Title: It There Hope?
Author: Emma
E-mail: harm_mac1984@yahoo.se
Homepage: http://www.thalanien.de/JAG/index.htm
Rating: T (using the system they use at fanficiton.net)
Spoilers: This is the third story in my series starting with “Everything I Do...” and “We’re in Heaven”.
Summary: A woman is killed. What is her connection to the Rabb family and what hope is there for the future when something precious disappears?
Note 1: I’m studying at the University here in Umeå to become a teacher. Would I do that if I owned JAG? Not all wishes come true, you know...
Note 2: No one has beta read this so all mistakes are mine. Thanks again to Rabea for inspireing me to continue with my writing. You’re the best friend a girl could ask for.

Prologue

She had never felt this way before. She was so afraid. In her entire life, which had lasted for almost forty years, she had lost her parents, both her brothers, her husband and her daughter, but she had never been this afraid before. She could feel her knees shaking as she hid in the closet listening to the voices in the room outside. Why had she been this stupid. Couldn't she had figured something out earlier. When Jonas and Elli had been killed in the car accident she had been so shocked she hadn't had the energy to do anything. She was just glad to have had a great friend help her through it. She had felt sad, and she had wished for it all to have been a dream, but she had never cried for the people she loved and lost. She knew she should have. Maybe if she had, she wouldn't be in this situation now. She would have trusted herself better and wouldn’t have fallen in love with the wrong man.

She closed her eyes and drew further back into the closet. She was supposed to have been at work, but she had a headache and had to go home early. Mike didn't even know she was home, or he never would have done this. He never would have brought that man in the suit into her house. If he hadn’t, her picture-perfect life would have been safe. She never would have known a thing. She found herself wishing this was the case. What was she going to do? Suddenly the door to the closet opened and she looked straight into the eyes of the man she had planned for months to marry. At that moment she knew she would never have time to do any of the things she had planned for their future together. As he reached for her arm and pulled her up to a standing position, all she could think about was the friend she had valued so many years ago, wishing he once again could save her life.

Chapter 1

0612
Harm and Mac's House

The morning sun was shining through the window making the white sheets seem even whiter. The bedroom had been painted a few days earlier with a light beige tone as the base and one wall was covered with roses in different light colours reminding the couple sleeping in the bed of the first time they met. They both looked as if they could sleep forever, which they might have done if their three year old daughter hadn't decided to come running into the room, jumping full speed into the bed landing on her father's stomach. He made a sound which definitely made it clear it was a painful experience. But he loved it as well. The night his daughter had been born had been the happies night of his life. She had been a gift to him and his wife and they both cherished her as if they were afraid someone might show up to take her away one day. That night had also been the worst night of both his and Mac's lives. There had been complications when their little girl was born, and Harm and Mac knew they would have no more biological children. But that didn't stop them from feeling good about the one they had. They named their daughter Hope as a sign to the world around them that they had not given up hope for the future and that they would have more children even if they had to explore other alternatives.

The little girl jumping in their bed finally settled down and layed down close to her mother who still hadn't opened her eyes. She was awake though, and pulled her daughter closer to her, and her husband joined them in their soft embrace. It had become part of their morning ritual from the moment they brought the girl home from the hospital, and neither of them wanted to give it up. They layed there for a few minutes until the patience of the three-year.old was running out and she once again starded jumping in the bed. Her parents took this as a sign for them to get up. They would get no more sleep this morning.

They took turns going into the bathroom, the other one keeping a close eye on their treasure as she moved around in her room picking up toy after toy from the shelves and putting them back on the floor where they had been the night before when she went to sleep, as if she was silently protesting her parents picking them up. When all were finished they went downstairs and began their breakfast routine, Harm placing the little girl on the kitchen counter while he started working on an omelet. Hope loved helping in the kitchen, and her father always let her when he had the time. As he finished, he put his daughter down on the floor and placed the food on the table. As he did so, Mac came up from behind him, placing her arms around his back.

"Smells delisious!"

"Even though it's vegetarian? You're starting to scare me." He said as he remembered their dinner the night before, when Mac actually ordered a salad instead of a steak.

"Even Marines have to eat vegetables sometimes. Besides that steak looked like it had been cooked weeks ago, dropped on the floor and then placed on a plate with some potatoes to make it look brand new."

"Now you know the way I feel everytime I look at meat. Want to sit down?"

"Of course, Sir."

Harm held out the chair and Mac sat down. He placed a piece of the omelet on her plate and gave it to her, then did the same thing for himself and sat down across the table from her. Their daughter had already been fed and was playing in her room, making noices sounding like an airplane crashing onto the ground.

Harm picked up the paper and began reading through it. The headiline on the first page made him jump. 'Female doctor commits scuicide'. The picture next to it showed a woman in her late thirties smiling back at him. 'Janice Williams', he thought. He read through the rest of the article. She apparently had hung herself in the garage at her home. No evidence of foul play was found and the police therefore found no cause to call it anything other than scuicide.

Mac had finished her meal and when she saw the shocked expression on Harm's face she walked over to where he was sitting.

"Sad, isn't it? They say her family was killed a couple of years ago and that she never really got over it"

"I know..." Harm said in a whisper.

"What?" Mac wondered.

"I know her Sarah, or at least I used to when we were younger. I was there when her family was killed and helped her pick up the pieces of her shattered life. And trust me... It was shattered. "

"Then maybe it's not that much of a stretch to think she killed herself..."

"No Honey... Not anymore. Maybe when it all happened, but not now. She couldn't function as a person at that time, but all that has changed. She met someone a few years ago and she blossomed again. I can't believe she did it..."

"No husband or fiancé is mentioned in the article. It says she lived alone in the same house she shared with her husband Jonas and her five-year-old daughter Elisabeth, who were both killed in a tragic car accident eleven years ago."

"It doesn't make sense. I got an e-mail from her just a few days ago with an informal invitation to her wedding this summer."

"Maybe you should go see her fiancé..."

"Maybe I should..."

Chapter 2

1991

The office of Doctor Jacobs

His eyes were focussing on the floor by his feet. He didn’t want to do this, but the nightmares were so bad he didn’t have any choice in the matter. Even if it had not been required of him after the crash, he still would have needed to talk to someone who wasn’t too close to him. His grandmother and Diane were both great, but they were too close, and his mother had actually asked him to leave the navy, which was something he in fact had been thinking about doing. He had followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the navy as a pilot. Now that he could no longer do what he was trained to do, what was the point of staying in?

A sound comming from the other side of the room made him look up to see a woman crying. She was holding a picture in one hand, the other sitting in her face, covering her eyes.This was the third time he had been here in two weeks but this was the only time he had seen her there. She was very beautyful with long red hair. He had probably been too occupied with his own thoughts to notice the stunning woman who had been sitting in the chair across the room every time he had been there. Another time and place she would have been the kind of woman he might have been attracted to, but not now. He couldn’t think about anyone in that way right now, and from the looks of it, neither could she. He wondered what had happened to her to make her cry like that. ‘It must be something that happened recently,’ he thought as he kept looking at her.

After a few minutes she still hadn’t stopped crying and he finally got up the courage to walk over to where she was sitting.

“Hey, you OK?” he asked as he sat down in the chair next to her.

When she didn’t answer he continued.

“I don’t know what happened to you, but after my crash I couldn’t stop crying for a long time either. I lost someone I cared about. A friend, someone who depended on me to keep him safe. It helps to talk about it with someone...”

They sat silently for a few minutes. The woman seeming unwilling to share her pain with him. He was just about to go back to where he was sitting before when he felt a hand on his arm.

“There was an accident...” she managed to get out before she broke down in tears again, this time leaning into Harm who put his arms around her. Being held by him seemed to calm her down and she continued her story.

“I had been working so Jonas, that is my husband... was my husband, was going to make dinner and needed to run to the store to get something or other, and since I wasn’t home he brought Elli, our little girl with him...” She paused to collect herself.

“They were almost home when a drunk ran a stop sign and crashed right into them...” She didn’t have to continue her story for Harm to get the picture. They had both been killed and now she was feeling guilty about being left behind. A feeling he knew all too well himself. As he sat there comforting a woman he had never met before he got the best therapy he ever could have. She was someone who had the same feelings he did, something he never thought would have been possible. This was the first time in months he could imagine having a future. He felt he wanted to help this woman and that lifted some of the guilt from his shoulders He just knew that somehow they would make it through everything together.

*********************

Present time

1125
Mac's Office
JAG HQ

A few years ago she would have been furious with him for doing this. She was more insecure then and definitely would have thought of his relationship with this woman as something more than friendship, no matter what he would have said to the contrary. They had spent most of the morning and the ride to work discussing how he had met Janice after his crash and instantly bonded. Her husband and daughter had been in a car accident on the way home from day-care and had both been killed. Janice was feeling guilty about being the one left behind and had been going to therapy without much result. Harm had been going to the same therapist and they had met in the waiting room. Neither had been willing to start a conversation until Harm saw her crying over a photograph and went to comfort her as the gentleman he was. Everything she had kept bottled up was now all comming out, and their therapist decided they were good for each other and if they agreed to it, they would thereafter have their therapy together. And so they did. They became friends and even after Harm returned to active duty and stopped going there, they kept in touch. There had never been anything more than friendship between them, they had just been there for each other in a way that no one else had been able to at that point of their lives. It had been a tough journey, but Janice had made it to the point where she could think about her family without crying and remember all the good times they had had without all the bad memories coming back to haunt her. And then this happened. Just a few days earlier Harm had gotten an e-mail from her where she told him that she was getting married again and that he would be receiving a formal invitation soon. If her depression was back and she planned to kill herself, she had managed to keep it well hidden. Who would invite somone to their wedding and then turn around and kill herself. And where was her fiancé?

The same time
Unknown location

Micahel Patterson walked through the empty house. This was where he would live from now on, at least until they could find something more permanent for him. Killing Janice had not been something he had planned to do. He had honestly felt something for her and he wished things had ended in a better way. It was his job. He knew what it meant when he took his first assignment. Nothing would ever be the same again. Still he'd met her in a bar one night. She had been there with one of her friends, and he had needed to unwind after a mission. He hadn't planned for it to go any further than that. But he couldn't help himself. She was so beautiful, and her smile could light up a room. He had fallen head over heals in just a few seconds. They moved in together after only a few months and soon after that they began discussing marriage. Then the phone calls and e-mails started. His boss had found out and it all had to end. She had to end, and he had to go away, whether he wanted to or not.

1129
Harm's Office
JAG HQ

Harm had read through the article so many times he now knew it by heart. He knew something didn't make sense. One of the first things he had done when he got to the office was to open and re-read the e-mail he had received from Janice.

Dear Harm,

Something wonderful has happened to me. I’m in love and I’m getting married. I can’t wait for you to meet him. His name is Mike and what I feel for him is probably very similar to what you feel for your Sarah, and something I never thought I’d ever feel again. Not after Jonas.

You should expect to find a formal invitation to the wedding in the mail within a few weeks, I just wanted to give you a heads up so you wouldn’t be too surprised. The invitation also includes your beloved Sarah and your daughter. I would like so much to meet them after all the wonderful things you’ve told me about them.

Take care, and I’ll see you soon.

Janice

A few minutes ago he had finished a call to the investigating officer and had not gotten any wiser. He had firmly believed it had been scuicide and had no plans what so ever to re-open the investigation, especially not based on a hunch from some guy that hadn't met Janice in years. Harm couldn't blame him. He wouldn't have done it either. Sometimes being an investigator and knowing procedure was one of the hardest things in his life. He knew exactly what was being done and because of that he couldn't just call the police and yell at them because they didn't do anything.
Harm knew he should stay out of this mess. His investigating had previously put both him and Mac in danger, and with a little girl in their lives, that was not acceptable any more. Still his sense of honor wouldn't let him move on until he at least checked out Janice's fiancé. It just didn't make any sense. She had sounded so happy about her upcoming wedding, and Mike had seemed like a great guy, but now he was nowhere to be found. Like he never existed. Harm had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that there was something else going on here. Something familliar. Hoping he was wrong, Harm reached for the phone and dialed the number he had been trying to forget for years.

"State Department. How may I help you?"

"I need to speak to Clayton Webb please."

Chapter 3

1318
Harm's Office
JAG HQ

The conversation with Webb had been a dead end. Not that Clay had in any way been able to change his mind about what he believed, but he hadn't admitted anything either But then, when had he ever? When he finally had been able to talk to Clay in person instead of being bounced around different assistants in God only knows how many countries, he had only gotten the typical 'I don't know anything, and even if I knew, I couldn't tell you anything' speach. The more time that passed, the more sure did he become of something not being as it should.

1991

Harm’s apaprtment

As Harm put the finishing touches on dinner, he thought back on the past couple of months. Things were looking better. He had been seeing Doctor Jacobs for a few months now, and some of the guilt he felt had disappeared. He was moving on and starting law school in a few weeks. It wasn’t the dream he had chased when he had joined the Navy,he would never get that back, but after his crash he had been amazed at how well the people at JAG had done their job and how interesting it seemed. He hadn’t known being in a court room could be so exciting. It was definitely one of the better options he had, and now he was really starting to get excited about it.

He didn’t think his progress had much to do with the doctor though. Janice, the woman from the waiting room had been there for him since that day, as he had for her. She had lost her family, her life. There was no one else in the world for her. At least that had been the way she had felt until she met him. They had talked and cried together and now they both felt like there was something in life worth living for again. She had decided to move back to the west coast where she had grown up to try and move on with her life in a place where she had no memories of Jonas and Ellie. She had left her home town when she was 17, never looking back. Then she worked her way through school and met her husband. Her life had been perfect and then was just torn apart in seconds.

‘I’ll miss her...’he thought just as there was a knock on the door and Janice arrived. They ate their dinner and had a nice conversation about anything and everything other than the fact that she was leaving. At the end of the evening they said goodbye and hugged closely. Neither of them knew that would be the last time they would ever see each other in person.

Present time

Unknown Location

“Hello.” Michael Pattersin answered.

“It’s me. We have a problem.” The voice on the line said.

“What kind of problem. I thought you took care of everything when you made me take care of Janice.”

“We did, but this problem came up just moments ago, when a naval Commander placed a call to Clayton Webb.”

“Webb doesn’t know anything, does he? So even if this Commander, whoever he is, actually got anything from Webb it wouldn’t be anything of value.”

“I wish that was the case, but this guy isn’t likely to give up. He has a reputation of looking for the truth and not giving u p until he finds it. It doesn’t help that he also has a history with your late fiancé.”

That made Michel jump. Just who was this guy to Janice?

“I’m sending someone over with the facts on him. Find a way to make him back off. I’m leaving the how up to you.”

The conversation ended and Michael stared at the phone. He hadn’t thought Janice had had anyone left who would look into her death. Not that it would have mattered. He had truly loved her on some level, but the job always came first. It had to.

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. He opened it and found the expected file on the first step. Picking it up and walking inside he looked at the file of the man he was supposed to scare. A man who by the looks of it had been in combat situations more than once. It wasn’t until he read about his family he found a bargining tool. He was married and had a little girl.

1530
Mac’s Office
JAG HQ

After his failed conversation with Webb a few hours earlier, Harm had gone into Mac’s office to clear his mind. They had discussed anything and everything but his mind kept drifting back to the pictire of Janice in the paper. It had been one of her and her family before the accident. It never seized to amaze him how the papers always managed to dig up those old photographs of people. This one they must have had in their archives since the accident, since all of Janices family was gone.

Mac studied her husband. He had drifted off a few minutes earlier and she knew exactly where he was now. With Janice. When Diane had been killed it had made him crazy knowing the killer had gotten away, and in the end he had been willing of throwing away both hs career and his life in order to get justice. She didn’t want that to happen again. She needed him too much.

“Harm...” She started but realised he hadn’t heard her. She stood up and walked over to where he was sitting and put her hand on his shoulder.

“Harm. You okay?”

“Huh...Oh, I’m fine honey. I just got lost in thought.” He tried but she wasn’t convinced and gave him one of her looks saying ‘I know you better than anyone else. Do you really think I’m that easily fooled?’. He didn’t want to burden her, but he knew there was nothing he could do to keep her out of it when she had decided she was going to stay in.

“Fine. I was thinking about Janice, about how I don’t want this to become one of those cases where we never find the person responsible. I know she has no family left, but I feel I owe her to at least let her spirit find peace knowing the person who killed her will get what he deserves.” He paused for a few seconds. “She saved my life. If it hadn’t been for her I probably never would have gotten through all the guilt I felt after Mace was killed. I was one step from leaving the Navy and everything else behind and just running away when she came into my life and...”

“I know how you feel and I hope you do find out who did this for all our sakes. I owe her too you know. Thanks to her, I have the man of my dreams...”

Harm was just about to say something again, when his cell phone rang. He answered and listened for a few seconds and then put the phone down again. When he didn’t say anything for a while, Mac gave him a questioning look.

“I guess someone thinks I know something, because I was just warned to back off.”

“What! What are you going to do?” Mac asked, concern evident in her voice.

“I don’t know. The threat wasn’t just amed at me, it involved you and Hope as well. I know I just said I can’t drop this, but I won’t gamble with your lives either. Maybe I should just do what he said.”

Inspite of her own fear for her husband and daughter, Mac made a descision and jumped in with her head first.

“I can’t believe you Harm. I know you want to protect us from everything and everyone that could possible cause us harm, but I’m a Lt. Colonel in the United States Marine Corps. I didn’t get where I am by playing it safe as soon as something frightened me. Don’t give up your integrity and search for the truth for us. That would only bring more problems in the future. Our daughter needs to be able to look up to her daddy for being who he is, a Hero...”

She paused to stand infront of him. Looking him in the eyes, her voice dropped from feisty Marine mode to a soft whisper.

“You know what this is going to do to you if you dont find out what really happened. I meant what I said before the phone rang. It would be best for all of us if you found whoever did this. It’s going to pull you down until you can’t get any more air and make you drown in your own feelings of guilt. Like it did with Diane...”

At the sound of Diane’s name, Harm shivered visiably. After all these years, the name of his Academy sweetheart caused him pain.

Seeing this, Mac put her arms around him and pulled him close. After a few minutes they parted and the look in his eyes told her that he had made up his mind.

“So where are you going to start?” she asked as she sat down on the edge of her desk.

Chapter 4

1024
The Next Day

Outside Janice’s House

By the time Harm and Mac were through at the office the day before it had been late and all they wanted to do was get home and spend some time with each other and their daughter. It had been hard, but Harm had managed to push the case aside for the evening and focus on his family. Today was another matter. If Janice had in fact been engaged, someone ought to know to whom. The house where she had lived was his first stop this morning, then he would talk to the neighbours.

Walking into the building he could sense the familliar presence of his friend. It was in the way the curtains were hung, the way the house was furnished and mostly in the way everything just seemed right. It had been a long time since he had talked to her, and an even longer time since he had seen her in person, but still everything just reminded him of her and the way she was.Walking around in the house he soon reached the bedroom. Her clothes on the chair by the bed and the smell of perfume made his thoughts drift back to the time where they had spent hours together talking. He continued into the bathroom. All the time looking for some kind of clue as to who and where this man could be, but finding nothing. Everything belonged to Janice.

After finishing his tour of the house, Harm walked around the neighbourhood knocking on doors and talking to the people living there. They at least gave him some hope. One woman was epecially helpful. Apparently, she had spoken to Janice and knew she was seeing someone, but they rarely spent the night at her place, prefering the closeness of his apartment to the city. It didn’t give him much to go on, but at least he knew this fiancé was for real. Now all he had to do was find him.

At the same time

The same location

After his call to Rabb’s cell the day before, Michael had waited for him outside JAG and followed him home, hoping it meant he was going to leave it alone. He had been mistaken. As his boss had suspected this man would not be put off by a simple threat, something more drastic would have to be done and he knew exactly what that would be.

A few hours later

Hope’s Day Care

“Hey Jennie, it’s time for lunch. Lets get these kids inside.” One of the women called.

“Ok.” Jennie answered and started getting them all together, counting them as they walked inside. When the numbers didn’t add up, she didn’t have to think long to realize who was missing; Three-year-old Hope Mackenzie Rabb.

1407

Mac’s Office

JAG HQ

Mac had gotten the call a few minutes earlier. She was numb. She just sat at her desk and stared at the phone. How could this be? She had said to Harm the day before that they could handle it. That their little girl would be OK. Was this even related to the case? Could she just have wondered off by herself. At that moment Harm walked into the bullpen.

He stopped and talked to people along the way, but eventually made his way towards his wife’s office. She was still sitting in her chair staring at the phone trying to understand what had happened.

“Honey...” He tried but recieved no response. “Colonel!” He said louder and managed to get her attention. From the look of panic in her eyes it was obvious something had upset her. “Honey, what’s wrong?” He said as he walked around the desk and crouched down so he could look her in the eyes.

She just stared at him as tears began to roll down her cheeks. “She’s gone...” was all she managed to get out before falling into his arms. “Our baby girl is missing.”

1449
Harm and Mac’s House

It was a waiting game and there was nothing he hated more. After talking to Mac, Harm had told the Admiral who had sent them home at once. He even contacted the daycare for them again seeing that none of his senior attorneys was up to the task. He had then found out that the police was there and would be joining them at the Rabb residence. Bud and Harriet had driven them home and now they were all gathering in Harm and Mac’s living room, no one saying a word, waiting for the phone to ring.

AJ arrived at the same time as the police, only minutes after the others had gotten there. Detective Steve Adams was the one who informed them that it most likely was a case of kidnapping, considdering all the gates were closed and there was no way a three-year-old would be able to open them by herself.

Harm felt everbody’s concerned looks on him and felt like the walls were closing in on him. Standing up, he quietly left his silent collegues and friends and instead went into his daughter’s room, where Mac found him a few minutes later looking at a picture of their little girl, wearing a navy blue dress. It was his favourite picture. She had been about one year old and had just learnt how to walk. She was wobbling across the living room floor and was just about to fall when Mac had taken the pictiure, leaving her with a very funny look on her face. Harm often admired that picture because it was so much her. A very active little girl, who always managed to surprise her parents.

Mac sat down beside him and put her arms around his neck. He was crying.

”It’s my fault. I should have backed off, but I didn’t I had to be ther hero once again.”

”Then I’m as much to blame as you. I’m the one who convinced you to keep trying. We still don’t know that this has anything sto do with Janice’s death. It might be completely unrelated.”

“Mac, do you really believe that’s even a possibility.” He snapped at her. “What are the odds of our daughter being kidnapped the day after I get a threat saying to watch my family, because one never knows when something bad is going to happen. It’s the same guy, there’s no doubt in my mind.“

Mac held her husband tighter. As he continued.

“I just want her back...”

She didn’t respond, there was no need to. She felt the same way he did. A man suspected of murdering a woman had their daughter, and God knew what he would do to her.

They sat silent for a few minutes, and were woken from their reverie by the phone ringing, making them both jump and run into the living room where the police had set up a trace on the line. Harm managed to wait until detective Adams gave the okay to pick up the phone.

“Hello!” He answered.

“I told you to back away or there would be consequenses. I have your daughter and ou will get her back only if yuo stop poking around where you’re not wanted.”

”I’ll do anything you ask, just give me my little girl back.”

“Meet me at the Vietnam Memorial in thirty minutes. I believe you know the place Commander.” With that the line went dead and Harm looked at the Detective for confirmation that they had a location on the trace.

” I’m sorry Commander, Colonel. He didn’t stay on the line long enough for us to get a location.

“Then I guess we’re going to the wall then.” Harm said as he looked at his wife.

1532
Vietnam Memorial

Harm stood by the wall he had visited so many times, only now he didn’t have the usual feeling of welcome that he usually got when he went to see his dad, now he only felt dread and anticipation at what was happening to his life. He needed that little girl back or he wouldn’t be able to go on.

Mac was with him, refusing to be left behind. He didn’t blame her, and he was glad she had come. He needed her there to keep him calm.

Same time
Not far from there

Michael Patterson looked at the girl sleeping in the back seat. She really was a sweet girl and he couldn’t help but think what his own life with Janice would have been like if it had been given a chance. It hadn’t been easy taking this girl, and he had every intention of giving her back. He just wanted the Commander scared enough to back off. He had seen Harm and Mac arrive at the Wall a few minute earlier. But he had also seen the cops that came with them and now he couldn’t do what he came there for without getting caught.

30 minutes later

Vietnam Memorial

They had waited. And waited, and there was no sign of Hope or her kidnapper anywhere. It was becomming apparent that he had been spooked and wouldn’t show. Harm had protested the cops being there, but had been voted down by the people around him, saying it would be safer to have them there. Now he was regretting ever listening to them. Suddenly he felt a rage inside of him. This was his daughter. Someone had taken Hope and he was just standing there waiting for something to happen.

Mac felt the change in Harm at the same time he did, but was still surprised when he pulled away from her and ran towards the SUV, leaving her standing by the wall, crying.

Chapter 5

Getting in the car, all Harm could think about was that he couldn’t just stay there. He needed to do something. It didn’t take him long though to realise that he didn’t know where he was going, but he still kept on driving. It was better than sitting around waiting for another call feeling everybody’s eyes on him. He needed some time alone. When his phone rang, he was expecting Mac, and was surprised when he didn’t recognise the number.

“Hello.”

“Harm, it’s Webb. I heard about your daughter. I’m sorry... I have some information for you.”

“What?”

“You know that murder you were investigating. There is an Agency connection. Apparently there is this group of ex-CIA agents who have started their own little intelligence gathering unit, which is not very popular higher up in the food chain. They know too much about us, and now they sell their intelligence to the highest bidder. They have managed to stay hidden so far, mostly because they frown upon personal relationships.”

“What does that have to do with Janice or Hope?”

“I believe one of their operatives got involved with your friend, and when his superiors found out she had to be eliminated.”

“I repeat, how is this going to help me find my daughter?”

“ I have a location for him...”

The same time

Harm and Mac’s House

Mac was once again sitting in her daughter’s room. This time feeling twice as worried, if that was even possible. She could understand Harm feeling frustrated, and she could understand him driving off, she might even have done the same thing herself, but it was time for him to come home now. She couldn’t do this alone.

An Hour later

Harm had left the SUV as soon as he had seen the cabin and now he was sneakng up to the house to get a better look. He had begged Webb to keep this to himself for now. It wasn’t that he needed or even wanted to handle this himself, he just didn’t want Mac to get her hopes up if this turned out to be nothing. He was now at the house and looked through the window. This was the kitchen and no one was there. He went around to the other side of the house and looked through the window there as well. His heart skipped a beat as he saw his little girl on the bed at the far side of the room. His first instinct was to break the window and just get her out of there. Fortunately his years of millitary training helped him stay calm. Her kidnapper wouldn’t have just left her alone, he had to be near by, perhaps in another room. He would need some kind of plan to get her out.

The same time
Harm and Mac’s house

Mac snatched the phone out of it’s cradle the moment it rang, ignoring the people around her telling her to wait until they had gotten the trace ready. She needed her husband now.

“Harm!” she practically yealled.

“I’ts me... I’ve found her.

”Where is she? Do you have her?”

”No not yet, but soon. I need you to bring the Admiral and come up here.” The rest of their conversation consisted of him telling her the adress and telling her not to bring the police. After what had happened at the Wall he didn’t want this guy to get spooked.

******************

Harm hung up the phone and looked through the window again. Hope was still asleep on the bed and her kidnapper was nowhere to be seen. He figured, he might as well try the door.

The door was open and harm walked in moving straight for the bed. He gently shook his daughter who wanted to scream with joy when she saw her father, but Harm managed to silence her before it was too late. He picked her up and moved towards the door again.

“I’d stop right there if I were you.” Came the voice from behind him.

*******

Harm turned around and looked at the man who had kidnapped his daughter, holding the little girl tighter to him.

“So you’re Janice’s fiancé. I guess we would have met at your wedding if you hadn’t killed her.” He said as he watched the man point a gun at him.

“You couldn’t have left it alone. You had to stick your nose in where it doesn’t belong. Now you’ve made an even greater mess than we had before. There is no way I can let you leave. How did you find this place anyway?”

“A little bird told me. Along with why Janice is dead. Did you really think you would get away with it? Just because she had problems in the past, it doesn’t mean she would kill herself.”

“I guess I underestimated her. I thought she had told me everything about herself, bur she forgot to mention you Commander. If she had I would have found some other way, maybe an accident. As it were, i felt it was the perfect way to make her go away. She had no family and no real friends she spent time with. I guess I have to learn to do my homework better.”

As Harm looked at the other man he suddenly felt sorry for him. He seemed so lost. He had no one. The woman he had planned to spend his life with was dead. He had killed her himself, and thereby sealing his own fate. He didn’t doubt this man had killed many times before, but never anyone he was that close to. It would haunt him for the rest of his life, and Harm felt that was the best punishment Janice’s killer could ever get.

“You loved her, didn’t you?” When the other man didn’t respond, Harm saw tears in his eyes ready to fall. “Couldn’t you just have left her?”

“You don’t know the people I work for. They’d do anything to keep this organisation secret.”

“Including kidnapping little girls.” Harm stated.

“Including kidnapping little girls...” The other man repeated feeling his motivation failing him. He couldn’t kill them.

“I never wanted Janice dead, she was a wonderful person who I very ikely would have spent the rest of my life with if things had been different. I never meant to hurt your daughter either. I wanted to give her back all along. She was only a means to an end which was to scare you off, and that failed, so please just leave,” he said and lowered the gun.

Harm stared at him to see if he was serious, then he turned and walked away. When he opened the door he came face to face with a man in his fifties. The man quickly pulled out a gun of his own and pointed it at Harm and his daughter. Then he looked over at Michael who was starring at him.

“Mr. Douglas...” was all he could say as the other man shot him in the chest.

Chapter 6

After Michal had been shot, Douglas pointed the gun at Harm again.

“Mr Rabb, if you would do me the honors of walking infront of me to the car that’s parked outside.”

Not wanting to do anything that would put his daughter at risk, Harm complied with his request and began moving. As they neared the car, Harm was beginning to feel despair. If they got into that car, Mac would arrive to an empty cabin and he and Hope would most likely be dead. He had to do something.

As Douglas pushed the gun into his back, Harm saw an opening and swung himself around knocking him to the ground with the gun flying out of his hand. He quickly put his daughter on the ground and pointed down the road with his hand.

“Sweetie, Mommy’s on her way. Go that way an she’ll find you...”

Hope was hesitant about leaving her father but as he yelld at her to run, she reluctantly left him behind.

Douglas was beginning to get his bearings back and went for the gun, but not before Harm saw what was happening andthrew himself at Douglas ending up wresteling on the ground outside the cabin, both of them going for the gun.

*****************

The same time

Just down the road

Couldn’t this car go any faster? After her conversation with Harm, Mac grabbed the Admiral and ran out to his car before any of the others realised what was happening. And now they were on their way.

Just as Mac was about to ask how far it was to the cabin, she saw something on the road. As they neared she saw her daughter running as fast as her little legs would allow her.

Mac jumped out of the car before it had even stopped and pulled her daughter into a big hug. Just as she lifted her up into her arms, a gunshot rang out.

*****************

A few minutes later

As Mac and the Admiral approached the cabin everything is quiet. They had passed Harm’s SUV on the road and decided to walk from there. Holding her daughter tightly Mac neared a black car standing just outside the cabin door. The scene behind it was something she wouldn’t forget as long as she lived. The man she loved was laying unconscious in a pool of blood.

“Harm!” She practically threw herself on the ground next to him, pulling off her jacket to put pressure on the wound in his side. Lookin up she saw her daughter starring at the scene before her, but she was too worried about Harm to even think about moving. Thankfully the Admiral saw the scene and picked the girl up and carried her away from father who was looking as pale as a ghost as the blood kept pouring from his wound.

The next few hours were some of the hardest in her whole life. The police had arrived at the cabin along with an ambulance which the Admiral had called as he took care of the little girl. As Mac went with Harm to the hospital, the Admiral kept the girl close to him and decided to check out the cabin where she had been kept. It was a large cabin with a huge living room and two smaller bedrooms. The body of Michael Patterson had been taken away already, leving only a pool of blood on the floor. Trying not to step in it, AJ walked into the kitchen. The fridge was stocked with food. The kidnapper had spparently planned on staying there for a while. Just as he was ablut to leave the house and head for the hospital he hears a muffled soun comming from one of the smaller rooms.

*****************

Harm was whisked away to surgery as soon as they arrived at the hospital, leaving Mac sitting in the waiting room worried sick. She had gotten her daughter back, but might lose her husband instead. She kept thinking about the scene she had left behind when she got into the ambulance with Harm. The man who had done this to her husband was nowhere to be seen. The police were looking for him, but so far had noting, and Mac didn’t expect them to get anything either. If Harm had been right in his theory about the CIA, whoever did it was long gone, and wouldn’t surface again until it was safe.

She wished Hope hadn’t seen what she had seen at the cabin. Seeing her father like that was going to be hard to put aside. At least she hadn’t been there at the actual shooting.

A few hours later the doctor came looking for her.

“Mrs. Rabb?”

“Yes, that’s me...” Mac answered with tears in her eyes.

“I operated on your husband. The bulled caused some internal damage but it wasn’t too bad and it shouldn’t give him any trouble in the future. He also lost a lot of blood, and crashed on the table once, but we were able to bring him back. The next couple of hours are touch and go, but after having made it through surgery, I’m optimistic about his recovery.”

“When can I see him”

“He’s still in recovery, but as soon as he has his own room, I’ll send someone for you.”

That would be an hour later and once Mac was let into the roon she did not leave. She sat there holding his hand and stroking his cheek until she fell asleep at his bedside a few hours later.

*****************

0836

Harm’s hospital room

The morning sun was shining through the window making the white sheets seem even whiter. This was the first thing she noticed when she woke up. The scene seemed so familliar, like it had happened just a few days ago. This time, however, she didn’t wish for more sleep, she wished the person laying in the bed infront of her would wake up and be okay.

As if on command his eyes fluttered upen and he looked into the white cieling. He turned his head looking at his wife, her brown eyes filled with worry and hope.

“Hi...” she said.

“...” He tried to speak but failed.

“Let me get you some water.” She said as she poured some into a glas and helped her husband drink. As he finished she helped him lay back down again.

“You scared me half to death. Don’t ever do that again...” she said as she took his hand.

“Sorry...” He whisperes. “Dougas?”

“The man who shot you?” At his nod she continued. “Nowhere to be found. The police are searching the area, but they didn’t have a discription so there wasn’t much they could do.”

“Janice’s fiancé was going to let us go, but then Douglas showed up and everything went to hell real fast. He shot Mike and then tried to take us with him somewhere. I knew that if we went along with him he’d kill us and Hope...”

“I’m just glad he decided he wanted to escape more than he wanted you dead. Otherwise we never would have made it in time.”

“Well, you do have perfect timing...” he said as she leaned in for a kiss.

*****************

1002

Harm’s hospital room

The couple were holding hands and talking quietly to each other when he entered the room carrying the little girl in his arms. They both looked up to him and as he set the girl down on the floor she ran into her mothers waiting arms. Harm stroked her hair and AJ could see tears running down his cheeks. They were a family in every sense of the word and he hoped the paper in his hands would help make them even happier rather than disrupt their lives again.

After a few minutes Hope had had enough of the attention and slipped down to the floor searching for somtehing to play with. AJ choose this moment to say something.

“After you guys left the cabin I stumbled upon something which made me do some digging into your friend’s personal affairs. I don’t know why this didn’t come up before, “ he said as he handed the paper in his hand over to Harm who read it and then looked up.

“Where is he?” he asked and looked up at his commanding officer.

“At the nurse’s station” AJ answered recieving a confused look from Mac,. Seeing this, Harm handed her the paper and watched as she read it.

Dear Harm,

As I am writing this letter I hope you will never get a chance to read it since I will be dead if you do. I was planning to make this a surprise for you at my wedding, but I guess this will have to be it. I have a baby boy, something I never thought I would ever be fortunate to experience after what.happened do Jonas and Elli. Michael is a great guy, and a great dad, but since you’re reading this, something must have happened to him as well.

You have been the best friend I have ever had, Harm, and you have already done so much for me that I never will be able to repay you. I have one more favour to ask you though. Take care of Chance. That is his name by the way. I have no one else to ask this of and I know you and your Sarah have so much love to give and that he would be blessed to grow up as part of your famiy.

Whatever you decide to do, I will still be eternally grateful for what you have done for me. Have a great lfe Harm. I will be keeping an eye on you.

Janice

As she finished reading, Mac looked into her husbands eyes, neither of them saying a word, holding one of the silent conversations that had become one of the trade marks of their relationship.

“Sir,” Harm said to the Admiral, never breaking eye contact with his wife. “could you bring us our son.”

The End