::  Murder In Baltimore  ::

Chapter Four

After Admiral Chegwidden had left the building, Detectives O’Brien and Grayson had escorted Gunnery Sergeant Galindez from the courthouse. They put him in their car and drove to the municipal lock-up three blocks away. Once they arrived, while O’Brien did the paperwork, Grayson took Galindez to a room where he was handed a pile of clothing. Having been a policeman both in the military and civilian world he knew what to expect and quickly stripped and put on the orange uniform with "Prisoner" stenciled on the back and cloth slip-ons on his feet. When he was finished he was led down the corridor to his cell, where he relieved to see that while only 4 x 8 feet and furnished with a narrow cot, a sink and a toilet, each cell was only intended for one prisoner. He wasn’t particularly afraid of not being able to protect himself, but he wanted to think in as much peace as was afforded without having to watch his back 24/7.

When the guard had led him down the corridor Galindez glanced at the other men on his row of cells. They looked like what you would expect. Hard men, scared men, somewhat crazed men. None spared him a glance until Grayson, who had followed the guard, had said in a loud voice as they locked the door to the cell, "Well Sergeant, sleep tight, you murdering bastard." As he had turned and walked away, one inmate further down had shouted "Hey who did he kill? Is he a cop?"

Grayson snorted, and threw back, "Nah shit head, he’s no cop. He is a bad-ass Marine that beats up on hookers and then rapes them after they’re dead."

Galindez had sighed at that, he had expected nothing less from Grayson, who had never taken his hard stare off of Galindez whenever they were together during that long day. Galindez could feel the hatred that radiated off the cop, but didn’t have the energy to think on why he was the brunt of the detective’s ire. A part of him thought that maybe Grayson was a closeted homosexual who had taken the "gay-bashing" story to heart. But he didn’t really get that kind of feel from the man, and felt that there was something deeper going on. In fact, when he thought about it more, he realized that when he had run into the detective the first time, he had gotten the impression that Grayson had hated him more for being a Marine than for having "beaten the crap out of a faggot".

Just as he hadn’t been surprised by Grayson’s comment, the muttered slurs and threats from the other inmates did not surprise him either. "Pervert" being the kindest. And "Just wait till we get your ass in the shower" the least threatening. Victor Galindez sat on his cot and put his head into his now free hands. After a moment or two he lay back on the bunk and closed his eyes. That was the biggest mistake he had made all day. Images began flooding his mind. Memories came unbidden and the only face he could see was hers. Sherilee had been so damn pretty that night at the dance. Victor had remembered that he had stood there for 5 minutes without moving, and never took his eyes off her.

When he had worked up the courage to ask her to dance, he had been floored when she had agreed. They danced the rest of the night, whenever her date wasn’t cutting in. It had been the most perfect night of his life. Suddenly, the face in his mind changed and he saw her laughing at him; first at the apartment in Taos, then the furious vestige that he had imaged that last time when she had called to taunt him. He suddenly got up and started to pace, but stopped and made himself sit back down, then lay back. Instead of thinking about Sherilee, he forced himself to think about all the things that he needed to tell the Admiral tomorrow about what was going on at the office.

When Grayson had followed Galindez down the corridor, Bridget O’Brien had watched them, shaking her head. She had been assigned to work with Grayson only three weeks before the murder and had worked with him throughout. He had told her up front to keep her mouth shut and to watch and do only what he had told her. She had followed his instructions to the letter. She had watched and learned at the crime scene and when Anderson had asked for her opinion each day when they came back to discuss the case she had been reticent but not embarrassingly so. She felt that Grayson trusted her as much as he trusted anyone, and when he had put her in charge of maintaining the crime scene, she had vowed to him that she would do her best not to let him down. She hadn’t even cringed when she heard him say "Suck-up" as he walked away.

Everything they had learned on the investigation had pointed to the Marine as the perp, and O’Brien felt that the JAG Admiral would have his case cut out for him. Sadly, given what he had to work with, there was no way that he could win. O’Brien frowned when she thought of this because she had realized that she had been attracted to the tall, bald, good-looking sailor. She sighed and thought ‘Get a grip girl. You’ve got a job to do and the Hunk in the Uniform isn’t part of it.’ She thought this as she turned to the guard at the desk and said, "Can I use the phone, I’ve got to call my boss." The guard nodded and stood and walked to the end of the hall to give her a little privacy.

::  Chapter 5  ::

AJ finished the last of the pizza and had a second cup of coffee and started to feel almost human again. He got up from the sofa and walked over to where Bud was typing furiously and said quietly, "Have you got any of it printed out so I can read it." Bud stopped for a minute and handed a stack over to the Admiral who went back to the sofa and tried to read the report that he would have to put his name to. After a little while longer he noticed that he didn’t hear the keyboard anymore but only the whine of the printer. As he finished the last of the paper in his hands, he looked up to see Sarah standing before him with the rest of the report. He quickly scanned it and sat back and sighed. "Thank you both. I can’t believe you were able to do this." Bud blushed and looked at MacKenzie who just smiled at the Admiral. They were both pleased that they could help the man that had been such an inspiration to them both. They waited patiently for AJ to put the report together in its binder and then sat back and gave them his full attention. He knew that they wanted to help, but he also knew that he had a problem with staffing as it was. Furthermore he knew that Harriet needed her husband at home. He looked at the young lieutenant and said, "Lieutenant, go home now. Thank you again. Colonel MacKenzie will fill you in tomorrow. Give little AJ a hug for me, but get home now to your family."

Both Mac & AJ could see the conflicting emotions on Bud Robert’s face, but in the end, he made the correct choice and left the room to retrieve his cover and coat. He came back in to the den and asked, "What are your plans for tomorrow morning, Sir?"

AJ thought for a moment and then said, "I plan on studying the crime scene reports thoroughly tonight. My meeting is not till 1000 so I will be able double check the report and make any changes that I see fit. I will tell the SecNav of the situation tomorrow and then I will go into Baltimore and talk with Galindez again and maybe see if I can see the crime scene before I return. I will stop by the office late. Colonel, I will let you know a firmer timetable. You are in charge while I am gone. Are you okay on all your cases?"

Sarah had been very quiet all this time but when he asked the last question, she responded "Sir, I checked the upcoming cases and sent a request to the Pacific JAG for some help." She paused, trying to gauge this assumption of authority and was relieved, when AJ nodded. "Once the new lawyer gets here, we will be in okay shape so that we can all kick in and help with Gunny’s case."

"Very well, move it mister." AJ got up and nudged Roberts out to the front door. He turned and reached for Sarah’s coat and helped her into it. "I want you to get home and make some phone calls for me Colonel." After she got her coat settled, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his notebook. "Let me copy these names for you. She followed him into the office again and watched as he wrote down the names that Galindez had given him earlier. "These men supposedly met Galindez at McMurphy’s last Saturday night. I need you to call them and arrange interviews. These guys may hold the key to what happened.

Sarah looked at Chegwidden in the same way that Galindez had right before he had brought up the point that the murder had happened on Sunday afternoon. But AJ didn’t elaborate. The fact that Galindez had so lost control as to have blacked out completely for almost 24 hours struck him as wrong and he wanted to get a feel for the whole weekend.

Sarah could only nod and went to the door. She opened it and turned back to ask one more question. "Sir, how was he holding up?"

AJ looked at her and replied, "He’s a Marine Colonel, he did what he needed to do." And with that, he followed her out onto the porch and watched as she stepped down to her car, opened it and got in. As she pulled away, AJ took a deep breath of the cold November air before turning around and going back inside. He knew there was still a lot to do before he got to bed, but that he would need his rest before facing the SecNav; never a pleasant task at best and after he explained about the murder charge, he knew he would need his wits about him.

Sarah pulled away and started down the narrow lane, so engrossed in her thoughts that she did not see the dark sedan parked off to the side with a clear view of the Admiral’s house. She pulled onto the state road that would lead her back to the highway and tried to concentrate on everything that she would need to get down the next day. She knew it was going to be difficult, but knew everyone would pull together not only for Galindez but also for the Admiral. She allowed her thoughts to stray to her charismatic boss and found a slow smile coming to her face. She had just realized that the lump was gone. The incident all those years ago when they had almost kissed no longer obsessed her. They had seldom spoken on the missed opportunity and then only in oblique ways; but there had been a tension between them. She had always felt nervous around him, after her Article 32 hearing; after the case involving the drunk jump master and the mysterious file showing up in her car; and even after she tried to commit herself to Mic. She had still felt that there was something unresolved between the two of them. However, after that day when Mic and Harm had actually gotten into a fist fight in the office and the only person there for her was Clayton Webb of all people, she had begun to take her life into her own hands at last. Webb had suggested that she might want someone to talk to. He had been so shy about it, and she thought for a moment that he was suggesting that he be that person. Instead, when he had dropped her off at her apartment after listening to her for over four hours ranting and raving, he had written a name on a piece of paper. After she had looked at it and realized that he had written down a doctor’s name she stared at him until he said softly, "If you don’t like her, she will refer you to someone else, but I think she is great. Oh, and Sarah, she doesn’t work for The CIA."

Sarah had spent the entire night staring at a magazine ad for Absolute vodka and wondering how her life had gotten so fouled up. The next morning she had call Dr. Carol Witson and made an appointment for that afternoon. She hadn’t realized that Dr. Witson was one of the most popular and well-respected "shrinks" in D.C. but later had figured out that the only way that she gotten in to see her was because Webb had pulled in a favor. Although the sessions with Witson were expensive and her insurance company was balking at the cost, Sarah felt that the even the painful times spent with Dr. Witson were enlightening. Dr. Witson had forced her to see just how much of her emotion security she had invested in other people and how only she could be responsible for her own happiness. Sarah had come to understand that as obvious as it all was, until she was ready to accept it, it was still a major problem in her life. She had made some hard choices; one of the hardest had been regarding Harmon Rabb, Jr. She had always had a crush on him. Unlike the Admiral, they had actually kissed and it had been wonderful. She had pinned a lot on that kiss, but after his most recent rejection of her in Australia, she felt that he had had his chance and she just wasn’t going to wait around for him to grow up or to finally realize that he loved her or not. She grinned as she pulled into her parking spot at her building. Mic had been the easy part. She had actually written him in care of his firm’s London office. She had used the excuse of returning his mother’s ring to him, but had politely reamed him a new one. As she got out and locked her car, she admitted that she missed having a steady boyfriend; but she had begun to value the friendships of the people around her, Bud and Harriet and Little AJ. She thought of Tiner and GSgt. Galindez as friends also and she knew that she would do everything that she could for them.

"Working late, Sarah?" The voice startled her and she started to go into a defensive stance until she realized that the person speaking was Clayton Webb who was sitting on the steps leading up to her building.

"Webb, what the heck are you doing back in town? I thought you were going to be gone for a couple of weeks this time." She was surprised to see him, and even more amazed at how glad it made her that he was here.

"False alarm." His grin told her that that was all she was going to get out of him. He continued in the same cocky voice that had so used to annoy her, "Good thing it was. I can’t leave you people alone for two weeks without one of you getting in trouble."

Sarah stared long and hard at this man that she hadn’t trusted for so many years and allowed the mistrust to creep back in for a second. "What, are you keeping tabs on us? On me?" Instantly she regretted her outburst but before she could apologize, he had merely smiled great big at her and stood up, reaching behind him as he did and picking up the paper that he had been using to protect the seat of his pants.

"Oh, yeah. I hire reports to watch out for all my friends." And held up the late edition of the newspaper so she could see the headline. "Marine Charged in Brutal Rape/Murder." She had to squint, but she could see above the article the heading "Navy JAG to defend – Again!" She groaned long and loud. She hadn’t see a paper or the news since she and Bud had left Falls Church at 1600 hours to take the reports to the Admirals house. Once there they had started working on the report and neither of them had thought to turn on the radio or TV. She had been so engrossed in her own thoughts that she hadn’t even bothered to turn on the car radio on her way home.

Sarah pushed past Webb and ran up the steps. Webb followed her to her door and once she had gotten it opened had reached for her elbow and turned her to him. "What can I do?"

Sarah looked at him for a minute and said softly, "I’ll let you know. I promise." With that he had nodded and turned and left her. She was sorry that he went without an argument, but realized that unless she asked him to stay, he never did. She shook her head, sighed and went into her apartment. She needed to let the Admiral know about the headlines and then get busy on tracking those friends of Galindez.

::  Chapter 6  ::

Almost as soon as he had closed the door AJ’s phone rang. He looked at it distastefully till the third ring. He recognized the phone number on his caller ID box and sighed. Well so much for putting it off until tomorrow. Opting for a defensive posture, he merely answered "Chegwidden."

The tone on the other end of the line was cold and furious, "Just when the HELL were you going to tell me."

"Good evening, Mr. Secretary. I just got back from Baltimore. I was planning on finishing the review of the case files and then when we met tomorrow at 1000 hours, I was going to give you a full run-down." AJ said succinctly. The snort on the other end was loud enough to cause AJ to pull the receiver away from his ear.

"What am I to do until then? The press has been calling here all night." AJ didn’t think that that statement was completely true but wasn’t going to call his boss on it.

"I’m sorry Mr. Secretary, I figured they would try and track me down."

"Well, damn it. They weren’t able to now, were they. A friend of mine in Baltimore said you managed to elude the reporters in front of the courthouse, thank God." SecNav was still furious but was taking little pleasure in the conversation. "Shit, AJ, why couldn’t you have just called me? What did you think I was going to say? Remember I know what it’s like."

AJ was immediately embarrassed. They never talked about the case involving the SecNav’s own son. "Sir, I just didn’t have any information to give you, but you are right, I should have called you as soon as I left the Courthouse. I just needed to think on it for a while."

Mollified for the moment, Nelson sighed and continued, "I suppose you don’t have the report done?"

"On the contrary, sir. It is ready for your review." AJ could hear the surprise in his boss’s voice when Sec Nav said,

"Well, then, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at 1000." AJ had thought he had hung up and started to replace the receiver when he heard a grunt and then "Do you think he did it?"

"No sir, I don’t. I don’t know why, but I don’t think he did. Good night Mr. Secretary." And replaced the handset on its cradle. He poured himself another cup of coffee and went to sit and study the crime reports.

::  Chapter 7  ::

Light tan face, perfect without a blemish, beautiful high cheekbones, smiling brown eyes, a mouth so kissable he couldn’t believe that he hadn’t yet. Her hair hung straight back off her shoulders. Shoulders so creamy and smooth, encased in an off the shoulder peasant blouse. He held her in his arms as they spun around the floor. He didn’t even notice the other people, behind her, around them. Her eyes never left his and he knew he was falling in love. He must have said something because she threw her head back and laughed delightfully leaving her long, graceful throat exposed to his lips. And as he bent down to kiss it, her face came back to his and he saw that now her lipstick was smudged and her eyes were smoldering, almost black with passion from their love making, her hair spread out upon the white pillow a stark contract in colors. He could feel the movement of their bodies and knew he wouldn’t last long and looked again to watch her come for him. Only now her face was contorted in pain, the skin of her face was horribly bruised and bloody and she was laughing hysterically at him, as...

Victor Galindez woke and sat up with a start in his jail cell. He must have cried out because he immediately heard down the block, "Jeez. Shut the fuck up." He got out of the cot and went to the small sink and splashed a little cold water over his sweat soaked face. He let the water dry on its own and went to sit on the cot again. He couldn’t understand how this could have happened and he tried hard to remember that last Saturday and Sunday when she had been murdered, but nothing would come to him.

He had been brought in after dinner, but the guard had gotten him a sandwich from the machine and a carton of milk. He hadn’t thought that he would have had the stomach to eat it, but had found that he was now ravenous. He had no idea what time it was but knew that it was still night, because the high windows down the hall were still pitched in black. He lay back down and tried to sleep, afraid that he would dream again.

He awoke again before dawn to the muttered curses of his fellow inmates. They all stirred as the doors clanged open and they knew that it wasn’t time yet for anything but another prisoner being brought in. The cell next to Galindez was empty and so he was not surprised when the footsteps stopped outside the cell next to his. This cellblock was old; only bars separated each cell so all of the prisoners could see each other and be seen by the guard down the block. It was archaic and no longer done in most city jails, but this was Baltimore and much of it was old and archaic. The man that stepped into the cell was every white racist’s nightmare. Galindez tried to take the man’s measure without looking at him, but the inmate across the hall had no such compulsion. He stood with his hands on the bars and whined, "Shit, you’re a big son-of-a-bitch aren’t you. Black too." The man cackled at his own joke and Galindez closed his eyes in pain. Oh lord, save me. This is going to get so ugly. His cell block mate continued, "You look like that guy in that movie with Tom Hanks, you know the one that ends up getting friiiiiieeeed at the end." Galindez sat up and stood away from the bunk making no pretense at not watching now. Just like everyone else, including the guards.

The big man turned and in a voice so low and deep that both Isaac Hayes and Barry White sprang to Victor’s mind, said, "Yeah so I’ve been told. Remember what he does to Hanks at the beginning of the movie? Well you keep that shit up and I’m gonna grab yours but instead of healing your kidney stones, I’m gonna rip your nuts clear off."

Both guards chuckled at each other and told the new man to sit down. One of them turned to the mouthy inmate and said, "Got anything else to say before we take you guys to the showers?"

The man suddenly grew very silent and very pale and sat on his bunk. Victor sighed. He had a feeling that he was going to have to watch his back carefully this morning. The inmate on the other side of the newcomer tried to make friends and introduced himself as "Tommy. I got in a bar fight Friday. Can’t make bail." He left the comment hang in the air and then turned and went to his own bunk when the man didn’t respond. In fact the man had lain carefully on the too small bunk and appeared to go immediately to sleep.

Victor took the closed eyes as an opportunity to study the man. He was big and very black, just like the man across the hall had pointed out. But years in the military police and his own suspicious nature had raised several red flags. He was suddenly curious about the man that had just shown up the morning after his own incarceration. He tried to study the man closely. The face was smooth and unmarked, not the face of a brawler. Victor let his eyes fall to the man’s hands and saw that they were very clean and also free of bruises. The fingernails, while not manicured, were well taken care of. His look traveled back up and suddenly found the man’s eyes open and locked on to his. Victor kept his face perfectly still as the man grinned at him in a huge toothy smile, a smile that never reached his eyes. Victor nodded in acknowledgment and forced himself to lay back on the cot. He didn’t close his eyes again that day.

Within 30 minutes the guards were back and opening the cell doors. The inmates got in line and after hearing the guards tired instructions, were led to the shower room. There, they were given another stack consisting of a clean uniform, boxer shorts, and clean white socks. The six men were told to strip and take their showers, dry off and get dressed, all within 10 minutes. Galindez rapidly did as he was told and was the first into the shower room. He quickly turned on the water and turned to face the door. The original four men that had tormented him stood back as the huge newcomer entered the shower room. He stood for a minute and walked up to Galindez and looked deep into the man’s eyes and said in a soft growl, "You want a piece of me?" Galindez knew that unless he knew this man’s weak spot, he would not get a chance to use any of his Marine training to even defend himself, let alone hurt his opponent. Never taking his eyes off his opponent, he silently shook his head no. And nearly fainted when the man grinned his wide smile again and said, "Good," and walked to another shower head and began to soap himself. Galindez quickly turned and followed suit when he felt the four other men behind him.

"Hey pervert, I hear you like it rough." Victor sighed and turned and before anyone could say anything else hauled off and punched the weasel from the cell across the hall in the nose, knocking him to the ground. He looked at the other three, and said,

"Next?"

"Hey, you assholes, what the hell happened in here." The three men with their backs to the door whirled in time to see the guard standing there hitting his billy club on his open hand, looking at the man moaning on the ground.

The newcomer spoke up and said, "Hell, boss, the man was reaching for the shower controls and must have slipped." Galindez kept quiet, and the other men decided that ‘desecration, and all that,’ and nodded in mute agreement.

"Yeah right." The guard sighed. "Jimmy, Jimmy, your goddamn mouth wrote a check your ass had to cash again didn’t it. You dumb bastard, when are you going to learn?" He nudged the moaning man with his foot and said to the others. "Get back in line, you are going to miss breakfast if you don’t get dressed and now." Two of the other men stooped down and helped Jimmy to his feet while the other men quickly left the shower area and got dressed.

Later in the morning, the guard came up to Victor’s cell and said, "Get up; you’ve got a visitor." Galindez hadn’t expected the Admiral before lunch so he asked as he was being led out, "Who is it? Do you know?" The guard looked at his prisoner in amazement, "Your sister you big jerk. How could you go and do something like that with a sister that cute." He then peered darkly at the Latino Marine and said suspiciously, "She doesn’t look a thing like you."

Gunny, realizing exactly who it was groaned inwardly, but tried to keep his face completely neutral. As he was being led to the visitation area, he thought of all the things he had to tell her, hoping that he could use the office as an excuse not to discuss the case. He should have known better.

Harriet Simms, dressed casually in gray slacks and a pink sweater, sat on the visitor’s side of the table. The thick bulletproof glass separated visitors from the inmates. ‘God she looks so sad. I wish she hadn’t come here. She shouldn’t be doing this on top of everything else,’ he thought. Victor took his seat and picked up his phone. Harriet got a startled look on her face and did the same. The first words out of her mouth were, "Gee, this is just like on TV, isn’t it."

Trying hard to maintain some semblance of control, Victor merely replied, "Yes, Ma’am. Uhm, what are you doing here, ma’am?"

Harriet had decided that she would not yell at him, she figured he had enough on his mind, but she couldn’t believe that he would not allow them to post bail. "Gunny, why won’t you let us.." She started, but he cut her off.

"No ma’am. I understand that you want to help, but I can’t allow it. Now did you bring a pad?"

Harriet looked at him in shock, surely he must know that she could raise the money; from her parents, if push came to shove. She couldn’t bear to see small animals hurt, she surely could not be expected to watch one of the people she called friend, stay in such a place. She looked at him and sighed, "Did you at least get some sleep? Is the food okay? Has anyone tried to.."

"No, ma’am, everything has been just fine. But they don’t allow too much time and I need to let you know what is going on at the office. I supposed you will have to go in now that I’m in here." Since she had lost the baby, Harriet had been on medical leave.

"Well yes, Gunny. Bud and I talked it over and I’m feeling a lot better now. You know I still get a little weepy but, hey, one day at a time." Victor smiled at her cliché but knew that it would apply to him also in the coming weeks. "So," she continued, "what do I need to know."

They quickly went over all of the computer upgrades that were due in the coming months, also the vacation and holiday schedules. Victor told her that Colonel MacKenzie had all the case schedules assigned so it shouldn’t be too hectic. She had snorted at that. The guard came to stand behind Galindez to signal that their time was up. Harriet looked deep into Victor’s eyes and asked one last time, "Are you sure you won’t let us help with the bail?" Victor merely smiled at her, shook his head and hung up the phone. She watched as he was led away and tried very hard to maintain her composure. But it was so hard; particularly after all he had done for her. Victor had been the one that made sure that she was always kept up to date on what was going on at the office while she stayed home and recuperated and Bud had buried himself in his work trying to deal with his own grief. She remembered a few times when he had come by after hours, when Bud was out of town on a case and had stayed with little AJ while she had gone and done a few errands. Finally there had been the time when he had brought Bud home after her husband had broken down in a bar. She had never found out what Victor Galindez had said to her husband that night, but after Bud had sobered up they had finally really talked and from that night on things had started to get a little better each day. She owed the Gunny Sergeant, but she respected him too much to go behind his back. She sighed, turned away and started to wipe her moist eyes on the back of hand when she noticed a mean looking man standing just in front of her glaring at her in open hostility. She merely waited, a little frightened but not about to show it to this man, whoever he was.

He snarled, "You came to visit him?" He almost spat out the next sentence; "You broads are all alike. He fucked and murdered a whore and you still come to visit him. Is he that good in bed?"

Harriet had gone completely pale but asked in a whisper, "Who are you?"

The man looked at her for a long time, flashed his badge and said, "I’m the guy that is going to send your boyfriend straight to hell little girl."

A white anger overtook Harriet as it sometimes did. She stepped right in the man’s personal space and in a voice that would have made AJ Chegwidden himself proud, hissed, "I am here," she grabbed the id from the now startled detective, "Detective Grayson, to speak with my Gunnery Sergeant and my Office Manager. Because of these ridiculous charges I am forced to return to duty earlier that my doctor wants me to and I had to come in and get information from him about what is going on at the office. Do. You. Have. A. Problem. With. That?" Harriet bit off each word. Then without giving the shocked detective time to respond, she pushed him out of her way and stalked off down the corridor and got into the first elevator whose doors opened, not caring one bit whether it was going up or down. Fortunately it was going down, and fortunately, she was alone because the adrenaline rush left her as quickly as it had come and she leaned against the back of the elevator and started to cry. When she heard the doors open two floors down, she immediately straightened and pulled a Kleenex from her purse and started to wipe her eyes in earnest. She put away the Kleenex and saw a woman, a little older than her she thought staring at her with concern. She sniffed once and explained, "I was just visiting a friend up in the lock up." The woman nodded her head understanding and said with compassion,

"There is a ladies room on the second floor, it’s locked, but if you want, I have a key." Harriet glanced at her red-haired companion and nodded gratefully.

Bridget O’Brien let the fragile looking blond into the ladies room on the second floor. They had the whole room to themselves and Harriet quickly ducked into the first open stall. O’Brien stood with her bottom resting on one of the sinks and waited. The woman seemed really upset, but O’Brien figured she would be upset too if a friend were in the city lockup. The commode flushed and the door opened and the woman came out and placed her open purse on the edge of the sink. It, of course, fell off and the contents went everywhere. Bridget stooped to help the woman pick everything up hoping that this wouldn’t set her off again. She was pleasantly surprised that the woman just sighed and began to gather her things. Bridget picked up an ID wallet and with the natural curiosity of cops everywhere glanced at it before returning it to its owner. What she saw startled her for a moment and she involuntarily looked at it again and then at Harriet who had started to reach for her military ID but stopped at the look on her companion’s face.

"Is something wrong?" Harriet said politely, still reaching for her wallet.

O’Brien finally gave her back her ID and then stiffly said, "No, uhm no. Everything is fine. Look there’s a lipstick." And quickly went to grab it up. She then looked in every stall to make sure that ‘Lieutenant JG Harriet Simms Roberts’ did not leave anything behind. When she handed the lipstick to Harriet, the other woman looked at her curiously and finally said,

"What? What is it? Do you know me?"

O’Brien gathered herself up and looked at the other woman and said, "No Lieutenant, not really. You were here visiting Sgt. Galindez, weren’t you?" Somewhat surprised, Harriet only nodded. "I see," the woman said and finally extended her hand tentatively. "I’m Detective Bridget O’Brien I’m part of the team that is investigating Sgt. Galindez."

Understanding finally dawned on Harriet and she cocked her head at the Detective, took the offered hand and said firmly, "Well Detective, you have the wrong man you know. I’ve know the Gunny for over two years now and he is a good man, who would never, ever do what the papers said." Harriet dropped the hand, and picked up her purse to depart the bathroom. Before she left, she turned back and said with some asperity, "And ma’am, you can tell that partner of yours, Detective Grayson is it? Tell Detective Grayson that when the Admiral and Colonel MacKenzie and My Husband get through, even he will know that Victor Galindez did not kill that woman." With her composure and dignity back intact, Harriet Roberts left a stunned Detective O’Brien behind her and made her way back to the elevator and down to the street. Since she never turned back, Harriet never saw the slight smile finally spread on the other woman’s lips.

::  Chapter 8  ::

AJ woke feeling drugged, he had not gotten to bed until almost 0200 hours, reading and rereading the crime reports. He had taken his time making careful notes. He finally had to put the photos of the dead Sherilee Cloud away. With all he had seen in the past 40 years, they still sickened him. Whoever had killed this woman, and framed Sgt. Galindez, had hated her with a passion that far surpassed anything that AJ had seen in his career. If nothing else, the very savagery of the crime had convinced him that his Gunnery Sergeant had not killed her.

He had finally called it quits and had gone to bed at last only to toss and turn for most of the next four hours. Unfortunately, getting up at 0600 was ingrained in him and he groggily got out of bed. He couldn’t believe that he had the foresight to set up the coffee maker last night. He was inordinately pleased with himself as he poured a cup. He walked into his office with it, his robe trailing open and peered at the computer. He hated the damn thing and had fought against having it installed. But today he finally realized that because it was here, he was free not to go into the office this morning. He could check his e-mail and send Tiner his itinerary for the rest of the day, then drive directly to the Pentagon for his meeting. He booted up the computer, then turned and went to his bathroom and proceeded to shower, shave and get dressed. When he was finished, he returned to the office and sat down at the computer logged onto the Internet and signed onto the office mainframe. He opened Outlook and started to browse through his e-mails. There were expense reports to be approved, which he did. Case work to be signed off on, which with the new security program, he was even able to do on-line. These items, he sent back to Tiner for processing. He went through the few personal items, one of which was from Francesca saying that she was going to be in New York around the 1^st of December and she looked forward to seeing him again. AJ smiled and replied that he was excited about her visit and clicked send. Finally he came to a message from someone he couldn’t identify. He almost deleted it without reading it, but he figured that the anti-virus scan was in place (he remembered last month when it hadn’t been and remembered how he had to listen to the IDS guy bitch long and loud). He opened it and sat there stunned, staring at it. He looked again and saw that the sender information was blocked, but the sender had known enough to get to his Navy e-mail account. Not that that feat was all that incredible. Hell everybody in the Navy and half of the personnel from military and government offices all over the world had access to his e-mail address but none of them would have blocked their return address.

The message itself was simple:

He got up from his desk and paced the floor. He wondered why anyone would send him this message. He could think of no one who would do so. He went back and reread the message again, and then again. When it finally struck him exactly what the message was telling him, he swore long and loud. He went to the envelope where he had put the copies of the pictures that had been in the file yesterday. The ones that Detective O’Brien had so helpfully provided copies of. There were only six, which should have alerted him yesterday, but he hadn’t caught it. All six were graphic shots of the dead body sprawled out on an area of white; the bed he had presumed, but you couldn’t tell from the pictures, any of them. That had been the point of the e-mail and AJ mentally kicked himself for missing it. Damn, he did not have one picture of the actual crime scene, just of the corpse. Damn her, she didn’t copy the pictures of the crime scene for me. Just gave me a nice fat envelope, patted me on the head and sent me on my way. Damn her! AJ stopped and forced himself to think back. Closing his eyes he went over the thirty minutes that he had sat in that old rickety chair reading the report and looking at the graphic pictures for the first time. He remembered how shocked and sickened by them he had been, but he suddenly realized that there had only been those six pictures in the file. What else was missing? But more importantly, who had sent him the message alerting him to the missing photos? It smacked of something that Clayton Webb would do, but for the life of him, he couldn’t imagine Webb doing such an asinine thing? He looked at his watch and realized that he would have to leave soon or he would be late for his appointment.

As he drove down the Beltway, toward the Pentagon exit ramp, he dialed the office on his car phone. When Tiner answered, he asked for Colonel MacKenzie right away. Tiner rang him through to her in the conference room. "Admiral, you are on speaker phone." Mac informed him, " Say hello to Lt. Cmdr. Katherine Pike."

AJ thought for a moment trying to place the name with the face and suddenly realized in what context he had heard that name. Kate Pike had been Lt. Harmon Rabb’s first partner at JAG. "Welcome Commander you are a life saver."

Even through two sets of speaker phones AJ could still hear the amusement in the Commander’s voice, "Always glad to come back to Washington sir. At least for a little while, I don’t like the cold."

AJ spared a moment for the woman that would take some of the load off for a little while and laughed, "I can imagine it is a change from Honolulu. Thanks for coming out so quickly, Colonel MacKenzie will give you your case assignments. Colonel MacKenzie, I need to speak with you." Instantly the reception got better as Mac picked up the phone on her end.

"Yes, Sir."

"Colonel, is Mr. Webb in town?" AJ had remembered that Webb had become more of a presence in the office since the day of the brawl in the bullpen. When the he was in town, Webb would make it a point to casually stop by JAG headquarters at least once a week sometimes with some silly question that AJ or even Tiner could have answered over the phone. He would always do it at lunchtime and always when Mac didn’t have to be in court that day. AJ had been surprised at first, but Mac had seemed happy enough to have lunch with the spy. Of course, every time they did go to lunch together, when Harm was there, the office would be chillier for the rest of the day. AJ sighed and thought that teaching eighth graders would be easier sometimes than being the JAG.

Sarah MacKenzie was very glad that she had picked up the phone by the window and was facing away from the other people in the conference room, because the question floored her. Why would he ask me? What does he think is going on? There is nothing going on that I know of. Is there? Blushing furiously, she answered him truthfully. "Yes sir, I believe he is. Why?"

AJ had been so concerned with getting in touch with the CIA agent that he had not immediately realized how embarrassed he had made her. Instead of hemming and hawing and trying to make up reasons why he asked he simply pretended that nothing untoward had been said and answered, "Something screwy is going on and I want his input on it. Find him for me please and have him meet me at the Pentagon around 1100. Tell him I said to wait, if I’m not there when he arrives."

"Aye-Aye Admiral." Sarah replied. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes. Have you heard from Commander Rabb yet?"

"Not yet sir, but he probably didn’t get in until late last night and it is only 0746 out in Taos."

"Of course, you’re right Colonel. Let me know as soon as you hear from him. Make sure he is somewhere where I can call him back. That damn cell phone of his is the worst in the entire Navy." AJ had pulled up to the military entrance gate at the Pentagon, shown his ID and had been waived through by the guard on duty who knew him, but had checked anyway. He had driven to and parked in front of the side of the building where the SecNav had his offices.

The meeting had gone better than he had expected. SecNav was not particularly happy with the headlines, but then SecNav was seldom happy with headlines. He had said, "At least it is not Commander Rabb shaking hands with Castro again." He had asked about the management of the office while ‘The JAG was off tilting at windmills, trying to get GSgt Galindez acquitted’ and AJ had filled him in on Commander Pike’s arrival. They had gone over the SecNav’s report, and Nelson had only found one thing that he had wanted changed. AJ was surprised because usually there were several things. When he left the SecNav’s inner office, he had handed Nelson’s secretary the disc with the report on it, told her what change the SecNav wanted made and had left the floor. When he stepped off the elevator, he immediately saw Webb sitting in a chair in the reception area waiting for him. He was impressed. By the time he reached Webb, AJ had a hard copy of the e-mail in his hand to give to the CIA agent.

Webb had stood when he saw the Admiral and watched him warily. Ever since AJ had broken his nose for him in Russia, Webb always made sure to judge the older man’s emotional state. AJ merely raised an eyebrow at the other man and handed him the printout.

"Did you send me this?"

Clay scanned the message and looked at AJ in complete bewilderment, "Huh? Why would I send you this?"

"I don’t know Webb, did you?" AJ allowed a note of exasperation to enter his voice.

"No! I assume this has something to do with Galindez." Suddenly he got the drift and asked, "What about the crime scene photos?"

"I never got them?"

"Why? Did the police refuse to show them to you?"

"No. They just weren’t in the files." AJ eyed Webb long and hard, trying to figure out how to get the man to do what he needed done. He had figured that Roberts could do it, eventually, but Clayton Webb had resources to do it faster. He couldn’t keep the surprise from his face when he heard the man he often considered his nemesis and usually a real pain in the ass say,

"You want me to check this out?" Webb knew he had thrown Chegwidden for a loop, but it was a small thing and it would give him an excuse, even a lame one, to see Sarah MacKenzie again.

"Yeah, if you can. Yeah I would. I suppose you need to get into my house." AJ started to reach for his key ring.

Clay looked at him wonderingly, "Why would I have to go to your house?"

Confused AJ responded, "Well it came to my home computer."

Clay laughed, "Jeez, AJ you really are a Techno Turd aren’t you?" He paused for a second at the flash of anger on the Admiral’s face before continuing, "From what I see here, it came to your Naval e-mail address, that you just happened to have opened at your house. I can check it out from your office computer. If I can get past your guard dog, Tiner." As Clay had finished, AJ face changed from anger at Clay’s insult to sheepish embarrassment. He realized that the agent was right.

Wanting to get a bit of his own back, he dryly replied, "Well if you have any trouble, I am sure you can sweet talk Colonel MacKenzie into running interference for you." He was pleased with the raised eyebrow on the agent’s face. What did you think Webb? I may need glasses to read, but I’m not completely blind. He thought, allowing a trace of amusement to show on his face.

Clay stood rereading the message while AJ started to walk away. Before AJ opened the door to the outside, he turned and said seriously, "Let either me or Colonel MacKenzie know what you find out Webb, and thanks." With that he proceeded to his car and started the trip to Baltimore. At this time of day, he would only hit lunchtime traffic so he should be there in an hour. He knew that he would only have time to get one of Mac’s beloved Beltway Burgers for lunch and wasn’t pleased but couldn’t see what else he could do and still get everything done that he needed to do. 

Chapters 9 - 12

Home     ::    JAG Index     ::    e-mail