| Subject: The Consequences of Suppositions, Chapter 4 |
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Cammy
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Date Posted: 18:38:37 01/04/09 Sun
The Consequences of Suppositions, Chapter 4
By: Cammy
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Rated: R (for language and sexual situations)
Author’s Notes: See Chapter 1.
New Note: I decided to post the next chapter tonight since doc asked so nicely and Nettie made me feel bad these chapters have been so short so far :) Thanks for all of the great feedback. I have missed this wonderful community.
From Chapter 3:
The Admiral's countenance told her there must obviously be much more to this story. Almost every prisoner in the U.S. corrections system, both civilian and military, appealed capital or life sentences. Rasul's rejoinder was a routine one. "That was to be expected, sir. On what grounds is he appealing," Mac asked, her curiosity now evident.
The Admiral paused a moment before answering, "Rasul claims that Commander Rabb violated the attorney-client privilege and intentionally slipped confidential information to opposing counsel."
The Admiral waited another moment while the two processed the information. "The brief relies heavily on a single mitigating factor: the existence of his attorney's romantic relationship with the prosecutor, Lt. Colonel Sarah Mackenzie."
The Consequences of Suppositions, Chapter 4
0930 EST
Monday morning
September 1, 2003
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
“Time goes by. I fall out of touch. I can't explain why I fall so much.” – Patty Smith, Wish I Were You.
A heavy silence flooded the room following the Admiral's unexpected disclosure and Mac began to feel the familiar sensation of dread flow like ice water through her veins.
Again, she was the first to speak up, "Admiral, this is absolutely absurd."
She watched as her CO leaned back in his chair, seemingly gathering his thoughts as he pinched his nose and closed his weary eyes. "I don't necessarily disagree with you, Colonel, but the Navy-Marine Court of Criminal Appeals will hear the case pending an Article 32 hearing to determine if Commander Rabb did in anyway intentionally breach his attorney-client relationship with Rasul. As you both know, the Navy-Marine Court of Criminal Appeals only has appellate jurisdiction; it does not have original jurisdiction in any venue. Therefore, the Court, nor any officers thereof, can conduct fact-finding investigations. It normally wouldn't need to because appellate jurisdiction is limited to matters of judicial review and is not supposed to act as a retrial. However, a breach of attorney- client privilege would fall under an error in legal procedure which is a viable appellate argument."
The Admiral took another deep breath before continuing, "Therefore, this Article 32 will more or less act as the investigative arm of the NMCCA. An appellate hearing won't take place until the Article 32 concludes."
For just a moment, Mac was able to shove aside her personal turmoil to view the case objectively. "I don't see how Rasul was able to make any case for breach of attorney-client privilege, that's a tough argument to prove and an appeals court is an almost impossible venue for exoneration in this instance."
The Admiral found himself able to commiserate, "For the better part of a weekend, I've been looking over the preliminary brief Rasul's attorneys submitted and I'll tell you that the premise they have suggested is much more complicated than it first appears; the case law involved with this issue is really something."
Her mind continued to wrap itself around the situation and the most obvious point of all seeped to the forefront. "But, Admiral, if Rasul's brief did indeed rely on the supposition of a romantic relationship between Commander Rabb and myself," Mac chanced a brief look in Harm's direction, "shouldn't the charges against him be summarily dismissed for dependence on a false pretense?"
The Admiral's head whipped up from his previous focus on the papers on his desk and he glanced between Harm and Mac rather furiously before quickly regaining his customary measure of calm.
Mac squirmed in her chair under his scrutiny and the unspoken allegations, glancing at her nails. She didn't even risk turning toward her partner, not quite sure what she wanted or didn't want to see on his face.
Long seconds went by before the Admiral spoke again, in even and measured words. "I guess I made some incorrect assumptions as well. I’m sorry to you both. I should have asked before jumping to conclusions."
For the first time since taking on the part of the accused, Harm spoke up, "Well I'm sure you haven't been the only one around here, sir. How will the Article 32 be conducted?"
The trio left alone the personal issues and took refuge in the comfortable and familiar language of the law, regardless of how unpleasant the issue was.
The Admiral loudly cleared his throat before he answered, "Technically, because it is a naval military justice matter, I am the convening authority by virtue of my office as the Judge Advocate General. However, I don't feel comfortable presiding over the proceeding, so I have turned that job over to Admiral Morris. I will assign a JAG from another office to prosecute and you, Rabb, will be able to select your own counsel if you wish. For obvious reasons, it can’t be Mac."
Mac's heart went out to Harm as he was ostensibly being hung out to dry by the very institution he had devoted his life. "Sir, if they're asserting that I took confidential information from the Commander shouldn't I be facing charges of my own?" She knew it was a desperate attempt to take some of the heat, but she had to try.
"Nothing can be brought against you unless it is proven without a doubt that Commander Rabb gave you privileged information."
The Admiral leaned forward in his chair and brought his elbows to rest on his stately and imposing oak desk. "I know this situation wasn't expected and isn't warranted but I really don't have a choice and neither do you. If I were to have these charges dismissed without action, the entire thing would hang over your head and chances are it would be pursued on a higher level. There’s no escaping the politics of this.”
The Admiral went on, “For the record, Harm, I don't believe a word of these accusations and I hope you know that as your CO, I stand firmly behind you as a member of my staff. I have no intention of relieving you of duty during this fiasco, you will continue to serve on full duty unless the NMCCA rules differently."
"Thank you, sir. That means a lot. I would like Commander Turner and Lieutenant Roberts to represent me."
"Done. I'll see you two at staff call at four." The two officers snapped to attention in response before exiting the office.
1338 EST
Monday afternoon
September 1, 2003
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
Mac got up from her desk and made her away across the crowded bullpen to the office of the resident condemned. Her knuckles wrapped on the closed glass door and she patiently waited for a response.
After what seemed like forever, she was finally bade in with a very gruff invitation, "Enter."
Mac promptly let herself in and closed the heavy door before taking a seat in front of him. Her eyes poured over his hunched appearance and a piece of her heart stung at the reality of his situation.
"Are you okay?"
Harm tossed the file he been holding onto his aberrantly cluttered desk and, in true Rabb form, answered her question with a question of his own. "Mac, did you ever notice that whenever things seem to be semi-right with the world, the bottom drops out beneath us and we land squarely on our asses?"
She looked down to the hands that were clasped across her lap and considered his theory for a moment before reluctantly agreeing with it. "Sometimes, it does seem that way."
"This whole appeal is absurd. How did this thing make it this far? I mean I know haven't seen the preliminary brief yet, but they can't have a scrap of evidence to support their allegations, can they?" Somewhere during his tirade, Harm had risen from his chair and had moved toward the window.
As much as she wanted to join in his rant, as a lawyer she recognized that some valuable, although spurious, points had been brought up by the appellant. "The circumstantial case seems pretty strong. Those incriminating papers I found probably seemed to come out of nowhere. I'm a little surprised Rasul's attorney is going the route he is. If I were him, I would have appealed the inclusion of that eleventh-hour evidence. At the time, you and I were both a little shocked Helfman ruled it admissible. How long did we wait for that decision, a week?"
Harm didn't answer her question; he just remained frozen in place in front of the window. It was times like this that Mac would have given her left arm to get inside his head. She couldn't tell whether she had his attention anymore, she couldn't even tell if he knew she was still in the room.
His gaze was glued to something beyond the glass, seemingly transfixed by whatever he saw. It must have fascinating because they sat, well he stood and she sat, like this for another three minutes until he finally broke the silence.
"They're going to drag me through the mud, you know? You too, it's going to get bad for both of us. They won't be happy until they drudge up something damaging." His tone was cold and resentful.
His uncharacteristically defeatist attitude was worrying her more than the upcoming hearing. Harm was usually the type to roll with the punches, confidant that the truth would eventually come out. Now, he was acting like a condemned man.
"Harm, we both there is nothing to find. The premise they are basing this on isn’t even true." The sad thing was, she would have been thrilled if it was true, if they were truly engaged in a romantic way.
She saw his shoulders bristle a little with tension. Maybe he was finding this whole thing as awkward as she was. It was bad enough that the entire staff thought she and Harm were together, now they had the entire naval justice system to contend with. “Neither of us has done anything unethical. The whole thing will be over before you know it."
His only response was a low, sardonic snicker.
Mac ignored him and changed the subject, "What's the game plan?"
Harm shrugged as he finally turned back towards her and reclaimed his chair. "I don't know yet. Sturgis has been going over the stuff all morning and I'm going to meet him and Bud sometime this afternoon."
She smoothed her skirt back down to regulation level as she stood. "Let me know how it goes."
Noticing that his outlook hadn't seemed to improve, Mac walked behind his desk and placed a comforting hand on his left shoulder. "Harm, look at me."
When he finally did, Mac was a little taken aback by the thunderstorm she saw brewing in his normally clear green eyes. "Everything's going to be okay."
"I could be disbarred, not to mention discharged." He sounded almost as lost as he had been when Sergei was a prisoner in Chechnya.
Mac tightened her grip on his shoulder. "None of that's going to happen. Whatever you need, I'm here for you. I mean, I’m practically your co-defendant, right?" Her face hinted at a smile to reassure him.
He covered her hand with his, generating a contact spark that ran the length of her body. "Thanks, Mac."
After making him promise to keep her updated, she left him to stew in solitude as she made her way back to her office. Damn, that man needed to get in the air.
Knowing Harm as well as she did, Mac concluded that nothing else but a jaunt in something that went mach-three was going to cure his blues.
She scrolled through her Outlook contacts until she found what she was looking for there. With number in hand, she dialed and was pleasantly surprised (as unreliable as cell phones were these days) to hear the real deal answer her call. "This is Hawkes."
1545 EST
Monday afternoon
September 8, 2003
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
“You can not believe what I would do for you. And, you can not conceive how far I’d go, to the ends of everything, just find your smile again. It’s a wicked game of hearts I’m afraid to win.” – Mike McClure, Wicked Game of Hearts.
Only a week had passed since Harm had been made of aware of the charges against him, but to Mac it felt more like a month. Not surprisingly, she had seen very little of him. They saw each other in passing during work and not at all outside of it.
Rationally, she knew it was entirely to his benefit that they disassociate from one another as much as possible, but that didn't mean she had to like it. Mac had to admit that she been spoiled during the last two years, and severely missed not having him near.
Despite spending hardly any time with him, she was delighted to detect a bit more optimism in him than last week.
Skates had promised her that she'd work out some reason for him to join her on the blue horizon over the past weekend, but hadn't been specific. Mac didn't receive any explicit confirmation but, based on his body language and improved mood, she'd surmise that he'd gotten at least a few hours in an air-worthy, multi-ton, multimillion dollar iron bird.
It was Sturgis that had been keeping her up to date on the progress of the hearing.
Mac had mentioned to him last week that she didn't see a conflict of interest in doing some of the legal groundwork with them. It wouldn't affect any testimony she would eventually have to give. Sturgis had jumped at the chance for an extra pair of hands and Mac, like Sturgis, Bud, and Harm, was inundated with case law files dealing with breaches of attorney-client privilege.
She was pretty sure that Harm knew she was helping, but he hadn't mentioned it during the few conversations they had had in the past week.
She continued to be mystified by how horribly ironic this situation had turned out to be. Having devoted her career to fighting for justice, she was amazed at how little justice there seemed to be in this situation. The fact that a man convicted of treason and a sleazy lawyer searching only for money and fame were able to bring serious suspicions and accusations against a man that was embodiment of everything good about the United States military confounded her. Rasul better hope he doesn't ever find himself in a dark alley with this marine.
As she sat in the Admiral's office and waited for him to finish whatever business had stolen him away, she perused the interior of the office for what seemed like the nine-hundredth time.
Definitely an intimidating venue, Mac had only ever felt fully comfortable in the room when the Admiral was away from it, during those scattered times over the past years when she or Harm had temporarily filled in for him. It wasn't so much the Admiral himself that made her slightly uncomfortable, it was the weight he carried as the Judge Advocate General of the United States Navy.
The room felt a bit too much like the principal's office for her liking. Speak of the devil.
Mac came to attention as she heard the heavy oak door open behind her. "Have a seat, Colonel."
As she watched the Admiral head toward his desk, she tried to gauge his mood. Sometimes he was just impossible to read, practically inscrutable. Other times, he was easier to read than a children’s book.
Today was definitely an example of the former.
Mac sat quietly and stiffly as she waited for the Admiral to pose to her whatever question, case or assignment he had.
After more time had slowly dragged on, he addressed her, "How's your caseload?"
Mac sighed. "Actually, sir, it's pretty much barren. The last case I tried was the case of the petty officer accused of stealing that Admiral's car. I do have a few pending cases that I don't foresee going to court anytime soon, but that's it. I’ve been spending most of my time getting through and signing off on this month’s administrative paperwork for the entire JAG corps – paperwork that I am actually signing off on under your signature, sir.”
"Good." He gave a gruff chuckle.
"Sir?"
Admiral Chegwidden moved from behind his desk to sit in the guest chair opposite her. He lowered his frame into the heavy leather chair and turned to face her. The concern she saw in his eyes put her ill at ease. "Mac, I've been thinking about this entire situation with Commander Rabb and it probably wouldn't be a bad idea if you left D.C. for awhile. The media attention to this case is going to be twice what it was the first time around."
It pained her to admit it, but Mac had been thinking the same thing for the past week. Her mere presence in the office and around Harm was adding fuel to the blaze. Rumors. Suppositions. None of it true. "I don't disagree with you, sir. Where?"
"Ironically, the Transatlantic command post is open again. You would be there temporarily while a second selection committee tries to fill the job. It would probably be for 3-6 months, give or take."
His gaze was intensely fixed on her and Mac didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Fate seemed to work in crazy ways.
She shut her eyes closed for just a second and pulled her lower lip between her teeth. "Naples?"
At his nod of confirmation, Mac racked her brain for the name of the man recently chosen to fill the position. "Sir, what happened to Captain Hollander?"
"His wife was diagnosed with cancer and he's requested an assignment back in the states, there's a great treatment center at Mayo Clinic near Jacksonville NAS."
Mac didn't need anymore time to think it through, if this was going to make things easier, she would do it. "Okay, I'll go."
Something about the Admiral's bearing softened. "Mac, I want to apologize for the way I treated you back in June."
The shock at his apology must have registered on her face because he chuckled a bit.
The Admiral was not one to hand out contrition freely and certainly not to a subordinate. Besides, he hadn't been completely horrible, just a little harder on her than usual. If truth were told, the sentiment driving his behavior had been rather sweet and flattering.
"Not at all, sir. I enjoyed processing those 376 Freedom of Information of Act requests."
He sensed her hesitancy to broach the subject but continued. "You are the chief of staff around here, Mac. I shouldn’t have given you all of that grunt work.” Chegwidden paused. “I was operating under an incorrect assumption. But you knew that didn't you? You knew why I was upset."
Trying to avoid looking him in the eye, Mac's focus darted around the room. His question had been rhetorical, but she answered it anyway. "It doesn't change what I decided, but yes, I did know why you thought I made the decision I did."
He nodded slowly at her answer. "Well, for what's its worth, Mac, I do now respect it." He paused before continuing, "Did you ever tell him?"
"No," she admitted, looking down to the floor and hoping he couldn't tell how embarrassed she was by the subject.
"You should have. I think he has a right to know." The Admiral’s eyes sought hers out.
Was the Admiral really offering her relationship advice?
"Respectfully, sir, it wouldn't change anything." She hoped her tone hit the note of finality she was aiming for. Mac didn't think she could take anymore of this. Why on earth did everyone and their brother want to talk about her relationship with Harm – except for Harm?
His gaze was filled with warm sympathy as he looked at her before rising from the chair beside her. "I think you're wrong, Mac."
By the time he was back behind his desk again, the Admiral was all business. "Do you think you can be ready to go by Thursday morning?"
"Yes, sir. The only problem is that Sturgis received notice today from opposing counsel that I'm being subpoenaed for a deposition in Harm's Article 32. There is no way that's going to happen before Thursday."
The Admiral just shrugged, "I'll let them know you will do it by secure video conference call. Shouldn't be a problem. Give those pending cases to Lieutenant Roberts tomorrow and take Wednesday off to pack and do whatever else you need. And, Mac, come see me before you leave."
"Yes, sir." She came to attention before navigating a sharp turn toward the door, grateful for an exit from the uncomfortable conversation.
Now all she had to do was pack and plan for a six-month trip to Italy, put her car in storage, and tell her friend she was abandoning him while his entire career was on the line.
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