Chapter XVII - Incident at Potomac Park
0630 Local_1130 Zulu
The Pentagon
Washington, DC
There was a tentative nervous rap on the closed oak door, then Commander Theodore Lindsey opened it, marched in and came to attention. "Sir, you wanted to see me?"
Lindsey's voice was not full of its usual bravado, AJ noticed. Perhaps because he and Commander Manetti were already here with the SECNAV. AJ didn't know why the Commander was here, but he hoped it wasn't more bad news.
Edward Sheffield sat behind his large imposing desk not looking very pleased. "Yes, come in," he replied in brusque tones. Before his special aide could say anything else, the SECNAV leveled an angry scowl at the Commander. "I've put an end to the investigation into the discrepancies at JAG Headquarters. All of which I now realize were blown completely out of proportion by you for personal reasons!"
Teddy Lindsey flinched like a scalded cat. "Sir, please let me-"
The SECNAV talked over his weak voice. "Do me a favor and don't say anything!" he roared.
"Yes sir," Teddy said meekly. It was obvious that the tide had turned.
Edward Sheffield turned to the JAG. "Admiral Chegwidden, I have regained complete confidence in your command. A formal letter of apology to you and your staff is forthcoming." AJ noted he was apologetic, he even sounded remorseful.
AJ didn't say anything in response. He merely gave a slight nod of acknowledgement.
The furious SECNAV turned his attention back on Lindsey. "Commander Lindsey, I have started another inquiry, into you! As of this moment you are relieved of duties in this office and I want you out of the building! ASAP!"
This little plan had backfired in worst way imaginable. Now Teddy Lindsey was truly frightened. "Yes sir."
"Dismissed!" the SECNAV barked.
Teddy Lindsey tried to salvage what little dignity he had left. "Aye, aye, sir," he said and then executed a textbook about face and started to exit the room.
"Goodbye," Sheffield growled softly. Teddy Lindsey paused momentarily as if he was going to say something but then quietly exited the room.
When the door had been closed for a few moments, Edward Sheffield turned to the JAG. "Surprised?" he asked.
AJ knowing how close he had come to being on the receiving end of that kind of chewing out quietly let out a breath of relief. "Yes sir," he managed to get out.
Edward Sheffield gave him a wily glance. "You want to know what made up my mind for me?"
"I assumed it was the defense put up by my staff," AJ said cautiously.
"Uh yes, it was that, but there's more. A secret weapon came to your defense. Lieutenant Commander Tracy Manetti. When I first asked you to bring her on board, you assumed that what I really wanted was a spy in your midst."
AJ glanced around at Tracy Manetti who gave him a knowing smile. "Well, no sir, uh-"
Edward Sheffield seemed barely able to contain his glee. "Well you were right! She was my eyes and ears in your office. Therefore, she was able to give me an objective evaluation last night of Lindsey's report." He took a moment and chuckled harshly. "She was scathing! She, she called it, what did you say it was, Commander?"
"I called it a hatchet job, Mr. Secretary, because it was," Tracy Manetti was all soft spoken drawl and genteel smiles. But now AJ knew. She probably really wasn't even a Lieutenant Commander either.
"Yes, yes, a hatchet job." He looked over conspiratorially at the JAG. "I hope you're not too disappointed in me."
What could AJ say? "No sir, uhm, will, um, Commander Manetti be staying with us at JAG?"
Edward Sheffield was back to his breezy self. "For another week or two, I have another assignment in mind for her shortly."
Somehow that didn't surprise AJ in the least. He had Harmon Rabb and Edward Sheffield had Tracy Manetti. Troubleshooters.
AJ gave her what he hoped was a friendly smile. "Well, um, I want to thank you, Commander, for all your work and your help." He didn't want to get on her bad side.
That southern drawl and smile grew even stronger. "Well thank you kindly, Admiral, I've thoroughly enjoyed working with your staff. You should be very proud of them and yourself."
AJ could feel a blush forming. "Well, ah, thank you," he managed to get out.
Edward Sheffield was all smiles. "Thanks AJ, I really appreciate you doing that." As AJ stood, he stood and extended his hand as he came around the desk. "Well, keep up the good work, Admiral,"
"Aye, aye, sir," AJ replied quickly. Now he just wanted to get out of here as quickly as he could.
The SECNAV gave him a momentary stern look. "And next time…drinks are on you!" He finished the last part with a glib smile.
AJ laughed with relief.
0655 Local_1155 Zulu
NCIS Headquarters
Washington, DC
Tony looked at the phone like it was something wild that was going to attack him. If there was one thing he hated delivering to his Boss, it was bad news. That's why he had waited until this morning to tell him. He hadn't counted on Gibbs and Commander Coleman meeting for breakfast while they chased down some new leads.
"Well, are you just going to stare at it all morning, or are you going to call him?" Vivienne teased. She had worked with Tony long enough to know what he was dreading.
"I'm working up to it," Tony snapped. He shot the red haired agent an apologetic look. "Sorry."
"I know," she said sympathetically all the tease gone from her voice. "I feel the same way, but you know it's got to be done."
"Yeah," Tony said chewing on his lower lip as he dialed the number and waited for the line to be picked up.
"Oh hey Boss…why am I calling? I'll put you on speakerphone so we can explain…"
Gibbs voice was caught in mid-growl. "-what are talking about DiNozzo? What do you need to tell me?"
Tony and Vivienne gave each other hopeful glances. Here we go…
Tony spoke first. "We got confirmation from Abby on the cover. It's definitely a plant. We also got Rabb's brother Sergei's service record from Russia. He's got the same blood type as Rabb."
"He's not the father, either," Vivienne added. She looked at Tony and got a nod of approval for the additional information. It was hard enough remembering everything and talking to Gibbs at the same time. Especially when delivering not so pleasing news.
Tony continued before Gibbs had a chance to respond to this latest setback in their case. "So we went through Lieutenant Singer's credit card history. Traced her social life, going back over the last year,"
Agent Blackadder did her best to help Tony. Their careers might depend on it. "Except for the months at sea starting last May, every Wednesday the Lieutenant had dinner for two."
"Different restaurants," Tony theorized, "but same time. Question is, who with?"
Gibbs didn't care. All he wanted were results. "Do a canvass," he ordered.
Tony was glad he had said that. "Already did," he replied smiling.
The former FBI Agent filled Gibbs in on what they had done so far. "We showed the Lieutenant's picture around. We asked if anybody recalled anything – a face, a name dropped in conversation, angry words…"
At this point the two MCRT agents began verbally dancing hoping this gave the former Gunnery Sergeant all the facts he needed.
Tony started first. "This waiter at an Italian restaurant remembers an ugly incident. Tiramisu turned into a projectile."
Vivienne wasn't quite so dramatic. "He gave us enough to start putting together a sketch."
Gibbs was pleased. They could hear it in his voice. "He's our guy – somehow, he got a hold of Rabb's cover."
Suddenly there was a commotion in the car. It was Faith Coleman. Something they had said or Gibbs had said had obviously registered with her.
They could hear the North Island NAS JAG in the background. Then Gibbs snapped, "Check the JAG security log. Go back four weeks. Compare the sketch to service photos. We're looking for someone with an ax to grind."
"That's going to be a lot of people-" Tony started to say, but then he heard Commander Coleman's voice.
'You don't have to Gibbs,'
'What are you talking about now?'
'You weren't listening to what I said before! I said I saw who switched the covers! It was Commander Lindsey!'
Tony could hear the sound of tires squealing as in his mind's eye he saw Gibbs force the NCIS Taurus into a wheel shuddering turn.
xxxvviixx
Gibbs whipped the car around sharply, causing car and truck horns to honk in angry protest. Faith, though shocked by his sudden maneuver, found herself liking this particular NCIS Agent more and more. At least now he was paying attention to her.
"Tony! Commander Coleman and I are going to pay Commander Lindsey a visit! Get hold of Commander Rabb and Major McBurney!"
"On it Boss!" Vivienne and Tony said in unison and then looked each other in disbelief as Gibbs hung up.
0847 Local_1347 Zulu
Harmon Rabb Junior's Office
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
Tony and Vivienne faced Harm and Major McBurney in the JAGC Commander's office.
"As you know, we found your cover near the scene of the crime," Tony recounted for the JAG Corps attorney.
"You want to know how it got there," Harm replied.
Tony though knew how Rabb felt. Heck, he'd feel the same way. Now it was time to give him some good news. "We know. It's a plant."
McBurney, who had offered to be Harm's counsel during this impromptu meeting, leaned over to the Commander and spoke softly. "Looks like you may be off the hook, Commander,"
Vivienne added to the good news. "We did some checking into Lieutenant Singer's love life. She was seen having dinner and drinks with a sandy-haired man."
Or at least she thought she had. Harm looked suddenly startled. "My brother at Benzinger's bar?" Oh God Sergei, what did you do?!
The former FBI Agent quickly tried to calm his fears. "No, no. This guy was older and they never met at Benzinger's."
Tony passed the sketch toward Harm, who picked it up and looked at it. In his mind's eye he saw a flashback of Lindsey picking up a cover off the table and leaving another behind.
Harm stared at the sketch, totally floored. "That son of a bitch," he blurted out. That was all Tony and Viv needed. The good Commander, JAG's poster boy aviator/lawyer, had been set up. They smiled at him. He looked up at the two smiling agents. "He did it right in front of me."
Tony and Vivienne stood up. "That's all we needed to know." Now they knew who to go after.
Vivienne turned and smiled at Harm. "Thank you, Commander." As far as she was concerned, that's all she needed to say.
Harm, still dumbfounded over what had taken place, just nodded. He found his voice though just before Tony and Vivienne left the room.
"Tell Gibbs, I owe him one," the aviator/lawyer said earnestly.
Tony smiled at Harm as he and Vivienne left the office.
1020 Local_1520 Zulu
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
Harriet Sims had her copy of Commander Lindsey's audit. She'd make that weasel pay for what he said in this report! As she stood there with report in hand, her husband Bud Roberts walked up to her.
"Hey sweetie, what's wrong?"
She sighed emphatically at waved the report toward him. "It's this audit-" she began mirthlessly.
"What about it?" her husband wanted to know. Truth be known right now he was ready to punch good ole Teddy Lindsey right between the eyes. The fact that he had upset his wife made the urge that much more unbearable to contain.
Harriet knew instinctively what her husband was thinking and little part of her was flattered and touched that he would risk his career like this. "I've been wondering how Commander Lindsey found out so much dirt on everyone in such a short time."
Bud leaned closer to her. "You think Commander Manetti?"
Jennifer Coates who had seen them talking, overheard the last part. The bull pen staff all had their bets on who was the SECNAV's spy in their midst. She leaned toward her co-conspirators and talked in low tones. "I've always wondered if she was the SECNAV's spy."
At that moment, AJ Chegwidden came in the back doors of the bull pen. Spotting the Lieutenants and his Legalman whispering, he quietly stole up to them and heard the last vestiges of their conversation.
"Actually she was the one who saved us," the Admiral growled as he stood behind the three.
Bud, Harriet and Jennifer looked as if they had been shot.
"Now if you three don't have anything else better to do than engage in, uh, idle chit-chat, I'm sure I can find something for you three to do!"
The implied threat caused the three JAGC employees to scatter, two to their desks in the bull pen and the third headed to his office.
AJ gave a satisfied sniff and then looked around to see if anyone else was interested in what had just taken place. Everyone in the bull pen had gotten the message, loud and clear. The Admiral walked purposefully over to his office door.
1115 Local _1615 Zulu
Lindsey Residence
Silver Spring, Maryland
Theodore 'Teddy' Lindsey was frantic. It was damage control time. The mission to scuttle Admiral blowhard's career had literally blown up in his face. Now he was unemployed, but at least he could destroy all the files so that they wouldn't be able to implicate him in the mess that Lieutenant Singer had dragged him into.
Well, not so much dragged as lead. She was cunning and clever and a little bit dangerous. Maybe that was what had attracted him to her in the first place. Then she came up with this grand scheme to discredit Admiral Chegwidden. When he asked 'where are you going to get the evidence?' she had simply said 'leave that to me'.
From there on in there were dinners at discrete restaurants – never the same one twice. And as they plotted and schemed, romance reared its ugly head – or maybe it was just lust. Whatever happened with them was over before he knew it and she had gone on to be the FJA on the Seahawk.
He walked over to the couch and sat down, reliving the past few weeks as he opened his personal laptop and turned it on. Getting into that final fight with Loren Singer on the Potomac Park bridge, her slipping and falling, and then he did it. In a fit of rage and maybe temporary insanity? He tossed her into the river like so much trash.
My God, he'd not realized the reason she was so heavy when he picked her up was because she was pregnant! Her winter coat and the darkness had hid it well. Why'd he do it? Because she was going to blackmail me! The little harlot decided to double-cross him and threatened to tell everyone what he was going to do with the information that she had given him. Why? Did she suddenly have a change of heart? Teddy didn't think so, not when she told him how much it would cost for her to keep their secret.
Their secret born of mutual hatred of JAGC and AJ Chegwidden. Then they found they had other things in common. Not much, but enough that they got into heated debates. That's how they got romantically involved in the first place - anger displaced by animal lust.
"Teddy honey?" "There you are, I was calling for you," his wife said as she came into the living room. He pulled the monitor on his laptop down so she couldn't see it.
He gave her a friendly smile. "Sorry honey, I didn't hear ya."
She gave him a curious look. ""What are you doing, honey? Aren't you going into the office at all today?"
He fumbled for the words. "Uh no, ah, I'm just going to uh, you know, work from home…" He smiled at her again. He couldn't tell her what had happened. He'd never hear the end of it.
She smiled and nodded and started to leave him to his work and then turned back. "Is everything okay honey? You seem kinda I-I don't know…distracted lately."
Damn her! Did she have some kind of radar or second sight? He chuckled reassuringly to her. "No sweetheart, everything's fine – couldn't be better." All smiles and sweetness. After all, this was his wife he was talking to.
She smiled and nodded again, "Okay, I'll see ya. Love you."
Teddy smiled at her again, still holding the monitor down. "Yeah, love you too."
She left and he immediately pulled up the monitor again and began to get ready to delete the cursed files from his machine. Once they were gone, then he would start trying to patch up things with Edward Sheffield.
He was about to press the delete key when the doorbell rang.
xxxviixx
"Yes?" Teddy Lindsey's wife said as she opened the front door. There stood a civilian dressed in a dark full length winter coat and a Naval Lieutenant Commander wearing JAG Corps mille rhinds on her shoulder boards.
The gray haired man with the Marine Corps regulation hair cut pulled out his wallet badge flipped it open and showed it to her. "Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. Commander Coleman and I would like to speak to your husband if he is here."
She looked back into the living room and then back at the NCIS agent. "He is, just a moment." "Honey," she called to him, "Special Agent Gibbs from NCIS and a Commander Coleman from JAG are here to talk to you."
He pressed delete. The files Q810565, Q810833, Reggopt, SchedLgU, FaxSetup, dasetup, Q811630 and others began erasing. There were a lot of files and the laptop was taking its sweet time eliminating them. Commander Lindsey stood up to greet the Special Agent and the Commander as his wife led them into the living room and then she went into the kitchen.
"Special Agent, Commander, to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"
Gibbs gave the special aide to the SECNAV a wry smile. "Just need to ask you a few questions Commander, if you don't mind."
"Sure, sure, go ahead," Teddy replied as he sat back down and glanced at the laptop. Files continued to be deleted and though a lot were gone, there were still many, many more to go. "Sorry, you don't mind if I keep working do you? It's for the SECNAV."
Gibbs and Coleman traded quick glance. "Sure, that's fine. Just a couple of questions."
"Commander how well do you know Lieutenant Loren Singer?" Faith said almost immediately.
"We've met in passing a couple of times, I guess - very bright and very ambitious," he replied casually.
Gibbs nodded. "You're currently doing an audit of Admiral Chegwidden's office and his staff, correct?"
Teddy chuckled. "Well actually, it's already completed. I turned in my final report to the SECNAV this morning."
Faith was becoming more and more curious on why the Commander was so concerned with that laptop and why right now? "Where did you get your information from for the audit, Commander?"
For the first time during this meeting Commander Lindsey looked irritated. "That's confidential. I have to protect my sources from retribution."
Gibbs gave the Commander a sly smile. "Did you have dinner with your sources? I mean, I know that sometimes a little food helps grease the wheels, if you know what I mean."
Teddy upped the 'offended Commander' smokescreen. "I don't like your insinuation or your tone, Special Agent." Teddy glanced down again at his laptop. Dammit! The computer had put itself in sleep mode. It was times like these that he really hated laptops and their energy saving measures. He prayed that the laptop was still getting rid of those incriminating files.
Faith noticed he kept glancing down at his laptop. "Telecommuting today, Commander?
"Oh yes, after I turned in the report the SECNAV gave me another assignment and said I could start on it from home, you know how it is, work is never done," he replied glibly. Busy SECNAV drone, that's what he was.
"Yeah, I've heard that," Gibbs replied. "Say, do you mind if I take a look at your machine? I've been thinking about getting one of these…"
Faith didn't know what the NCIS agent was up to, but she decided to play along.
Teddy Lindsey looked a little like he was getting sick, but handed the machine to him. "Well I – sure, why not?"
Gibbs took hold of the laptop seeming to admire it. "Say this thing is pretty fancy…uh, where's the mouse?"
What is it with this idiot? Apparently this agent wasn't very tech savvy after all. Good. "It has a touch pad, down here," Teddy explained patiently.
Gibbs looked like a child with a new toy. "Oh wow, now that is neat," Gibbs brushed his hand across the laptop's touch pad
"Hey, don't touch that," Teddy said warningly.
Both Faith and the NCIS Agent were immediately alerted. There was something odd going on with this laptop.
Gibbs voice turned hard. "I didn't, Commander, it just came on all by itself." There on the screen were highlighted files. Only about a third of them had been deleted according to the machine's status box.
Faith looked closer at the screen. "Commander, what are you deleting?"
"Oh, just some old memos from the SECNAV, nothing unusual." The comment was supposed to be casual. It came out sounding forced.
When he said this Faith leaned in closer and scanned the highlighted files. "These look like JAG Corps internal reports. They have the same alphanumeric code, Gibbs."
Gibbs gave Teddy Lindsey a wry smile. "Commander, I can ask permission to see those files, or I can get a court order, which will it be?"
"They're being erased, it's junk I tell you," he offered weakly.
"Stop the deletion program, Commander. Now," Gibbs snarled.
Teddy swallowed hard and hit the cancel button. It took a few moments, but the process stopped.
Reggopt, Q811630, dasetup, Q810430, Q811421, and FaxSetup2 sat unmolested on the top row of the screen.
Faith Coleman took the laptop and fighting the urge to clean it first, opened one of the files.
"It's Commander Rabb's report to Admiral Chegwidden on what happened in Afghanistan during the search for Kabir Atef," she reported.
Gibbs gave Lindsey a stony stare. "How did you get these files, Commander?"
Teddy Lindsey gave them both a defiant look. "I'm not saying anything else…."
1235 Local_ 1735 Zulu
Bethesda Naval Hospital
Bethesda, Maryland
Harm knocked on the doorframe. The guard had given his okay for him to go in. If the Admiral had known he was here, he would skin him alive, but Harm had to see for himself how Loren Singer was doing.
"Yes?" Laurie said as she started to get up. She hated being in bed all the time and the doctors and Ducky had told her it was okay to get up and move around when she wanted.
"Lieutenant? How are you feeling?" Harm tried a friendly smile.
Laurie looked amazed and puzzled at the extraordinarily tall naval officer entering her room. My God, he must be at least six and half feet tall… "I'm sorry, you are?"
Harm looked momentarily taken aback. "Ah, Commander, Commander Harmon Rabb, Jr., JAG Corps. Loren…Lieutenant, do you remember anything about what happened to you?"
Laurie shook her head. Another former co-worker... But why did this one look more familiar than the others? "No, Commander, honestly, I don't. Other than Sergeant Garrel rescuing me." She looked at him for moment with a questioning look on her face. "Should I know you, sir?"
Harm felt almost at loss for words. This was not Loren Singer at all. "I, uh, work with you at JAG Corps Headquarters. You're one of the attorneys on Admiral Chegwidden's staff," Harm replied as he motioned to the table in the corner of her room. Laurie and Harm sat down.
Harm could see Loren was trying her best to understand what he was saying but it was like he was speaking a foreign language to her. Then it dawned on her. "You mean I was…I am on Admiral Chegwidden's staff?" Where had she heard that before – oh yes, the Admiral, the JAG, he had told her that...
"Ah, yes, Lieutenant, you were, that is, you are…" Harm studied her carefully. Loren had used subterfuge before, but this time the aviator/lawyer could not detect any hint that Loren Singer was faking this. She seemed genuinely confused about her situation.
Loren shifted in her chair and suddenly winced. "Ow that hurts,"
"The baby?" Harm asked anxiously, moving closer to her.
"No," she said smiling at his concern, he seemed nice enough. "My head. The doctors told me it would be several more weeks before I would get the stitches out. My baby's fine…as far as I know…I hope so anyway…do you know anything?"
Harm's eyebrows raised toward his hairline. "About your baby?"
Laurie nodded carefully, eager not to set off that pain again. "Yes, please. You have to tell me. I don't know anything about it or how I became pregnant or who the father is…"
Harmon Rabb was having a hard time believing this was actually Loren Singer. The change in her was so complete. It was like someone had placed another brain or another totally different person inside of Loren Singer. "You don't remember anything? Anything at all?"
Laurie shook her head slightly, trying to avoid making the pain come back. "No, nothing," she sighed heavily, her features betraying her anguish. "It's all a blank. Can you help me, sir?"
Harm felt a pang of remorse for this woman he once considered an adversary.
"No Lieutenant, I wish I could, if I did know anything, I would most certainly tell you," he told her in an earnest voice.
There was something about the stormy blue green eyes of this tall JAG Corps lawyer. Something about him. "Honestly?" she said warily.
Harm nodded. "Honestly."
She gave him a friendly smile. "Thank you sir."
Harm had only seen Loren Singer smile a couple of times and it was usually resulted from winning a case. So to see a genuine smile on this woman's face was…unsettling…and yet pleasing at the same time because she had such a pretty smile.
As she looked at Harm she noticed all the ribbons he had. Jimmy told her the slang for these awards was 'fruit salad'. His was very colorful. She also noticed he also had pair of wings next to his awards.
"Um, Commander? I'm still becoming familiar with all the ranks and awards we wear on our uniforms. What do the gold wings you're wearing stand for?"
Harm smiled sheepishly. "I'm an aviator. I fly Tomcat fighter planes."
Now she really was confused. "You're a pilot…and a lawyer? Is that possible?"
Harm felt his face coloring. "Long story," he said simply.
As she stared at the gold wings an image flitted into her mind…
She could see him…the aviator/lawyer standing in front of her…he was upset and had an intense look in his eyes…
'Let's…let's have dinner,' he said urgently to her.
She heard herself answer. She was cool and abrupt as she turned away from him. 'I'm sorry, sir. I just don't have the time….' Laurie wondered why she didn't have to time to talk to him.
She could see the irritation on his face as he reached out and grabbed her arm. 'Then a glass of milk….' He had sarcastically suggested.
Laurie suddenly wanted to wrench her arm away from this tall aviator/lawyer. He was the one who had tried to kill her!
Then the scene changed. It was nighttime and she was storming out of a bar, the tall Commander close behind her. Snow was beginning to fall.
'You have to call him!' he pleaded. Laurie found herself asking…somebody trying to kill you wouldn't plead, would they?
'I don't have to do any such thing,' Laurie heard herself sneer. Why did she have to goad him – what had he done to her?
She stalked over to her car and got in. The tall Commander got in on the other side.
'Commander! Have you lost your mind?! Get out of my car!' She heard herself scream. Laurie felt every hair on her stand up. So this is how it happened?! She had to snap herself out of this dream – call the guard!
But then something in the Commander's demeanor told her he wasn't her assailant. He was mad at her, sure, but there was something else. 'Loren, you can't do this! Not if Sergei is the father!' Again, he was pleading with her.
Oh my God, Sergei Zhukov is my child's father?!
'I told you he wasn't the father!' she heard herself answer. Thank God at least she wasn't hiding the child from his father.
The tall Commander barked. 'Then call Sergei and tell him!'
And when she didn't respond, he barked again. 'Tell him!'
When she didn't respond this time he took out a piece of paper and scribbled down a number. 'Here!' He said thrusting the paper into her hands. She looked at the number. 011-7095-655- 273 …he lives at 1544 Kolomenolyska Prospect, Moscow! Why don't I want to call? What possible reason, except pure spite, could I have for not telling his brother?
'Fine! If I tell him, will you get out of my car?' Laurie breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God she was finally being reasonable...
And the tall Commander's demeanor changed as well. He sounded satisfied but also a little sad. Like he pitied her – he certainly wasn't going to hurt her. 'Yes, I'll leave you alone. I won't bother you anymore….' She felt herself crying.
'Lieutenant…are you all right?'
Lieutenant? Lieutenant!
Laurie's tear filled eyes opened to see a bleary version of the tall Commander looking at her with concern and alarm. "Lieutenant! Look at me! Are you okay? Should I call the nurse?"
Laurie reached out and hugged the tall Commander. "Oh God sir! I am so sorry!" she managed to get out between tear filled gasps.
Harm patted her back as she continued crying. "It's okay, Loren, it's all right, everything will be fine," he said soothingly to her. The Corporal who had been outside her door stuck his head in and looked at Harmon Rabb with alarm.
"Go get the nurse!" Harm ordered as he continued to soothe the distraught pregnant Lieutenant Lieutenant.
xxxviixx
Ducky had been down the hall at the nurse's station talking with the nurse on duty, a comely 1st Lieutenant, when the Corporal Sanchez came sprinting down the hallway.
"Corporal!" the nurse challenged, "What's the matter?!"
"It's Lieutenant Singer, ma'am!" Emilio Sanchez replied urgently. "You'd better come quick!"
The nurse and NCIS Medical Examiner sprinted back down the hallway with the Corporal.
As they reached Laurie's room, the nurse headed inside. Ducky turned to Sanchez. "No one is to come in here without our say so, understood?"
"Yes sir!" Emilio replied. As Ducky went inside the big Corporal closed the door and then positioned himself in front of it, daring anyone to try to get inside.
xxxviixx
Ducky and the nurse did a quick series of tests while an anxious Harmon Rabb, Junior watched. Satisfied that the baby was okay and that Laurie had sufficiently calmed down, Ducky turned to the perturbed Commander.
"What happened, Commander?" His tone indicated he want to know right now what he had done to her.
"We were talking and then she started staring at my aviator wings. The next thing I knew, she was crying and hugging me and begging for forgiveness," Harm replied. Ducky could tell he was totally perplexed by what had happened.
"It's all right, Doctor Mallard, it wasn't his fault," Laurie said as the nurse finished taking her blood pressure.
"Blood pressure has returned to normal Doctor," the nurse reported.
"Are you sure it wasn't his fault, Laurie?" the NCIS ME said looking over at her.
"Yes Doctor, it wasn't him, it was me," she replied, her voice still a little hoarse.
"What happened Laurie?" Ducky said coming over to her. The tall Commander stood behind him and nurse not wanting to upset her again.
"The Commander and I got into an argument-"
Ducky's and the nurse's eyebrows raised in surprise.
Laurie grew alarmed. "No! No! Not now – It's something else I remembered from my past!" Satisfied she had headed off a potential crisis, she began explaining. "Before I was thrown in the Potomac, the Commander and I had argued. Both at JAG Headquarters and in my car outside Benzinger's bar."
Ducky threw the tall Commander a suspicious look. Harm now had stunned look on his face. Ducky turned back to Laurie. "What were you arguing about?"
"The Commander was worried that the baby was Sergei Zhukov's – Commander Rabb's half- brother." She said all this without realizing she was pulling things from her memory.
"And was it his baby?" Ducky prompted hoping her shattered memory would reveal more.
"No," She said quietly. "For some reason, I didn't want to tell the Commander that. He made me promise to call Sergei and tell him that the baby wasn't his."
"So who's is it, Laurie?" the Doctor said soothingly.
"I don't know," she said in the same quiet voice, tears beginning to leak from her eyes again. "I wish I knew, I only know it isn't Sergei Zhukov's and it isn't Commander Rabb's. He didn't do anything wrong. In fact, he helped me remember more about what had happened to me before the accident."
"Do you remember anything else, Laurie?" Maybe this was the breakthrough they had all been hoping for. They'd finally know who had thrown her in the river and tried to drown her.
Laurie Singer closed her eyes and tried to imagine what had happened next. She remembered driving and seeing a sign for Potomac Park and pulling into a parking space where she could see a naval officer waiting for her…all she could tell though was that it wasn't Harmon Rabb, Junior waiting to talk to her.
She opened her eyes and looked at Doctor Mallard, the nurse, and Harm. "I remember going…driving to the Park and a man was waiting for me."
"Can you describe him?" Donald Mallard pressed gently.
"He was dressed in a dark navy uniform…a winter uniform…but it wasn't Commander Rabb," she replied.
"Can you tell who it is, Lieutenant?" Harm asked. There was concern etched in his features. He actually cared about her wellbeing. And this after all she had done to him.
"No sir, I can't," she said dejectedly. "But I now know I was driving to the park to meet a naval officer, a Commander, for some reason. And that's more than I knew before you came into the room today, sir," she said gratefully to aviator/lawyer.
Ducky and Commander Rabb traded guarded smiles.
xxxviixx
Gibbs looked to Tony as Vivienne took a humbled Commander Lindsey to Interrogation Room One. "Get this down to Abby ASAP," he growled.
Tony produced a felt tipped marker, signed his name on the bag label and then grabbed the bagged laptop out of Commander Coleman's hands before she could protest. "On it!"
Tony headed down the stairs. Faith Coleman, who was beginning to make a phone call on her cell was fast on his heels. Gibbs turned and headed for the interrogation room.
xxxviixx
Laurie was now sitting up on the side of her bed. Ducky and the nurse had okayed her sitting up and going to occupational therapy later this afternoon. Right now though, Ducky and the nurse, after looking at her wound decided to replace her bulky head bandage with something smaller that wrapped around her head.
Harm felt like a third wheel in the room. "Well, ah, Lieutenant, I'd better get going," he said as he started to leave.
"Sir?" Laurie called out as they finished securing the bandage on her head.
Harm stopped. "Yes Lieutenant?"
"It's Laurie."
Harm looked at her confused. "Laurie?"
She smiled at his confusion. "My name—I mean, it's not the name you probably know me by, but it's the one I feel comfortable with right now."
Harm looked over at Ducky who nodded. "Okay…Laurie. Permission to drop by later?"
She grinned at him. For some reason she really liked hearing him call her 'Laurie'. "Permission granted sir and have a good afternoon."
Harm though was a little off kilter thanks to the emotional rollercoaster he had just witnessed. "Uh yes, thank you…Lieutenant."
Harm started to leave again when his phone began to ring. Harm looked at the group apologetically and walked outside into the hallway.
"Yes, this is Commander Rabb,"
'Commander? This is Commander Coleman. I'm at NCIS Headquarters. Special Agent Gibbs and I have brought Commander Lindsey in for questioning-'
Harm began frowning. "In for questioning? What for?"
Faith got right to the point. 'He had JAG Corps Headquarters personnel files on his laptop, including reports filed by you and Colonel MacKenzie while you were hunting for Kabir Atef. Most likely these were stolen from the Headquarters personnel file room.'
xxxviixx
Faith was continuing her conversation with the aviator/lawyer as Tony walked into Abby Sciuto's domain.
"Ooo, a laptop, for me?" Abby cooed as she eyed the bagged evidence.
"One laptop courtesy of Commander Theodore Lindsey, special assistant to the SECNAV," Tony replied with a twinkle in his eyes.
Abby's mouth was a perfect o of surprise. Her eyebrows shot up toward her jet black hairline. "Wow, what did he do?"
Tony shook his head. "Don't know. Gibbs just gave it to me and told me to get it to you ASAP,"
"ASAP eh? Well, let's see what we have here," The Goth Forensic Specialist signed for the bag and then broke the seal on it, taking the laptop out and plugging it in. "You know, of course, Tony," she said warningly, "this isn't my specialty. But for you, I'll make an exception."
"Thanks Abby, but this is for Gibbs, not for me," Tony watched as the computer booted and opened right to the screen where it had been. Apparently it had been running on battery backup while Gibbs brought it back here.
Abby gave Tony a mischievous smile. "I know, I'm just teasing—whoa! Man, look at this!"
Faith whom had been just outside Abby's lab, peeked in at the two NCIS employees.
Tony leaned in closer. On the screen were at least thirty documents. Abby double-clicked on one causing the file to pop open.
"It's a JAG Corps Headquarters personnel report!" She squeaked. Lindsey was in deep doo-doo. Filching classified personnel documents is giant Navy no-no. Even she knew that.
Tony was scanning the report. "Yeah, and stamped 'classified'. It looks like a report from Commander Rabb."
Abby nodded as Faith continued her phone conversation. "Yeah, I remember hearing about this one. JAG Corps went after that terrorist Kabir Atef who was going to launch a dirty missile at the USS Seahawk as revenge for the death of his brother Mustafa Atef."
She double-clicked another file open.
"Tony! Do you see what I see?!" she squeaked again. Abby was not normally this excitable, but seeing all these illegally gained reports was making her really nervous.
Tony nodded grimly. Whatever Commander Lindsey had been doing, it was highly illegal. "I sure do, Abbs."
Tony looked back at Commander Coleman, "You'd better get in here now."
Faith looked in askance at the NCIS agent. "Commander, could you hold on a moment, please?" She put the phone on mute and walked in. "What is it?" Tony pointed to the document on the screen with the word 'Eyes Only' stamped on it.
Faith Coleman looked at the file for only a moment. "Commander? Where are you? Bethesda? Commander, check with Doctor Mallard and see if Lieutenant Singer can accompany you to NCIS Headquarters."
xxxviixx
Gibbs could see that Vivienne was getting nowhere with Teddy Lindsey. Despite her best efforts, he stonewalled her at every turn. Gibbs dialed Tony's cell.
"DiNozzo! Where are you?" He listened to the voice on the other end for a moment. "Leave Abby with Commander Coleman and get up here! I've got a job for you…."
xxxviixx
Teddy Lindsey sat quietly in the charcoal colored interrogation room. Tony came in carrying a big file folder full of papers and a bagged Commander's cover and put them down on the table in in front of Teddy.
"What's this?" Teddy said indignantly.
Tony took the bagged cover out of its bag and put it on the table in front of Commander Theodore Lindsey.
"Back in Baltimore, where I worked Homicide in a former life, we had this case. Sounds like a joke. This gynecologist walks into a strip club – but it's true, I swear to God."
Tony chuckled. Vivian, watching from the other room, rolled her eyes in disgust. Boys will be boys….
"This gynecologist goes to this club. And he likes one of the girls, right? And she likes him enough, she starts letting him take her out. Stuff happens. Next thing you know, the stripper is blackmailing the gynecologist, right? She threatens to tell his wife. So the gyno pays two guys to kill her."
Lindsey looked insulted and maybe a little offended at the off color nature of Tony's story. "I'm really not one for jokes, Agent DiNozzo."
Tony nodded, it's a good story but maybe hitting a little too close to home. Good. "Okay. Another story. Locanda Orchidea. I heard they have a good veal piccata."
Lindsey shifted in his seat as if it suddenly had become warm. "I wouldn't know." He said blandly trying to affect an aire of boredom.
Tony looked at his notes. "White Horse Inn, Jacques' Bistro, Sammy's…you don't know them, either?"
Teddy Lindsey used his lawyer look. "No," he said with conviction and maybe a hint of irritation.
Good. Irritation was what Tony was hoping for. He dug into the thick folder and produced a large stapled document. "Huh! Ah, Transcripts. Your recent interviews with JAG Corps personnel. In seven hours of conversation, you mentioned Lieutenant Singer…fourteen times. You showed an unusual interest."
Lindsey gave the NCIS agent a confident smile. "I was just doing my job," he said proudly.
Tony dropped all pretense of being friendly. "The night Lieutenant Singer was assaulted and thrown off that bridge in Potomac Park, you cashed a $5,000 check at Easy Al's Check Cashing. The next day, you deposited the money, minus a $100 service charge, back in your account. Guess you didn't need it, after all."
Teddy tried to look indignant. "What are you doing looking at my bank statements? Did you have a warrant? Because, if you didn't have a warrant-"
Tony loved this part. The part where as Gibbs would say, the 'dirt bag hangs himself' "Oh, I got a warrant." He smiled. "She needed cash for an abortion?" He acted as if he had messed up. "Oh, wait! You're a family man. What am I saying? You've got a wife and kids – beautiful. It was hush money, right? She was going to tell that pretty wife of yours."
Lindsey despite all the rounds hitting home, still tried to look indignant, but it was half-hearted at best. "Is the joke over? Because it wasn't very funny," he said petulantly.
Tony feigned being embarrassed. He'd show this JAG he could act too. "Bear with me," he said with mock sympathy. "It will be. So, this gynecologist, he has this stripper whacked. Problem solved, right?"
He looked in the mirror knowing Vivienne was standing right behind it. What he didn't know was that James Garrel, Laurie Singer, Harmon Rabb, and Donald Mallard had joined her in the room. The trio had met the Marine Sergeant in the parking lot. He had insisted on coming. Ducky and Harm reluctantly agreed.
Tony was getting into his story. "Wrong! The guy gets nervous. Sets it up so another doctor at his practice—a rival—looks like the killer. He plants evidence, and it's a good idea, in theory. But the finger comes pointing back to him."
"Rabb's supposed to have lost his cover during the struggle with Singer, meaning it would have been out there since early January, but our tests show, it was more like a couple of weeks, if that long. So, I checked the JAG security log, and what do you know? Less than a month ago, you were in Commander Rabb's office. You know, technology's an amazing thing. We can pick up latent prints that, a year ago, would have gone undetected. You know why I always nail the doctors and the lawyers?" He tapped his head. "They overthink. End of joke. You probably know your Article 31 rights, but I kind of like reading them."
-TBC…