USS Washington

( Off the coast of Florida)

20:33 Zulu

Mason's POV

Mason suppressed an urge to strangle Jones. She had already given him a break earlier, and went to interview the nurse who was also unco-operative, in hopes that he would loosen up a bit, but he didn't. If anything, he was worse. He hadn't said a word since she had entered his room.

She needed more information than what the petty officer had already given her. Vukovic had left to interview colonel Graines, to get his side of the story, and Kat was wishing that he was in the room. Even though his methods were questionable, he could probably squeeze some information out of the tight lipped petty officer.

" Well, I think we're done for the day, petty officer." Mason got up and left the room, looking for Vukovic.

She found him in their shared room, reading over the contents of a folder. " So what did Graines have to say about the fight and Sara?" Kat asked, jumping up on the bunk across from her partner.

" He got curiously clammed up when I mentioned the word ' harrassment'. I think an inquiry is in order. What about Jones?" he replied, sliding the folder under his pillow. " Same. He didn't talk. There's something going on here, and I want to find out what. If Graines-or Jones- has been after this girl in an aggressive way, I'll nail their asses to the wall." she said.

Vukovic looked over at her. " Remind me to never piss you off." Kat laughed. " You should never piss off a marine. We're forces of nature." Rolling his eyes good naturedly, Vic laid back.

" So we're on the same page here, right? There's going to be an inquiry into this sexual harrassment claim." Kat nodded. " Yeah. As long as we can convince Cresswell to give us some extra time here. You know," she continued, chewing on a fingernail thoughtfully, " There's something about this nurse, Sara, that I don't quite trust. She seems innocent, but I think she's hiding something"

" I'll check her out tomarrow, and I'll see what the captain has to say about Graines and Jones." Vic said, and Kat snorted. " No, I'll interview the captain. You already have Jones and Sara on your roster. I can do the captain and then scout around, listen for scuttlebutt."

Vic opened his mouth to argue, but she just steamrolled over him. " Thanks Vic, it's sweet of you. Bye." Kat jumped from her bunk and headed for the mess hall for some food and coffee.

When she sat down, she noticed that people were going out of their way to avoid her. ' It's always the same.' She thought wryly. ' Whether or not they've actually DONE something or not, people hate lawyers.'

Kat was almost finished her coffee when a someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned, and it was Vic, a grim look masking his handsome features.

" What happened?" She asked, getting up. " It's Jones. He was just found in the men's head with a knife in his back." He told her, and she gasped. " What? He wasn't supposed to be out of his quarters! Where was the guard?" She demanded, and Vic shrugged.

" I don't know. We're to report to the captain right now." Sighing, Kat followed Vic out of the mess hall. " Things just got a hell of a lot more complicated. We'll probably be taken off of the case now."

" No way I'll be off this case. I'll convince the general to let us stay on." " Are you always this confident?" Kat asked, and Vic winked. " Only when I'm awake."

" If you're going to act like that, maybe I should talk to Cresswell."

Vukovic's POV

They saluted as they walked onto the bridge. " At ease. What's going on here, lieutenents?" Captain Ryans demanded. Vic and Kat looked at each other. " We thought you were going to tell us, sir. We were just notified of the death of petty officer Jones." Vic explained.

" Death? Don't sugarcoat it, lieutenent. Petty Officer Jones was murdered, and I want the culprit caught." Ryans snapped. " We'll have to talk to general Cresswell, sir." Kat said, and the captain waved her over to a phone.

" Get on it. I want this over with as soon as possible. We're supposed to be deploying to Afganistan in a week, and I want this wrapped up by then." He stalked off, leaving Vic and Kat staring after him.

" Well that was a bit callous, don't you think? It dosen't seem like he even cares." Mason remarked, calling the general.

" At least we can scratch him off our list of suspects. He's too busy to have killed Jones." Vic said, and Kat snorted. " One down, two hundred and ninety nine to go."

JAG Headquarters

" Cresswell." Thousands of miles away, in snowy Virginia, general Cresswell picked up the phone, annoyed at being interrupted on his way out of the office.

" General. This is lieutenent Mason. We have a situation on the Washington. Vukovic and I will have to stat for a while longer than expected. Petty officer Jones, the one that decked colonel Graines, was just found murdered in his room." Kat said, and Cresswell sat back down.

" This had better not be a joke, Kat." He told the young woman, a friend of his daughter's from way back when they were both in high school. Petty officer Coates knocked on his door, and he gestured for her to sit down and wait.

" I wish it was, sir. It's getting pretty complicated here. Before he was killed, Jones said that colonel Graines had a thing for this nurse, Sara Bleines, and it was escalating. Jones said he punched the colonel because he was hitting on her, and she didn't like it. He was trying to be a knight in shining armor."

Cresswell ran a hand through his short hair. " I'll send commander Roberts down there to help you two. Listen, you two are on this case under Roberts now. You'll listen to what he says, and remember that he can send you home if you aren't being helpful. He should be there by the morning."

" Yes sir. Thank you, sir." The general hung up the phone. " What is it, Coates?" He asked.

" The case files are in order, sir. I finished with them a few minutes ago." She said, standing up and getting ready to leave, but Cresswell stopped her.

" Is that a bruise on your cheek, petty officer?" He asked suspiciously. He knew that Jen had recently begun seeing a guy, but didn't know much about him.

She paled. " Oh, I tripped on my way into my apartment last night. I had an armful of groceries, and couldn't see where I was going. Clumsy me, huh?" She said with a lopsided smile, and Creswell's blood heated.

" If this new guy you're seeing is hurting you, Coates, he isn't worth being with. Remember that." He warned, but she quickly shook her head. " Oh, no, sir. He wouldn't hit me. Good night, general." She made a quick exit, and Cresswell stared after her for a minute. He hoped she would make the right decision.

With a shake of his head, he locked up the office and headed out to his car.

Mason's POV

Kat turned to Vic, grinning. " We're still on the case, but we're under commander Roberts. Cresswell said that Roberts will be here tomarrow morning."

" Great. Tomarrow will be a long day of interviewing." Vic said, a competitive light shining in his eyes.

" I'll start with Sara tomarrow morning, and you can start with Graines again." Kat said, earning an annoyed look from Vic.

" You like to take control, don't you?" Kat grinned. " Definately. Does it bother you? Too bad if it does. Suck it up." She patted his cheek, and they headed back to their room.

Vic pulled out the folder from under his pillow, and began reading it.

" What is that? I saw you walk into Cresswell's office with it." Kat asked, propping her head up on her elbow.

" Wouldn't you like to know?" Vic teased. " We should get to bed. Roberts will be here early tomarrow." Kat sighed at his evasion, but crawled under her sheets as he turned out the lights.

" Night."

Thanks for the reviews, guys!