Here we go - sorry this was a little late. RL has a way of interfering and for some reason, my boss prefers I work rather than write. Go figure. Anyway, thanks to all for taking the time to review, I appreciate it. (BTW, the numbers at the bottom of each chapter are the Fibonacci sequence. It's just a fun thing and kind of interesting even though I am light-years away from being any sort of math geek.) As always, I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 7

Thursday,

Eppes residence

Pasadena, CA

2140 Local

Don leaned back, raising his hands in disgust, "I can't believe it!" He turned to look at his father, "Bases loaded, 1 out, he swings at 3-1 pitch and hits into a double-play. What was he thinking?"

Alan shrugged as he took another sip of his coffee, "You got me. With what they pay these guys, you'd think they wouldn't make those kinds of mistakes." It had been a quietly pleasant evening. Don had stayed for dinner and after helping clean up the dishes, had settled on the couch with Alan to watch the Dodgers play the Cardinals. Charlie, as usual, was sitting at the dining room table, going over some of his students' papers. If there was a discordant note, it was that the Dodgers were losing - badly.

"You know, statistically speaking, he was just as likely to hit it out of the park," Charlie chimed in without looking up from his work.

"Not tonight he wasn't," Don grunted sourly, "He bats .145 against this pitcher." His cell phone picked that moment to ring and Don sighed as he pulled it off his belt, "Eppes." He listened for a few seconds before shooting upright, his eyes wide, "What?! When?" Charlie and Alan exchanged looks of concern while Don listened intently, "Where are they now? ...Okay, uh-huh, ... I'm on my way."

"Donnie, what's wrong?" Alan asked as Don snapped his phone shut and rose hurriedly from the couch.

"That was the office. There was a drive-by shooting downtown. Four wounded, two dead." Don put his suit coat back on and went to retrieve his gun from the top of the refrigerator.

"That's terrible!" Alan watched as Don clipped the holster onto his belt, "But why did they call you? Aren't the police handling this?"

Charlie stood up, his eyes wide in alarm, "Downtown? It's Mac and Harm, isn't it?"

"Oh my god, the JAG officers?" Alan looked aghast as Don nodded. "Were they...?"

Charlie shook his head, "At least one of them had to alive and conscious to let someone know to call the FBI." He followed Don to the door, grabbing a light coat, "I'm coming with you."

Don turned back, "Charlie, no. We don't know what's going on. I'll call and give you an update when I find out what happened."

"If this has to do with our case, then I should be there to factor in any new data." Charlie argued. He hesitated slightly, looking down, "Besides, they're colleagues and Mac, well, we were becoming friends." He looked back up at his brother, "Don, please."

"Charlie," Don stared at his brother and then relented, "Fine, let's go." He turned to look at his father, "Sorry, Dad, it's probably going to be a late night."

Alan waved a hand, "Go. Just do me a favor and call if they're okay."

The ride to the hospital was mostly silent. Don had called David and sent him to the scene to get what information he could from the police. Now he was quietly reviewing where they were with the investigation. No matter how he looked at it, there didn't seem to be anything that would have triggered an attack on the JAG lawyers. Don shook his head in frustration. There really was no point in speculating, he simply didn't have enough information.

Charlie kept his eyes on the passing scenery. This seemed surreal. Could this shooting have anything to do with this morning? It didn't seem likely. Asim had barely acknowledged Mac's presence. Could Commander Rabb have been the target? If so, then it had something to do with the Petty Officer. But why go after the Commander? It didn't accomplish anything. Don had been there, too. He would know what Rabb knew. Charlie swallowed convulsively and shot a worried glance at his brother. Would these people go after Don next?

Twenty minutes later they arrived at the hospital. Don led the way to the receiving desk and pulled out his ID, "I'm looking for the victims of the drive-by shooting downtown. Are they here?"

"Yes sir," The receptionist nodded. It had been a fairly quiet evening until that group had been brought in, "Two of them are on their way to surgery. The other two are in Treatment Rooms 4 and 5. Sir! Wait! You can't go back there." Frustrated, he watched as the agent and his partner headed up the corridor. He wasn't about to get himself in trouble by calling security on the FBI. With a sigh, he sat back down. There must be more to this than just a random shooting if the Feds were involved. Maybe it was some sort of undercover operation. While the man who had spoken to him practically screamed 'Government Agent', the younger one was scruffy enough to have blended in anywhere.

Don walked briskly up the hallway, looking at the numbers above the doors. Reaching 4, he stopped and peered through the window. There was a young Hispanic man having stitches put into his leg. Glancing back at Charlie, he gave a slight shake of his head and moved to the next room. A quick look was all that was needed. Don opened the door and strode into the room, Charlie was right behind him. A middle-aged, slightly balding man turned towards the brothers with a scowl, "LAPD. This room is off-limits for now, gentlemen. You'll have to wait outside."

Don barely gave him a glance, flashing his ID, "FBI." He focused on the woman sitting on the exam table, "Mac? What happened?" He heard Charlie's soft intake of breath behind him. It was understandable, the Colonel was looking considerably worse for wear.

"Are you alright?" Charlie's query followed on the heels of Don's question.

The detective's frown grew deeper, "Look, unless drive-by shootings are now under Federal jurisdiction, you're going to have to wait until I've finished interviewing Ms. MacKenzie." The words were courteous enough but there was an edge running through it. Don kept his expression calm. The last thing he wanted was a pissing contest with the police and Mac certainly didn't need it.

"You mean Lt. Colonel MacKenzie," Charlie corrected the man, his tone flat. Don hid a wince. Charlie was normally pretty even-tempered but when he sounded like that, he was well on his way to being angry.

"It's alright, Charlie," Mac finally spoke. At this point, she didn't care what anybody called her so long as they finished quickly. She desperately needed to find out how Harm was doing. The only reason she was still in the exam room was the deal she'd made with one of the nurses. If she'd stay put, Nurse Kaskadarian would find out how Harm's surgery was progressing. She also promised to round up a change of clothes so Mac could get out of the bloodstained sun dress. That had been 9 minutes and 47 seconds ago. Mac was working on convincing herself that the delay had more to do with Kaskadarian having a job to do rather than any sort of complications involving Harm. She had decided to give the nurse a total of 15 minutes and then all bets were off. Unfortunately, Detective Cronin had walked in 93 seconds ago and blown her timetable right out of the water.

Unlike some of her experiences with other police detectives, Cronin had been neither rude nor accusatory. It was also obvious that he didn't expect much information from her. In truth, she didn't have much to give him. Harm had seen the car first and realized what was happening. Her first inkling had been the pavement coming up to meet her and the explosive sound of gunfire. Now Don and Charlie were here and Cronin was considerably more tense. Mac shifted the ice pack on her wrist and addressed the police officer, "If it's okay with you, Detective, I'd like them to stay. My partner, Commander Rabb, and I are attorneys with the Navy Judge Advocate General. We're coordinating an investigation with the FBI and Special Agent Eppes will need to know what happened."

Cronin's interest sharpened, "You think this had something to do with the case you were on?"

"No, I really don't see how," Mac shook her head and instantly regretted it. She didn't have a concussion but it was a helluva headache. She'd done her best to keep her forehead from colliding with the concrete but her wrist had buckled when Harm's weight landed on her, driving her left side into the pavement. She now sported a sprained wrist as well as abrasions and bruises on her head, shoulder and knee. Sun dresses weren't much protection against abrupt contact with pavement.

"Mac?"

Don left the rest of the question unvoiced but she knew what he was asking. Taking a deep breath to steady her voice, she stared at him with barely concealed anguish, "Harm was shot. I don't know how bad. No one will tell me anything except that he's in surgery."

"Let me see what I can find out. Charlie can stay here with you." Turning, he gave his brother a meaningful look along with a pat on the shoulder. Charlie nodded quickly and returned his attention to Mac and Detective Cronin. Don knew that everyone had just assumed his brother was also an agent. He was more than willing to take advantage of that fact. Charlie would be able to give him an accurate rundown of everything that was said in his absence and he would see if flashing the badge helped in prying loose information on Rabb. Hopefully, it would be good news. He didn't want to be the one to tell her if things didn't go well in surgery.

Thursday,

White Memorial Medical Center

Los Angeles, CA

2225 Local

Mac watched Don walk out and then turned back to Cronin, "What do you want to know?"

The detective shot a quick look at Charlie before focusing on Mac, "Why don't you run through what happened."

"Harm - Commander Rabb and I had finished dinner at the Jade Palace and were walking back to the hotel..."

"What time was this?" Cronin interrupted while scribbling notes.

"2106. 9:06," Mac switched over to civilian time. "We'd been walking for a couple of minutes when Harm looked back over his shoulder. I started to say something to him when he yelled 'Gun' and took us both down behind some parked cars. The shooting started at the same time. It lasted 23 seconds." She fell silent, reliving those awful moments when she realized Harm had been hit. The disbelief had almost overpowered the shock. This was a man who could dance between raindrops. He'd been in numerous situations that should have been fatal, probably would have been fatal for anyone else, and walked away with barely a scratch. It just wasn't fair. The sound of a throat clearing brought her out of her reverie.

Cronin was looking at her skeptically, "The shooting lasted 23 seconds?"

"Yes," Mac shifted the ice pack to her sore knee and hissed softly as the cold made contact with her skin.

"You're sure."

"Yes," Mac was beginning to become irritated. "The police arrived 2 minutes and 38 seconds later and the paramedics, 94 seconds after that."

"Making it what time?" Cronin eyed her in disbelief.

"9:12:34," Mac glared at the man, silently daring him to doubt her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Charlie frown and take half a step forward.

"Did you see the car at all?" Cronin backed off.

"No. Harm had me down on the ground before I could see anything." She paused, thinking, "It was an automatic weapon, probably a machine pistol."

Cronin raised an eyebrow, "I thought you said you didn't see anything."

"I have ears, Detective," Mac's patience was thinning.

"You could tell from the sound?" Cronin stared at her.

"I'm a Marine. I've been under fire before. It was a machine pistol. The sound was lighter than an automatic rifle and the shot pattern was all over the board. The idiot must have had it on full auto. I'm guessing he was hanging out the window or I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd shot up his own car." Mac shifted slightly and swallowed a groan. She was definitely getting stiffer. "Look, are we done? I don't have anything else to tell you that would help."

Cronin closed his notebook, "Yeah, we're done. Thanks." He paused and then continued awkwardly, "I hope your partner pulls through." He nodded to Mac and Charlie and walked out of the room.

Mac wasted no time gingerly sliding off the exam table. Charlie hurried forward, "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to find out about Harm," she grimaced as she took a careful step. Her knee wasn't happy when she flexed it.

"Mac, I don't think that's such a great idea. Why don't we wait for Don? He should be back any time now." Charlie hovered uncertainly, not quite sure how she would react if he touched her. "Are they keeping you overnight?"

"No, but I'm not leaving until I find out if Harm is going to be okay." She took another step. This one was a little easier. The door opened just then and Mac froze. Both Don and the nurse were standing there.

Marie Kaskadarian stepped forward with a scowl, "I thought we had a deal."

"How's Harm?" Mac asked at the same time.

"He's still in surgery." At Mac's look of exasperation, the nurse held up a hand, "I did talk to Dr. Mahari, our ER resident. Commander Rabb was hit in the upper left quadrant of the back, under the shoulder blade. It angled up, coming out just under the collarbone. He's a lucky man, it missed the vital organs and didn't break any bones."

Mac held herself very still, "So you're saying he's going to be okay?" When Kaskadarian nodded, the feeling of relief was so great that she actually staggered slightly. That jolted both of the Eppes men into action. Charlie was closer and got to her first, grabbing an arm to steady her.

Don reached her other side a second later, "Mac?"

"I'm fine," Mac only put up a token amount of resistance as the two men helped her back towards the exam table. Harm would live and she felt like crying. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she conjured up a slight smile for the brothers and turned her attention back to the nurse, "When will he be out of surgery?"

Kaskadarian smiled, "They were finishing up as I was leaving. He'll go to Recovery next and after that, they'll move him to a room. His surgeon, Dr. Gorosky, should be here soon to give you details. In the meantime," she held up a small bundle, "I've got some scrubs you can change into." She directed a meaningful look at Don and Charlie, "I trust you gentlemen will excuse us for a few minutes?"

Charlie backed off almost immediately but Don lingered, giving Mac a silent look. She returned a small nod, "It's okay, thank you."

Don inclined his head slightly, "All right, we'll be just outside. Call when you're ready." He walked out of the room, followed by Charlie. Taking up a position near the door, he leaned against the wall and looked at his brother, "What did I miss?"

Charlie shrugged, "Not much, Mac has no idea if they were the actual targets or not." He paused for a moment, "She did say they were using a machine pistol on full automatic." He looked at his brother, "It was kind of weird, she sounded angry instead of scared." Charlie didn't bother mentioning that he was pretty sure if it had been him, his reaction would have been unadulterated terror. Despite the education he was receiving from the cases he helped on, that sort of violence was worlds beyond his experience.

Don grunted thoughtfully, "She's professional military and despite what you might hear on TV, they're not big on collateral damage. Those machine pistols are nearly impossible to control on full auto which means these people didn't care how many people they hit while they went after their intended victim."

"The terrorist's weapon of choice. So you don't think this was just a random act of violence." Even as he said it, Charlie knew that wasn't the case. The few facts he had made it plain, this attack was deliberate.

Don just gave Charlie a look, aware that his brother knew he was grasping at straws. He leaned his head against the wall, "We'll have to wait and see what David finds out. There were other people there. It's possible one of them was the target and Mac and Harm were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." He straightened up at the sight of a man walking towards them in green surgical scrubs.

"Dr. Gorosky?" The surgeon nodded, giving them a curious look. Don held up a hand, "Just a sec, Doc." He tapped on the door and then opened it a crack, "Mac? Dr. Gorosky's here. You ready?" The vehement 'God, Yes!' made him smile a little. He turned back to the doctor, "Sorry, she was getting into some clean clothes. Go right in." Dr. Gorosky managed to look more amused than annoyed, making Don decide that this was one medical doctor he might like. A number of the doctors he'd met during his mother's illness had ticked him off with their smugly superior and coldly impersonal attitudes. He and Charlie followed the surgeon into the room.

Gorosky glanced over his shoulder and frowned at the two men, "Are you family?"

"It's all right, Doctor," Mac interrupted, "They can stay. How's Harm?"

The surgeon returned his attention to the attractive brunette, "He's in Recovery right now. The bullet exited just below the left clavicle, nicking it slightly. There was substantial muscle damage but fortunately, no bones were broken so there's no need for a cast. He'll have to keep his arm immobile while things heal but with therapy, I see no reason why he shouldn't regain full use of his shoulder." Gorosky couldn't help smiling at the happy relief on Ms. MacKenzie's face. This was the kind of news he enjoyed delivering. He held up a hand to forestall the inevitable question, "We'll keep Mr. Rabb in Recovery for about an hour and then move him to a room. You'll be able to see him then. Just realize that he's on pain meds and sedated, so he probably won't wake up until morning. You should consider getting some rest yourself." He waved off her thank you and walked out of the room.

Kaskadarian smiled at Mac, "He's on the third floor. There's a waiting room up there by the nurses' station. They'll be able to tell you when you can see him. And after you've seen him, you should really take the doctor's advice and go home and rest." Her tone turned dry, "That way you won't scare him by looking like death warmed over when he wakes up in the morning."

"Gee, thanks," Mac muttered as the nurse walked out of the exam room. She took a limping step forward and found herself bracketed by the Eppes brothers.

Charlie took tentative hold of her arm, firming his grip when she didn't object. Don had a hand under her other elbow, taking care not to jostle the sprained wrist. He'd also thought to grab the bag containing her belongings and had it tucked under an arm. He looked over at her, "It sounds like you've got some time before you can see Harm. Do you need to contact your boss and let him know what happened?"

Mac closed her eyes and grimaced, "Oh god, I need to call Harm's parents and Mattie, too."

Charlie and Don exchanged glances. "Mattie?" Don asked.

Mac shook her head slightly. Suddenly she was feeling very tired, "Mattie is Harm's 15-year-old ward. This is going to scare her silly."

"Maybe you should wait until morning so Harm can talk to her, too." Charlie offered, "That might reassure her."

Mac gave him a dry look, "Or make her go ballistic because I didn't tell her sooner. You have no idea how volatile a teenage girl can be."

Don swallowed a snort of amusement and Charlie shot him a jaundiced look, "And I suppose you're some sort of expert?"

"Hey, no man, not me", Don grinned, "But I thought you might be. I understand your classes at the beginning of each semester tend to have quite a number of young ladies."

Charlie's mouth opened and closed silently for a second before he began to sputter, "That's... I... You... "

"Boys," Mac rolled her eyes, doing a creditable imitation of a long-suffering parent. "I need to find a phone." Her cellphone was currently MIA, having come loose from her purse when she hit the ground. Hopefully, the Crime Scene Unit had it and she could get it back. She'd check with Don later when things had calmed down and see if he could find out.

"There was a bank of them over by the ER admitting desk," Don nodded his head in that direction. It was a habit by now to scan any location he was in for pertinent information. He remembered seeing the logo on the wall of the hallway to the right of the admitting desk. They walked down that way and Don eased his grip on her as it became apparent she was moving more easily. When they reached the phones, he was happy to note they were lower to the floor and had chairs. That would make it easier on Mac who truly did look worn out. Don could sympathize. He'd had a team member shot early in his career and even though it hadn't been serious, the stress he'd felt over it had been exhausting.

Once she was settled in a chair, the brothers pulled back to give her some privacy. Charlie was still frowning slightly and Don eyed him carefully, "You okay?"

"Hmm, what? Oh, sure," Charlie glanced over at Mac, "Do you think I could get a look at the police forensic report? Maybe I'll be able to tell who the target was."

Don shrugged, "I'm sure I can get it but it's probably a waste of your time. That's part of what the Crime Scene Unit does. Once they've tracked the trajectories, they should be able to make a fairly accurate guess at who was being shot at."

Charlie looked dubious, "Mac said that the weapon was on full automatic and the car was moving. The shell casings won't be anywhere near where they were ejected and the slugs would have had to pass through at least two surfaces to give them a trajectory from the impact point."

"Are you saying you can do some math thing and figure out the trajectories?" Don frowned thoughtfully at his brother.

"No, I don't think anyone's going to be able to do that. There are too many variables. I was thinking more along the lines of where all the shots landed. Assuming that they really did have one target they were focusing on, I can sift out the random hits and come up with a location." Charlie broke off when Don held up a hand, his attention moving towards the phone bank. The younger Eppes turned to see Mac making her way slowly towards them.

Don greeted her with a slight lift of his chin, "Did you get hold of everybody?"

Mac shook her head, "I decided to wait on Mattie. It's 0208 on the East coast. If I wake her up and tell her now, the poor kid will never get back to sleep." She paused and rubbed her forehead gingerly, between the headache and the bruising, it was hard to decide which felt worse. "General Cresswell is letting me stay with the investigation but he wants to talk to you in the morning. Harm's parents will be here in the morning, too. They live just outside of San Diego." She looked from Don to Charlie, "I'm going to go wait for them to let me see Harm. I wanted to thank you both for coming down here. You should head home, it's late."

"You're not thinking of staying here, are you?" Charlie spoke up, his concern evident.

"I can call a cab to take me back to the hotel," Mac shrugged a shoulder. She hadn't really thought about what she'd do after seeing Harm. Nurse Kaskadarian had made it fairly plain that they wouldn't let her camp out in Harm's room. Maybe she'd just settle in one of the waiting rooms.

Charlie shot a quick look at Don and then looked back at the Marine Colonel, "Why don't you come home with us? It's not that much farther and the house has plenty of room."

"Charlie," Don hesitated at the questioning look he got from his brother. Dammit, what was he supposed to say? He didn't want the JAG officer anywhere near his family. What if she and Harm had been the targets?

Mac was carefully shaking her head, "Thanks but I wouldn't want to impose. Besides, all my clothes and things are at the hotel."

Don's quiet sigh of relief was cut short by Charlie's next words, "That's not a problem, we could swing by your hotel first." He looked over at his brother, still slightly puzzled by his earlier reaction. "Couldn't we?"

"Charlie, if it's going to make Mac uncomfortable..."

"More uncomfortable than going back to a cold, empty hotel room?" Charlie's eyebrows rose and he turned to the Marine Colonel, "Mac, please. It's not an imposition. It would make me feel better knowing you weren't alone. You've been through a lot tonight."

Mac hesitated. In truth, she hadn't looked forward to returning to the hotel. "Are you sure?"

"Of course, I'm sure," Charlie smiled, relieved she wasn't going to be stubborn about it. He couldn't help but admire the way she was handling everything. Mac still seemed somewhat undecided, so Charlie plowed determinedly forward, "Tell you what, let's go up to the waiting room so you can find out when you can see Harm. Once you're settled, Don and I can run to your hotel, get your things and come back here. That way, when you're ready, we can head straight home. Sound like a plan?"

"Okay, thank you." Mac gave up and smiled at the young man. It was becoming apparent that it wasn't just his dark, good looks that attracted the female students. She accepted the arm he gallantly offered and they began their trek to the third floor waiting room. Don excused himself, saying he would catch up later. He needed to touch base with David and find out what was going on.

Twenty minutes later, Mac found herself in Harm's darkened room. The nurse had told her she could have ten minutes but then she'd have to leave. Charlie and Don had left twelve minutes ago. The hospital wasn't that far from the hotel, she figured it would take them about 30 minutes all told. Maybe she could wheedle an extra ten minutes out of the nurse. Once they kicked her out, she didn't know if she could stand being so close to Harm without actually being able to see or touch him. Carefully, she slid a chair over to his bedside, trying to be as quiet as possible. Her left hand was pretty much useless because of her wrist.

She brushed her fingers lightly over his forehead. If it weren't for the bandages encompassing his upper torso, he could have just been deeply asleep. Thank God the wound hadn't been more serious. Sliding her hand down, she clasped his and settled in the chair. "You scared the hell out of me, you know that? You were lucky, the doctor said." She paused for a few seconds, staring at their hands, "Honest to God, Harm, don't you ever do this to me again. When I saw all that blood," Mac stopped for a moment to compose herself, "You're going to be fine. They said you'll make a full recovery. I called your Mom and Frank. They'll be here in morning. I haven't told Mattie yet. It's 0242 on the East Coast and I couldn't bring myself to scare her like that with a phone call. I'll call Jen in the morning and let her know and then, when you're awake, we can both tell Mattie." She smiled a little, "Don't think I'm going to protect you when she starts in. Maybe next time, you'll be better at ducking, and before you say anything about 'taking cover', forget it, that's strictly a Marine thing."

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