0840 hours
San Antonio, Texas
Mac and Admiral Bradley explained their theory to Harm and showed him the reports from the school, the boy's doctor, and the autopsy report. Bradley also showed Harm the knife and the lab report on all evidence it contained.
"Chain of custody is going to be hard to prove," Harm said as he looked at the bagged knife.
He didn't dare touch it. He'd handled murder weapons before, and instruments of torture. But this…
This wasn't just senseless violence.
Being the same room as the thing was too much for Harm at that moment. Physical contact was unthinkable.
"But not impossible," Mac said. "Where's Meg?"
"She's… there's something…" Harm stumbled. He cleared his throat and tried again. "It seems that she has been receiving threats for the past several months. This is the latest one," he said, handing the Admiral the note he still clutched in his hand.
I know you know what I did to those kids, Lieutenant Commander Austin, and I know you know there are other victims that the FBI hasn't connected to me yet. Tell anyone what you know and I do the same to your daughter.
"Who sent this?" Bradley asked.
"I don't know. Commander Austin thinks that it is the same person that she and the FBI suspected a few years ago for a string of mutilated and murdered children," Harm said. He looked at Mac for a moment to get some strength before continuing. "She believes that her daughter is the next target of the killer."
"You're talking about the Sylvie Cotton case, right?" Bradley asked.
"Sylvie Cotton, as in the granddaughter of the three star General Abraham Cotton?" Mac asked. She looked at Harm. "This is one of the FBI's biggest embarrassments. Serial killer, child mutilator, left out on the street. There's still a team tasked to finding this guy."
Bradley sighed. "Is Lily alright so far?"
"As far as I know, yes," Harm nodded. Then, off Mac's inquisitive look he added, "Meg's daughter." Mac shot him a 'why am I just being told now' look and he quickly added, "I just found out about her half an hour ago, Mac. What reason could I possibly have for keeping Meg's daughter a secret from you?"
"Hmm… let's see… well, off the top of my head, paternity," Mac said, her voice pleasant to the Admiral's ears but dripping with venom to Harm's.
"I am not the child's father, Mac. Meg and I were partners and friends, nothing more," Harm said firmly. He completely forgot that Admiral Bradley was standing right there. The Admiral, for his part, turned around, ostensibly to read over a file that he was holding, giving them a small amount of imagined privacy. "If you don't believe anything else, believe that," he said, reaching out and cupping her cheek with a lover's caress.
Mac leaned into his hand and smiled softly, letting Harm know that she trusted him and that they were okay. "I believe you, sailor," she whispered with a shy smile.
Harm let his full Flyboy smile loose on her and Mac blushed.
Then, suddenly, they remembered they were in Bradley's office and that he was standing only a few feet away from them. Moving a safe three feet apart and standing at attention in an attempt to overcompensate for their entirely un-Military actions of the prior few minutes.
"At ease," Bradley said, having seen the two lawyers come to attention in the reflection in a picture hanging on the wall depicting a tank raid during WWII.
"Sir, we're sorry about that—" Mac started to say only to be cut off by the Admiral.
"I didn't see or hear anything, Major. My attention was on this file," he said with a small smile as he dropped the folder onto his desk. "Just don't make what I didn't hear a habit around here, understood?"
"Yes sir," Harm said, unable to believe what he and Mac had just done.
Bradley took a deep breath and then said, "MacKenzie, find out who the SAC is for the investigation and get them out here. Get them to bring their own Forensic specialist for the second autopsy. Rabb, track down Austin and get her back here. If she needs personal time, fine, but she needs to fill out the paper work before she takes off again. I'm going to send some Marines to protect the school."
"Shouldn't Meg's daughter... Lily... be brought home?" Mac asked.
"No," Harm said quickly.
"I agree. She's safer at the school," Bradley said. "Get back to me when you've completed your assignments," he added, dismissing them.
They were on their way down to their 'office' when Mac finally found the words to ask Harm what was going on. "Why is it better to keep the girl in an unsecured boarding school? Wouldn't she be safer at home where we can all take care of her?"
"No," Harm said as he pushed the button for the elevator. "All of the previous victims had returned from boarding schools only a few days prior to their murders. Until we know otherwise we have to work on the assumption that the murderer won't attack until the child is back with the parent."
Reaching out Mac put her hand on Harm's arm. "I didn't mean to be so…" she trailed off, not sure how she could accurately describe her behaviour in the Admiral's office.
"I know," Harm reassured her.
"Its just… Meg is kind of a tense subject for me," Mac continued once they were alone in the elevator car. "You promise that kid isn't yours?"
"I have never slept with Meg, and unless the rules have changed, sex helps in the making of a baby," Harm said.
"Unless she got your... guys... some other way," Mac said.
"Mac," Harm said in a warning tone. Mac nodded and looked down at her feet. Harm reached out and cupped her cheek tenderly. "If you want me to check I will, but I am ninety-nine-point-nine percent sure that I don't have any kids running, walking, or crawling around out there."
"You don't have to check," Mac said, ashamed. "I just… want your kids to be our kids, you know?"
Harm smiled and leaned in, brushing his lips over hers. "Good, 'cause I want my kids to be your kids, too," he said before moving back to a respectable distance when the doors opened and several military personnel joined them in the ten-by-ten space.
The doors opened again on the next floor and everyone got off, leaving Harm and Mac alone again.
"It… um… I mean, I know it wasn't a big talk or anything, but it wasn't too soon for the kids talk, was it?" Mac asked nervously. "I mean, yes, I want to have children, but this thing between us is so new and I don't want you to feel like I'm dying to get pregnant or anything."
"Mac, calm down. I'm not easily freaked out, okay," Harm said with a smile. "I'm not ready to have children right this second, and, from what I'm told, it takes about nine months anyway, so that works out well. I would like to enjoy being with you, just the two of us, for a while before we think about kids, but if it happens earlier than expected… I would be more than okay with that. I just want to be with you, Sarah."
They held off any further discussion until the end of the elevator ride, the stopping every few floors to let people on and off making any meaningful conversation impossible, and they remained silent until they were in Meg's office with the door closed and the blinds pulled.
Harm pulled Mac into his arms and he held her for several minutes, needing her to ground him and reassure him that the world wasn't completely full of evil. Mac sank into Harm's embrace willingly, her body curving against his as she wrapped her arms around his torso.
A few minutes later they pulled away at the same moment, knowing that there were things that needed to be said and that they had tasks to accomplish for Admiral Bradley.
"I want this to work, Harm," Mac said. "I don't think I've ever wanted anything more."
"This is going to work," Harm assured her. He kissed her softly and was reluctant to pull away. "We should get back on task," he said, clearly not happy about the prospect.
Mac nodded and turned towards Meg's desk. "Any idea where I could get the file from the Cotton investigation?" she asked.
Harm shifted some papers and then handed the file to Mac. "Meg and I were going over it before she left," he explained.
"Where do you think she went?" Mac asked, knowing Harm was worried about his former partner. She was worried about Meg, too, but not to the degree that Harm was.
"I have one idea, but it's a long shot," Harm said sadly.
"Someone always wins the lottery," Mac reminded him.
Harm smiled softly and grasped her hand for a moment before leaving to look for Meg. Mac found the extension for the Special Agent in Charge of the murders and then she picked up Meg's desk phone and dialled.
"Joshua Cole," a haggard sounding man said after the second ring.
"This is Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie, Jag Corps."
"What can I do for you, Colonel?" Cole asked.
"You're the SAC on the investigation into the mutilation and murder of several children over the past several years, are you not?" Mac asked.
"I am," he said hesitantly. "Why?"
Mac sighed softly. "Because there's been another."