Twisted Justice (an NCIS story)

Chapter Two

Monday morning

"Thought I told you to get some sleep McGee."

"I did Boss"

Gibbs glared clearly not believing him. The truth was he hadn't slept much. He had listened to those messages over and over. Then when he shut off the machine he could still hear them in his head, replaying in his mind. His father would be furious, how many times had he told him not to dwell on it, it wasn't his fault there was nothing he could do.

McGee buried himself in Carrols laptop again and was soon rewarded.

"Hey Boss, Carrol was meeting with a Matt Teal an hour before he died. It was in one of those encrypted emails."

Not to be caught flat-footed Tony immediately started scrambling for answers. "Corporal Matthew Teal, he and Carrol are in the same unit and hey look at this he owns a Colt revolver, same caliber that killed Carrol. Ladies and gentleman, it looks like we have a winner!"

"Go get him."

Tony and Ziva left and Gibbs and McGee got back to work. It wasn't long before Gibbs' phone rang. "Yeah, Gibbs."

"Uh, Boss"

"You better have him DiNozzo."

"In a way. He went missing yesterday but had just turned up and we have a new crime scene, bring your body bag."

"On our way, McGee, call Ducky."

They arrived at the crime scene, a large lake just outside the base. Police were milling around and there was an ambulance nearby, they soon found Tony and Ziva.

"I thought you said was dead Tony?"

"Huh?" Tony caught his glance at the ambulance. "Oh yeah Teal is dead, that's for the kids."

"What children Anthony?" Ducky asked just arriving.

"Apparently some kids were playing on the ice, it broke and they fell through. That's how Teal's body was found, there was blood on the ice where he was shot and then dragged."

Nobody noticed the blood drain from McGee's face. "Are the kids ok?" He asked quietly.

Ziva responded sadly, "Two are dead, the girl is on her way to hospital, but it is unlikely she will recover."

Everyone was silent for a moment. Gibbs finally pulled out of it. "Ok Tony bag and tag, McGee sketch, Ziva door to door talk to witnesses." McGee didn't move.

"McGee!" McGee slowly turned, "Sketch now!" He nodded and headed for the dead marine, but he couldn't take his eyes off the hole in the lake, now roped off. He knew he was supposed to be sketching but he couldn't help himself. He walked up to one of the officers.

"They're dead?" He asked numbly.

The officer turned around. "Yeah, two boys and a girl, just too late for them." There was a tear in the corner of his eye. "Weren't even 10 years old yet, too young. The girl was taken to the hospital, but I don't think she'll make it. The worst part, they could have been saved." The officer beside him nodded, "Yup, that's the part that pisses me off."

"What do you mean?" McGee asked.

The second officer answered "There was a man standing not more than 20 feet away when the ice broke. He just froze up, not for too long but long enough. He could have pulled them out and probably saved them."

Tim felt like he was going to cry or throw up or both. All he could do was nod and head toward the crime scene. He went on autopilot as the team processed the scene. Teal had also been shot in head but the weapon was nowhere to be found. Ducky estimated time of death to be early that morning.

McGee was having trouble concentrating even as Ducky talked. Flashbacks spotted his consciousness. Water everywhere. Breathing, heartbeat in his ears. Shouting, trying to breath. He was so preoccupied he missed Ducky's look of concern when he stumbled, but the quickly righted himself and focused so it didn't happen again.

Back at NCIS he made an excuse to stay away from the evidence, just to be sure this time. The rest of the day was spent tracking down Teal family and going over witness statements. Tony and Ziva searched Teal's home on base but came up empty, his Colt revolver was locked safely away and showed no signs of being fired recently. Late in the evening McGee made an excuse to go home for a few hours. He really just needed a few hours to himself to process the day. He wasn't alone for long, his answering was full of messages, all from the same person.

I'm watching you McGee, everyday, you can't hide from me. You are the lowest piece of filth on the planet.

How can you live with what you did, you don't deserve to be alive.

If it was anyone it should have been you. I'm going to make you suffer. You deserve to suffer

Tim sighed as the messages began to play and grabbed a folder of old newspaper clipping. He spread them on the counter to study what he'd already memorized.