fault" written inside.
"Looks like a threat to me, Boss. Guess we know she was definitely telling the truth now."
"More than one threat, I believe," Ziva replied, her hand pulling out a second note. This one only had a bleeding heart drawn inside but there was no doubt it was done by the same hand as the first.
Gibbs tossed his note back into the trash. No official case meant no evidence to collect.
Tony came in from the back door, wiping his feet on the small rug on the stoop as he did so.
"Nothing else outside, Boss. Just one set of prints but it looks like they came twice."
"They did Tony, we found two threatening letters that must've been left at the door," McGee said.
"What do we do now, Gibbs?" Ziva asked.
"We find her."
"Boss, I should be able to do a trace on her cell. If it's still on, we can track it down," McGee suggested.
"Do it."
Gibbs doubted she had the thing on her, knowing she was fully aware that it was traceable. He thought a moment of simply telling McGee to forget it and heading off to the location she'd hinted at in her phone call. But once again he had to be sure. If someone got to her before she was able to escape to her hiding place, then the cell might be the only way to find her now. He couldn't afford to take anything for granted. Taking things for granted was a probie mistake, one that sometimes got people killed.
Twenty minutes later they were all hanging on for dear life as Gibbs drove the rental car in his usual manner. McGee's trace had worked and they were zeroing in on Dina's cell phone signal. Only able to get a general fix at first, McGee was directing Gibbs through the arid desert mountain roads as the signal grew stronger.
"You planning on giving us an actual fix at any point, Probie or are we destined to roam the desert forever?" Tony griped from his spot in the front seat. Up until about twenty minutes ago, the team had thought that Gibbs driving the streets of D.C. was scary. That was before they'd been treated to a ride in a car careening around twists and turns as it headed up into some ungodly area of the mountains that no one but Tony had seen before.
"Leave me alone, DiNozzo," McGee griped back. "This is not as easy as it looks."
Tony spared a glance into the backseat and decided maybe he should give his partner a break. McGee was trying to track down the signal while stuffed into the backseat with Ziva, his laptop sitting on his lap. None of the above was easy but add into that the fact that everyone in the vehicle was getting slammed back and forth as their driver (happily it seemed) sped along the winding road, and it was very nearly impossible.
Tony had only said something in an attempt to get his mind off of the fact that Gibbs' driving was making him sicker than normal. Carsickness when driving with Gibbs was nothing new. But with the headache, muscles still sore from sitting squished on the plane for a few hours and the insanely bright sunlight practically burning his retinas, Tony was beyond miserable.
Great, now I'm almost missing TFTWN, Tony thought as Gibbs took a particularly hair-raising turn without even bothering to put his foot on the brake.
White lipped and silent ever since their ride had begun, Ziva finally spoke up hopefully.
"I see a red light, is that good, McGee? Perhaps you have found something?"
McGee kept typing and didn't look up as he replied. "Yep, looks like we've got a fix, Boss."
"Where, McGee?" Gibbs asked without any signs of slowing down anytime soon.
"Just stay on this road….the uh….I-17, going north. We have to get to the other side of this mountain and then we'll be almost on top of her signal."
Gibbs' only reply was to step on the gas hard, making even the usually taciturn Ziva gasp in fear.
Keeping his stomach in check by sheer willpower, Tony grabbed tighter onto the handle above his head (and thanking whatever kind person it was that invented those handles) and groaned silently as he squished his eyes closed tighter.
"Closing your eyes only makes it worse, DiNozzo," Gibbs said, knowing his Senior Field Agent's penchant for getting carsick.
Tony knew the older man was right, but right then he didn't really want to see how high up they were getting and how close his boss was driving them to the edge of the road. The view down was very pretty, but also very long.
When Gibbs reached the top of the hill, the road thankfully flattened out and everyone breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
"Heard about this road from Sheriff Boyd ," Gibbs said casually, still driving just as fast but without the twisting and turning (and the climbing ever higher with each turn), it wasn't nearly as scary. "s'posed to be a lot more fun going down the other way."
No one in the car wanted to think about what awful possibility that comment was going to lead to, but before they could ponder it for long, they came to the end of the nice straight road they'd been travelling on. Taking the corner just a smidge slower than the last, Gibbs lulled his crew into a false sense of security. As they turned, they saw what lay ahead of them and soon the only open eyes left in the vehicle were that of the smiling driver.
"Hang on," Gibbs said cryptically and unnecessarily as everyone had already scrambled for the handles above their heads. Letting the car coast, Gibbs proceeded to take each turn without so much as touching the brake. Within seconds they began speeding up, the incline of the hill carrying them down like a runaway toboggan.
Ziva began mumbling what could only be fervent prayers and silently Tony and McGee joined in, all of them praying that their boss really was as good of a driver as he thought he was.
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"This is it, Boss. We're within 20 meters of the signal," McGee said a while later and once again there was a collective sigh of relief as Gibbs pulled the car over to the side of the road.
Like people adrift at sea for months, McGee, Tony and Ziva piled out of the car onto the sweet (and not moving) land.
Without a word to anyone Tony headed straight for the nearest bush and was promptly sick.
"You okay Tony?" McGee asked with a worried look. Gibbs looked up from searching the nearby brush when he heard the query, worry flashing across his features as well.
"Never better, Probie," Tony replied after a few seconds, his hand popping up out of the bush giving the thumbs up to show them all he was fine. "Not the first time the Boss' driving has brought up my most recent meal and I doubt it'll be the last."
Gibbs grinned, returning to his search reassured that his agent was no worse for wear.
Allowing himself a few extra seconds to regain his composure while everyone set about to search the area, Tony sat on his knees. Wiping his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand he took a few breaths to calm his stomach. The headache and muscle aches were still there but his stomach actually felt a little better, which he took as a good sign.
Raising himself up off the ground with a groan, he coughed a little bit. Pulling out a handkerchief, he wiped off his mouth and stuffed it back into his pocket without a glance. Had he not been in such a hurry, he would have noticed something on it that was definitely not "fine".
Blood.