"You
want to talk about him?" Harm asked as they strolled aimlessly
down the boardwalk. She shrugged. "What is there to
say?" "I don't know Mac. You knew him better than
anyone else did." She stopped and turned to look out over
the ocean. "No, I didn't really," she sighed, and
stood silently for a moment. "He was the most thoughtful man I
have ever known." He nodded and waited for her to
continue. When she didn't say anything more he asked, "Who were
you talking to up there?" "Mic's mother." "How
is she doing?" "She's holding up." "You
two seemed to know each other pretty well." She gave a
short laugh. "That's the first time I've seen her in person. I
was surprised she even recognized me. My heart goes out to her.
She's gone through so much in her life." Mac smiled, "She's
a very wise woman." "Oh really, what did she tell
you?" She turned to him, and placed her hands lightly on
his chest. "To be happy," she replied. His mouth
turned up in a warm smile, and he kissed her gently on the
forehead. She leaned into his chest for a moment before taking
his hand, and leading him once again down the boardwalk. They
walked in silence for a while, until her mind drifted back to the
case. "Do you think she set it up?" She asked. "Yes
I do." "Me too," she replied. "Do we have
anything to back up our assumptions?" Harm shook his
head, "Nothing but her shoe in Rayburn's hotel room." He
sighed, "Which is also based on the assumptions that one, no one
else has shoes like that. And two, Rayburn was actually involved in
the murder at all." Mac frowned, "We don't have
any hard evidence on either of them do we." "No we
don't, but I would bet my last nickel that both of them are in on
it." She stopped walking and turned to him, "I
agree. Ok, so how do we prove our theory?" "I don't
know. Have you thought of a motive?" "Only one for
both of them. They're having an affair, and they wanted Mic out of
the way." "Yeah, but why not just leave him? Why
have him killed just because she found another guy?" "Who
knows with a woman like that." Mac's nostrils flared momentarily
in disgust. "I know, it's not much of a motive. We have yet to
establish a connection between the two. We need some strong evidence.
Something stronger than a sandal under his bed." "I
know. I'll try to get some background information on her. Where she
works, where she…" Harm stopped suddenly and she gasped as he
pulled her roughly to him, and began to kiss her. For a moment
she didn't respond, paralyzed by shock. A second later she didn't
care why he did it, she just hoped he would never stop. He pulled
back and buried his face in her neck. "What the hell was
that?" She whispered breathlessly. "We're being
watched," He murmured. He felt her stiffen in his arms,
suddenly alert, "Where?" "3 O'clock, from my
vantage point." "Male or female?" "Male,"
He replied, while visibly kissing her neck. "Tall, red shirt,
khaki shorts, jarhead hair cut." Mac pulled back and laid
another soft kiss on his lips. She flashed her 1000-watt grin,
and while turning around, caught a peripheral glimpse of their
voyeur. She committed the image to memory, and once more took his
hand. "Let's go shopping," She said loud enough for people
around to hear. He smiled as he heard the catch in her voice.
"Okay," He agreed, matching her volume. Leaning in he said,
"I'm sorry I caught you off guard like that." She
smiled up at him,"Don't be." He turned his head and
grinned at her. In his peripheral vision he saw the man still
shadowing them from a short distance. "Let's go in here,"
he said, pointing to a small antique store near by. "Okay,"
She said, as they stepped through the door of the tiny store. "Gday.
Have a look around. Let me know if you see anything that strikes
you," The Shopkeeper said jovially. "Thank you,"
Mac said and moved to the display case near the back of the store, as
Harm pretended to browse near the window at the entrance. When he
noticed the man who was tailing them walk by the store and continue
on, he breathed a sigh of relief. "He's gone," He
said in a low voice, as he came up beside her. "Do you
have any idea who he is?" "No. Do you?" "No,"
She replied. "When we get back to the hotel I'm going to call
and set up surveillance for Rayburn and Diane Brumby. Maybe we'll get
some answers." Harm nodded, and turned to look around the
shop. It was like standing in the middle of the 18th century. There
was armor on the walls next to tapestries, and ancient pitchers
sitting in their basins. Muskets leaning precariously against the
walls. The only thing that looked modern in the whole place was the
neon open sign in the window. He walked up next to Mac who was
standing near the far wall, staring into a jewelry display case. He
slid his arm around her waist. "See anything you like?" She
nodded and pointed to a ring, in the back left corner of the case.
His eyebrows rose, "Wow, that is unusual," he said, as he
made eye contact with the shopkeeper. The man walked over to
them. "Would you like to see something in this case?" He
asked Mac. "Yes, thank you," She replied, and
pointed out the ring she was interested in. "That looks like an
interesting piece." The shopkeeper gave a wide smile. "Oh
it is. That one's very special. It came to me about two months ago,"
He said, as he reached in and pulled the ring from its resting place.
"Some poor bloke found it on old Captain Harris' bed side table,
when they cleaned out his estate. Said he'd kept it there for the
better part of sixty years." Their eyes widened in
surprise. "Oh yes," The shopkeeper continued in
response, as he handed Mac the ring. "There's quite a tale
wrapped around this one. In the summer of 1943, Harris was in love
with a nurse who worked in the infirmary at the naval base. Her name
was Abigail McCleary. Smart as a whip that one. She was the most
beautiful girl in the district. She was also the most stubborn."
The shopkeeper laughed in remembrance. "They fought like cats
and dogs. But we all knew what was really going on between them. It's
bloody odd how people get sometimes when they don't want to admit to
loving each other." He paused and shook his head. "In
September of the same year the war escalated and Harris got orders to
head off to England. The night before he left Abigail feared that he
might not return, and she confessed her love to him. Harris was
shocked, but thinking that the time wasn't right for them since he
was heading off to war, he didn't respond to her in the way she
hoped. All he promised her was that he would return. He had this ring
made for her while he was on furlough in Ireland, hoping that by
presenting it to her, he would prove his love. But when he returned a
year later, it was too late, and she had married another. He
never told her about the ring, but he kept it by his bed until the
day he died." Mac stared down at ring in her hand. It was
incredibly beautiful. The large Marquis cut ruby was inlaid into the
platinum band. On each side of the ruby was a smaller diamond of the
same shape. There wasn't a prong in site. It was as if the stones and
the band had been poured and melded together. She squinted
as she inspected the rest of the band. "Do you know what
these symbols mean?" She asked pointing to the small engravings
in the band on each side of the diamonds. The shopkeeper
smiled. "Yes. This one here is the Celtic symbol of eternal
love. The one on the other side is the Celtic symbol of
perseverance."
Harm
and Mac both grinned at that, and he sought her eyes. "Would you
like to try it?" He asked. She nodded, but paused as she caught
a glimpse of something engraved on the inside of the band. A moment
later her mouth dropped open. Harm frowned, "Mac what is
it?" When she looked up at him her eyes were shining.
"Read the inscription," She said in a voice that was a mix
of incredulity and laughter. Harm took the ring and read the
inscription out loud. "Eternity," He said, and then froze
as he saw the H and M linked together. His head snapped over to the
shopkeeper. The shopkeeper shifted uncertainly, and said,
"Yes, I forgot to mention that. H for Harris and M for McLeary
of course. Is…is there a problem?" Harm shook his head,
and then gave a sparkling grin, "Not at all." Once
again he made eye contact with Mac, took her left hand, and slid the
ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly. They smiled at each
other, and in unison said, "We'll take it."
TBC…
