Sarah enters the hospital room, and finds the Lieutenant lying in a hospital bed. She takes a seat next to the Lieutenant.
"Your family isn't here with you?" Mac probes.
"I didn't tell them," she admits.
Mac furrows her brow, "I don't understand."
"Ma'am I never told them that I was pregnant. I knew that they would be ashamed."
"I was surprised that you called."
"He was born four weeks early, they have him in the NICU."
"I'm so sorry."
"He needs some help with his breathing," she reveals.
"Is there someone that I can call?"
"I was planning on giving him up for adoption," the lieutenant explains with a tearstained face.
"You didn't tell me that."
"I love being a marine. I didn't want to have to give up the marine corp for a baby that I didn't want. Then I saw him for the first time, and I realized that I could give up anything for him. None of that is why I called you."
"Why did you call me?"
"I think that I know who it is, and I am willing to allow them to collect a DNA sample from Lucas."
"You remembered something?"
She shakes her head, "No ma'am, I don't remember."
"I don't understand, lieutenant."
"Have you ever met Colonel Malcom?"
Sarah nods, "Unfortunately, he is my neighbor."
"I met his family at a picnic when I first got here. He was with his wife, and his son."
"Jase looks just like Colonel Malcom," Sarah recalls.
"Lucas looks just like that little boy. My gut says it's him."
"Why?"
"He doesn't think that women have a place in the marine corp."
"Did he tell you that?"
"In a roundabout way. Ma'am I think that it's him. Please help me," she begs.
Mac agrees. She returns to her office, and continues to do some digging. She dials the admiral once she has complied her evidence.
"Admiral Chegwidden," he answers.
"Admiral have you received my email yet?"
"I haven't checked my email yet, why?"
"I found a suspect."
"Too bad you have to wait for DNA."
"The first baby has been born. I visited him myself."
"Did the mother identify someone?"
"She still can't remember what happened."
"How does that help?"
"She believes that she knows who it is."
"Based on what?"
"Mother's intuition. Her son looks just like Colonel Jason Malcom."
"You sent me all of the information?"
"Yes, sir."
"Colonel MacKenzie this is a pretty sizable case. It may be a while before it goes to court marital considering that only one baby has been born thus far. I am going to send you reinforcements to assist you with your investigation."
"Yes, sir," she hangs up.
That evening she sits on her couch sorting through mountains of files. Fully pajama-clad she highlights portions of financial records. Her fully furnished house has very few personal touches. There are very few traces of her even living there. Her clothes are in the closet of the master bedroom, and her personal items are in the bathroom. There are groceries in the kitchen, but the china doesn't even belong to her. There is a sonogram picture on the front of her refrigerator. She hears the doorbell ring, and assumes that it is the pizza she's ordered. She grabs her money off the kitchen table, and heads to the door. She doesn't check the peephole. She pulls the door open, and finds a familiar face standing on her front porch. She swallows hard, caught off guard by his presence. She finds herself completely unable to conceal her rather round pregnant belly.
"Harm?"
He has a duffle bag of stuff over his shoulder. He looks at her questioningly.
"The admiral said that you needed help with your investigation."
"So he sent you?"
"You sound surprised."
"Maybe a little," she confirms.
"Can I come in?"
She steps back, "Of course."
Before the door closes the pizza delivery guy appears. Sarah trades her cash for a large pizza. She heads into the kitchen, and flips on the light.
"Are you hungry?"
"Starving," he admits.
"I didn't realize that anyone would be here tonight."
"Neither did I," he responds.
"So where are you staying?"
"With you," he answers.
She furrows her brow, "With me?"
"Is that a problem?"
"No."
He can't take his eyes off her stomach. "I see that you are taking your undercover role pretty seriously."
Her eyes shift from his face to her stomach. "Yeah."
"What made you decide to pretend to be pregnant?"
"I just wanted the victims to feel like they could trust me."
The picture on the fridge catches his eyes, "That looks like a real baby," he points.
"It is a real baby."
"I don't understand," he admits.
He stands in front of her fridge staring at her sonogram picture. She leans against the counter, near the sink. Her baby kicks her in the ribs. She contemplates whether to lie, or tell the truth. She purses her lips, and chooses the easy way out.
"I mean it is someone's baby."
"Your name is on the top of the picture," he points out, "It certainly looks real to me."
"There was a general consensus that the pregnant female marines would trust me more if I was pregnant. They also believed that it may enable me to get closer to the marine responsible. It's a real picture, they just erased someone else's name, and put mine."
