Title: Sleight of Hand
Author: Incatnito
PG-13
Action/Adventure
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.
---------
Baylor Women's Shelter
Washington, DC
0640 Local
Emma Fine glanced up at the wall clock, twenty more minutes and she could unlock the front doors. They used to be open all the time but as the neighborhood grew worse, the higher powers had decreed that the doors should be locked from midnight to seven for safety reasons. (This was the solution to the high cost of a security system.) Admittance was gained by ringing the doorbell. Emma thought the policy was another proof of bureaucratic stupidity run amuck. The criminal types would have no problem breaking down the doors; locking them merely exposed women who had already been victimized to greater risk.
Emma returned her attention to the papers in front of her. Most of her colleagues hated the midnight to nine shift, she thought of it as the time to do the most good. A large percentage of women seeking shelter screwed up their courage in the wee hours of the morning. Emma liked being there for them. She was a large, amply padded woman on the 'comfortable' side of fifty. She had a nurturing nature and a formidable temper. Emma had successfully raised three sons, no small feat in today's world. One was a DC policeman, another a civil engineer and the youngest was deployed in the Indian Ocean. Although a kind and generous woman, she did not suffer fools or bullies. Her sons joked that the phrase 'If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.' was coined just for her. All this made her the ideal person for dealing with traumatized women and bureaucratic insanity.
She looked up when the doorbell rang and quickly made her way to the entrance. A slender brunette was leaning against the doorjamb. Quickly, she unlocked the door, "Come in honey." The poor thing looked to be at the end of her rope. Her pale face provided vivid contrast to the bruises, Emma could see stitches peeking out from under her hair near the scalpline. Well, at least she'd had some medical care. Placing a hand carefully on the woman's back (some women were extremely gunshy about any physical contact, Emma played it by ear), she ushered her to a chair in the office. "My name is Emma. What shall I call you? Sit down child, before you fall down."
Surprisingly, the woman stopped and leaned against the side of the chair. She smiled wanly at Emma, "Call me Sarah and I'm afraid if I sit down, I'm not going to be able to get up."
Emma returned the smile, "Sarah, you don't look like you weigh more than a wet cat. If I have to, I'll just carry you and the chair to your room." She watched Sarah lower herself gingerly into the chair, noting that she kept her left arm tucked against her side. That could indicate either her arm or her side was injured or both, Emma would keep that in mind when she needed to move her.
Once Sarah was settled as comfortably as she could manage, she looked at Emma with a bemused expression. "My room? Just like that? No interview? Isn't there paperwork that needs to filled out?"
Emma laughed, "Honey, this is Washington. They built in a swamp because they knew the paperwork would keep 'em dry." She turned serious, "This is a shelter for abused and battered women - a safe haven while they recover and put their lives back together. We draw the line at ax murderers, but other than that, you're welcome here. We'll do the bare bones right now: We can just go with 'Sarah' for the name - we'll assign a case number to keep track of you in our records. You're not wanted by any law enforcement agency, are you?" Sarah shook her head. "Addicted to any drugs?"
Sarah was silent for a moment and then said, "I'm a recovering alcoholic. My last drink was three and a half years ago."
Emma made a note and continued on, apparently unfazed, "Anyone you would like us to contact?" Sarah hesitated and then shook her head again. "Okay, let's get you to bed. We have an RN who comes in the afternoon, you can see her then. I work from midnight to nine, so if you'd like, we can talk tomorrow."
With Emma's help, Sarah got up and together, they walked slowly down a hallway. Three-quarters of the way down, Emma opened a door on the right, she could feel Sarah shaking, "Almost there, honey." A wallswitch turned on the overhead light. It revealed a small, sparsely furnished room with a tiny bath attached. "It's not much, but it's one of the few single rooms and you don't have to share a bath." Emma eased Sarah onto a chair next to the bed. "Hold on for just a second." She disappeared into the hallway. Sarah held herself upright, slouching caused too much pain. She was exhausted.
Emma came back into the room with her arms full. "Okay, Sarah. I've got linens, towels, toiletries and some clothing for you. I guessed at the size, usually I'm not far off. Stay put while I change the sheets." In a short time, the bed was ready, Emma pulled out some pajamas and looked at Sarah, "Now it's your turn." Ten minutes later, Sarah was asleep. Emma turned out the light and quietly closed the door. She leaned against it for a moment in thought. Whoever or whatever Sarah was running from was serious. The hospital dressings on her arm and side attested to that. They needed to talk. The RN usually arrived at 1:00, she'd just be in the neighborhood and drop back in. Every now and then, she took someone under her wing - this time it would be Sarah. Emma looked at her watch 'damn!' and hurried back to unlock the front doors.
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church
0810 Local
They hadn't talked much on the drive back. AJ drove, right now it was the safest thing to do. He knew Rabb would eventually realize that this was their best chance of locating Mac. If they knew what she was running from, maybe they could guess where to look. At this point, AJ was fairly certain Mac had left on her own. He wouldn't have believed she could make it out of her room, much less the hospital. Hopefully, whoever was after her hadn't expected it either. AJ tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, he wished he had some of idea of what Mac's plan was. He knew she had one. It was Rabb who was the impulsive one.
After arriving at JAG, AJ and Harm moved all Mac's current case files to the conference room. Bud and Harriet were on their way in, Sturgis said he would be in by 0900 and Webb... well, they had left a message. Harm had dug around in storage and found a large dry-erase easel. After setting it up, he and AJ were constructing a timeline, noting the facts they were sure of, it wasn't much.
Hearing a knock, they turned to see Gunny Walters in the doorway. "Gunny?" AJ said.
"Yes sir. I heard that you're trying to figure what happened to the Colonel. I'd like to help - if I may, sir." The Gunny was almost at attention.
"I see," AJ glanced at Harm, "Since Commander Rabb and I only came to this decision an hour ago, might I ask how you found out?"
Walters looked distinctly uncomfortable.
"Gunny?"
"Aye sir. I told my people to keep me informed of anything out of the ordinary. You and Commander Rabb being here this early on a Sunday without having the duty was unusual. I figured it had to do with the security breach." The Gunny paused, "And I stopped by the hospital at 0730. When I saw the Colonel's room empty, I went to see the security chief."
AJ looked at him in alarm, "Gunny, I'm not going to have defend you on assault charges, am I?"
"No sir!" Gunny Walters looked indignant. "I... 'counseled'... the chief on security methods." He waited a beat, and added smugly, "You may get a cleaning bill, though."
A small strangled sound made them both turn. Harm had his back to them, his shoulders shaking. AJ looked back at the Gunny, trying desperately to maintain a serious demeanor, "All right, Gunny. Welcome aboard, why don't you bring up the logs for this last week?" he said briskly. "Umm, close the hatch on your way out, please."
AJ stood silently until the door closed, then sat down and looked at Harm. They both burst out laughing, AJ wiped his eyes, "And I thought you were the loose cannon. I almost feel sorry for that imbecile. 'Counseled'... dear god." He chuckled again.
They stopped when there was a knock on the door. Harm looked at AJ, "He couldn't have made it back that quickly."
AJ shrugged and called, "Enter."
Bud, Harriet and little AJ stood in the doorway. "Good morning, Admiral, Commander. We couldn't find a sitter on such short notice, I hope you don't mind. Has there been any word on the Colonel?" Bud got it all out in one breath.
"Not a problem, Lieutenant. I appreciate the two of you giving up your weekend for this. And so far, no." AJ said and then continued, "The Commander and I are putting together a timeline with known facts; hopefully, it will show us a pattern and maybe we can figure out what's going on."
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church
1018 Local
AJ looked around the table. "Is that everything we know so far?"
He focused on Harriet, who had put a hand up. She asked, "How are we going to know if we've found anything, when we don't know exactly what it is we're looking for?"
"Coincidences and anomalies." said Sturgis. Everyone looked at him.
AJ said, "Excuse me?"
"Something I learned during my first post as a JAG." Sturgis explained, "There was this retired FBI agent they had on contract to help with the investigations. He taught me a lot. He always said, 'When you don't know what you're looking for, look for the coincidences and anomalies. They'll point you in the right direction."
Harm was standing at the easel, he had been writing the facts as they knew them. He took over the discussion, "Okay, I think we should use the security breach as our starting point. According to the Gunny, Mac arrived at 2147 and went up to her office with Rodreguiz. She said she'd forgotten a file. We're assuming the intruders arrived with the regular maintenance crew at 2100. The one dressed as a Marine probably had his uniform on under the coveralls." He paused, "Yes Gunny?"
"I talked to the Marines at the gate and the one who admitted the maintenance crew that night. A second van arrived at the gate about 30 seconds after the first one passed through and those two came into the building about 45 seconds after the actual crew. They were out of breath and grousing about 'the guys' not waiting for them. They had the proper ID."
AJ jumped in, "That was good timing, close enough to seem like part of the regular crew but far enough behind that the original crew didn't actually see them."
Sturgis said, "Doesn't that show that this has something to do with an older investigation? It had to be planned in advance. What was in Mac's caseload prior to this week?"
Bud shuffled through the file folders, "Ummm, Fighting, Willful Disobedience and Theft of Govt. Property were the major ones."
"Theft of Govt. Property? Military arms?" Sturgis asked.
"Uh, no. Shrubbery." Bud glanced up and saw several raised eyebrows around the table. "An enterprising corporal on ground maintenance duty decided to start a landscaping business on the side. He was pretty careful but he made the mistake of pilfering some hybrid rose bushes that a Colonel's wife had ordered. She didn't buy his 'lost in transit' story, her husband got involved and..."
"He's history." Harm finished. Getting back to the original topic, he said, "No, I think this happened suddenly. I mean it looks planned but the execution was sloppy, like they were adapting as they went."
"I don't know, Harm." Sturgis argued. "They had to have a company van and uniforms from the maintenance firm that's contracted here. You just don't pick that up on a moment's notice. This had to be planned in advance."
"Not necessarily, sir," Bud said, "You could have had the research done earlier, like having a contingency plan on file. What if whoever did this has scenarios like this planned for a lot of different areas? They'd just have to pull the 'JAG Opplan' when they needed it. This is the kind of thing you'd expect from the..."
"CIA." Clayton Webb said from the doorway. "This wasn't us. Mac's missing?"
"Yeah, something or someone spooked her and she ran." Harm said in a frustrated tone, "Where have you been? Afghanistan?" Webb looked tired.
"Among other places. Any ideas on what the hell happened? I got a brief overview from one of my people, but not a lot of details." Webb pulled out a chair and sat down with a sigh. Little AJ looked up from his drawing and smiled. Clayton returned it and then looked over when the Admiral cleared his throat somewhat ominously.
"One of your people is keeping an eye on JAG, Webb?"
"I have people keeping an eye on everything that goes on in Washington," Webb stated smugly.
"Great," said Harm. "Find Mac."
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Clay asked.
"What the hell kind of question is that?" Harm snapped. "She should still be the hospital. We don't know what made her leave and the man that tried to kill her is running around loose. Of course, we need to find her."
"Harm, she ran for a reason." Clay replied mildly, "I know her history. If anyone can successfully drop out of sight, it's Mac. Besides, think about it. Would she run to protect herself or the people she cared about?"
That shut Harm up, as Clay knew it would. He turned to the Admiral, "There's a bigger problem brewing, Peterson."
"The NIS inspector Harm threw out of Mac's room yesterday?" AJ said. "I've got a call in to Admiral Jacobs, I'm sure we'll be able to work things out."
"I hadn't heard about that." Clay smiled at Harm, who looked embarrassed. "No, I'm talking about the fact that Peterson and the NIS just issued an indictment of espionage against the late Daniel Lattimer. And they've issued a warrant for Lt. Col. Sarah MacKenzie. Right now, they want her as a material witness. I heard Peterson tried to serve Mac this morning, he should be here shortly." Webb paused and looked around the room at everyone, "The scuttlebutt is that Peterson wants to charge Mac with espionage and treason. His argument is that she recruited the young and naive Mr. Lattimer and that she is and has been a card-carrying member of Al-Qaeda." Clay silently waited out the expected explosions of indignation and then raised his hand, "As far as he's concerned, Mac taking off was the final nail in the coffin."
"That's the most ludicrous load... " AJ glanced at little AJ, "... of horse manure I've ever heard. I can't believe Charlie Jacobs is even thinking of going along with this idiot."
"I found that interesting myself. Peterson has a reputation in the intelligence community as a nightlight in a halogen world. He's also arrogant, petty and vindictive." Webb commented.
"Lattimer's the client who committed suicide in his cell, that's what Peterson told the Colonel when she reacted so violently." Harriet said. "She was defending him on espionage charges?"
"Actually, no." Bud answered, "He was charged with drug possession with intent to distribute."
"Sir?" Sturgis looked at the Admiral, "I know you like to spread the cases around, but wouldn't a drug possession case have been normally handled by Lt. Roberts or Lt. Singer?"
"Ordinarily, yes, but Petty Officer Lattimer specifically asked for the Colonel and because he was Admiral Jacobs' yeoman, I granted the request as a favor to Charlie." The Admiral frowned, "That could be twisted to fit Peterson's scenario... Dammit! If Mac's a spy, then I'm Napoleon Bonaparte!" He glared at Bud who had snorted on his last comment, "Something amusing, Lieutenant?"
Bud looked up wide-eyed, "Oh no, sir." He paused and then said, "I was just remembering that the Colonel has the biography of Napoleon. It had struck me as odd at the time and then you mentioned being Napoleon and..." He thought about what he had just said and hastened to explain, "I mean, I don't think it was odd Col. MacKenzie would read a book about Napoleon, it's just that most of her books are about dinosaurs and fossils, the Marine Corps, Cherokee Indians... " Bud slowly ran down while everyone looked at him.
"Thank you, Lieutenant." AJ said with one eyebrow raised.
He was about to say more when the intercom interrupted him. "Admiral, there's an Inspector Peterson from NIS here. He's insisting that he speak with you."
AJ stood up and swept his gaze across the group, finally resting on Clayton Webb. "Here it comes."
As he left the room, Sturgis murmured thoughtfully to himself, "Coincidences and anomalies..."
Author: Incatnito
PG-13
Action/Adventure
Summary: A simple case is not what it seems.
My first time out of the blocks as a writer. It's been fun!
Disclaimers: Taking them out to play, promise to put them back. All characters of JAG belong to Donald Bellasarius and Bellasarius Productions; no copyright infringement intended.
---------
Baylor Women's Shelter
Washington, DC
0640 Local
Emma Fine glanced up at the wall clock, twenty more minutes and she could unlock the front doors. They used to be open all the time but as the neighborhood grew worse, the higher powers had decreed that the doors should be locked from midnight to seven for safety reasons. (This was the solution to the high cost of a security system.) Admittance was gained by ringing the doorbell. Emma thought the policy was another proof of bureaucratic stupidity run amuck. The criminal types would have no problem breaking down the doors; locking them merely exposed women who had already been victimized to greater risk.
Emma returned her attention to the papers in front of her. Most of her colleagues hated the midnight to nine shift, she thought of it as the time to do the most good. A large percentage of women seeking shelter screwed up their courage in the wee hours of the morning. Emma liked being there for them. She was a large, amply padded woman on the 'comfortable' side of fifty. She had a nurturing nature and a formidable temper. Emma had successfully raised three sons, no small feat in today's world. One was a DC policeman, another a civil engineer and the youngest was deployed in the Indian Ocean. Although a kind and generous woman, she did not suffer fools or bullies. Her sons joked that the phrase 'If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.' was coined just for her. All this made her the ideal person for dealing with traumatized women and bureaucratic insanity.
She looked up when the doorbell rang and quickly made her way to the entrance. A slender brunette was leaning against the doorjamb. Quickly, she unlocked the door, "Come in honey." The poor thing looked to be at the end of her rope. Her pale face provided vivid contrast to the bruises, Emma could see stitches peeking out from under her hair near the scalpline. Well, at least she'd had some medical care. Placing a hand carefully on the woman's back (some women were extremely gunshy about any physical contact, Emma played it by ear), she ushered her to a chair in the office. "My name is Emma. What shall I call you? Sit down child, before you fall down."
Surprisingly, the woman stopped and leaned against the side of the chair. She smiled wanly at Emma, "Call me Sarah and I'm afraid if I sit down, I'm not going to be able to get up."
Emma returned the smile, "Sarah, you don't look like you weigh more than a wet cat. If I have to, I'll just carry you and the chair to your room." She watched Sarah lower herself gingerly into the chair, noting that she kept her left arm tucked against her side. That could indicate either her arm or her side was injured or both, Emma would keep that in mind when she needed to move her.
Once Sarah was settled as comfortably as she could manage, she looked at Emma with a bemused expression. "My room? Just like that? No interview? Isn't there paperwork that needs to filled out?"
Emma laughed, "Honey, this is Washington. They built in a swamp because they knew the paperwork would keep 'em dry." She turned serious, "This is a shelter for abused and battered women - a safe haven while they recover and put their lives back together. We draw the line at ax murderers, but other than that, you're welcome here. We'll do the bare bones right now: We can just go with 'Sarah' for the name - we'll assign a case number to keep track of you in our records. You're not wanted by any law enforcement agency, are you?" Sarah shook her head. "Addicted to any drugs?"
Sarah was silent for a moment and then said, "I'm a recovering alcoholic. My last drink was three and a half years ago."
Emma made a note and continued on, apparently unfazed, "Anyone you would like us to contact?" Sarah hesitated and then shook her head again. "Okay, let's get you to bed. We have an RN who comes in the afternoon, you can see her then. I work from midnight to nine, so if you'd like, we can talk tomorrow."
With Emma's help, Sarah got up and together, they walked slowly down a hallway. Three-quarters of the way down, Emma opened a door on the right, she could feel Sarah shaking, "Almost there, honey." A wallswitch turned on the overhead light. It revealed a small, sparsely furnished room with a tiny bath attached. "It's not much, but it's one of the few single rooms and you don't have to share a bath." Emma eased Sarah onto a chair next to the bed. "Hold on for just a second." She disappeared into the hallway. Sarah held herself upright, slouching caused too much pain. She was exhausted.
Emma came back into the room with her arms full. "Okay, Sarah. I've got linens, towels, toiletries and some clothing for you. I guessed at the size, usually I'm not far off. Stay put while I change the sheets." In a short time, the bed was ready, Emma pulled out some pajamas and looked at Sarah, "Now it's your turn." Ten minutes later, Sarah was asleep. Emma turned out the light and quietly closed the door. She leaned against it for a moment in thought. Whoever or whatever Sarah was running from was serious. The hospital dressings on her arm and side attested to that. They needed to talk. The RN usually arrived at 1:00, she'd just be in the neighborhood and drop back in. Every now and then, she took someone under her wing - this time it would be Sarah. Emma looked at her watch 'damn!' and hurried back to unlock the front doors.
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church
0810 Local
They hadn't talked much on the drive back. AJ drove, right now it was the safest thing to do. He knew Rabb would eventually realize that this was their best chance of locating Mac. If they knew what she was running from, maybe they could guess where to look. At this point, AJ was fairly certain Mac had left on her own. He wouldn't have believed she could make it out of her room, much less the hospital. Hopefully, whoever was after her hadn't expected it either. AJ tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, he wished he had some of idea of what Mac's plan was. He knew she had one. It was Rabb who was the impulsive one.
After arriving at JAG, AJ and Harm moved all Mac's current case files to the conference room. Bud and Harriet were on their way in, Sturgis said he would be in by 0900 and Webb... well, they had left a message. Harm had dug around in storage and found a large dry-erase easel. After setting it up, he and AJ were constructing a timeline, noting the facts they were sure of, it wasn't much.
Hearing a knock, they turned to see Gunny Walters in the doorway. "Gunny?" AJ said.
"Yes sir. I heard that you're trying to figure what happened to the Colonel. I'd like to help - if I may, sir." The Gunny was almost at attention.
"I see," AJ glanced at Harm, "Since Commander Rabb and I only came to this decision an hour ago, might I ask how you found out?"
Walters looked distinctly uncomfortable.
"Gunny?"
"Aye sir. I told my people to keep me informed of anything out of the ordinary. You and Commander Rabb being here this early on a Sunday without having the duty was unusual. I figured it had to do with the security breach." The Gunny paused, "And I stopped by the hospital at 0730. When I saw the Colonel's room empty, I went to see the security chief."
AJ looked at him in alarm, "Gunny, I'm not going to have defend you on assault charges, am I?"
"No sir!" Gunny Walters looked indignant. "I... 'counseled'... the chief on security methods." He waited a beat, and added smugly, "You may get a cleaning bill, though."
A small strangled sound made them both turn. Harm had his back to them, his shoulders shaking. AJ looked back at the Gunny, trying desperately to maintain a serious demeanor, "All right, Gunny. Welcome aboard, why don't you bring up the logs for this last week?" he said briskly. "Umm, close the hatch on your way out, please."
AJ stood silently until the door closed, then sat down and looked at Harm. They both burst out laughing, AJ wiped his eyes, "And I thought you were the loose cannon. I almost feel sorry for that imbecile. 'Counseled'... dear god." He chuckled again.
They stopped when there was a knock on the door. Harm looked at AJ, "He couldn't have made it back that quickly."
AJ shrugged and called, "Enter."
Bud, Harriet and little AJ stood in the doorway. "Good morning, Admiral, Commander. We couldn't find a sitter on such short notice, I hope you don't mind. Has there been any word on the Colonel?" Bud got it all out in one breath.
"Not a problem, Lieutenant. I appreciate the two of you giving up your weekend for this. And so far, no." AJ said and then continued, "The Commander and I are putting together a timeline with known facts; hopefully, it will show us a pattern and maybe we can figure out what's going on."
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church
1018 Local
AJ looked around the table. "Is that everything we know so far?"
He focused on Harriet, who had put a hand up. She asked, "How are we going to know if we've found anything, when we don't know exactly what it is we're looking for?"
"Coincidences and anomalies." said Sturgis. Everyone looked at him.
AJ said, "Excuse me?"
"Something I learned during my first post as a JAG." Sturgis explained, "There was this retired FBI agent they had on contract to help with the investigations. He taught me a lot. He always said, 'When you don't know what you're looking for, look for the coincidences and anomalies. They'll point you in the right direction."
Harm was standing at the easel, he had been writing the facts as they knew them. He took over the discussion, "Okay, I think we should use the security breach as our starting point. According to the Gunny, Mac arrived at 2147 and went up to her office with Rodreguiz. She said she'd forgotten a file. We're assuming the intruders arrived with the regular maintenance crew at 2100. The one dressed as a Marine probably had his uniform on under the coveralls." He paused, "Yes Gunny?"
"I talked to the Marines at the gate and the one who admitted the maintenance crew that night. A second van arrived at the gate about 30 seconds after the first one passed through and those two came into the building about 45 seconds after the actual crew. They were out of breath and grousing about 'the guys' not waiting for them. They had the proper ID."
AJ jumped in, "That was good timing, close enough to seem like part of the regular crew but far enough behind that the original crew didn't actually see them."
Sturgis said, "Doesn't that show that this has something to do with an older investigation? It had to be planned in advance. What was in Mac's caseload prior to this week?"
Bud shuffled through the file folders, "Ummm, Fighting, Willful Disobedience and Theft of Govt. Property were the major ones."
"Theft of Govt. Property? Military arms?" Sturgis asked.
"Uh, no. Shrubbery." Bud glanced up and saw several raised eyebrows around the table. "An enterprising corporal on ground maintenance duty decided to start a landscaping business on the side. He was pretty careful but he made the mistake of pilfering some hybrid rose bushes that a Colonel's wife had ordered. She didn't buy his 'lost in transit' story, her husband got involved and..."
"He's history." Harm finished. Getting back to the original topic, he said, "No, I think this happened suddenly. I mean it looks planned but the execution was sloppy, like they were adapting as they went."
"I don't know, Harm." Sturgis argued. "They had to have a company van and uniforms from the maintenance firm that's contracted here. You just don't pick that up on a moment's notice. This had to be planned in advance."
"Not necessarily, sir," Bud said, "You could have had the research done earlier, like having a contingency plan on file. What if whoever did this has scenarios like this planned for a lot of different areas? They'd just have to pull the 'JAG Opplan' when they needed it. This is the kind of thing you'd expect from the..."
"CIA." Clayton Webb said from the doorway. "This wasn't us. Mac's missing?"
"Yeah, something or someone spooked her and she ran." Harm said in a frustrated tone, "Where have you been? Afghanistan?" Webb looked tired.
"Among other places. Any ideas on what the hell happened? I got a brief overview from one of my people, but not a lot of details." Webb pulled out a chair and sat down with a sigh. Little AJ looked up from his drawing and smiled. Clayton returned it and then looked over when the Admiral cleared his throat somewhat ominously.
"One of your people is keeping an eye on JAG, Webb?"
"I have people keeping an eye on everything that goes on in Washington," Webb stated smugly.
"Great," said Harm. "Find Mac."
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Clay asked.
"What the hell kind of question is that?" Harm snapped. "She should still be the hospital. We don't know what made her leave and the man that tried to kill her is running around loose. Of course, we need to find her."
"Harm, she ran for a reason." Clay replied mildly, "I know her history. If anyone can successfully drop out of sight, it's Mac. Besides, think about it. Would she run to protect herself or the people she cared about?"
That shut Harm up, as Clay knew it would. He turned to the Admiral, "There's a bigger problem brewing, Peterson."
"The NIS inspector Harm threw out of Mac's room yesterday?" AJ said. "I've got a call in to Admiral Jacobs, I'm sure we'll be able to work things out."
"I hadn't heard about that." Clay smiled at Harm, who looked embarrassed. "No, I'm talking about the fact that Peterson and the NIS just issued an indictment of espionage against the late Daniel Lattimer. And they've issued a warrant for Lt. Col. Sarah MacKenzie. Right now, they want her as a material witness. I heard Peterson tried to serve Mac this morning, he should be here shortly." Webb paused and looked around the room at everyone, "The scuttlebutt is that Peterson wants to charge Mac with espionage and treason. His argument is that she recruited the young and naive Mr. Lattimer and that she is and has been a card-carrying member of Al-Qaeda." Clay silently waited out the expected explosions of indignation and then raised his hand, "As far as he's concerned, Mac taking off was the final nail in the coffin."
"That's the most ludicrous load... " AJ glanced at little AJ, "... of horse manure I've ever heard. I can't believe Charlie Jacobs is even thinking of going along with this idiot."
"I found that interesting myself. Peterson has a reputation in the intelligence community as a nightlight in a halogen world. He's also arrogant, petty and vindictive." Webb commented.
"Lattimer's the client who committed suicide in his cell, that's what Peterson told the Colonel when she reacted so violently." Harriet said. "She was defending him on espionage charges?"
"Actually, no." Bud answered, "He was charged with drug possession with intent to distribute."
"Sir?" Sturgis looked at the Admiral, "I know you like to spread the cases around, but wouldn't a drug possession case have been normally handled by Lt. Roberts or Lt. Singer?"
"Ordinarily, yes, but Petty Officer Lattimer specifically asked for the Colonel and because he was Admiral Jacobs' yeoman, I granted the request as a favor to Charlie." The Admiral frowned, "That could be twisted to fit Peterson's scenario... Dammit! If Mac's a spy, then I'm Napoleon Bonaparte!" He glared at Bud who had snorted on his last comment, "Something amusing, Lieutenant?"
Bud looked up wide-eyed, "Oh no, sir." He paused and then said, "I was just remembering that the Colonel has the biography of Napoleon. It had struck me as odd at the time and then you mentioned being Napoleon and..." He thought about what he had just said and hastened to explain, "I mean, I don't think it was odd Col. MacKenzie would read a book about Napoleon, it's just that most of her books are about dinosaurs and fossils, the Marine Corps, Cherokee Indians... " Bud slowly ran down while everyone looked at him.
"Thank you, Lieutenant." AJ said with one eyebrow raised.
He was about to say more when the intercom interrupted him. "Admiral, there's an Inspector Peterson from NIS here. He's insisting that he speak with you."
AJ stood up and swept his gaze across the group, finally resting on Clayton Webb. "Here it comes."
As he left the room, Sturgis murmured thoughtfully to himself, "Coincidences and anomalies..."
