Chapter 7
"Then I don't think we should contact his daughter until we know a little more," Clay told Mac.
"From everything I've seen around here it looks like he just walked out with every intention of coming back, but didn't. There doesn't seem to be any significant amount of clothing gone, the coffee pot burned dry and the Escalade is still here."
"So then where the hell is he?" Clay muttered.
Frustrated and upset Mac snapped, "If I knew that I wouldn't have called you."
"Now listen here Mac, I don't need this attitude from you. If you can't at least be civil I'm out of here."
Taking a deep breath with closed eyes she tried to calm down and then said, "I'm sorry Clay; I'm just so worried about AJ. This is so not like him that I'm sure something bad has happened to him and the thing is, usually I get a feeling or sense of what's happening, like with Chloe or Harm. The thing that's got me so scared is that both of them were found alive..." she took a shaky breath as a tear slid down her cheek and she couldn't finish that thought.
Seeing the emotional response in a woman that was not given to them normally, Clay sighed and put his arm around her shoulders and said, "I'm sorry Sarah, I didn't know AJ meant this much to you. Here all this time I thought it was Harm that you cared for. Is AJ the one you had feelings for all these years?"
"Harm and I never have been nor could we ever be an item. I broke it off with you because of the lies and the dishonesty your job forces on you. If I can't have honesty in a relationship I don't want it. And as for my feelings for AJ of course I have them! He is like a father to me, and to the rest of the JAG staff."
"I didn't know you felt that way about AJ. Don't worry; I'll help you find him."
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
0900 EST
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
Mac arrived at the office just in time for the staff meeting much to everyone's surprise. She was always there way before the rest of them, well she and the Admiral. As everyone took their places Mac took the Admiral's usual seat at the head of the table. "Before we get down to the business of the day," Mac told them, "I have an announcement to make. After checking with everyone that might be in the know, I've come to the conclusion that the Admiral is missing," she paused as everyone around the table reacted.
Concern was the main reaction and a desire to do whatever they could to help find a man that they all felt very close to. "I will call his daughter as soon as this meeting is over on the off chance that he is there, but I'm sure of what I'll find. Admiral Chegwidden wouldn't go away without telling one of us what was going on. So I'll also be contacting the SECNAV to see how he wants to proceed."
"Do you think he could have been kidnapped?" Bud asked.
"I doubt it Bud, there was no evidence of a struggle at his house and I can't imagine the Admiral being taken without a fight." At the nods of agreement around the table she went on, "Plus it looked like he could have left the house either on Saturday or Sunday and if that were the case we should have gotten a ransom demand by now."
"Then what could have happened?" Harm asked.
"I don't know, but I do know he runs in the woods around his house, so tonight when I get off I'm going to take Dammit and see if he might be there hurt or sick."
"Colonel, if that is the case then the sooner he's found the better," Sturgis interjected.
"I agree, but I have cases today and need to be in court this morning," Mac replied.
"Ma'am, I know we can't take your court case this late, but I'd be willing to take on any of your other cases so you'd be free to go to McLean this afternoon," Bud piped up.
To be continued...
