| Subject: ...For Meritorious Service, Chapter 11 |
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TxJAG_b
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Date Posted: 17:56:55 07/20/11 Wed
In reply to:
TxJAG_b
's message, "...For Meritorious Service, Chapter 1" on 10:48:20 04/12/11 Tue
Chapter 11
“—no way, Sir,” responded Bud to Harm’s unheard question. The talk died when Mac stormed the room.
“Mac?” Harm knew something was up from the look in her eyes. “What happened out there?”
She did her best to keep her cool. “I just had a very enlightening talk with one Lieutenant Colonel Glover from their intelligence unit.” All three lawyers could tell it was a half-hearted attempt at best. The apparently furious Lieutenant Colonel began pacing back and forth, clenching and unclenching her hands.
Sturgis and Harm got up off their bunks and walked over toward her trying to calm her and get more out of the Colonel about this encounter. “And? What else did he say Mac?” they said simultaneously. They stopped and looked at each other and then back at the agitated Marine Colonel.
Mac didn’t pay any attention to their unintended comedy routine. “—and he told me that both Buell and Lukens were guilty and it was a waste of their time and ours trying to prove they weren’t.” She continued to pace.
“Oh man,” said Bud, closing his laptop.
“Mac, are you sure he said that?” asked Sturgis clearly concerned for her well being.
“He sure as hell did Sturgis.” Mac’s firm verification was tinged with anger. “He also threatened me.”
Harm pinned her with an upset look. “You’re kidding right?”
She ignored him. She wasn’t going to let him ride off on his white charger to defend her honor. She didn’t need anyone, especially him, defending her damned honor. “No Sturgis, I’m not kidding. He told me to be careful, that this was still a hostile country.”
“Double entendre?” probed the preacher’s son.
She snorted. “I don’t think he meant ‘it’s dangerous out there, take care….’”
“What do you think he meant?”
“I think he meant ‘it’s dangerous out there’ if I ‘don’t do as he says.’”
Harm had had enough. He grabbed her arm and started toward the door.
She flailed for balance as he practically dragged her along. “Harm! Wait! Wait!! Where are we going!?!” She fought to get her arm free from his iron grip.
The aviator/lawyer turned back to her, his eyes blazing. “Colonel Briggs’s office; it’s time to put an end to this….”
Mac blasted him. “What?! Harm, you can’t just go barging over there like Superman and beat him up! He may not even be involved!!”
“I’m not letting this go!” He barked at her. “Mac! You’ve been threatened!!”
She rolled her eyes. (Why does he always do this?!) “Harm, I can take care of myself! I don’t need you or anyone else to play bodyguard for me!!”
Sturgis, thinking the two lawyers were about to come to blows decided to play intermediary. “Mac, I agree with Harm, this constitutes a threat, Colonel Briggs should be made aware of
this--”
(Sturgis?! I usually count on you to be the rational one!) Seeing the situation rapidly spiraling out of her control, she tried logic mixed with sarcasm, usually one of her best control mechanisms. “Will you two listen to yourselves?! You two sound like a couple of Neanderthals--”
Bud looked earnestly at Mac. “Ma’am, normally I wouldn’t say anything, but a threat has been made against you and we already know this unit is not exactly friendly toward our investigation. We should probably stick together and work in pairs from now on.”
He looked at Harm and Sturgis. “And we should inform Colonel Briggs about what is going on, Ma’am.”
She looked at Bud and then back at Sturgis and Harm. All three remained resolute, immovable from their current stance with regards to the situation. Mac sighed heavily, but she still had one argument left.
Harm delivered the knockout blow to her intransigence. He looked at her with those deep blue eyes of his, almost pleading. “Mac, he’s right; we need to at least address this with Briggs.”
Mac stared at Harm. She hated it when he was overprotective, but if Sturgis and more importantly, Bud, thought it was a legitimate threat…she sighed heavily again, reluctantly conceding--knowing she’d have a hard time stopping them – especially Harm. “Okay,” she said, uncharacteristically quiet. “Let’s go.”
The four of them left the building and headed over Briggs’s office.
*~*
Ashton Briggs was getting ready to turn in when his yeoman appeared at the door.
He could have ignored the man, but that wouldn’t make him go away. “Yes Sergeant?”
“Uh, Sir, the JAG lawyers wish to speak with you….” He trailed off knowing how his commanding officer felt about these legal weenies. The man was uncertain about what would happen next.
Briggs made a face. “I’m getting ready for bed, can’t it wait until morning?”
The Sergeant looked uneasy. “Uh, no Sir, they said it was very important to see you, Sir.”
Briggs growled, making the Sergeant take an involuntary step backwards. The Colonel began putting his boots back on. “It had better be a goddamned emergency,” he muttered.
When the Colonel came out of his bedroom into the front office area, all four attorneys snapped to attention.
“At ease,” he said as he waved dismissively at them. “Now what do you four need to speak to me about at this late hour?”
“Colonel, one of your men threatened Colonel MacKenzie!” snapped Harm
Briggs’s expression grew hard. “Threatened you? One of my people? When did this happen Colonel?”
Mac glanced sourly at Harm before turning back to face the Colonel. “A few minutes ago outside our quarters.”
“Who was it?”
“Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Glover, he’s with your intelligence unit.”
“Ronald Glover?”
“Yes Sir.”
He looked at her incredulously. “Colonel, there isn’t a Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Glover, at least not in our intelligence unit.”
“Sir, he introduced himself as ‘Lieutenant Colonel Glover’.”
Harm was doing his best to be civil with this senior officer, but his seemingly casual dismissal made him see red. “Colonel Briggs, I know this doesn’t seem very important to you, but someone, impersonating one of your officers, threatened my partner!”
Briggs had had enough of these loose cannons, especially this Tomcat lawyer. “Commander, you are bordering on insubordination!”
Harm wasn’t yielding. “Sir that doesn’t change the fact that someone is threatening Colonel MacKenzie – someone who thinks Buell and Lukens are guilty!”
Briggs looked at the four as he seemed to chew on this for a moment, then he picked up his telephone. “Jenkins? Send two of your men over here and send another couple to the S-2’s building.” Briggs, cupping his hand over the receiver, looked back at Mac. “Did you get a good look at the man?”
“No Sir,” he stared at her. “It was dark and I could not see his face.” She explained somewhat sheepishly.
“You couldn’t see his face.” He repeated still cupping his hand on the receiver
“No.” Mac felt her embarrassment growing. Briggs began shaking his head.
“Well that’s certainly going to make it tougher.” He finally snorted in disgust as he hung up the phone. “How do you expect us to find him?”
Mac didn’t say anything, but she knew two naval Commanders and one Lieutenant that would pay for this. (I wonder what charges would I face if I killed these three idiots right now? I bet I could plead extenuating circumstances and I’d even bet the Admiral would back me….)
Two military policemen appeared at the door of Briggs’s office.
“Yes Sir?” Replied the MP Sergeant
“Escort Colonel MacKenzie and the rest of the JAG lawyers over to the intel shop. Let’s see if we can find the Colonel’s boogie man. I’ll be along in a few moments.”
The two MP’s saluted. “Aye Sir.” They motioned to the JAG lawyers “Colonel, Sirs?”
The JAG officers and the MP’s headed out of Briggs office into the MEU compound.
*~*
“Here Ma’am!” replied the MP Sergeant, “I found it.”
Mac and the others walked over to where MP Sergeant Reynolds was squatting. Using a stick, he held up a rumpled khaki uniform with the name ‘Glover’ taped across the cloth name badge.
Mac put on a pair of plastic gloves handed to her by the MP and slowly pulled the fabric tape off revealing the name underneath – ‘Martin’
“Ma’am, Corporal Martin reported his Class A khaki uniform had disappeared last week.”
“Hey Mac,” She turned to see Harm holding in his gloved hands a pair of silver oak leaves.
“That explains the uniform,” noted Sturgis, “Now whose insignia were those?”
“Lieutenant Colonel Darcy Livingston, Force Recon, Sir.” Replied the MP. “She reported them missing from her barracks 48 hours ago.”
*~*
Lieutenant Colonel Darcy Livingston sat at her desk, peering at the backlit screen of her laptop. In normal times, Livingston would have never made it this far or even in Force Recon. But these were anything but normal times. The MEU had been pigeonholed here after the near disaster at Mirbullah – they had come flushed with victories in Afghanistan and Pakistan – two major Al-Qaeda bases had been wiped out, earning US intelligence several coups, and Livingston a silver star for gallantry.
But it was never enough for Darcy; raised in the Louisiana bayous, she was taught from an early age to take care of herself first, and look at every situation from a coldly practical standpoint. When she was young, this blue eyed, raven haired beauty was the belle of the ball. She never let her dates forget they were privileged to go out with her. She used her beauty and intelligence to get what she wanted.
So it was a natural for her to join the service. Her looks, brains and disposition made her a natural for intelligence and oddly enough, Force Recon. She rose through the ranks – working, and later leading, intel ops for her MEUSOC units. As the Trade Center Towers were collapsing from the Al-Qaeda suicide attacks, Darcy was made Executive Officer of the 3-2’s Force Recon as part of a ‘female Marines in the field’ pilot program spearheaded by Colonel Ashton R. Briggs.
She was a little older now, more seasoned, her hair cut into a short and practical style, but sassy look, plus she still had her drop dead looks. It was these assets, along with her proficiency in French and Arabic that made her unit feared and grudgingly respected, by their enemy, and the favorite of Force Recon commander Lieutenant Colonel ‘Big Bill’ Murphy and MEU commander Briggs.
No one had expected Lieutenant Colonel Murphy to be killed, but then that’s what happens to people during a war, even the good people. So Briggs in daring move made her acting commander of Force Recon until they were repatriated.
She had dived into the task presented to her with relish. Before long, she had won the respect of most of the senior officers of her unit and the MEU. Now, Lieutenant Colonel Livingston was reviewing her operational plans for tomorrow morning. Briggs’s orders were clear; break the back of the Iraqi Fedayeen resistance. A knock at her door interrupted her thoughts.
“Come.”
Lance Corporal Mitchell Davis stuck his head in her room. “Sorry to disturb you, Ma’am,” he began cautiously.
Darcy smiled warmly at his wariness. “It’s okay Corporal,” motioning for him to come on in. “What’s the problem?”
The Corporal cut his eyes back toward the door as he entered the room. “Uh, these JAG officers would like a word with you, Ma’am.”
Darcy’s smile disappeared, replaced by a stoic demeanor when she noted Commander Rabb and Lieutenant Colonel MacKenzie followed the Corporal through the doorway.
(Well, well, two 0-5’s, this ought to be interesting…). “Colonel, Commander, to what do I owe the pleasure of this late evening visit?”
Harm walked over to her desk and laid the insignia in front of her. “I believe these are yours.”
Darcy Livingston picked up the insignia and examined them. “Where did you find them?”
“They were on Corporal Martin’s uniform shirt.”
“Well I knew Martin wanted to get ahead,” she joked easily, making the accompanying MP smile. “But really, how did they get to him?”
“We were hoping you could explain that one to us.” Harm said fixing her with a hard stare.
Darcy seemed amused by the Commander’s actions. “Can’t help you there. I reported the insignia missing a couple of days ago. You think Corporal Martin’s involved?”
“We’re having that checked out.” Mac replied just as easily, deciding to deflect Harm’s bloodhound impression. “What can you tell us?”
“Not much,” Darcy said smiling at the Lieutenant Colonel. “I put them down on my nightstand table over there and yes, I know, ‘it’s not smart’ and when I came back for them, they had disappeared.”
“When was that?” Harm was back on the scent.
“The following morning. Look Commander, I figured one of the Iraqis that hang around here had taken them, you know, hocked them for the money.”
“You have a lot of Iraqi citizens hanging around here?”
“Do you know of any real way we could stop them?” She gave the Commander an equally hard stare. “It is their country after all.”
“So, you thought an Iraqi civilian hocked them.” Mac said with doubt tingeing her voice; she not sure she was buying what Darcy was selling.
“Colonel do you know Corporal Martin?”
Darcy looked impassively at Harm. “Corporal Martin was in Force Recon – decided he’d rather be in infantry -- so he transferred.”
That didn’t faze Harmon Rabb one bit. He smelled something. “Do you know a soldier named Glover?”
A fire lit in Colonel Livingston’s eyes. “No, should I?”
“Uh, Commander” said the MP helpfully, “You’re badgering the Colonel.”
“Glover’s the name of the soldier who threatened me, Colonel.” Mac was trying to keep this interview civil.
Harm pressed harder when he thought he saw a flicker in Livingston’s armor. “He used your insignia and Martin’s shirt.”
But Darcy Livingston was far from being a scared suspect. “And why do you think he did that, Commander?”
Mac decided to put a stop to this before it really got out of hand. “He wanted plausible deniability Colonel. Look; we appreciate your willingness to talk to us.”
“Just trying to be helpful Colonel.” She looked over almost sneering at Harm. “Thanks for finding my insignia…Commander.”
“We’ll be going now.” She grabbed Harm roughly by the arm and pulled him out of the barracks followed by the MP.
“Mac, what the hell was that about?” he snapped.
Mac blew up. “Harmon Rabb, have you lost your mind?! You cannot go on a witch hunt through this unit, beating up on everyone that gets your nose out of joint!”
“Power down Mac, she’s hiding something!”
She rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Oh for the love of God! Harm, to you everybody in this unit is hiding something!”
Harm looked at her stunned, not understanding her anger. “Mac, you were threatened….”
But the Marine Lieutenant Colonel was sick and tired of the Commander’s behavior and she didn’t want to hear any of it. “The last time I checked Commander, I was a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps, I damn well think I can take care of myself!”
“Mac….” Harm was futilely trying to calm her.
She grabbed her shirt and pulled on collars feeling her subdued insignia “Yep! I’m still a Lieutenant Colonel!! Just because I’m your girlfriend I didn’t lose my rank!”
“Mac--” The naval aviator’s voice was shifting from confusion to irritation.
“Flyboy!” she snarled, “Did it ever occur to you I don’t need you to rescue me *every time* someone says ‘boo’ to me?!”
Something inside the man snapped. “I’m watching your six, you sanctimonious Jarhead!” He growled, causing both Mac and the MP to step back.
Her eyes flew open wide as she stared dumbly at him, her anger temporarily snuffed out by his blast. “So that’s where Sturgis got the idea that I’m sanctimonious….”
“No, he came up with that one on his own, Colonel! Someone only has to be around you five minutes to figure that one out! And that you have a feminist chip on your shoulder the size of the rock of Gibraltar!!”
“Commander!” Her anger returned anew, “You think that Colonel we just talked to – wait, the one you just harassed – isn’t going to file a report with Briggs?! The Admiral will eat you for breakfast – if Briggs waits that long to report it!!
“Let him Colonel!” yelled Harm, “I’m sick of this shit! I’m sorry I ever came back to JAG!!”
That pulled Mac up short. “Wait a minute Harm, you don’t mean that--”
“Yes I do!!” Harm looked at her, his eyes almost pleading. The hurt conveyed, shocked Mac into silence.
“Mac, I just can’t do this anymore. I can’t see you being threatened this way and--helpless to do anything about it, because if I do, you’ll take my head off or worse yet the Admiral will fire me again!”
Mac felt sick. She had pushed too far, again. “Harm--”
He cut her off, looking at her, his eyes dull, his voice broken and defeated. “No Mac, I love you, I know that now, but I’m not sure you do….”
She had to stop this. She had to keep him from pulling away any further. “Sure I do Squid, but you can’t--”
“I can’t just stand by and watch as people take pot shots at you! These idiots have threatened you and I just can’t stand idly by! A few years ago I told Singer that I would personally destroy the career of the person who tried to smear you and right now I want to gut this whole damn unit!!”
She was losing him. Again. “Harm--”
“Just leave me alone Mac!” He roared. Mac couldn’t believe the level of his fury. They had argued over things like this before – why was now any different?
She reached out to him, but he would have none of it. “Harm--”
He swatted her hand away. The anguish in his voice ripping at her heart. “Please, Mac, just leave me…alone….”
Mac holding her still stinging hand, stood helplessly in the cool desert sand as Harmon Rabb, shoulders hunched, marched away from her into the inky darkness. Mac felt tears stream down her face as she watched her partner, her best friend, her Flyboy, disappear into the night.
---TBC…
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