"You've kidding, right?" DiNozzo squatted down and studied the odd assortment of branches, broken timbers and other debris piled up against a dead snag. "This is their fort?"
"They're seven, DiNozzo, what were you expecting – a three level mansion with towers?" McGee's voice was muffled as his head was currently wedged in what he thought was the entrance. He backed out slowly, his maglight in one hand, something else clutched in the other.
"What'ya got there, Probie?" DiNozzo grabbed his arm and hauled him up onto his feet as soon as he was clear.
McGee handed his partner the action figure he was holding, and then pulled off his gloves as the other man slipped the figure in an evidence bag. "We'd need fingerprints to tell for sure, but I bet this belongs to one of the boys."
"Not bad, McGee. All right, let's see what else we can find." The two men began a spiral search pattern, leaving nothing to chance as they studied the small clearing.
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"You've got to be kidding me. Do you bozos have any idea what you've done? DO YOU!?!" The marines sat back and allowed the special agent to berate the three teenagers sitting on the ground in front of him. Gibbs' voice got quieter and deadlier as he picked up the ringleader by his collar. "If those boys are hurt or killed because the search dogs couldn't find them in time…"
"What'ya gonna do, old man? We ain't done nothing." Punks never did know when to shut up and Gibbs just stared until this one broke out in a sweat before he answered him.
"Criminally negligent homicide sounds like a good place to start, not to mention possession with intent to distribute. What do you think, Major?"
The soldier was as pissed as Gibbs. "It sounds like they might be getting off easy, sir. It will take hours to get another team of search dogs here."
Gibbs gave a snarl and shoved the teen towards one of the MP's guarding them before he took out his phone and hit the speed dial for DiNozzo.
"Yeah, Boss."
"What have you and McGee got so far?" He moved further away from the group to give himself some privacy.
"We found what looks like the fort the twins were trying to build; even had a toy hidden inside. Search parties went through here too, so forget about footprints or picking up any kind of a trail. We're working our way out from here, maybe we can find something. Any luck getting the dogs back on track?"
"We can forget about the dogs. Damn teenagers didn't want the search dogs to find their marijuana plants so they used GS powder on them. By the time we get another team of dogs in here, it will be too dark for a decent search. If there is any time for thinking outside the box, this is it, DiNozzo."
"We're on it, Boss."
There was the sound of footsteps before DiNozzo's voice dropped to a whisper that Gibbs had to focus on to hear properly.
"McGeek's surprisingly good at figuring out what these kids were thinking."
Gibbs grinned as he shut his phone, not bothering to answer. Seconds later he was glaring as he returned to watch the MP's cart the teens away.
"Now what?"
"We do it the old fashioned way." Gibbs looked over at the group, an odd mixture of officers, enlisted men and military police. "We go over every inch of this base and the woods surrounding it."
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"Tony, we've got a problem – a big problem."
When DiNozzo turned around, McGee was staring up into a tree. The leaves were sparse and the senior agent could see all the way to the top of the tree. No child was sitting on the branches. "What, McGee?"
"That." Pointing, McGee pulled out his phone and placed a call, handing the camera to DiNozzo. Acting on instinct, Tony snapped several pictures before realizing what he was looking at.
"A tarot card? What the hell, Probie?" He turned to the younger agent only to find him already on the phone to Ziva.
"I'm serious, Ziva! Have Abby get the maps from the Geological Society. I need to know about every tunnel, cave and mine in that mountain. When she gets them, send them to my phone." Behind him, Tony retrieved the card from the tree and bagged it before trying to get Tim's attention but McGee just waved him away and continued to bark out orders to their Mossad teammate. "Next, I need you to pull the files for the tarot twins murders. It's too old of a case to be in the computer system, so you'll have to pull them from the archive." There was a pause as he obviously listened to a question. "Yes, it was a NCIS case. "See if you can track down the lead investigator from the case if you can; name's Marty Evans. He's retired now and he's living in some retirement village in either Arizona or New Mexico. If you have trouble finding him, I think I've got his email address on my work computer. I know I have it on my home computer. Tell Abby to hurry with those maps, we don't have much time."
Tim disconnected his phone as he sprinted back towards the truck. "Call Gibbs. Tell him what we've found."
"But what in the hell did we find, Probie?" The senior agent scrambled to keep up. Apparently, the personal trainer was paying off for the younger man. DiNozzo juggled the camera, the evidence bag, his backpack and his phone as he called Gibbs.
"Boss! Boss, we got something."
"What'ya got, DiNozzo?"
"Don't know, Boss, but we're following it" His panting told Gibbs that they were on the move and in a hurry.
"Where?"
"Don't know, Boss."
"Well, what the hell do you know, DiNozzo?"
"That Probie's gotten a whole lot faster. I'll let you know." Snapping his phone shut, he put on a burst of speed to catch up with his partner now that they were on the pavement. McGee barely let him climb into the van before he had it in gear and moving.