Disclaimer: JAG belongs to DPB, Paramount, CBS et al. This is for fun, no copyright infringement is intended.
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Episodes: Promises, Drop Zone
- JAG Headquarters, Falls Church, Virginia
"No!"
"Is that your last word, Lieutenant?" Loren kept her face perfectly still as she asked the question. She knew this expression was very useful to throw Lieutenant Roberts off stride. The Lieutenant blinked but this time held his ground.
"It is," he confirmed.
"Well, then, as the Admiral has pointed out earlier ... you're first chair. It's your responsibility. So if you'll excuse me - I've got to finish another report."
Loren turned on her heels and walked straight to her desk, so Roberts had no chance for an answer. Settling down she pretended to be busy gathering papers together. For real she was peering out under her eyelashes to the still startled Lieutenant who was standing in the middle of the bullpen for some more seconds until he shook his head and went to talk to his wife. Of course to complain about Singer's newest misbehavior.
Loren suppressed a small, unhappy smile. Mission successfully completed: She had to be the most disliked person within JAG - especially under those members of the staff with marked files. Although she really wondered sometimes what Webb might have in common with Lieutenant Roberts. Or with anyone of the marked files because whenever she had heard any comments about the Deputy Director - rather few comments to say the least - they hadn't been exactly friendly. Some had even been outright accusing - especially those just a few weeks ago, when a flight with Commander Rabb and Colonel Mackenzie on board had been hijacked. Why was Webb so intend to protect them?
Sighing Loren dropped that thought. All in all it wasn't her business. Her business was to find the leak - and there was really very little progress in sight.
Across the bullpen approached Gunnery Sergeant Galindez Colonel Mackenzie and they talked. Then Mackenzie nodded and returned to her office. Galindez looked around and his eyes met Loren's. For a moment he gave her a cold stare then he walked over to Petty Officer Tiner.
Lost in thought Loren chewed on the end of her pen. Gunnery Sergeant Victor Galindez. Well, it seemed that was one more trace going down the drain. Too bad. She glanced down at the pen, realized what she was doing, rolled her eyes and took it out of her mouth.
'Damned old habits!'
She scribbled a G on a piece of paper. Galindez had had such a perfect profile. A former Marine, then with the police in New Mexico ... one of Senvealda's backdoors to enter the States ... and finally an offer to join the JAG staff not long before the first rumor of the leak had come up. He had taken quite some time to agree... Waiting for orders? The information about the leak had been so vague that it could have been the rumors of a possible leak... Well, maybe that came from too far away.
She drew a circle around the G. Anyway, she had dangled the proverbial carrot in front of his nose and he had refused to take it. If the analysis was right Senvealda's organization should be eager to build up a web of favors within JAG. So Commander Rabb's request to help with some research concerning a recruiting officer had been a perfect opportunity to play the ball into Galindez's field. His look had been very telling when she had taken all the credit for the information. Unfortunately that had been all.
Sighing she crossed the G out. He hadn't told the Commander. And he had never come back to her about owing favors. His behavior was rather chilly now but absolutely correct in all points of the protocol. No hints. Nothing to complain about. Nothing...
Slowly she put a question mark behind the G. Was it possible that he was just acting? That he had sensed something? Or that he had simply decided Singer wasn't worth the effort? No. Sighing again she blackened the question mark. She didn't think so. Possible was everything but probable? Most probable Galindez was exactly what he seemed to be. And that meant she was still getting nowhere.
She ripped the sheet of paper off the pad, tore it once, crumpled it up and dumped it into the waste-paper basket. Sorting through the files on her desk she tried to refocus on the case she was handling together with Roberts. She grimaced a little. Personally she didn't like their client. What she had read in the B part of the mishap report was strongly indicating that the accident could have been avoided - but that wasn't her responsibility to judge. The man was her client and so she was bound to do the best for him.
If only Roberts would be a little bit less... irritating. At least he was understandable again, although she sometimes wished his jaw would still be fixed ... only sometimes. He wasn't that bad a lawyer - a rather decent one indeed - but that wasn't enough with a prosecutor like Colonel Mackenzie. Damn, the woman was good. Singer was supposed to be a pit-bull? Well, she was nothing compared to Mackenzie's determination when the woman was prosecuting a case. No wonder the Admiral was putting her in that position more and more often.
Loren rubbed her temples. She knew she was walking on a very fine line between doing the right thing for her client, keeping up Singer's character and using her own skills as a lawyer. Sometimes she wished she had had more time to study the details of military law. That crash course at Langley had been intense but nevertheless exactly that: a crash course. Nobody was able to learn in a few weeks what was normally studied for years! She was still spending most of her free time on reading and learning. Thank God she had always been a quick learner.
Suddenly sensing a presence she looked up.
"Yes, Petty Officer?"
"The file you've asked for, Ma'am." The young man held out a manila folder.
"Ah - thank you." Loren took it and glanced inside. The Petty Officer didn't move and she looked up again.
"Anything else, Westland?" She raised an eyebrow. The young man didn't look as uncomfortable as he was supposed to be at this gesture.
"No, Ma'am. Nothing." He walked away.
Loren frowned then shook her head and concentrated back on her work.
- JAG Headquarters, Falls Church, Virginia
Loren fought hard to rein in her emotions as she walked quickly across the bullpen to her desk. She was very aware of the not too friendly glances she received from anyone as soon as she wasn't looking. Pulling back her chair she made a show of sitting down and shuffling through her papers. Staring into a file without seeing it she sighed inwardly.
All right, maybe her last line about going to be the first female JAG had been a little bit too much. But Commander Rabb's blunt threat to destroy personally the career of the person who had placed the mishap report into Colonel Mackenzie's car had hit a nerve. The last thing she needed was a blood-seeking Commander Rabb following any of her steps.
Loren rested an elbow on the tabletop and put her chin in her hand. Nevertheless - how did that report land in Mackenzie's car anyway? She had acted on instinct when she had immediately objected to the Colonel's line of questioning. Especially because her own copy of the report was missing as she had discovered just a little bit earlier the same morning. She had never considered Mackenzie to go to such lengths but you never knew...
Loren tapped her fingertips against her lips. If that report had really been placed into the car - and she wasn't entirely convinced that Mackenzie's statement on that was true - who did it then? And why? Galindez? He had to know that Mackenzie wasn't allowed to see the B part. He had to know that one look could bring her in serious trouble... Serious trouble. Serious trouble for the prosecution - luck for the defense. The defense. Lieutenant Roberts and herself.
Loren narrowed her eyes. Favors. Trading favors. Doing favors...
"I've heard your client has been lucky."
Loren tried not to jump at the casually speaking voice behind her back. She turned and stared up to Petty Officer Westland. Her heart thundered against her rips.
"So. Did you hear that." She pushed any emotion out of her flat statement.
Westland smirked a little. He lowered his voice even more. "With so many evidence excluded Commander Rabb's had no other choice than offering you a deal. Colonel Mackenzie would have been a much harder nut to crack."
Loren got up. She was relieved their eyes were on the same level so her hard glare had even more weight.
"You placed the report in her car," she whispered. It wasn't a question.
The smirk was still on Westland's lips. "Looks like you owe me."
"Owe you?" Loren closed the already tiny gap between their bodies. She prayed he wouldn't sense the fast beating of her heart. "You've searched my desk."
Westland's smirk shifted a little.
"You've taken my report."
The smirk started fading.
"And what is more: Now everybody thinks I've put that report into Mackenzie's car."
Now Westland wasn't smiling any more.
"And that could be highly damaging to my career!" Loren added a little more sharpness to her voice. Westland looked now quite unsure. She stared right into his eyes.
"It looks like you owe me a favor."
The Petty Officer looked now rather confused.
"Dismissed!" Loren threw all her authority into her hiss.
Westland almost snapped to attention and made a hasty retreat. As he walked away he glanced back over his shoulder.
Loren waited until he had disappeared around the next corner before she sat down again. Not a bad thing because her knees were shaking. Her sudden excitement swept away any thought of the case or the still hostile looks or even of Mackenzie's fate. A trace? Was that - a trace?