Chapter 11 - Security
It was early evening when he woke in the hallway stark naked with a warm female body that lay on top of him. She was equally nude, covered only by the one arm he draped around her torso while his hand held hers against his chest.
The tight, burning sensation across his low back was a reminder of the years of punishment his body had lived through. Carrier landings took their toll but Harm knew it was the three ejections that had permanently damaged his back. The crash landing in the Chaco didn't help either and as he opened his eyes he couldn't help but groan.
"You okay, flyboy?"
"Never thought I'd wake up and find us laying naked in the hall."
When he looked down he found Mac smiling, a sweet cheshire grin spread across her lips. "Technically you're laying in the hall, I'm laying on top of you and you're quite cozy."
She reached up to brush her lips over his, a gentle kiss that lovingly lingered until Mac looked up and sighed. "And you were right, the bed's right there."
Harm tipped his head back, his eyes focusing on the darkened room and a very comfy bed that sat in the middle. "I don't know, Mac. It does seem pretty far away. We never would have made it." He kissed the tip of her nose and then the crown of her head and finally shifted enough to come to a sitting position. "C'mon let's hop in the shower and then head to sleep."
"More sleep? I've slept most of the day."
"And you still look exhausted. Hell, I'm exhausted. I've spent these days worried and waiting."
Mac knew he was right. The lethargy still hung in the fringes, her body was heavy and not from exceptional love making although that served to add to her fatigue. Harm's eyes were bloodshot and half mast and she saw the dark circles under his eyes, a testament of his own sleepless nights. "I just don't want to miss this…You. Me. Us. I don't want to waste our time together on sleep."
"We have time, Marine." He chuckled but when Harm bent to kiss her Mac stopped him. "What? What's wrong?"
"I need to tell you something and I-"
"I need to talk to you too but, for now, no heavy stuff. We'll have time for that too."
"Not enough." Her melancholic voice made his heart squeeze but for the moment, Harm didn't want to think about their imminent split, the day she returned home and he stayed behind. He'd be alone again and Mac would need to contend with Webb's unwanted attention until he could find a way to kill him.
"We'll make it count, I promise."
Mac did sleep albeit not as restful. Shadows of the past lingered on the edges of her mind. Perhaps it was the reason why she felt Harm shift at 0100 and the mattress depress from the weight of his body as he sat on the edge and then stood.
She heard him use the head and thought nothing more until several minutes ticked by and their bed remained half-empty.
Following him was a whim fueled by concern that Webb's cronies had found them despite the care she took. Or what about Sadik for that matter? Catherine Gail's warning that Clay was working for the terrorist was never far from her mind these days although there had been no tangible proof.
She quietly padded into the living area, hid in the shadows where she could see Harm standing in the kitchen. A small laptop was placed on the bar and he was typing some sort of code into its keyboard. Black and white images appeared across the screen, some that he flipped through quickly others that he leaned in to see better. From her vantage point it was impossible for her to make out the figures and what could hold his attention so intently.
Twelve minutes, she noted and was about to approach when Harm finished his tinkering, snapped the laptop shut and stood motionless.
He seemed to be searching for something in the ether, an intangible object that had him walking towards the nearest window. Whatever he saw made him rush across the vessel, disappearing out the sliding glass doors at the bow that he left open.
It was too dark for her to see him and Mac nearly went searching for her pistol when she saw Harm return. The urge to open the laptop and
searching through its contents made her fingers itch and when he disappeared yet again, Mac stopped herself.
She trusted him. She had to trust him because one didn't love like she did if Harm…if he…if…
"..Investigated for treason…" The words she didn't want to believe echoed in her mind and a conversation with Clayton Webb played in her mind like a bad movie.
6 Months Prior
The Hay Adams
Washington, DC
Mac didn't want to wear the red dress he bought nor the pretty earrings and stunning necklace borrowed from ludicrously expensive Verstolo jewelers. The teardrop, diamond studded necklace plunged low stopping a fraction of an inch away from the swell of her breasts. The earrings, a combination of gold and diamonds, were designed to look like fall leaves.
It all made a stunning picture of a seemingly flawless woman enjoying fine dining with one of DC's most prominent bachelors.
And she hated it. Every second that passed meant another moment away from Harm.
Each minute made the idiot sitting across from her wearing a Versace tuxedo believe she was interested. Each minute made her feel that more lonely. Yes, lonely in a room full of people at one of the most high end restaurants in Washington.
She sighed when he ordered another whiskey, his second in less than an half an hour. But Mac suspected Webb had a drink or two before the limo had even picked him up.
At that point Mac realized what they should have noticed years earlier - Clayton Webb was a functioning alcoholic. She noticed something was off in Columbia. He was unsure and shaky but would relax after a trip to the head. Paraguay should have rammed that point home when Mac found a flask inside his sports jacket that he took a nip from before meeting their target.
It made sense now, the addiction likely hidden by his money and influence. No one wanted to piss off the Webbs and though she wondered how he'd been in the CI this long, Mac suspected it was an alliance of some sort.
But there was no proof. The more time she spent with him, the less information she found. And Webb just wanted more. He hinted his little innuendos, even kissed her a time or two but she couldn't . Truth was, he disgusted her.
"Sarah, I know you don't want to believe me. I know part of you will always love Harm but he's being investigated for treason. You need to let that sink in."
Mac had heard it before, it was a common theme whenever she met up with Clay. The setting, however, was far too pomp and circumstance for conversations about espionage. Their table was situated right next to a window with the most stunning view of the White House which looked ethereal from the late snowfall.
She stared at the Presidential home rather than engage the man sitting across from her until Webb ordered a third whiskey before their meal had arrived. "You drink too much, Clay. You need to ease off. It's not good for you."
Mac cringed when he used the alcohol to swallow down a pair of blue pills and then sighed heavily. Spending time with Webb was getting old. She missed Harm and the lack of information coming from the agency made her worry.
His burner phone wasn't working anymore and subsequent calls were met with a voice mailbox that she'd been quickly filling. Seventeen messages she'd left, talking until the time ran out. She'd also taken to calling his home just to listen to the recording on his answering machine, hanging up before the call could be traced to her.
She was losing it, desperate and the art of separation was lasting far longer than she imagined. And Webb was still talking, she drowned out whatever he'd been saying. "What?"
Annoyed that she wasn't paying attention, Webb slammed his empty lowball on the table, an act that startled her and when Mac turned to face him, she saw something odd in his expression, almost evil. "I asked if Rabb ever had a drink around you."
"Sometimes but he was never drunk or belligerent and he wasn't-"
"I'm not drunk nor belligerent. I'm just celebrating."
A celebration. Right. The expensive restaurant was a gift from his mother after being cleared for duty. The agency believed he was fit to rejoin the company although his days in country were likely over and done with. Sadik's torture had left permenant nerve damage and while he'd been promoted as Kershaw's right hand man, his rising star was questionable.
"Has he gone by your place?"
She picked at the plate of food leaving almost all of her steak uneaten. Mac wasn't hungry, she simply wanted out and there seemed to be no end to her assignment. "You know he has. Whenever he's in town he sits outside of the building. But he never approaches."
With a flourish Webb took her hand, a gesture meant to be comforting but it only made her skin crawl. She hated this. She hated him and this little investigation she was thrown into from various sides. "I'll keep you safe, Sarah. My men are out there too."
"They don't need to be. I'm a Marine and-"
"Marine's aren't infallible. If he's after you, Harm will take you. He knows things now, Mac. He's a lethal killing machine. He'll come for you one day."
Lord how she wished that were true. Funny how it was Harm that Webb concentrated on these days and Sadik, the real threat, was rarely mentioned anymore. She wondered how much of Catherine Gail's words held weight but the more time she spent with Webb, the more she doubted and wondered.
"He won't and I don't want him to either. We're done, it doesn't matter that I loved him. What he did to me was unforgivable." She drove the last word home even as it made her stomach churn and made sure to give Webb a hard lock for effect.
"Mac, the investigation against him is real. He's not the man you knew. Even the best of men turn for various reasons. He's a traitor."
"Then why hasn't he been brought in?"
"We're building a case." He said with the wave of his hand. "It takes time."
Mac snorted, at the rate in which the agency operated, if Harm really were a traitor he'd sell all of the country's secrets before they figured it out "Okay, I'll play along. Harm's a traitor. Why? Why would he turn?"
"Because of you."
The mattress shifted for the second time that night when Harm returned and slipped back into bed. She held open the covers and immediately cuddled close once he was at her side. The thought of treason was a topic she brushed out of her mind. Harm was a good man. He was her man and she would love him forever.
"Is everything okay?" She whispered as he dropped his head onto her pillow and his lips swept over hers in a soft kiss.
"Yeah, everything's great. Went to use the head and then checked the security cams." He yawned and then kissed her again. "I also wanted to make sure we weren't… dragging… anchor." He punctuated with a line of small kisses across her collar bone.
She sighed each time his lips pressed against her skin, his caresses having a dizzying effect as his words came through the haze. "Wait, cameras?"
"Security cameras." The vessel was wired with cameras. Outdoors, inside, only the bathroom was spared of intrusive security. The last year made Harm paranoid, very paranoid and every home he occupied held hefty security measures and a pistol was always at the ready.
He took little chances and with such precious cargo on board, every edge of the boat was covered and secured - even the hallway where they made love earlier. "I ah, made sure to delete the…umm…hallway footage."
That actually made her blush both from the thrill of being recorded and the fact that they'd been so passionate. "Did you watch any of it?"
"A little." He confessed, squeezing her six gently. "We're pretty hot together, you know?"
"Oh, I know." She grinned and gave his own six a squeeze. "Why would we drag anchor? How does that happen on shore?"
Harm grinned. She really must have been exhausted if Mac didn't realize that they sat in a cove at the far end of the lake. It was peaceful there, with no marinas or homes with docks and little water activity to disturb them. "We're not on shore. I drove us out to a cove. It's a little more private. We're safe, Mac, I promise."
"Okay."
He kissed her brow, feeling Mac relax when one arm wrapped around her. She let out a breath and in the darkness he felt her hand press against his cheek. Fingers delicately ran over the well kept beard, stopping where coarse hairs couldn't hide the scar. She felt the jagged edge, followed the contour to where it stopped almost at his lower lip until his free hand stopped hers.
Harm pulled her fingers away from the cicatrix that would disfigure his face for life, not wanting to have her fixate or ask or worry. But she would worry, maybe as obssessive as he'd been when a poacher shot her years earlier. "Mac, please."
"You don't need the beard, Harm. The scar doesn't make you any less attractive." When he didn't reply, she pulled her hand out of his grasp and pressed it to his cheek again. "Let me touch you."
The tip of her finger ran across the scar and he shuttered from the sensation, an electric charge that breathed life back into him. Her lips followed along stopping at the corner so that her cheek would rub against his. "How did this happen?"
"It's…classifed."
Harm's voice was eerily stern and when she finally pulled away he took another breath. She didn't pry or beg although Mac was dying to do both and do away with that dirty word that wedged a World between them.
"It's classified, Mac…I just. I can't-"
"I'm sorry. I won't ask again."
But he spoke anyway without filling in names or dates or specifics. He spoke because he had to. "The CI had a target, an insider and thought I would make a good candidate at befriending him and recruiting him. I guess, being a lawyer, knowing I could talk to people and make them respond-"
"Harm you don't have to-"
"I do. I need to talk to you, Mac."
"Didn't you speak to someone? A therapist?"
"Yeah, I spoke to the agency shrink and that was like talking to a wall. She didn't give a shit, made it seem like this was my fault, my fuck up. It wasn't."
Harm was sent after their target who was an avid aviator like himself and the shared passion for flying was used to befriend the man. "You. Me. Same. Same, they call it. He loved jets and I'm a former jet pilot. It felt too easy. It was too easy."
Conversation between the men flowed as if they'd been friends forever and Harm's own naivete made him gullible. "Maybe I was too stupid or too green or maybe I just see the good in everyone. Turns out he knew who I was, who I worked for and what I was doing. And one night, he came for me."
Harm remembered waking in the middle of the night, strong hands pinning him down to the mattress. The more he struggled, the harder the men fought to subdue him until a glimmer from a knife's blade caught his eye before it was slowly dragged across his cheek. "When I screamed it didn't sound like me. I screamed and I couldn't stop it from coming out. I screamed and I cried and I told them to kill me but they left. My asset said I'd never forget. And he's right, I won't."
Mac pressed her lips against the scar and caught a wayward tear that slid down his cheek. She held onto Harm, comforting with kisses and caresses along with gentle words of love that she repeated so that he'd understand. "This doesn't define who you are. And I meant what I said, you're still attractive and I am still very, very much in love with you."
"Mac, I-"
"I know…I know, I know you love me."
"I do and you need to let me say it."
She shifted slightly, turning so they lay face to face. "I don't need you to say it, I feel it, here." She brought his hand up over her heart, pressing his palm against her chest.