USS Washington
( Off the coast of Florida)
11:42 Zulu
Vukovic's POV
Vukovic was getting absolutely nowhere with Nurse Bleines. She was wound tighter than a spring, and in no mood to talk. The sweet caretaker everyone he had talked to on his way to meet her told him about had apparently flown the coop.
He woud have to call in the big guns, appeal to her feminine side. Play nice. " This must be hard for you. Did you know petty officer Jones well?" He asked, letting a bit of sympathy creep into his voice.
Her shoulders tensed imperceptively, gone almost before it even happened, but that was what he was looking for, any reaction, and Vic knew he had hit a gold mine.
She looked up at him, all fragile innocence and angelic curls. " I knew him from his visits here. I ate lunch with him a few times, but no, we weren't friends. Why, am I a suspect?" She looked at Vic and tears sprang into her eyes. " Oh, my god, I am, aren't I? Where did you get this?" She cried, sniffling pathetically.
Vic stifled an overpowering urge to roll his eyes. If this was an awards show, this girl would get a Grammy. " I didn't say that. My partners and I are covering all angles. Do you know anyone who might have had motive to off Jones?" He asked, remaining sympathetic.
She recovered remarkably fast, believing Vic's comment. " If I were you, I would check out colonel Graines. He always had something against the petty officer. Now if you will excuse me, I have some things to do."
" Oh, of course." Vic said sarcastically, leaving the room. He had to find Roberts and Kat, to see what they had found. He figured that the good nurse's name could be added to the list of probable suspects. Even if she hadn't done the deed herself, she could have easily found someone to it for her.
She was the best looking woman he had seen onboard so far, and he would bet that she had a following the size of Nantucket.
When he caught up to Roberts in the hallway, the commander flagged him down. " So what have you found so far, lieutenent?"
" Well, we can add nurse Sara to our list. I know she had something to do with it. She had someone do it for her." Roberts gave him an amused look. " You know, that attitude will get you into trouble one of these days."
" How so, commander?" Vic asked, smug in his conviction that Sara was somehow involved.
" Actually, commander, I have to agree with him. I just finished with colonel Graines, and he set the record straight about a few things. Jones and Graines didn't hate each other. It was actually just a misunderstanding. They apologized afterwards, and things were good between them. Graines was giving Sara flag about some stuff he had seen between her and - get this- commander Sheppard. Apparently, they were caught in a compromising situation, a while back, and Graines was making sure she had broken it off. She had. Jones thought Graines was harassing her, and made a move to help her out." She took a deep breath, and continued.
" So we can cross Graines off of our lists as well." She finished,a nd Roberts gave her an approving smile. " Good work, lieutenent. Vic thinks that Sara might be involved, but I can't see how now."
Vic snorted. " There are still a bunch of angles to be covered. Don't discredit her as of yet."
" Well, I hope you two enjoy interviewing, because we have a lot of people to go. Lieutenent Mason, I recommend that you interview this Sheppard character, see what he thinks of all this. Vukovic, why don't you go interview the XO while I handle the captain. We'll leave it to after supper." Bud suggested, and the lieutenents nodded.
" Yes, sir." They said, and parted ways. There were a lot of people to be interviewed, and not alot of time to get it done. Bud still hadn't been informed of the deadline given to them by the captain, and wouldn't be pleased when he found out.
' For good reason,' thought Vic as he made his way to his room. ' A case like this with only a week to get it to trial? Not a pretty thing to think about.'
Jen's apartment
( Virginia)
15:23 Zulu
Petty Officer Coate's POV
Jen juggled her keys and a full brown bag of groceries, funbling to open her apartment door. She stumbled, and the door opened. It was unlocked.
" I could have sworn that I locked that this morning when I left... Maybe Chris left it open by accident when he left." She shrugged and put the groceries on the counter in the kitchen.
Thump! A loud noise from the vacinity of her bedroom alerted her that she wasn't alone. She picked up a large knife from the sink and advanced slowly towards the slightly ajar door.
" Hello? Who's there? I warn you, I'm armed!" She called, and the noises abruptly stopped.
SHe kicked open the door, and a hand snaked out to grab hers, knocking the knife from her grip. " AHH-" She started to scream, but another hand clamped over her mouth.
" Where were you? You were supposed to be home an hour ago! You said that you were gewtting off early today." Her boyfriend, Chris, accused.
" God, Chris, let go of me! I don't answer to you, you aren't my master!" SHe spat, angry at the greeting she recieved.
At that, his hand snapped up and slapped acroos her face. Hard. She slammed into the wall with a loud bang, and tears stung her grey eyes. " Jesus! Get out! That's it! OUT!" She yelled, getting up and pushing him towards the door.
Chris grabbed her wrists, pushing her back. " You don't talk to me like that. Ever. It's about ime you learnd your place, and I think that I just might show it to you." He hissed, his breath warm on her ear.
He raised his fist. " No, Chris- no, don't-" Jen cringed, and waited for his fist to slam into her face yet again.
" What are you doing? Let her go!" The now familiar voice of Bud Roberts' little brother Mike rang out, and he pulled chris off of her. " I think the lady told you to go. Maybe you should." He said, his voice laced with silky menace.
Chris backed down, and fled the apartment. Jen pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and laughed to cover her embarrassment. " Good thing you moved into commander Rabb's old apartment, huh?"
Mike's eyes crinkled in worry. " Are you sure you're ok, Jen?" She nodded. " Yeah, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. After all, you just live down the hall." Mike nodded, and left.
After he closed the door, Jen slid down the wall, putting her head in her hands.
USS Washington
( Off the coast of Florida)
15:35 Zulu
Mason's POV
" So, commander, do you know Sara well? It just seemed like you two were well acquainted when we talked earlier." Mason asked, sitting down across from Sheppard, who sat still as a rock.
" As well as anyone on this ship knows each other." Sheppard replied, and Kat narrowed her eyes at him. " What do you mean by that, commander?"
" Oh, I'm sorry. That came out wrong. We're friends. We knew each other from before we were stationed here." He explained, laughing softly.
For some reason, that laugh sent a chill racing down Kat's spine, and she shifted uncontrollably. It took a lot to make Kat nervous around a person, and Sheppard was doing it effortlessly.
" How good of frieds were you?" She asked, getting a grip on her emotions with some difficulty.
" I don''t see how that's any of your business, lieutenent. " he replied tersely, leaving emphasis on her lower rank.
" Well, sir, it goes towards motive. You still have the hots for her, and see Jones going after her, kind of makes you mad. Am I close to the mark?" She pressed, leaning forward.
" This is outright insubordination! I could have you court-martialed for this!" He yelled, standing up.
" And I can defend myself. We're done here." She said, leaving. She definately was getting a bad vibe from him. He had a temper, and that could have fueled his fire enough to get Jones.
Walking down the hall, she suddenly remembered her promise of dinner with Vic. She checked her watch, to find that she was 35 minutes late, which wasn't like her at all. She broke into a run, and made it into the mess hall in record time.
" Sorry, Vic. Time flies when you're interviewing a possible murder suspect. We might be calling in NCIS very soon if this pans out." She said, flashing her best smile his way, but he just sulked.
" Aww, were you worried that I had stood you up? You know, you're cute when you'er mad." She teased, grabbing one of his fries.
He grinned. " I knew you would come around. My charms are irressistable." He replied, and Kat rolled her eyes, stealing another fry. " Whoa there, mister Wonderful. Cute, not drop dead gorgeous."
' Although he sure is HOT, but that isn't important.' She thought to herself, shaking her head to get THAT thought out of there. She had better things to think about than jumping her partner. Actually, she refused to think about jumping her partner.
She pulled out of her reverie to find Vic scrutinizing her. " What? Didn't your mother ever teach you that staring was rude?" She asked, disconcerted at the intensity of his gaze.
" No, actually. She taught me it was rude to look up girll's dresses, though." She replied, grinning at her.
" Figures." Kat muttered, taking another fry. " Did your mother ever teach you that it was rude to steal other people's food?" He asked, snatching his plate away from her.
" Nope. She did teach me about not waving this finger around, though." Kat said, waving her middle finger at Vic, who just laughed. " You marines all have the same attitude. Your predecessor was the same way. Although she refused to accept the fact that I was her new partner." He mused, taking a sip of Pepsi.
" What do you mean?" Kat asked, taking back the plate of fries. " Well, she had been partnered with this Harmon Rabb guy for nine years before I came along. As it turns out, they had fallen in love the moment they met, and had to hold it all in for the nine years. A few weeks ago, they recieved new duty orders, Harm to Europe, and Mac- the marine- to San Diego. They had 72 hours to get their stuff in order, and they sure did." He said with a laugh.
" Well? Finish the story!" Kat demanded after a moment of waiting. Vic threw up his hands in defeat. " Ok, ok! They ended up getting engaged the night before they were due to ship out. They flipped a JAG coin to see where they were going, and now they're settling into a new life in San Diego. Nice story, eh?" Vic said, and Kat nodded in agreement.
" Yeah, it is. It would be insane though, having to wait that long. I would go nuts." Suddenly, Kat started rummaging through her pockets.
" Shit! I forgot my cell in Sheppard's room. I have to go back and get it. I'll be right back." She said, running off to go get it.
" Damn scatterbrain. " she berated herself, opening the door. " Heads up, commander. Lady coming in." She called, entering his quarters.
" Hello? Are you in here?" She called, getting a weird feeling when she didn't get an answer. She almost turned around and left, but convinced herself to get her cell.
" Suck it up, marine. It's an empty room. Get the damn phone and get out." She muttered, looking around. She spotted it on the desk, and grabbed it, ready to make her escape, but suddenly, a hand snaked around her mouth, and a cloth was shoved over her mouth and nose.
" You thought you were so smart, thought you had figured out who did it. How do you feel now, Kat?" A sinister voice asked, and Kat, tried to fight the person off, but the darkness reached up and pulled her down into the endless depths.
