Chapter 30 - End Game
"Ooof." Sadik's guards weren't gentle when they stripped him of his weapons or used the butt of his rifle to ram into Harm's abdomen. His already wounded midsection screamed bloody murder and against his wishes a guttoral yell escaped his lips.
He'd been careful and quiet but he'd also taken too long with Mac. The extended time he hadn't spent hiding alerted a guard he'd missed. When he tried to drop down to ground level, the footsteps coming at him made him pause: "Commander."
Sadik's eerie voice quietly said his former rank and when Harm turned around, he realized he was outnumbered. At first he tried raising his rifle, if he was caught at least he'd take down one of the bastards before he died. But his legs were swept out from under him, his body hit the deck like a giant tree that was felled. The wind was knocked right out of his lungs.
He was stood up roughly and held by two men so that the terrorist could strike at his abdomen. "Scream, Commander. I like that."
"Fuck you." Harm said between gritted teeth as he braced for another blow. Instead, Sadik ordered the men inside with their burden in tow, a heap he'd drop at Clayton Webb's feet.
"I thought you said we couldn't be found."
"We can't." Webb insisted while staring at the 6'4 man laying on the ground trying to catch his breath. "Rabb has no country. No allies. Only her."
Sadik's eyes squinted at the disgraced CIA officer, his expression mirroring the doubt he felt over Webb's comment. "If he found us…someone else will. You promised my safety, Clayton, I'd hate for you to go back on that promise. Terrible things can happen." He snapped his fingers at one of his men and motioned up with his chin. "The girl, bring her."
Harm expected Webb deny the terrorist his requests and come to Mac's defense but something was off. He saw it in the way Clay's head turned towards the window with an air of indifference. "Clay, let her go. Mac has no part in this. She's innocent."
"I know who Sarah really is, Harm. I know everything. The breakup, her job at Langley. You played me, both of you." Webb's voice was grabelly as he turned his head from the window and glared at Harm. "I should have known better. I just couldn't let her go."
Harm eyes found Sadik who stood off to the side obviously enjoying this little tete-a-tete with Clay."I always knew you were dirty but I could never imagine you working for him."
"I don't work for him. We're partners."
Using an armchair for support, Harm came to his feet. Sadik's smug grin gave him an odd feeling and he wondered just how true that partnership ran. Fahd didn't seem like the type who wanted or needed any kind of help. Webb, on the other hand, was either inept or acted like it, either way, he was not the man any sane individual would partner with. "Does he know that? Because from where I stand, I think Mr. Fahd is playing you too. Isn't that right, Sadik? Clay here is just a pawn."
But Sadik didn't defend his position or their shared interest. Truth be told, Webb's contacts in the CIA and his endless stream of information was the only reason the man wasn't instantly killed when he caught wind of the diamond trade. "Pawns are useful as well."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"That I tire of playing games." The tension had ratcheted to immerusable levels. Thick enough that it was palpable and it was then that the realization of his 'partner's' betrayal became evident. Sadik held a small pistol, its barrel pointed at Webb who had no way to defend himself.
"You won't shoot." His eyes drifted to the one guard in the room that was his, an unspoken conversation which sent the burly man hurling into Sadik.
It all happened in slow motion - the crack from his pistol, the unsheathing of a thin sword embedded in Clay's cane. There was a sound of its pointed tip slicing into one of Sadik's guards and then a gasp which came from the stairs.
Sadik's arm was pulled back, his finger squeezing the pistol's trigger over and over as the guard attacked, sending projectiles flying everywhere. One nearly missed Harm who, from the corner of his eye spotted Mac who stood halfway down the stairs.
One of her hands tightly gripped the balustrade turning her knuckles white from the force. The other hand clutched her chest. There was an inaudible word, a wail and then her limp body came tumbling down the stairs only stopping when it hit the ground.
Harm felt lost, disoriented, all in the span of the few short seconds that the melee took place. There was another crack of a gun, this time a larger caliber that caught the edge of his pants but didn't hit skin. He heard a scream, one that came from Webb who was now setting his sights on him. "You're a dead man, Rabb."
His fist was rolled up around the hilt of the small sword, the tip coated with blood from its first victim. The blade was pointed at Harm's chest and he could feel the bite from the tip that cut a line over his skin. But Webb waited too long, his eyes delighting in seeing his biggest nemesis in such a weakened state. He wanted to revel in the moment, remember for all time that he took the great Harmon Rabb's life. "I'm going to enjoy this."
"Go to hell." He was too fixated on bloodlust to see Harm's pull the knife out of his boot. It was used to slice the achilles tendon, a painful move that brought the spook crumbling to the ground, his screams of pain echoing across the home.
There was no hesitation or remorse when Harm's knife then plunged into Webb's chest. He turned the blade and pulled, feeling tissue and skin ripping on the edges as he yanked it free. Webb coughed, his mouth spewed frothy blood and with his wide eyes transfixed on Harm, the man took his last breaths.
Clay would bleed to death minutes later.
Only Sadik was left. Another bullet from his pistol had killed Webb's guard and his two associates had hoisted him up carrying the wounded man out of the mansion.
"No!" Harm grabbed a gun and gave chase only making it halfway through the home. Mac was hurt, he knew and despite wanting to rid the World of Sadik Fahd, she was more important.
He didn't hear the fatal shot taken by Chedwidden's rifle that ended Sadik Fahd's life.
AJ didn't know the carnage he'd find inside the large home. There was death and blood, the lifeless body of Clayton Webb and his cronies. At the bottom of the stairs were Harm and Mac. His former officer sat on the ground, arms wrapped around the Marine whose chest bore the evidence of a gunshot. Blood had spread across her shirt and onto Harm's hands that held a balled up cloth pressed against the wound in a failed effort to stop the bleeding.
"I'm sorry." She gasped. "I should have told…told you sooner about…about…the CI..A." Though her work was classified, there was no reason to hide the analyst job from him. She figured it was her secret to keep and the less people who knew the better. Mac never investigated Harm although her curiosity was piqued, he was never her target.
"That doesn't matter to me."
"But it does..to me I swear… I never, you-you weren't a..tar-target of mine."
Harm put pressure on the wound as much as possible but the blood still pooled out coating his hand with a crimson tint. "Mac, shhhh. Just hold on okay?"
"Can't." She shook her head. The burning pain in her chest was spreading, the ache making her desperate to breathe. It felt like a weight was crushing her. It felt like she was drowning too and the edges of her vision began to haze over. "We…may ha-have run out-t of…ti-time."
Harm was crying and had been since he saw the wound, the blood and the ashen appearance she'd taken on so quickly. "Don't say that. You're a Marine, remember?"
"I know…" Mac's breath sputtered, she coughed to clear her airways but the pain was unbearable. "Hurts…bad. Can't…breathe."
"Helo is coming, Mac. You just hold on, okay?" Chegwidden stood over the couple, his own feelings of guilt carrying a weight that was tough to bear. Fault could be passed between all parties involved but the fact that he didn't stop Webb from taking Mac to Paraguay would always haunt him.
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
Bethesda, Maryland
So much blood.
Harm stared at the drain, at the soapy rivulets coming from his body that were pink, red and also brown. He swore the more he scrubbed the darker the water ran until he manically rubbed his hands together hoping to stop the sticky feeling and that familiar metallic scent.
There was just so much blood - her blood.
The thought was making him hyperventilate, especially considering that nothing he did could staunch the vital fluid that flowed from the wound in Mac's chest. He reluctantly let go as the medics descended on her weakening body and practically shoved him out of the way.
Two men and one woman worked methodically to stabilize the Marine for transport, eventually placing Mac on a stretcher that was carted off to a waiting helicopter. Harm rode along feeling utterly helpless the more the medics fought to keep her alive.
He was kicked out of trauma the second he arrived and a kind nurse had offered a set of scrubs he could wear to ditch the blood soaked clothing. Dumbly, he stood in the hall waiting for news that never came until the stench of blood nearly forced him to throw up.
The same nurse caught his distress and mercifully pulled him into an empty room so that he could clean up and change. As he stood in the shower, Harm could only watch the blood disappear through the drain at his feet.
How could she lose so much and still be alive? He wondered. It seemed like the flow never stopped even as the medics began to stabilize her for flight.
Once Harm reached the waiting room he found Chegwidden, Bud and Sturgis sitting side by side in the farthest corner. He glanced at the men but chose to remain on his own leaning against the wall closest to the doors.
Information was slow to come, he knew it would be because a chest injury could take time to repair especially if the bullet entrenched itself in one of her organs. "I'm her fiancé." He said, when a Dr. Kenneth Strauss stepped out wearing scrubs that were bloodied. He asked for Mac's next of kin.
The lump in his throat barely let him speak and even swallowing was difficult. "She has no other family."
Chegwidden stood next to him, an emotional support he needed at that time along with Bud and Sturgis who witnessed the carnage back at the mansion. "I'm her commanding officer, Rear Admiral AJ Chegwidden, Judge Advocate General. I can vouch for the Commander."
The doctor stared at both men and then sighed. "Okay. Colonel MacKenzie has lost a lot of blood, transfusions have worked but she also has a collapsed lung and a small puncture in the same lung where the bullet hit. I'm cautiously optimistic but it'll be touch and go until she's in recovery."
"How much longer?"
"I don't know. But, the Colonel appears to be a fighter and the bullet only seems to have nicked the lung not punctured it completely. There's hope."
"Thank you." Harm assumed his spot near the doors, his head resting against the walls. His body was aching, exhausted, pained but he'd happily take on any form of discomfort if Mac would survive. There was hope but his optimism wavered until he could see her beautiful eyes locking onto his.
And then he'd have to tell Mac that he failed again. While one of her tormentors was dead, the other escaped. Harm was halfway through the home, intent on giving chase but his heart stopped him from doing so. He wouldn't leave Mac; he couldn't and with great remorse he let Sadik Fahd get away.
The thought made him ram the back of his hand against the wall and when he sensed his former CO approach the deadly look in his eyes and a warning made Chegwidden stop. "Don't."
"Commander, take a seat. You've been through a lot."
"I can't. He managed to get away. I went after him at first but Mac. I couldn't leave her."
"He who?"
"Sadik Fahd."
A strong hand clamped over Harm's shoulder, squeezing reassuringly. "No, Harm. He's dead." Off Harm's surprised expression Chegwidden cracked a small grin. "Guess I'm not as rusty with a scope as I thought. Funnily enough, I was a terrible sniper in 'Nam….I know the agency wanted him alive but keeping that monster in a cage isn't enough."
Harm nodded. "It had to be done. I always warned my handler that if I saw him, he wouldn't survive another day. Guess I'm just upset it wasn't me or Mac pulling that trigger."
"It needed to be me. It's my fault you two got in this mess, it was me that had to end it." Gently he took Harm by the bicep and ushered him towards where Bud and Sturgis sat. "Sit, Harm. You won't do her any good if you drop to the ground. And yes, that's an order."
"Aye aye, sir."