An Innocent Man
~*1*~
Bobbie Latham let her thousand watt smile shine as she stepped off the elevator and turned to watch the door close. The smile could have meant she was on her way to see her smart, handasome, dignified, trustworthy man. Her heels began to click down the corridor as she made her way toward the usual din of the Bull Pen. She stood in the doorway for a moment searching through the fray for the tall form of Sturgis Turner. She smiled at the ever cheerful Harriet Sims Roberts, nodded at Admiral A.J. Chegwidden, and rolled her eyes in utter exasperation at the Commander and Colonel arguing heatedly in the corner of the room. Sighing she headed toward Commander Turner's office. Realizing he was bent over absorbed in a file, she decided to surprise him. Approaching him from behind she admired the view with a slight quirk of the lips and a deep breath.
"Hello, there Sailor." She saw Sturgis freeze and allowed herself a satisfied chuckle. "Busy for lunch?"
"Never too busy for you, Congresswoman Latham." Sturgis closed the file and replaed it in the drawer.
Watching the tall sailor unfold himself Bobbie felt a less than innocent grin spread across her face. "I've got a surprise for you." She paused as he grabbed his cover. "Well, actually it involves everybody here, but we'll tell them" she nodded at the bustling Bull Pen and threaded her arm through his, "after lunch."
~*2*~
Sturgis Turner returned to JAG Headquarters with a smile on his face and a shrug for Commander Rabb and Luitenant Roberts who both raised their brows at the expression. Let 'em think what they want for now. A dirty mind is a terrible thing to waste. He chuckled to himself drawing even more speculation from Harm and Bud.
Half an hour later Bobbie opened the door of Admiral Chegwidden's office and smiled. She watched as the key members of the JAG staff exited their offices and headed for his. Many brows were raised in question at her presence. She couldn't blame them; they had always been an extraordinary group of people, and that was recisely why she was there. She walked into the office following Harmon Rabb, as usual the last to arrive. "Sir, Colonel McKenzie and Luitenant Roberts are in a meeting with opposing counsel at the momnet." Petty Officer Tiner said then quickly checked the room for all requested parties, nodded, and started to close the door. "Petty Officer, please stay, this matter commands your attention as well."
"Yes, sir." Tiner said his tone revealing obvious confusion. "At ease." the Admiral said lightly. "Bobbie, this is your show."
Bobbie looked at four confused faces and let a smile break through. "First off, relax. There is no bad news coming. I know that's shock, but it's true." As shoulders fell and arms relaxed Bobbie chuckled. "Have any of you heard about the Rock Salute to the Military Benefit?"
Harm nodded and Harriet spoke up. "Yes, Ma'am. Several New York based bands organized it to be held" Harriet paused thinking, "this weekend."
Bobbie nodded still smiling. "As you probably know, Harriet, the concert is a fundraiser for several military support agencies. MWR, USO, even the Red Cross will be receiving the proceeds from ticket sales." She looked around the room some faces were still confused, others were beginning to follow her lead. "I've secured 20 tickets for the event." She stopped and enjoyed the smiles rippling across the faces of her friends. "As I said, the event is a fundraiser, so only 10 of those tickets are comps; those are spoken for and spread out over the arena." She looked at the Admiral the rest will be awarded through a silent auction taking place over the remainder of the week." AJ took over from there. "The reason you're here is the Congresswoman has been very generous deciding to give each of you—excluding Commander Turner-- two tickets to the event." A collective chuckle rolled through the office. Bobbie took several envelopes off the Admiral's desk. "Harriet." She said passing the smiling blonde the envelope. "Tiner." She called and laughed when the young man became tongue tied in his thanks. Bobbie looked at Harm. "I need to talk to you first." She said flipping his tickets to the back. "Admiral." She said handing AJ his tickets. "That's it, dismissed." AJ said quiet but sharp. As the group began to file out of the office, Bobbie laid a hand on Harm's elbow. "Your office, Commander?"
"Yes, Ma'am." He said only slightly concerned at her behavior. Truthfully it was the smug grin on Sturgis Turner's face Harm didn't trust. They walked silently through the Bull Pen, pass Mac's office where she and Bud were discussing the merits of a low profile case. He grinned without even realizing it. Bobbie realized it though, and the yenta in her rejoiced, but she said nothing of it to Harm. Closing the door behind him, Harm invited Bobbie to sit. Then taking his seat he simply arched a brow at her.
"Harm, how good is your math?"
"Good enough to know that 10 comp tickets leaves at least one of us without a guest's ticket."
"Mmm-hmm." Bobbie nodded and shifted her gaze to the window separating the Marine's office from the Sailor's. "If I told you that you have tow tickets on this envelope—meaning Mac doesn't get one at all—what would you say."
"Sounds unfair, Ma'am."
"Mmm. You're right. It's not fair." She reached across his desk and lay the envelope down. "But then, I'm a polotician. Who ever said I was fair?"
"Copping out, Ma'am."
"No, Commander just letting you make the decision—because I know you well enough to know you've already made the right one." She pushed herself from the chair and let her gaze drift back to the window. "Don't wait too long, Commander."
"Ma'am?" Harn asked his forehead crinckling with confusion or trepidation. Bobbie couldn't tell which so his looked Harm straight in the eye. "You heard me, Commander Rabb."
"Yes, Ma'am." He said quietly as she left him puzzling over the Congresswoman's unusually enigmatic remarks. Leaving the puzzle for another time Harm pushed away from his desk and rose. Checking Mac's office, he found her alone, nose buried in a file. He knocked out of habit, but entered without waiting for an answer. Mac never looked up but knew who it was.
"What'd ya want, Flyboy? I have 12 minutes before I go home and crawl into a hot bath--" she looked up. "Make it quick."
Harm shook his head. "How do you—never mind." he sighed. "Bobbie's been here."
Mac felt her stomach drop. "What now?"
"Good news actually." Harm said on a chuckle and launched into the explanation. Five minutes later Mac began the process of shutting down her computer and putting away her files while Harm finished telling her about the concert. "This is all very interesting, Harm." she pushed away from her desk and gathered case files to archive. "Does the Admiral have my tickets?" she asked bending to deal with a file.
"Not exactly." Harm cleared his throat which had gone inexplicably dry.
"Care to elaborate?"
"Bobbie only had ten comp tickets. The other ten are for the silent auction."
Mac did some quick calculations in her head, then shrugged. "So?"
"She gave Tiner, Bud and Harriet, Sturgis, and me two ticket each and the Admiral one."
"I'm not on the 'it list' huh?" Mac chuckled trying to keep her tone light. "That's fine. I'll bid on the others." She shrugged.
"You don't have to."
"Harm, you know I'm not fond of pity."
"How about friendship?" He asked very nearly angry with her. "I mean come on Mac, were talking Billy Joel here."
She laughed remembering the day she'd ribbed him about Billy Joel tapes. "So you are a fan huh?"
"I never said I wasn't." He lifted a careless shoulder. "I just told you what was on the tapes." A quick shadow of sorrow crossed his face.
"So what time are you planning on picking me up?"
"Mmm. Concert's 1900. How about 1630 for dinner before."
"Fine. "I'll be ready at 1700."
"I said 1630." He corrected
"I know what you said." she shot at him over her shoulder as she gathered her purse and cover.
~*3*~