Story: NCIS crossover
Chapter 4 of ?
Rating: T/PG (gen)
Set in early season 5
Characters- 4th chapter: Ziva, McGee, Gibbs, DiNozzo, Abby, Jenny; 2 characters from Highlander: the Series
Pairings: none
Beta: StrangeVisitor
Summary: Two NCIS team members travel to an isolated cabin to pursue a lead and their lives are changed forever.
Disclaimer: Don't own, just playing, yadda, yadda
Chapter 4 – Strange Revelations
McGee and Ziva rode the elevator up to the bullpen in silence. He was still feeling a little awkward about what had happened the previous evening and had avoided discussing it during the ride in to work. Yesterday, Ziva had insisted that he spend the night at her apartment so she could keep an eye on him claiming it was Gibbs' orders. He had reluctantly agreed. He did have to admit that he definitely felt better after a full night's sleep, but recent events still worried him.
"What exactly was in that tea you gave me last night, Ziva?" he asked in a low voice as the stepped off the elevator.
"Nothing that will cause you trouble in a random drug screening," she replied with a slight smirk. "Besides, you needed the rest."
"Maybe so, but I'd rather know how I wound up…well, you know."
"Wound up where, Probie?" asked Tony as came up behind them and followed them into the bullpen.
"Never mind."
"Not at your apartment. I stopped by and you were nowhere to be found. Your neighbor said you left with some 'crazy chick'."
"That would be me," replied Ziva. "I did not think McGee should be alone, at least until he has recovered."
"Oh, ho," laughed Tony. "I never took you for the Florence Nightingale type, Ziva."
"Who?"
"Never mind. So, Probie, you're looking better. I guess you managed a good night's sleep on Ziva's sofa."
"Who said he slept on the sofa?"
McGee could feel his ears start to burn.
"Well, then I guess you managed a good night's sleep on the sofa," Tony smirked.
"Who said I slept on the sofa?"
McGee deposited his bag at his desk before heading back to the elevator, muttering something about needing to talk to Abby. As the doors closed, the last thing he heard was Ziva's annoyed voice: "Well, at least he doesn't snore!"
He leaned against the back wall and sighed. It was going to be a really long day.
XXX
McGee cautiously entered Abby's lab, worried about her reaction to his behavior the day before.
"Abby?" he called from just inside the door, as he braced himself for her wrath. She looked up at him and simply stared at him in silence.
OK, that's different…
"McGee," she finally said, her tone revealing nothing.
"Abby, I'm so sorry about what happened last night. I was…you know I'd never intentionally hurt you, right? It was a complete accident."
"Yeah, I know. Gibbs told me about your nightmare."
"He did? Oh, right…so then…are you okay?"
"Fine."
"You don't sound fine…you're still mad at me, aren't you? Abby, really, I never meant to hit you, you know that-."
"I'm not mad about that."
"Oh…then what…?"
"I'm mad because something happened to you that upset you enough to cause that nightmare, and you couldn't be bothered to confide in me. I thought we were friends, McGee. Friends are supposed to help each other! Why didn't you tell me what happened? What did happen, McGee?"
"I…I'm sorry, Abby. I really am…"
"But?"
"But I can't tell you..." Because I don't understand it myself.
She stared at him, anger and hurt flashing across her face before her expression shut down.
"Fine." She turned her back on him. "I have a lot of work to do, McGee."
"Oh…OK. I…I really am sorry, Abby, for…for everything."
She didn't respond, so he turned and slowly left the lab, wondering what else could go wrong.
XXX
"Ah, Dead Man Walking is still walking. Our Goth Princess must have been feeling forgiving this morning," snarked Tony as McGee returned to his desk and sat down dejectedly.
"Not exactly," muttered McGee and booted up his computer. He caught Ziva's worried expression and just shook his head.
"I guess you'd better work on your apology a little more."
"Or maybe you both need to work on our case," Gibbs said as he entered the bullpen.
"Sorry, Boss."
Gibbs stopped in front of McGee's desk and looked down at him. "Well?"
"I, uh…" McGee avoided Gibbs' gaze and quickly pulled up his notes from the day before. "I couldn't find any employment, prison, education, or other government records for either Doran or Lorcan Keane. The only record I did find was the tax collected for that piece of property we found under Doran Keane's name. I called the local County Clerk's office to get information on how those taxes were actually paid and I'm hoping they kept information on the bank that issued the payment. None of their records are online, so I'm waiting for a call back."
"DiNozzo."
"Corley, er, Flynn is scheduled to be handed over to the FBI within 24 hours to await extradition. No other bombings with his M.O. have been reported since he arrived in this country."
"David."
They all turned to look at her when she did not immediately respond.
"Ziva?"
"Yes, sorry. I have found six unsolved homicides in the tri-state area in the last ten years with a similar M.O. Five men and one woman, all shot three times in the chest and then decapitated. In two cases, the…heads were not recovered, and they remain unidentified. The gun used was not the same in any of the cases, however, which is why they were not linked before."
"DiNozzo, arrange another interrogation with Flynn. I want to know everything he can tell us about those murders. Let's find this bastard."
"On it, Boss," said Tony as he picked up his phone.
"Ziva, go back further, see if you can find any more murders that fit the M.O."
"But Gibbs…" She stopped and McGee understood why. The man they had seen did not look old enough to have been killing for much longer than the time frame she had already checked.
"Is there a problem, Officer David?"
"No, Gibbs. I will get started."
"McGee."
"Boss?"
"Keep looking."
"On it."
Gibbs was about to return to his own desk when Jenny called to him from the upper level.
"Agent Gibbs, we have a meeting in MTAC."
"When?"
"Now."
Gibbs headed up the stairs with an annoyed expression on his face as his team turned to their tasks. When the coast was clear, Tony got up and walked over to McGee's desk to stare down at the younger man. After a few moments of scrutiny, McGee huffed in annoyance.
"What?"
"So, Probie, do you want to tell me what's going on?"
"With what?"
"You. Ziva. Abby. All of the above."
"No." McGee ignored the older man and continued with his search. Before Tony could say something else, McGee's desk phone rang. He quickly answered it, glad for the reprieve.
"Agent McGee." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tony return to his desk and breathed a small sigh of relief.
"This is Marjorie Hasker from the Clay County Clerk's Office. Is this the young man who called me yesterday, from…NIS?" The voice on the other end had a slight rural accent, and sounded older than he had expected.
"NCIS, ma'am, and yes. Thank you for returning my call."
"How may I help you?"
"I need some information from your property tax records, specifically for the piece of property owned by a Mr. Doran Keane." He spelled the name, and was met with silence. "Ma'am?"
"It's not…it's not a Mister, Agent McGee."
"I'm sorry?"
"Doran Keane…well, I guess it's a business. The same name has been on that property for a long time, and…there has never been a record of sale or inheritance."
"How long?"
"Well…as long as there's been a Clay County. It was one of the first properties listed in the original register."
"And how long is that?"
"The County was established in 1737, so…two hundred and seventy years."
Startled, McGee took a moment to continue his questions. "So…the property has been under the same name for that whole time?"
"That's what I said. It's kind of a local mystery, actually. Nobody has ever seen the owner. There's a post office box attached to it, but no one ever sees who gets the mail. The tax payments come through the mail, too, and always right on time."
McGee remembered why he had called. "Those payments: do you keep a copy of the checks?"
"We do, but they're bank checks, not from an account. Always different, too." He heard a faint chuckle. "Some people think the property is really owned by the mafia, and that's why nothing can be traced. The mafia wasn't around back in 1737, now was it? And the property has always been kind of anonymous, ya know?"
"And no one has thought to…question this?"
"Not really. No one bothers us, we are pretty forgiving."
"Is there anything else you can tell me?"
"Well…it's about the property itself, just local history."
"What is it?"
"Story goes that just before the closest town was established, that piece of property was the site of the county's first unsolved murder."
"Murder?" he blurted out before he could help himself and saw Tony turn to stare at him in surprise. He managed to calm his voice before he asked the next question. "What happened?"
"One of the traders passing through found the body of a man up on that mountain. No one knew who he was, and the local Indians, uh Native Americans had their own legends about that area and would never go near it, so it wasn't them who'd done it. Pretty nasty killin', too."
"How so?"
"The man had been shot in the chest, three times, and then…his head was cut off."
"You…you're serious?"
"Yep. They never found anyone who they could tie to it. People stayed away from that place for years. Even today, most people avoid it. Guess they's scared of 'haints'." She chuckled again.
"I…I see. Is there anything else you can tell me?"
"Nothing comes to mind. Did that help at all, Agent McGee?"
"I'll have to get back to you on that. If…you do think of anything else, please, give me a call."
"Will do. Nice talking to you, Agent McGee."
"Uh, thank you. Ms. Hasker, and thank you again for…calling me back."
"No problem. Bye now."
"Good-bye."
McGee hung up the phone and sat in silence, going over what she had said in his mind. Like so many things he had experienced lately, none of it made sense. After a few moments, and as he ignored Tony's questioning stare, he turned to his computer to start another search.
Suddenly he felt the strangest sensation, just behind his eyes, similar to the beginnings of a migraine. It quickly morphed into a hum, almost like stereo feedback but at a lower pitch. As it grew in intensity, McGee reached up and rubbed his temples, trying to relieve the discomfort.
"Headache, Probie?" asked Tony from his desk.
"Yeah, something like that." McGee had the sense that something, the source of the sensation, was approaching. He looked around, trying to identify its location, just as the elevator arrived at their floor. Suddenly he knew that whatever this strange feeling was, it was coming from within the elevator, and his focus locked on the metal doors as they slid open.
A woman stepped out and paused to look around. She was fairly tall, slender, and attractive, probably in her early 30's, with dark eyes and stylishly short black hair. Her gaze locked on McGee and with a smile she started to walk towards him. He could only stare in return as he realized the sensation he felt was coming from this woman and it was accompanied by the strong urge to escape. Before he could move, however, the woman's path was blocked by DiNozzo.
"Hello," he said, and McGee could picture the predatory grin he most likely wore as he turned on the charm. "I'm Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. How may I help you, Miss…?"
"Darieux," she replied in a sultry voice. "Amanda Darieux. I'm here to see Special Agent Gibbs."
"He's in a meeting with the director," said Tony, and McGee could hear the faint disappointment in his voice. "May I ask why you need to see him?"
She deftly stepped around Tony and continued towards the center of the bullpen before stopping almost in front of McGee's desk. She met his gaze again, briefly, before returning her attention to the senior agent.
"I'm an …old friend. I was in town and thought I'd stop by. How long do you expect this meeting to take?"
"I'm not really sure, but why don't you have a seat while you wait?" Tony pointed to his own seat with a toothy smile. The woman gave him a smile of her own before settling into the proffered chair. She once again glanced at McGee and then returned her attention to Tony.
"You must be part of Gibbs team," she said coyly.
"Yes, I'm his trusted senior field agent."
"And what about you," she asked as she turned to McGee. He felt himself blush as he started to answer.
"I-I'm Special Agent Timothy McGee-."
"The junior field agent," added Tony in a slightly mocking tone, "and resident computer geek. And this," he pointed to Ziva as she rounded the corner of the bullpen and stopped to stare at the newcomer, "is Officer Ziva David, our Mossad liaison."
Ziva continued to stare at the woman as she rose and extended her hand. Finally Ziva nodded in return and went to her own desk, her expression unreadable.
Tony quickly broke the awkward silence.
"So tell me, Ms. Darieux, how do you know Gibbs?"
"Why don't you ask him yourself?"
Tony turned and looked up towards the stairs just in time to see Gibbs start his descent and scrambled to recover.
"Oh, uh, Boss, I was just asking-."
"Amanda," said Gibbs, and McGee saw a brief flash of surprise cross the lead agent's face before one side of his mouth curved up in a half smile. "This is unexpected."
"Jethro," she purred as she rose and made her way towards the stairs where she waited for him to reach the bottom. "It's been a while, I know, but I was in town and I couldn't resist. I thought perhaps we could do…lunch?"
Gibbs glanced at his watch. "A little early…"
"Coffee, then? We really have some catching up to do."
"I can do coffee," Gibbs replied. McGee was fairly sure his boss was not all that thrilled with the prospect, but he was not immediately sure why.
"Wonderful! Shall we?" she linked her arm with Gibbs' and started to walk with him toward the elevator. She looked over her shoulder at the team. "Nice to meet all of you," she said before she and Gibbs disappeared from view.
Tony watched them as the doors closed and then turned to the rest of the team. "Did that seem weird to any of you?" he asked.
"Well, she is not a redhead, if that is what you mean," replied Ziva.
McGee remained silent as the sensation he had felt started to fade and he continued to stare at the elevator. Tony walked over to him, leaned down, and said, "Forget it, Probie. She's way out of your league." He smirked at Ziva and returned to his desk as McGee managed to return his gaze to his computer screen, although the strangeness of what he had felt stayed with him for a long time.
XXX
The elevator had almost reached the ground level before Gibbs flipped the emergency switch and turned to his companion. She smiled at him and reached up to brush a strand of his hair back into place.
"We really must find you a better barber, Jethro. This look is just so old-fashioned."
He continued to stare at her in silence and she sighed. "You don't look all that happy to see me, Gibbs. I'm hurt."
Finally he spoke. "I wasn't expecting Dawson to send you."
"Well, I was available. MacLeod is off on some sort of spiritual retreat, and Joe had no idea when he'd be back, and God only knows where Adam is, so-."
"Just tell me, Amanda."
She sighed. "You were right. The kid is a member of 'the club'."
Gibbs shook his head. "Damn…I was hoping I was wrong."
"So what do you want to do now? He'll have to be told, and he'll need-."
"Yeah, I know. You up to this?"
"Of course, Jethro. Well, at least to get him started." Gibbs shot her a look. "Hey, I'm just being honest here. I'm not the type to stay in one place for a long time, you know that, but I'll make sure he has someone more permanent when it's time for me to move on."
He simply stared at her until she sighed and continued.
"Look, Joe will be here tonight. He wanted to be there when we tell the 'newbie'. It's not too often he gets to meet one of us at the very beginning, you know. In the meantime, I'll need to do a little reconnaissance, but that shouldn't take too long. Where do you want to meet for the big reveal?"
"My place. 2100. I'll make sure they're both there."
"Both?"
"Yeah. I imagine Joe will want to talk to Ziva."
"Oh…of course. Now, how about that coffee? We really do need to do some catching up, Jethro."
Gibbs stared at her for a moment and managed a smirk. "Yeah, OK." He flipped the emergency switch and the elevator carried them to the ground level.
As he and Amanda headed for his favorite coffee shop, he thought about what this unexpected turn of events would mean for his agent, and what he would need to do to make sure it wasn't a complete disaster.
XXX
At 2000 hours, Gibbs ordered them all to go home. It had been a long and trying day, and Ziva was quite ready to follow such orders, especially since Gibbs had not mentioned coming in on the weekend.
She and Tony had interrogated Flynn again and had gotten nowhere with the man. He denied any involvement in the unsolved murders, but did confirm that it was Keane who had committed them, and that he, Flynn, had been unable to prevent the crimes. The only satisfaction she had obtained from the interrogation was when Flynn confessed that he found her much scarier than Keane.
She gathered up her belongings and waited for McGee to join her for the ride home. He insisted he would be fine at his own place, but she had seen that something still worried him. She suspected that it was in part due to his discussion with Abby, as the forensic scientist completely ignored him when she had entered the bullpen to speak to Gibbs about the evidence in the case. However, she had sensed a growing tension in the junior agent ever since that woman, Amanda, had shown up. Tony had teased McGee mercilessly about his apparent interest in the woman until Gibbs had returned and stopped him with a resounding head-slap. McGee had looked somewhat relieved, but she had noticed his tension return fairly quickly. She decided to wait until after work to confront him about it.
As soon as they left the Yard, she asked, "What's wrong?"
"What isn't?"
"Is it Abby?"
"She's still mad at me, if that's what you mean."
Ziva huffed in annoyance. "I will speak with her."
"No, Ziva, please don't. It will only make it worse. She's mad because I can't tell her what happened, and if she finds out that you know something…"
"She will take it out on you." He nodded sadly. "There is something else bothering you."
"When…when that woman who came to visit Gibbs showed up…well, before she even got off the elevator, I…I knew she was coming."
"You did? How?"
"I could…sense it." He described the sensation he had felt. "It was like…I don't know, an early warning system."
"But why-"
"I think she's like me."
"You mean…all the things that have happened to you since—."
"Keane shot me, yeah, and I think…I think he's like me, too, and he could tell, and that's why he wanted to kill me."
"But…why would he want to kill someone like himself?"
"I don't know…"
"And why wouldn't you have felt that warning with him?"
"I don't know that, either."
He lapsed into silence and did not speak again until they were on the Beltway, headed towards Silver Spring.
"There's something else."
Ziva was rather surprised that he had volunteered information, but she kept her voice even.
"What?"
"The place where…we saw Keane, it was…when I spoke to the county clerk, she told me that property was the site of the county's first murder. The M.O. was the same as Keane's."
"I did not find that in my search. When did it occur?"
"1737."
"They know the exact time?"
"The year 1737. Two hundred and seventy years ago."
"But that is—."
"Crazy. Yeah, I know. The clerk also told me the property had been listed under the same name for that long. Maybe this M.O. is an old family tradition or something."
"Or our killer is at least 300 years old," she said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood a little. This case was just so strange…
McGee barely managed a chuckle. "Yeah, that makes sense. You know, I think it would be easier if someone would just tell me I had lost my mind. Then I could start to deal with it, at least."
Ziva's response was cut short by the strident sounds of her ring tone. She fished out her phone and answered.
"Ziva. Gibbs? Yes…yes…I understand. We will be there soon." She hung up and guided her car towards the exit lane.
"What's going on?"
"Gibbs needs to see both of as at once."
"Great. So much for a quiet weekend." He leaned back and closed his eyes as Ziva guided the car to the south-bound side of the Beltway.
XXX
McGee did not open his eyes again until Ziva had brought the car to a stop. When he saw where they were, he turned to her in obvious surprise.
"Why are we at Gibbs' house?"
"This is where he asked to meet. He did not say why." Ziva climbed out of the car and headed for the front door as McGee reluctantly followed. She raised her hand to knock just as the door swung open and Gibbs appeared.
"You made good time." He turned and walked back towards the interior of the house. Ziva glanced at McGee, shrugged, and followed Gibbs. McGee followed her and shut the door behind them. She had expected Gibbs to head for the basement, but instead he stepped into the living room before turning to them.
"Have a seat. Can I get you a drink?"
"No, thank you," she said, confusion coloring her voice. McGee just shook his head and carefully lowered himself onto one end of the sofa. She sat down next to him and looked up at Gibbs. When he didn't say anything, she asked, "Are we waiting for Tony?"
"Not exactly."
Before she could ask what Gibbs meant, she noticed McGee stiffen and sit up straighter, his eyes widening in surprise as he reached up, hesitantly, to rub his temples.
"McGee? Are you all right?" she asked in concern.
"I…" He looked up at Gibbs. "Boss, are…are you expecting company?"
To her surprise, Gibbs just smirked and walked back to the front door. He opened it and said loudly, "You're a little early."
"Better than late," a faint female voice answered, surprisingly familiar.
Soon the source of the voice appeared: it was the woman who had visited NCIS earlier that day. She was followed by a much older man who walked with the aid of a cane. Ziva noticed that McGee had risen to his feet and she did the same as Gibbs made the introductions.
"Ziva, McGee, I believe you've already met Amanda." The woman smiled as they both nodded rather stiffly. "And this is Joseph Dawson."
"Call me Joe," he said and held out his hand. McGee hesitated and then offered his own.
"Nice to meet you," he said, although he didn't sound particularly happy. Ziva merely nodded and turned to Gibbs.
"What is going on?"
"I take it you haven't done the preliminaries," said Joe as he gingerly lowered himself into one of the chairs.
"You're early," replied Gibbs, before turning to Ziva. "Have a seat. This is going to take awhile." She and McGee sat down again as Amanda settled into the last chair. Gibbs remained standing.
"Boss, what is this about?"
"McGee, Ziva, I need you two to tell me what happened when you went to interview Keane two days ago."
"It's in my report, Boss."
"Mine as well, Gibbs."
"I need to know what really happened. Everything."
"Boss, I…I really don't think you would…"
"Believe us," finished Ziva. "We are not so sure we believe it ourselves."
Gibbs exchanged glanced with the other two people in the room. "I'll believe what you tell me, as long as you don't leave anything out. Got it?"
"Yes, Gibbs." She looked at McGee. "I will start."
She began with their arrival at the cabin, then the search and evidence that Keane had been there recently but was not home when they arrived. She described their decision to search the grounds and how they had split up.
"I was searching the north side of the property when I heard gunshots. I ran towards them and saw a man with his gun drawn, pointing it towards something I could not see. He put it away and…pulled out a knife."
"A knife?"
"All right, it was a sword." She looked up at Gibbs, expecting disbelief, but his expression was unreadable. "I yelled at him to freeze, and he ran towards the woods. I chased him, but apparently he had an ATV hidden and he escaped. I went back to the cabin and I found…it looked like McGee had been shot."
"How bad did it look, Ziva?"
"He…he looked dead." Gibbs remained silent, so she continued. "There was no way to call for help, and…I did not believe there was anything I could do, except to make sure that everything was documented before I left to call. I took pictures, and searched for evidence, but…I did not find very much."
"How long did it take to finish the search?"
"Almost two hours."
"Then what?"
"I…I was getting ready to leave I heard a noise. I turned around, expecting that the man had returned, and…McGee was awake and sitting up. He…he did not remember what happened. I checked him and…the bullet holes were gone."
"We decided it had to be some sort of a trick, Boss, and we…were a little, well, more than a little embarrassed that we had been fooled and let the witness, uh, Keane escape. We've been trying to figure out how he did it-"
"What do you remember before this 'trick'?"
"W-what do you mean?"
"It's a simple question, McGee. What were you doing up until Keane incapacitated you?"
"Oh. I, uh, I was searching the south side of the cabin, didn't find anything, and I was wondering if maybe there was a hidden trap door or something we didn't see before, even though we looked for one. I turned to head back to the cabin and…"
"And what?"
"I saw a man pointing a gun at me. Before I could completely draw my weapon, he…incapacitated me."
"You mean he shot you."
"Well, that's what it seemed like, but, you know, obviously—."
"He shot you. Three times in the chest."
"How did you-?"
"It's his M.O., McGee. Three shots to the chest, and then…he was going to cut your head off. Does that sound about right, Ziva?"
"Yes, but-."
"And I'm going to guess that ever since, strange things have been happening to McGee."
Ziva and McGee looked at each other in surprise and slowly nodded.
"You knew I was coming before you saw me, right?" asked Amanda, breaking her silence. McGee turned to her, wide-eyed, and nodded. "And you heal pretty fast now, right?"
McGee nodded again and turned to Gibbs. "Boss, what…what happened…what's happening to me?"
"Keane killed you, McGee, and that started it."
"Started what?"
"Your immortality," said Amanda.
"My what?"
"You are an Immortal."
Ziva finally managed to speak. "You cannot be serious!"
Joe answered. "It's true. Immortals are a race of people, special people, who, if they die a violent death, come back and cannot be killed by normal means. They heal, and they do not age."
"And you are saying…McGee, our McGee, is one of these special people?"
"Yes."
"Is it…a hereditary thing? Are my parents…? Could…my sister…?" McGee looked back and forth between Gibbs and Joe. Ziva could see the panic in his eyes.
"We don't know where Immortals come from," said Joe. "You didn't get this directly from your parents, since Immortals cannot have children. You also don't need to worry about your sister."
"How can you be sure? If you don't know, then-."
"Because, even if it is genetic, you are not related," said Amanda.
"What? How do you-?"
"We have never found an Immortal who was not a foundling or who knew their birth parents. Since you grew up with a family, you were adopted." Joe gave McGee a sad smile, obviously unaware of the devastation he had just caused.
McGee stared at Joe, then Amanda, in silence. Finally he rose from the sofa.
"Excuse me," he said in an eerily calm voice, and walked out the door. Amanda shot Gibbs a look and followed McGee. Ziva rose to follow Amanda and was gently restrained by Gibbs.
"Let her deal with this, Ziva. Trust me, she has a lot more experience with this sort of thing."
"How could you do this to him, Gibbs?"
"I didn't do it, Ziva. I'm just trying to make sure he can survive what comes next, and these people are here to help."
She turned to Joe. "Amanda said McGee could sense her, but she did not mention you. Are you…an Immortal as well?"
Joe chuckled. "No. I am a Watcher, part of a secret society that knows the truth about Immortals. We've been observing and recording their lives for centuries." He showed her the strange tattoo on his wrist. "This is how we know each other, and how some Immortals know us as well."
"You are here to observe McGee?"
"Actually, he's here to talk to you, Ziva," said Gibbs with a faint smile.
"Me? Why?" She turned back to Joe. He grinned.
"I believe I have a job for you."
A/N: A 'haint' is a colloquial term for ghost (corruption of 'haunt') used in the Appalachian region.
Please let me know what you think.