Dancing in the Dark

Part Eight

Harm walked into the front bathroom without saying a word. I heard the sound of cabinet and closet doors opening and closing, and then he came out with an arm full of linens.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I’m making up the couch.” He smoothed a sheet over the fake leather and started tucking it into the cushions.

“You don’t have to do that.” I protested.

“Oh yes I do. There is no way you are sharing a bed with him.”

“Harm, you’re being silly,” I said though I actually thought it was sweet.

He ignored me and spread out a white blanket across the lavender sheets. “It needs a pillow,” he said. Then he knocked once on the bedroom door, barged inside, grabbed a pillow off the bed and came back out with it before Victor could say a word.

I took the orange and teal striped pillow from him, wondering fleetingly where they’d found sheets to match that god-awful bedspread, and put it on the couch. I wrapped my arms around his waist and said, “Thank you.”

“For what,” he asked gruffly as he stood stiffly in my embrace.

“For caring and not trying to hide it.” I reached up and kissed him on the chin.

“I’m tired of hiding it,” he said as he finally relaxed and wrapped his arms around me.

“Me too,” I mumbled into his chest. I gave him a squeeze and sat down on the white fuzzy blanket, pulling him with me.

“I could sleep here,” he offered while nuzzling my neck.

“I like the sound of that,” I gasped as his tongue found my ear.

“And you could go to my apartment and sleep in my bed,” he murmured.

“What’s fun about that?” I complained.

“You’d be more comfortable, and I like the idea of smelling you on my sheets.” His low voice vibrated close to my ear, and it was all I could do not to moan.

“Your legs would hang off the end of this thing, and I smell like vegetable soup.”

“It’s smells good on you.” His mouth was inches from mine. “Makes me hungry.”

I closed my eyes, expecting his kiss, but it didn’t come.

When I reopened my eyes he was studying me carefully.

“What are you doing?” I asked huskily.

“I’m practicing resisting you.” His eyes were focused on my mouth and it somehow felt like he was kissing me anyway.

My breath caught in my throat, and I licked my lips as I imagined how he tasted.

His eyes flared with desire and he said a little desperately, “I better get out of here.” He stood up quickly and laced his fingers with mine. “Walk me to the door.”

I held onto his hand as if it was the only connection to him I had left. We were about to change partners in this crazy dance of intrigue, and deceit and I was reluctant to let him go. But there was no turning back, and I wanted this thing to be over with quickly. Our life was waiting for us somewhere on the other side of this masquerade, and I was willing to dance with the devil himself if it would help.

“Night Mac.” His thumb brushed the back of my hand.

I pulled my hand away from his in an act of faith that everything would be alright and smiled at the man I loved. “Night Harm.”

Tomorrow he could be Harry.

**

I was sitting at my desk bright and early Monday morning. Harm had dropped off the keys and some general instructions for opening the office when he had stopped by my apartment on Saturday morning, but then I hadn’t seen him since. All of my pencils were sharpened. My fake files were alphabetized and my appointment book was open and ready to face the day. My boss, however, still hadn’t made an appearance. Apparently Harry Baldridge was no more of a morning person than Harmon Rabb Jr. According to his appointment book he did have several clients coming in that day. I assumed they were set up by Catherine so we would have some traffic. It might look suspicious if I sat and did nothing but filed my nails all day.

I had chosen a ‘conservative’ outfit for my first day on the job. A simple winter white pleated skirt was paired with a fuchsia turtleneck. I had decided to go with a short curly red wig in honor of Frankie Mitchell. If Harm liked redheads I could be a redhead too. The skirt was too short and the turtleneck was too tight but my feet were having a holiday in a pair of flat pink ballet style slippers. The three inch heels that Webb had picked out to go with this ensemble were languishing in my closet and that was where they would stay. I had rebelliously taken time on Saturday afternoon to go shopping for shoes—flat shoes and lots of them.

People, mainly men, kept dropping by to introduce themselves. It was a very friendly building. Johnny Mortensen from the accounting office down the hall was sitting on the edge of my desk. Rodney Stiles an insurance agent was occupying one of the chairs provided for waiting clients and was trying to convince me to join them on the patio around noon for lunch. I had already agreed and had tried to shoo them out of the office, but they just sat there and kept talking. I had already learned that Kelly Lynn Sanders a secretary in office 115 was pregnant with her second child. I should watch out for Mickey Cornell because he would try to hit on me and he was a real sleaze bag. Gloria Randall ran the front office for the food bank on the other side of the building and she was a doll. I would love Gloria they assured me. Everyone loved Gloria. And people thought women liked to gossip.

No one had mentioned Frankie Mitchell, and I didn’t want to be too obvious. Maybe I could find out something at lunch.

Just then the door opened and Harry came in whistling “Love is a Many Splendored Thing”. I found that a little irritating since I hadn’t seen him since his date with Frankie on Saturday night and I was ready to be irritated by any and all signs that he’d had a good time. He stopped short when he saw the men draped around my desk and said, “So, gentlemen, I see you have met my new assistant, Ms. McIntire.”

“We were just introducing ourselves, Harry.” Rodney explained enthusiastically. Johnny jumped up from the edge of the desk and added, “Just welcoming her to the building.”

“I appreciate that, guys. Very nice of you, but if you will excuse us—we have some work to do.”

“Sure thing. We’ll get out of your hair. We were just convincing Hannah to have lunch with us out on the patio. You should join us.”

“I would love to, but I’m afraid I have a lunch date today.” He looked knowingly at the two men and they punched him on the shoulder and winked and gave him a thumbs up ‘Way to go, Harry’ kind of signal as they backed out of the office. I got the impression that they didn’t have lunch dates very often.

The door closed behind them, and Harry—I was determined to think of him as Harry—turned around to give me the once over.

“Are you going to have a different hair color every day?” He seemed kind of grumpy now that we were alone.

And why was he complaining about my hair? He hadn’t seen me for two days and that was the first thing he said to me?

“I’m supposed to be flamboyant.” I touched my wig self consciously.

He snorted in what I considered to be a rude manner and headed for his office.

“Don’t you want to hear how Gunny and I spent Saturday night?”

“I can’t wait,” he said sourly. “Come on into my office.”

I followed him in and sat down. “Well, since we knew Frankie had gone out with you, we broke into her office.”

That got his attention. He seemed anxious to know what we’d found. “And?”

“Well, we got all dressed up in our black sneaky spy outfits and skulked around, but we didn’t find anything. But then again we didn’t really expect to. That would have been too easy.”

“So I guess that means Plan B goes into effect?” He sighed. He still didn’t like the idea of scaring her.

“Gunny—I mean Cente—will start following her today.”

“Alright. I am having lunch with her at Oregano’s at twelve thirty. Why don’t you let him know that we’ll be there.”

“Okay, I’ll be sure to let him know.” I was the picture of cool detachment as I plastered a fake smile on my face and got up to leave.

“Hey Mac. Don’t you want to hear how I spent Saturday night?”

I plopped myself back down into the chair with what I hoped wasn’t a world weary sigh and said, “Go ahead, Romeo. Fill me in on all the gory details.”

He leaned back and tilted his head to one side as he reminisced about the night. “Well, when I went to pick her up she met me at the door in a black filmy negligee.”

I picked up a file folder off his desk and threw it at him. He was laughing as I turned to stomp out of the room.

Frankie Mitchell was standing in the doorway watching us, and she didn’t seem amused.

Part Nine

“Frankie!” Harm bolted out of his seat and was around the desk in no time. I barely got out of his way as he barreled past me to reach her side. “How are you this morning?”

“I’m just fine. Thank you, Harry.” She gazed at him adoringly, and I was flooded with relief when I realized that she hadn’t heard his last remark to me. From now on we would have to be more careful. This morning she was dressed in another shapeless gauzy dress—this one was black, and her long red hair was pulled up on top of her head. Loose tendrils floated around her face giving her a soft rosy aura.

My cheap red wig was suddenly giving me a headache, and I felt completely unnecessary as they cooed and billed at each other. I decided to make myself useful and started gathering the scattered papers from the file I’d thrown at him. They were all over the desk and the floor, and I was on my hands and knees behind the desk trying to reach a page that had floated underneath when I heard him say, “I don’t think you have been formally introduced to my new assistant, have you?”

Before I could react he peered under the desk and said, “Come on out, Mac, and let me introduce you to our neighbor.” Harm acted as if it was normal for me to be crawling around on the floor.

I backed out from under the desk and smiled winningly. “Hi,” I said as I struggled to my feet. I pulled my skirt down to a respectable level, clutched the haphazardly gathered file to my chest, and walked around the desk to greet her.

“Hannah McIntire, you remember Frankie Mitchell. She’s an attorney, and she has the office next door,” Harm smiled at her as if that was special.

“How do you do?” I said in my best Grace Kelly voice. I held out my hand, dropping more papers when I did and added, “Please call me Mac.”

She shook my hand reluctantly and said neutrally, “Nice to meet you, Ms McIntire.”

Harm bent down and picked up a few of the wayward sheets, stuffed them back into my arms, and informed her conspiratorially, “She doesn’t think much of my filing system.”

She laughed as if the two of them were sharing a very funny joke at my expense.

“Excuse me,” I said stiffly. “I have some work to do before your ten o’clock appointment gets here, Mr. Baldridge.”

“Thank you, Mac.” He dismissed me and ushered her into a chair before returning to his own.

I pulled the door shut most of the way but then I hovered outside so I could hear what they were saying, and I didn’t feel the least bit guilty. It had absolutely nothing to do with jealousy either. After all, it was part of my undercover-- sworn to watch Harm’s six--duty to listen.

“Harry, she threw a file at you!” she sounded outraged on his behalf.

He laughed and said, “She got a little carried away. She’s just high spirited and very opinionated. I admire that.”

She obviously didn’t share his admiration, but her voice was as sweet as sugar when she asked, “Are you sure hiring her was such a good idea?”

“She has great references. The lawyers at her last firm hated to lose her.”

“I bet. They were probably all men,” she said sarcastically.

That was met by silence until he finally said, “Actually, her immediate supervisor was a woman, and I can assure you that she is well qualified for the job.” He sounded impatient with her.

“I’m sorry, Harry,” she said contritely. “It’s really none of my business.”

“Let’s not talk about her anymore.” I was startled when the door opened just enough for Harm to wink at me before he shut it the rest of the way. “Are we still on for lunch?” I heard him ask as he moved away from the door.

I walked back to my desk and sat down. I started to straighten out the jumbled file I was still clutching when I realized it was filled with blank sheets of paper. The irritating sound of her laughter drifted out from his closed office door, so I invented my own filing system and threw the crumpled pages into the trashcan with a satisfying thunk. I wasn’t even going to pretend to be busy. He couldn’t fire me, and she already thought I was a bimbo. I turned the volume up on the small radio that sat on my desk, crossed my legs and pulled out a fingernail file from my purse. I began furiously filing my nails while I hummed along loudly to some sad country song. Something about my lover’s under the covers with another and this bed ain’t big enough for the three of us--

**

I knocked on the door of Harm’s apartment impatiently. I knew he was going out that night and I had learned a few things of interest during my lunch on the patio--things I hadn't wanted to discuss at the office. Gossip as an undercover tool was highly underrated. I knocked again this time harder. His car was still in the parking lot so I knew he was still home.

The door finally opened a crack and he peeked out at me. “What do you want, Mac?”

“I need to talk to you.” I impatiently pushed on the door but it wouldn’t budge. “Let me in, Harry. It’s important.”

Sighing he walked away, allowing me to follow him inside. He was walking towards his bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist. It took me a moment to process the picture he made. Long muscular legs, strong bare arms, a broad back with little water droplets still clinging to his smooth skin. I stopped and stared like a kid at her first carnival.

He turned around and caught me looking and smirked. “I’m getting ready to go out so if you want to talk you’ll have to do it while I’m shaving.”

“That’s fine,” I chirped in a voice that sounded like a chipmunk. I followed him into the steamy bathroom and sat down on the toilet seat. I watched as he slathered shaving cream over his face and neck. His hair was still wet from his shower and mussed from being dried with a towel. His chest was nice and hairy—just the right amount of hair. The way his biceps bulged as he moved the razor across his face was just right. The way the towel fit snugly across his rear end as he leaned forward across the sink to get closer to the mirror was just right. Everything about him was just right. Feeling like Goldilocks, I sat mesmerized, my gaze drifting down to his bare feet and up his long legs and his cute little knees and strong thighs that disappeared under that lucky towel--

“Well? What did you need to tell me?” His voice startled me and I jerked my eyes back to his face. His eyes were dancing with amusement so I tried for a nonchalant tone.

“I found out some things about Frankie at lunch today, and I already have Catherine checking into it, but I wanted to tell you about it before you went out with her tonight.”

“Ok. Let’s hear it.” His eyes met mine in the mirror as he continued to shave.

“Well, I was talking to Gloria—the woman that runs the food bank—and apparently she has known Frankie forever. They grew up together and even went to the same college. Have you met Gloria? Everyone seems to love Gloria”

“I’ve met her, and yes, she seems very nice. Can we get back to what you found out?”

“Sorry. Gloria was pumping me for information about you. Everyone is buzzing about the new handsome lawyer in the building and especially about the interest you are showing in Frankie.”

“So far this just sounds like normal gossip.” He scooped some shaving cream off his face with his finger and dabbed it on the end of my nose.

“Quit interrupting,” I protested as I wiped the suds away with the back of my hand. “Anyway—Gloria said that you are the first man Frankie has shown any interest in since she lost Ben, so naturally that has made everyone curious.”

“Who’s Ben?”

“She hasn’t mentioned him to you?”

“No, but then we haven’t discussed our past relationships yet.”

“Apparently he was the love of her life, and he disappeared a few years ago. Gloria didn’t say what happened but everyone assumes that he’s dead.”

“And?” He stopped shaving and turned to face me.

“Gloria didn’t give me specifics and I didn’t want to seem overly interested, so Catherine is going to try to find out the details. All I know is that he was from somewhere in the Middle East and he came here to attend college. They met because they were both active in some campus charitable organization and according to Gloria once they started seeing each other they were inseparable. It’s not much, but this could be the connection we’ve been looking for Harm.”

He seemed lost in thought as he wiped the remaining lather from his face. “You’re right, Mac. This could be important. Tonight I’ll see if she’ll open up to me about her past. I’ll tell her the sad story of my love life and maybe she will tell me hers.”

He rinsed his face with water and then walked out of the bathroom, leaving me sitting there thinking about what he had to do next. This could blow a big hole in his belief that she was an innocent bystander in all of this, but he seemed to be taking it in stride. As with everything else we’d learned this new information didn’t prove anything by itself and if I knew one thing about Harm it was that finding the truth was always the most important thing to him—wherever that might lead us.

I got up and followed him into the bedroom. He was rummaging around in the top drawer of his dresser—a nice heavy mission style dresser that didn’t lean to one side the way the one in my apartment did. Everything about his bedroom was a far cry from mine. A king sized bed in the same mission style filled the space and it was covered in a bone and gray tapestry spread that was both elegant and masculine. Catherine probably picked it out personally. I flopped down on the big bed and watched him as he decided on just the right pair of boxer shorts to wear. Harm—on the few occasions when I had been lucky enough to see him in his underwear—wore plain white utilitarian boxers. Harry on the other hand owned a variety of styles and colors, and he finally settled on a blue and green plaid pair that would set off his eyes just perfectly.

Sighing I asked, “So what sad story are you going to tell her about your love life? The one where the video Princess leaves you to marry a mortician?”

He disappeared into the walk-in closet carrying his boxer shorts. A second later a wet towel flew out and hit me in the chest. Grinning he came out wearing the boxer shorts and sat down beside me on the bed. I had been right. They did set off his eyes perfectly. “I thought I would tell her the one about a certain female Marine officer that I chased after for seven years.”

“That is a sad story. I guess you should have learned to run faster.” I had been so good up until now. I hadn’t touched him once since I’d entered his apartment, but he was so close and he was looking at me with those perfect eyes, and I couldn’t help myself. I ran my hand across his bare chest enjoying the course texture of his hair against my fingers.

His breath hitched in his throat and the muscles in his stomach flexed as my hand automatically drifted lower. He caught it and said, “I better finish getting dressed.” Even as he said it he grabbed me into a hug and my face was buried against his warm clean smelling skin.

“Wear something that makes you look short and dumpy—maybe a shirt with horizontal stripes,” I mumbled against his chest.

He laughed and said, “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Oh it doesn’t matter. You’ll look gorgeous no matter what you wear.” I pushed myself away from him and got off the bed. I needed to put some distance between us before I embarrassed myself by throwing him down and having my way with him. I headed toward the door but looked back to where he was still sitting on the bed and added, “Just make sure she doesn’t see you like that.”

I stopped suddenly when I heard a knock at the front door. His eyebrows went up and he shrugged as if to say he had no idea who it could be. He grabbed a pair of jeans off the chair by the bed and pulled them on in a hurry. I stayed in the bedroom while he went to look out the peep hole. He threw open the door, and Gunny walked inside.

“What’s up, Gunny?”

“I just wanted to let you know that everything is going as planned. I followed Ms. Mitchell home this evening. And then I sat in front of her house and made sure she saw me when she got out of her car to go inside. She looked a little worried after seeing me at lunch today and then again this evening. I’ll follow her again tomorrow.”

I came out of the bedroom while he was filling Harm in on the situation. He glanced at me and then at Harm’s state of undress and hesitated before continuing, “The threatening phone calls will start tomorrow too, so if we’re lucky she will be asking for your help very soon.”

“Good work, Gunny. She’s cooking dinner for me tonight so I’ll have a chance to see if her mood has changed since this afternoon.” Harm looked at me and then back to Gunny. “There has been some new information, but I’ll let Mac tell you all about it.”

“We better get out of here so he can finish getting ready for his date,” I said to Gunny. “What do you want to do about dinner?”

“Funny you should ask,” he said as he threw a companionable arm around my shoulder. “I am cooking dinner for the two of us tonight. I don’t think you’ve been taking care of yourself lately.”

“Why Gunny, I didn’t know you could cook!” I suddenly noticed that Harm was rooted in place and hadn’t moved so I said, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Harm. Good luck with Frankie tonight.”

“Thanks,” he said a little sarcastically as he continued to stare at the two of us.

“How does steak, baked potatoes, and Caesar salad sound? Nothing fancy, but you strike me as a meat eater.” Gunny grinned at me and then he grinned quite deliberately at Harm, but Harm didn’t smile back.

I opened the front door, moved out from under his arm and threw a half smile at Harm. “Sounds great, Gunny. What are we waiting for?”

“Let’s go,” Gunny agreed and added as he started closing the door behind us. “And then later I’ll tuck you into bed and tell you another bedtime story like I did last night.”

The words were barely out of his mouth when the door was jerked out of his grasp and Harm stood glowering in the doorway. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Part Ten

Gunny looked back then turned to fully face Harm. “She was having trouble sleeping,” he said with only a trace of challenge in his voice. “So I did what I could to help.”

“By telling her bedtime stories?” Harm scoffed.

“Right after I fluffed her pillows.” Gunny took a step toward him not backing down.

“It was more like two Marines in a foxhole sharing war stories.” I offered helpfully but they both ignored me.

“Sounds cozy.” Harm voice was dripping with sarcasm as he took a step toward Gunny.

I’d had enough and moved in between them and put a hand on Harm’s chest. “Harm, it’s nothing. You know I have trouble sleeping.”

“Mac, we need to talk.” He grabbed my hand where it rested on his chest.

I pulled my hand from his and patted him soothingly. “No we don’t. You need to go. You’ll be late for your date.”

“Wait up for me.” He was using that soft gravelly voice that frequently usurped my free will.

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” Actually it was a great idea—the best idea I’d heard all day, but I dug deep and resisted. I thought maintaining a little distance was necessary. He needed to focus on Frankie—not me. “I’ll just see you at the office tomorrow.”

Harm looked at me and his expression was a mixture of helplessness and frustration and longing. “Mac—”

“Good night, Harry.” Sometimes I needed to remind myself of who he was supposed to be right now.

I retreated to my apartment with Gunny at my heels leaving Harm standing in his doorway staring after us. As soon as we were inside I turned on him and asked impatiently, “Why do you keep doing that?”

He didn’t pretend that he didn’t know what I was talking about. “I’m making sure he remembers what’s most important to him.”

“And how would you know what that is?”

“Come on, Mac. I’ve worked with the two of you for years, and don’t forget I was there when he showed up in Paraguay to find you. Even when he’s busy saving the world you’re always the most important thing to him. Everyone knows that.”

“And he’s the most important thing to me too,” I insisted fiercely. “That’s the reason I’m here.”

“I know. It’s good to see the two of you finally figuring things out.” Gunny smiled at me and headed for the kitchen.

“So why are you giving him such a hard time?”

I followed him and watched as he pulled out a big wooden bowl from the cabinet. He got lettuce out of the refrigerator and washed it and then patted it dry on paper towels. “Because he’s a real sucker for any damsel in distress, and in this case I think he really wants Frankie Mitchell to be innocent. But the truth is that she may turn out to be guilty as hell, and I just think he needs to keep his eye on the big picture. ”

“And what would that be?” I asked.

“He needs to find out if Frankie Mitchell is involved—without getting invested in the outcome—and then he needs to get back to his real life just as fast as he can.” He found a clove of garlic and peeled it. “He’s not cut out for the ethical compromises this job requires.”

I jumped when he whacked the peeled garlic with the flat of a big knife and asked him, “And you are? After what happened in Afghanistan how can you say that? You weren’t exactly objective then.” I thought of that dead young woman that he had so obviously been in love with.

Gunny looked up from rubbing the garlic around in the wooden bowl and said thoughtfully, “No, I wasn’t, so that means I know what I’m talking about. But I don’t have anything waiting for me on the outside. If I did it might be different.”

That made me sad, and I didn’t know how to respond.

He put down the bowl and turned to where I was leaning against the counter. “The Commander may act jealous, but the bottom line is that he knows I’ll watch your back and he knows I would never take advantage of you. So even though he may not act like it, he’s really glad I’m here. In some weird way it makes it easier for him to do what he has to do.”

“So when you flirt with me you’re actually bonding with Harm in a convoluted male macho kind of way?”

“You could say that.” He tore off a piece of lettuce and popped it in my mouth. “You need to eat more vegetables.”

“Did Harm pay you to say that?” I wrinkled my nose as I chewed.

He grinned. “Stop complaining or you won’t get any steak. Now get out of here and let me finish cooking.”

**

It was Friday. Finally. As my first and only official act as office manager I declared it to be casual Friday and put on a pair of black pants and a plain white button down shirt that I didn’t bother to tuck in. I did have orange Mary Janes on my feet and a Harpo Marx blonde curly wig on my head but everything in between was conservative and simple.

The week had dragged by due to a lack of real clients and a lack of progress in the case. Harm hadn’t been around much and when he was we had been distant with each other. He was actually in DC this morning meeting with Catherine Gale. They were going to go over her intel and combine it with whatever he had learned about Ben from Frankie—which wasn’t much—and reevaluate our plan. I was on my way to talk to Gloria Randall again. So far she had been my best source of information.

I opened the door to the food bank and found two Middle Eastern men in an agitated conversation with Gloria. They looked up as I entered and they quickly excused themselves. She looked upset but she did a decent job of hiding it as she greeted me. “Good morning, Hannah.” Her usual cheery smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Is everything okay?” I couldn’t just assume that these men had anything to do with Sadiq but I couldn’t afford to ignore the possibility either.

“Of course—everything’s fine. They were just a couple of unsatisfied customers. Donations are down right now.” She changed the subject and asked me, “How is that handsome boss of yours?”

“He’s out of town this morning, but he’ll be back this afternoon.” I noticed that her eyes kept darting nervously to the door.

She waved me into a chair and said as she sat down behind her desk. “I guess he’s still spending all of his free time with Frankie. I’m surprised she hasn’t scratched your eyes out yet.”

My eyes widened at that remark. “Well, she doesn’t seem to particularly like me.”

“No, I imagine she doesn’t. The idea of Harry working with a beautiful woman is bound to drive her crazy. When she was with Ben she was very possessive.”

“Really? Well, she has nothing to worry about. I already have a boyfriend.”

“That wouldn’t matter to her. If Ben so much as looked at another woman they would have these loud awful arguments right in front of everyone.”

“I can’t imagine Harry putting up with that.”

“Maybe she learned her lesson. I always thought that her jealousy would have driven him away eventually even if he hadn’t been killed and since he’s been gone she’s thrown herself into her work. It’s been her whole life. She even donates her services to the food bank. We couldn’t afford a lawyer that puts in the kind of time that she does. I’m really grateful for her help.”

“Harry told me that she was involved with lots of different charities. I admire her dedication.”

“Me too, and things are finally looking promising for her personally too. I hope for her sake she finally finds the happiness she deserves.”

I nodded and smiled bravely. This was going to turn out ugly for someone.

“Hey Hannah, a bunch of us from the building are going to Muscatel’s tonight around eight. Why don’t you and your boyfriend join us?”

“That sounds like fun. I’ll ask him, but I better get back to work before the boss gets back and finds an empty office.” I stood up and walked to the door.

“Okay. I’ll see you later.” She stood also but even before I shut the door she seemed to be a million miles away.

Something was bothering Gloria and it was bothering her a lot. Was it possible that she was involved in this too? Or maybe she was the one using Frankie, and Harm had been right about her innocence all along. I needed to call Gunny and tell him to be on the look out for Sadiq’s men. I just had a feeling that something was going to happen and it was going to happen soon.

**

Harm came hurrying through the door around two in the afternoon. I had been going crazy waiting for him to get back to the office. The more I thought about it the more I was convinced that Gloria could very well be involved somehow in this mess.

“Mac, we need to go over these notes I got from Catherine. Come on into my office,” he said as he barreled past me.

“I need to talk to you too.” He barely glanced at me as he loosened his tie and took off his jacket and threw it on a chair. I followed him in and closed the door behind me.

“You go first,” he said as he threw his briefcase down on his desk.

“I think two of Sadiq’s men might have been nosing around the food bank this morning and I am beginning to wonder if Gloria Randall is involved in this as well. If they are his men we need to find out what they’re doing here. Frankie may have called Sadiq if she was getting nervous about Gunny and the phone calls. Did you find out anything new from Catherine?”

“As a matter of fact I did.” He looked up at me, and frowned a little before continuing. “You will find this very interesting. Sadiq had a brother that disappeared a few years ago. The assumption has been that he was killed on a mission that went bad. There is no real way to confirm that though. His name was Amin Ben Faud and he attended the same college as Frankie.” He suddenly stopped and just stared at me. “What is that on your head?”

“A wig,” I said distractedly. I couldn’t believe what he’d just told me. “Oh my gosh. This really is the connection we’ve been looking for.”

“Why are you always wearing wigs?” He stood up and was touching it tentatively, like he thought it might bite him.

I shrugged, “I don’t know. Webb picked them out so I’m wearing them.”

“Webb picked out your wigs? The man is odd.”

“He picked out my entire wardrobe for this operation. Harry,” I said to remind him of where we were, “Do you think this means that Frankie is involved?”

He ignored my question. He seemed fascinated by my head. “Webb playing dress up. That explains some of your more ‘interesting’ looks’ I guess. He probably has some fetish about making a woman wear different wigs so he can pretend that she’s someone different when they make love.” He shook his head and played with one of the curls.

“Do you want me to keep one of the wigs for the first time we make love?” I stopped trying to get him back on the subject. I mean after all we had just come up with our biggest break in the case yet, but if he wanted to talk about wigs, we would talk about wigs.

He studied me for a minute and then walked back and sat behind his desk. “The first time we make love you won’t be wearing anything and there will be nothing between us but sweat.” His voice was like hot drippy caramel and his eyes impaled me with sharp flaring desire.

My once dependable knees turned wobbly and I sat down suddenly and tried to find my voice. “So, what do you think about Frankie?”

He sighed and dragged a hand over his face. “I’ve been trying not to think about her. I find myself going back and forth between hoping that she’s guilty so I won’t have to feel bad about deceiving her and hoping that she’s innocent.”

I looked down at my hands and asked, “And if she is innocent?”

“What do you mean?” He knew exactly what I meant.

“You’re the first person that she’s opened up to in years. She trusts you. It’s going to break her heart when she finds out the truth. Are you going to be able to just walk away from her?”

“I don’t know.”

I looked up at his words and my heart scampered across his desk and fell into his hands. Very gently he whispered, “Come here, Mac.”

I walked around the desk and stood beside him as he sat in his chair. He grabbed my hand and brought the back of it against his cheek. “She will probably never want to speak to me again, but if she does, I think she might need a friend for just a little while.”

“Women aren’t interested in just being friends with a man like you.”

He kissed the back of my hand, looked up at me and smiled. “Is that right?”

“That’s right. I tried it for years.” I brushed a strand of hair from his forehead. “It’s a bad idea.”

“Why is that?” He had turned his chair so I was standing between his legs.

“Because you end up falling in love with them.” His hands were on my hips and his face was level with my stomach. My hands were on his shoulders and he had nuzzled my shirt tail open enough to blow little puffs of hot breath on the bare skin at my waist. I was covered in goose bumps and I was two seconds away from jumping into his lap and attacking him when there was a brisk knock on the door. Of course it was Frankie and of course she opened the door before I could move away from Harm.

We were all frozen in place like something out of an old melodrama. Frankie looked shocked and her mouth formed a perfect O as she stared at Harm with his face half buried in my stomach. Gloria’s words about my eyes being scratched out came flooding back and since I didn’t see any protective goggles within reach I did the next best thing. I started talking as fast as I could and started climbing for high ground.

“Harry, if you will just sit still and boost me up, I can change that light bulb in no time.” I clambered up and over him, using his lap and shoulders and even his head like rungs on a ladder until I was standing in the middle of his desk. Grinning triumphantly, I pulled the perfectly good fluorescent tube from its sockets and jabbed it in the air a few times for good measure. “The darn thing wouldn’t stop buzzing,” I announced to her proudly. I jumped down from the desk without assistance and kept the length of the tube between us as I scurried past her towards the door. “I’ll just go see if maintenance has a replacement.”

Harm’s hair was tousled and his shirt was rumpled as he said indignantly, “I told you to just call them in the first place.” Turning to Frankie he said, “I’m beginning to think you were right about her.”

“Never mind that, Harry. I need your help.” I was lingering right outside the door and she sounded scared.

“What is it, Frankie.” His voice was full of concern.

“I think I'm in terrible trouble.”

Part Eleven

“A man has been following me and I’ve been getting threatening phone calls.”

“Since when?” Harm asked.

“About a week ago, I guess.” She sounded close to tears.

“Why didn’t you say something before?”

“I didn’t want to bother you. And at first I thought it was just some kind of joke, but I don’t anymore.”

It got quiet so I peeked around the door and I could see Harm hugging her trying to calm her down.

“Have you called the police?” he asked gently.

“No, I guess I should have instead of bothering you.”

“Don’t be silly,” he said soothingly. “Tell me what happened.” .

She looked nervous and said, “Not here. I hate to ask but could you take me home?”

“Sure,” he agreed quickly. “I need to give Mac some instructions before I go, so you go get your things and I’ll meet you in just a minute.”

“Thanks, Harry. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

I scampered out into the hallway and pretended to just be returning to the office as they came out of his arm in arm.

“I’ll wait for you in my office, Harry.” She reached up and kissed him on the cheek and her eyes were full of gratitude.

He smiled and said, “I won’t be long.”

He waited until she was gone and asked me, “Did you hear?” I nodded and he said brusquely, “I have to go. One way or the other I think she’s reached her breaking point.”

I agreed. She seemed genuinely upset, but that didn’t mean that she was completely innocent either. I hoped Harm wouldn’t let his guard down with her. “Call me later and fill me in.”

“I’ll try.” He seemed distracted and anxious to leave but then asked, “What are you going to be doing?”

“Gunny and I will be at Muscatel’s around eight. Gloria said a bunch of people from the building are getting together after work, and I want to keep an eye on her. If those two men I saw this morning are hanging around I want to know about it.”

He hesitated for just a moment with his hand on the door and said, “Be careful, Mac.”

I looked at him significantly and said, “You too, sailor.”

He winked at me and was gone.

**

The bar was dim and crowded. The music was sultry and seductive. Gunny’s hands were on my rear end holding me against his body as we swayed to the music. My arms were wound around his neck and I was trying not to strangle him as I watched a particular couple across the room. I'd been surprised when Harm called just as we were leaving and said that they would be coming to the club too. After talking things over with him, Frankie had been determined to join her friends and not let anyone scare her into staying home. According to Harm she had no idea what the threatening caller wanted from her, but she had agreed to let him look at her files the next day. He was feeling confident that we were really close to finding what we were looking for and that the evidence would exonerate Frankie Mitchell completely, but of course until we were certain our charade would have to continue.

Now he was sitting at a small table with her, and they were completely wrapped up in each other. She was leaning against him, talking into his ear to be heard over the noise, and he was smiling and nodding. Then he took her hand, pulled her to her feet and into his arms, and led her to the dance floor. She must have saved all of her shapeless dresses for the office because she was wearing a pale pink dress that was clinging to her in a desperate attempt to stay on her body. It was low cut and silky and the sight of Harm’s hands on her bare back made me bury my face in the hollow of Gunny’s neck.

I’d felt duty bound to dress in a way that would live up to my reputation so I was wearing a long sleeved black halter top that had a plunging neckline that was tight across my breasts and left my mid drift bare. It was topped by a long black skirt that would have been impossible to walk in if it hadn’t been split up to the middle of my thigh. My heels were high and my stockings were fishnets. I looked like a belly dancer in mourning. In a daring rebellious act, I had decided to go with my own hair instead of a wig. I was going to make Webb model every outfit including the wigs the next time I saw him.

Gunny’s reaction when I had walked out of the bedroom had been flattering though. “It’s a good thing I don’t have to keep my hands to myself tonight,” he’d said teasingly.

He looked dark and dangerous in a pair of black slacks and a soft black sweater and I must admit we made a noticeable pair as we’d entered Muscatel’s arm in arm. We’d arrived early and since I didn’t see anyone from the building there yet, we staked out a booth so we could see when Harm arrived with Frankie. Gunny had spent the day trying to track down the two men I had seen that morning, but he hadn’t had any luck. I still thought they might show up tonight and by tomorrow Catherine was going to have extra surveillance on Gloria’s house, Frankie’s house and the office building. If Sadiq’s men were in town it was more than the three of us could expect to handle alone.

We sat on the side of the booth facing the door and Gunny’s touch was possessive and frequent. Anyone glancing our way would assume we were lovers, and damn it, anyone who saw Harm and Frankie come through the front door of the bar a few minutes later would assume the same thing about them.

Harm was wearing a navy blue shirt tucked into dark gray pants. His collar was open, and he had his arm around her protectively. Their conversation seemed intense, and he looked concerned. She seemed to be insisting they stay, and he finally seemed to relax and give in to her wishes. They made their way to a table, and he sat next to her, so close it seemed to me, that she might as well have been sitting in his lap. Even after they’d started dancing I hadn’t been sure that they knew anyone else was around.

So now Gunny and I were dancing too, and I was trying not to be too obvious as I watched them. But I was going to give Harm a stern talking to about proper spy etiquette the next time I got him alone. There was no way he could be aware of any potential lurking danger if all he did was gaze lovingly into her eyes. Just then he lifted his head and caught me staring. He acknowledged me with a raised eyebrow and a glare in the general direction of Gunny’s hands on my backside. I was about to glare at the way his thumb was dangerously close to the side of her breast, but she said something just then and all of his attention returned to her.

Other people from work started showing up, so I waved my hellos as they started to fill up the place. They were pulling tables together along with Harm and Frankie’s so we could all sit together.

Gunny whispered, “We should join them after this dance.”

“I know,” I agreed reluctantly as I nuzzled his neck. “But I don’t think Harm or Frankie will notice?”

He ran his hands up my back until he reached my neck. He tilted my face back with his thumbs and gazed into my eyes. Just before he kissed the corner of my mouth he murmured softly, “One of them will.”

He was probably right. “Yes, she may make a scene if she recognizes you.”

“She wasn’t the one I was talking about.” He grinned and kissed the other corner of my mouth for good measure.

I sighed and rested my head on his shoulder. “Cente, I think your attempts at male bonding are being wasted at the moment.”

He laughed and twirled me around the floor.

After the dance we approached the table and I introduced Gunny to the crowd. We sat down in the only empty seats directly across from Harry and Frankie.

“Cente this is my boss, Harry Baldridge.” They shook hands and Harry introduced him to Frankie. If she recognized Gunny she gave no sign, but then again the lighting in the club was really dim, and it was possible that she had never seen him this close.

“Frankie is an attorney in the building also,” I explained. Gloria came up just then and said, “You must be Hannah’s boyfriend.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Gunny and I stood up and he shook her hand.

“I’ll have you know you are the envy of every man at this table,” Gloria gushed. “She has caused quite a stir since she’s been working for Harry.”

I thought I heard Frankie snort, but when I glanced at her she was smiling innocently.

“I’m a lucky man,” he agreed proudly and gave me a quick kiss. I was pretty sure it was Harm that snorted that time.

“Why don’t you dance with me and you can tell me all about yourself, Cente?” Before he could protest she dragged him out onto the dance floor. Other couples followed them and soon I was left alone at the table with Frankie and Harm.

Frankie was whispering in Harm’s ear again which I found to be quite rude considering that I was sitting right there. So I excused myself and said loudly, “I'm going to get something to drink.”

I made my way to the bar, and ordered a soda water with lime. While I was waiting I turned and scanned the area for any sign of the men I’d seen earlier. I just couldn’t get over the feeling that we hadn’t seen the last of them. I really wanted to know more about what Harm had learned too. But he was busy playing patty cake with Frankie and even Gunny seemed to be enjoying his dance with Gloria. She was giggling and blushing like a school girl. At least one of us still had our minds on the job I thought glumly.

I turned back to the bar, and a deep familiar voice asked from behind me. “Did you lose your boyfriend?”

I turned to face Harm. “Yes, he’s easily distracted.”

“I bet he’s not as distracted as you think.” He ordered a beer and a glass of Merlot then turned and eyed my outfit. “Another one of Webb’s creations?” he asked with a smirk.

“Mmm hmm,” I said noncommittally.

He reached over and tugged my hair. “Where’s the wig?”

I gave him a go to hell look then admitted reluctantly, “It was long and black and straight, and it made me look like a cross between Morticia and I Dream of Jeannie.”

“Sounds kinky,” he grinned and then picked up his drinks from the bar. “Well, I better get back to the table.”

“Yes, she’s watching us.” I couldn’t help it. I smiled and waved to her.

“Are you coming?” he asked.

“No, I think I’ll go dance with Rodney.” The insurance agent was doing a silly dance by himself on the edge of the dance floor and kept giving me waggley eyed invitations to join him.

Harm watched him for a second then shook his head, “Don’t hurt him, Mac.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle.”

The evening went by in a flurry of dancing and loud talking and lots of laughing. After a while I had decided to quit worrying. No one suspicious was hanging around in corners and it seemed unlikely that anything would happen in the middle of a bar with so many people around. So I danced with every man in the place except Harm, and Gunny danced with all the women except Frankie. It was a friendly crowd except for those two. They stayed together, either dancing slowly or talking quietly. Occasionally, I would catch Harm watching me and I found my gaze drifting to where they were sitting more often than I should have, but for most of the time I tried to ignore them and have a good time.

Someone pulled me out onto the floor to learn some new line dance. I tried to keep up but soon I was stumbling and kicking and turning in all the wrong places. Laughing I excused myself and left in the middle of the song.

I was headed for the ladies room when an arm shot out and dragged me into a dark storage area. I yelped and struggled as I tried to bite the hand that clamped down on my mouth.

“Shhh,” a voice whispered close to my ear and everything in me relaxed as the familiar form of Harmon Rabb trapped me against the moonlit wall.

He removed his hand and replaced it with his mouth. A starving mouth that ate up the darkness—consumed me with its hunger until it became my whole reality. His lips danced across mine and his hot breath mingled with every moan of desire he could wring from me. It felt like years since he’d kissed me. It felt like only seconds until he stopped.

“This is crazy, Harm.” I whispered against his lips

“I know, but I need for you to say it again,” he urged as he nipped at my jaw.

“Say what?” I could barely stand much less talk, and I grabbed onto his ears thinking I would fall to the ground if I let go.

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice?” He straightened enough to look into my eyes. “This afternoon, back at the office before Frankie came in, you said you had fallen in love with me.”

“Oh that.” I winced suddenly feeling shy, but when I tried to look away his next words stopped me.

“I love you too, Mac—just in case you’re wondering.”

I smiled and let go of his ears. I suddenly felt weightless, able to leap tall buildings and I couldn’t stop smiling.

He loved me.

I mean, I’d been pretty sure that he loved me. For years I’d hoped that he did. And lately, he’d actually been acting like he was in love with me—but hearing the words as he held me against a grimy wall inside this dark closet surrounded by cleaning products and mop buckets made everything absolutely perfect.

“Say it,” he prodded once more.

“I love you, Harm.” The next kiss was a softened by our comprehension of what we’d just admitted. We were both grinning so hard it was impossible to pucker our lips. We bumped teeth and grinned even harder before finally drawing back, content to just stare at each other. But that didn’t last long. Soon our mouths were welded together again and our hands were about to start drifting inappropriately when voices floated in from the small window on the far wall that opened up onto the alley.

We both grew still, and then crept quietly to the window and peered out. Gloria Randall and Frankie Mitchell were having a very heated argument, and it was obvious that Gloria was winning. She was the one pointing the gun.

Part Twelve

“I want those files, Frankie.” Gloria’s voice was harsh and menacing.

“Gloria, you don’t understand— ” Frankie was pleading.

“Oh, I understand alright. Let’s go.” Gloria waved the gun at her and pushed her toward a waiting car.

Harm and I both bolted for the door and ran into the alley just in time to see the car pulling away. We ran for his car around the corner. I jumped into the passenger side and we took off after them. They had headed east on Frederick Road and the traffic was light so it didn’t take long to spot them. Harm kept his distance not wanting to let Gloria know that she was being followed. After we had been chasing her for about twenty minutes he said, “It looks like they’re going to Frankie’s house.”

“I better call Gunny and let him know.” Harm handed me his phone, and I dialed the number and filled him in. After I hung up I told Harm, “He’s on his way, but he is going to contact Catherine first.”

“Good,” Harm hadn’t said much. His face was closed and serious as he concentrated on keeping the car in sight.

I was still just trying to make sense of what we’d seen. “I just can’t believe that Gloria is the one behind this.”

“I know. She had everyone fooled.” He seemed shocked, too.

“I wonder what set her off tonight.”

“Maybe Frankie told her that she was going to let me look through her files. She must have panicked. She knew if I saw them I would be able to connect her charity to the illegal money.”

“So if the files are at Frankie’s house, why didn’t you look at them when you were there this afternoon?”

He frowned and shook his head. “She acted like they were at her office.”

“Maybe she’s leading her on a wild goose chase.”

“She is going to get herself killed if she isn’t careful.” He got very quiet and then said, “I shouldn’t have left her alone.”

I studied him for a moment knowing that he was going to feel responsible if any thing went wrong and said, “Harm, it wouldn’t have made any difference. If Gloria said she needed to talk to her you wouldn’t have thought twice about leaving them alone. Am I right?”

He glanced at me but didn’t answer so I continued, “And think about it. If you hadn’t been with me, you wouldn’t have overheard them arguing, and we wouldn’t be following them right now. So don’t be so hard on yourself.”

He kept his eyes on the road as he said, “I knew dragging you into that closet was a good idea.”

“One of the best you’ve ever had.” I reached over and squeezed his arm. “Don’t worry, Harm, I won’t let anything happen to your girlfriend.”

“She may be my girlfriend, but you’re the woman I love.” His tone was light, but his eyes were sincere.

“As long as we have that straight,” I said with a smile.

We reached the driveway a few minutes after they pulled into it. Frankie lived in a small frame house set off the road. The driveway was long and it wound around to the back of the house, so they couldn’t see us when we pulled up in front. A small road ran beside the property and led to four or five houses that were nestled back among the trees. Harm decided to take a chance and turn onto that street and go on past the house. If they saw us he hoped they would assume we were someone who lived on the street just passing by and then we could park and hike back down to the house without being seen. If we left the car in front it would be too easy to spot. Harm hesitated only long enough to get a gun out of the glove compartment and another one out of the trunk. He shoved one at me and then took off without waiting.

I wasn’t dressed for hiking. My high heels kept sinking down into the dirt and I finally gave up and pulled them off. Harm was eating up the ground in his haste to rescue Frankie and I struggled to keep up with him. We’d just made our way through the trees and stopped at the edge of the clearing in time to see them get out of the car and head toward the house. We were still at least fifty yards away but a light over the back porch lit up the wooden steps leading up to the back door. We could clearly see Frankie climb up the steps and fiddle nervously with her keys as she tried to unlock the door. Gloria stood behind her on the next step with the gun still trained on her back, and we could hear the irritation in her voice as she told Frankie to hurry up.

Without warning, Frankie turned abruptly, knocking Gloria off the steps and to the ground. Before she could get up Frankie jumped down and took off running toward the trees but away from where we were standing. Gloria struggled to her feet and ran in the same direction.

“She must be headed for the pond,” Harm said as he took off after them. I knew from the surveillance reports that there was a large pond at the back of the property, but I wouldn’t have been able to find it on my own. I followed him as quickly as I could while I tried to ignore the sticks and brambles and rocks that were digging into my feet. I hiked up my skirt in disgust, held onto my gun, and ran. If Frankie would just stay still it would make rescuing her a whole lot easier.

Ahead of me Harm was crouched down, and when I caught up to him he pulled me down beside him. We were obviously close to the pond because the ground was muddy and slick. We crawled forward in the ooze until we could see the two women. Gloria was breathing hard and Frankie was backing away from her with her eyes wide. The full moon reflected off the pond giving their faces a strange luminescence that illuminated their fear.

Harm whispered, “You stay here. I’m going to go around so I can get a drop on her from behind.”

I nodded in agreement. We didn’t want anything to make her start shooting. I tried to watch his progress but I soon lost him in the trees.

“You won’t get away with this,” Frankie said helplessly.

“Frankie, I’m not going to hurt you. Just give me the files.” Gloria sounded reasonable but since she had the gun, she could afford to sound reasonable.

As quietly as possible I got to my feet so I would be ready to back Harm up once he made his move into the clearing. I noticed with disgust that I was covered with mud from head to toe, but on the bright side it helped me blend into the shrubbery, and it was probably pulling toxins from my pores as an added bonus. I crept forward and watched as Harm slowly emerged from the trees.

“Drop the gun, Gloria.”

She gasped and twirled to face him. “Harry, stay out of this.” She didn’t drop the gun, but she didn’t point it at him either.

Frankie in the meantime took advantage of Gloria’s lapse in attention and started running away around the edge of the water. I was still hidden in the trees, but I rolled my eyes and was about to take off after her when I heard yelling and cussing. A minute later she reappeared struggling ineffectively in the grasp of a large man. It was one of the men I had seen that morning in Gloria’s office. He had a gun, too, and he pointed it at Harm and Gloria and said, “Drop your guns, or she dies.”

Harm threw his gun to the ground and Gloria followed with hers. I was getting confused about who was working with who. I mean Gloria didn’t seem happy to see this guy, but I could sort all of that out later. I was about to aim my gun at him and hope that he wouldn’t shoot Frankie, when Gunny stepped silently from behind him and stuck a gun to his back. “Let her go,” he insisted quietly. “And drop the gun while you’re at it.”

He did as he was told and Frankie scampered away from him, this time toward Harm. She threw herself into his arms and he hugged her protectively. Even as Gunny herded the big man toward Gloria, I wondered where his partner might be. I didn’t have to wonder for long. I was about to join them when I heard a click and the barrel of a gun was pressed into the side of my head.

“Not so fast everyone.” He grabbed me by the throat and marched me into the clearing.

Gunny dropped his gun and Big Guy number one retrieved his. The ground was littered with weapons. Except for mine. When Big Guy number two grabbed me, he didn’t bother to see if I was armed. I was trying to keep it hidden half way under my sleeve until the time was right.

Harm pushed himself away from Frankie and started toward me. “Mac-- ”

The man holding me made a violent motion with the gun at my head and the arm around my throat tightened. My vision blurred as my air supply was cut off but he loosened his hold when Harm stopped and demanded, “Who are you and what do you want?”

“Don’t play dumb. We want the money. It’s ours and Sadiq is not very happy that he had to send us all this way to collect it. Which one of you is Frankie Mitchell?” The man tightened his grip on my neck again, and I felt myself sagging against him. I clawed at his arm with my one free hand.

“Let her go.” Harm pleaded on my behalf. “We’ll cooperate. You don’t need her anymore.”

His plea was ignored and the man asked again, “Which one of you is Frankie Mitchell?”

Frankie stepped forward and said bravely, “I am.”

He looked at her, and made a nodding gesture toward me with his head and asked, “Well then, what do you want me to do with her?”

Frankie looked at me very calmly and said quietly, “Kill her.”

Part Thirteen

The sound of a gunshot exploded in the night, and I saw Harm’s face freeze in horror right before I slumped to the ground. I heard him yell my name and then everything started happening at once.

Gunny took advantage of the opportunity and wrestled the gun from the man beside him, Gloria jumped on Frankie and had her in a stranglehold, and the man who had been holding me dropped his weapon and was rolling around on the ground, howling in pain.

Harm rushed to my side and gathered me into his arms. “Mac, my God. Are you alright?” he asked frantically.

I managed to catch my breath and muttered, “I’m okay.”

“What happened?” he asked as checked me for injuries.

“I shot him in the foot.” I gasped. My throat felt bruised and I could barely speak.

“That’s my girl.” He laughed and pulled me into a brief hug. I struggled to sit up and I could see that Gunny was holding a gun on both of Sadiq’s men. Gloria and Frankie were still wrestling, but then Frankie elbowed Gloria in the nose and disappeared into the trees. I jumped somewhat unsteadily to my feet and with Marine-like determination started after her. “She’s getting away, Harm.”

She was running around the water in the direction she’d been going earlier before Sadiq’s goon had caught her. I thought it was strange that she wasn’t running back toward the house. Instead it was if she was running toward something. Harm passed me as we broke through the light growth at the edge of the pond and we found ourselves in a hidden alcove that would have been hard to find if we hadn’t been following her. Frankie had thrown herself against a stone bench—a small alter that was covered with half burnt candles, dead flowers and small mementos. It suddenly struck me that we had stumbled upon a memorial for her dead lover—Ben Faud.

She was talking to herself or maybe to Ben’s spirit, I wasn’t sure, but she seemed unaware that we were there. She took a lighter from a box on the bench and started lighting all the candles. Once she was finished she turned around and headed for the edge of the pond. A heavy chain was attached to a fairly large tree and ran along the ground and disappeared into the water. The links coiled at her feet as she started pulling on it, dragging whatever was attached to it toward the shore. I thought maybe it was some kind of strong box filled with Sadiq’s money, but soon I could see her grab onto something that looked like a large bundle of rags.

Harm decided to creep closer while I stayed hidden in the brush. Frankie suddenly got very still, and then turned around quickly, but she smiled when she saw him. “Harry! I’m so glad you decided to join me. Did you come to help?”

“Yes, I want to help, Frankie.”

“We need to get everything ready.”

“Ready for what?” he asked as he moved a little closer.

“Ms. McIntire,” she explained patiently. “I know you’re upset that we had to kill her, but she wasn’t who you thought she was—we can bury her in the pond.”

She must have seen me collapse when my gun went off and assumed that I was the one who’d been shot, and now she was planning on disposing of my body. She bent over and finished pulling the bundle completely out of the water and started arranging it lovingly. It was a large mass of sopping wet slime covered cloth wrapped haphazardly around a few connected bones but she spoke to it as if it could answer. “You won’t mind. Will you Ben?”

That’s what I’d been afraid of as soon as I saw her talking to that moldy pile of material. She wasn’t just guilty. She was crazy as a loon. Everyone had assumed that Ben had been killed on a mission, but the entire time he had been hanging out as fish food in Frankie’s pond.

And now she was making plans for me to join him. Over my-not-so-dead body! I stood up and announced. “I hate to disappoint you, Ms. Mitchell, but I’m still alive.”

She whirled to face me and stared in amazement before she threw her hands in the air and said, “Oh good grief. What else can go wrong with my day?”

“I can think of lots of things, Frankie. Do you hear those sirens? They’re coming to take you away. Ha ha.”

“Mac,” Harm said warningly. He still seemed shocked at coming face to face with Ben, and I guess I wasn’t helping.

“Sorry, Harry. I know it’s not nice to taunt the crazy lady.” All of his illusions about her were well and truly shattered at this point. I guess I didn’t need to rub it in.

She glared at me and said, “I’m not crazy. I knew you were up to no good the minute I laid eyes on you. Harry, her boyfriend is the man that was following me around!” She sounded like a whiney tattle tale.

“Well, I knew you were up to no good the minute I saw you pull your dead boyfriend out of the fish pond. Did you kill him, Frankie? Or did you tell someone else to do it the way you ordered that man to kill me?”

“I didn’t mean to do it. You know that, don’t you, Harry?”

She grabbed onto his arm and started to plead with him. Her dress slipped awkwardly off one shoulder and her hair flew into her face as he jerked away. It seemed he could barely stand to look at her. “Let go, Frankie.”

He moved over beside me which seemed to infuriate her. “Of course you’re going to take her side. I saw the way you always looked at her—the same way all the men looked at her. You just had to hire her, didn’t you? It’s disgusting—you were so blinded by lust that you couldn’t see that she was just using you to spy on me. You’re pathetic and weak—just like Ben.”

I wanted to keep her talking until the authorities arrived so I asked, “Is that why you killed him? Because he was weak?”

She picked up the chain from the ground and started wrapping it mindlessly around her arm. She seemed to be in a trance as she spoke. “He was always flirting with other women, and he said it didn’t mean anything. Maybe it didn’t. I loved him so much—just like I love you, Harry.”

“Even if you are pathetic and weak,” I muttered out of the side of my mouth.

“You’re just jealous,” he said under his breath.

She continued to ramble, oblivious to us now. “So I understood why all the women wanted him, and I would always forgive him, but not that last time. Gloria was supposed to be my friend and when I confronted him, he just laughed and he wouldn’t stop—so I killed him.”

“They had an affair?” Harm asked the question this time.

She nodded. “For all these years Gloria has had no idea that I was using her precious organization to hide Sadiq’s money.”

“Until today,” I guessed. When those men showed up this morning she got suspicious and went to Frankie for answers.

“At first I didn’t really know what the money was being used for—I mean when we first met, Ben was involved in all sorts of really worthy humanitarian efforts for his country, and I wanted to help him. By the time I found out what his brother was involved in it would have looked suspicious if I ended the arrangement, especially after Ben disappeared.”

“So you just decided to keep helping a criminal so you could save your own hide.” I couldn’t hide my disgust.

The sirens were getting closer, and I hoped that really was the sound of Catherine sending in back up for us. This operation had never called for us to blow our cover and we weren’t authorized to actually arrest any one. And at this point I had no idea who Frankie thought I was working for or why I would be spying on her. I guess when you murder someone and launder money for a terrorist it tends to make you paranoid, so she probably saw enemies under every rock. Harm on the other hand just needed to maintain his cover as Harry, get the evidence and then disappear from the scene. If we could get her to go quietly back to the house we could all be arrested as a group and then Harry and Hannah and Cente would cease to exist.

I decided to show a little force to help her come to a sensible decision and pointed my gun at her. “Why don’t we head back to the house now, Frankie?”

“You’ll have to shoot me. I’m not leaving Ben.” She started edging back toward the water.

“If that’s the way you want it.” I fired the gun and killed a water lily that had been floating beside her.

She screamed and fell backwards landing in the water with a splash. She floundered around and Harm and I both ran toward her as fast as we could. Before we could reach her, she turned and started swimming out to the middle of the pond.

I stood for a moment watching her as she moved farther away. Because of this woman I had already run barefoot through the woods, scrambled through thorny bushes and crawled on my hands and knees through mud and muck. Somehow I wasn’t surprised that I was about to jump fully clothed into this scum covered murky water to chase after Frankie Mitchell. I shook my head in disgust, threw down my gun and took the plunge. Harm dove in before I did and he cut smoothly through the water, making up the distance much faster than I could. I probably should have stayed safely on the shore and let him go after her alone, but I just didn’t seem to be able to do that. Besides, she would probably try to drown him as soon as he got within reach.

And I was right. He lunged for her, and she began flailing her arms around wildly, making it impossible for him to subdue her. Harm was much stronger than she was, and I expected her to run out of steam quickly, but she suddenly swung her arm at him and I saw his head snap back. The moonlight was shining enough for me to see that he was bleeding and then I realized she’d hit him with the chain that was still wrapped around her arm. He seemed only half conscious as he made a feeble attempt to hold onto her. She saw that I was getting closer and tried to swim away, but the exertion had worn her out and the chains were beginning to weigh her down. She panicked and grabbed onto to Harm. He moaned and I watched in horror as they both sank beneath the waves.

I was cussing like a sailor as I tried to swim in that dumb tight skirt, but I kicked harder in a desperate attempt to reach them. At that moment I didn’t care if Frankie Mitchell lived or died, but there was no way she was going to take Harm down with her. I was starting to panic myself , and then miraculously I swam across the chain that was wrapped around her arm. I dove down and grabbed it hoping and praying that she was still holding onto Harm too. I swam along it, pulling it toward me frantically and shot up through the water hoping to pull them up with it. I cried out when I saw Harm bob to the surface. I pulled him closer and called his name again. He coughed up some water, but I could see that he was still dazed. He was still holding onto Frankie and I managed to get him on his back and grab his collar. She was clutching his shirt and sprawled across his chest as I started towing them both toward the shore. I could barely keep myself afloat but by following the chain that tethered us to the shore, I managed to make slow painful progress.

I was too tired to care when I realized that Ben’s mangled body had drifted out from the bank and was bobbing next to us. It was linked to Frankie by the chain around her arm and had been pulled back into the water as she tried to get away from us. It was half submerged and the wrappings were beginning to fill up with water. As it began to sink I felt an unbelievable strain on my arm that was towing the two of them. It felt like it was being pulled out of the socket and I gritted my teeth as I tried to hold on. I realized that as Ben’s body was sinking it was pulling Frankie down with it and as long as Harm was hanging onto her it would pull him down too. I tried to untwist the chain from her arm but it was stretched impossibly taut. I pleaded with him to let her go even though I wasn’t sure if he could hear me. “Harm listen to me, you have to let her go.”

His eyes fluttered open and he seemed to wake up enough to realize the situation. He felt Frankie being pulled down and away from him and his instinct was to fight against it. I was crying uncontrollably as I lost my grip on him. “Harm please let her go and grab onto me.” At the last minute he released his grip, and she disappeared under the water. He reached for me, and together we struggled the rest of the way to shore and collapsed half in and half out of the water. I could hear voices and see flash lights bouncing around in the trees. Minutes later Gunny was by our sides, shouting for help.

The rest of the night was a blur. Police swarmed the area and when we told them that they would find two bodies at the bottom of the pond, they started the grisly chore of bringing them to the surface. As a paramedic checked me over I watched a policeman pull on the heavy chain the same way Frankie had done earlier that evening. I watched as the body became visible and was brought up onto the shore. Harm joined me as I walked over to have one last look at Ben. But he wasn’t alone. Frankie had found him in the depths of that black lightless void and wrapped herself around him so tightly that it was impossible to tell where one started and the other one stopped. I felt a shudder go through Harm as he looked down at them, and I put my hand on his arm, but he brushed me off and stalked off to stare out at the water. I knew we could add this to his list of things he would feel guilty about—failures he was responsible for—another damsel he hadn’t managed to save. And I knew that I would be there for him if he needed me, but right now what he needed was some time alone, so I would honor that. Even though every bone in my beat up, filthy, dirty, exhausted body wanted to hug him and hold him and never let him go.

A picture flashed into my head of me clutching onto Harm the same way Frankie was clutching onto Ben, and I didn't like it, so I did the hardest thing I have ever done. I turned my back on Harm and walked away.


Part Fourteen

I unlocked the door to my old apartment and walked inside.

Alone.

I was right back where I started all those weeks ago before I decided to jump in with both feet and help Harm. I dropped my bag inside the door and without turning on the lights I walked over to the window and stared out at the full moon that was still shining brightly. It seemed as if too much had happened for it all to fit into one moonlit night.

Catherine had actually shown up at the scene shortly after the police did. We answered tons of questions about what had happened, and then she insisted that both Harm and I be taken to the hospital. We’d been whisked away in separate ambulances. Gunny had ridden with me—Catherine with Harm.

And I’d lost track of him after that. I had been examined and was waiting for my release papers when Catherine dropped by my examining room long enough to thank me for a job well done. She also told me that my services as Hannah McIntire would no longer be required.

Harry Baldridge on the other hand was a different story. She chattered on about how they would be pursuing leads that tied Sadiq to organizations from California to Vermont, and how she knew that Harm would want to be involved. I said I wanted to see him—to make sure that he was okay, but she told me that I would have to wait—that they needed to finish doing tests and finish debriefing him. She said I should go on home to DC—that she would tell Harm to contact me before he left again. And with that she was gone.

I sat fuming at Catherine’s high handed attitude and waited impatiently for the nurse to bring my release forms. When she finally did I found Gunny waiting outside the room for me.

“I need to see Harm,” I stated baldly. I tried not to sound whiney.

“Let’s go find him.” He tucked me under his arm, and we headed toward the nurse’s station. The nice woman behind the desk rummaged through some papers and then informed us that he had been released into the care of Catherine Gale. They had been gone at least twenty minutes.

I suddenly felt too weary to think about what to do next, and I slumped against Gunny’s shoulder.

“Let me take you to our apartment,” he said. “You’re dead on your feet.”

I agreed, and when we got there I stripped off my filthy clothes and stepped into the hottest shower I could stand. The water managed to revive me, and when I got out I combed my wet hair, threw on some sweats, and started throwing clothes into a bag. I knew I couldn’t stay in that apartment another night. Gunny offered to drive me when I said I was going home, but I smiled and told him no thanks.

“So Gunny, I suppose you’ll be taking off for parts unknown?” I suddenly realized how much I was going to miss having him around.

“You know me. As long as Sadiq is out there I need to be in on the hunt.” He shrugged and gave me that cute little half smile.

“I know, but promise me you’ll be careful.”

He opened his arms and I stepped into them fighting the urge to cry. Marines don’t cry while they’re hugging each other, and I didn’t want to embarrass him.

“Bye, Victor,” I whispered.

He nudged my face up so I had to look at him, and said, “Bye, Mac. If you ever need anything—” he let the words trail off.

I smiled at this man who had come to mean more and more to me over the years. “I know. And the same goes for you.”

Then he kissed me, and it was a little bit more than brotherly, a lot more than inappropriate given our ranks, and just this side of being too forward. Then he turned me around and gave me a push toward the door.

“Semper fi, ma’am”

“Semper fi, Gunny.” I didn’t look back as I left.

So now I was home, staring out my living room window and trying to decide if anything about my life had really changed. I would be back at JAG. Harm would be off to who knows where. And I would spend my days worrying about him and my nights longing for him.

Except now I had to do all of that knowing that he loved me.

That should have made it better, but in some ways it only made it worse—knowing that we could and should be working on building a life together. At long last—and knowing that once again it was going to be postponed until when? I mean how long was I going to have to wait for the man to make love to me? Until all the bad guys in the world were put away? Until the CIA learned to function without stealing lawyers away from JAG?

Until Harm decided that it was what he wanted the most, too.

I didn’t know how many more nights I could take all alone just hoping that he might show up or call. I didn’t know if midnight visits on his way to somewhere else were going to be enough anymore. I was tired and being overly dramatic and not thinking straight so I decided that going to bed was my only sensible option. I walked into the dark bedroom and started stripping off my clothes in front of my dresser. My sweatshirt was halfway off when a voice in the darkness stopped me.

“Not that I mind, but before you take off any more clothes, I should warn you that you’re not alone.”

I yelped and jumped three feet in the air before spinning around to face the bed. The light from the window illuminated his body. He was on his back under the covers with his hands behind his head.

“Harm, what are you doing here?”

He watched as I fumbled to get my shirt back on and said, “Damn! I knew I should have kept my mouth shut.”

I stood rooted in place and said carefully, “I thought you had gone with Catherine.”

“I let her use her connections to get me out of that hospital. They wanted to keep me overnight.” He sat up and the blanket fell to his waist revealing his bare chest.

I kept my distance, but my concern came flooding back. “Your head—are you really alright?”

He touched his eyebrow absentmindedly. “Yeah, I’ve got a few stitches, but I’m fine.” His voice was low and seductive as he patted the bed beside him. “Why are you way over there? Come here, Mac.”

I actually took a few steps toward the bed before I caught myself and said, “I don’t think so.”