His lips brush against my knuckles and he whispers, "You smell nice…I want to stay here."

"Me too," I murmur with a smile, "Only one problem."

I shift slightly in the bed, moving closer to him and I close my eyes. One of his hands lies tangled in my hair, and gently starts to massage my scalp. Regardless of what I thought would happen, last night included nothing more than hours of companionship, which both of us needed desperately. We've both been through a lot lately, and Harm assured me that it wasn't because he didn't want anything more, it was that he couldn't do anything. I agreed whole-heartedly - after a tiny bit of coaxing; nearly nine years, I can wait a few more days, right?

"What?"

"We need to be at JAG in…one hour and twenty-two minutes."

Harm sighs, "Meeting De Luca today, right?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

I can feel the mattress shifting under me as Harm gets up. Last night, he slept in his uniform (sans the jacket), and managed to sleep quite comfortably. "Do you think the Admiral will notice that I'm wearing the same clothes as yesterday?"

I yawn and bury my face into my pillow with a sigh, "I don't know. He has an eye for these things."

"I'll make breakfast," he says after a moment, and leaves the room. I'm left to wonder how he's going to make Frosted Flakes, but soon, I too roll over to get ready. I manage to stumble to the bathroom, squint in the mirror to see my disheveled face staring back at me. I brush my teeth while hastily running my fingers through my hair, in a vain attempt to get it vaguely back into place. I pick up my hairbrush, remembering Harm is waiting outside; there will be time for fixing myself up later. Duty leaves relatively little time for romance, regardless of how much or how long you've wanted it.

Outside, as suspected, Harm is placing two bowls on the table and putting the blue box of cereal in the center, beside the vase which holds the bunch of flowers given to me by Clay. He's made himself up quite well, considering all he had to his disposal was a day's old set of clothes. Apart from his hair, which needs a little work, I'd say he could pass through the office without any problems.

He looks up at me with a grin, "You really need to get some eggs or something in here."

I shrug, "When I have time."

"Which will be?"

"Never."

"You know, I'll help you with some grocery shopping later. Maybe it'll cut off your little love affair with Tony the Tiger," he says between mouthfuls of cereal.

I let my chin rest on top of my open palm, "That'll be fun, but no more Tony?"

He slurps at a spoon of milk thoughtfully, "Tony'll be here alright, just not as much. I mean, you haven't lived until you've had some of Uncle Rabb's famous pancakes."

After clearing up, I go near him and reach up to brush his hair back, "This is the only thing that'll give you away. Better get to the bathroom," I say, sweeping my hand through his hair again, doing it more so to feel it under my fingers than to help him smooth it out, "I can't work miracles." My grin melts away when he leans down to brush his lips against mine.

Harm's cell phone rings, interrupting the moment. His eyes don't leave my face as he answers it, "Hello?"

I can hear a harsh voice on the other end, sounding loud and angry.

"Mattie? Honey, I'm so sorry. My car broke down yesterday while I was working on the case at Mac's and…why didn't she drive me home? Oh, her 'vette broke down too. Yeah, I know, coincidence. I forgot to call, I got caught up with all that lawyering," Harm says. He stares at me wide-eyed, asking for support. I put my hands out, gesturing I have nothing to offer, "I spent the night here on Mac's couch. Alright, bye."

I smile, "If that was the case, why didn't you ask Jen to give you a ride?"

I smirks back, "Because…her car broke down, too," he pulls me in close for one more kiss. I don't think I'll ever get used to this.

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At JAG, we head to Harm's office, after being told that De Luca is waiting there, along with a CIA operative who wants in on the information. There's nothing we can do to keep the spooks away, so we give in reluctantly.

Inside the small room, Clayton Webb waits for us with a very apprehensive looking De Luca in the chair, his face directed to the wall.

"Rabb, Sarah," Clay says, his hands stuffed in his pockets, "the agency wants a leg-up about the Rossi drug ring. They think this guy will give it to us."

I shut my mouth, which has been hanging agape for quite some time; I feel I have two options. Run out of the room before the situation gets unbelievably awkward, or handle this strange predicament in a calm and controlled manner, as a marine should. Quite aversely, I decide to pick the latter. I sit down behind Harm's desk as I exhale a breath slowly, not caring that this is not my office.

Harm eyes me as he puts his briefcase on the table and nods, "Hey, Webb." He goes behind me, crosses his arms and looks at De Luca, "Lieutenant? You were seen leaving the warehouse after Rossi's murder and before Harper's body was discovered. Now, unless you are…clairvoyant, I don't see why you were there."

"What warehouse?" De Luca mumbles.

I chuckle and glance at Harm with a very fake smile, "Did you mess with the crime scene, Lieutenant?"

De Luca is silent. He takes out a handkerchief from his coat pocket and blows his nose. He then grabs on the arms of the chair, his knuckles becoming increasingly whiter.

"I have a file on you here, Lieutenant. Got it from my partners," Clay says, handing Harm a manila folder, "I haven't had a chance to look at it yet. Rabb, why don't you give De Luca the gist of it?"

Harm puts it on the desk in front of me and peers at it over my shoulder. I'm not shocked by what I see – more cover-ups.

"Carlo De Luca, forty-five years of age. Previously known as Angelo Zito? Your friends are good, Webb," Harm says, pointing to the topmost page, "Got anything to say, Lieutenant?"

"No."

Harm breathes in, "Alright. Zito - you, were involved in," Harm looks at me with a smile, "a drug arrest?"

De Luca's eyes flick to the ceiling with defeat, "Fine. Please, can this not get to my family? I have a daughter, a wife, I don't want them to know."

"That'll be hard, Lieutenant. If you did something…" I whisper.

"I…about fourteen years ago, I changed my name. I was into drugs, gangs, things like that. Soon, the pressure became too much," De Luca says, "and they were constantly threatening me. I escaped from all that, joined the police, and started a family…but I had started to get calls again from Benito Rossi about six months ago."

Harm's muscles tense under his shirt. I lean forward and furrow my brow with interest.

"He said he knew about me, and threatened to hurt Alessa, my daughter, if I didn't start helping him again. It started out small, helping with bribes, but on the night we found that naval officer's body, his friend - Henry something - called me. He said that he'd see to it Alessa was killed unless I went to the warehouse and made sure it seemed like Benito was not guilty."

"But you didn't count on Rossi being dead."

"No, I didn't. I found that woman, and I just could not. I couldn't do it. I had moved the knife to clear Benito's prints off, but I left it there after a few moments of hesitation. That's all I did, I promise, Colonel."

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"Mr. Durcell, can you tell the court what happened on the night of May 13?" I say, standing in front of the Harm, who sits behind the desk armed with a pen.

Durcell is wearing the same, filthy tie with the stains. He sniffles, "Well, I was at home, and I…I just came home from the club, and I got a phone call from Ben."

"Ben?"

"Benito Rossi. He said he had got that woman…uh…Harper. She didn't pay him the full amount for some drugs."

"So, Mr. Rossi admitted to you that he had killed Petty Officer Lisa Harper? Did he say how he killed her?"

"Yes. He said he stabbed her. He said he'd never seen so much blood in his life, and Harper wasn't Ben's first…"

Mattoni stands up, "Objection. We're trialing Rossi's murder, not the Petty Officer's. I don't think this is relevant."

"Your Honor, I'm merely trying to show that Harper's gruesome murder left Petty Officer Larson in a shaky, unpredictable state," I interject before Judge Patton can come to a decision. "Overruled. Continue, Colonel."

"Thank you, Your Honor. Mr. Durcell, then, what did you tell Mr. Rossi?"

Durcell glances at Judge Patton nervously, "Do I have to say?"

"Yes, Mr. Durcell," I say, putting my hands together in front of me, "What did you tell Mr. Rossi on the phone."

He breathes in, "I told him to get rid of the body somehow. That was the last time I ever talked to him."

"But later, you called Lieutenant Carlo De Luca, correct?"

"Yes. I told him to help me out. I knew Ben would screw up, he never was good with little details, so I decided to help him out with the Lieutenant. De Luca said he'd clear up the crime scene."

I make my way back to the desk, "Thank you, Mr. Durcell."

Mattoni frowns, "Prosecution has nothing to ask at this time."

Harm leans over to me, "I'll go with Larson."

"You sure?" I whisper.

He nods and gets up, "Defense calls Petty Officer Andrew Larson to the stand."

Larson gets up and hesitantly makes his way to the chair. His face is grim when he goes through the bailiff's normal routine. When he sits down, Harm smiles reassuringly.

"Petty Officer Larson, you heard Harper scream when you were near the docks. Then, you went in the direction of the sound and saw her body?" Harm says, pointing back theatrically.

"Yes, Sir. I saw her, and Mr. Durcell wasn't lying, Commander. There was so much blood…" he closes his eyes.

"What did you do?"

Larson pulls at his sleeve distractedly, "I just stood there, Sir, until I heard footsteps. I saw the Italian man there, and he had a knife. He came at me, yelling something. I saw the gun, I think he left it behind when he killed Lisa…I shot him."

"When you saw Mr. Rossi with the knife, Petty Officer," Harm says, stepping forward to block Mattoni from Larson's view, "you though you were in danger, and shot him in self defense?"

"Yes, Sir."

Harm looks at the floor, contemplating whether to ask the next question, "You saw your colleague's…no, your friend's bloody body in that warehouse before you shot Mr. Rossi. How close were you to Petty Officer Harper?"

"Very, Sir. She was one of my best friends," Larson says, swallowing hard.

Harm moves a bit around the courtroom, as if to ease the tension for Larson, "Did you spend a lot of time with her? Go out, things like that?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Would you say that seeing her in that state made you angry? Or confused?"

Larson nods.

"Did you love Petty Officer Lisa Harper?"

Larson pauses a long moment. He looks around the courtroom, as if trying to find a way to escape. He looks at me, and I nod slightly. He glances at Judge Patton, who's face is unreadable, "Yes. I loved her..."

Harm moves back after a moment of letting the silence take effect in the courtroom, "Your witness."

Mattoni pushes his chair back and gets up, "Petty Officer, you said Mr. Rossi came at you with the knife. I have here, two crime scene reports of the warehouse. During your talk with the Italian authorities, you said you came through the eastern entrance. However, Mr. Rossi, after supposedly making a call to Mr. Durcell, came back in from the southern entrance. How is it possible you saw him come at you with a knife, if the knife was found at the southern exit? I thought you shot Mr. Rossi near the eastern entrance?"

I nudge Harm and he looks at me. I knew I was right in thinking Mattoni was aware of the knife dilemma.

Larson opens his mouth and looks at both Harm and I for support, "I saw him with the knife, Sir."

"The knife was at least thirty meters away from where Rossi's body was found, Petty Officer. Unless you moved it, or the handle of the blade grew legs and walked away, I fail to see how you saw him come at you with the knife!"

Larson doesn't say anything, he simply looks down at his hands.

Mattoni shuffles the papers in his hands, "Fine, Petty Officer. I have one more question for you. Supposing Mr. Rossi did have the knife, and he was coming in your direction, how do you know he was going to hurt you?"

"He just…I saw Lisa…Petty Officer Harper's body. I saw what he could do-"

"But you didn't have any evidence at the time that Mr. Rossi was the one who killed her," Mattoni says, raising an eyebrow.

Larson frowns, "I just knew, Sir! He killed her in cold blood."

"Just like you killed Benito Rossi?"

I stand up, "Objection."

Mattoni steps back, "Withdrawn. Nothing further."

Judge Patton is silent. She pushes her glasses up her nose with a sigh, "Is that all, counselors?"

"No, Your Honor, the defense wishes to call one more witness," I say, standing up, "Lieutenant Carlo De Luca."

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"I was…I came to the warehouse after Mr. Durcell called me," De Luca says, tripping slightly over 'Durcell'.

I tilt my head, "What did he tell you to do?"

"He told me to help Mr. Rossi by getting rid of all the evidence incriminating him. So I go into the warehouse and I see the girl's body. I find the knife, pick it up, knowing it will have Benito's prints, so I go to wipe it off, but I see Mr. Rossi's body a moment later. So I start heading outside to leave and drop it near the exit, and I leave."

"Why did you do that?"

"After seeing that girl, stabbed, I just couldn't. I left the knife there and went home to my wife and daughter."

I nod, "Where was the knife when you found it?"

"About two feet away from the girl's body…I did not see Rossi anywhere though until I started wiping the knife. That's when I stopped cleaning the knife and started to run out of the warehouse."

"Thank you, Lieutenant, for your honesty," I say.

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END CHAPTER VIII