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Part 28
Aboard the Dorethea Off the Beaufort Inlet 2223 Local
The launch pulled up to the back of the cruiser. The diving platform made disembarking that much easier, something for which both Harm and Gibbs were grateful. They were met by a silver-haired man who had been waiting by the stern. He shook hands with them all, introducing himself as Ed Brighton before sending the medic into the cabin below. Ed stayed out on the deck with Gibbs, Harm and Lt. Fisher. He looked surprised as Harm introduced the three of them and folded his arms, "NCIS, a Navy Commander AND the Coast Guard? You guys pull out all the stops for a member of Congress, don't you?" His eyes narrowed, "Or is there more to this than a fire and fuel tanks blowing up?"
"Is that what the Congresswoman said happened?" Gibbs spoke up first while shooting a look at Harm.
Brighton turned his attention to the NCIS agent, "Actually, that was my guess. The Congresswoman can't seem to put two words together. She had a pretty nasty gash on her head. I think she's in shock."
"If she hasn't said anything, how did you know it was Congresswoman Elbert?" Gibbs frowned. What the hell was going on? They'd been operating under the assumption that Kate and Mac had been taken prisoner by Elbert. Knowing it was Kate's blood on the dock had led him to believe that Elbert had probably used the injured agent as a hostage to get Mac to surrender. Had there been an attempt to overpower the Congresswoman? He couldn't see Elbert being stupid enough to leave Mac unrestrained but she might have underestimated what Kate was capable of, hurt or not. A gun could have gone off in the struggle, inadvertently sparking a fire... the problem with that scenario was that the absence of Kate and Mac probably meant they hadn't survived. He wasn't ready to accept that conclusion just yet.
"You didn't see anyone else in the water, did you?" Harm jumped in, unable to help himself. It was a stupid question when you thought about it, reserved for the maddeningly dense or the wretchedly desperate. He stoically ignored Gibbs' raised eyebrow.
Looking surprised and then sympathetic, Brighton shot an involuntary glance out at the debris field, "No Commander, I didn't see anyone else. I didn't know there were other people on board. I'm sorry." He looked back at Gibbs, "And to answer your question, anybody who comes up to Beaufort regularly would recognize Michelle Elbert. What's going on?" When none of them answered right away, he began to look alarmed, "You're not thinking terrorism, are you? Someone was after the Congresswoman?" He shot an anxious glance towards the cabin, "They wouldn't try again, would they?"
Gibbs held up a hand, "Calm down, Mr. Brighton. We don't know what happened either but I can tell you it probably wasn't terrorism."
If anything, Brighton looked even more agitated, "But you don't KNOW, do you?" He waved a hand towards the ocean, "Anybody could hiding out there. Anybody! It's been done before." He shook a finger under Gibbs' nose, "You're too young but I'm not. I can remember sitting on my front porch and listening to the explosions out at sea. Those German U-boats were right off-shore sinking ships every day. Everybody knew they were out there but nobody ever saw them until the torpedos hit. So don't tell me it couldn't be terrorists!" He waved his hands for emphasis. Harm was hard put to keep a serious expression. Despite the circumstances, watching Gibbs getting lectured by a senior citizen was a rare treat.
Brighton turned to Lt. Fisher, "How soon can you get Ms. Elbert off my boat? No offense to you fellows but the quicker I get the Dorethea out of here, the better."
Fisher glanced at the two older men and then spoke soothingly, "We'll transfer her over as soon as our medic says it's okay. While we're waiting, why don't you tell us what happened?"
"I don't know what happened, young man. That's my problem." Brighton ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath, "Look, me and the wife were coming up from Wilmington. We're supposed to be spending a couple of days with her sister and husband. We should have been here this afternoon but one thing led to another and we started later than we normally would. I was willing to wait 'til morning, my brother-in-law's a bit of a windbag, but Lulu wouldn't hear of it." He glanced over at Gibbs, "I don't much like running in the dark. My nightvision's not what it used to be. Anyway... we're coming up to the Inlet when we hear a 'boom' and see this big ball of fire. By the time we got here, whatever was left of the boat had sunk. I dropped anchor, Lulu got out our big flashlight while I used the spotlight and we started looking. Took about five minutes before we saw the Congresswoman floating among wreckage. She was out cold, had that big cut on her head. Didn't know it was Ms. Elbert until we got her on board - Lulu recognized her. Called you fellows and your dispatcher told us to stay put, you were on the way." Brighton raised his hands, "That's all I know."
The four men stood silent for a moment, then Lt. Fisher cleared his throat, "Let me go check with Martin and see if we can move the Congresswoman." He walked quickly across the deck and went down into the cabin.
Brighton stared after him and then looked at Gibbs and Harm, "I better go call my sister-in-law before she starts thinking we're lost at sea."
"Mr. Brighton..." Harm started.
"I know - don't say anything, it's an official investigation." Brighton rubbed his jaw, "I'll tell her we ran into some fishermen with engine trouble and towed them into Beaufort. She'll buy that." He waved a hand towards the cabin, "I'd appreciate it though, if you'd do what you could to hurry things along." With that, he turned and headed to the front of the boat.
Gibbs watched him go and gave Harm a grim look, "Shall we check on Ms. Elbert as well?"
Harm glanced out at the water and then looked back at the agent, his expression deadly, "Hell, yes."
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Mike kept her eyes half-closed, ignoring most of what the fumble-fingered amateur doctor was saying to her. It was easy enough to fake semi-consciousness and the important thing to remember was to take as much time as possible. She didn't have to fake the moans when the idiot poked at her head. It hurt like hell. Mike vaguely wished he'd leave her alone and let the old woman take over again. She'd had gentle hands and a gratifying amount of sympathy. Mike had been awake when the old couple had pulled her from the water but had feigned unconsciousness to keep from answering the inevitable inane questions. It had surprised her at how quickly the Coast Guard had arrived. She had figured at least an hour and they'd been here in fifteen minutes. They had to have been in the area and that worried her. What were they doing? It couldn't be because of her. The only witnesses were miles away floating in the Atlantic.
Mike gave herself a mental shake. She needed to stay focused and continue her delaying game. Time was on her side. Either the sharks would get those two or Mac would exhaust herself and they'd drown. While Elbert preferred that Todd still be alive when the sharks hit, she wasn't picky. So long as the sharks feasted on the bodies at some point, there wouldn't be any hard evidence of foul play. Speculation and suspicion wouldn't be enough to bring her down. She watched a fresh-faced young lieutenant walk in and pull the medic aside to talk. No doubt they were discussing her and what to do. The best-case scenario would have them hauling her to a hospital without attempting any sort of questioning. That would leave this place as their primary search area. If she could keep them here past daylight maybe they would just give up and assume that Todd and Mac had been blown to bits. That should be enough time. Surely MacKenzie couldn't tread water and hold up Todd for 12 hours straight.
She managed to turn a gasp into a groan when Commander Rabb and another man walked into the cabin. What the hell? Mike squeezed her eyes shut as her mind raced. Son of a bitch! If her head wasn't already aching she would have slapped it in frustration. She'd completely misjudged this facet. One thing she hadn't planned on was for the two women to ask for reinforcements. She knew for a fact that Mac tended to resist calling for help. She was predictably oversensitive about appearing weak. Mike had pegged Todd as being cut from the same cloth and she knew she'd been careful not to appear threatening until she had been ready to take them. What was Rabb doing here already? The other man had to be NCIS. She hadn't expected them to make an appearance until tomorrow. It was an eight hour drive and there just weren't that many flights down here to choose from. Damn, damn, damn!
How long had they been down here? How much did they know? Calm down, dammit, and think this through. She groaned again softly and turned her head slightly away. All they could have were suspicions. Hell, Mac had been surprised when the trap had sprung so the men couldn't have been expecting anything either. Had Rabb and the other guy been watching? No... that didn't make sense. She would have never made it out of the boathouse. Judging from Mac's files, Rabb was dangerous as hell whenever he found that someone had hurt the Colonel. He was infamous for riding to the rescue.
Cautiously cracking open an eye, Mike saw they were staring at her, their expressions stony. Dammit, they knew... or thought they knew. Think! Her heart was pounding, making her head hurt even more. They couldn't know exactly what happened and any evidence of the truth had disappeared with the Gerrymander. Briefly she considered denying that Mac and Todd had even been on board and then discarded that idea. If Rabb was here then they'd been to her house. They would know the women had been there. Damn Todd for getting cut! Why couldn't she have just collapsed? She'd done what she could to get rid of the blood, but there were no guarantees. Besides, their car was still in her driveway. It wasn't plausible that she would have left them cooling their heels at her place while she puttered around in her boat.
Her original story was out. The men would know this wasn't a pleasure jaunt, that she hadn't invited the two women for a daytime cruise around the Shackleford Banks. She cast a surreptitious glance at the two Coast Guard men. If anything, they looked a little confused at the somewhat hostile attitudes of Rabb and the NCIS man. So... the Commander hadn't made them privy to his suspicions. Smart from a lawyer standpoint - don't throw those kind of accusations around without proof, especially if your suspect is a member of Congress. From a practical standpoint, it would work in her favor. The Coast Guard didn't turn out without a good reason so Rabb must have kept it in general terms. NCIS obviously found the blood so the Commander probably presented it as a dire threat against her as well as the other two. This could play perfectly into her hands. She could count on sympathy when she presented herself as a victim. Mike hid a grin behind a small grimace. This was a game she would enjoy. She could play the part they inadvertently supported and taunt them at the same time. Delay and deny, that would be the key. She was smarter than they were. Hell, she was smarter than practically everyone. She could make this work.
Time to start the show and test her theory. If things got awkward, she could always faint. Inhaling a bit, she raised a shaky hand up to her head and gave the people in the cabin a confused look, "Wha... What happened? Where am I?" That didn't sound too bad, start slow and drag this out.
The Coast Guard medic stepped forward, "Ma'am? I'm Petty Officer Martin and this is Lt. Fisher. You're on board the Dorethea. Do you remember what happened?"
God, this was going to be so easy. "I'm... where? I don't understand." She watched Rabb exchange looks with the other man and closed her eyes, letting her voice tremble a little, "My head hurts."
"Yes ma'am. It looks like you took a pretty hard hit to the head but you were lucky. No concussion." Martin glanced back at Fisher, "Ma'am, there was an explosion on your boat."
"What?!" Mike started to sit up and then sank back down with a groan. It lent credence to her performance, she wasn't faking that reaction. "The Gerrymander? ... How? ... Is she badly damaged?" She let her voice creep up the scale a little at their silence, "Gone? She sank? I don't understand." Mike stole a glance at Rabb, time to twist the knife a little, "Does Mac know what happened?" There was a gratifying sense of satisfaction when he stiffened and took a half-step towards her.
Martin looked at Fisher again and then back at her, "Ma'am? Were there other people on board with you?"
Mike decided a small frown would be appropriate, "Of course there were. Mac and Kate... Lt. Col. Sarah MacKenzie and Agent Caitlin Todd... they wanted to talk to me privately about a serious matter but we kept getting interrupted so I suggested going out on the Gerrymander. You found them, didn't you?" She made a show of looking around the cabin and let a hint of desperation creep in, "Didn't you?"
The two young men looked uncomfortable, "I'm sorry, ma'am... "
"NO!" Time for a dramatic exit. She let her eyes roll back and went limp. Martin was beside her in an instant, checking her pulse and prying open an eyelid.
"Looks like she fainted, sir." Mike could hear dear old Lulu making sympathetic noises from the corner where she was sitting. Could this get any more perfect? Then she heard an unfamiliar voice.
"Lt. Fisher, why don't you and Mr. Martin go make arrangements to move the Congresswoman? Mrs. Brighton? You might want to tell your husband that you'll be able to leave soon. The Commander and I will keep an eye on the Congresswoman."
She felt a presence settle next to her, "They're gone, Ms. Elbert. It's just me and Rabb. That was quite a performance but you can open your eyes now."
Anger flowed through her. How dare he? She kept her eyes resolutely shut. Who was this guy?
He sighed and then his voice moved closer to her, "Fine but keep in mind that Rabb and I know what you've done. There's a needle out there with your name on it and believe me, we're going to see to it that you get what you deserve."
Mike opened her eyes a bare slit and said in a soft, cold voice, "You can try." With that, she closed her eyes again.
Atlantic Ocean Off the North Carolina coast 0040 Local
"What happened next? ... Kate?" They'd been trading stories back and forth. It was a good a way as any to help keep the fear at bay. Unfortunately, the pauses between Kate's sentences were growing longer and the strain in her voice was becoming more apparent. She needed to be in a hospital not floating around the damn Atlantic.
"Yeah... sorry, lost track for a minute," Kate licked dry lips. How ironic, surrounded by water and tormented by thirst. It was getting so hard to concentrate. She was feeling worse with every passing hour, "Where was I?"
"Don't worry about it. You can finish the story another time." Mac stared up at the sky, thinking. "Kate? ...Do you believe in God?"
"I was raised Catholic." Kate frowned a little. Even in the hazy state she found herself, that seemed to come out of the blue. 'Religion and politics. Two things, Katie bear, you don't want to get into a discussion about.' She could hear her father like it was yesterday. Even though she was only five, he talked to her like she was all grown up. She'd gone to him for reassurance. Uncle Bill was in the kitchen complaining about 'demacats' and she was worried about Tiger...
"I wasn't really talking about religion. I just meant a higher power: God, Allah, Buddha, whatever you want to call it." Mac's voice cut through the memories, bringing her back to the here and now.
"Well... yeah, I guess so. You?" Kate found herself curious about Mac's answer. Her childhood must have made it hard to believe in anything.
"I suppose... Every time I look up at the stars, I think there has to be some sort of divine power behind all of it." She sighed, "It's when I take my eyes off the stars and look at the world that I have my doubts."
"You can't blame God for the things people do. It's all about choices. Some people choose evil."
"And some do horrible things in God's name."
"That's just avoiding responsibility. It's a lot easier to say God wanted me to do it or the Devil made me rather than admit that you did something terrible because you wanted to."
"Do you think it does any good to pray?"
Kate managed a slight chuckle, "I'll let you know." They were silent for a moment and then Kate asked, "You don't believe in prayer?"
"I don't know. I mean, I've prayed before... hell, I'm praying now... I just can't decide if it's done any good or if things turned out the way they did because they were going to anyway. It's not like I'm all that devout. Don't you think God looks at me and says, 'There goes that hypocrite, MacKenzie, again. I only hear from her when she's in trouble.'?"
"So you do talk on a daily basis." Kate grinned.
"Funny, Todd," Mac smiled as well. At the moment, it didn't seem like much of an exaggeration.
