| Subject: Empty Reflections Part Five |
Author:
Karen
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Date Posted: 16:59:57 08/30/08 Sat
In reply to:
Karen
's message, "Empty Reflections-Prologue" on 14:52:42 08/05/08 Tue
A/N: Sorry for the delay. Sometimes the week just flies away from me. I’m supposed to be retired now and I often can’t find ten minutes to myself.
I hope this chapter grabs you and pulls you in.
Thanks for all your comments I really appreciate it.
Empty Reflections
Part Five
Chesapeake Grand Hotel
Baltimore MD
August 2004
0710 Friday
“So where’d you disappear to last night? You didn’t come back for dessert,” Mac asked Ben as they sat down at his table. She shook her napkin and fluffed it across her lap in mock annoyance.
“Oh, I sort of figured you and the Captain here could handle dessert all by yourself,” Ben drawled with twinkle in his eye and a companionable wink at Harm.
“Ben!” Mac gave him a playful punch on his substantial upper arm. “You know what I mean.”
But a colorful flush washed across her cheeks. She and Harm had enjoyed a wonderful evening, and almost from the time Ben had walked away from their table, they’d not given him another thought. It wasn’t until this morning that she realized he hadn’t rejoined them.
“So what happened last night? Did you find out anything new?” Harm voiced the essence of Mac’s real question.
“Some, not a lot. Probably more gossip than anything else. Mark had a lot of the same stuff as I did. But he had some stuff I didn’t have, stuff about some of the people in Morgan’s entourage. Big question is how much of it is real a how much is just stories that have been told too many times.”
“Mark?” Mac questioned
“Mark Carrolton, the security director for the hotel. Told me he had to hire almost fifty guards to control the crowds at the party tonight. They sent him down from the main office to handle this.”
“There’s a party? Oh, now I remember. You mentioned that yesterday. That ought to be giving him nightmares.” Harm commented.
“In spades,” Ben agreed. “Anyway we talked a bit, took each others measure, then when we both were satisfied we went to his office and exchanged some information. He knew about the Vegas incident, and had heard rumors about the death in Thailand four years ago. But it was a last minute thing for him to take over, didn’t give him much time for research. Board of directors suddenly got nervous when one of them got a call from a friend who works for the Vegas resort”.
“So he didn’t know about the other two at all?” she mused, then challenged. “As a matter of fact you didn’t finish telling us about them either.”
“We haven’t had much time, but with all these show fans all over the place, we’ll have to save it for later. A lot of its visual, pictures and stuff, then there’s the copies of the police files and forensics reports. I don’t want to spread it out all over the table and have some passerby or ‘interested party” see what we’re doing. If we can get together tonight after dinner, I’ll fill you in.”
“Are you going to be busy for dinner?” Harm inquired hopefully, not at all certain he wanted to get involved in all the cloak and dagger. Nor did he enjoy the idea of Mac getting involved. He didn’t want her close enough to make any kind of contact with these people in the event there was truly a pattern, and possibly a killer, not just odd coincidence. However, even though Harm resisted involvement, he had a gut feeling there was substance to Ben’s investigations. The man wasn’t anyone’s fool.
“So can you tell us what you found out from Mark?” Mac charged ahead in direct opposition to Harm’s indecision. She smelled a bungled case and it was frustrating her in spite of the fact it had nothing to do with them, nor could they ever possibly be involved even if something were to happen.
“One thing is for sure,” Ben chuckled caustically, then lowered his voice. “If he doesn’t keep that actor and his Personal Assistant in his sight at all times tonight and something happens, he’s going to be looking for another job. Those are his specific instructions.”
“So someone has some information that would point to one of them?” Harm asked with equal caution, curious in spite of himself.
“As far as anyone can find out, Morgan, Paul Stanley, Gretchen Deerslayer, and the producer are the only ones who have attended every single event where someone died.”
“They have that much turnover?” Mac inquired
“The core of their crew isn’t that big. Head cinematographer, director, a couple of writers and a couple of others, one for makeup and one for wardrobe. They hire the rest for an episode or two wherever they’re working. It depends on whether someone wants to follow them to the next job or if they’re still filming in the same country. But it’s a tough job traveling all over the world, putting in long days, living in less than optimum circumstances and uncomfortable climates at times. They don’t get a hotel like this in the middle of a desert or off in a jungle somewhere,” Ben explained. “Then there’s dealing with various law enforcement agencies, governments, local laws, and trying to find competent reliable local help. Having a kid along probably doesn’t help.”
“There’s a child traveling with them?” Harm asked.
“Uh huh, a young girl and her governess, I hear.”
“Who’s child?” Mac followed up.
“No one outside the company is sure, and anyone who knows isn’t talking. She’s been with them since the first year.”
“Ben, are you suggesting he might be a pedophile?” she asked very carefully.
“I’m not sure, but I don’t really think so. It sounds more like maybe the kid belongs to someone in the group. Rumor has it her governess is ex-Mossad.”
“There’s no such thing,” Harm scoffed.
“I know,” Ben responded.
“So maybe there’s something in that?”
“Possibly, but you don’t hire a bodyguard who can generate that kind of reputation unless someone cares a whole bunch,” Ben pointed out
“But who? Who could she belong to?” Mac wanted to know.
“No telling. Mark showed me some photos of the people he’s to watch out for. The girl is on the list. She appears to be fairly tall for her age, tall and slender, must be under eighteen to have a governess. Best estimate on age is around fourteen to sixteen. She has long blond wavy hair, almost the same color as Gretchen’s only a bit darker, the producer is blond, too. But she’s taller than average, like Morgan. Scuttlebutt has it that this is the second best kept secret this company has aside from what Morgan’s real relationship might be with his PA.”
“Humph! Sounds like a real can or worms to me,” Harm dismissed the information. He’d give anything to pull Mac out of the middle of this and whisk her off home. He would try it too, but they still had the conference to finish attending, and neither of their CO’s would appreciate him pulling a stunt like that. Of course that assumed Mac would even allow it.
“Yes, but it could be a motive for making people disappear,” Mac interjected thoughtfully.
“Possibly,” Harm agreed.
“You mean maybe someone found out who the kid belonged to and had to be eliminated to avoid a scandal?” Ben asked. “That’s a possibility. It can’t be all that easy to keep secrets in a revolving company. But if that’s the case, why weren’t all the victims crew members or actors or something?”
“Who knows? Maybe they have some terminally curious fans,” Mac concluded darkly, then quirked an eyebrow at the sheriff. “So we’ll get together tonight and you’ll fill us in on the rest?
“I’ll try. I’m going to hang out with Mark for a while, just to see how this whole party thing plays out.”
“What did he do, put you on his staff?” Harm scoffed.
“No, but he can get me into the open fan party early in the evening. It will give me a chance to check out some of these people in person. Maybe I’ll get one of those funny feelings.”
“There’s our bus,” he pointed out the window and gulped down the remainder of his coffee.
They rose as one and Harm intercepted the waitress for the bill, which he signed, then hurried after his wife and the sheriff. This whole thing was strange, to say the least, but if Ben didn’t have any funny feelings about this yet, Harm certainly had plenty to spare.
Chesapeake Grand Hotel
Baltimore MD
August 2004
2320 Friday
~*~*~
‘Are you enjoying yourself?” the voice asked smoothly.
‘Oh yes, this is so exciting. I won my ticket you know, and I’ve danced with him three times.’ The young woman had fine natural white-blonde hair that fell straight down her back, nearly touching her waist. She wore a blue dress, the shade that only genuine blonds can wear. The other was only a vague reflection in the ladies room mirror.
‘Yes, I saw you,’ was the pointed reply.
‘Really? Have you danced with him?’ the girl continued innocently.
‘Hmmm, you might say I ‘work’ for him.’
‘Oooohhh! That must be fascinating,’ she giggled.
‘It has its moments.’
‘I think I’ll go back out there. Maybe he’ll dance with me again. Usually I’m not very pushy, but I’ve just never been near anyone like him. I bought this dress just for tonight. Do you think he noticed?’
‘I’m sure he did.’
‘I don’t want to…you know…make a scene, but I won’t get to do this again. I’d sure like to dance with him some more. He’s a great dancer. You know really sexy.’ She laughed again.
‘Mmmm…yes… Perhaps you’d like to have a drink with him later?’
‘Oh wouldn’t that be something to tell the girls at headquarters.’
‘You tell your friends everything?’
‘Yes of course…everyone will want to know what he’s like. Do you think he’d want anything else to happen? Later, I mean.”
Would you want something more to happen?” the voice inquired.
“Maybe,” she shrugged, “I could go back and dance with him again…let him know I’m going to meet him later...see how he reacts,’ she speculated, her voice giving the first hint of how much she’d been drinking.
‘I don’t think that will be necessary. Suppose we just go up and wait for him, shall we?’
‘Up where?’ she asked the blurred, mirror image, without a hint of appropriate suspicion.
‘To his suite, of course. He’ll be up shortly.’
‘Oh, okay. Lead the way,’ she challenged taking another large sip of her wine.
‘Meet me by the service elevator, turn left down the hallway outside. I’ll be there in five minutes. I have to check a few things,’ the voice directed her.
‘Sure, I want to get another glass anyway,’ she waggled her drink, then drained her glass. A giddy nonchalance colored her behavior.
Placing the empty glass on the granite counter top, the young blonde ingenuously preceded the dark haired figure out of the ladies room. She’d been chosen well. She was a threat. Someone they needed to be protected against.
~*~*~
“Mmmmmmm…Uhhhhhh…Hmmmm…”
“Are you okay?” Harm rolled towards his wife sleepily.
“Hmmmm” she murmured something unintelligible, and moved restlessly.
“Mac...? Come here?” He took her into his arms, more alert now. Lying on his side, he draped a comforting arm over her torso. Her body relaxed under his touch.
~*~*~
‘Why did we come that way?’ the blonde asked as they entered a room.
‘You mean the service elevator? It avoids the crowds,’ was the reasonable sounding reply.
‘Oh. This feels a bit strange are you sure it will be okay?’ Her words slurred slightly
‘Have another glass of wine. It will settle your nerves.’
‘Will he be here soon?’ She looked sleepy.
‘He’s still at the party…he has obligations…he won’t be too long,’ her escort reassured.
~*~*~
“Nnnnnn…Hmmmm?’ she mumbled, moving restlessly, struggling with her nightmare.
“Mac, you’re dreaming.” He moved closer. Slipping his other arm under her shoulders, he gathered her close in a fruitless attempt to relax her.
“Ummmm…Nnnnnn…Hmmmm.” Agitation building, her head moved quickly from side to side. Then once again, she calmed under his touch.
~*~*~
‘Do you feel alright? You don’t look well. Maybe some air…here…the terrace…’ the silky voice coerced.
‘I think I’m going to…’ she stumbled.
‘Lean over, hurry.’
Suddenly the ground raced up from twenty-five floors away.
‘Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh’
~*~*~
“Ahhhhhhhhhh,” Mac sat straight up in bed, the cry from her vision tearing from her lungs. Her arms fought him away, pushing at him frantically.
“Mac, Mac, wake up. You’re okay, Mac. Sweetheart, can you hear me? Oh, god…Mac, honey, listen, you’ve had a bad dream. But even as he said the words he feared it was no dream.”
He pulled her close. His large hands gently soothed, trying to stroke away her fears. His sugary, pleading endearments were an unnatural sign of his concern. She was breathing heavily as though she’d just run for miles. Her skin trembled under his touch.
“I know…I don’t know…Harm…? Oh god, Harm, it was so real,” she gasped, disoriented, barely able to catch her breath
“Hold onto me,” he urged. “It’s okay, it’s okay.” Rocking her slightly, he smoothed his hands over her shoulders, her back, pushing her damp hair from her forehead, pulling her close. “Shhhhh, it’s okay,” his voice gentled her, until her breathing returned to normal and her heartbeat steadied.
“Harm, it’s happened again,” her voice was faint, small, almost a whimper, wanting to reject what she’d seen. So unlike his strong Marine it frightened him.
“Shhhhh, don’t talk, don’t think about it, it’s okay,” he soothed trying to make the pain of memory leave her.
“No, Harm, you don’t understand.” With a sudden turnabout, she struggled to pull away, frantically trying to impress urgency upon him. Staring at him, her voice grated deep and harsh, “Someone’s been killed…a woman…very young…early twenties I think. She was tall with long blonde hair and blue eyes… wearing a blue dress.”
“Mac, please. It was just a dream. You’ve let that story of Ben’s get to you. You don’t need that stress, not now. I’ll strangle him when I get my hands on him.” He was deeply annoyed by the distress this caused her.
“Harm, please, you have to listen. She said something about headquarters, about telling the girls back at headquarters. She was military, I’m sure of it.”
“Mac, no. It was just a dream. It could mean anything. Please, just calm down. Here take a drink of water.” Reaching past her, he handed her the bottle from the nightstand, insisting she slow down long enough to take a few sips. Though he’d been with her for her nightmares, this was only the second time Harm had witnessed the immediate effects of one of her visions. And he knew in his gut that this would prove to be one of her visions. He didn’t like what it was doing to her. If he could only push it way.
“Better?” he asked when she handed it back.
“Uh huh,” she nodded
“Good, then let’s just lie back down. C’mon, I’ll hold you.” Mac shivered, trying to recover herself under the comfort he offered. “You’re cold,” he said pulling up the blanket.
“No, I can’t.” She wiggled around in his arms until she faced him. “I know it’s happened. This time was very different…more frightening. Harm, I never heard actual words before…it was always just pictures. I can’t sleep. Not now, not until I find out...”
“You need your rest, sweetheart,” he coaxed; the mindless endearments still tumbled out in an attempt to deny his fear. He refused to allow it to be real for her.
But her mind had already left the room, locked onto a target she had no control over. Deftly she slid from his embrace and was off the bed in an instant, pulling on her sweats.
“I know, I know I do. But you don’t understand. This one was real. I’ll just go downstairs and see. If it’s nothing, if it’s just a dream, I’ll come right back. I’ll go back to sleep, I promise. You wait here. I’ll be right back.”
“Oh, no, you don’t. If you insist on going down there after what you just told me, I’m going with you.” He rolled from the other side of the bed, action taking the place of denial. He recognized it was time to change tactics.
“Harm…” her tone held a warning.
“Don’t even try to pull that Marine crap right now, Mac,” he replied gruffly. “If you’re right, there’s a killer out there, and for some reason you’re picking him up in your head. If the connection is that strong already, it might be working in both directions. Remember what happened last time? Anyway even if you’re wrong, god only knows who else might be prowling around at this time of night. Wait a minute,” he stopped cold. “Last night…just before we went in to dinner…what happened in the lobby?”
“We got mobbed by your fan club,” she attempted a disarming smile. It was an ill-disguised diversionary tactic.
“No, when you stopped cold, then pretended it was nothing. You’ve already had contact, haven’t you?”
“No…uh…at least I don’t think so,” she waved her hand. “I don’t know, Harm. Maybe…I’m not sure. It was just someone who quickly stepped into the elevator…just a little tingle. Maybe it was nothing more than a…well…sort of a cross connection. This isn’t making sense.”
“It’s making perfect sense considering your history, and I don’t like it. You could be in danger, Mac. Think about it,” he stressed.
“I don’t like to think about it,” she declared, moving swiftly through the bedroom door, and out the front door of the suite.
While they’d argued, he’d finished dressing in jeans, a sweatshirt and running shoes. Grabbing his room key and billfold from the dresser, he hurried to catch up with her. When he reached the elevator, he found her impatiently poking the down button.
Riding down in the elevator, they found no more words. Until they knew for certain what had happened, there was little to say, but each of them knew what they would find. Harm let his hand trail close to hers, wrapping it warmly in his long fingers, and giving her a reassuring squeeze, before he released her. She returned his gesture with a shaky smile.
They circled the antique front of the hotel checking the grounds then moved around their end of the new wing. Harm thought she might have actually seen something. Maybe she’d only been half-asleep. Then they rounded the back corner and spotted the red, white, and blue lights, and heard the wail of arriving emergency vehicles. Whatever had happened was at the far end of the hotel. The angle was wrong for Mac to have actually witnessed the fall from their bedroom. He hadn’t doubted her; he had merely hoped that this wasn’t another psychic connection.
A figure separated from the small crowd and strode purposefully towards them.
“I wondered how long it would take you to get down here,” Ben Farraday remarked laconically, with an eye trained on the shaken Marine.
“A blonde wearing a blue dress?” Mac stated frantically trying to push past him.
He caught her with his large arm, blocking her progress. “No need to look. I think you’ve seen enough.”
She looked up at him. At first defiant, then searching his eyes for the truth, finally she nodded. When the full import of his remark hit her, she backed weakly against Harm.
He wrapped his arms around her, but the tension in her body told him not to try to remove her. What she needed now was information, anything to validate the dream and give her substance to work with. In order to remove the dream stressors from her mind it had to become a case.
“What happened?” Harm asked.
“What did she see?” Ben returned the question.
“I don’t know, I haven’t asked her. Just something about a blonde in a blue dress, possibly military.”
Ben nodded mutely. “Two people were walking near the pool when she fell. A few more feet and she’d have hit the water just like in Vegas.” He wouldn’t upset Mac further by telling her the body had nearly hit the couple. She’d discover that soon enough if she hadn’t seen it.
“Did they see anything?”
Ben shook his head. “Not that I can tell. I tried to listen, but the cops got here quickly, almost the same time I did. Just that they looked up afterwards, but didn’t see anyone.”
“How’d you get here so fast?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” he admitted. “I was messing around on the internet when I saw something fall past the window. I don’t know if it was the actual body or a shadow. I got up, opened the window, and looked down. There were several people gathered round shouting and crying out. One woman was sitting on the ground having hysterics. I called the desk and hurried out here.”
“Who has jurisdiction?” Harm asked.
“Probably Baltimore Homicide, but I’m guessing you could work your way in until NCIS gets here. She was carrying a military ID. I’ll take care of Mac, why don’t you go see what you can find out? Mark’s already there. I told him you’d be down.”
Harm grimaced and cocked a warning eyebrow in her direction. “Did you tell him about her…uh….Mac’s visions?”
“No, not yet,” Ben answered softly. “Didn’t think it would change anything until we know for certain what she saw.”
“Will you go with Ben? You need to get something to absorb all that adrenalin you just dumped into your system,” Harm reminded Mac.
“I’m fine,” Mac insisted. “I need to…”
“No, you don’t,” Harm remonstrated gently, but firmly. It was one thing to be Wonder Woman, but in her distress she seemed to be forgetting something. “This isn’t just about you, Mac. Think of the baby.”
Slowly she nodded. Of course it was. The life she carried didn’t need another shock tonight. Harm was right this time. It was all so new. In her zeal to dive right in, she had momentarily forgotten. It was still too easy sometimes, to forget the things she shouldn’t do.
“Also you need to keep clear in your mind everything you saw,” Ben suggested. “If you go see the body it’ll muddy your vision. When you’re ready, we’ll write it down as close as you can recall.”
“You’ll come tell us what you find out?”
“Soon as I can, sweetheart,” he promised, leaning over to kiss her. “Would you mind taking her to the coffee shop, Ben? Get her something to eat, a glass of juice, something.”
“I’ll take care of her,” Ben assured. “We’ll be there for a while. If she gets tired I’ll take her back to your room so she can rest.”
“Guys, you’re doing it again. I’m here, remember?” Her annoyed look registered with Harm, but did little to alter his protective instincts.
He was in this now and so would she be right along side of him. He knew that. But he didn’t have to like it, and it wouldn’t stop him from trying to minimize its impact on her.
“Sorry, Mac, it’s just…I really have to go,” Harm excused. There was no other person on earth he’d comfortably leave his expectant wife with.
“Go. I’ll be fine,” she insisted, shooing him away. “But, Sailor, I’m going to have questions when you get back.”
He grinned at her spirit, then took a backwards step or two and sprinted for the police lines. Holding up his ID, he explained his position with the Navy. He waited only a minute while the officer checked with the lead detective before he was allowed to enter the crime scene area.
Ben turned towards the back entrance to the Chesapeake Grand Hotel, tucking Mac’s hand through his arm. “Shall we get you something to calm your nerves, little lady?”
“You know, Ben, Harm really hates it when you call me that.” She smiled up at the big man.
“I know,” Ben returned with an answering smile. “When you feel better you can tell me what you saw, but let’s settle your system down first.”
If she couldn’t be involved with this, if she had to be with anyone but Harm now, she was thankful Ben was here. He understood completely what had happened.
End part five
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