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.
---------
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church
1005 Local
AJ looked around the conference table. Gunny Walters had been the last to arrive and Mrs. Fine had been introduced to everyone. He cleared his throat and began, "We've finally gotten a break, albeit a small one, on the whereabouts of Col. MacKenzie." He looked at Emma, "Mrs. Fine?"
Emma looked around the room. These were the people Sarah would be trusting with her life. Taking a deep breath, she began her story.
Harm watched as the rest listened in rapt attention. He, Sturgis and the Admiral had heard the abbreviated version in his office earlier. After hearing what Mac had said, AJ had told Emma of their decision to keep the Archangel proof confined to an inner circle. She had acknowledged the wisdom of his reasoning and her narrative now made no mention of Mac's revelation to her. He listened with half an ear, grateful that Mac had run into someone like Emma. The more he heard from her, the more he liked her - she reminded him of the Admiral.
Harm focused his attention again, Emma was reaching the end of her story. He hated hearing this part, hated what Mac had decided to do, hated that he wasn't there to protect her. Archangel had a lot to answer for.
After Emma finished speaking, there was a brief silence. AJ scanned the room, "I realize that with almost nine hours headstart, Mac could be practically anywhere. Hell, at this point, if I spotted her with the crew on the space shuttle, it wouldn't surprise me." There were the expected smiles around the table. "But, thanks to Mrs. Fine," he nodded in her direction, "we have a starting point. I don't think Mac will have gone too far; she's making herself a target to draw these people out in the open. I damn sure want to be there when it happens."
Bud raised a hand, "Sir?" AJ glanced at Harm and Sturgis, he had a good idea what was coming. They had discussed how they would handle it. "Do we have any idea who these people are and why they want to kill the Colonel?"
"Not really, Lieutenant. It's more important to find Mac and stop these people before they get to her. We can figure out the who and why later." AJ looked around the room, "Colonel MacKenzie is the key. We need to find her."
"It's a three-way game now," said Clayton Webb. Seeing he had everyone's attention, Clay continued, "It's official, NIS has accused Mac of espionage and treason. The DC police and FBI have issued an APB."
"That's ridiculous!" Harm exploded, "On the basis of what? That Mac speaks Farsi and Russian?"
"Based on the 'evidence', NIS claims to have discovered in Daniel Lattimer's apartment and a bank account in Mac's name in the Cayman Islands. There's half a million in it." Clay replied. He cleared his throat, "There's more. Just before I came over here, I received some news about your escaped intruder. His name was Mark Aiken. He worked for Congressman Peterson as a information analyst. Before that, he did a couple of tours as a Recon Marine."
Harm looked at him, "Was?"
Webb looked grim, "They fished his body out of the Potomac early this morning. Didn't ID him until a couple of hours ago, he's been dead over thirty hours."
"So they got him out of the brig..." Sturgis said.
"And put a bullet in the base of his skull." Clay finished. "These people don't like mistakes."
There was silence.
The intercom suddenly buzzed, causing several people to jump. Tiner's voice came over the speaker, "Admiral?"
"What Tiner?"
"Sir, Col. MacKenzie's on line two."
Preston Hotel
Washington, DC
1028 Local
Mac made sure the door was locked and then looked around the filthy little room. It was about what she expected from a rundown hotel that rented by the hour. It suited her purposes though; they took cash, didn't care about ID and the room had a shower. She looked into the tiny bath and shuddered. Well, truth to tell, she'd been in worse places... she'd just been drunk at the time.
She walked back to the bed and gingerly sat down. Mac had used part of her dwindling supply of cash to make purchases at a drugstore and the local thrift shop. She pulled out scissors and the medical supplies. The wounds were still suppurating, all the extra activity hadn't helped much. She couldn't afford to ignore them and she had no intention of going anywhere near any medical clinics, free or otherwise. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Evelyn had gone right ahead and reported her to the authorities. Mac smiled to herself, 'Emma will blister the hide off that woman.' Too bad she wouldn't see it, it would probably be educational.
Mac returned her attention to the matter at hand. Picking up the scissors, she went into the bathroom. Looking into the mirror, she brushed her hair back and contemplated the stitches. Well, they had to come out, she had no intention of looking like the Bride of Frankenstein. Then she'd deal with the rest. Her arm would be awkward but not impossible. She got to work.
Fifty-two minutes later, Mac walked out. She was reasonably clean and makeup covered her bruises. With the clothes she'd picked up, she didn't exactly look like a fashion plate but she no longer looked homeless either. As she walked up the street, a bus pulled in. Mac hurried to catch it, the destination wasn't really important - she just had to keep moving.
Getting off three stops later, Mac started up the street again. When she saw the payphone, she slowed down. She needed to talk to the Admiral, but whether or not to take the chance? It would be naive to think Archangel wasn't somehow monitoring the calls into JAG. Mac thought about it, if she kept the call under thirty seconds she should be safe. She wasn't planning on staying in this area anyway. Fishing change out of her pocket, she walked to the phone and dialed.
"JAG, Petty Officer Tiner speaking." (Here we go, thirty seconds...)
"Tiner, this is..."
"Colonel MacKenzie! Are you all right? We've all been worried... "
"Tiner..." (Damn, twenty two seconds...)
"Where are you, Ma'am? Can you ..."
"TINER! Get me the Admiral, NOW!" (Sixteen seconds...)
Mac fidgeted while the call was transferred. She heard the Admiral's voice, "Mac?!" (Twelve seconds...)
"Yes sir." Mac continued in a rush, "I can't stay on the phone. I'm okay. I'll call again in an hour." She hung up. Four seconds left - glancing up and down the street, she started walking.
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church
1130 Local
Everyone sat and looked at the phone, AJ had put it on speaker when he answered.
"Well, at least we know she's all right for now," Bud offered.
"Except that she doesn't know the police are looking for her too. We need to warn her." Harriet said worriedly.
"I imagine she'll be moving from payphone to payphone. Obviously, she knows to keep the calls under thirty seconds." Clay said. He looked at AJ, "And, she obviously thinks the lines here are tapped. She's probably right. I could have that taken care of..."
"No," AJ said thoughtfully, "If we could get a secure line of communication to her, maybe we could use these lines to our advantage." He looked around the room, "We have an hour..." AJ glanced at his watch and smiled, "Excuse me, fifty-seven minutes to come up with a plan."
There were answering smiles around the room at his reference to Mac's sense of timing. The mood in the conference room had lightened. Finally, here was something concrete they could do. AJ sat back and watched his people. They had huddled together near the end of the table, throwing ideas back and forth. Clay walked over and stood next to him.
"We'll get her out of this, AJ."
AJ nodded, Webb could be such a pain in the ass. But, when the chips were down, he came through. He actually liked the man, which was surprising. And he had learned to respect him as well, Webb had a difficult job and he was good at it. AJ thought about what Brumby had said during that goddamn Ragle affair, about all of them being a little bit in love with Sarah MacKenzie. He suspected Clay belonged in that group, too. He knew Mac liked the CIA operative. He broke off from his musing when Emma Fine approached.
"Yes, Mrs. Fine?"
Emma looked at him, "Would you please call me Emma?"
"Of course, Mrs. Fine." AJ grinned at her arched eyebrow, "What can I do for you, Emma?"
"Can we speak privately?" She looked at Clay, "You too, Mr. Webb."
They walked over to a far corner, AJ and Clay looked at her expectantly. Emma cleared her throat a little nervously, "I was wondering if you would consider adding one more member to the inner circle? My son is a lieutenant on the DC police force and I think he could help us if he knew what was going on. He hasn't said anything yet, but I know he's going to start digging into this. He's worried about what I might have gotten myself into. I would trust him with my life... and Sarah already has."
AJ rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at Webb. He knew the difficulty in keeping a secret increased proportionately with the number of people privy to it. Of course, having eyes and ears in the DC police force could be an advantage too. He stood for a minute, weighing the pros and cons. Emma looked a little anxious, Webb was poker-faced. Finally, he spoke, "Can you get him here without raising too much suspicion?"
Emma smiled with relief, "Of course, I'll tell him I need a ride back to my apartment. The taxi was too expensive."
Lincoln Memorial
Washington, DC
1420 Local
Mac stood near the back of a group of tourists as they listened to the park employee tell them about Abraham Lincoln. It seemed apropos: she was trying to fool some of the people, all of the time. She went over the earlier phone conversation with the Admiral. She had barely got two words out before he jumped in, "Mac, Harm's going to be sorry he missed you. He had to drop a package off at his dad's place. He'll be back by 1500." She had followed along, "Thank you sir. Tell him I'm fine." and hung up.
Now she was here early to do some recon. Mac tagged along with another group sauntering down past the reflecting pool. Thirty minutes later, she had made a complete circuit of the Vietnam Memorial. She was gratified and a little surprised at what she'd found. So far, Mac had spotted Bud and Harriet, AJ, Sturgis, Harm and Gunny Walters. Her friends had thrown a security cordon around the Wall. At first, when she'd seen the Roberts, she had worried that they would try to get her to come in. As appealing as the idea was, until Archangel was broken, she had to continue. Otherwise, she and her friends would never be safe. The Roberts had walked right by, ignoring her completely as they consulted their travel brochure. Mac gave herself a shake, it was time.
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.
---------
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church
1005 Local
AJ looked around the conference table. Gunny Walters had been the last to arrive and Mrs. Fine had been introduced to everyone. He cleared his throat and began, "We've finally gotten a break, albeit a small one, on the whereabouts of Col. MacKenzie." He looked at Emma, "Mrs. Fine?"
Emma looked around the room. These were the people Sarah would be trusting with her life. Taking a deep breath, she began her story.
Harm watched as the rest listened in rapt attention. He, Sturgis and the Admiral had heard the abbreviated version in his office earlier. After hearing what Mac had said, AJ had told Emma of their decision to keep the Archangel proof confined to an inner circle. She had acknowledged the wisdom of his reasoning and her narrative now made no mention of Mac's revelation to her. He listened with half an ear, grateful that Mac had run into someone like Emma. The more he heard from her, the more he liked her - she reminded him of the Admiral.
Harm focused his attention again, Emma was reaching the end of her story. He hated hearing this part, hated what Mac had decided to do, hated that he wasn't there to protect her. Archangel had a lot to answer for.
After Emma finished speaking, there was a brief silence. AJ scanned the room, "I realize that with almost nine hours headstart, Mac could be practically anywhere. Hell, at this point, if I spotted her with the crew on the space shuttle, it wouldn't surprise me." There were the expected smiles around the table. "But, thanks to Mrs. Fine," he nodded in her direction, "we have a starting point. I don't think Mac will have gone too far; she's making herself a target to draw these people out in the open. I damn sure want to be there when it happens."
Bud raised a hand, "Sir?" AJ glanced at Harm and Sturgis, he had a good idea what was coming. They had discussed how they would handle it. "Do we have any idea who these people are and why they want to kill the Colonel?"
"Not really, Lieutenant. It's more important to find Mac and stop these people before they get to her. We can figure out the who and why later." AJ looked around the room, "Colonel MacKenzie is the key. We need to find her."
"It's a three-way game now," said Clayton Webb. Seeing he had everyone's attention, Clay continued, "It's official, NIS has accused Mac of espionage and treason. The DC police and FBI have issued an APB."
"That's ridiculous!" Harm exploded, "On the basis of what? That Mac speaks Farsi and Russian?"
"Based on the 'evidence', NIS claims to have discovered in Daniel Lattimer's apartment and a bank account in Mac's name in the Cayman Islands. There's half a million in it." Clay replied. He cleared his throat, "There's more. Just before I came over here, I received some news about your escaped intruder. His name was Mark Aiken. He worked for Congressman Peterson as a information analyst. Before that, he did a couple of tours as a Recon Marine."
Harm looked at him, "Was?"
Webb looked grim, "They fished his body out of the Potomac early this morning. Didn't ID him until a couple of hours ago, he's been dead over thirty hours."
"So they got him out of the brig..." Sturgis said.
"And put a bullet in the base of his skull." Clay finished. "These people don't like mistakes."
There was silence.
The intercom suddenly buzzed, causing several people to jump. Tiner's voice came over the speaker, "Admiral?"
"What Tiner?"
"Sir, Col. MacKenzie's on line two."
Preston Hotel
Washington, DC
1028 Local
Mac made sure the door was locked and then looked around the filthy little room. It was about what she expected from a rundown hotel that rented by the hour. It suited her purposes though; they took cash, didn't care about ID and the room had a shower. She looked into the tiny bath and shuddered. Well, truth to tell, she'd been in worse places... she'd just been drunk at the time.
She walked back to the bed and gingerly sat down. Mac had used part of her dwindling supply of cash to make purchases at a drugstore and the local thrift shop. She pulled out scissors and the medical supplies. The wounds were still suppurating, all the extra activity hadn't helped much. She couldn't afford to ignore them and she had no intention of going anywhere near any medical clinics, free or otherwise. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Evelyn had gone right ahead and reported her to the authorities. Mac smiled to herself, 'Emma will blister the hide off that woman.' Too bad she wouldn't see it, it would probably be educational.
Mac returned her attention to the matter at hand. Picking up the scissors, she went into the bathroom. Looking into the mirror, she brushed her hair back and contemplated the stitches. Well, they had to come out, she had no intention of looking like the Bride of Frankenstein. Then she'd deal with the rest. Her arm would be awkward but not impossible. She got to work.
Fifty-two minutes later, Mac walked out. She was reasonably clean and makeup covered her bruises. With the clothes she'd picked up, she didn't exactly look like a fashion plate but she no longer looked homeless either. As she walked up the street, a bus pulled in. Mac hurried to catch it, the destination wasn't really important - she just had to keep moving.
Getting off three stops later, Mac started up the street again. When she saw the payphone, she slowed down. She needed to talk to the Admiral, but whether or not to take the chance? It would be naive to think Archangel wasn't somehow monitoring the calls into JAG. Mac thought about it, if she kept the call under thirty seconds she should be safe. She wasn't planning on staying in this area anyway. Fishing change out of her pocket, she walked to the phone and dialed.
"JAG, Petty Officer Tiner speaking." (Here we go, thirty seconds...)
"Tiner, this is..."
"Colonel MacKenzie! Are you all right? We've all been worried... "
"Tiner..." (Damn, twenty two seconds...)
"Where are you, Ma'am? Can you ..."
"TINER! Get me the Admiral, NOW!" (Sixteen seconds...)
Mac fidgeted while the call was transferred. She heard the Admiral's voice, "Mac?!" (Twelve seconds...)
"Yes sir." Mac continued in a rush, "I can't stay on the phone. I'm okay. I'll call again in an hour." She hung up. Four seconds left - glancing up and down the street, she started walking.
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church
1130 Local
Everyone sat and looked at the phone, AJ had put it on speaker when he answered.
"Well, at least we know she's all right for now," Bud offered.
"Except that she doesn't know the police are looking for her too. We need to warn her." Harriet said worriedly.
"I imagine she'll be moving from payphone to payphone. Obviously, she knows to keep the calls under thirty seconds." Clay said. He looked at AJ, "And, she obviously thinks the lines here are tapped. She's probably right. I could have that taken care of..."
"No," AJ said thoughtfully, "If we could get a secure line of communication to her, maybe we could use these lines to our advantage." He looked around the room, "We have an hour..." AJ glanced at his watch and smiled, "Excuse me, fifty-seven minutes to come up with a plan."
There were answering smiles around the room at his reference to Mac's sense of timing. The mood in the conference room had lightened. Finally, here was something concrete they could do. AJ sat back and watched his people. They had huddled together near the end of the table, throwing ideas back and forth. Clay walked over and stood next to him.
"We'll get her out of this, AJ."
AJ nodded, Webb could be such a pain in the ass. But, when the chips were down, he came through. He actually liked the man, which was surprising. And he had learned to respect him as well, Webb had a difficult job and he was good at it. AJ thought about what Brumby had said during that goddamn Ragle affair, about all of them being a little bit in love with Sarah MacKenzie. He suspected Clay belonged in that group, too. He knew Mac liked the CIA operative. He broke off from his musing when Emma Fine approached.
"Yes, Mrs. Fine?"
Emma looked at him, "Would you please call me Emma?"
"Of course, Mrs. Fine." AJ grinned at her arched eyebrow, "What can I do for you, Emma?"
"Can we speak privately?" She looked at Clay, "You too, Mr. Webb."
They walked over to a far corner, AJ and Clay looked at her expectantly. Emma cleared her throat a little nervously, "I was wondering if you would consider adding one more member to the inner circle? My son is a lieutenant on the DC police force and I think he could help us if he knew what was going on. He hasn't said anything yet, but I know he's going to start digging into this. He's worried about what I might have gotten myself into. I would trust him with my life... and Sarah already has."
AJ rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at Webb. He knew the difficulty in keeping a secret increased proportionately with the number of people privy to it. Of course, having eyes and ears in the DC police force could be an advantage too. He stood for a minute, weighing the pros and cons. Emma looked a little anxious, Webb was poker-faced. Finally, he spoke, "Can you get him here without raising too much suspicion?"
Emma smiled with relief, "Of course, I'll tell him I need a ride back to my apartment. The taxi was too expensive."
Lincoln Memorial
Washington, DC
1420 Local
Mac stood near the back of a group of tourists as they listened to the park employee tell them about Abraham Lincoln. It seemed apropos: she was trying to fool some of the people, all of the time. She went over the earlier phone conversation with the Admiral. She had barely got two words out before he jumped in, "Mac, Harm's going to be sorry he missed you. He had to drop a package off at his dad's place. He'll be back by 1500." She had followed along, "Thank you sir. Tell him I'm fine." and hung up.
Now she was here early to do some recon. Mac tagged along with another group sauntering down past the reflecting pool. Thirty minutes later, she had made a complete circuit of the Vietnam Memorial. She was gratified and a little surprised at what she'd found. So far, Mac had spotted Bud and Harriet, AJ, Sturgis, Harm and Gunny Walters. Her friends had thrown a security cordon around the Wall. At first, when she'd seen the Roberts, she had worried that they would try to get her to come in. As appealing as the idea was, until Archangel was broken, she had to continue. Otherwise, she and her friends would never be safe. The Roberts had walked right by, ignoring her completely as they consulted their travel brochure. Mac gave herself a shake, it was time.