Chapter 3
Later that day AJ had to stop by Mac's office to talk to her about her trip to Norfolk. As he passed through the bullpen once again he couldn't keep his eyes from drifting towards Samantha Bell. He found her eyes following Bud Roberts as he crossed the bullpen on the way to the elevator. This interest began to concern him. He was worried that her interest might be romantic. AJ had to wonder if she knew that he was happily married man. Maybe he could find a way to bring it up over their morning coffee tomorrow.
He couldn't help but dwell on Sam's fascination with Bud. Now Harm he could understand, he was good looking and charming and many women were attracted to him. Bud however was very nice, but hardly in the Harm league for looks.
The next morning AJ kept Mac talking in the break room until Sam arrived. After greetings were done AJ deliberately asked Mac, "Have you talked to Harriett recently?" Then turned to Sam to explain, "Harriett is Bud Roberts' wife, they recently lost a baby."
"That's terrible! Nothing could be worse than losing a child," she said sadness clear in her voice.
"I haven't talked to her in a few days, but maybe I'll give her a call and see if she wants to go to lunch with me one day soon," Mac told him and then excused herself to go to her office.
Sam poured herself a cup of coffee and told AJ that she should also get to her desk. He followed her out of the break room and proceeded on to his own office. He figured he had gently gotten the information that Bud was a married man across to her and that would be that. He had no real hope that she could be interested in him, but he also didn't want her to get hurt.
What he hadn't expected was to come out of the morning staff meeting to find Bud standing next to Sam's desk chatting with her like they were old friends. He skipped the cup of coffee he usually got at that time and went right to his office.
Sam sat at her desk thinking about how AJ tried to subtlety tell her that Bud Roberts was married. She must have been less subtle than she thought while observing Bud. But it really seemed like Admiral Chegwidden thought she was interested in Bud!
Bud was a sweet guy, but not her type at all! She was much more interested in the Admiral. He was so steady, calm, caring, not to mention how handsome he was. The problem was that she was posing as someone under his command and she was pretty sure that he was too honorable to break that rule.
Sam could tell by the way AJ acted the next morning over their coffee that his disapproval of her assumed attraction to Bud Roberts by how coolly he was acting towards her. She spent most of the morning as she did the boring filing, trying to figure out a way to convince him he was wrong.
She made sure for the rest of the day to be aware of where the Admiral was before checking in on what Bud was doing.
When she got home that night Gibbs was sitting in her living room. "How did you get in here?!" she demanded.
"Your hidden key wasn't as hidden as you thought," he replied.
"I don't have a hidden key!" she snapped.
"Then maybe I picked the lock."
With a glare she sank down into a chair facing the couch he was sitting on. "What do you want and why couldn't you have just called?"
"I wanted an update. Have you found the leak yet?" he wanted to know.
"I've only been there two days Gibbs!" she protested. "And not only do I need to search for the leak, I actually have to do the job that is my cover!"
"Well you must at least have an idea of who it is!"
"I do, I'm pretty sure I have it narrowed down to three people…"
"Three!" interrupted Gibbs.
To be continued…