Chapter 3
When the phone rang a short time later, Mac was elated to learn that the evidence had been found. As she headed down to the evidence room to check things out she wondered where the mysterious email had come from.
Sturgis on the other hand was not thrilled about the discovery. It wasn't that he wanted a guilty man to go free, but he just hated to lose a case. After Lieutenant Manx was taken away, Sturgis congratulated Mac on winning and asked if she knew how the evidence had been found.
Not wanting to reveal the anonymous email, Mac simply told him she's had a hunch that had paid off.
"It must be nice to have hunches like that," he said shaking his head skeptically.
She just smiled as she walked off. The next day unbeknownst to Mac, Bud also received an email helping him with a case he and Harm were working on. Sergeant Dexter was suspected of embezzling money from the Marine Scholarship Fund. They knew he had motive and opportunity, but so far no trace of the money had been found, so there was nothing to charge him with.
The email that Bud received gave the false name that Dexter was using and the bank where he was hiding the money. Bud wanted to tell Harm right away what he had found, but he was in court for another fifteen minutes so Bud headed out to the hall to wait for him.
Court got out and Harm and Mac were heading back to the bullpen side by side discussing papers that needed to be filed. Harm was carrying an open file in his hands and they were about to go around the corner into the bullpen when Judge Love walked by them.
"Be careful Commander," she said and just kept walking.
Mac and Harm looked at each other bewildered by the warming, but since neither of them had a clue what it meant, they shrugged their shoulders and kept walking too.
Bud stopped at the water fountain to wait for Harm. After pushing the button several times and not getting any water Bud jammed his thumb down on it. Water shot high into the air and landed on the floor instead of the fountain basin. He stared at the mess for a moment and then went to find a janitor to mop up the spill.
Not seeing the spill, Harm's feet flew out from under him and the file he was holding went flying as well. Lying on his back looking up at the startled Mac, he heard his best friend say, "So you finally fell for her, Harm?"
Turning an evil glare at Sturgis, who was laughing his head off, and then at Mac, who was trying to stifle her laughter at the situation, Harm didn't know who to be madder at. It wasn't until the elevator door opened and Admiral Chegwidden stepped out to see Harm sprawled on the floor that he even attempted to get up. Just as Harm got to his feet, Bud and the janitor came into the hall as well.
Everyone was trying to explain what had happened to the Admiral at the same time. He simply held up his hand for silence and then nodded to Mac to give him the details. She explained all that she could and when she finished, Bud chimed it that it had all been his fault for hitting the fountain button too hard.
It wasn't until later in the day when Harm was sitting in his office thinking about asking Captain Love out again that he remembered her warning to be careful just before he took that spill in the hall. But she had been coming from the other way and could have had no idea that water was on the floor in the other hall. Harm was still baffled about what she could have been warning him about, and resolved to remember to ask her when they next met.
Thursday morning Sturgis and Captain Love arrived in the parking lot at the same time and Sturgis noticed that she was carrying an umbrella. It was a clear and sunny day, and the weatherman had said it was going to stay that way, so he asked her if she was afraid of getting sunstroke. Miranda just looked at him and shook her head with a smile. Later that day he was leaving the building for lunch and opened the door to find that it was pouring. Seeing Captain Love crossing the parking lot to her car with her umbrella open, he wondered if she had some advanced warning about the rain.
To Be Continued….