Growing Up McGee

The Tragedy - Chapter 21

"Alright, let's go!" Cormac shouted before pulling out. "Don't call yer father yet. Wait until we get off the property. They can track all phone calls made here."

Morgan nodded her understanding. "How do you know all this?"

"Worked here for a long time." Cormac responded.

There was a brief silence. "Why are you helping me? I mean, couldn't you get fired or something?"

Cormac chuckled. "Yeah, I could. So could Martha, but it's the right thing to do, no matter how much we have to risk, even if it means jail."

"Jail?"

Cormac looked at her though his rear view mirror. "It can't hurt to tell ya, I guess, we're probably all gonna be turned in sooner than later. All of the Fielding's staff, including me, are criminals. Not the dangerous kind or anything. Just a bunch of good people that got into bad situations. We all went to yer grandfather for help, and he offered to change our name and provide a safe haven from the law, as long as we worked for him. It sounded like a great deal at first, until they started doing all of this custody shit. That's when everything went downhill."

"Martha doesn't seem like someone to break the law." Morgan observed.

"Like I said, we're all good people that did bad things."

"What did you do?" Morgan asked. There was a long silence, and Morgan started to regret asking, but Cormac eventually provided her with an answer.

"A long time ago, I had a little girl, Bayley. Wee bit younger than you, about ten. She was beautiful. Had the brightest smile and thick curly hair. I had raised her since she was three, when my wife died. It was tough, but we got through. I was a private investigator, pretty good at it too, so we had a steady income. Life was amazing. One day while we were at the park, she was playing by one of the trees. All of a sudden, there was a gunshot. I looked around and saw a group of guys fighting, one with a gun. After a moment, I saw Bayley laying on the ground. I ran over to her, thinking she was just playing dead or something, but when I got her to, she was bleeding. The prick had shot her in the stomach. I tried to look for him, but he was gone. I called an ambulance, but." Cormac paused, and took in a sharp breath, "she was dead. The cops opened an investigation, but they did nothing, so I took things into my own hands. After months and months of different leads, I finally found the man who shot her. I showed everything to the cops, but they said they needed to approve of the evidence, so I took matters into my own hands. I watched him for a few days, before shooting him in an alleyway. Afterward, I came to your grandparents, who I had investigated for in the past, and they helped me change my name and let me work for them."

"Wow." Was all Morgan could blurt out.

"I bet you think I'm a horrible person now." Cormac chuckled nervously.

"No, I don't." She responded sincerely. "You got justice for your daughter. I think that's the best thing you could have done."

There was another silence, before Cormac changed the subject. "Well, we're out of range now, so you can call your Dad."

Morgan quickly clicked on his number and called him, but he didn't pick up. "Damn it, I bet he's working. He'll probably answer if I call him a couple more times."

She called him again, no answer. On the third attempt, her phone died. "Shit! Cormac, do you have your phone?"

"Heck no! I'm not trying to be tracked by them. After I drop you off, I'm hiding out in my cabin in the woods."

"Do you have a charger?" She asked desperately.

"No, and even if I did, it wouldn't work in this car. It doesn't have any outlets except for built in Samsung chargers. Your grandparents were big investors in the company when they were first starting out, which is how they got a large sum of their money." Cormac informed her.

"It's fine, I just need to get home."

"And I'll get you there." He responded, speeding up the car.

In about twenty minutes, they arrived at McGee's house. Morgan had a spare key in her phone case, but when she unlocked the door, all the lights were turned off. "Dad?" She screamed. There was no answer. She ran all throughout the house, but he wasn't there. She ran downstairs to see Cormac at the front door.

"He isn't here. The only other place he could be is NCIS."

"We can't stay here, this is the first place they'll look for us. You'll be safer in a government building. Hurry and put your bags in here, so you don't have to drag them inside the building." Cormac suggested. "It'll look less suspicious."

Morgan nodded and they quickly threw her bags into the house before locking it back, and jumping into the car. He sped off to the NCIS office. Right as they were about to pull up, Cormac asked, "You gonna be okay, kid."

"I'll be fine." She assured him. "But what about you?"

"As long as you don't say anything, I'll be okay." He told her. "I've always wanted to live in a cabin in the woods."

Morgan chuckled. "Thank you, Cormac. I don't know how I could repay you for this."

"No need. At least I could save someone this time."

Morgan gave him a sympathetic smile. "I'll never forget this."

She jumped out of the car, and ran towards the NCIS building, only looking back once to get a glimpse of her hero's face behind the dim car window. 

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And that's a wrap for Cormac. I've genuinely enjoyed writing his character and I'm gonna miss him, but it's time for him be at peace...in his cabin in the woods lol

If you liked this chapter, please leave a comment and/or vote! It would mean so much to me! Thanks :)