Mac finished loading the dishwasher and closed it before turning it on. She stretched her sore neck and decided to make sure she got a good workout the next day. She walked to the living room and found her husband on the couch just saying goodbye and hanging up the phone.

"Mom says hi," he said.

Mac slumped down beside him. "How's Frank?"

"He's doing good. Resting and following doctor's orders," Harm said and put his phone away. Frank had open heart surgery two weeks ago and had to take it easy. "Mom's still shaken up."

"I can understand that," Mac said as her husband put his arm around her. She leaned on to him. "It's very quiet tonight."

"Let's hope it stays that way," Harm said with raised eyebrows.

"Claire will be fine. It's just a slumber party, right?" Mac asked.

"It's what she said," Harm smiled. "She's a sensible girl."

"She sure is. Did Matthew go upstairs?" Mac wondered.

"Downstairs," Harm kissed her softly. "PlayStation."

Mac smiled as he again leaned in to kiss her. "I should go spend some time with Matthew."

Harm nuzzled her nose with his. "How about spending time with your husband?"

"That's nice too," she turned fully to him and let her lips meet his again.

The doorbell interrupted them. "Damn," Harm said and released her. "To be continued," he said as he stood.

"I'm ready when you are," she stood too. "I'll just go downstairs and see what Matthew is doing."

Harm walked to open the door. He was surprised to find Clayton Webb standing outside when he opened. "Webb?"

Clay offered his hand. "How's it going Harm?"

"Excellent," he stepped aside. "You?"

Clay stepped inside the house and hesitated. "I was doing pretty well up until about an hour ago."

Harm looked confused. "Did something happen?"

"Is Sarah here?" Clay asked.

Harm nodded. "She is."

"We need to talk," Clay said.

Harm motioned to the living room. "Follow me."

"It's a nice place you have here, Harm," Clay looked around the living room. His eyes landing on the family portrait above the fireplace. "Nice family."

"I'm a lucky man," Harm agreed. "What's up Clay?"

"Can you get Sarah?" Clay asked.

"Sure," Harm motioned for the sitting area. "Please sit down." He headed downstairs and found his wife and son in front of the big screen TV.

"So I just push this button to go faster?" Mac asked.

"Yeah," Matthew said.

"What's going on here?" Harm asked.

"We're racing cars," Matthew said and laughed when Mac's car crashed. "Mom's not very good."

Mac laughed. "I need to practice more I think. Who was at the door?"

"Can you come upstairs?" he said.

Mac noticed the serious look on his face. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure," Harm motioned for her to follow him. "Matthew, why don't you play a little more, then it's time for bed."

"Sure, Dad," Matthew said without even looking up from the TV.

Mac stood and followed her husband upstairs. "Clay?" she was surprised to see her former boyfriend in their living room.

"Sarah, you look good," Clay said as he stood.

"Thanks," Mac looked from Clay to her husband. "What's going on?"

Harm motioned for Clay. "I think Clay has something to tell us."

Clay hesitated. "We've been tracking a terrorist cell for a while. They have deep roots inside the US. I can't talk specifics, but we have an agent working within the cell and there is a big act of terror in the planning."

"What does it have to do with us?" Harm wondered.

"The leader of this cell is Sadiq Fahd's son. He was already deep into it when Sarah killed Sadiq, and he took over the family business after his father died. We have believed to have killed him on several occasions, but he got away. The FBI had a raid in the building where the cell had their hiding, we got a lot of information about the plan, and we again thought that we had David. That's Sadiq's son. Born in England, his Mom was British, she raised him by herself until he was about ten, then his father came into the picture. He continued his education in England, served in the Military, until he disappeared. He came on our radar five years ago and we've been hunting him since."

"Why are you telling us this, Clay?" Mac wondered.

"Our agent inside the cell told us an hour ago that he had spent two days close to David, until David left the country a few hours before the FBI raided the building. Our agent told us that David had sworn to revenge his father's death and that he finally knew who he was after. I'm afraid I made it easy for him by declassifying some of the information so that you could use it in your lecture at the JAG Conference back in 2008. We didn't know about David back then, but he has managed to get a hold of the information and he has put two on two together. He knows who you are, Sarah."

Mac felt a chill down her spine. "Where is he now?"

"Not in the country, but our agent said that he had plans to return soon to finish his business," Clay hesitated. "The cell is pretty much down. A few got away, but we have all their plans and most of the men trained for it. I'm afraid we can't guarantee that we'll know when he's back. This guy is seriously bad news. Our agent was out of the country on several occasions. I can't say where, but he was deep in it with David and his men. Where Sadiq to a point respected women, or at least treated them with dignity, this guy is a real sadist."

Mac sat down in a chair. "Oh God," she ran a hand through her hair. "This is not happening," she looked at Clay. "I have a family, I have… This can't be happening."

"Sarah, we'll find a way to keep you safe," Clay said calmly.

"To hell with me, I'm worried about what he'll do to get to me. What if he goes after one of the kids?" Mac looked at her husband. "He can attack anywhere at any time. You saw what Sadiq did to you in the JAG parking lot."

Harm looked at Clay. "How do we proceed with this?"

"I have agents on this," Clay said. "We are working to track this guy; the problem is that he can disguise as anyone. He has contacts, and he has travelled in and out of the country as different people."

Mac stood. "You're saying that there's nothing to do but wait until he strikes?"

"I have agents standing ready to move in. Nathan will be safe at the Academy. Mattie will be safe at her current duty station. I asked for favors and had her transferred to the USNS Mercy. No one knows she's there, except us in this room. On the record she's still serving at Bethesda. I'll have agents on Matthew and Claire at all times. There will be agents following your every move at all times until we get this guy," Clay looked at Mac. "Sarah, I got you into this mess and I won't stop until we have this guy. I let you down before, I won't do it again."

Mac turned to Harm. "What do you think?" she put her hand on his arm, needing to draw strength from him.

Harm was thoughtful as he uncrossed his arms and took her hand. "I don't think we have much choice. I think we have to trust Clay."

Mac nodded. "Okay."

Clay's phone rang. "Yes. Okay. Hang on," Clay handed the phone to Mac. "I have two agents picking up your daughter, but she refuses to come with them."

Mac released her husband's hand and took the phone. "Claire?"

"Mom, what's going on?"

Mac could hear that she was upset. "Honey, you need to go with them, okay? Something has come up and I will explain when you get home, okay?"

"Okay."

Mac handed the phone to Clay. She turned to her husband. "This is really happening, isn't it?"

Harm nodded and pulled her close, he whispered in her ear that everything would be fine. Noticing that Clay looked a little uncomfortable he released her. "Can I offer you something to drink? Coffee, tea?"

"Coffee would be good," Clay said and hesitated. "We need to talk details of how this will work."

Mac nodded. "I'll go get the coffee started. How about if we sit down in the kitchen?"

"That's fine," Clay said.

"Harm, will you go get Matthew? We need to let him and Claire know what's going on," Mac noticed the tense look on her husband's face as he nodded his head. She watched him leave and she was wondering what was going on in his mind.

Fifteen minutes later they were seated by the kitchen table. Mac told Matthew and Claire about what was going on.

"We have to take extra precautions. You can't go anywhere alone until we know that the danger is over," Harm said.

"Why do this guy want to hurt us?" Claire wanted to know.

"Because of me," Mac said honestly. "It goes back to before your Dad and I married. We don't have to get into the details, but it goes back to an undercover mission for the CIA."

"I want you guys to listen carefully," Harm said. "Until this man is no longer a threat to us, we all have to be extra careful."

"Okay, Dad," Claire said.

"Matthew?" Mac asked and ruffled his hair.

"Okay," Matthew said thoughtfully. "Do we have to have people here all the time?"

"We will have agents outside our house at all times, and we will have agents with us wherever we go. That means being driven to school," Mac said to Claire. "And agents will be at your schools while you guys are there. I can't risk that this man comes after you guys, so we'll just have to make sure that he can't go anywhere near you."

"But Mom, what if he comes after you?" Claire asked.

"Hopefully Mr. Webb will have this man before he comes near me," Mac reassured her.

"But what if he doesn't?" Claire asked.

"I won't let anything happen to any of us," Mac promised.

"And I won't let anything happen to your Mom," Harm promised. "Or any of you."

Mac walked downstairs after saying good night to Matthew and Claire. She hated the situation she had put the family in. She thought she had put her past behind her, but it had found a way to come back and mess up what gave her life meaning. She saw Clay and half a dozen agents in the kitchen making plans. Harm was in the living room talking on his phone.

"We'll keep you posted, Nathan. I'll talk to you soon," Harm hung up and turned to her. "Nathan says hello. He wanted to come home, but I told him to stay at the Academy. He's safer there."

Mac nodded hesitantly. "I really made a mess of things by going to Paraguay."

"Mac," he moved closer to her. "No one could have seen this coming."

"I know, but still, if anything happens to any of us…" she took a shaky breath.

"Hey," Harm pulled her in for a hug. "I won't let anything happen. If this guy wants to get to you he has to go through me."

She moved her head back to look at him. "That's what I'm afraid of."

"Hey, I'm superman, remember?" he teased and kissed her softly. "This isn't your fault baby."

"Then why does it feel like it is?" she asked.

"We'll get through this. We always do," he touched her cheek lightly. "I love you."

"I love you too," she smiled through her tears and let him hug her close. There was no place she felt safer than in his arms.

To be continued…