The first Mrs. Gibbs - Part 2
Leroy couldn't really fault the job the MPs and NCIS agents did. The MPs came as a courtesy to him because they knew him and he had called them instead of 911. The NCIS agents were very efficient in their work. They cordoned off the area, took photos, took his wife's body away and they did all of that without Leroy seeing a single thing. One of the agents took him to one side and asked him questions, he knew that he had told them everything he could but he couldn't remember what any of the questions were. Everything was blurred, like a bad dream that you want to wake up from but don't know how. They tried to get him to go and stay with someone else but he refused. He promised that he wouldn't go into the kitchen, back yard or his daughter's bedroom. He couldn't leave, what if his daughter's kidnappers phoned, what if she escaped and came home to find no-one here? If he left he would be abandoning her. He wouldn't do that. They told him that if he stayed then they wanted someone to stay with him, they wanted to fit cameras around his home and bugs on his phones. He just agreed, whatever it takes he had said. He had to stay at home.
Donald Mallard heard about the tragedy that had befallen the young marine, whom he had met just a few months earlier. He remembered how, when the young man was so far from home, his face would light up when he spoke of his wife and child. ‘His girls' he called them. The marine was new to the area and most of his friends were overseas at the moment so Donald decided to pay him a visit, check on his mental welfare. If there was ever a time when a trained killing machine needed a friend with a shoulder he could cry on, this was it.
When Donald arrived at Leroy's home he wasn't surprised to see the crime scene tape cordoning off great portions of the garden and the upstairs window. He knocked on the heavy oak door and waited patiently; he had seen an unmarked black car in the drive and guessed that young Leroy would be being ‘babysat' by an NCIS special agent. He was proved correct by the man who opened the door, he was a little older than Donald but he wasn't an unfamiliar face.
"Special agent Mackey," he greeted the older man politely, unsure if the special agent would recognise him from the brief period of time that they had spent working on opposing teams in the same district. Donald had been the Medical Examiner for the local police, while special agent Mackey had been an FBI agent. He needn't have worried though because instant recognition flitted across Mackey's face.
"Dr. Mallard! Long time no see. Where have you been hiding yourself man? Have you moved up in the world or are you still working for that little police dept.?" Donald smiled and shook his head.
"No I left that part of town a couple of years ago. I'm working in the morgue at Bethesda at the moment." Mackey frowned.
"That's a long way from here Dr. so what brings you to this part of town?" Donald gestured inside the house with a nod of his head.
"Well when I was working at Bethesda I met a young marine who could tell stories that rivalled my own, and were a lot more interesting. He would tell me of his beautiful family and how he couldn't wait to get back to them. Then my sources told me that something terrible had happened to his family and, when I enquired as to which members of his squad were with him, I was told none because they were all overseas. I came to make sure he has a friend to support him through this nightmare." Mackey nodded and opened the door.
"He's right this way doctor but I've got to warn you, he might not even know you're here. He's kinda out of it." Donald nodded, he knew what to expect; he had seen so many people who'd suffered unbearable loss to know that his friend wouldn't be anything like the man he remembered.
Leroy looked up when he heard Donald walk in. He handed the Dr. the photo he had been talking to.
"Remember my girls Dr.? I told you they were beautiful." Donald looked at the photo. He could see the family resemblance between mother and daughter in the fiery red hair and fair skin. Leroy was right they were beautiful. Donald was amazed by how much Leroy's daughter looked like him. She had his strong facial features and yet she still looked very feminine; her brilliant blue eyes were so intelligent and inquisitive, mirror images of her father's. Donald handed the photo back to Leroy.
"Yes, Leroy I remember. You were right they are beautiful." Leroy laid the photo carefully on the table, like it was a piece of treasure so fragile that one wrong move would disintegrate into dust. Donald supposed that for Leroy it really was precious. Leroy picked up a brown envelope and looked Donald straight in the eye. The intense sadness in those blue eyes was painful for Donald to witness.
"That's an old photo Dr. Mallard," he passed him the brown envelope and continued. "That's what they look like now." Donald took the envelope and reached inside it. He pulled out two photos and a letter from the envelope. He read the letter first, to allow himself time to prepare for what he knew he would see in the photos. Donald was taken aback by the harsh bluntness in the letter.
Mr. Gibbs,
I hope you like the photos; I think they are some of my best. I must admit I was expecting to feel a little more of a buzz when I shot your wife but, to tell you the truth, it was kind of boring. I'm going to have much more fun with your daughter though. You are a marine, a trained killing machine. Now I'm going to show you what it means to be on the receiving end of your skills. I will contact you again.
Your war-hating friend,
Mr. Y (I think Mr. X is becoming a bit too much of a cliché nowadays, don't you?)
Donald had to sit down and, when he did so, Leroy gave him a strangely knowing look and nodded at him.
"Yeah that was my first reaction too." Leroy showed Donald his hands, palm down. The knuckles were split and there was dried blood covering he backs of his hands, where he'd obviously tried to wipe the blood away. "This was my second. Special Agent Mackey's partner grabbed me and sat on me until I calmed down. I gave him a broken nose for his troubles. NCIS have examined these photos and the letter like crazy. Apparently everything used was so common that they couldn't trace it and there were no finger prints or anything. It summarises the end of my life and yet it tells them nothing."
Leroy wiped his hands down his face before putting his head in them. Donald watched the broken man clench his fists tightly and press his knuckles into his forehead, before turning to look at the photos. The first one was of Mrs. Gibbs, Shannon, if he remembered correctly. Although it wasn't a very nice thing to look at, the photo showed nothing the Medical Examiner hadn't seen before. The lady in the photo was easily recognisable as the lady from the photo that he had seen just a moment ago, apart from the fact that she was, quite obviously, dead. Her skin had begun to grey from the lack of blood in her body, a small drop of blood precariously covered the hole in her forehead and the pool of blood underneath her head stretched further than the photo's edges. Donald put the picture of the wife on the table and had to take a deep breath to stop himself from retching at the picture of the little girl.
"God, she can't be more than five years old." He croaked. How could someone do that to such a young child?
"She's four." Leroy whispered so quietly that Donald barely heard him. Donald put the photo of the tortured little girl face down on the table and twisted in his seat to face Leroy. He ran his hand up and down the marines upper back before resting it on his shoulder, he wanted to comfort the man but felt powerless and unsure how he could show him that he would be there for him.
"Oh lord, Leroy I'm so sorry." Leroy stiffened suddenly. He squared his back and lifted his head. After wiping his eyes harshly with the heels of his hands he stared straight at Donald, a mixture of unbreakable determination and pure hatred covering his face. Donald wasn't afraid to admit that at that moment the marine had scared the crap out of him, he would have had to have been a complete idiot not to have been afraid.
"No need to be sorry Dr. Mallard, I'm going to get her back. I'm going to find the evil monsters who took my wife from this world and my child from my arms and I'm going to show them just how good I am at my job. I know over 20 ways to kill a man with my bare hands, I know five times as many ways of inflicting pain without causing death. I'm going to let them feel each and every one of them and then I will give them the slowest death they could have ever imagined." Donald shivered slightly as a wave of cold passed through him.
Leroy had obviously screwed his marine head on as tight as it would go; Donald suspected it was his minds way of defending itself against the overwhelming emotions he must have begun to feel. He watched, concerned, as the marine picked up he ‘old' photo of his wife and child and began to run his finger over it, tracing the outline of their faces. Donald could here him whispering to the photo and, when he heard the words, he knew that the young marine wouldn't find peace until he had his daughter back and his family's destroyers obliterated.
"No body hurts my girls and gets away with it. Shannon you've got to tell Kelly I'm coming for her. I need to see her again. To watch the lively way her hands bounce from one sign to another as she speaks to me, to hold her in my arms and never let her go, to help her fasten her zips and buttons. I'm gonna get our baby back Shannon. I'm gonna make them pay. I promise you."
Author's Chapter Notes:
As he struggles to cope with what is happening a friend arrives to help him. And the kidnappers make contact.