A Man Called Ghost

Chapter 2

Marine Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie, or Mac as she was known to her friends, slowly made her way into JAG ops for the day. Passing through the bullpen without looking up she quietly slipped into her office and sat down heavily in her chair, dropping her briefcase at her side. She was sure that had been Harm last night; not the Harm she remembered with his ready smile and quick charm, but a darker, harder Harm. She had almost fell over when she saw him walk out of the bar, and he had to have seen her…he looked right at her and Clay. But his eyes…thinking about his eyes almost brought the tears back that she had shed all through the night. Where once life and mirth had reigned in his eyes, now there was nothing. They were flat pools of steel, the eyes of the dead.

With a sigh she noticed how badly her hands were shaking and decided she needed some coffee to calm her nerves. Dreading having to pretend to be cheerful she cautiously stepped out of her office to make her way to the break room. She almost turned around when she saw Harriet's sunny face coming out of the room as she got there.

"Colonel! How are you this morning ma'am?"

"Just fine Harriet. Excuse me." Mac said and then bit her tongue. She hadn't meant to sound so harsh with Harriet, it was just sometimes she didn't know how Harriet could be so cheerful all the time.

"What's wrong ma'am?" Harriet asked with concern written upon her face.

Mac bit her tongue even harder. She couldn't tell Harriet, could she? She had to tell somebody! It was killing her to know that Harm had walked away from her, his closest friend for eight years, without a single word or a glance back. Holding up her hand to motion Harriet to not go anywhere Mac hurried into the break room and grabbed a cup of strong black coffee and then grabbed Harriet's arm and dragged her off towards her office. Closing the door behind Harriet Mac slumped back down in her chair and looked up at her friend with tears in her eyes.

"I saw him last night Harriet." She sobbed.

"Who ma'am?" Harriet asked and then stopped. There was only one person who could make the Colonel cry. "The Commander?" she asked in a hushed voice.

Nodding slightly Mac dashed the tears from her eyes. "Clay said it wasn't him, but I know it was him Harriet. I know it." She said with a fierce conviction.

"Where was it?"

"Some country western bar…the Farmhouse. I made Clay take me there for dinner instead of one of his fancy five star restaurants. We were just walking across the parking lot when he came out. I couldn't believe it Harriet…it was Harm. He looked so skinny Harriet…and his eyes…" she said plaintively.

"Did you talk to him ma'am?" Harriet asked in concern. She knew how distraught the Colonel had been since Commander Harmon Rabb had been required to leave JAG. The only contact she knew anyone to have with the Commander was her son AJ. Every couple months a package appeared in the mail from Harm to his godson; never a letter for anyone else, just AJ.

"I tried to…but he just turned away and left. He didn't even look back Harriet…it was like I was a stranger to him." Mac said with another sob as she brought her hand to her mouth.

Harriet jumped up and came around Mac's desk to wrap her in a sisterly hug. "Oh Mac…I'm so sorry. I know how much you've missed him."

"He's been gone so long Harriet…I can't even feel him anymore." Mac sobbed quietly.

A polite knock at the door caused both women to look up to see the concerned face of Petty Officer Jennifer Coates. "Ma'am…are you alright?" Jen asked quickly when she saw Mac's tearstained face.

"The Colonel just had an upsetting evening Petty Officer." Harriet said quickly.

Nodding slowly Jen just said "The Admiral would like to see you for your meeting Colonel."

"The meeting…I totally forgot!" Mac cried jumping to her feet. "What time is it?"

"You were supposed to be there five minutes ago ma'am." Jen said politely. When she'd first started asking what time it was everyone had been shocked; they all knew of the Colonel's uncanny ability to tell time without a watch.

"Thank you Coates. Please tell the Admiral I'm on my way." Mac said as she started grabbing things off her desk. As she started to leave she felt Harriet's hand on her arm.

"Colonel…don't you think you should freshen up first?" Harriet asked quietly.

Realizing she must look horrible from her recent fit of tears, Mac just nodded as Harriet led her to the bathroom. Five minutes later she was knocking on the Admiral's door with the signs of her tears washed away. Opening the door at the Admiral's bellowed "Enter!" Mac walked up to his desk and came to attention.

"Sit down Colonel. I'm sorry we had take time out of your busy day for this." The Admiral said with thinly disguised sarcasm.

"I'm sorry I'm late sir." Mac said without making excuses and sat down in one of the leather chairs nodding to Sturgis Turner who was already there.

"Its ok Sarah." A familiar voice said as Clayton Webb stepped away form the Admiral's bookcase.

"You both know Mr. Webb." The Admiral said crisply.

"Yes sir. Good to see you again Mr. Webb." Sturgis said politely.

"Commander, Colonel." Webb said just as politely.

"SecNav has decided that Mr. Webb is going to be able to borrow some of my officers yet again. That would be you two."

"I like to think of it as working with AJ, not borrowing."

"Whatever…just tell them what they need to know." the Admiral said.

"We have intelligence that indicates someone at the Naval Base in Umm Qasar is leaking information to the dissidents. With the cooperation of the Navy we're hoping to operate a sting that will allow us to capture the individual or individuals responsible."

"What's our role in this?" Sturgis asked after waiting a moment for Mac to ask the questions.

"You and the Colonel will pose as dissatisfied personnel with information you want to sell. You'll contact the individuals we tell you to and see who bites. When they bite you will get them to join you at a café in the bazaar that I indicate. We are hoping that the suspects will contact their buyers and set up a meeting…and once they attempt to get the information from you we can close the sting."

"Sounds risky Webb." The Admiral said harshly. "I'm not going to let you get my people killed."

"We've taken every precaution…we're going to have a man watching from a sniper's perch the whole time. His only task will be to ensure the safety of the sting team."

"He better be good." The Admiral said quietly.

"He's the best we've got."

"Who is he?" the Admiral asked suspiciously.

"Need to know AJ."

"I need to know Webb. Who. Is. He?"

"Ghost." Webb said after a moment's thought.

"What kind of name is Ghost?" Sturgis asked.

"The SAS gave it to him in the summer when he was training with them on counter terrorism tactics. They were impressed when none of them could find him during their training…he got more 'kills' than anyone else and managed to elude being 'killed' himself. Like I said, Ha…he's our best." Webb said barely catching his slip.

Mac looked up and asked quietly "When do we leave?"

"Tonight, 1835 from Dulles."

"Colonel, Commander. Clear up your paperwork and have everything squared away by 1430. You can secure then and go home to pack for your trip."

"Aye aye sir." They both said coming to attention and turning to leave. They both knew a dismissal when they heard it.

"Webb…stay a moment." The Admiral said in a dangerously quiet tone.

"AJ?"

"Who is this Ghost? I've never heard of him."

"I'm surprised you haven't AJ…he trained with SEAL Team 2 in the spring. Impressed the hell out of them too. He's one of our new additions…something of a late bloomer." Webb said unable to resist throwing out hints.

Narrowing his eyes Admiral AJ Chegwidden stood up and moved over to where Webb was standing. "Rabb." He said in quiet shock.

"You're good AJ. I wasn't sure you'd pick up on the clues."

"Does he know Mac and Turner are going to be there?"

"He does…he almost told Kershaw to go screw himself when he found out."

"Why?"

"Rabb doesn't work on ops that involve Navy personnel for some reason; its one of his demands about how his ops are run."

"Some things don't change I see. Kershaw lets him make 'demands'?" the Admiral asked with a shake of his head.

"Like I said…he's our best. I wasn't pulling your leg about the SAS and the SEALS. There's even talk the SAS want to bring him back as an instructor next time they run their anti-terrorism training program."

"Well that's Rabb for you. No matter what he puts his hat to he always comes out on top. Hell if he wanted to be a dentist, I'm sure he'd be the best damn dentist around." The Admiral said attempting to hide the regret in his voice. He'd been kicking himself ever since that damnable 'Go wrestle alligators' speech he'd given Rabb. He had no idea Rabb would go work for the CIA instead…and as a counter-terrorism specialist. "Why isn't he flying?"

"He started out that way…but soon caught Kreshaw's attention with some of his other skills. He was given Field Agent status without any previous training when he and his partner pulled an op out of the drink and salvaged it, saving hundreds of lives in the process."

"Well, I know Sturgis and Mac are going to be glad to see him…everyone worries about him."

"They won't see him AJ…not if he has his way. The only way we could get him to agree to this op was to plan an early insertion and late extraction. He won't leave his perch until they are secured on the chopper leaving the area. If everything goes according to plan they won't even know he was there. AJ…" Webb paused here. He knew how much the Admiral cared for Harm, his leaving JAG notwithstanding.

"What?" the Admiral asked suspiciously.

"He's not the same person they knew." Webb said hesitantly.

"What do you mean?"

"He's changed. A lot. He's seen and done too many things that have changed him." Webb said quietly, sinking into the chair that Mac had vacated. "I think you should know that Sarah saw him last night."

"That would explain her distraction this morning."

Nodding Webb looked up at AJ. "We were going to dinner and he happened to be at the place we were going to with some people he knows. He was leaving when we were coming in. Sarah tried to talk to him but he left without even looking at her."

"What the hell is that boy thinking?" the Admiral said sinking into the seat next to the one Webb was in.

"AJ…as much as anyone I can hazard a guess at what he's thinking. He doesn't want those who he loved to see the man he's become. You were in Vietnam AJ, you know what happened to our lone wolves out there. You know what happens to Special Forces people when they have to put their souls in storage."

"My god…what have I done?" the Admiral asked himself quietly.