Harm was tired, but he'd have to be dead not to realize something
was up. An invitation to the Admiral's house that was in reality a
thinly-disguised order was his first clue. The presence of Clayton
Webb was his second.
He groaned inwardly. His last assignment hadn't been a difficult
one, but it did involve a good 20 hours travel time. And now Webb?
This couldn't be good, he thought, taking a seat in an overstuffed
chair.
Only then did he notice Mac sitting in a corner of the couch. She
was watching him carefully, like she was uncertain of him. What the
hell was going on?
AJ and Webb joined them, taking seats themselves. It had been
decided that the news should come from the Admiral. "Commander," he
began, the slightest note of weariness in his voice, "I know you're
wondering what's going on here."
Harm glanced around. "The question had occurred to me, Sir."
AJ nodded, and continued. "There's no easy way to tell you this,
so I'll just say it straight out. The Colonel, Mr. Webb and I have
recently come into possession of information regarding your father."
Mac felt a surge of pain as she watched Harm's face go ashen. But
he had to know. Her heart tightened in her chest as Harm choked out,
"I don't think I understand, Sir," in a near-whisper.
"We have reason to believe your father's remains have been
discovered," AJ said quietly. Damn, this was harder than he'd thought.
Harm just sat there, frozen in shock. If she didn't know better,
Mac would suspect he wasn't far from passing out. She wavered, then
moved closer and took his hand. "Harm," she said quietly, "Please
listen. Mercedes-- your cousin-- came to see me. Back in 1992, she
was a part of the team that examined the Romanovs' remains in
Yekaterinburg."
"What does that have to do with Dad?"
"She made contacts over there, and one of them recently asked her
to come work on some unidentified remains that had been found. She's
suspended from her job here, so she went. When she got there, she ran
a DNA sample on the bones. But before that, she ran a sample of her
own DNA to check the calibration on the machine. The two sets of
results were too similar to be anything but relatives."
Harm just stared at her. "She's lying. She has to be."
The knot in Mac's chest got tighter. God, this was killing him.
"Harm," she began again, "she showed me the results. And there was
more." She stopped, taking a deep breath, fighting the tears pricking
at her eyelids. "Mercedes asked the local tech if there was anything
found with the remains. Personal effects." She couldn't stop the
single tear that began trailing down one cheek. "There was a gold
wedding band. She showed me the picture, Harm. It was old and worn,
but you could still read the inscription inside. It said "love
eternal", along with your Dad's and Mom's names."
Harm was frozen in disbelief, staring at her. "No," he whispered,
"It can't. It just can't be."
Webb, who had been silent, finally spoke up. "I saw the evidence,
too, Harm. There was nothing to indicate it was anything but real."
Harm leaned forward, head in his hands. "Oh God," was all he said,
in a voice so soft it could barely be heard.
The others present said nothing, giving him time to adsorb all he'd
been told. It was obvious when he'd managed to get past the initial
shock; he looked up, straight at the CIA agent. "Clay--,"
"I'm already working on it," Webb answered. "but it's not going to
be easy. I'm still trying to get Sergei out of Chechnya, and pushing
too hard on either issue could backfire."
A thought occurred to AJ. "Webb. What about Mercedes?"
All eyes were on Clay. "I talked with her last night and told her
to leave it alone; it was the only thing I could do. Otherwise she was
going to go off half-cocked and try something on her own, like someone
else I know," he added dryly. "I put a flag on her passport his
morning. She can't leave the country."
Harm and the Admiral relaxed slightly, one less thing to worry
about in their minds. But Mac latched on to something Webb had said.
"Wait. You put the flag on this morning?"
"Yeah. Nothing specific, just that she was wanted for
questioning," Webb replied.
"And nothing's shown up yet?" Mac asked, disbelief in her voice.
"Nobody's come across her, and she hasn't come back to either one of
us, completely furious?"
The realization hit the three men at once. Webb immediately yanked
out his cell phone and punched in a number. "Webb. I need you to run a
check of all flights leaving the tri-state area for Europe or Asia from
nine last night until eleven this morning. Now," he ordered. "Look for
the name Mercedes Rabb."
"Try Von Kleist as well," The Admiral suggested wryly.
Webb held up his hand for silence as the tech on the other end
confirmed his worst nightmare. The only question left in his mind was
whether the SEAL, the Marine, or the Tomcat pilot was going to get the
first swing.
He hung up the phone, turning back to the other three. "Mercedes
Rabb arrived in Moscow early this morning."
TBC.....
was up. An invitation to the Admiral's house that was in reality a
thinly-disguised order was his first clue. The presence of Clayton
Webb was his second.
He groaned inwardly. His last assignment hadn't been a difficult
one, but it did involve a good 20 hours travel time. And now Webb?
This couldn't be good, he thought, taking a seat in an overstuffed
chair.
Only then did he notice Mac sitting in a corner of the couch. She
was watching him carefully, like she was uncertain of him. What the
hell was going on?
AJ and Webb joined them, taking seats themselves. It had been
decided that the news should come from the Admiral. "Commander," he
began, the slightest note of weariness in his voice, "I know you're
wondering what's going on here."
Harm glanced around. "The question had occurred to me, Sir."
AJ nodded, and continued. "There's no easy way to tell you this,
so I'll just say it straight out. The Colonel, Mr. Webb and I have
recently come into possession of information regarding your father."
Mac felt a surge of pain as she watched Harm's face go ashen. But
he had to know. Her heart tightened in her chest as Harm choked out,
"I don't think I understand, Sir," in a near-whisper.
"We have reason to believe your father's remains have been
discovered," AJ said quietly. Damn, this was harder than he'd thought.
Harm just sat there, frozen in shock. If she didn't know better,
Mac would suspect he wasn't far from passing out. She wavered, then
moved closer and took his hand. "Harm," she said quietly, "Please
listen. Mercedes-- your cousin-- came to see me. Back in 1992, she
was a part of the team that examined the Romanovs' remains in
Yekaterinburg."
"What does that have to do with Dad?"
"She made contacts over there, and one of them recently asked her
to come work on some unidentified remains that had been found. She's
suspended from her job here, so she went. When she got there, she ran
a DNA sample on the bones. But before that, she ran a sample of her
own DNA to check the calibration on the machine. The two sets of
results were too similar to be anything but relatives."
Harm just stared at her. "She's lying. She has to be."
The knot in Mac's chest got tighter. God, this was killing him.
"Harm," she began again, "she showed me the results. And there was
more." She stopped, taking a deep breath, fighting the tears pricking
at her eyelids. "Mercedes asked the local tech if there was anything
found with the remains. Personal effects." She couldn't stop the
single tear that began trailing down one cheek. "There was a gold
wedding band. She showed me the picture, Harm. It was old and worn,
but you could still read the inscription inside. It said "love
eternal", along with your Dad's and Mom's names."
Harm was frozen in disbelief, staring at her. "No," he whispered,
"It can't. It just can't be."
Webb, who had been silent, finally spoke up. "I saw the evidence,
too, Harm. There was nothing to indicate it was anything but real."
Harm leaned forward, head in his hands. "Oh God," was all he said,
in a voice so soft it could barely be heard.
The others present said nothing, giving him time to adsorb all he'd
been told. It was obvious when he'd managed to get past the initial
shock; he looked up, straight at the CIA agent. "Clay--,"
"I'm already working on it," Webb answered. "but it's not going to
be easy. I'm still trying to get Sergei out of Chechnya, and pushing
too hard on either issue could backfire."
A thought occurred to AJ. "Webb. What about Mercedes?"
All eyes were on Clay. "I talked with her last night and told her
to leave it alone; it was the only thing I could do. Otherwise she was
going to go off half-cocked and try something on her own, like someone
else I know," he added dryly. "I put a flag on her passport his
morning. She can't leave the country."
Harm and the Admiral relaxed slightly, one less thing to worry
about in their minds. But Mac latched on to something Webb had said.
"Wait. You put the flag on this morning?"
"Yeah. Nothing specific, just that she was wanted for
questioning," Webb replied.
"And nothing's shown up yet?" Mac asked, disbelief in her voice.
"Nobody's come across her, and she hasn't come back to either one of
us, completely furious?"
The realization hit the three men at once. Webb immediately yanked
out his cell phone and punched in a number. "Webb. I need you to run a
check of all flights leaving the tri-state area for Europe or Asia from
nine last night until eleven this morning. Now," he ordered. "Look for
the name Mercedes Rabb."
"Try Von Kleist as well," The Admiral suggested wryly.
Webb held up his hand for silence as the tech on the other end
confirmed his worst nightmare. The only question left in his mind was
whether the SEAL, the Marine, or the Tomcat pilot was going to get the
first swing.
He hung up the phone, turning back to the other three. "Mercedes
Rabb arrived in Moscow early this morning."
TBC.....