| Subject: Re: Little Details C7/8 - Adult ish |
Author:
fananicfan
|
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: 10:07:11 07/13/07 Fri
In reply to:
fananicfan
's message, "Little Details" on 11:25:09 07/08/07 Sun
One chapter and an epilogue left...
CHAPTER 7 – A Connection Made
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Harm met Bud in the parking lot and took the opportunity to speak to him. He asked if Bud minded if he took a really long lunch if they weren’t getting anywhere with the case by the time Mac called. With Harm being a senior officer and not needing his permission to leave, Bud knew that Harm’s reason must be personal, but asked him about it anyway.
"Going anywhere special, sir?"
"Yes, Blacksburg."
"You're plane still out there, sir?"
"Yes, she is."
With the answers that Harm gave him and since Harm had taken his Corvette out of storage this trip, Bud assumed that Harm was going out to check on his plane. Bud liked the new level of their friendship, one more of equality than teacher and student, and their exchange before work about a personal matter. Even a superficial one like checking on his plane had Bud wanting to test the limits a little. Bud suggested a deal: Harm could take an extended lunch to go to Blacksburg while he stayed behind and prepared opening arguments, but, in exchange, Harm had to prepare closing arguments. Bud was a little surprised that Harm didn't try to negotiate. He just said, "Deal. Thanks, Bud."
Harm and Bud had entered Bud's office and had left the door open. They were pulling papers out of their briefcases when they heard a tapping on the office door. It was Lieutenant Vukovic. The lieutenant was standing up straight with an air of challenge about him.
Vukovic's voice was strong and each word dripped with jealousy. "Captain, I heard that you were selected to take over my case. I also heard that the accused is the nephew of Senator Proxmeyer, a long time friend of the SecNav's. If you can get him acquitted, it'll certainly put you in the running the next time the Judge Advocate General’s chair is empty."
Harm wasn’t here to soothe Gregory Vukovic’s ego and he wasn’t going to give him the pleasure of thinking that he could get to him. Harm remained in control and his voice was calm. “You think the guy is guilty?”
“I think the evidence supports it, and he didn’t convince me that he didn’t do it.”
“Did he deny committing the murder?”
“Yes.”
“Since you were supposed to be defending him, why don’t you tell me how you mounted his defense?”
“I'm sure that you've read the file, sir, and know my defense strategy."
"I read the file, but I'd like to be sure that I understand it from your angle so I'll know how not to proceed.”
Vukovic was steaming at the captain’s shot and his voice was strained, but he kept in control as he replied. “The evidence was mostly circumstantial, and based on Lt. Stanton’s outstanding service record, he couldn't or wouldn't commit murder.” Vukovic's face took on a smug look. "You have work to do, and I should get back to mine as well." He launched a final attempt to get under Harm’s skin. "Good luck. You’re going to need it to get that kid off, Captain Rabb.”
Harm responded in the same calm tone that he knew was getting to Vukovic. “I don’t need luck, Lieutenant, but thank you."
Vic hadn’t gotten to Harm and he wasn’t happy about it, but he left without another word.
Once Vic was out of earshot, Bud spoke. “I think you showed remarkable restraint, sir.”
“Thanks, Bud. Now, let’s make sure that we don't have to use his defense strategy.”
After a few moments to shake off the feelings from the encounter with Vukovic, it was time to get to work. They looked over their interviews, statements given to police, reports by the medical examiner and a report by an expert at the crime lab. Harm also placed a call to Centurion Security. The young lady hadn't been able to talk to her boss yet, and she hadn't begun the search, even if he’d given her the permission to release it.
While they hoped that the other security guard had seen something, they worked to create possible scenarios.
Scenario one was the probable police version that circumstantially implicated Lieutenant Stanton in all four murders. According to his service record, he'd become stationed aboard his current ship two weeks before the first murder. The ship, though gearing up for deployment, had been in port at the time of all four murders. In the four weeks after Tina's murder, while the ship was participating in war games off the coast, no other murders had taken place and none had taken place since the ship had arrived back in port and Stanton had been taken into custody. Why Tina's murder wasn't as "clean" as the other murders was the problem with this theory. The bodies in the other three murders had been dumped, but not murdered where they'd been found, unlike Tina's, which explained the lack of evidence in those cases. Perhaps leaving her body where she'd been killed could be explained by the amount of activity in the area that night - whoever killed her hadn't been able to remove her body in order to dump it elsewhere without being seen.
The last thing about Tina's murder that struck Harm as so odd were the bruises. She'd fought with her attacker and the others hadn't. Using the theory that the other three victims must have known or trusted their attacker enough to turn their backs on him, thus, no fighting back, then why did the killer go after Tina? This led to another scenario. The first three murders were done by the same man, but Tina's was a copy cat killing. Harm reviewed the newspaper articles - there was no mention of the type of knife used, so it was unlikely that it was a copy cat killing. Bud had something to disqualify the copy cat idea, too. A review of the medical examiner's reports from all four victims indicated that the blade of the knife had a nick in it that had resulted in a more unique cut than a knife of the same kind. It would be highly unlikely that, not only would a copycat use the same type of knife, but for it to have a nick of the same size and in the same place took this theory out of the running.
It was nearing lunchtime, and Harm called the young woman at Centurion for the third time. She said that her boss had no problem with her releasing the name and that she'd start a search right after lunch - she should have the name for him early tomorrow. Harm explained that he needed it today because he'd be in court tomorrow. The secretary seemed to be a little sympathtic to his situation and said that she'd try to get the name for him by the close of business today.
Frustrated by the lack of progress, they decided to go over the information one more time and then break for lunch. During their pre-lunch run through, Harm's phone rang. It was Mac. He asked how her meeting had gone.
"I can't believe that I prepped for a week before I got here, spent half a day with General Cresswell yesterday, and my meeting lasted all of forty-one minutes."
"So where are you now?"
"I'm about five minutes from you, but I was at the mall. I didn't want to take you away from your case too early. And we can't get there before three because he won't be home from school yet. I thought about going to the apartment to change, but shopping sounded like a lot more fun. I called Ms. LeMoine, and she's going to meet us at three thirty so that we can talk to Tyler and she can pick up the paperwork."
After Harm had bid Bud farewell and left his office to go to Blacksburg with Mac, the thought about how hard it must be for Harm and Mac to maintain a marriage this way came to him. Bud had thought that sea duty was hard, but what they were doing had to be harder.
Harm was waiting when Mac pulled up in the parking lot. He threw his briefcase in, and they were on their way. Just outside of town, they stopped to grab a quick bite of lunch, and Harm took over the driving. On the drive out to Blacksburg, Harm said that he'd made some decisions and filled her in. He and Mac should open that account when he brought his car to San Diego. He was hoping for May, but it depended on how smoothly the relocation of his office went in March. He was going to keep the plane, at least for the time being. He confessed that he needed more time to think about the loft. He'd worked hard on the place and it held a lot of memories. She could have teased him about which memories made it harder to let go of it, but she didn't. Instead, she said, "I think you're being very wise by not making a decision in haste."
Mac told him about her meeting and about how short it was. She said that, when she'd called General Cresswell to tell him, she'd wondered if it had gone well because it was far shorter than the meeting for which he'd prepared her. He'd laughed and said, "That's because you were ready. If you hadn't been prepared, they'd have attacked like sharks with chum in the water. Good job, Colonel."
Harm vented to her about his struggle with the secretary at the security company to get the name of a guard. They talked almost the entire trip, but after they'd made the turn off the interstate, Mac got quiet. They were rapidly approaching their destination, and she had butterflies in her stomach from the one question that she hadn't been able to ask before now.
She reached over and rested her hand on his thigh. She needed the contact with him before she asked the question. "Do you think that he'll want to be ours?"
He reached down and took her hand in his and pulled it up to his lips. After placing a kiss on her fingers, he answered. "I don't think he was waiting to be picked. I think he was waiting to pick, and he picked us. I'm just not sure if he picked us the first time we saw him or at the open house."
His words eased her butterflies, but they'd return in full force a few minutes later when he pulled the car up in front of the Potter house. She needed to gather her composure, so they were still sitting in the car when Ms. LeMoine pulled up.
Harm and Mac got out of the car and waited for Ms. LeMoine on the sidewalk. Mac handed the manila envelope to Ms. LeMoine, and she took the envelope and suggested that they go talk to Tyler. They weren't all the way to the front door when it opened, and a blonde, green-eyed little boy came shooting out.
"Miss Donna, you brought them back." He was talking to Donna LeMoine, but when he reached the trio approaching the house, he wrapped his arms around Mac's waist in a tight hug that Mac instantly returned.
"They came back, and we'd like to talk to you. Can we go inside?" Ms. LeMoine asked the excited little boy.
Tyler had released Mac and was standing between her and Harm. "Sure," Tyler replied as he took Mac and Harm's hands.
The four of them sat in the living room and talked to Tyler about Mac and Harm wanting to adopt him. Tyler was thrilled that they wanted to be his parents. There were no problems or questions in that department. The hard part was in the timing. Tyler wanted to leave with them right away. Knowing Tyler's experience last year, it was easy to understand why he wanted to leave with them immediately. Tyler was really struggling with the fact that he couldn't leave with them and, after a few minutes, Mac remembered something that she'd bought at the mall. She excused herself, leaving Harm and Ms. LeMoine to begin explaining to Tyler why they couldn't take him with them today.
Mac returned with a shopping bag and knelt down in front of Tyler. "I know that you want to come with us now, and I'd like that too, but you can't. You're a very special little boy, and they need to talk to us and Mattie and people we know to make sure that we're going to be good parents, and they need time to do that. You have the pictures from the other day and, if it's okay with Miss Donna and Miss Nancy, I brought something for you to keep here that will remind you that we're waiting for you." Mac reached in the bag and pulled out two stuffed bears, one dressed in a Navy uniform and one dressed as a Marine. Mac and Tyler both looked at Ms. LeMoine.
"You can keep them," Donna LeMoine said as she took note at how well Mac had handled the situation.
Tyler reached for the two bears and, with one in each hand, put his arms around Mac's neck and gave her another hug. Mac reciprocated as Harm watched. She wasn't going to be just a good mother, she was going to be a great mother.
Tyler lifted up his bears so that he was sure that Harm could see them. "My bears are dressed like you. Are you dressed in different colors 'cause there're different colors for boys and girls?"
"Our uniforms are different because I'm in the Navy and she's a Marine," Harm explained.
"Oh," Tyler replied before looking at Ms. LeMoine to ask the million dollar question. "How long until I can live with them?"
"It depends, Tyler. Colonel MacKenzie lives in California with Mattie, but Captain Rabb lives in another country, so it may take a little while. I can start the porcess now by talking with each one of them for a few minutes, but the rest isn't up to me. We could make a wish that it happens by your birthday."
"That's far away," Tyler said, sounding dejected.
"It might happen sooner, but it might take longer, too. I just can't give you an answer," Ms. LeMoine stated.
"But you can start talking now?" Tyler asked.
"Yes. If you'll stay here and talk to Captain Rabb, I'll talk to Colonel MacKenzie, and then they'll trade places."
That's the way it happened. Mac followed Ms. LeMoine out onto the deck, and she asked most of the same questions of Mac that she'd asked of Harm when she'd talked to him about Mattie. After talking to Mac, Ms. LeMoine repeated the process with Harm.
When Harm came back into the room, Tyler knew that it was time for them to leave because he could hear Miss Nancy in the kitchen making dinner. Ms. LeMoine confirmed it. It was one of the hardest things that Mac had ever had to do, saying goodbye to that little boy, but she managed. Harm bent down closer to the boy's level to say goodbye and shake hands, but he got a hug this time, too.
Ms. LeMoine walked out with them and gave them an overview of how she thought the schedule would go and what they could expect next. After she filled them in, Harm and Mac moved towards the car. They looked at each other over the roof of the car and then turned towards the house. Their little boy was looking out at them, looking so lost. He had his bears in front of him with his arms wrapped around them. It was this sight that caused Harm to see that little detail that he'd been missing. He didn't know if he was that rusty or if he'd been so mentally distracted that he hadn't seen it, but he was onto something now and started moving around the back of the car. "Mac, you drive. I've got to make a call or two, and I should have enough daylight left to look over the file again."
Harm opened the back door and grabbed the file out of his briefcase before jumping into the passenger seat. He'd already dialed a phone number that was written on a Post It note on the outside of the file before Mac had time to pull away from the curb. He looked at his watch as the phone rang in his ear a second time. It was 1629. She should still be there. On the third ring, she answered, "Centurion Security, how may I help you?" Harm asked her if she'd found the guard's name yet. She said that she'd been able to narrow it down to one of three people: two men and a woman guard who'd been asked to cover for someone. Harm asked her if she had the time sheets for the guards. The guard that he was looking for would have clocked out around one in the morning. "If you're sure about the time, then it has to be Charles Reed. He clocked out at seven minutes after one." Harm told her that he needed his time cards and work schedules for...he gave her the dates for the two weeks prior to the first murder and two weeks after Tina's murder, along with the fax number at the JAG office.
Harm was flipping through the file, looking for something. He flipped over a couple of pages and read a moment, then he flipped over a few more and read briefly before he snapped the folder closed and started dialing again. He was calling Bud. He told Bud to expect the fax and to see what he could find out about the guy. He also wanted Bud to call Mrs. Weathers and ask her to describe the uniform that the man she saw was wearing or explain how she was so sure that it was a uniform. When Bud inquired as to his reason, Harm said, "You remember when we went to the Wild Waves Club the other night? We went in before dark and saw only the security guy at the door, but when we came out, it was dark and there was a security guard in uniform outside. What if the uniform that Mrs. Weathers saw that night was like his?" When Harm hung up, Mac wanted to know what he was thinking.
"What were you looking for in the file?"
"I was looking to see if anyone had asked the witness to describe the uniform or how she knew that it was a uniform."
"And..."
"And no one did. You remember Tyler asking about our uniforms being different? I didn't think anything of it when he asked, but when I saw him in the window with those bears and I couldn't really make out which uniform was on which bear, it hit me. Maybe she saw a uniform, but maybe it wasn't a military uniform at all."
"So you think that it was a security guard's uniform that she saw?"
"Exactly, I think she saw the guard coming out of the alley and, because of the tight timeline between the last people out of the club at one and the discovery of the body a little before two, he either committed the crime or saw who did."
"Very good, Captain. When we stop at JAG to pick up your car in a little bit, are you leaving for Norfolk?" Mac asked.
"No, I'm spending the night with you and heading out early in the morning again, unless Bud calls and I have to go tonight."
"Then I hope that Bud doesn't call."
Bud called about an hour later to say that he hadn't had much luck. He'd left a message on Mrs. Weathers' answering machine, but hadn't yet talked to her. Bud said that he hoped that she hadn't gone to see her daughter or they might not hear from her before she was scheduled to appear in court. On the Charles Reed front, there was hope. His work schedules showed that he'd worked a shift at each of the clubs a few days before a body had been found, but wasn't working on the days that the bodies were discovered. Harm and Bud agreed that, with this new information, they'd meet earlier in the morning than they'd planned and see what progress they could make before going into court where they'd try to get another day's continuance to talk to Mr. Reed and, hopefully, Mrs. Weathers. If they weren't able to get any more time, they'd split up, and one would run the Reed angle while the other stayed in court.
Harm was sure that he'd cracked the case, but his delight was dampened by the fact that tonight would be his last night with Mac for awhile.
Mac took Harm to his car and left in a hurry. She had an idea that would leave them with a memory. She got home first, as she'd hoped. She turned down the bed covers and moved to the clock radio where she tried for several minutes to find some kind of appropriate music. She finally found a station that she thought would work, based on the song that was playing. The timing couldn't have been better because, as she settled on the radio station, the apartment door opened and closed. He was home. He came upstairs and set his briefcase down next to his bag since he'd be taking both of them tomorrow. With Mac leaving town tomorrow, there was no reason to commute anymore. As Mac was moving back to her side of the bed from his, the music caught his attention, and he no longer thought that her being on his side of the bed was odd. She'd been turning on the only radio in the house.
"What are you up to, Mac?"
"I hear you like strippers, sailor."
She'd made it around to her side of the bed where he was standing and gave him a little push in the chest with her hand. He sat on the edge of the bed and, as soon as he was sitting, she began to unbutton her jacket in rhythm to the music. When her jacket dropped to the floor, she said, "Your turn." Then she came over to him and unbuttoned his jacket and pushed it back off his shoulders, but allowed him to remove it as she backed away from him and pulled off her tie and took off her shoes. "Your turn," she said as she watched him match her clothing removal. When he had the items off, she unzipped her skirt and turned her back to him. He stood and unzipped his pants, and, without taking his eyes off of her six, which was swinging in time to the music until her garment was past her hips and headed to the floor, he dropped his pants and stepped out of them. Her back still to him, he pressed his shirt and boxer clad body against hers, and she swished her six back and forth over him, eliciting a moan. She turned, put her palms against his chest and pushed him back. "Not suppose to touch the girls, are you?" He stepped backward and sat down on the edge of the bed again. She began to unbutton her blouse in time with the song that was playing. When the her shirt came off, she didn't have to say your turn this time. He was already unbuttoning his shirt while looking at the beautiful woman in front of him in her bra and panties. Soon, his shirt was on the floor with the other items.
She moved towards him and shimmied her breasts near his face. Okay, this was getting to be too much for him. She turned as if she were going to walk away, but she didn't. She lowered her six over his lap and swiveled her hips, then told him that he could unhook her bra. He wasted no time in accomplishing that task, and then she stood up and took a couple of steps forward, then turned before pulling off her bra and tossing it in his direction. "Your turn," Mac said. She was enjoying the reaction that she was getting from him. She swayed her hips to the music until his tee shirt was on the floor, and then she took a step towards him. "Did I ever tell you that one of my law professors thought that I'd make a better lap dancer than a lawyer?"
Harm wasn't hearing anything that she was saying as she danced, and her now bare breasts jiggled with her movements. She turned around and began to sway her hips as she pulled her panties down like she was going to touch her toes. She returned to an upright stance and turned back to face him as she danced over to him. She lowered herself until her center hovered above his lap and then she swiveled her hips.
He didn't know if the heat that he was feeling in his lap was coming from her on if it was his own heat reflecting back on him, but he knew that he wasn't going to make it much longer if he let her continue undeterred. His hands grasped her hips firmly and he began to kiss the point closest to him. He kissed upward and, by the time he reached her neck, he was standing.
"You forgot your turn," she stammered out as his moist kisses neared her ear. She turned to walk away, and he quickly shed his boxers and moved to her. Her body leaned back against him as he brushed the hair from her shoulder and kissed her neck. He began a trail of kisses down between her shoulder blades and took a couple of steps backward until he felt the edge of the bed against the back of his legs. As he kissed down her spine, he began to slowly ease himself back down on the edge of the bed.
As he neared her six with his kisses, she turned, and her arms went around his neck. She could feel the heat of his hands on her back, and their lips met in a searing kiss. When they pulled back from the kiss, she breathlessly said, "I didn't finish dan..."
He didn't let her finish, covering her lips again with his. His blood flowed through his body as hot as molten lava.
He then took a firm hold of her body, picked her up and brought her up onto the bed with him. As they kissed, they moved together until their feet weren't hanging off the edge. With the two of them completely on the bed, he began to kiss her neck and down between her breasts, taking the time to kiss and caress each breast before moving on. He was trying to stave off his own need to explode and, at the moment, focusing on her was the only way that he had a chance.
She'd enjoyed teasing him with her dance, but she was enjoying the attention more that he was now bestowing on her.
He kissed and teased her in ways that he knew she enjoyed, but after her performance, he wanted to make it a little more memorable for her. As he'd done before, he kissed down between her breasts and down her abdomen to her belly button, but, this time, he didn't stop at her belly button or her panty line or at the hair line. He continued down between her legs. He administered a few open mouthed kisses, and then her body shuddered involuntarily as his tongue swirled around her swollen nub and she let out a moan. He continued to stimulate her there until her fingers dug into his shoulders as she tugged on him. He kissed back up the way he'd moved down there, taking time to stop and let his lips, mouth and tongue enjoy her breasts once more before he slowly entered her. As he slid his hard shaft in and out of her, the intensity of their joining overcame her and, this time, she was much more vocal, and the noises that she made helped drive him to want to take her to a level of satisfaction that he hoped that she'd never experienced before. Her body quivered beneath him and her walls tensed around him and, as she let out a final cry of pleasure, he let go, too.
He didn't know if it had been a new level of pleasure for Mac or not, but it certainly had been for him. He was exhausted and allowed his body to rest on hers for a few moments.
Her breath tickled his ear as she whispered breathlessly into it, “Wow!” Unbeknown to him, that was the only thing that she could utter because she couldn’t put into words the experience that she’d just had. It was the most intense, loving and lasting orgasm that she’d ever had.
After catching his breath, concerned that his weight on top of her would crush her, he lifted himself off and moved to her side. Once in a position at her side, she moved in to cuddle next to him. His arms were ready to hold her close and, as she snuggled in, he said, “I take it back. You are fun.”
He couldn’t see the smile of satisfaction on her face. They both had a memory to reflect on during the lonely nights to come. He did feel her shiver though.
"Cold?" he asked.
"A little."
He reached for the covers and pulled them up over them before swinging his leg over hers, wrapping himself around her to warm her. "Better?"
She nodded in the affirmative against his shoulder.
Drained from the intensity of loving each other, their eyelids quickly became heavy, and sleep took hold of them. Mac would wake after only a couple of hours, turn off the radio and make sure that the alarm was set for Harm's early morning journey to Norfolk, but she’d find sleep again in his arms, even with the nagging voice in her head that was telling her that the time to part was near.
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
| |
Feedback: 