Assignment for Webb

by Bernadeen

Harm takes on a dangerous assignment to help bring down a drug cartel. A Harm and Mac adventure that brings about important changes in their relationship.

10. Chapter 10

Assignment for Webb
By Bernadeen

Chapter 10

1812 EST
Wednesday
JAG Headquarters

After learning that Harm had made a large deposit to his checking account which he subsequently wire transferred to an off-shore account, then disappeared, Webb promised to have his people keep looking. The day had dragged by with no word. Mac and the Admiral remained at headquarters hoping to hear from Webb soon.

When word finally came, it was not what the earlier information had led them to think. For some unknown reason someone had made the transactions attributed to Harm – the wire transfers, renting a car and the ATM withdrawal. Time enough to pursue that later. Right now they had to deal with the new facts. Harm was being held at the FBI Regional Headquarters in Houston in protective custody. However, when Webb had finally gotten through to a Special Agent Grinnell, she told him they were holding Rabb while trying to find enough evidence to charge him in relation to drug trafficking. The large deposit in his checking account was their main evidence of his involvement.

As soon as Admiral Chegwidden received Webb's report, he was on the phone to the FBI in Houston. The phone call was less than satisfying. Apparently an Admiral in the US Navy didn't have much clout with the FBI in Texas. It was made clear to him that this case was being handled by the FBI and DEA, and that since Rabb was not in the Navy, JAG had no jurisdiction at all. Mac was present during the phone call, and as soon as the Admiral punched the disconnect button, she spoke up.

"Admiral, Harm needs a lawyer to represent him. I'd like to go, sir." When she didn't receive immediate agreement, she continued, "He's injured and being held in jail, sir. He's in danger and he's being railroaded. Sir, we can't abandon him."

The moment the words left her mouth, Mac wanted to take them back. Chegwidden bristled at the implied accusation. As Mac stammered to apologize, the Admiral cut her off. "I have no intention of abandoning him, Colonel. That's why I'm ordering you to catch a red eye to Houston so you can be there to represent Harm. Keep me informed. Dismissed."

Mac snapped to attention. With a brisk, "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," she turned and was gone. AJ smiled to himself after Mac's exit. In spite of his concern for Rabb, he smiled as he pictured his fiery Marine chief of staff confronting the FBI and DEA on Harm's behalf. They wouldn't know what hit them. AJ chuckled as he let the scenario play out, then sobered as he hoped Harm would be safe until Mac arrived.

-o-o-o-o-

In fact, Mac found there were no red eye flights from Washington to Houston. The best she could do was a 0600 flight that arrived in Houston just before 0830. After Tiner booked her flight and a hotel, just in case, Mac went home to pack a bag, make sure her uniform was ready, and try to sleep for a couple of hours. Sleep, however, was illusive. She was worried about Harm, but it was more than that. It was as though she could feel his emotions – his wound was throbbing, his body was weary, and emotionally he felt abandoned. She wasn't sure whether she was imagining his feelings, or whether she really could sense him at that great distance. Just in case it was real and just in case it worked both ways, Mac closed her eyes and tried to project her strength to Harm. She told him she was coming, that she would be there with him in the morning, that she needed him to be strong until then. With a sigh she opened her eyes, wondering whether she was being totally foolish.

0915
Wednesday
FBI Regional Office
Houston

Mac's flight was on time and she caught a cab to the FBI office. She presented herself as Harmon Rabb's lawyer who was here to see him. After a phone call, she was told that Mr. Rabb was not under arrest but in protective custody. Therefore, she could not see him without the approval of the agent in charge. She was told she needed to see Special Agent Linda Grinnell. When Mac then asked to see Special Agent Grinnell, Mac was told she was not available. With difficulty, Mac contained her frustration. Leaning slightly toward the desk clerk, she went into full Marine mode, speaking softly but with deadly intent. "I am Lt. Colonel Sarah MacKenzie of the Judge Advocate General Corps. You are holding a commander in the United States Navy, a lawyer, an aviator, and a decorated war hero. Now, I want to see him immediately and I want you to call whoever you need to in order to make that happen."

The desk clerk looked as though he would like to have ignored her request, but thought better of it and picked up the phone. After a brief call, he hung up and waited. Less than a minute later, his phone rang. He listened for half a minute, then replaced the hand set and told Mac that someone would be right out to get her.

Mac relaxed slightly and forced herself to stand quietly to wait. She was acutely aware of every second of every minute that she stood waiting. Apparently no one was in any hurry to let her see her client. After seven minutes and 32 seconds, a tall blond man came through the door from the inner building and walked toward Mac.

"Colonel MacKenzie, I'm Agent O'Conner with the Drug Enforcement Agency. I'm working with the FBI on this case. Would you follow me, please?"

O'Conner didn't offer to shake hands and Mac simply nodded by way of greeting. As he led the Marine toward an interrogation room where he would allow her to see Rabb, he pondered the real reason for her appearance here. He had understood that Rabb and MacKenzie were romantically involved, which made her a suspect, along with Rabb. Either these two were so arrogant they thought they wouldn't be caught, or so stupid that they walked into the hands of the authorities, or they weren't guilty of anything at all. O'Conner brought Mac to a room, told her that Rabb would be brought in shortly, and left her alone, going next door to observe.

Mac intuitively felt that O'Conner viewed her as a suspect, too, but was more concerned with seeing that Harm was all right. Again, she was forced to wait as nine minutes and 7 seconds slowly dragged by. Making her wait was clearly planned, but she didn't understand the tactic. Finally, the door opened and Harm came in escorted by a uniformed guard. He wore no restraints and was still in civilian street clothes, which meant that he hadn't been arrested. The relief on his face when he saw her almost brought tears to her eyes, but long training kept her emotions from showing. She couldn't keep herself from stepping closer, though, and asking urgently, "Harm, are you all right?"

"Better now, Marine," he answered with a welcoming smile.

They moved to sit down at the table and Mac noticed that Harm was moving stiffly. "Harm, what's wrong?"

"My wound has been bothering me. A doc looked at it last night and said it was okay, but being in here, I missed my meds, so he made sure I was able to got back on schedule. I'll be okay."

"Have they charged you?"

"No, they claim I'm in protective custody because I identified Charles Estavez, but they're clearly trying to hold me long enough to find some kind of evidence to make a case. Mac, there was a large sum of money deposited in my checking account and then moved out to an off-shore account. I have no idea how it got there."

"I know. When you left the hospital, you didn't check in with anybody so Webb starting checking. He found the money transfer."

"Mac, I need to get out of here to clear my name."

"Webb and the Admiral are working on it through their resources. Don't worry, flyboy, you'll have your wings back before you know it," Mac said, hoping it was true. "Now let's see what I can do to get you out of here."

With that Mac turned toward the mirror and said, "Agent O'Conner, I think my client has a right to hear this discussion. I would appreciate it if you would join us."

The door opened and Frank O'Conner entered, followed by a tall blond woman. Mac had a fleeting thought that she was just Harm's type before focusing on the serious business at hand. The woman stepped forward and offered her hand. "I'm Special Agent Linda Grinnell with the FBI. I've been working with Agent O'Conner on this entire operation."

Mac shook hands and immediately felt better. O'Conner seemed to have his mind made up that both Harm and she were guilty of something, but she didn't get that feeling at all from Grinnell. "Unless you plan to charge my client with something, I'd like to have him released."

"Mr. Rabb is free to go, but we will insist that he remain in Houston for a couple of days in case we have more questions."

Mac wanted to protest – she wanted to get Harm back to Washington and sort out his future – and maybe their future – but with his injury, he probably could use the rest before traveling. "A couple of days rest probably will do him some good," Mac said with a slight smile and a glance at Harm. "We're at the Embassy Suites."

O'Conner told them to stop at the desk for Harm's bag, which they did, and then they were in a cab and on their way to the hotel.

Harm laid his head against the seat back and closed his eyes. He looked exhausted, Mac thought. She wanted to reach out and smooth the worry lines from his face. Without opening his eyes, Harm reached for her hand and held it in both of his large ones. "I'm glad you're here," he said tiredly.

Mac squeezed his hands with both of hers and answered, "So am I."

They arrived at the hotel and checked in. Thank goodness Tiner had thought to arrange for an early check-in. Their room was typical Embassy Suites style with a large bedroom containing two queen beds, a spacious bathroom, separated from the outer living area which was furnished with a sofa, table and chairs, and a kitchen area, including a coffee maker, microwave and fridge.

Mac surveyed the rooms. "This doesn't look too bad." She dropped her bag on the sofa while Harm collapsed tiredly beside her bag. "No, no, no, you don't. Harm, you need some rest. If you push yourself any harder just a day out of the hospital, you won't heal. You'll be more help to yourself and me after you've rested."

Harm looked about to argue, then thought better of it. "I have to have a shower – wash the brig smell off. Then I think I will take a nap."

The hot water felt wonderful. A few minutes later Harm emerged from the bathroom feeling almost human again. He quickly found clean shorts and a t-shirt which he put on in the bedroom.

Mac was reading a file, but also listening for Harm, first in the shower, then moving around in the bedroom. After a few minutes, she heard no more movement and assumed he was resting. Five minutes later Mac looked up as she heard the bedroom door open. She was about to scold him for not being in bed, but stopped when she saw his face. He looked .. tentative, unsure of himself. The look was so foreign to Harm that Mac was instantly concerned. "Harm, what's wrong?" she asked anxiously.

Avoiding eye contact, Harm muttered, "Can't settle down …"

Since she knew Harm had conditioned himself to fall asleep in almost any setting – an ability required on an aircraft carrier because of the varying shifts and close quarters – this statement raised even more concern. "Is your wound bothering you?" she asked, starting with the obvious.

Harm's shoulders slumped with fatigue. "No, not really. I just … you know, I kinda liked the idea of being your boyfriend. Can we just pretend we're friends for a little longer?"

Harm's words pierced Mac to the core. For a second she felt like she couldn't breathe. The next instant she was on her feet and moving toward him. Softly she placed her hand on his chest. "Harm, we don't need to pretend .. at least I don't. I care for you .. a lot. In spite of all the rough patches, I still consider you my friend, my partner, and more …" she stopped, concerned that she had said too much.

But Harm seemed to take the statement at face value. Some of the weariness fell away and the look that came into his eyes made Mac's heart pound. Before anything else could happen, she gently grasped Harm's arm and turned him back to the bedroom. She went with him, stepping up to one of the beds and patting it. "OK, flyboy. Be good now and get some rest," she said playfully as she pulled the covers back so he could slip in.

When Harm was in the bed, Mac smoothed the covers around him. Sleep seemed to be coming quickly now, but just when it looked like he would drift off, he reached for Mac's hand. "Stay here for a bit?"

Mac squeezed his hand in response as she sat down on the bed next to Harm. "Of course." As his eyes closed, she couldn't resist running her hand lightly over his brow to check for fever. His temperature felt normal, but her fingers lingered. Harm gave a pleased murmur as he drifted off.

Mac sat for another nine minutes watching him sleep. They really needed to get Harm's name cleared and get him back to his professional life so they could take time for personal matters. She was starting to believe that they might be able to work things out between them if they could just devote some time to each other.

When Harm was soundly asleep, Mac gently slipped her hand out of his, got up and went to the living room. It was time to report in. When the call went through, she quickly updated the Admiral on the suspicions of the authorities that Harm was involved in the drug deals because of the money that had gone through his account. She assured the Admiral that Harm's medical condition seemed to be improving and would improve quickly now that he was able to get a good rest at the hotel.

The Admiral didn't have any more information about the mysterious money, so Mac decided to call Webb. Clay told her that his people were back tracking the wire transfers in and out of Harm's account. They had enough evidence, he believed, to clear Harm's name.

"Then let's get it to the FBI so Harm can get out of here," she demanded impatiently.

"Mac, I know you want to help Harm, but give us a little more time. We need to find the source of the money. If you go to the police before we've finished our work, we may lose our chance of getting whoever made the transfers and it may put Harm in great danger if it's the work of the cartel," Clay urged.

Mac reluctantly agreed. Actually, she didn't mind staying here for awhile .. in this hotel .. in the same hotel room with Harm .. with only one bedroom … 'All right, MacKenzie, behave!' she told herself as she pulled her mind away from that path.

Waiting was something that Mac was not good at. At first she paced, but as she accepted the fact that Harm's name would be cleared, his wound was healing, he still wanted to be friends, and soon their lives would get back to normal, she felt the lack of sleep from the previous night begin to pull her toward the bedroom. Clay would be calling when he had identified the source of the money – he had said his people still had more work to do – so Mac had time for a nap.

Walking into the bedroom, she stood by Harm's bed for a minute watching him peacefully sleeping. Then she slipped her uniform off, hung it up, and wearing only her bra and panties, slipped into the unoccupied bed.

TBC