'People vs. Chegwidden' - Part Two
Author: Daenar
Disclaimer: See Part One
From part one:
Mac leaned back against the kitchen counter, flipping her cell-phone open with her left hand, resting her right hand on her belly as she had gotten used to during the last months. "Rabb?"
"Mac? This is Chegwidden." His voice was low, guarded and somewhat strained.
Mac instantly snapped to Marine-mode. "Sir? Everything okay?"
To her astonishment, she heard a bitter chuckle. "Not quite. Get your husband and meet me at the D.C. police department. I might need my lawyers."
She drew a sharp breath, dreading the next question. She'd instantly known that something was troubling him when he left the party. "What happened?" she asked, her stomach tightening.
"I've just been arrested for the murder of Doctor Sydney Walden."
Part Two:
Mon, Feb. 15th 0112 ZULU D.C. Police Department Washington, D.C.
"Easy, Marine," Harm admonished her as he tried to catch up to his wife who was literally running up the stairs that led to the entrance of the building. "The little one doesn't like to be shaken."
Mac obediently slowed down her pace and smiled at him. "I'm sorry. It's just... I'm worried."
"Hey, that's okay." Harm put his arm around her shoulders upon reaching her. He cast her a warm smile that didn't quite succeed in hiding his own uneasiness. "I don't feel too good myself. But we mustn't lose our heads right now. Maybe we can straighten this out in a few days." He sighed.
"Yeah..." Mac couldn't quite bring herself to believe him. Her sense of foreboding had proven right once too often by now. Absentmindedly, she gently stroked her belly as if she were asking her daughter to forgive her for running.
They showed their military IDs to the policeman on duty and were led to their 'client'. AJ was already sitting in the small interrogation room when they entered. Mac was shocked when she saw his face. His expression had lost the aura of unperturbed calm and control that it normally held. AJ somehow looked haunted and... vulnerable. Neither of the Rabbs had ever seen their CO like this.
"Admiral..." Mac instantly walked up to him and as he rose to greet her, gentleman to the last, she hugged him tightly, hesitating only for the briefest moment, causing him to jump slightly in surprise. Harm just stepped close to them and silently placed his hand on AJ's shoulder.
AJ briefly closed his eyes. He had felt very lonely when he had first been asked if he wanted to inform his family that he had been arrested. "No, just my lawyers," he had answered. The Rabbs' reaction upon seeing him had reassured him that he did indeed have a family, sort of. Right now, this knowledge caused enormous relief. Clearing his throat, AJ after a few moments drew back from Mac's embrace and stated in an overly gruff voice: "Now, Colonel, you don't even know if I'm guilty or not."
Mac knew he had meant it to be an embarrassed joke but nevertheless she earnestly looked at him. "You're not."
"Well, right. Good intuition." AJ rumbled on, confusedly looking around as if to search for chairs that he could offer to his officers.
Harm decided to help his CO keep his countenance and get into the matter. He pulled up a chair for his wife and helped Mac sit down before lowering himself onto another chair after AJ had again taken his seat at the other side of the small table. "What exactly happened, sir?"
AJ studied his hands as if in deep thought. It took him a full minute to respond. Harm felt Mac's cold hand clench his fingers. They waited.
"You remember that call I received at the Roberts'?" AJ finally looked up to meet his officers' worried glances. It wasn't a question. The Rabbs only nodded.
"That was Sydney. She sounded somewhat troubled." AJ paused and with his right hand wiped his face, sighing. "I was..." looking down, he let out a sad chuckle before facing his friends again with a gruff helpless half- grin. "You can imagine that I was rather surprised."
"I guess," Mac answered with a warm smile. Harm silently returned AJ's grin, never letting go of Mac's hand.
"Well," AJ went on, almost matter-of-factly. "She was calling from a phone booth somewhere off the Beltway as if she didn't dare to call from a personal phone. And she asked me to come and meet her at her house in half an hour. Said she wanted to tell me something that she'd come across and didn't know what to make of it. She seemed scared."
"And you went to see her," Harm concluded, careful to wear an absolutely neutral expression on his face and to keep his voice guarded. He didn't want AJ to notice that he was surprised that the admiral had so deliberately complied.
AJ's smile was sarcastic. "What was I supposed to do? Ignore an obvious plea for help? I'm an officer, Commander, in case you didn't know."
Harm knew better than to feel offended. He could distinguish no traces of hurt or reprimand in his CO's voice. This was just Chegwidden's way to react to a situation that emotionally shook him and endangered his usual unperturbed calm state of mind.
Mac thought it wise to take over. "And what did you find when you got to her?"
"Her." AJ's voice was tight and he stared right through Mac's glance, not seeing anything. "The door wasn't locked so when she didn't answer the bell I just walked in. Then I found her. In the entrance, stabbed with a butcher's knife. She was still conscious."
The last words had come out in a mere whisper. Mac's grip on Harm's hand tightened painfully. But before either of them could even think of what to reply to AJ's horrible tale, the admiral went on, as if on autopilot, still staring into the great nothing, not acknowledging his friends' presence.
"I wasn't thinking of the consequences. I called 911 and knelt down to support her, tossing aside the knife. I should have known I was acting foolishly. I mean, cases like this one cross our desks every so often. But I... I... wasn't able to think. All I knew was that a woman that meant a lot to me was dying, right there, before my eyes. And I couldn't do anything to prevent it. All I could do was hold her."
Harm swallowed. He didn't want to intrude his friend's grief but they had to get back to the hard facts. "So... your fingerprints would be on the doorbell and on the knife and..." he helplessly looked over to his wife in whose huge dark eyes he could only detect the same dread he was feeling himself right now.
"And I was found with her, yes." AJ had shaken himself from his state of haze and regained his usual gruffness. "Danny came in and... well... jumped to conclusions. And then the police and the ambulance arrived. The paramedics couldn't do anything."
"Were there any traces of a fight, sir?" Mac tried to keep her voice steady, switching to Marine-mode. She hoped the professional distance might help to prevent the situation from getting out of hand. Her co-workers instantly followed her example.
"No. She must have opened the door herself and been completely surprised by the attack. And there were no other fingerprints on the doorknob or on the knife. Somehow the attacker must have known I'd come to see her and thought it wise to let me play the role of the suspect. CSI wasn't able to find any other traces whatsoever until now. And Danny didn't really come to my aid by telling the police that his mother had been thinking about calling me for a couple of days but didn't dare to. He told them that she feared seeing me and that they both couldn't imagine how I'd react and that he'd begged his mother to keep me out of it all because, as he put it, 'Chegwidden's always wanted to interfere and tell us how to live our lives.' So that's it." It was obvious that AJ had no delusions about his present status as the primary suspect, given all the evidence against him.
"Do you have any idea what Dr. Walden could have wanted to tell you, sir?" Harm asked.
AJ frowned. "None whatsoever. I can only assume it had something to do with Darling Danny."
"We'll get into the matter first thing in the morning, sir," Mac said. "Any instructions for the office?"
AJ smiled. "I guess it would be useless to try to dissuade my chief of staff from defending me? Given her state, that is."
Mac smiled back, glad the mood had somehow lightened. She put her hand on her belly. "Our little Trisha just let me know that she wants no one other than her mommy and daddy to defend Uncle AJ. So I fear it's a hopeless case, sir."
"I see. Harm, I want you to take over as temporary JAG, though. I know it would have been Mac's task but I don't know how long this is gonna take and before long Mommy will be occupied at home. Right? So, Mac, I'll let you defend me, but you'll still start your maternity leave tomorrow, understood?" AJ looked at his officers.
"Aye, sir," they replied in unison, smiling.
AJ rose from his chair, his officers immediately following suit. "Go home now and get some sleep, will you? Especially you, Mac. I'll be all right."
Once again Mac hugged her CO and silently stepped aside. Harm took the hand that his CO offered him and squeezed it tightly. "We won't let you down, sir. We'll get you out of this." His gaze was intense.
The admiral gave him a half-smile in return. "Don't make promises you can't keep, son."
"I haven't yet." Harm smiled a little slyly.
"I'll watch him closely, sir," Mac cut in with a smirk. Then she sobered and took Harm's hand. "But you have our word of honor."
"Well, right." AJ let the old gruffness return to his voice to hide his emotion. "Anyway, even if you don't get me out of this, I know you won't let me down, guys. And now go home and get some rest. Or do I have to make it an order?"
"No, sir," Harm grinned. He put his arm around Mac's shoulders and guided her outside. AJ watched them leave, a sad smile on his face. 'I'm not so sure you'll convince those people of my innocence, Commander,' he thought. 'But I thank you for taking the family part.'
Mon, Feb. 15th 0542 ZULU Rabb residence Arlington, VA
"Harm?"
"Hmm?" Sheets began to rustle at Mac's right side and a moment later she felt her husband's face hovering near her own. "What's up? My favorite Marine can't sleep?" She could hear the smile in his voice through the darkness.
Smiling herself, she reached up with one hand and stroked his temple with her fingertips. "Not really."
"Care to share?"
"It's the admiral," she sighed.
"Come here." Harm lifted the blanket to allow Mac to move closer. She turned to lie on the other side and spooned up to him. He immediately encircled her in his arms and pulled her close. They lay in silence for a couple of minutes, silently enjoying each other's closeness. Then Mac spoke up.
"The situation is pretty desperate, isn't it?"
Harm gently kissed her neck and sighed. "Yeah. If Sydney's murderer really wanted to make it look like the admiral did it and if CSI doesn't come up with something really quick, we'll have nothing but the missing motive to base our defense on."
"That's not enough."
"No, it isn't. We'll have to have a little conversation with Petty Officer Third Class Daniel Walden, I suppose." Harm's voice held a tight edge. "If she knew her attacker I wouldn't be surprised if he came from Danny's former friends' sphere of influence. I'd really hoped the Navy would straighten him out but obviously it didn't work."
"Remember to give him the benefit of a doubt," Mac calmly admonished. "Sure, he's the first lead we have and we'll start looking for a link to his drug-dealing friends, but there might as well be something totally different involved. Don't jump to conclusions, Commander."
"Aye, ma'am." Harm's silent chuckle made his breath caress her neck and sent a shiver down her spine. For a moment they were silent. Then Mac sighed.
"You know, sailor, somehow I've been dreading something like this. I mean, hasn't life been just too perfect during these last months? Listen: first we get married. I'm pregnant with a seemingly healthy child. Then we find this wonderful house, like you promised, with a huge front porch swing and a lovely garden. Neither of us has to transfer out of JAG. Harriet has another adorable little son. Bud finishes his rehab and returns to full duty. Fred prolongs his stay in Washington. Jeannine's boyfriend leaves her and as she comes to visit us for Christmas, she falls in love with Sergei and makes him forget about Singer. Something just had to happen." Mac involuntarily shivered.
Harm tightened his embrace. "Shhh," he whispered soothingly, "Now don't you dare feel guilty for being happy, Marine. You, of all people, deserve all this, after that hell of a youth you had. Don't get the distorted idea that Chegwidden's trial is some sort of poetic justice for your personal happiness. The admiral himself would court-martial you for that, you know."
Mac, with a content sigh, snuggled even closer to her husband. "I know. It's just kind of hard to accept. And I'm really worried about him. After Uncle Matt, the admiral's been the closest thing to a father I ever had."
"Me, too," came Harm's somewhat strained, low answer, "Even though I always had Frank. But I know how you feel, honey."
Mac suddenly realized that Harm was taking this whole affair far harder than he had wanted to make her see. 'Stupid squid,' she gently scolded him in her thoughts, 'This leaning-on thing is supposed to be mutual, remember?' She carefully turned in his arms and kissed him softly. "I'm only glad that we have each other."
Even in the darkness she could see his beautiful, warm smile light up his face. "Tell me about it, Sarah." His hands were gently caressing her back. "I love you."
"I love you, too, Harm." Mac closed her eyes and buried her face in the curve of his neck. After a few moments he heard her muffled voice. "Make love to me, Harm?"
"You want me to?" he gently asked. "What does the little one say about it?"
Mac softly wriggled out of his embrace and, with a quick, smooth movement, removed her silk nightgown to reveal her belly. "Ask her," she invited him, smiling.
Harm shook his head, chuckling, and placed a loving kiss on her navel. Then he put his flat hands on the impressive swell. "Hey, Trisha," he said softly, "Would you mind if I showed your mommy how much I love her?" He waited a few seconds until he had felt his tiny daughter move. "It's okay with her," he declared with a smug smile, letting Mac remove his T-shirt and then pull him down to her.
"Could have told you," Mac murmured against his mouth before she let herself be swept away by Harm's tender caresses.
Mon., Feb. 15th 1411 ZULU JAG Headquarters Falls Church, VA
With long, quick strides, Harm crossed the bullpen from the elevator right to the admiral's office. "At ease, everyone listen." The staff turned expectantly and the room fell silent.
Harm felt far less confident than he tried to appear. How do you tell your subordinates that their CO has just been arrested for murder? Anyway, the sooner he got it over with, the better it would be. He and Mac hadn't revealed any of the particulars when they had left the Roberts' party to join the admiral. So the news would be equally shocking for everyone. Harm could tell by the way Harriet, Bud, Sturgis and Fred were exchanging quick worried glances, that speculation had already reached its high point when Chegwidden hadn't arrived at his usual time this morning. Better at once relieve the tension of insecurity.
"The admiral asks me to inform you that yesterday he was arrested by the Washington police."
A collective gasp floated through the room. A 'thud' indicated that Tiner had dropped the book he had been holding.
Harm swallowed and went on. "Admiral Chegwidden is accused of the murder of Doctor Sydney Walden. We all know that is not true, but the task will fall on Colonel Rabb and me to prove it. With the colonel starting her maternity leave today, the admiral has put me in charge of headquarters as temporary JAG. We'll hold our first staff meeting at 1500. That is all. Dismissed." He turned and entered AJ's office, pointedly closing the door behind himself. Half a minute later, he quietly opened it again and pushed it slightly ajar to be able to see his coworkers' reaction to his dreadful news.
Harriet had paled visibly and was right now in Bud's arms, the lieutenant holding her tightly and seemingly at a loss about what to say. Tiner and Sturgis were quietly discussing possible consequences, should the case go further than the Article-32 hearing. Fred could be seen in his office, firmly holding on to the receiver of his telephone as if it were some sort of an anchor. He was obviously trying to call Claire. And Singer was sitting at her desk, staring blankly at her monitor, not moving for an entire two minutes. But somehow Harm refused to believe that Miss Icebreaker could have been shaken by his news. Carefully, he closed his door and with a sigh sat down in AJ's chair that all of a sudden seemed huge.
A little while later, he heard a knock on the door. Tiner popped his head in. "Lt. Singer would like to see you, sir."
'That's what I needed.' Sighing, Harm nodded. "Tell her to come in, Tiner."
"Aye, sir."
The lieutenant stepped into the room and came to attention in front of him. To his astonishment, Harm detected a somewhat unsure and... guilty look on her face.
"At ease, Lieutenant. You wanted to talk to me?"
Singer's gaze never wavered but her voice seemed slightly tight. "Yes, sir. Sir... I thought I should inform you about a phone call I just received." She waited for Harm's reaction.
"Go ahead."
"It was about the admiral's Article-32 hearing. I suppose the normal procedure would have been to call you first, sir, as you're the temporary JAG. But the officer who called me told me she wanted to talk to me first. And she asked me to sit second chair to prosecution. I declined."
Harm willed his eyebrows to stay in place. Singer had declined an offer such as this? Of her own free will? And even more, she'd come to him and informed him about a call she had received from some high-ranking officer that could be in the position to push her career? Did miracles ever cease to happen?
"May I ask why you declined the offer, Lieutenant?" he ventured, trying to sound neutral.
Singer's mouth showed the thinnest of cynical smiles. "I suppose you're surprised that I did, sir. Actually, I'm surprised myself. But I did attend the Academy once, too, Commander, and I haven't been as completely unreceptive to the Code of Honor as you may think. The admiral may not like me. But he's always been fair. And, frankly, I don't think he did kill Doctor Walden. So I won't be the means of some personal revenge crusade that some navy captain unknown to me seems to want to pull against him. And his defense counsels, for that matter."
Harm had to admit he was impressed. He could tell from Singer's expression that, had the person in question been someone else, she would immediately have taken the opportunity to advance her career. But she seemed to value the admiral as a just person and obviously didn't like the idea of being used for ulterior, personal motives of whoever it was who took the prosecution. 'Wait a minute,' he suddenly told himself, 'A captain? She? A personal revenge crusade against certain members of this office? It couldn't be...' He sat up straight in his chair and locked his gaze with Singer's.
"What was the name of the captain who called you, Lieutenant?"
"Captain Allison Krennick, sir."
To be continued... (Feedback - as always - appreciated!)
From part one:
Mac leaned back against the kitchen counter, flipping her cell-phone open with her left hand, resting her right hand on her belly as she had gotten used to during the last months. "Rabb?"
"Mac? This is Chegwidden." His voice was low, guarded and somewhat strained.
Mac instantly snapped to Marine-mode. "Sir? Everything okay?"
To her astonishment, she heard a bitter chuckle. "Not quite. Get your husband and meet me at the D.C. police department. I might need my lawyers."
She drew a sharp breath, dreading the next question. She'd instantly known that something was troubling him when he left the party. "What happened?" she asked, her stomach tightening.
"I've just been arrested for the murder of Doctor Sydney Walden."
Part Two:
Mon, Feb. 15th 0112 ZULU D.C. Police Department Washington, D.C.
"Easy, Marine," Harm admonished her as he tried to catch up to his wife who was literally running up the stairs that led to the entrance of the building. "The little one doesn't like to be shaken."
Mac obediently slowed down her pace and smiled at him. "I'm sorry. It's just... I'm worried."
"Hey, that's okay." Harm put his arm around her shoulders upon reaching her. He cast her a warm smile that didn't quite succeed in hiding his own uneasiness. "I don't feel too good myself. But we mustn't lose our heads right now. Maybe we can straighten this out in a few days." He sighed.
"Yeah..." Mac couldn't quite bring herself to believe him. Her sense of foreboding had proven right once too often by now. Absentmindedly, she gently stroked her belly as if she were asking her daughter to forgive her for running.
They showed their military IDs to the policeman on duty and were led to their 'client'. AJ was already sitting in the small interrogation room when they entered. Mac was shocked when she saw his face. His expression had lost the aura of unperturbed calm and control that it normally held. AJ somehow looked haunted and... vulnerable. Neither of the Rabbs had ever seen their CO like this.
"Admiral..." Mac instantly walked up to him and as he rose to greet her, gentleman to the last, she hugged him tightly, hesitating only for the briefest moment, causing him to jump slightly in surprise. Harm just stepped close to them and silently placed his hand on AJ's shoulder.
AJ briefly closed his eyes. He had felt very lonely when he had first been asked if he wanted to inform his family that he had been arrested. "No, just my lawyers," he had answered. The Rabbs' reaction upon seeing him had reassured him that he did indeed have a family, sort of. Right now, this knowledge caused enormous relief. Clearing his throat, AJ after a few moments drew back from Mac's embrace and stated in an overly gruff voice: "Now, Colonel, you don't even know if I'm guilty or not."
Mac knew he had meant it to be an embarrassed joke but nevertheless she earnestly looked at him. "You're not."
"Well, right. Good intuition." AJ rumbled on, confusedly looking around as if to search for chairs that he could offer to his officers.
Harm decided to help his CO keep his countenance and get into the matter. He pulled up a chair for his wife and helped Mac sit down before lowering himself onto another chair after AJ had again taken his seat at the other side of the small table. "What exactly happened, sir?"
AJ studied his hands as if in deep thought. It took him a full minute to respond. Harm felt Mac's cold hand clench his fingers. They waited.
"You remember that call I received at the Roberts'?" AJ finally looked up to meet his officers' worried glances. It wasn't a question. The Rabbs only nodded.
"That was Sydney. She sounded somewhat troubled." AJ paused and with his right hand wiped his face, sighing. "I was..." looking down, he let out a sad chuckle before facing his friends again with a gruff helpless half- grin. "You can imagine that I was rather surprised."
"I guess," Mac answered with a warm smile. Harm silently returned AJ's grin, never letting go of Mac's hand.
"Well," AJ went on, almost matter-of-factly. "She was calling from a phone booth somewhere off the Beltway as if she didn't dare to call from a personal phone. And she asked me to come and meet her at her house in half an hour. Said she wanted to tell me something that she'd come across and didn't know what to make of it. She seemed scared."
"And you went to see her," Harm concluded, careful to wear an absolutely neutral expression on his face and to keep his voice guarded. He didn't want AJ to notice that he was surprised that the admiral had so deliberately complied.
AJ's smile was sarcastic. "What was I supposed to do? Ignore an obvious plea for help? I'm an officer, Commander, in case you didn't know."
Harm knew better than to feel offended. He could distinguish no traces of hurt or reprimand in his CO's voice. This was just Chegwidden's way to react to a situation that emotionally shook him and endangered his usual unperturbed calm state of mind.
Mac thought it wise to take over. "And what did you find when you got to her?"
"Her." AJ's voice was tight and he stared right through Mac's glance, not seeing anything. "The door wasn't locked so when she didn't answer the bell I just walked in. Then I found her. In the entrance, stabbed with a butcher's knife. She was still conscious."
The last words had come out in a mere whisper. Mac's grip on Harm's hand tightened painfully. But before either of them could even think of what to reply to AJ's horrible tale, the admiral went on, as if on autopilot, still staring into the great nothing, not acknowledging his friends' presence.
"I wasn't thinking of the consequences. I called 911 and knelt down to support her, tossing aside the knife. I should have known I was acting foolishly. I mean, cases like this one cross our desks every so often. But I... I... wasn't able to think. All I knew was that a woman that meant a lot to me was dying, right there, before my eyes. And I couldn't do anything to prevent it. All I could do was hold her."
Harm swallowed. He didn't want to intrude his friend's grief but they had to get back to the hard facts. "So... your fingerprints would be on the doorbell and on the knife and..." he helplessly looked over to his wife in whose huge dark eyes he could only detect the same dread he was feeling himself right now.
"And I was found with her, yes." AJ had shaken himself from his state of haze and regained his usual gruffness. "Danny came in and... well... jumped to conclusions. And then the police and the ambulance arrived. The paramedics couldn't do anything."
"Were there any traces of a fight, sir?" Mac tried to keep her voice steady, switching to Marine-mode. She hoped the professional distance might help to prevent the situation from getting out of hand. Her co-workers instantly followed her example.
"No. She must have opened the door herself and been completely surprised by the attack. And there were no other fingerprints on the doorknob or on the knife. Somehow the attacker must have known I'd come to see her and thought it wise to let me play the role of the suspect. CSI wasn't able to find any other traces whatsoever until now. And Danny didn't really come to my aid by telling the police that his mother had been thinking about calling me for a couple of days but didn't dare to. He told them that she feared seeing me and that they both couldn't imagine how I'd react and that he'd begged his mother to keep me out of it all because, as he put it, 'Chegwidden's always wanted to interfere and tell us how to live our lives.' So that's it." It was obvious that AJ had no delusions about his present status as the primary suspect, given all the evidence against him.
"Do you have any idea what Dr. Walden could have wanted to tell you, sir?" Harm asked.
AJ frowned. "None whatsoever. I can only assume it had something to do with Darling Danny."
"We'll get into the matter first thing in the morning, sir," Mac said. "Any instructions for the office?"
AJ smiled. "I guess it would be useless to try to dissuade my chief of staff from defending me? Given her state, that is."
Mac smiled back, glad the mood had somehow lightened. She put her hand on her belly. "Our little Trisha just let me know that she wants no one other than her mommy and daddy to defend Uncle AJ. So I fear it's a hopeless case, sir."
"I see. Harm, I want you to take over as temporary JAG, though. I know it would have been Mac's task but I don't know how long this is gonna take and before long Mommy will be occupied at home. Right? So, Mac, I'll let you defend me, but you'll still start your maternity leave tomorrow, understood?" AJ looked at his officers.
"Aye, sir," they replied in unison, smiling.
AJ rose from his chair, his officers immediately following suit. "Go home now and get some sleep, will you? Especially you, Mac. I'll be all right."
Once again Mac hugged her CO and silently stepped aside. Harm took the hand that his CO offered him and squeezed it tightly. "We won't let you down, sir. We'll get you out of this." His gaze was intense.
The admiral gave him a half-smile in return. "Don't make promises you can't keep, son."
"I haven't yet." Harm smiled a little slyly.
"I'll watch him closely, sir," Mac cut in with a smirk. Then she sobered and took Harm's hand. "But you have our word of honor."
"Well, right." AJ let the old gruffness return to his voice to hide his emotion. "Anyway, even if you don't get me out of this, I know you won't let me down, guys. And now go home and get some rest. Or do I have to make it an order?"
"No, sir," Harm grinned. He put his arm around Mac's shoulders and guided her outside. AJ watched them leave, a sad smile on his face. 'I'm not so sure you'll convince those people of my innocence, Commander,' he thought. 'But I thank you for taking the family part.'
Mon, Feb. 15th 0542 ZULU Rabb residence Arlington, VA
"Harm?"
"Hmm?" Sheets began to rustle at Mac's right side and a moment later she felt her husband's face hovering near her own. "What's up? My favorite Marine can't sleep?" She could hear the smile in his voice through the darkness.
Smiling herself, she reached up with one hand and stroked his temple with her fingertips. "Not really."
"Care to share?"
"It's the admiral," she sighed.
"Come here." Harm lifted the blanket to allow Mac to move closer. She turned to lie on the other side and spooned up to him. He immediately encircled her in his arms and pulled her close. They lay in silence for a couple of minutes, silently enjoying each other's closeness. Then Mac spoke up.
"The situation is pretty desperate, isn't it?"
Harm gently kissed her neck and sighed. "Yeah. If Sydney's murderer really wanted to make it look like the admiral did it and if CSI doesn't come up with something really quick, we'll have nothing but the missing motive to base our defense on."
"That's not enough."
"No, it isn't. We'll have to have a little conversation with Petty Officer Third Class Daniel Walden, I suppose." Harm's voice held a tight edge. "If she knew her attacker I wouldn't be surprised if he came from Danny's former friends' sphere of influence. I'd really hoped the Navy would straighten him out but obviously it didn't work."
"Remember to give him the benefit of a doubt," Mac calmly admonished. "Sure, he's the first lead we have and we'll start looking for a link to his drug-dealing friends, but there might as well be something totally different involved. Don't jump to conclusions, Commander."
"Aye, ma'am." Harm's silent chuckle made his breath caress her neck and sent a shiver down her spine. For a moment they were silent. Then Mac sighed.
"You know, sailor, somehow I've been dreading something like this. I mean, hasn't life been just too perfect during these last months? Listen: first we get married. I'm pregnant with a seemingly healthy child. Then we find this wonderful house, like you promised, with a huge front porch swing and a lovely garden. Neither of us has to transfer out of JAG. Harriet has another adorable little son. Bud finishes his rehab and returns to full duty. Fred prolongs his stay in Washington. Jeannine's boyfriend leaves her and as she comes to visit us for Christmas, she falls in love with Sergei and makes him forget about Singer. Something just had to happen." Mac involuntarily shivered.
Harm tightened his embrace. "Shhh," he whispered soothingly, "Now don't you dare feel guilty for being happy, Marine. You, of all people, deserve all this, after that hell of a youth you had. Don't get the distorted idea that Chegwidden's trial is some sort of poetic justice for your personal happiness. The admiral himself would court-martial you for that, you know."
Mac, with a content sigh, snuggled even closer to her husband. "I know. It's just kind of hard to accept. And I'm really worried about him. After Uncle Matt, the admiral's been the closest thing to a father I ever had."
"Me, too," came Harm's somewhat strained, low answer, "Even though I always had Frank. But I know how you feel, honey."
Mac suddenly realized that Harm was taking this whole affair far harder than he had wanted to make her see. 'Stupid squid,' she gently scolded him in her thoughts, 'This leaning-on thing is supposed to be mutual, remember?' She carefully turned in his arms and kissed him softly. "I'm only glad that we have each other."
Even in the darkness she could see his beautiful, warm smile light up his face. "Tell me about it, Sarah." His hands were gently caressing her back. "I love you."
"I love you, too, Harm." Mac closed her eyes and buried her face in the curve of his neck. After a few moments he heard her muffled voice. "Make love to me, Harm?"
"You want me to?" he gently asked. "What does the little one say about it?"
Mac softly wriggled out of his embrace and, with a quick, smooth movement, removed her silk nightgown to reveal her belly. "Ask her," she invited him, smiling.
Harm shook his head, chuckling, and placed a loving kiss on her navel. Then he put his flat hands on the impressive swell. "Hey, Trisha," he said softly, "Would you mind if I showed your mommy how much I love her?" He waited a few seconds until he had felt his tiny daughter move. "It's okay with her," he declared with a smug smile, letting Mac remove his T-shirt and then pull him down to her.
"Could have told you," Mac murmured against his mouth before she let herself be swept away by Harm's tender caresses.
Mon., Feb. 15th 1411 ZULU JAG Headquarters Falls Church, VA
With long, quick strides, Harm crossed the bullpen from the elevator right to the admiral's office. "At ease, everyone listen." The staff turned expectantly and the room fell silent.
Harm felt far less confident than he tried to appear. How do you tell your subordinates that their CO has just been arrested for murder? Anyway, the sooner he got it over with, the better it would be. He and Mac hadn't revealed any of the particulars when they had left the Roberts' party to join the admiral. So the news would be equally shocking for everyone. Harm could tell by the way Harriet, Bud, Sturgis and Fred were exchanging quick worried glances, that speculation had already reached its high point when Chegwidden hadn't arrived at his usual time this morning. Better at once relieve the tension of insecurity.
"The admiral asks me to inform you that yesterday he was arrested by the Washington police."
A collective gasp floated through the room. A 'thud' indicated that Tiner had dropped the book he had been holding.
Harm swallowed and went on. "Admiral Chegwidden is accused of the murder of Doctor Sydney Walden. We all know that is not true, but the task will fall on Colonel Rabb and me to prove it. With the colonel starting her maternity leave today, the admiral has put me in charge of headquarters as temporary JAG. We'll hold our first staff meeting at 1500. That is all. Dismissed." He turned and entered AJ's office, pointedly closing the door behind himself. Half a minute later, he quietly opened it again and pushed it slightly ajar to be able to see his coworkers' reaction to his dreadful news.
Harriet had paled visibly and was right now in Bud's arms, the lieutenant holding her tightly and seemingly at a loss about what to say. Tiner and Sturgis were quietly discussing possible consequences, should the case go further than the Article-32 hearing. Fred could be seen in his office, firmly holding on to the receiver of his telephone as if it were some sort of an anchor. He was obviously trying to call Claire. And Singer was sitting at her desk, staring blankly at her monitor, not moving for an entire two minutes. But somehow Harm refused to believe that Miss Icebreaker could have been shaken by his news. Carefully, he closed his door and with a sigh sat down in AJ's chair that all of a sudden seemed huge.
A little while later, he heard a knock on the door. Tiner popped his head in. "Lt. Singer would like to see you, sir."
'That's what I needed.' Sighing, Harm nodded. "Tell her to come in, Tiner."
"Aye, sir."
The lieutenant stepped into the room and came to attention in front of him. To his astonishment, Harm detected a somewhat unsure and... guilty look on her face.
"At ease, Lieutenant. You wanted to talk to me?"
Singer's gaze never wavered but her voice seemed slightly tight. "Yes, sir. Sir... I thought I should inform you about a phone call I just received." She waited for Harm's reaction.
"Go ahead."
"It was about the admiral's Article-32 hearing. I suppose the normal procedure would have been to call you first, sir, as you're the temporary JAG. But the officer who called me told me she wanted to talk to me first. And she asked me to sit second chair to prosecution. I declined."
Harm willed his eyebrows to stay in place. Singer had declined an offer such as this? Of her own free will? And even more, she'd come to him and informed him about a call she had received from some high-ranking officer that could be in the position to push her career? Did miracles ever cease to happen?
"May I ask why you declined the offer, Lieutenant?" he ventured, trying to sound neutral.
Singer's mouth showed the thinnest of cynical smiles. "I suppose you're surprised that I did, sir. Actually, I'm surprised myself. But I did attend the Academy once, too, Commander, and I haven't been as completely unreceptive to the Code of Honor as you may think. The admiral may not like me. But he's always been fair. And, frankly, I don't think he did kill Doctor Walden. So I won't be the means of some personal revenge crusade that some navy captain unknown to me seems to want to pull against him. And his defense counsels, for that matter."
Harm had to admit he was impressed. He could tell from Singer's expression that, had the person in question been someone else, she would immediately have taken the opportunity to advance her career. But she seemed to value the admiral as a just person and obviously didn't like the idea of being used for ulterior, personal motives of whoever it was who took the prosecution. 'Wait a minute,' he suddenly told himself, 'A captain? She? A personal revenge crusade against certain members of this office? It couldn't be...' He sat up straight in his chair and locked his gaze with Singer's.
"What was the name of the captain who called you, Lieutenant?"
"Captain Allison Krennick, sir."
To be continued... (Feedback - as always - appreciated!)