::  Murder In Baltimore  ::

Chapter Twenty-Four

AJ finally made it to the hospital. The Sunday evening traffic was nearly as bad as rush hour. He pulled into the parking lot and ran up to the main desk, flashing his ID and asked the whereabouts of Gunnery Sergeant Galindez. The woman behind the desk looked up the record in her computer and then peered at the Admiral standing before her, a worried expression on her face. She gulped noticeably. "Sir, he is in the operating room now." She paused a moment before continuing. "But, you can’t go up there." The look of anger on AJ's face had made grown men shudder. The woman behind the desk quickly pointed to the elevator bank to her left. "Fifth floor, but they won’t let you stay," she warned. "The police are up there and they aren’t…"

The rest of her statement was lost on AJ as the elevator doors opened and he stepped in. He pushed the button for the 5^th floor and waited impatiently as the elevator seemed to inch its way up. Finally, he was able to find the nurses' station for OR and again, he flashed his ID. The nurse paled. "I’m sorry, Sir, Mr. Galindez is in surgery. You can’t wait here. The police have closed off the floor to everyone but doctors and patients."

"Miss Richardson," AJ growled out the name he read from her small pink nametag. "I am GSgt. Galindez’s commanding officer AND I am his lawyer. I WILL see where they have taken him and I WILL wait to talk to his doctor." He pointed to the closed doors down the hall and snapped, "Through there, is it?" She nodded, picked up a phone and quickly talked into it. Before AJ could turn around, he heard the doors burst open and two Baltimore policemen came barreling through. When they saw the imposing man standing there, they stopped. The shorter of the two leaned over to his partner and whispered something and the partner nodded. He turned and went back through the swinging doors.

Officer Garvy walked up to AJ and asked, "Um…Admiral, right?" AJ merely glared at the man. Garvy swallowed. "Sir, my partner went back to talk to Lieutenant Anderson. He’s the one that doesn’t want anybody allowed back there. If you would like to have a seat." Garvy pointed to the small yellow chair pushed up against the far wall. AJ continued to glower at him, but kept his temper. Before Garvy could say anything further, the doors behind him pushed open and Anderson stormed through them.

He came to a standstill directly in front of AJ and stood with his hands at his sides. "Admiral." He jerked his head back toward the doors. "Come on, I’ll walk you through to the waiting room." As they walked through the doors, Anderson spoke softly,, "I told everybody that the area was off limits. It doesn’t pay to give them too much leeway to make decisions in this kind of case."

They reached a small waiting area that looked like every other waiting area AJ had ever sat in. But instead of sitting, he whirled around and put his hands on his hips and shouted, "Just what the hell happened up there Anderson? Do you know who did it? Where is he? How bad is it?"

A nurse flew out of one of the rooms at the noise. Clearly unimpressed with either Baltimore’s finest or the US Navy, she said in a low frosty voice, "If you two can’t figure out where you are, then I will have to ask you to get the hell out of my ward. There are very sick people here and doctors operating in three of the four operating rooms. They don’t need this. I won’t have it." She stomped away before either of them could say anything and walked back into what AJ figured was one of the prep rooms.

AJ watched her depart and then turned back to Anderson and ground out, "Tell me."

Anderson ran his hand across his close cropped hair and struggled to get his own temper under control. After a few moments, he finally looked at the very irate man before him and sighed. "I’ll tell you but I don’t think you're going to be any happier once you know. We thought we had the guy who knifed Galindez but we don’t. We're checking the security cameras now, but two of them were shorted out and scheduled for repair." At the look on Chegwidden’s face, he held up his hands. "I know, I know. We're also trying to figure out why they let them up there without the proper security but we have to work with what we got and sorry to say, it isn’t much. There were two men near Galindez when he was stabbed and from the angle of the only camera that shows anything, it appears that Jake Arnold, the man who occupied the cell next to Galindez, was leaning into Galindez right before the stabbing." Here Anderson began to get more agitated and stopped to catch his breath before he continued. "But, it can’t be him."

A thought so vague that it didn’t take real form fluttered across AJ mind and he calmly asked, "Why not?"

Anderson looked at him for a very long time and then suddenly made his decision and turned and closed the door to the waiting room and leaned into AJ before he harshly whispered, "Because he is a goddamn fed that’s why."

AJ wasn’t even surprised. He just asked, "Why?"

Anderson looked bemused at AJ’s attitude. "Why what?"

AJ sighed. "Why would a federal agent be put in the Baltimore City Lock-up twelve hours after you had incarcerated Galindez?"

Anderson shook his head wearily, "I don’t know. And the agent isn’t talking. Two US Marshals came during the brouhaha after the stabbing. They presented his credentials and took him away. We couldn’t question him; we're pretty sure that Jake Arnold isn’t his real name. The chief has been calling the FBI all afternoon demanding an explanation from Jacobs himself, but the Director isn’t talking."

AJ turned to look out upon the roof of the building below them. Softly, he asked, "How bad are his injuries?"

"We haven’t heard anything from the surgeons yet. The kidney is perforated and he lost a bit of blood, but Arnold, or whatever his name is, seemed to be trying to stem the flow of blood before they pulled him off of him. Arnold was shouting at them to keep the knife in and not pull it out. We are going to have to wait and see." Suddenly they heard loud knocking on the door to the waiting room.

Anderson opened the door and standing there was Officer Garvy. "Sir?" Garvy looked first at Anderson and then at AJ. "Sirs, there is a couple with a little baby out in the hallway, insisting on being allowed to wait for word on Galindez. The woman was really insistent about being allowed to wait. They don’t look like they would do anything. But you said to let you know." Garvy’s voice trailed off and looked relieved when AJ stepped around Anderson and gently moved Garvy out of the way.

"Don’t worry about them, officer. I know who they are and I will deal with them." AJ marched down the hall and through the doors to see Bud holding his sleeping son while Harriet harangued Garvy’s partner. AJ kept his smile to himself.

Harriet saw the Admiral and before he could say anything, she rushed up to him. "Sir, is he all right? Why won’t they let us wait? Oh I knew something like this would happen." At this last statement AJ was amused to see her actually stamp her foot.

AJ cleared his throat and looked over at Bud Roberts who returned the look with a shrug of his shoulders. "Lieutenant, we don’t know how long he is going to be in surgery. The knife punctured his kidney and they are doing everything they can. There is no point in all of us waiting." At the determined look she gave him, he sighed and said very gently, "Harriet, don’t make me make it an order. Go home. I promise that I will call you as soon as I hear anything. Besides, you won’t be able to see him for at least a day." He thought of something then and took her small hand into his large ones. "Look I have a huge favor. Someone has to call his folks and let them know what is going on. Will you do that for me?"

With something to do, Harriet nodded. AJ noted that a tear trailed down her cheek. She turned away and led Bud toward the elevator. Suddenly, she stopped and spun around, "Sir, I just remembered. We did what you wanted and there’s not another house in the whole Barre Circle area with one. A couple of ‘gnomes’ and even a few Virgin Mary's but no other gargoyles." She watched AJ for a sign of approval and was rewarded with a weary grin and nod. The elevator door opened and for the first time, Bud spoke up,

"Sir, what do you want me to do?"

"Nothing Mr. Roberts," AJ sighed. "Just get your family home and be at the office first thing tomorrow. It's going to be a *very* long day, again. And, thank you, both of you." As the elevator door closed, he turned and found that Lt. Anderson was standing directly behind him with a question in his eyes. AJ chose the obvious response "They're colleagues of GSgt. Galindez." He started to walk through the doors when he found Anderson gripping his elbow.

"What was that gnome, Virgin Mary, gargoyle bit about?" AJ stared down at the hand gripping his arm and Anderson released him. "We’ve got a wait ahead of us Admiral and I want to know exactly what that comment referred to."

AJ studied the man and asked in a low dangerous voice. "Why would you ask me that? You know something that you're keeping from me. You want me to share? You start." Then he continued on his way back to the waiting room.

Anderson followed and in an equally dangerous growl, spat out, "Grayson lives in Barre Circle. I was there once. I dropped him off after a stakeout. Even late at night that stupid gargoyle was clear in the streetlight. I even commented on it and he said it was his ex-wife’s idea. Why did those ‘colleagues’ make a point of looking through the Barre Circle area for a gargoyle?"

AJ studied the man for a long moment before he spoke. "Sorry Anderson, client-attorney privilege." He forced himself to stay on his feet long enough to go sit in one of the waiting room chairs and stared out the window. He was so damn tired he could barely keep his eyes open. He wanted to trust the Lieutenant. If he could convince him that his detective was involved, then Anderson might help with Stark. But he wasn’t ready to make that leap of faith yet and so he sat there ignoring the other man.

Anderson, mindful of where they were, kept his vicious response down to a low growl. "Damn you, Chegwidden. Tell me or so help me I will have you thrown off this floor and you can wait in…"

He never got a chance to finish. AJ was out of his chair in Anderson's face so fast that Anderson never even saw him open his eyes, let alone actually get out of the chair. One minute he looked like he was on the verge of sleep, the next minute he looked like he was ready to rip Anderson’s head off.

AJ let a week’s worth of frustration and anxiety loose. "Listen to me Anderson, and listen good. I have played by your rules for the past five days. I have put up with your bullshit and the incompetence of your department. You want to play hard ball? You want me to pull out the stops? Do you think that I don’t have people that I can call? Don’t push me, Mister, because I PUSH BACK." AJ returned to his seat, studiously ignoring Anderson.

During the three hours they waited, AJ called his house twice and talked to Kate getting updates. When he heard about London, he tried hard to work up some enthusiasm but with Galindez in such a critical state he merely said "Good" and hung up. Rabb finally reached him through the front desk and he talked to him for over a half-hour. Rabb wanted to come in to the hospital too, but AJ told him he needed him to go back to ‘The Depot’ and get a full deposition from Kelly the waitress.

Mac finally reached him a little before 2100 hours. After he ordered her not to come back before the meeting tomorrow, he listened to the information that Major Antonelli had passed onto her when he called. As they had suspected, it was all very nebulous, but Antonelli painted a picture of a wheeler-dealer who dealt in anything that made money. Mac told AJ that the Major had been reluctant, but he had mentioned some talk of trouble with a woman and drugs. Unfortunately, there had never been any hard core evidence even though two searches had been made of his off-base housing. And, ‘No, the Major didn’t know the name of the woman.’ Finally, the base commander had strongly suggested that London take the offered transfer.

Mac had just finished her story, when AJ saw a man in soiled scrubs come out into the hallway looking right at him. "Listen Mac, I got to go. I’ll call you in a little bit." He returned the phone to the nurse and said, "AJ Chegwidden, Doctor?"

"Peters." The man replied tiredly. "Let’s go over here and sit." AJ followed him to a little alcove behind the nursing station and waited anxiously for Dr. Peters to continue. "It’s not as bad as it could have been. We’ve repaired the damage and as long as septic shock doesn’t set in, he should pull through."

AJ sighed in relief. "Can I see him?"

Peters shrugged and rose, "Come on, he's in recovery and you can see him through the window, but he is out and won’t know you're there." He led AJ through the operating room ward and into an area with three glassed in rooms all being monitored from a single station. AJ looked in through the window Peters led him to and saw Galindez laying there deathly still. Images of all the other people that he had lost through the years raced across his memory.

He watched for a moment and said to Peters who had remained at his side. "How long before he comes out of the anesthesia? I want to be here when he wakes up."

Peters did a rough calculation, "Two hours, but he is going to be really groggy for awhile. Why not come back in the morning, Admiral?" They stood and AJ shook the doctor’s hand beforePeters walked back to the OR area. AJ dropped back into his chair and put his head in his hands trying very hard to get his perspective back. As he thought of everything that he had to do tomorrow, a pair of black brogues appeared before his lowered eyes. He sighed and looked up into the face of Lt. Anderson.

Anderson asked calmly, "Do you think Grayson is involved in this?"

AJ wearily shook his head and moved to stand up, forcing Anderson to step back several paces. "I don’t know, Lieutenant." AJ made yet another decision that he hoped he wouldn’t regret later. He looked Anderson in the eye. "Galindez swears the only time he met with Sherilee after seeing her in the bar that one time was at a house on Scott Street in Barre Circle. He told me that they met there one afternoon for dinner and sex. He hasn’t described much of the house other than the fact that it had a gargoyle out in front of it. And frankly, until I looked this afternoon, I really hadn’t made a firm connection between Grayson and Sherilee. Why? What do you plan on doing about it?"

Anderson walked away from AJ, lost in his own thoughts for a minute. Neither man looked up when the elevator door dinged. When he turned back he said succinctly, "I told you in the office that day that I was new to the assignment. I know that Grayson resents me for some reason more than the fact that I am the new boss. Hell, it may be something as simple as he is a racist. Regardless, I told you I wanted a clean bust. I sure as hell, don’t want to start my homicide career with something that is beginning to smell as bad as this case is beginning to smell. I'm pulling all of the records and checking them."

AJ sighed. "Don’t bother, I’m requesting a court order to have one of my people double check all of the forensics work. She’s good. Damn good. I hope to have her down there tomorrow afternoon, if no one blocks the request."

Anderson nodded, but said gruffly, "You’ll get no hassles from me, but I can’t promise that Stark won’t throw out some legal maneuvering."

"Actually, I rather suspect that Mr. Stark will have his hands full for awhile without worrying about GSgt. Galindez." Both men spun at the woman’s voice.

AJ stared in amazement. Gone was the ponytail. Gone was the T-shirt and casual pants. A neat French braid, and a beautifully tailored, professional looking sage green suit that still accentuated her curves replaced them. What drew his attention though, was the small ID badge hanging around her neck. Even from 5 feet away he could clearly make out the FBI logo. She walked toward them with her head held high and AJ wondered what had ever possessed him to think she was in her twenties. Her stance and poise didn’t come naturally, they had been hard won and he felt a feeling of vertigo, as her gaze never left his eyes until she was almost upon them.

When she was closer to them, she tore her gaze from his and the man who had been her boss for the past two months. She started to put out her hand and immediately thought better of it. "Lieutenant Anderson, Special Agent Cassandra Ryan." She waited a moment for a reaction from either man and then sighed, "Gentlemen we need to talk. Do you want to stay here or go somewhere else?"

Anderson looked at the former Detective O’Brien and then over at AJ. AJ hadn’t taken his shocked eyes off of the woman since he had first seen her. Anderson saw the imposing man shudder and then heard him growl out, "Oh, Agent we have a lot to talk about. But I’ve met the nurse on this floor and I don’t think for one moment she is going to appreciate anything that she will hear in the next little while, even if she is down on the 1^st floor. Please lead the way." He brusquely gestured toward the elevator and Anderson suddenly felt almost sorry for the woman who had been lying to him for the past two months.

::  Chapter 25  ::

During the drive south Mac tried to keep her thoughts off of Clayton Webb. She had grabbed a hand-full of CDs from her rack andhadn’t paid any attention to the ones she had picked up. Along with the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, she also sang along with the Stones. Just as Mick Jagger finished ‘Satisfaction,’ she had taken the phone call from Major Antonelli and since the information was so sketchy she decided to wait to phone the Admiral with the information. She was on the outskirts of Norfolk, letting Trisha Yearwood’s Real Live Woman CD make her teary-eyed before her cell phone chirped again. "MacKenzie."

"Sarah, its Kate."

The reception was very clear and Mac could hear the anxiety in Kate’s voice. Mac turned off the stereo.

Keeping both hands firmly on the wheel, she prepared herself for the worst. "What’s happened? What’s wrong?"

Kate gave a nervous laugh, "That obvious, huh? It’s pretty bad Sarah, maybe you ought to pull off to the side."

Now really scared, Mac looked around at the traffic. "Okay, give me a second." She pulled off onto the shoulder and then picked up the phone and held it to her ear. "What’s the matter?"

Kate said, "It’s Galindez. He was stabbed while he was on the roof of the jail, exercising or something and he’s in surgery now. The Admiral is at the hospital." She paused for breath and then continued before Mac could say anything, "Harm found drugs at London’s barracks, but London is on the loose. We don’t know where he’s gone."

Sarah cut in. "Does the Admiral think that London had something to do with Sherilee Cloud’s death?"

Kate’s sigh of exasperation came through very clearly. "We don’t know anything right now. I haven’t heard anything from the Admiral in two hours. I did hear from the Roberts. They stopped at the hospital but the Admiral sent them home. Harm called about a half an hour ago and he said that he was going to talk to the waitress at the Goth club where Galindez met the blond hooker and maybe take her statement and see about setting up a time for a deposition. Then, he’s coming back here to give me a ride back to my hotel."

Surprised, Sarah asked, "You’re still at the Admiral’s house?"

Kate gave an amused snort. "Yeah, I’m holding down JAG central here. Everybody thought that he would be here all day and it’s been pretty busy. Plus, I’ve been helping with some of the paperwork. Oh yeah, Coulter called from the airport. She's staying at the same hotel I am. If we get back there at a decent hour, we can fill her in on what has to be done tomorrow at the coroner’s office. I prepared the brief for the Admiral to present to the judge. There shouldn’t be any problems. Oh, and Sarah, the Admiral said to tell you that you have to make that meeting in the morning, but to get back here as early as you can tomorrow night. We might be burning the midnight oil again."

Sarah sighed and muttered, "Wonderful."

Kate laughed outright. "Maybe you should have had Webb drive down with you then…" She didn’t get to finish.

"Goodnight, Kate." And Mac broke the connection.

Sarah pulled into the Norfolk facility at 2030 hours and a yeoman showed her to the visitor’s quarters. The room was sparsely furnished as most such rooms were, but at least there was a phone. She used her ID to get an outside line and called the Admiral’s house. She was pleased that there was no one there to answer and she didn’t leave a message on his machine. Next, she tried the Admiral’s phone and was surprised when his voice mail picked up. She thought for a moment and then dialed information and got the number of Baltimore General Hospital. After some sweet-talking and bullying she finally tracked AJ down and gave him her information about London. She got his promise to call her when he heard anything about Gunny. Next she tried Harm’s cell phone and was patently surprised when he picked up on the second ring. "Rabb." Mac could here loud music somewhere in the background.

"Hey Flyboy, it’s me. I hear I’ve missed all the fun again." She kept her tone light.

"Hi, Mac." His sigh was pronounced now that he realized whom he was talking to. "You hear about what happened to Gunny?"

"Yeah, I did. I feel so damn useless down here. You know I wish I was there to help, right?" She said it seriously and Rabb responded to her tone.

"Yeah, Mac, I know. As soon as I get the waitress’s statement I’m driving back to pick up Kate."

Suddenly alert, Mac said, "I thought you already had. I just called the Admiral’s house and there was no answer. Harm, why didn’t she answer the phone?"

"Now, Mac, I’m sure it is nothing. She was probably in the head or something. I'll call her as soon as I get off the phone with you okay?" Harm kept his tone light, but Mac could hear the sudden tension in his voice.

Mac said, "Okay, but call me back right away. Take this number down in case you can’t get me on my cell phone." She gave him the extension to the room and hung up. She paced the floor getting more and more nervous. If it had been the summer Mac could understand Kate taking a walk but it was after 2200 hours by now and it was cold for November in Virginia. Forty-five minutes later, the phone finally rang. She rushed to answer it and was surprised to hear Clayton Webb’s voice on the other end.

"Sarah. It’s me. I’m at the Admiral’s house and I just got off the phone with Rabb. I told him I would call you since I was here and had the full story." Mac realized that she was hearing a lot of background noise from what should have been a quiet country house.

Her voice shaking, "Just tell me what happened. Is Kate okay?"

Clay’s snort brought her up short. "Is Kate okay? Do me a favor will you, sweetheart? Make sure that I never piss off Commander Pike will you? Now ask me if MSgt. London is okay?"

Suddenly, in the background Mac heard Kate yell, "Enough already, it’s just a scratch for Christ’s sake. Webb is that Mac, let me talk to her." Mac heard the phone being pulled out of Webb’s grasp and Mac finally smiled when she heard Kate say, "Mac you won’t believe it. Oh my god! I was sitting here staring at the computer screen trying to get the dope on the Fitzpatrick woman and it was real quiet. Not even the heater going off or anything. All of a sudden I hear this sound in the back of the house - like a window being opened. Well I look around and check the gun cabinet but it’s locked. Then I hear these footsteps and the only thing I can find is this big old sword that the Admiral has up on his wall, you know the one I mean?" Before Mac could ask if it was the Civil War antique that the Admiral prized, Kate was continuing, "So I pull out the sword and wait by the door and the next thing I know this Marine in cammies is sneaking into the office. I made the mistake of letting him know I was there and he tried to point the gun at me. Well, I hauled off and hit him up side the head with the flat of the sword; it only knocked him down but he lost the gun. He got up and before I could take another swing, he hit me in the side and knocked the sword across the room. He came after me, but, I remembered enough self-defense that I was able to keep him off of me." Her voice suddenly dropped, "But I’m not sure how it would have come out if your Mr. Webb had come in time to pull him off me. He saved my life, Mac." Her voice went back to normal. "Oh hell, the cops want to talk to me again. Here talk to the White Knight here."

The next thing Mac heard was the sound of Clayton Webb’s laughter.

"Clay, damn it, talk to me." Mac wasn’t scared anymore but she wanted the full story. She was just so frustrated being so far away.

Webb’s voice suddenly stilled. "Sorry Mac, but you should see her. I mean she looks like something out of Irish legends. She was holding her own when I came in and honestly, with the way my back feels, all I did was put my gun to his temple and he got real quiet, real fast."

Mac asked plaintively, "But, Webb, why was he there? Did he want to hurt the Admiral? Damn I wish I was there."

Clay responded quietly, "I wish you were here too. We haven’t figure out why he was here. He is screaming for his lawyer and since he attacked a Navy Commander in an Admiral’s house, the military has jurisdiction even though the local cops got here before the MPs. It’s a big mess. But, Kate is handling everything just fine."

Mac finally asked the question that had been bothering her since she heard his voice, "Clay what are you doing there?"

Clay tried a lame, "Looking for you?" Her snort stopped him dead. "No, I knew where you were. I just stopped out to give AJ some information. I didn’t know about Galindez. For once, I was left out in the cold."

Mac groaned at that old spy chestnut. She also wasn’t about to let him off the hook. "What information, Clay?"

Webb sighed. "Mac, really I can’t. I’ll tell AJ and if he wants to share the information..." Mac barely heard the rest of it, "and I’m sure he will and you will all get a huge laugh."

She was so surprised at the chagrined tone of his voice she dropped the matter. "So what are they going to do with London?"

On firmer footing, Webb responded "Well, as soon as Rabb heard what happened he said he was leaving the club and coming here. Wait a minute. Damn, he made good time. Look, Sarah get some sleep." Stopping her argument before she could start he insisted. "Honey, please." The use of the endearment caused Sarah to gasp softly. "I don’t want you too tired to drive back tomorrow. All this can wait and there is nothing you can do from down there. Okay?"

The tension of the last five days had taken their toll and she knew that Rabb would handle everything until the Admiral could take over. "Okay, Clay. Then wanting to end the conversation on a lighter note she added, "By the way, Mr. Webb, I like it when you call me honey on the phone. You ever call me honey in front of my friends or your friends and I am going hit you so hard." She gently hung up the phone on his bark of laughter.

::  Chapter 26  ::

Rabb had run out of the manager’s office of The Depot, where he had been interviewing the waitress. He reached his car and made it back to McLean in record time. He threw the gearshift into park, opened the door and was out running up the stairs when the door opened and he saw Kate Pike standing there. He bounded up the stairs and took her in his arms. "Are you all right?"

Kate nodded into his chest and he could feel her shaking. He led her into the house, closing the door with his foot. He looked around at the numerous MPs, local cops and Clayton Webb, all of them waiting for him to come in and join the fun. He looked into the dining room and saw MSgt. London sitting glumly on one of the Admiral’s dining room chairs. He knew he would need all his self-control to get the information he needed and took a deep breath and looked down at Kate and asked softly, "Come into the den and fill me in. Okay?" Again Kate nodded and walked ahead of him into the room where most of the fight had occurred. Rabb looked around and was stunned. He looked down at Kate with respect and gently reached out to touch the cut on her cheek.

He heard Webb come and close the door behind him. Rabb gingerly stepped around the computer monitor that had been knocked to the floor in the struggle and leaned against the desk, crossed his arms across his chest and waited to be filled in on what he had missed. Webb tried to lean against the doorjamb, but his back wasn’t up for it and he opted to stand with his arms at his side. That stance felt marginally better.

Kate related the same story to Rabb and listened with no interruptions. Finally, he looked over at Webb to ask him what he had been doing there, but the look on Webb’s face told him not to waste his time. Rabb sighed deeply and walked around Kate and Webb, opened the door and walked across to stand in front of London.

London was still sitting in the dining chair, his handcuffed-hands resting on his knees. Two MPs stood guard behind him. Rabb grabbed another straight back chair, swung it around and straddled it, resting his arms across the back. "Talk to me, London. We’ve got you dead to rights and I can guarantee you are going to Leavenworth."

London stretched his arms out and then over his head. Then a sly, feral grin slowly appeared. "I don’t know what you are talking about." His voice was languid and he slowly lowered his hands to his knees. Looking over at the woman whose elegance couldn’t be hidden by snug fitting blue jeans and an open neck polo shirt, he leered. "The babe, and me were having a nice time when little dude, here" he jerked his head toward Webb, "busted in on our little tryst and threatened to shoot me."

Of all the things that he could have said, nothing could have dumb-founded the three more. Rabb stood up so quickly that he knocked the chair over. In stunned silence, Kate stared at the man who had nearly managed to choke her to death. Only Webb seemed unaffected. The only indication that he had even registered the remark was a cocked eyebrow.

Rabb exploded. "London, are you out of your mind? Those drugs we found…."

London shot back, "Were not mine, sir."

Rabb sighed, "Prints, London. Were you wearing gloves the entire time that you handled everything in the bag?"

London smiled. "The bag could very well be mine, sir. I have no idea what you found in it."

Rabb stood before the insolent Marine trying to figure out what the hell the man’s game was. "Then why did you attack Major Turner?"

"Sir, I never attacked Major Turner. When I saw that you weren’t going to find anything in my room, I decided to keep my dinner date." He grinned over at Kate again, "I’m really glad that she stood me up or I wouldn’t have met…Um… sorry, honey, what was your name?" Rabb suddenly understood London but before he could say anything Kate slowly walked up to London’s chair.

Kate crossed her arms across her chest and smiled. "Pike, Mr. London. Commander Pike." She waited for his reaction and was pleased to see a tiny crack in his veneer.

Before he could recover enough to come back with something even more ludicrous, Harm barked. "Do you honestly think that any JAG lawyer assigned to you is going to present that crap at your court martial?"

London grin actually reached his eyes at last. He guffawed, "Yeah, right! Like I’m going to use one of you JAG…offs, to defend me. No thanks, I’ll get my own." So pleased with his response, he leaned back in his chair and waited for Rabb to blow up.

Rabb wanted nothing more than to have the MPs just take London to the stockade and be done with it. But, something told him that they needed to know why he had broken in. He forced himself to relax and looked over at Kate, who had not moved since introducing herself. "Commander, would you care to tell Mr. London just some of the violations that we will be charging him with?"

Kate let her eyes meet Harm’s while he was speaking to her but she immediately looked back down at London. "You mean besides the drug charge, and the attempted murder charge and the breaking and entry charge? Well, there’s flight to avoid prosecution. And, don’t forget, attacking a superior officer." She thought for a minute and looked to Harm for guidance. She didn’t think he wanted to mention Galindez just yet.

Instead of looking worried, London slowly stood up. When the MPs attempted to stop him, Rabb shook his head at them. London was at a loss with what to do with his hands, so he grasped both his wrists and then jutted his chin out. "You just don’t get it, do you, Commander? It’s my word against yours and your friends. My lawyer will fight you every step of the way. You’ve got no proof. I can guarantee you my prints aren’t on the contents of the package. Whatever was in that package, I never saw, or touched. Prove it, sir. You’ve got Jack Shit, sir. How do we know it wasn’t a set-up to try and get me to help that bastard Galindez." A look of panic suddenly crossed London’s face. Rabb knew immediately that London felt he had said too much. Trying to recover, London flopped down and sneered. "Hell, as far as you can prove, little dude over there was the one that broke-in.

At this snide slur, London and Rabb looked over to where Webb had been standing. At Rabb’s questioning look, Kate turned quickly to find that Webb was no longer there. She looked back at Rabb, but before anyone could say anything, they heard him come out from the back of the house, where London had jimmied the lock of the small window in the utility room. He had a small black box in his hand that he tossed to Rabb. Rabb realized that it was a video cassette tape. He looked at Webb, trying desperately to keep the questions off of his face.

Webb gingerly leaned against the couch, bracing both his hands on the edge. "Oh I don’t know, Mr. London. You failed to take into consideration exactly who you were breaking in on. What did you think? The man was a SeAL for Christ sake; forget the ‘other stuff’ he did before he became a lawyer. The man’s got more enemies that you will ever have. At least BEFORE you get sent to Leavenworth. About three maybe four years ago one of his former friends decided to try and kill him. Ever since, he has been very particular about his safety. He had a friend of mine install a full security system right after that." Clay pointed to the motion detectors.

Webb looked over at Harm, as if to say, ‘Your turn.’

Rabb took a deep breath and shook the tape in front of London’s nose. You want to have the front row seat for this showing. He grabbed London by the arm and dragged him over to the couch in front of the TV set. "Sorry, no popcorn. What do you want to bet that the guy on this tape doesn’t look anything like Mr. Webb? Probably, more like you I’m guessing."

Seeing the first real proof against him had shook London even more than his darting eyes revealed. He licked his lips and knew that even with the best lawyer his stash of money could provide, he was going to do time. He needed to work a deal and fast. He pulled his arm from Rabb’s grasp and growled, "Okay, hotshot. What’s the deal? What are you offering if I get Galindez out of jail?"

::  Chapter 27  ::

Cassandra Ryan led the way off the elevator. AJ and Anderson were surprised to see several men, obviously agents, keeping watch over the front entrance of the hospital. An extremely large black agent stepped up to AGENT Ryan and bent down to whisper something in her ear. AJ saw her heave a deep sigh and look back at them, but particularly at Anderson as if trying to come to a decision. She said something back to the man, who AJ figured had to have been a running back while in college. He pointed to a room off to the side of the entrance and Ryan nodded and motioned for both AJ and Anderson to follow.

As they entered the room, Cassie held the door open. "Have a seat." Seeing their hostile looks, she took a deep breath. "Please."

Never taking his eyes off of her, Anderson managed to pull out a chair and lower himself into it. AJ decided he had too much tension and energy to sit and went around the table and leaned against the far wall.

Cassie spared a moment for the handsome man who had become the subject of all of her erotic dreams since she had met him and sighed. She realized that there could probably never be anything between them once this meeting was over. She took him for a straight shooter. He would have a real problem with all of her duplicity of the past two years. There was so much she wanted to explain to him. But there wasn’t any time and HE couldn’t help her.

She turned her attention to the man whom she would have to trust. "Lieutenant Anderson, I need your help."

Stunned, Anderson managed to sputter. "Excuse me? You have spent the last two months of my life lying to me. You have been a policewoman of this department for two years under false pretenses. You are obviously part of the team that probably botched a case against a US Marine AND somehow managed to put said Marine on the critical list upstairs..." He inhaled sharply and his voice rose another 50 decibels. "... and you have the BALLS to ask for my help." By the time the speech was over, Anderson had risen so suddenly in his chair that it tipped over. He leaned his fists onto the table and stared menacingly into Ryan’s eyes.

During Anderson’s rant, Ryan stood perfectly still, giving the man her full attention. When he finished, she nodded and calmly replied, "Yes."

As angry as he was, AJ was impressed by her composure. <<<Christ, you’ve got it bad, old man.>>>

Anderson narrowed his eyes to mere slits and growled, "Are you going to tell me what the HELL is going on?"

Ryan spared a quick glance at AJ and then returned her focus to Anderson, "Some of it."

Anderson finally lost the last of his temper and slammed his fist onto the table. "Damn it to hell, woman. ALL OF IT."

Calmly, Ryan shook her head. "There’s not enough time."

His voice low and dangerous, "Then you, madam, can go to hell," he turned and looked at AJ for a split second before stepping to the door.

Just as his hand touched the doorknob he heard, "Then over 500 guns, including God knows how many assault rifles will be taken from where we know them to be, to a unknown destination. That doesn’t include the ammunition, including Teflon bullets, by the way. Also, we have information that there are drugs there too." AJ watched as she walked up behind the shaking man and gently placed her hand on his shoulder, "You know what that means if those guns get to the gang members on the streets. Not just here in Baltimore, Anderson; but, all over the country. How many cops are going to die because of these guns?" She removed her hand and returned to her place at the table, letting him make the decision.

Stunned, Anderson turned around and asked, "Why me? You’re FBI. You don’t need me."

Ryan let her chin fall to her chest for just a second and then raised it again to meet his gaze. "Yes, actually I do. I have 15 agents coming in from D.C. There are only 5 available from the Philly office; I’m not even sure they're going to make it in time. The Director called in a bunch of favors and managed to get me 5 DEA agents and 3 US Marshals. Jacobs himself is pulling together the warrants. Do you know how many judges he had to track down to do this discretely in less than 2 hours?"

AJ stood and walked over to the table and asked. "Why the rush? You’ve been undercover for two years."

At this revelation, Anderson spun around and snarled, "You knew about this? Just when were you going to let me in on the secret?" He looked back at Ryan. "You and he have been in on this?" The look of surprise on her face did nothing to calm Anderson down. "Screw this, get the Navy to help you."

AJ said softly, "She can’t. And you know she can't. And for your information, she had been on the force here for two years. It wasn’t that big a leap in logic, Anderson."

Anderson wasn’t ready to let go just yet. "And just how the hell did you know she had been on the…."

"Damn it! I don’t have time for this. We don’t have time for this." Both men returned their attention to the suddenly angry woman. Ryan fought for control. "There was a mistake, okay. This whole cock-up with Galindez has gotten the bad guys spooked. They may be good at theft but they still aren’t very smart and when the murder attempt on Galindez failed this afternoon, they suddenly decided to ‘get out of Dodge’ while they still had the time. Look guys, forget the fact that I’ve put two years of my life into this. I’ve got people on the inside that have lived like vermin for as much as two years too, gathering information, doing stuff that they are going to have to live with for the rest of their lives. We need this to end, soon…now. Please." She sat down heavily on one of the grey leather chairs and watched Anderson process this latest bit of information.

He spat out, "Again, why me? Why not go to the Mayor? Why not go to the chief? Why ask me to put my career on the line?"

"Because I trust you." Ryan hoped this simple declaration would be enough. She looked at her watch and cringed. The Feds from D.C. would be reaching the rendezvous point in 20 minutes at the most. The Philly agents, if they didn’t get stuck in traffic, maybe twenty minutes beyond that. She played one last card. "Look Anderson. You want to know why Jacobs didn’t go to the chief? Because, they can’t stand each other - Moran would have tried to pull something that would have cost people's lives. Why didn’t he go to the Mayor? Because, we know for a fact that there is a leak in the man’s office. All I know is that there are trucks on their way to the warehouse and if they leave with the guns, then we all get to start from scratch." She paused before continuing, "I know about your Rabbi, okay. You can go to Deputy Chief Miller and tell him a story to get me the manpower I need. I need at least the swat team to back my people up. I will try to keep them out of the line of fire. Oh and fire trucks, and ambulances." Ticking the items off on her fingers, she reminded AJ of a small child sitting on Santa’s lap deciding to go for broke with her wish list.

Anderson shook his head in wonder. "What was it I said before about you having some kind of balls? Lady, they are made of steel. What the hell am I supposed to tell Miller? Oh, and by the way, you gonna tell me what I’m going to do for the rest of my life, once Miller finds out that I jerked him around." Anderson could not stop shaking his head.

Ryan rubbed her eyes. She couldn’t remember how many hours of sleep she had gotten since she realized Galindez hadn’t killed the hooker. "Damn it, Anderson, figure out what will push his buttons and I will back you up. Or else you can always tell him I lied to you." She looked over at AJ and said in all seriousness, "Hell I’ve gotten really good at that in the past two years." She walked over to Anderson and glared. "Remember this. If there are leaks in the Mayor’s office, there are leaks in the department too. Some of the assault rifles came from the weapons lock up down at the police armory. Once you get him to agree, oh, and you have less than a half a hour, have them meet us at this address." She pulled a pad from off the table and reached into her coat pocket for a pen. She scrawled the address of the rendezvous point.

"A half hour! Woman…" Anderson was speechless.

"Yeah, a half an hour. I need time to tell people what's going on; to tell them where I want them placed. This WILL NOT be another Waco. And, I would just as soon not have another Philadelphia on our hands." AJ and Anderson shuddered. They both remembered the horrible fire that had taken out half a neighborhood in the poorer section of Philadelphia over a decade ago, when a police raid had gone bad and tear gas had touched off an inferno.

"Fire trucks. And, ambulances." Anderson sighed and went to the phone sitting on a smaller table in the corner. He looked over at the ballsy woman that he just knew was going to ruin his career. <<<Jesus, 500 weapons.>>> "I would just as soon not have you ease drop on my lies, if you don’t mind Agent Ryan, Admiral Chegwidden."

AJ came around the table in time to hold the opened door for Cassie as she walked through into the lobby. She called the large black agent over, "Agent Lee Hobson, I would like you to meet Admiral Chegwidden."

Hobson and AJ eyed each other warily. Finally, it was AJ who made the obvious comment. "You’re Jake aren’t you?"

Hobson nodded. "Yes, sir. I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I let Galindez get hurt. I…"

Cassie broke in, "Save it Lee. You did the best you could with what you had."

AJ allowed his anger to surface again. "The best he could? If that was the best…"

Cassie whirled on him, "I said, save it. You want to have Sturm and Drang, then by God we can have a real knock out later, okay? It happened on my watch. You take it out on me. But later, please." She watched a freeze descend upon his features. She waited patiently for the outburst that would end what little chance they still might have, when the Main doors of the hospital burst open and three Marine MPs in full uniform strolled into the reception area.

Before going to greet them, AJ paused long enough to hiss out, "Oh, we will have this out later, Agent Ryan."

He strolled over to the three Marines who came to attention. "Follow me."

As he led the way to the elevators, Anderson came out and stared. He called out. "Hey!" AJ spun around, the look on his face could have killed.

Anderson sighed and waved him on. "Go. Tell Garvy, I Okayed it." He then turned his attention to Ryan. "Come on, I’ve got your manpower. But," he jabbed his finger at her. "When I get fired, you can send both my girls to college."

Ryan stood for just a second as the doors of the elevator closed. From his look she knew it was hopeless. She pushed the pain deep into her darkest recesses; she couldn’t deal with it now. She had a job to do. If they were successful tonight, lives would be saved. As she led her Agents and Anderson out of the hospital, she forced herself to believe that that was enough. 

Chapters 28 - 32

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