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Chapter 9—Deja Vu

Emmie Stockburne paid no attention to the gray morning drizzle as she walked quietly to the front door of the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. She stiffened up when she noticed the blue and white Dade County General ambulance parked out front with its lights flashing and the back doors open.

Harm and Mac stood outside of the front door. "Emmie? How did it go?" Mac asked.

She shrugged. "Looks like I'm gonna live." She motioned toward the ambulance. "What's going on?"

"Looks like Horatio is gonna need your expertise up in Sergeant Stetler's office, I think" Mac said matter-of-factly.

At that precise moment the front door bumped open when a uniformed medic backed out pulling a rattling gurney. The compute tech raised her eyebrows in surprise when she saw an unconscious Rick Stetler strapped on, his head bandaged. His tie was missing, and his blue striped shirt had been unbuttoned away from his neck. He had an oxygen mask strapped over his face. Some blood had seeped through the white bandaging above his right eye. Another medic guided the gurney out at his feet. Several onlookers gathered inside the doorway.

Emmie pointed toward the injured IAB agent and shrugged at Harm and Mac.

Harm sidled up to her. "He tried to do your job, and the fax machine fell on his head" Harm whispered.

She rolled her eyes. "Idiot. Harm, would you believe they him handle firearms?"

Harm smiled. "Yeah, well, looks like your date's off for Saturday. He's not handling anything between now and then."

"Don't think I'll be shedding too many tears over it. Let me go upstairs and inspect the damage. Talk to you both later."

Harm pulled out his cell phone. "Well Mac, Horatio said to do whatever we need to. I think we could use some extra help down here now that Sergeant Stetler is gonna be laid up for a while."

"What did you have in mind?" Mac wanted to know while watching the ambulance out of the corner of her eyes.

"See if the Admiral can get Bud to come down here for a few days."

Horatio stepped into the IAB office. Emmie had already towed in her black cart, her back turned to him. He watched her quietly as she wound a black cable on her left arm. Suddenly she stopped and laid the cable down on the cart.

"Emmie?"

She never turned around. "Hey, Sir."

"It isn't Rick's accident that has you upset."

Normally she would have directly faced him out of respect. This time she continued to stare at the computer equipment on the floor, still wiping her eyes. She didn't want him to see her like this. "No Sir, that was a gift from God. I'm used to doing things by myself." She breathed deeply to try to dispel the sadness. "I'll handle this."

He leaned sympathetically against the desk and fingered his sunglasses. Neither spoke a word.

Finally she tilted her head up. "Hell of a way to find out. Was anybody ever going to tell me?"

"So you know your husband was involved with the Logan case?"

She dipped her head down again. "Ran the check on Harm's court notes to see who else might be in the area. The name that was blacked out? I ran it under the spectrometer." She sniffed. "Bit of a surprise. I never knew Dex was mixed up in this thing."

He didn't know why, but at that moment, Horatio's mind flashed back to that moment that he released Marisol's hand for the last time. He could still hear the monitor shrilling at him as that young heart ceased to beat forever. He lowered his head. "Emmie, I know what you're going through. You know all about my wife."

Emmie bit her lip and raised her head again so tears would not stream down her face. "With all due respect, Sir, you were with your wife when she passed" she said in a strained voice. "I didn't even know what country Dex was in. What's killing me is all the sneaking around. Why the hell can't anybody tell me? He was my husband, for God's sake."

The Lieutenant walked over and stood beside her. She turned her head away so that he couldn't see her face. "Emmie? Listen to me. Do you believe me when I tell you that if Arthur Logan was behind your husband's death, he'll be brought to justice?"

She could relax around Horatio. She wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand again. "Yes Sir."

"I have Harm and Mac looking into it. They're your friends, and we all want to know the truth, as I'm sure you do." He then looked down at the upended fax machine on the floor. "And maybe we can see about getting you another escort for the gala."

"There was no screening process, was there?"

"I don't know, Emmie. I'm sure politics were involved, though, as you probably figured out."

She smiled sadly. "Don't trouble yourself, Sir. I can go by myself."

"It's no trouble. Besides, the Department wouldn't have it. Rick's accident is an embarrassment for them. Now why don't you take care of this? I don't think Sergeant Stetler will need it for the rest of the week." Horatio had a smile in his voice. "Looks like you finally got a break from something."

Even though she could barely control her tears, Emmie smiled. "Thanks, Sir."

JAG Headquarter, Falls Church, VA 1700 ZULU

Lieutenant Bud Roberts knocked on the door. "Sir? Harm's on the line. Oh, and Sims brought in some danishes. Help yourself. They're in the breakroom."

Admiral Chegwidden picked up his phone. "Thanks, Lieutenant. What is it, Harm?"

Harm and Mac sat in Horatio's office hovered around the speaker phone. "Sir, we're on the speaker with Lieutenant Caine here in Miami. Seems we had a little problem here." He glanced at Horatio. "Well, two problems, actually."

"I know about Audrey Hennessey. What's the other problem?"

"Well, Sergeant Stetler had an accident this morning. They just rushed him to the hospital with a head injury."

A.J. nodded. "I see. Is he gonna be all right?"

"I think so. But he'll be out of commission for the rest of the week."

"So what can I do?"

"Sir, possible to send Bud down to be an extra pair of hands until the middle of next week? At least he'll be able to see the air show on Sunday."

A.J. raised his eyebrows. "You're that short-handed?"

Hearing his name, Bud kept one ear toward the Admiral's office while he adjusted his laptop.

"Shouldn't be a problem, Harm. I'll have TAD cut his orders. Just curious. What happened to Sergeant Stetler?"

"A fax machine fell on his head, Admiral" Horatio said. Both he and Harm were smiling. "He was trying to adjust the cabling, and it fell off the desk."

Bud peered around the room and slid his laptop from side to side on the oak table to try to adjust the wireless reception. The screen began to fade. He slapped it. "Battery low? I just charged that thing!" He slipped out of his chair and kneeled under the table to check the connection.

"There's another thing we're concerned about, Admiral" Horatio said. "In both the Schwender and the Hennessey murders, we found evidence that the killer tried to make it look as though they had been to the Homestead Officers' Club. Tests proved that they hadn't, though. Admiral, I'm a little concerned about safety for the VIP Gala Saturday night."

"I see. Well, what can I do, Lieutenant?"

Annoyed, Bud kneeled and now tugged on the black cable. "Come on."

"MDPD needs unrestricted access to Homestead that evening in case of an emergency. Arthur Logan has already proven that he knows how to get in and out of places unnoticed. He's very smart, he's very patient, and I'm not taking any chances."

"I understand. Don't worry, Lieutenant. I'll take care of that."

A.J. stiffened up when he heard a CRASH! outside of his office and then silence. "Excuse me." He peered out to see a startled Bud kneeling under the table next to his smashed laptop.

"Everything okay in there, Sir?" Mac wanted to know.

The Amiral sighed deeply. "Yeah. Suppose the Miami-Dade PD can lend Bud a laptop when he gets down here?"