A 'Notorious' JAG
Chapter 6
Disclaimers: I don't own any of the JAG characters. I don't own the rights to the story or movie 'Notorious.' Any similarities to situations or persons living or dead are purely coincidental.
Spoilers: Any episode through Season 9. This story is loosely based on the story in the Hitchcock film 'Notorious' though I need to say here and now I would never presume to put myself in the same league with him at all, ever, in any way. Just so were clear here. (smile.) This is just another way to see our DD and to serve as an outlet for my overactive imagination.
A/N: This is note to those of you who said 'I can't believe you're winding this up in one more chapter. You all were right; there will be one more chapter and an epilogue.
Rating K+
2130
Saturday
November 1, 2003
Edward Hardy's condo
Barra
Rio de Janeiro
Edward Hardy stood listening as Hasni began to talk with him. He was still grasping the key ring he had in his pocket. Hasni was telling him he noticed that he had been followed here. That he was noticing a person he did not recognize, who seemed to follow him wherever he went for the last week or so.
Hardy's mind was working over time. He was thinking about what he had just seen, about the last time he saw his memory stick on his key chain. Just before his shower earlier that day, Sarah had been in the adjoining room. Now, he remembered that he had left the keys on his dressing table. He couldn't remember putting the keys in his pocket. The realization made him break out in a cold sweat. He had been set up.
Marwan Hasni looked curiously at Hardy. "Are you listening to me, Hardy?"
The sharpness in Hasni's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Yes, I'm listening. It sounds as though you're being watched." Hardy looked at Hasni directly.
"I think my superiors should know." Hasni answered quickly, trying to gauge Hardy's reaction.
Hardy appeared not to be concerned one way or the other.
"If you like, I think you may be over reacting, but do whatever you think is best." He hoped that he would be able to calm Hasni down enough to buy some time. He had to get a handle on what the hell was going on. He had to get in touch with Van Duyn. If Sarah Mackenzie had been sent by the Company, and they had what was on that memory key, then they were all in deep shit.
Hansi looked at Hardy warily. He had been suspicious of the CIA agent since the beginning. He hadn't wanted to include this man in their operation. He was an American after all, and subject to his own weaknesses, his weakness for a particular woman could cost them dearly.
"I can put some people on it if you like, though we are all going to be out of here by the end of this coming week."
Hasni continued to study him as he spoke, his expression unreadable. He nodded his agreement, but decided that he needed to watch Mr. Hardy more closely.
Hardy began to walk toward the door of his study, signaling to Hasni that this discussion was over. Hasni followed without comment, but Hardy knew that he had not been able to dispel the other man's concerns completely.
Hardy followed him down to the elevator. As they exited the elevator and walked around into the foyer, he saw Rabb leaving. He looked around to see if Sarah was any where near him, she was not, she was speaking to Domingues, seemingly unaware of her former partners exit. Maybe he was over reacting. He could have dropped it, or it could have fallen off his key ring. He went into the opposite sitting room from her to observe and to mingle with his other guests; he would deal with this later.
2 hours later…
The party was winding down and Hardy decided he would test Sarah again. She had been standing with him in the foyer as the last of his guests were leaving. He was to meet with Van Duyn and Hasni after the party to discuss Hasni's concerns further.
"Why don't you stay tonight Sarah? I have a meeting with a couple of my associates, I may be up late, but you can stay." He took her hand and kissed it. "You can stay in the guest room on the second floor…for tonight."
Mac's hair stood up on the back of her neck, did he suspect her? "I'm really sorry about earlier, Edward"
"Don't give it a thought, Sarah; I was acting like a jealous school boy."
Mac smiled at him sweetly, relaxing a bit.
He kissed her cheek as she passed him to go up stairs. "Everything you need will be in the guest bath. I'll have one of my staff bring you something to sleep in; you don't want to ruin that lovely gown."
She continued toward the stairs when Hardy seemed to remember something. "Oh, Sarah, if you don't mind, would you take this up to my room?" He handed her his jacket. "It's getting warm in here, and most of my guests are already gone." He appeared to feel the need to shake the formalities away.
Mac felt the weight of the jacket, and thanked God that she heard the keys on his key ring moving about in his pocket. This would be her chance to return the memory key. She carried the jacket up stairs and Hardy watched her retreating form.
Hardy knew that if the memory key was returned to the key chain that his suspicions of Mac were true. He wanted to be wrong; he wasn't sure what he would do if he wasn't.
0110
Sunday
November 2, 2003
Hardy's condo at Barra
Rio de Janeiro
Hardy walked into his bedroom to find his jacket hung up in his closet near his dressing table. He reached into his pocket to find his keys and as he grasped them he felt the memory key. A nauseating sense of dread gripped him. It was true, Sarah had been sent by the Company.
He was betrayed, what a fool he had been. They would kill him for this; he knew he would have done the same to any one else who compromised him. He might have blown the whole operation. He knew his 'friends' in Al Qeada had nothing but contempt for him. They would associate with him as long as he was useful. Hardy thought he was ahead of the curve and that he would use their hatred of him and his country to his advantage. It was of no concern to him if he ever returned to the States. He liked his life here, but he would not live long if any of Hasni's superiors found out about this.
The only ally he could possibly have was Van Duyn, only because of what he knew of his role in their operation. God, their operation, they could all be exposed. What was he going to do?
He walked to his balcony and looked out at the moonlight on the water, he had to think clearly, find some way to sort this out.
0630
Sunday
November 2, 2003
Agent Van Duyn's residence
Rio de Janeiro
Van Duyn was startled awake by his telephone ringing. He answered it groggily.
"Van Duyn"
"It's Hardy, we have to talk." They could not speak of this fiasco on a land line, for all he knew it could be bugged.
"What could we possibly say that we didn't last night?" Van Duyn was no friend of Hardy's. They were associated only because it was profitable for both of them.
"It is in both of our best interests to talk as soon as possible."
Hardy was being cryptic and sounded more than a little on edge. "Give me about a half an hour. I'll be there."
"No, I think we should meet somewhere other than here."
"Alright, meet me in the Leblon section of the city, there is a café at Cazuza Square, near Dias Ferreira. Around nine."
"I'll be there." Hardy knew they could be followed, but he had no choice. He couldn't speak with Van Duyn in the condo. There had to be a way to get the hell out of there and not raise the suspicions of Hasni or Sarah. Hardy was cornered, but he would find a way out even if he had to use blackmail to do it.
0900
Later that morning
Café Leblon
Rio de Janeiro
Agent Van Duyn walked to the table at which Hardy sat waiting. He looked like hell, as though he hadn't slept all night. Something was up, he could feel it. He sat down and without a word waited for Hardy to explain himself.
"I think we've got trouble, Van Duyn."
"We've got trouble?" Hardy's problems were his own, Van Duyn stayed out of any close association.
"Sarah Mackenzie is still working for the Company."
Van Duyn went silent for a few moments.
"Did you hear me…what the hell are we going to do?"
"What do you mean We. You are the one that brought her in, I told you that you weren't using your head, not the one on your shoulders anyway."
"I'm not going down alone Van Duyn. I know everything you do about this operation; do you really think our Al Qaeda friends will trust you after they find out about this? They may see it as your mistake too. You never know, they may feel it's their 'holy' duty to eliminate us both." Hardy smirked at him.
Van Duyn considered what he said, Damn that stupid fool. He had compromised everything. He was going to get out, disappear from his associates here in South America and in the States; he almost had enough capitol to set himself up in a new life and now this.
Van Duyn's silence began to grate on Hardy's nerves.
"What are we going to do? Do I have to remind you what happened to Emil? All he did was make a bit of a scene about a diamond Sarah wore and he was dead before the evening was over."
"Be quiet and let me think, we are protected by the enormity of your stupidity for a short while, no one would believe that you would be so easily fooled by Mackenzie. We'll have to use that to our advantage."
Hardy remained quiet for a few moments and then Van Duyn asked, "You think Rabb is her contact?"
"Yes, I do. I can't believe I didn't see it before." He had wanted her so much; he couldn't believe she was focusing all her attention on him, now he knew why. Why hadn't he questioned it? He foolishly couldn't see beyond what he wanted.
"Stop wallowing in your own self pity. It's over. Focus on getting out of this damn mess."
Hardy wouldn't tell him they might have taken his memory key, he knew that if, Van Duyn thought they had that much, he might flee immediately. Hardy knew he had screwed up royally, but he was not going to be left in the hands of his associates in Al Qaeda alone, and he wanted to do everything he could to escape capture by the United States government. He knew he would never see the light of day again, if he lived that long.
Van Duyn began to formulate a plan and as he did he explained it to Hardy. No one could know that they had discovered Mackenzie's betrayal; she must be able to move about Rio freely. She could be allowed to meet with her contacts, but be given nothing to inform. If she were killed right away, their other associates would know. There was also the chance that even if they were to escape their associates, Rabb would follow them all the way to hell. He knew the reason that Rabb had come to work for the Company.
"She could become ill for a short while, she could die, just slip away during the night. By that time we could be out of the country and out of the reach of our government or Al Qaeda."
Hardy began to smile, he had to hand it to Van Duyn, he was brilliant.
"When does she move in?
"Day after tomorrow."
"See if you can convince her to move in sooner, be sure she takes at least one meal a day at home. In just a matter of days we will have eliminated our problem entirely." Van Duyn' eyes appeared flat and dull, as though he pictured her death already.
"I like the way you think, Van Duyn."
Van Duyn smiled slyly, and Hardy made a mental note never to eat a meal at Van Duyn's home.
1600
Later that afternoon
Mac's hotel room
Ipanema towers
Rio de Janeiro
Mac was finishing up her packing when she heard a knock at her door, thinking it was Hardy she opened it. "Edward, I just need a few…"
It was Harm. "No…it's not Edward, I got a call from Prescott. You're moving in today?" His sarcasm not quite as sharp as it had been.
"I don't have much choice in the matter, he seems insistent that I do this. I hoped to avoid it. I can't afford any more suspicion on Hardy's part. We're almost out of there. "
Mac turned away from him and busied herself with packing the suitcase that lay open on the sofa. She walked back into her bedroom. Harm took the old Seahawk T- shirt, which had spent more time at her house than his, out of his jacket pocket and stuffed it down in her suitcase.
"I know." He answered her and watched her bedroom door to be sure he wasn't seen. It might be a sentimental gesture, but he wanted her to have it. No matter what happened he couldn't stand the thought that she would forget him completely.
She walked back into the room. "I'm surprised you came down. Hardy or his driver may be here any minute." Harm hadn't come down to her hotel room since the night they'd spent together. The night before they had begun this mission.
"I saw you come in this morning, I just wanted to wish you luck." He also wanted to see her, to be in the same room with her.
Mac looked at him for a moment, he was almost being nice. She couldn't allow herself to be drawn in right now. A small part of her wanted to forget this mission and run away with him. But even if she did that, who was to say how Harm would respond. He might go with her, or he might just tell her to go to hell. You never knew with Harm. At that point the Marine in her took over and told her to focus on the mission.
"Thank you."
Harm turned toward the door, "I'll go." He shouldn't have come, it was stupid, and what if Hardy had shown up? He'd have blown everything they had been working toward. He was glad this was starting to wind down. He hoped the people handling the crypto part of this operation moved quickly. It was time to get the hell out of here.
Mac followed him to the door as he walked out; she stood with it open and watched him walk toward the elevators. He stopped in front of them and turned to look at her. She would have given anything to know what he was thinking. The elevator opened and Harm entered it without saying another word.
1400
Tuesday
Castelo office towers
Rio de Janeiro
Mac sat in Prescott's office waiting for him to finish his conversation on the phone. She had a dull headache and she felt slightly nauseated. The light from the window was beginning to make her feel worse.
"Mac?"
"Yes, I'm sorry, I'm not feeling too well today. Could you close the blinds please, I have a slight headache."
Prescott stood, "Of course."
"Were you able to find out anything from the files, that Harm sent from the memory key?"
"Yes, and we hoped that you might be able to get one more detail before you get out of there. We now know that Hardy and his associates are not only moving cana, there may also be some drug traffic, and they are also moving people. Some are suspected Al Qaeda. People from the favelas to Barra, the Brazilian government will be able to cast a very large net. They are using a lot of the established drug trafficking routes that have been used for years. We need to know if Sadiq is in the States, there is a strong possibility that he is. We need verification, which may tell us where he is in the States. This was a goldmine, Mac. You were able to get concrete irrefutable intelligence in this matter."
Mac nodded, her head was beginning to pound.
"But that's not the only reason I called you here today."
Mac looked up at him questioning.
"You will be getting a new contact if we are still in this after Friday."
"What?"
"Yes, Rabb is getting out of Rio."
"Did he say why?"
"Not really, just that it's probably pretty much routine now. You are doing an excellent job on your own. We'll have you out in a few days at the latest. Get that information, Mac, and you're on your way back to Washington."
Mac couldn't believe it. He was leaving her. Just when she thought he couldn't hurt her anymore, this, she felt totally abandoned. She nodded revealing nothing of what she was feeling.
"Do I need to know anything else?"
"No that's it. You meet with Rabb tomorrow as usual."
Mac stood and turned to walk toward the door. She paused, trying to clear her head.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Prescott asked.
"I'm fine." She turned to go.
1830
Wednesday
Plaza de Paz
Rio de Janeiro
Harm sat waiting on the wrought iron bench. He had been here all afternoon and Mac was no where to be seen. What was going on? He was just about to contact Prescott when he saw her walking toward him.
Mac sat down heavily beside him. "Harm."
"Mac. Anything new to report?" Harm leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. Appearing to be making casual conversation with her.
"No not yet. Hardy has been out of the condo a lot since the party."
"Any repercussions from the other night?" Harm asked.
Mac looked at him, nearly glaring. "You mean our stolen kiss in his study?" She was angry, angrier than usual
"Well, any problems there?"
"No," then she decided to see if he would tell her about his change of assignment. "Any problems on your side of this operation…any changes?"
"No."
So he wasn't going to tell her, he was just going to leave without a word. The thought made her more nauseated than she already felt. She lifted her hand to her mouth.
"Hey, are you okay? You look pretty rough."
Mac looked at him and narrowed her eyes sarcastically. "Long night last night."
Harm sat back and looked at her. His eyes asked a question and Mac ignored it.
"Oh, I thought I'd better return this." She took the Seahawk t-shirt out of her bag and handed it to him.
Harm took it and looked up at her. "Breaking all your old ties, Mac?"
Mac didn't answer him. She stood, and lost her balance nearly falling toward Harm.
"Goodbye." She said as she corrected her balance.
"Goodbye? Wait a minute, Mac."
"I don't want to."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going…back." The headache and nausea that had been with her all day seemed to intensify with this conversation. She had to get out of there.
Harm watched as she left, something wasn't right about this. He had to talk to Prescott… now.
TBC
A/N: I should be able to post Chapter 7 late this evening or early tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for your wonderful feedback.