Chapter 23 - Assassin

Farid Ahmadi's Estate

Tehran, Iran

A man stepped out of the shadows dressed in the traditional garbs an Iranian man would wear. His hair was swept back with natural curls in the ends. Salt and pepper hues dusted his temples and wound through the heavy beard that covered the lower part of his face and extended past his chin. His skin was darkened by the desert sun, the deep lines and wrinkles around his eyes made the man appear older than he was.

He stared at Farid like a man who was not afraid of death because, if the rumors were true, 'The Assassin' was death incarnate and the only one capable of finding Nazanin. "What do I call you?"

"I don't have a name." The man said and Farid was angered by the cavalier insolence.

"Every man has a name and a meaning for that name. They call you 'Assassin' shall I call you that?"

"Call me what you wish but, I don't respond to names which is why I can not be found. I'm a ghost, even this face is not my own." The man's cryptic message was said cooly as he leaned against the door which led to the balcony. He stared out and covered his eyes with dark sunglasses despite it being nighttime. "Why did you bring me here? My contact said your family needed help. Who do you want me to kill?"

"Kill?" Farid wouldn't mind ending the life of the man who took his wife. How dare anyone take his Sweet Nazanin away? What if the man hurt her or worse? They would pay greatly but his first priority was to find his wife whereever she may be. "Not kill, I need to find a loved one...my wife. She was taken from me while vacationing in America and I am told you are an expert in recovery."

The Assassin shrugged. "Not my favorite kind of work but, I can find anyone in any part of this World. You have not publicized her disappearance. Why do I find this odd? A man in your position would have had the world looking for her."

"It isn't in my best interest. I need Nazanin to be recovered quietly."

"Quietly?" The Assassin laughed. "I don't enjoy being lied to. What horrors are you hiding?"

"Nazanin is a woman with fragile mind. She was lost once before and took some time for her to trust. I suspect she has forgotten again and if an infidel has corrupted her, they will use any mental technique to keep her away from me."

"Or use her against you?"

"Yes...I'm willing to pay more. I'll pay anything...As it is, you will need to search for her in America." He took a thickly padded envelope and held it up. "There's enough money to cover travel and expenses."

The Assassin's disinterest was evident in his posture, the way he continued to stare out rather than reach for the money. "Are you paying for a simple search or a recovery."

"Recovery. You must bring her back to me."

"Where would I find her?"

"Washington, the capitol. I would start there."

The Assassin laughed heartily as if Farid's proposal was the most ridiculous proposition he'd been presented. In fact, it was because operating his select services in Washington would come with a degree of difficulty. "You mean to trap me? While the challenge is enthralling, the chance of capture would be great."

"They say you are a master of disguises, you can turn into anyone. You help our people, you are a legend. I beg of you to find her." Farid walked to a bookshelf that he pulled aside revealing a safe. He punched a lengthy numeric code and once it opened took a small velvet bag that he tossed onto his desk. "To show you my conviction. Please, open it."

"Diamonds." He'd even lowered his sunglasses to get a good look at the small stones that were now in his palm. From what little he knew, the cut was perfect, flawless and the gems caught the light in the room. He closed his palm over them and held on tight. "I'll find her. I'll bring your wife home. And I'll do it quietly."

Exact Location Unknown

Kennebec River, ME

The sun barely began to rise when Harm carried Mac to bed. She was exhausted, rightfully so because throughout the night there were more and more memories. The attack on Farid in the market that Mac managed to thwart because Marine training kicked in. The nights of hearing the other women screaming.

She spoke of anguish and tragedy but also told him about some small victories. She had a garden full of desert flowers, one of whose vines surrounded the gazebo in their yard. It was tended to by ground keepers who Farid made sure would keep her gardens beautiful. The roses always drew her in, the fragrant petals of different colors and sizes that were so familiar.

There were moments where she cried in his arms. An hour or two where they sat side by side in comfortable silence while his hands massaged her shoulders. He may have cried a few times as well, it was a form of grieving although it did nothing to stop the anger.

Mac asked him to stay and so he lay next to her, cuddled under the covers thankful that her sleep was not restless. But, there would be no respite for him, the edges of his mind couldn't stop recalling how Farid had hurt her. He ached and would have died to take her pain away. But he couldn't, no amount of prayer or killing could do that and it made him feel inadequate as a husband.

A real man would protect his wife at all cost. A real man wouldn't have let his wife slip away. A real man would have found her...His mind was descending into a pitfall of emotional insecurity and once he was sure Mac was deeply asleep, he carefully crawled out of bed and didn't look back.

Air.

He needed air even if it had begun to rain again. Harm slipped on his jeans and headed out into the morning light yanking the axe out of the stump slamming the blade as hard as possible through a log. The handle shook in his hand and it took all of his control to direct the uneven chops as he swung his arms over and over.

Harm began to imagine he was slicing through everyone that had done them wrong. There was Webb, for taking her on that assignment. Lauren, God rest her soul, that lied to him and led him on over her child's paternity. Ted Lindsey, as it was his fault Harm wound up in the brig. Chegwidden because he didn't stop Mac from leaving with Clay. Gunny for not keeping her safe.

Sadik, although the man was faceless to him, was also cut to pieces. Farid, her husband, the man that she willingly lay with...Harm stopped the axe in mid air and let it drop to the ground.

Mac hadn't been unfaithful, it was the other woman who had taken up residence in her mind. Another woman who nearly had a child with Farid. And that pained him the most, the child they should have conceived together belonged to another.

"Fuck!" He yelled loud enough that it likely carried across the river and then screamed at the top of his lungs for good measure. Harm took the axe again and gave one last log a final face - his own.

He'd been at fault for her pain just as much as any other. Harm wouldn't remain blameless because it was his inadequacies as a husband that led them to this point. He let his ego get in the way, allowing the very sanctity of marriage to fall apart. He kept things from her who he claimed to love with every fiber of his being.

This final time he slammed the axe down so hard that it broke sending metal and wood flying in opposite directions. Every emotion he repressed washed away that very instant, taken by the rain down the sloping ground and into the river. He felt lighter than he had all evening.

They still had much to talk about, he knew because her memories weren't complete. But he was determined to face the pain with Mac.

He was soaked to the bone once he returned to the cabin and decided to shower and shave before returning to bed. Mac lay on her side, her back towards him and once his body slid behind hers he felt her shift. "Hey."

"Hey." Her morning voice always made him smile. It was soft but a little rough from sleep and when things were good between them they'd spend many a lazy mornings just talking. He missed that. Harm took her hand and kissed her palm only to have Mac run her fingers down freshly shaved face.

"You shaved?"

She actually sounded a bit disappointed. "It was starting to itch a little and I don't have the kind of razor to keep it trim."

"Oh." Her palm ran over one side of his face and then the other finally coming to rest in the center of his chest. "I do like freshly shaved sailors too. You smell good. You always smell good."

"Even after a run?"

Her nose crinkled. "Okay, maybe not always but, I don't mind sweaty kisses." Especially when sweaty kisses led him to the shower with her in tow. She grinned at that memory, a shared Saturday morning run that led to love making in the shower and then their bed. "Are you okay?"

"No." Harm's heavy sigh was impossible to ignore.

"I'm not either."

"I need to be honest with you." He waited for Mac to turn and face him and let his forehead press gently against hers for a minute. "You know, Farid had a bit of a beard...I figured.. I thought…" He paused and felt incredibly foolish admitting his insecurity but it had festered as he showered. And once Harm saw his reflection in the mirror, his hand reached for the razor without thought. "I guess...I thought that it would remind you of him...so…"

"So...you decided to shave it off?"

"Yeah. Well, it seemed like a good idea twenty minutes ago...I can grow it out again. Do you want me to grow it out again?"

Mac ceased his rambling with a quick kiss that he returned. "You don't remind me of him. Not one bit." She snuggled against him and felt him let out a breath. "I think Nazanin knew of you or at least, she had a feeling someone was waiting for her."

"But she still loved Farid?"

"Not at first." She admitted. "Maybe it was Stockholm's Syndrome on her part."

"Or maybe he did something to you?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. I loved you from the start…" Mac paused and laughed gently. "Well, almost from the start. You kept giving me that cheesy smile, I thought you were hitting on me."

"Maybe I should have hit on you? Would have sped things up or you would have separated my spleen from my body." He chuckled. "You were intimidating."

"I was not."

Harm snorted. "Yeah, you were. You threw me for a loop or three. I had to win your trust."

"And I had to win yours." She pressed another kiss to his lips and let it linger for a bit. He really did smell good and Mac took a deep breath to take him all in. "Are we gonna be okay?"

"Did you tell me everything?"

"No." There were parts she couldn't remember, missing spaces of time that Mac wasn't sure she'd ever recover. "There are gaps...so many."

"How did Farid find you?"

"I don't know." If only she did then they could make light of what had happened and how. Hopefully it can be prevented from happening again. "I have all of these flashes of memories, like pictures...Kinda like leafing through pages of a photo album. There's me and there's her with a gap between the two...If I can remember…" But the memories ended with her being dragged away from Harm by Sadik's men and Nazanin's began in a hospital.

"I want to be here for you, Sarah. Not gonna lie, it hurts and I keep wanting to blame myself for it all."

Her hand pressed against the side of his face, tenderly touching him. "Oh Harm, don't. We said we wouldn't do that."

"I can't help it." It was part of his DNA. "Did you sleep?"

"Yes and you didn't."

He sighed. "Not one wink. I needed to burn some energy...lots of energy. I think we have enough firewood to last the winter."

Mac's hand moved to his arm moving up to his bicep and then shoulders. "Are you tired now?"

"A bit."

"Okay." She shifted so that she was on her back and Harm's head rested on her chest. Her fingers moved through the strands of his hair, an act that made him groggy with each pass. "Sleep, my love."

"Mac lets go." Harm stood by the door dangling the boat keys from his fingers. She went to change and was taking oddly longer than Mac ever would. The following day he needed to head into town and pick up the new window. It would stop the chill in the room significantly and lessen the need to add wood to the burner in the middle of the night.

They'd spent most of the previous day sleeping although Mac had left their bed to make a simple soup and some sandwiches. Both of them were too mentally exhausted for much more. He was grateful and they quickly cuddled up and fell back asleep. It was the following morning when Mac woke him up and forced Harm to join her for a three mile slog.

Everything hurt but it was good to exert the kind of effort that distance running entailed. So what if he almost had to carry her back? Small victories.

"Oh." When she emerged from the bedroom his eyes could only focus on the swell of her shoulder.Mac wore black leggings and a comfy red sweater that hung off her shoulder on one side. She wasn't wearing a bra and he needed to mentally chastise his basic male instincts.

"I love that your eyes darken when you're turned on." She grinned and made to adjust the sweater but it only slipped off again.

"I'm not turned on."

She gave an unladylike snort and waved a hand to the general vicinity of his crotch. "The bulge in your pants says otherwise." Her brow rose daring him to defy her logic and Mac giggled when Harm's hands dropped to his nether regions.

"Sorry. I'm a grown man and you turn me on like no one's business."

Oh if he only knew how much that went both ways. "I can tell you how many times I walked around JAG with damp panties if it makes you feel better?"

Harm felt his body reacting even more limiting the space of his jeans. "Ugh. Now I really want to take you to bed." Or any other hard surface he could press her against. "Far be it for me to tell you what to wear but, you're gonna need to change. I can't walk around town with a hard on because you look like that."

Mac adjusted the sweater again and then looked down at herself. It was actually a little big, not form fitting and while comfortable, it was definitely not a garment meant to be sexy. "It's not immodest. I've worn less. You've seen me in much, much less."

"True but...It's how it slides off and shows where your shoulder meets your neck." He spent hours upon hours wondering what it felt like to expose and kiss that spot which her Marine uniform covered. He loved kissing her there, loved her scent, her taste and the soft sounds she made. Hell yes, it was a turn on. "It makes me want to kiss you there."

"I like when you kiss me there." She admitted. "But...I'm thinking of staying behind. I think I need to."

"You need some time alone?"

"Yeah. Something like that."

Harm took a breath. "I do too, actually. Will you be okay?"

"I will. Just don't take too long." She stepped to him and wrapped her arms around Harm's neck while his came around her waist. "I'll miss you...I want to be alone but, I'll still miss you. Isn't that peculiar?"

"No. I get it." Harm kissed her gently and reluctantly slipped out of her arms. "I love you."

"I love you too."

As he walked towards the dock, he could feel her eyes on him a sense that didn't dissipate until he was far from the cabin.

Mac stayed on the porch for a while taking breath after breath of fresh air. It felt good, like a healing balm over her soul. Eventually she would walk back inside drawn to the colored pencils under the coffee table. She grabbed a drawing pad and began to sketch.