Chapter Fifty Six
1900 EST
September 13
King George, VA
The night he left was a grueling night for Mac. She tried to keep
life as normal as possible for the children. At dinner, Mattie was so distraught,
Mac didn’t know what she could do to help her. Mattie went outside and
started gazing at the stars and Mac went into the office to call in for more time off.
Just as she was getting ready to dial the number for the office she saw a note that Harm had left her. The note instructed her to open up the locked file cabinet.
She walked over to the cabinet and pulled out several wrapped gifts. There
were two for her, and three each for the girls. “Oh Harm, you always know
when you are needed.” She scooped up Mackenzie from her pack-n-play and went out to Mattie.
She walked out to where Mattie was and put her arms around her. “You
know your Dad loves you.”
“I know.”
“Well, he left some presents for you.” Mac handed her
the gifts starting with the larger on. Mattie unwrapped it and found a black
and white picture of her and Harm standing by the biplane, and on the matt around the picture, he had written a message.
Dear Matts,
Leonardo da Vinci once said, "When
once you have tasted flight, you will
forever walk the earth with you eyes
turned skyward, for there you have
been, and there you always long to
return. Mattie, I love you,
and when
you turn your eyes skyward, remember
that I am there soaring in the sky.
Love always,
Your Dad
Mattie turned her eyes skyward and felt immediately better. “Can
Uncle Sergei help me hang this up?”
“Sure Matts. You dad left you something else too.” She handed her another small package which contained a small MP3 player with songs
that Harm picked out and put on it, one was her favorite song, Against the Wind. She
went to listen to it and realized that it was her father singing to her. They
had listened to the Forrest Gump soundtrack on their way out to fly one day, and it was her favorite song. The last gift she was instructed to open when Mac opened hers. They
went inside and opened up the last gift together. Mattie and Mac eagerly tore
into theirs, and Mac opened up Mackenzie’s present. They had all been given
star necklaces with engravings on the back.
Mattie’s simply said “Wish Always, Love Dad.”
Mackenzie’s said “Paint the world with your magic wand, Love Dad.”
Mac’s read, “You’ll always have someone who loves you.”
Mac shed a tear when she placed her pendant around her neck. She
put Mackenzie’s in her hope chest for when she got older, and helped Mattie put her necklace on. She put the children to bed and went to sleep alone for the first time in a long time.
Mac woke up around 0500 not being able to sleep. She reached over
for Harm and realized he wasn’t there. “Damn,” she swore softly
to herself. Mac stumbled out of bed and rummaged through his drawers until she
found what she was looking for, his favorite t-shirt. She unfolded it and something
fell to her feet. She picked up the object, another one of Harm’s hidden
surprises.
She opened up the case and popped the disc in the player. She started
smiling when his face popped on the screen. She sat on the bench at the bottom
of their bed and heard his voice filling the room.
“Mac, honey, I know you are missing me right now, baby, right now I am missing you so much. Anyway, I was sitting around one day, and I was tinkering on my guitar, and I wrote this song for you.” She was awestruck; a man had never done anything like this for her before.
Promises Melody (lyrics by me)
I promise you we will spend a lifetime together
We will make that lifetime last forever
Honey, our souls will always intertwine
Baby for you I would spend my last dime
I promise you it will all be okay
This war won’t last for long
There are so many things that I will remember
That will help me through those long days
Chorus:
Tell our friends I’ll see your face again
I’m so sorry that I had to go away
Our memories will help me make it through
And baby, there is one promise I’ll make to you
I’ll love you until the end of time
Our love was made to last forever
Mountains may crumble and oceans may go dry
Your heart is always with mine
I promise you, we will make this last forever
Throw your shoes in the corner
I’ll make dinner
And then we will tuck the kids in together
Moonlit nights I remember
When we drove out to the edge of town
I promised you I will catch you when you fall
And baby, I’ll hold you, I won’t let you down
Chorus:
Tell our friends I’ll see your face again
I’m so sorry that I had to go away
Our memories will help me make it through
And baby, there is one promise I’ll make to you
I’ll love you until the end of time
Our love was made to last forever
Mountains may crumble and the oceans may go dry
Your heart is always with mine (repeat chorus twice)
Mac always knew that her fiancé was talented, but she didn’t realize how talented he was. She had heard him sing a couple of times as they were sitting at McMurphy’s together with the jukebox,
and she had heard him sing the children to sleep, but listening him sing his own words struck a different chord in her heart. The guitar played a haunting country melody, one that she had never heard before. She missed him so much and knew that this DVD would be worse for wear by the time
that his deployment was over.
The song brought Mac to tears as she watched Harm put the guitar down.
He gave her one of his flyboy smiles, “I know the song wasn’t Oscar caliber or anything, but it is your
song, it is called the Promise Melody. I know it isn’t anything special,
but the song is forever yours.” He blew her a kiss, and the video faded
out. Mac smiled and turned off the equipment and started getting ready for work. Soon her baby would be getting up and her teenager would be fussing over what to wear
to school.
Chapter Fifty Seven
0730 EST
JAG Headquarters
One week later
The week flew with Mac trying to get the kids into a new schedule. Harm’s
parents had stayed with them until the night before and Sergei was a godsend. His
classes started a little bit after Mattie had to be at school, so Mattie was able to hitch a ride with him. Mac headed into JAG with Mackenzie, thank goodness for the nursery there. She was getting Mackenzie settled into the daycare when she saw Nikki come up out of the corner of her
eye. Nikki had taken off the past couple of weeks to go to the mountains with
her husband.
“Is it true about the Commander?”
“I’m afraid so Nikki. Because her dad is overseas right
now, I am adding a couple of people to Mackenzie’s pick up list.”
“Okay Colonel.”
“I just want to add his parents whenever they come into town and his brother Sergei Zhukov.”
“As you wish Colonel. I hope he makes it home safely, and
before Christmas so he can see Mackenzie’s first Christmas.”
“I hope so too Nikki. If she begins to be any trouble, call
me or Commander Roberts, lately she has been taking a liking to him.”
“Or you can call me Nikki,” Admiral Jonas said coming in from behind.
“Sir, didn’t hear you come in.”
“It’s alright Colonel. Was the Commander able to talk
to you yesterday?”
“Yes sir. He couldn’t talk long though yesterday, something
was happening with the Tomcats, the onboard navigational systems were malfunctioning.”
“If you need any help with things that go wrong around the house, or just need a friendly ear, don’t
hesitate to call.”
“Thank you sir.”
“I need to see you in my office as soon as you get finished with Mackenzie so we can decide who gets what
cases, and I have a case I need you on.”
“Aye aye sir.”
The admiral left his granddaughter down in the daycare and Mac finished up saying goodbye to Mackenzie.
“Can you say ‘Bye bye Momma?’”
“Da!” Mackenzie squealed.
“I miss your dad too.” She kissed her baby on the forehead
and pushed back her strands of dark baby hair. “I’ll see you for
lunch kiddo.”
She picked up her briefcase and handed Nikki the baby bag. She
trudged up the stairs and stopped to look at Harm’s empty office. She went
into his office and could feel him all around her. ‘Stop Mac, this is ridiculous,
he is still alive and will be home in a couple of months.’ She thought to herself.
Mac observed that there were several pictures missing. Mac looked up on
the bookshelf and found one of Mackenzie, she must have just been three months old.
She picked up the picture to take into her office when she saw someone standing in the doorway.
“Excuse me, what are you doing in my office?” A tall naval Lieutenant Commander said effectively
blocking her path.
“Your office? This is my partner’s office. Who are you?”
“Lieutenant Commander Derek Smalls, the new kid in town.”
“Well, I am the Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Mackenzie, and if you don’t mind, I would
like to get to my office now.” He stepped out of her path. “By the
way, don’t touch any of the Commander’s things. He will be back in
a couple of months, and it would be a shame for you to get settled in only for you to have to move again.”
She sidestepped him and moved out of the office holding a picture of Mackenzie.
Mac came to Jen’s desk. “Jen will you put these things in
my office for me?”
“Yes ma’am. Oh look, it is a picture of Mackenzie on
the day the Commander found her at JAG.”
“How do you know that Jen?”
“Well, she is wearing that cute jumper, and Commander Rabb didn’t have any other clothes for her
at the time. The Admiral is expecting you ma’am.”
“Thank you Jen.”
She knocked and waited for him to say enter. She entered and waited
at attention for him to get off the phone.
“Take a seat Colonel. I heard you meet Commander Smalls today.”
“Sorry about that sir. I didn’t realize I had caused
a ruckus.”
“No need Colonel. I’m sorry to inform you that he is
your new partner, at least until Commander Rabb gets back. I need you and him
on a case, you may like this one, or you may not. After we assign cases,
I want to see you and him in this office so we can discuss this case.”
“Aye aye sir.”
“Get ready for staff call Colonel.”
She snapped to attention when he dismissed her and she made her way through the bullpen. She had plenty of time before the staff call, so she reached into her briefcase and pulled out a white
flag with a red border and a blue star and hung it on her door. The deployed
serviceman flag, she found one the other day and Mattie wanted her to buy it. She
pulled a suction cup out and hung it on the glass door.
Sturgis came up and gave her a hug. “Superman will be home
soon.”
“Tell that to his kids.” She gave him a sad smile.
“You know, I was wondering if I could take Mattie and Mackenzie out for ice cream one night.”
“That would be great Sturgis,” Mac said. “Mattie
will look forward to hearing some of your adventures with Harm during the plebe summer.”
They walked into the conference room and everyone stopped talking. “Guys,
yes, my fiancé is gone, but he will be back.”
“No ma’am, it’s not that, all of us chipped in and bought a big deployed serviceman’s
flag and we were going to put it up in the room.” Bud said quickly, “Where should we put it?”
Sturgis took out a small hammer, “Great minds think alike Mac.”
The admiral picked that moment to enter with Commander Smalls. “The
commander’s service flag should be flown on the conference room doors.” The admiral proclaimed. After Sturgis hung it, he started the meeting.
“Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Commander Smalls, he is temporarily filling in for the
Commander. A little bit you may want to know about the Commander, just so we
can stop scuttlebutt, he has worked as an engineer in the Nuclear School, graduated from there in 1990, worked for awhile then went to
University of South Carolina Law School. He will be partnered with Colonel Mackenzie. Any questions?”
“No sir.” Replied the staff. He handed out cases and
then requested Mac’s and Commander Smalls presence.
He handed them a file folder. “Ensign Justine Kromer has
been accused of downloading a virus on an F-14. The captain wants her charged
with article 108, destruction of military property.”
Mac raised an eyebrow. “Why do I sense there is a but in
there somewhere?”
“Because there is Mac. She claims she is innocent, and there
isn’t any evidence, and wants an investigation.”
“There’s not much here in the case file. It seems to
be an open and shut case. Where is she being held?”
“The Patrick Henry, naturally because of the accusations she is not allowed to perform her duties as a
computer programmer out there, but Captain Ingles has her on galley duties.”
“Isn’t this something we would give to the shipboard JAG?” Commander Smalls brought up.
“Are you questioning my decision? Because it is wartime this
could be looked at as an act of terrorism against a service member, hence I want my senior attorney and her trainee on the
case.”
“Damn,” Mac swore softly. “How long will I be
out there?”
“Don’t worry Colonel, not to long. Can you set up adequate
childcare?” Commander Smalls looked at her.
He would have never pegged for to have been a mother.
“I believe that I am leaving my children in the best hands possible I mean between retired Admiral Chegwidden,
a Petty Officer, and an ex-Russian military officer, I hope they could handle my children.
I would be worried if they couldn’t handle this.”
Admiral Jonas gave a quick laugh. “Petty Officer Coates has
your travel arrangements. You leave tomorrow.”
Lunchtime was quickly approaching and Mac didn’t know if she was going to be able to break away from her
cases until the Admiral came to her office. “Colonel, I was downstairs
and Ms. Mackenzie was getting all fussy. I suggest you take her out and spend
some time with her.”
“Yes sir.” The admiral handed Mackenzie to her and
she picked up the baby bag and took her outside for a picnic lunch. Mackenzie
seemed to enjoy basking in the sunlight on that September day. Mackenzie
was lying on her back reaching for her rattle when she saw a shadow standing over her.
“Da!” she squealed reaching for the man.
“Colonel, is she yours?” Commander Smalls inquired.
“Yes.” She said picking Mackenzie up. “Sorry
about her calling you Dad, or at least that is what we think it is. But she has
been calling a lot of things Da lately.” Mackenzie noticed it wasn’t
her dad and continued clapping her hands with Mac. Mac checked her internal clock
and noted that it was time for her to go in.
“Colonel, if I may suggest something?”
“Go ahead Commander Smalls.”
“Since we will be working together, you can call me Deek.”
“Okay Deek. Is there something you need?”
“Nothing in particular.”
“Well, if that is all for right now, then I must really get Mackenzie back upstairs for a nap before she
has a meltdown.” Mac picked up Mackenzie and the baby bag and headed for
the building. She couldn’t help but think the Deek wasn’t quite what
he seemed to be.
Chapter Fifty Eight
1945 EST
Rabb Family Household
King George, VA
Mac walked in after a grueling day, and she knew that she was going to have to tell Mattie that she was leaving. She hoped she was going to take it alright.
Mattie was walking by Mac’s room when she was packing her bag. “Mom,
where are you going?”
“I have to go on an investigation on the Patrick Henry.”
“When are you going to be back?”
“Why honey?” Mac asked while sitting on her bed smoothing
Mattie’s unruly curls.
“Well, there is a volleyball competition and a NJROTC thing that I wanted you to come see. I guess Jen and Uncle Sergei will have to do.”
“Matts, look at me. I love you, and your dad loves you. I will try to wrap up this case soonest to be back in time. When are these events?”
“Friday night is the NJROTC, in the school gym, they are the exhibition for the squad. Saturday is volleyball at 1700, it is qualifiers for regionals.”
“That might be doable.” She kissed Mattie on the top
of her head. “Is there anything you want me to tell your dad while I’m
out there?”
“To be safe.”
“Okay honey.”
“Mom, if you get to go to see Dad, then I want to go.”
“Mattie, don’t be ridiculous, you know you can’t come with.
Besides, I don’t know how much I will see your father.”
“I know Mom, I just had to try.”
Sergei and Jen came into the room to help smooth things over. “You
know Mattie, with both me and Jennifer having to be at school or work until 1900, this means we will be eating a lot of pizza!”
Sergei said with his thick Russian accent.
“I guess it will be worth it then for a couple of days.”
Mattie replied to Sergei. Just then the phone rang, and Mac picked it
up.
“Rabb residence.”
“Hi Honey.”
“Harm! Hi. I miss you.”
“I miss you too. How is ship life?”
“Same old same old. I miss my office, my family, and my bed
partner. How is your new partner?” Harm inquired.
“Well, he doesn’t take up nearly as much room in the bed, he has blue eyes, a dark complexion, and
he is a little shorter than you.”
“Very funny Mac, I was talking about your partner at work. Bud
imed me and told me you guys got in a new guy.”
“Let’s not talk about him. What is going on out there? I am being sent out for an investigation.”
“Since I will see you tomorrow, do you want to put Mattie on if she is there?”
“Of course. I love you.”
“I love you too.” Mac tossed Mattie the phone. “Matts, it’s your father.”
Mattie squealed and took the phone to a quiet place where she could talk to him.
She needed to tell him to look out for her Mom. She wanted at least one
of her parents to come home.
Mac turned to Sergei and Jen. “Are you guys sure you can
handle the kids?”
“Ma’am we have done it before. This time, AJ will be
here more also.”
“Thanks Jen. Call for what you want for dinner tonight, I
have to go pack my bags again.”
“Mac, how do you feel about getting a new partner?” Jen said, knowing that she shouldn’t have
been assigned another partner so soon.
“Deek is only temporary anyway. He just seems too perfect
and maybe a little obsessive. But what Navy guys aren’t like that?”
Jen started helping Mac pack when she found three more wrapped gifts.
“Ma’am, I think your fiancé has struck again.” Since
the first week that Harm had been gone, the family had been finding little presents that Harm had left around the house constantly
reminding them of his presence. Jen handed Mac the gifts and Mac. “I think I will leave you to this.” Jen said feeling
that she needed some alone time.
Mac unwrapped her tiny gift. It was a leather bound journal with
her name inscribed on it. She opened the inside cover and he had wrote “For
all of those thoughts that are in your beautiful head.” She sighed and
put the journal on her night stand. She knew it would be a poor substitute for
Harm, but at least in her own little way she would be able to talk to him in her own way.
Mac looked at Mackenzie’s larger gift and Mattie’s. She
looked at the wrapping and could tell that he had meant for those gifts to come around Christmas. She put them up in her closet for safe keeping. When she looked
to his side of the closet she found other gifts that were wrapped up in Christmas wrap.
She sighed at the thought of him not coming home in time for Christmas, but then decided that the holiday was too far
away for her to think about. This investigation had to come first.
She went down to the kitchen to grab some water when she heard a knock on the screen door. Thinking it was the Japanese food that Jen and Sergei ordered, she answered.
“Colonel?”
“Deek? What are you doing here?”
“I thought we could go over the case history one more time.”
“I guess that is fine. Come in.” She heard Mackenzie over the baby monitor. “Hold that
thought, I need to grab her.” She opened up the door and ushered him inside.
Deek took in his surroundings. The Colonel kept a lovely home he
thought. Just then Mattie came flying down the stairs in her riding gear.
“Who are you?”
“Who are you?” Deek questioned back.
“I live here. Mathilda Grace Johnson, and you would be?”
“Lt. Commander Derek Smalls.” He said suspiciously.
“You are Mom’s temporary partner? You don’t seem
like the military type. Anyway, I better not tie you up to long. Mom is getting her stuff ready for the trip.” Sergei
came down the stairs.
“Mattie are you ready for you daily ride? Is the new instructor
here yet?” Sergei asked.
“Natalie is on her way. She called and had gotten lost. I gave her better directions. Uncle Sergei,
this is Mom’s new partner, Commander Smalls.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My girlfriend is picking
up the Japanese food, are you going to stay for dinner?”
“I don’t believe so, but thank you.”
“Mac’s is gathering her things for the trip and digging out the information you needed. Have a seat at the table and wait for her.” Sergei instructed
as he was walking out with Mattie.
Mac came bustling down the stairs with Mackenzie in the snuggly.
“Colonel you didn’t tell me that you had a teenager.”
“She’s adopted. Now let’s talk about this case. I will give you a moment to read that case file while I am warming up Mackenzie oatmeal.”
While feeding Mackenzie, she ran over what she read about the case in her head.
She left Mackenzie in the chair while she went to go get her a bottle. In the process, she watched the scene in front
of her happen in slow motion. Deek was trying to be funny with Mackenzie and
she was having none of it, so she picked up her bowl of oatmeal and flung it on him.
“Son of a” Deek began.
“Commander Smalls, let me apologize for Mackenzie, she is just a small child. She doesn’t know any better.” She handed him a
kitchen towel to wipe off his shirt. “Now, from what I can gather, Ensign
Kromer is denying that she created and loaded the virus that knocked out the navigational systems. She is saying that she did load a program on that was supposed to upgrade the older systems, but it was
not a virus.”
“So she is lying.” Deek said.
“That, or she is being framed. Are you packed to leave at
0700 tomorrow?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“I appreciate your eagerness about this case, but I should really spend some time with my children before
I leave tomorrow for work.”
“Sorry for bothering you Colonel. I will take the file with
me and have it thoroughly reviewed before tomorrow.”
“Thank you Deek.”
She escorted him out the door as Jen was pulling up with the Japanese food and Mac went to help her. “Was that Commander Smalls I saw leaving?”
“Yes it was Jen.” Mac said exacerbated. “He just
showed up when I was trying to feed Mackenzie, and well, she got mad and threw her oatmeal on him.” Mac said with a
smile. “Now did you get me my noodles that I love so much?”
Chapter Fifty Nine
0900 Local Time
USS Patrick Henry
Mac stepped off the COD and looked around the deck expecting to see Harm there.
One glance over and she was able to find his six foot four frame waiting for her and Commander Smalls. He was wearing his flight gear. He looked fabulous.
“Colonel Mackenzie, pleasure to have you aboard the Patrick Henry.” Harm said joking with her.
“Harm we have missed you in the office. There is no one shooting
up the courtrooms.” She whispered in his ear as they were walking towards the door.
“Ah, come one Mac I have come a long way from that point.” He said flashing her his famous smile. “Captain Ingles is expecting you on the bridge.
Mac, can I catch you for dinner around 1900, I have to go up, but it shouldn’t take that long.”
“Sure Harm. I have a letter that Mattie wrote for you and
pictures of Mackenzie.”
“Great. I’ll see you for dinner hun.” He gave her a quick hug and left went out to his aircraft.
“Cocky Flyboys always think they can get what they want.”
“Excuse me?”
“Well, just watch yourself on this ship Colonel, it seems like the men on board are too friendly.”
“That was just Harm, he has been like that ever since I met him years ago. I wouldn’t worry about
it.”
She walked up to the bridge. Mac fleeting glanced back at the place
where Harm hit the deck, there were still some scorch marks. She watched him
take off and was thankful that he was in total control of the plane this time. Mac
walked up to the bridge and stood at attention waiting for Captain Ingles to acknowledge her and Commander Smalls.
“At ease Colonel, Commander. Commander Smalls, this is your
first time aboard my ship. I’m sure Colonel Mackenzie can fill you in on
how things are done on my ship. Colonel, Commander Rabb sure saved a 40 million
dollar aircraft the other night.”
“What did he do?” Deek asked.
“He was able to pull the bird up and catch the wire after their navigational systems went down. He had to do it all with sight.” The Captain explained. “What we didn’t understand was how the electronics went out on in perfectly
good weather. It was just a stroke of luck he didn’t have to eject again. I need you guys to figure this out quickly.
I don’t need any of our pilots getting hurt or any good computer programmers to be out right now.”
“Hell of an aviator.” The CAG spoke up. “But
then again Colonel, if you were on his plane, he wouldn’t need a navigational system.” She laughed at that.
“Rabb was the pilot that was in the cockpit?” Mac asked.
“Colonel, does Commander Rabb keep you in the dark?”
“Only when he thinks I will worry, which in this case, I might have.”
“That sounds like Rabb. He probably thought it was another
walk in the park. Colonel, before you get angry at him, think about the amazing
feet he pulled off.”
“Yeah, but he isn’t the one at home with two scared girls.
Now, if you point us in way of the accused, we will start the investigation.”
“She is in the brig. A fight broke out two days ago in the
galley, apparently Ensign Kromer threw the first punch, but for right now, until something can be done about the charges,
this is probably safer for her. By the way Colonel, your fiancé was just as shaken up about it, but you know the flyboys,
they won’t ever let you know that.”
“I understand Captain.” Mac told him. “I know
CAG, trust me, I know. Harm has nine lives.
I’ll make my way to the brig now to interview the accused.”
In the brig:
“Colonel, I swear I didn’t do this. I was working on
a new software program to update the older F-14s. I was okayed to work on this
project, it is the main reason they brought me on board a month ago. The program
worked fine in all the tests, I don’t understand what could happen. To
speed up the process, the software was spliced on several discs.”
“We don’t believe you Ensign!” Deek yelled at her. They
had been in the brig for over an hour, and the case was running into a dead end.
“Lay off it Deek. We aren’t going to accomplish anything
by yelling. Ensign Kromer, if you didn’t do it, how did the virus get on
the F-14?”
“I don’t know.” She replied.
“I don’t know isn’t good enough right now Ensign Kromer.”
“That’s all I have.”
“Okay. Well, there is still some investigating that we have
to do around the carrier Ensign, but I want to warn you that this just doesn’t look good for you.” Mac told the young woman empathetically.
“I’m going to get coffee,” Deek announced and left the room.
“Colonel, why would I intentionally want to hurt any of these men?
I joined the ROTC in college so that one day I would hopefully be able to use my knowledge to help keep the US safe. Besides, I like Commander Rabb
and Lt. Commander Graves. If I ever wanted to off anyone, it wouldn’t be
those two. I heard about all the awful stuff that happened to them two months
ago. No one deserves that, especially them.
They are fun people to be around, and they always help boost the morale here.”
Mac smiled. “Yeah, I was out here when all that happened. It wasn’t a fun night for anyone. On
that note, I will call it a night for right now. I will be by to check on you
tomorrow Ensign.”
“Thank you Colonel for not jumping to conclusions right away.”
“Don’t thank me just yet Ensign. Commander Graves is
my cousin. Hammer is my fiancé, if you did anything to hurt them, I may just
prosecute.” Mac told her seriously.
“I trust that you will ma’am.” She stood at attention
and the guard led her away.
Mac started gathering her notes and made her way up to vulture row to do some thinking. The genuinely trusted Ensign Kromer, but there was no proof to back her up, and if it was a mistake, it
was a grave mistake on her part. She took out her legal pad while watching the
planes land and made a list of people she needed to talk to before writing her final report.
She was staring out into space, and didn’t even hear Captain Ingles come up behind her. “Colonel, so what do you think?”
“Honestly, I don’t think she did it. I have a feeling
that it is something else and I just can’t put my finger on it. I want
to nail the bastard that did this to her and to my family.”
“Well, your new partner is running around trying to prove her guilt.”
“He is a little wet behind the ears still. Trust me, when
I figure out what really happened, then I will be going after that person for trying to harm my Harm!”
Captain Ingles smiled at her. “This should be his plane coming
in from the recon mission we had him fly. I bet he catches the number three wire.”
“I bet he catches the one wire.” Mac countered back. Statistically speaking Harm normally caught the one wire if it wasn’t a bad
day. She watched him catch the one wire and smiled at the Captain. “If you will excuse me Captain, I will go have dinner with the father of my children.”
“Remember rules of conduct Colonel,” Captain Ingles said dryly knowing that he would have no problems
with the two of them while she was onboard.
“Always Captain, always.”
Chapter Sixty
She met up with Harm in the dining area where she found him waiting for her by the entrance.
“Why didn’t you tell me it was you and Em up in the plane?”
“I didn’t want to make you worry Mac, and besides I landed the washing machine, didn’t I?”
“That is beside the point,” she said yanking his arm and motioned for him to follow her. “Now you are a witness in this damn case, and I have some questions for you.”
He raised an eyebrow up at her as they left the galley. He followed
her to her state room, from behind he couldn’t tell if she was angry or not. “Mac,
are you really that mad?” he asked after a couple of minutes of silence.
She grabbed him and kissed him. “Okay, now I am cooling off
a little. Harm, honestly I am glad I didn’t find out until after the fact,
but you still need to tell me these things especially since I am working this case and you are now a witness.”
“I know honey.” Her stomach started grumbling. “How about I get you something to eat?”
He kissed her hand and the corner of her mouth. “God, I have missed
you so much.”
“Me too babe. How are the children?”
“Mattie wants to start dating,” Mac stated nonchalantly as they had grabbed their food.
“She wants to what?” Harm stated louder causing them to get stares from other officers eating.
“You heard me, Mattie wants to start dating.” Mac stated a little louder as they went up to their
seats.
“Well she can’t. She is only fifteen.” Harm said
arguing with her.
The CAG and Emily came walking up and Mac gestured for them to join them.
“What can’t Mattie do because she is only fifteen?” Emily asked.
“Harm won’t let her date.” Mac said while cutting up her chicken. “I think Mattie is showing the grace and maturity of a woman at least a 21 year old.”
“That is the problem Mac, she is older than her age, and boys will seem so immature compared to her, and
I know what immature boys do.” Harm explained picking at his salad.
The CAG interjected his opinion, “Would you rather have Mattie sneak out?”
Mac looked up, “You know what I did when I was fifteen, and Mattie is a good kid Harm, we can trust her
instincts.”
“It’s not her instincts I worry about! We already have
a six month old, and I don’t think I am ready to be a grandfather.”
“Harm, you are over-reacting. She is a good kid, and the
boy she wants to go out with is in her NJROTC class.”
That statement alone made Harm turn up his eyebrow, “Do we know him?”
“Max, the summer camp counselor, transferred to her school, and now they are in NJROTC together. If it will make you feel better I will have Admiral Chegwidden come over just for
the intimidation factor.”
“Well, I guess it is okay for now.”
“Good, because I was going to let her go anyway.”
“I figured that, how is my other daughter? No one year old
from daycare hitting on her yet?”
“She’s good Flyboy. I have a DVD for you. Mattie made it one afternoon when she had a half day. We will
watch it when you have time.”
The CAG spoke up one again, “Colonel, how is the case going?”
“My gut is telling me that Ensign Kromer was duped into loading the virus on the plane, but I haven’t
quite been able to figure out how.”
“That is because she is guilty,” Deek said coming into the room.
“Commander Smalls, how many times do I have to remind you we are here on investigation and not to pass
judgment?”
“Colonel, I don’t know how you and your last partner operated, but when I do investigations we do
things by the book and don’t go on instinct.”
Harm looked up, “I don’t believe we have been formally introduced, Commander Rabb, the Colonel’s
last partner, pilot turned lawyer, back to pilot, now most of the time lawyer and part time pilot.”
“So you are her famous partner I have heard so much about.”
“I don’t know about the famous part, but yea, she is my partner.”
“She was your partner.” Deek corrected him.
“No, I am her partner, in more ways than just being partners at JAG. I am also the father of her children and her soon to be husband.” Harm stated simply, getting ready
to lose his cool with him.
“You are the father of those kids,” Deek said in shock.
“Yeah. Now if you excuse me, I have preflight in an hour
and emails to type to our family. Mac, I will catch you in a few so you can give
me the stuff from the kids?”
“Sure Hammer.” Mac told him as he was getting up from
the table. Deek sat down in his place.
“Well, you sure made an impression on Commander Rabb.”
“Well, what can I say, I am a guy you will never forget.”
“I am sure that is not always a good thing. Now, if you want
to talk about the case that is fine, but my gut says that Ensign Kromer didn’t do it.”
“All evidence points to her though.”
“We haven’t seen all the evidence.” She countered back at him.
“I have to call Admiral Jonas and get a timetable. I refuse to let
a young girl’s career slip through the cracks because of sloppy investigations, so if you don’t mind, I am going
to excuse myself.”
As she was leaving Deek spoke up, “Colonel, why didn’t you tell me your fiancé was onboard?”
“You never asked, and I didn’t tell. My private life
remains private unless I know you, and quite frankly, I don’t know you all that well.
I will find you later and we will compare notes.” She turned to
leave the hall to find her fiancé.
She left the hall and found him in the corridor. “Mac, I
don’t like your new partner.”
“Temporary partner, and I don’t like him either. Now
let’s watch Mattie’s movie she made for you and then I figured you could make one to send home to the kids.”
“Good idea Mac.” They made their way over to his room
and pulled out his laptop. He popped the movie in and they heard Mattie’s
voice filling the room.
“Hi Dad. It’s me and Mackenzie. Mom is sleeping right now, she would never admit this, but she is having a hard time without you. The other day she was trying to make brownies for the NJROTC bake sale, and they burned! She said it was because she couldn’t cook, I think she was too preoccupied thinking
of you.” Mattie said. Harm paused the video.
“My Marine was making brownies?!”
“Attempting to, and they didn’t turn out all that bad, I did break a knife trying to cut them though.”
Harm started laughing and pulled her closer to him and hit play on the movie.
Mattie turned from the video and started playing with her. “Even
Mackenzie feels that you aren’t here. She misses you too. Mackenzie, say hi to Daddy.” Mattie instructed her pointing to the camera.” Mackenzie looked up and clapped. She saw her stuffed F-14
in the corner and started to reach for it, then out of nowhere she started to crawl towards it slowly. Mattie jumped up, “Mom, wake up, Mackenzie is crawling!” She yelled. Harm heard Mac running down the stairs.
Suddenly Mac appeared on the screen “Mackenzie!” she exclaimed as she saw her daughter contemplating
her next move to get to her beloved stuff toy. She crawled a few more inches
and reached her toy. She held it up triumphantly and started chewing on it. Mac ran over and picked her up and threw her in the air. Mackenzie just giggled in her Mom’s arms. “You
daddy is going to be so proud of you!” She looked over at Harm who was
watching the movie.
“Her first crawl. I didn’t even realize that Mattie
had the DVR out.” Mac mused.
“Mattie caught it all on tape. I miss my girls so much.”
Harm said.
“I know you do.” Mac said giving him a comforting squeeze.
The DVD continued to play and it should the girls laughing around the house and dancing.
The soft melody started filling the room and Harm got off his bunk and held his hand out to Mac. They started dancing together until the music on the computer died.
They stood their in the warmth of their embrace and smiled. All
of the sudden, Mac started hearing her own voice again over the computer screen. She
saw Mattie’s face suddenly on the screen, “I heard them wake up and decided to catch this for you Dad, bet you
didn’t know that Mom could sing to.”
In My Daughter's Eyes
Album: Martina (2003)
In my daughter's eyes I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
But
the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I wanna be
In my daughter's eyes
In my daughter's
eyes everyone is equal
Darkness turns to light and the
world is at peace
This miracle God gave to me gives me
strength
when I am weak
I find reason to believe
In my daughter's eyes
And when she wraps her hand
around my finger
Oh
it puts a smile in my heart
Everything becomes a little clearer
I realize what life is all about
It's hangin'
on when your heart
has had enough
It's giving more when you feel like giving up
I've seen the light
It's in my
daughter's eyes
In my daughter's eyes I can see the future
A reflection of who I am and what will be
Though she'll
grow and someday leave
Maybe raise a family
When I'm gone I hope you see how happy
she made me
For I'll be there
In
my daughter's eyes
“Hey Marine, I didn’t know you could sing.” Harm stated.
“I can’t . . . you are the singer. I found the DVD
you left for me. Sing my song?”
“For you always.” He gathered her in his arms and danced
with her again singing the soft melody that he wrote for her. When he finished,
he heard her humming softly. “You know, I think I will let you continue
putting Mackie to bed.”
“I think she is her daddy’s little girl.”
“Thank you for taking care of them while I am away.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I have been meaning to
ask you, when is your first shore leave?”
“I don’t know, but I will let you know. Why?”
“Well, I was thinking of bringing the kids out. I talked
to Mattie’s teachers and they all have said that it won’t count against her just as long as she keeps up with
the regular school work and writes a report about the country she visited.”
“That’s great. I hate to do this, but I have to go
down for preflight instructions.”
“I have to go investigate this case before Deek strings Ensign Kromer out to dry.”
“I will see you in a couple of hours. I love you.”
“Love you too.” She watched him leave the stateroom
and reminded herself to give Mattie a call.
