JAG Continues Book II: Volatile Matters
Ch. 4 - Visions of the Dynamic Duo
Part A
Mac picked up Harm’s phone from the ground and scanned the street, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
“If someone was after him, they might have taken him to find out what he knew,” thought Catherine out loud. “They could have driven away anywhere!”
Mac had the same thought, but refused to give in to panic. She checked Harm’s phone log. The last call before her own was from a number unfamiliar to her, but the name had been one programmed in Harm’s phone, and the call appeared to have been completed. Maybe it was his embassy contact. Prior to that, it showed a call from Beth O’Neil.
“Should we call the police?” asked Catherine.
Mac didn’t answer. She was entirely focused on finding Harm. There were no clues except the dropped cell phone. They had no immediate way to figure out where Harm was taken if someone kidnapped him.
She prayed he was still alive. He had to be. She had to find him. She could do this. Considering she had been able to pinpoint his location in the middle of the Atlantic, she ought to be able to know where he was right now.
“Mac?” Catherine tried to get her attention. Mac’s mind was elsewhere, deep in concentration. “Mac!”
The marine put her hand up to signal Catherine to let her be. Then suddenly, Mac looked up at a point about two hundred feet away – the entrance to a path into the woods. “He’s nearby.”
Mac ran to her car and pulled out her handgun, which she had put in the glove compartment as they left her place that morning. Gun in hand, she ran towards the woods with Catherine following behind.
About a quarter mile down the trail, during a moment that Mac paused to search the area and consult her mind’s eye, Catherine caught up and asked, “How do you know he’s here?”
Mac didn’t answer. She was following images and instincts, leading her off the trail, down a slope towards a creek. Mac gave no heed to the branches and thorns in her way.
Confused, and finding it impossible to keep up with the determined marine, especially through the dangerously sharp vegetation, Catherine stopped near the top of the hill. She carefully made her way to a nearby rock, from where, with a good view of the area below, she could hopefully watch Mac.
About thirty paces after Mac reached the bank of the creek, she saw him. Harm was partly lying on a fallen tree, dangling his upper body down into an opening between some rocks. He appeared to be struggling in an attempt to pull something up.
A few feet away from him, squatting on the rocks, a young, scared boy bit his lip and watched desperately at what Harm was doing.
Immediately relieved to find Harm in apparent in good condition, Mac called out to him. “Harm!?!”
He briefly lifted himself up and turned his head to catch a glimpse of her running towards him. “Mac! Come help me,” he called out.
She stuffed the gun behind her belt at the back of her waistline, and climbed behind Harm on the broken tree. Peeking over him, into the hole, she saw another frightened boy, maybe ten years of age. Tears in his eyes, the dark-haired boy was gripping a small dog close to his chest.
The child was stuck in the narrow opening between the large rocks. From what Mac could see, the rock edges inside went straight down, leaving no surfaces for climbing. There was not enough room in the gap for a second person to go down and hoist the boy up.
“Mac, his ankle is hurt, as well as his one arm, and his other hand,” explained Harm. “I need to reach farther down to get a good hold on him under his arms. Can you hang onto my legs?”
“Get the dog up first,” Mac said.
Harm shook his head. “He won’t let go of the dog.”
Unable to make eye contact with the boy in the hole from her position, Mac looked at the other lad squatting on top. He appeared to be about seven or eight years old. “Can you tell me who’s down there?” she asked the young boy.
“My brother.”
She gently inquired, “What’s your brother’s name?”
“Toby.”
Mac nodded. “Toby,” she called over Harm down to the boy stuck below. “My name is Mac, and this guy trying to reach you is named Harm. What’s your dog’s name?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Toby answered, “Rocky.”
“Okay, Toby,” Mac said tenderly, “I need you to lift Rocky up so that Harm can safely lift him out first, alright?”
“He’s hurt,” said Toby.
Harm now assured the boy, “I’ll be really careful with him, Toby. Then I’ll hand him over to your brother while I help get you out of there.” Harm looked at the brother on top of the rocks. “What’s your name?”
“… Andy.”
“Andy, can you take Rocky when I bring him up?”
Andy nodded.
Harm focused again on the boy below. “Okay, Toby. Andy says he can hold Rocky if you let me pass him up, okay? We’ll all be really careful with your dog.”
Toby finally agreed and lifted the dog up as far as he could, given that his arm was injured.
“Mac.” Harm, signaled her to hold his legs while he reached down. She complied, and a moment later Harm was twisting awkwardly with the dog in his hands until Andy had a solid hold on Rocky.
“Good,” said Harm. “Mac, I need to reach down further to get a secure grip on Toby.”
“Harm, shift your position so you’re angled straight in. I’ll help ease you down farther so you don’t fall, and then I’m going to sit on your six. If you can lift him up to your shoulder level, I can help finish pulling him up over you.”
“Alright,” Harm agreed. “Toby, I need to get a hold of you underneath your arms, okay? I’m going to tuck my head down and hoist you up over me as far as I can. Then I want you to let Mac help you the rest of the way up. Maybe you can use your good leg to push against this rock once you get closer to the top to help out, okay?”
Toby whispered, “Okay.”
Harm shifted so that he was perpendicular with the fallen trunk and Mac squatted over him, holding onto his waist as he slid into the hole, until his entire upper half was hanging down. Then she sat on him and put one leg out, bracing it against the rock on the other side.
“Ready,” she said.
Harm hoisted Toby up until Mac was able to grab him. She held him, while Harm grabbed the boy’s middle and continued to heave him upwards. Mac lifted as well, and a moment later she had Toby seated on the dead wood next to her. “Got him up,” Mac declared.
Helping her sailor up was as easy as holding his waist and aiding him to pivot enough so that, when he straightened out, he could just roll over onto the log.
Harm rotated over on his back and, resting on the bark of the tree, met Mac’s eyes for the first time since he had left Catherine’s house. Mac briefly put her hand on the side of his face, before turning her attention to the boys.
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To be continued in Visions of the Dynamic Duo, Pt B
*A/N: Andy, Toby, and Rocky were never on the show but are my own creation.