Chapter 5

Sunday

October 16th, 2005

0830 local

Harm and Mac's house

San Diego, CA

The day before had been like an emotional rollercoaster ride for Mac. Her argument with Jamie in the diner two days ago should have alerted her to the fact that Jamie's infatuation with her went way beyond that of a childhood crush. Having been his friend for such a long time, she had given him the benefit of the doubt. Her judgement had been greatly clouded by the fact that she had sympathized with him. But the incident at the hotel restaurant changed all that. Jamie had scared Mac, plain and simple and she was not an easy woman to scare.

Jamie had roughly grabbed her; the bruises still visible on Mac's hand. If it had been any other man, Mac would have probably decked him. But Mac was so taken aback by the fact that it was Jamie, someone she had considered a dear friend, that she didn't react like she normally would have. It broke her heart with the way things turned out with him. After what happened at the restaurant she knew that there was no way she would ever see or talk to him again. She was angry at him, yet it saddened her to lose him as well, because when she thought of him, she also thought of the young gangly boy that she had befriended more than two decades ago.

But Mac understood that he had a problem, a very serious one and that trying to patch up her friendship with him would not only be futile but may very well be dangerous. Mac is not the type of person to see things that are not there. She was very sure that she saw rage and madness in his eyes when he violently grabbed her the day before. She shuddered to think what would have happened if they hadn't been in a crowded area.

After she got home from the restaurant Mac could tell that Harm knew she was upset, but bless him, he just gave her a hug. He didn't ask her anything, he didn't even say "I told you so". He just held her. Mac felt so foolish that she fell for a lot of Jamie's diatribe that she couldn't bring herself to look at Harm. She understood now that it had been Jamie's way of driving a wedge between her and Harm. And she had almost fallen for it, much to her shame.

Now here she was, lying in bed, trying to gather her thoughts and make sense of the past twenty four hours. She was comforted by the thought that she would never have to see Jamie again. He was set to leave for Chicago and she knew that she would never willingly go to him again. She could put this past week well enough behind her.

Mac's thoughts were interrupted by Harm stirring next to her. "Hmph… g'morning, honey," Harm mumbled with one eye open. "Did my snoring wake you?"

"You know you don't snore, Harm. Besides, I never really slept," Mac said, kissing Harm on the nose.

"Well then, if it wasn't my snoring then I'll take a guess that you were thinking about your meeting with… um Jamie… yesterday?" Mac could only nod. "Wanna talk about it, Mac?"

"There's umm… not much to talk about."

"Then just tell me what little there is to talk about. Whatever it was it upset you, and I hate to see you so upset," Harm encouraged Mac.

"Well, you were right. He wanted to try one last time to win me over," Mac thought she would see satisfaction on Harm's face for being right, but she saw only sadness for her. "I told him that there was absolutely no chance for us."

"How did he take that?" Harm asked, pulling Mac close to him.

"He wouldn't take "no" for an answer, but I think by the time I left he had no choice but to accept it."

Mac decided against telling Harm the whole truth of how Jamie had violently grabbed her and scared her in the process. She was afraid of how Harm would react. She was sure that if Harm knew what truly happened that he would not let it go and that Jamie would be a dead man, so to speak. The last thing she wanted was for her husband-to-be to end up with assault charges or a lawsuit against him.

"What about that made you so upset, hon?"

"Well, he didn't take my answer too well and I think our friendship is over. I know I'll never see him again," Mac said. Although Mac could see the sympathy in Harm's eyes, she could also tell that he was relieved that Jamie was out of their lives.

"I'm sorry, Mac. I know that you considered him a good friend to you."

"Thanks for understanding, Harm," Mac said, giving Harm a hug. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

Harm laughed at that. "I think the last time someone said that to me they were running for the door!"

Mac laughed at Harm's attempt at a joke. She understood it for what it was, and it was to make her laugh. For the first time in a couple of days, she felt light hearted again.

For a few moments, Harm and Mac just held each other in silence, simply enjoying the familiar comfort they found with one another. After a while, Mac broke the silence.

"Harm… I owe you an apology."

"Mac, really you don't. I…"

"No, Harm I do, please let me," Mac said, gently putting her thumb on his lips to keep him from interrupting. "I said things to you that I know hurt you. I also should have listened to you about Jamie being manipulative… I realized now that he probably said those things thinking he could take me away from you. I think now that he never really was looking out for me, the way I thought he was."

"I'll admit, it hurt, Mac. But I can also understand how you could see it that way. After all, he was your childhood friend," Harm said. "And in all fairness to you, a part of me was jealous."

"Jealous?" Mac asked incredulously. "Of Jamie?"

"He's known you so much longer and during dinner that evening you two talked about stuff only you guys knew about and you guys had so many inside jokes," Harm said, sheepishly. "Not to mention he's tall, rich and handsome, add to that he's younger than me," Harm finished, pouting slightly.

Mac couldn't help but notice how adorable Harm looked pouting like a little boy who didn't get the toy he wanted. "Harm, what in the world are you babbling about?" Mac asked, ruffling his dishevelled hair. "Jamie doesn't hold a candle to you in my eyes."

"Really?"

"Ha, now you're just fishing for compliments!"

"Humour me, Mac."

"Jamie may have known me a lot longer, but you and I have been through hell to get to our heaven. We've been through so much together. You're my soul mate, not him, Harm," Mac said. "And who cares if you're older, in a bout between you and him, I'd put my money on you!"

This got Mac a hearty laugh from Harm. "Thanks, Mac. I uhh… I needed to hear that."

"Anytime, Flyboy."

"I love you, Mac."

"I love you too."

Monday

October 17th, 2005

1655 local

Joint Legal Services Center

San Diego, CA

Mac had had a long day at work and she couldn't wait to get home and just stretch out on the couch. She thought about just ordering dinner for the whole family when she got home. As she walked to her car in the underground parking lot with a box of files in hand, she decided that it was indeed a good idea as both she and Harm would be too tired to cook. Mac's thoughts were interrupted by footsteps behind her.

Mac looked behind her too see if there was someone there. She didn't see anyone at first, but just before she turned back, she saw a figure emerge from behind one of the cement pillars. It was dark in the underground parking lot and it took Mac a second to recognize who it was.

"Jamie?"

"You seem surprised, Sarah."

"I thought you'd be in Chicago by now," Mac said, not realizing that she was slowly backing away from him.

"You didn't think I'd leave without you, did you?"

"Actually, that's exactly what I had thought," Mac said, turning around. "Now if you'll excuse me…"

Jamie followed her and caught up just as she reached her car. "C'mon Sarah, stop playing hard to get!"

"I'm not playing at all, Jamie! What's it going to take for you to understand that?" Mac said, as she opened the back door to her car to put away her files.

"Your head is telling you to say that, Sarah, but I know your heart feels differently. We've known each other since we were practically children. What does Harm have on me huh?"

"Well, for starters he would never hurt me or scare me the way you did the other day."

"Hurt you?" Jamie asked, looking confused.

Mac didn't say anything. She just pulled up her sleeve slightly to reveal the light bruise on her wrist from where he grabbed her.

"Aww, c'mon Sarah. I thought you liked it rough," Jamie said, leering at her.

That comment infuriated Mac. She tried to slap him, but Jamie who obviously anticipated it, caught her hand before it hit his face.

"Nuh, uh, Sarah. I fell for that once… not again."

Mac pushed him out of the way, but Jamie quickly regained his footing. He grabbed Mac by her shoulders and she tried defending herself by trying to knee him in the groin. Again, he anticipated the move and easily dodged it. With Mac out of balance, he threw her on the back seat of her car.

With Jamie on top of her, he whispered in her ear, "C'mon Sarah, open your legs for me, you've done it for enough men, now it's my turn."

Mac answered him by spitting on his face which just infuriated Jamie and got Mac a smack across her cheek. Jamie then pulled out a revolver and pointed it at her neck as his other hand began working on her clothing. "Now are you going to be a little more cooperative, Sarah? I'm sure all the men you've screwed didn't have to go through all this trouble."

"Why are you doing this Jamie?"

"You once told me that it's better to ask for forgiveness than to beg for permission."

"Jamie, don't! Please, think about this. Think about what you're doing!" Mac begged. Her assailant, who had just ripped her shirt open, had her pinned under him in the back seat of her car. She was afraid to struggle in fear that he might use the gun he had pointed at her.

He began fondling her breasts. "Get your hands off me!" screamed Mac.

"I know this is what you really want Mac. I know because I love you, and you love me, you just don't know it yet," Jamie said in such a calm manner that made it nauseously creepy considering the situation.

"I don't love you. I love Harm!"

"Shut up!" he yelled, backhanding her across her left cheek. "You do love me! You do!"

Mac's attacker proceeded to unzip his pants while straddling her. Mac, knowing what his intentions were, began struggling furiously to get out from under him. It was no easy task as he outweighed her by a good 90 pounds. Despite the gun being pointed at her, Mac would have preferred a bullet to what he was about to do to her. She gathered all her strength and went for his gun.

Though surprised, he was quick and Mac wasn't able to wrestle the gun away. She fought hard for the gun, but she was in a disadvantaged position to begin with, and he was simply, physically stronger than her.

In the midst of their struggle, the gun went off.

Mac screamed as she felt the piercing pain of the bullet ripping through her shoulder. A surge of adrenaline allowed Mac to shove Jamie off her as she tried to escape. Jamie, who didn't mean to shoot her, was a little stunned himself. Before he knew it, Mac was struggling across the parking lot heading back to the building. Knowing she was going to call for help, he ran after her.

"Sarah, wait. I didn't mean it! It just went off! I swear. Sarah, wait!" The fact that Mac was slowed down because of her gunshot wound, made it easy for Jamie to catch up with her. He whipped her around throwing her on the pavement. Mac hit her head hard on the ground completely disorienting her.

"You're not going to tell on me! You hear?" Jamie yelled, shaking Mac who was struggling just to stay conscious. Jamie was about to pick Sarah off the ground when he heard footsteps approaching. He knew he couldn't run off with her anymore in her condition and that he couldn't stay otherwise he'd be caught. He also feared the possibility that Mac would turn him in to the authorities. He pulled out his gun, but he couldn't bring himself to shoot her. Instead, he pistol whipped her making sure that she stayed unconscious long enough for him to get away without the authorities knowing who was behind the attack.

Jamie left Mac lying on the pavement as he hid behind one of the cement pillars. He watched as the female officer found Mac lying on the ground, unconscious and soaked in her own blood. He could hear the officer trying to get Mac to wake up.

"Ma'am! Ma'am, please wake up! It's me Jen! Oh my God, oh my God… what happened?"

Jamie saw Jen pull out her cell phone to call for an ambulance and he took the opportunity to sneak away.

TBC in chapter 6

Ok, I owe you guys an apology. I know I said I'd try to update at least twice a week and I totally missed last week. I'm so sorry about that, but my classes got in the way. Not to mention my prof. is the most unreasonable person in the world and told me to do my assignment over again from scratch because she wasn't satisfied with it. Anyway, I'm back on track and I certainly haven't forgotten about my story. Thanks to all of you who kept e-mailing me reminding me to update. Anyway, stay tuned for my next chapter when Harm gets the phone call. Please let me all know what you think 