Sorry for the delay...My laptop is now home and all better! Enjoy!
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See part 1 for disclaimer.
Part 2…
That day was filled with angst for Harm and Mac, as they could not get the situation out of their minds. Mac had called headquarters, asking the General for the day off, as she had reasoned that if they (whoever 'they' were) called back, they'd obviously call her house phone. But the General denied her a personal day of leave and Mac had no choice but to go into work. She heard nothing more from her mystery caller.
OOOO
The next day was even more excruciating because there was even less going on in the office than there had been the day before. Things had nearly ground to a stand-still, of late. And this made Mac even more bitter, because the he could very well have spared her for one day, but chose not to out of spite, at least in Mac's mind, anyway.
Now, because there was so little to do, even in terms of paperwork, Mac could not escape the torture of the memories of the phone call. The voice played over and over in her mind and she was helpless to do anything but to listen to it.
"Colonel, the General would like to see you in his office, please," PO Jen Coates buzzed through on the intercom.
Mac gave a sigh and got to her feet, making sure that her uniform was all squared before she left to go to meet the General in his office. In her haste, she almost ran into Harm as she left her office. Obviously, Cresswell wanted to see him too.
"Sorry," she apologised, "He called for you, too?"
Harm nodded his head.
"Yeah," he replied, "Must be important if he's going to put us both on it…"
Mac noted that Harm seemed as anxious as she felt and her heart seemed to warm as she realised that he had been worrying about this problem of hers as much as she had. Harm seemed to be a different person, these days. Of course, he still had that charm, that essence that was uniquely Harm. He'd still tease her, with that glint in his eye that suggested mischief, but he was a lot more responsible, wasn't the kind of person to discharge a weapon into the roof of a packed courtroom anymore. Mac smiled at the memory. What a day that had been! Sure, it was funny, now that she looked back on it, but there had also been something about it that set her on edge. Perhaps it was the fact that Harm had been so unpredictable back then. That old Harmon Rabb was now gone and that was not necessarily a bad thing. In his place was the Harmon Rabb who cared for and instilled values in a teenage girl who had essentially lost both her parents and had been in danger of falling through the cracks. Mac acknowledged that Matilda Grace had been good for Harm. He had seemed to grow quite a bit, to see for himself what the important things in life were and how they could act to change it beyond all measure. The only thing that Mac regretted about it was that it had to come to an end when Mattie reconciled with her father and that Harm had been hurt in the process. But that was vintage Harm; putting others before himself because he knew it was the right thing to do. Perhaps that was why Harm was so good at his job, because he had that relentless drive to pursue the truth and do what was right, regardless of how it would affect him.
Mac reeled her thoughts in as they got to the door to the General's inner office. Once inside, they snapped to attention before their new Commanding Officer. The fact that he left them standing at attention just a little bit longer than was probably appropriate wasn't missed by either Harm or Mac. Each knew that the other had noticed, even though they didn't dare look to one another, but when the command 'at ease' came, sat in the proffered chairs. The General just sat in silence, looking to Mac. It was unnerving to say the least, but Mac didn't flinch, knew that she'd only be giving him the upper hand if she did. Harm suppressed the urge to smile that was pulling at the corners of his mouth.
Finally, with a gruff clearing of his throat, the General looked away from Mac and to the papers sitting on his desk.
"Colonel, Commander, I'm sending you to Camp Pendleton, San Diego. An incident there requires your investigation. It would usually be investigated by one of their own from JAG Southwest, but since there is nobody there who would be 'suitable' to investigate, due to circumstances involved, outside assistance was requested…"
"What are the, umm, 'circumstances' of this investigation, Sir?" Harm asked, but the General just ignored him and Harm thought that maybe Cresswell hadn't heard him, though he couldn't see how.
"Your flight leaves in just over three hours, go home and pack, both of you. A JAG car will be by your homes by eleven to take you to the airport. I'll send all of the paperwork, once I receive it, with the car, so you can take a look at the details of the case on your way to Dulles. That is all, dismissed."
Harm and Mac quickly stood and snapped off a salute.
"Aye, Sir."
OOOO
They soon learned that the details of the case were very sketchy. A young, white female had been found on the grounds of the shooting range, the morning before. She had most likely been strangled or asphyxiated, although she had sustained a gunshot injury as well. She had been identified, but due to a problem at the morgue, they had not yet been able to perform an autopsy to formally establish the cause of death.
"I don't understand," Harm spoke in a hushed voice, taking in the details outlined, "It says here that she had no purse or id on her, yet they were able to give her
name…'Cassandra Drake, fifteen years old.'
Mac just shrugged.
"And I don't see why any one of Southwest's JAG officers couldn't have handled the case."
Mac just shrugged again. She was too tired to think, right now. She'd gotten no sleep since the phone call, the morning before. But there was nothing she could do now, she was no longer in DC, she was on her way to California, away from her home phone. Still, she could at least check the messages on her machine, from time to time. She still held out hope that whoever it was would call her back, to let her know that everything was okay.
"I'm going to get some sleep," she informed Harm.
"Good idea," he nodded as she lay her head back, "How much sleep did you manage to get, last night?"
"None," she mumbled and was asleep within seconds.
Harm just sighed and leaned his own head back.
OOOO
Camp Pendleton,
San Diego, California
1815 Zulu
General Donnachy looked up as there was a knock on his open door.
"Sir?" John Kruger, a man in his early twenties spoke up, "May I have a minute of your time?"
"Of course, of course. Come on in, shut the door…"
He waited until the man was comfortably seated then asked him, "What can I do for you?"
"Sir…about the girl we found on the shooting range…She was shot, wasn't she, Sir? I saw her blood…"
"Yes, she was."
"And was it one of us who shot her? I was on target five, it could very easily have been me…I swear, I didn't see her, Sir. I wouldn't have fired a shot if I had known she was there…"
"Easy there, Private," Donnachy halted the young man, "I haven't had much time to consult with the coroner, but what he did tell me was that he didn't think that her gunshot wound was the probable cause of death. It appears that she might have been strangled, but until an autopsy is carried out, we won't know for sure. As it was, she was a civilian trespassing on US Navy property without proper authorisation…"
"But she's still dead, Sir," Kruger spoke up.
"Yes," Donnachy nodded, slowly, "Yes, she is…"
At that moment, there was a knock on his door.
"Enter," he authorised then turned to Kruger.
"Will that be all, Kruger?"
"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir."
"Sir," the young petty officer stuck his head inside the door, "The JAG investigators from DC are here. They wondered if they could take a minute of your time?"
"That would be fine. Just give me one minute, petty officer."
He dismissed Kruger and after saluting him in return, told the petty officer, "Show them in."
He was pleasantly surprised by the handsome couple shown into his office. They certainly made an attractive couple and were easier on the eye than any of the officers at JAG headquarters here, especially the woman.
"Lieutenant Colonel MacKenzie and Commander Rabb, Sir," the man spoke.
"Colonel, Commander," he greeted them both, "You are here to investigate the death of the young girl behind the firing range?"
They both nodded and gave him the rundown of what they knew, so far. Then they asked, "Sir, do you have any idea what Ms. Drake could have possibly been doing on the land in range of the firing range?"
Donnachy shook his head then asked, "That's who she is? Her name is Drake?"
"Yes, Sir," Mac told him, "Cassandra Drake. She was fifteen years old."
"Damn," the man cursed, "Far too young…that wouldn't be any relation to Jimmy Drake, would it?"
"Sir?" Harm and Mac both spoke up, curious.
"Colonel James Drake was a head investigator at the JAG offices here, a couple of years ago. I think he retired or something…can't remember why…"
"We've heard nothing about that, Sir…" Harm spoke up, "But we've only just arrived, so we've still got a lot of investigating to do. We'll look into it, it's a possibility."
"Sir," Mac jumped in, "If her Father used to be an officer on the base, might Cassandra have been familiar with the grounds?"
"Maybe," Donnachy supposed, "But it's hardly smiled upon, to let your children run around on the base. I don't think Colonel Drake lived on base…I did, myself, until very recently."
After this, Harm and Mac thanked him and left.
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