JAG Continues Book II: Volatile Matters
Ch. 5 - Diplomacy
Part A
Harm cursed the timing of the person at the door, because the rapping sound interrupted the gentle, love-filled kisses Sarah MacKenzie was sharing with him. “Let’s ignore it,” he suggested.
“It’s probably Jennifer,” said Mac with one last nip on his lower lip. “You told her to come over, remember?”
He groaned. He couldn’t argue with that.
Mac sat up and grabbed the gun out of her purse. Harm glared at her questioningly.
“Just in case it’s not her,” she explained as she stood and moved towards the door.
Harm followed. “Do you really think an assassin would actually come right to my door, knock on it, and expect me to let him in?”
“It’s been known to happen,” she argued. Mac looked out the peephole and lowered the gun.
“Coates?” he asked Mac for confirmation.
She nodded and stepped back to let him open the door.
As he put his hand on the doorknob he looked at Mac and said, “You know, you’re cute when you’re overprotective.”
She narrowed her eyes at that, but smiled, and Harm leaned over, pressing his lips to hers, as he opened the door.
Jennifer, catching view of the kiss, stood uncomfortably in the hallway. When the couple looked up at her, she smiled shyly. “I could come back later?”
“No, … now’s fine,” said Harm, though he sounded regretful.
“Yeah, come on in, Jennifer,” Mac invited confidently.
Harm gave Mac an amused look.
“What?” she asked him.
“You just took it upon yourself to invite someone into my apartment.”
“Well, someone needs to do the hosting duties, and you have a date that you really need to get ready for now.”
“Oh, you two are going out this afternoon?” Jennifer asked as she entered the apartment.
Harm squirmed a little, as Mac replied, “No, Harm has a date this afternoon … with another woman.”
“It’s not like that,” he tried to explain to the surprised looking petty officer.
“Yes, it is,” Mac contradicted. “He’s going to escort her to a party.”
“I’m going for information, and you know it,” he insisted, pointing a finger into Mac’s shoulder.
“Yes, I do. And I know that if you don’t get yourself ready now, you’ll be late, your date will be grumpy, and you may not find out anything. So go.”
“Fine.” He raised his hands in surrender. “Coates, apparently my fiancée will invite you to make yourself comfortable in my apartment, so if you’ll excuse me.” He smiled and walked to his bedroom with a spring in his step. He had just been able to call Sarah MacKenzie his fiancée! How much better could life get?
Jen noted, “He seems happy, ma’am.”
“Yeah. Probably because we are starting to think that no one is really out to kill him.” Mac moved and put the gun down by her purse.
“I doubt that’s the only thing that’s put him in a good mood,” observed Jen.
Mac simply smiled in reply. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“No thanks. I’m just here because of the phone message. I’d be happy to go see Mattie with you this afternoon, if you’d like.”
“Have you had lunch yet?” Mac asked.
“No, I’ve been running errands.”
“How about you give me twenty minutes to send the Cah…” She paused, trying to decide which rank to use for Harm and then gave up. After all, she had a much better term for him now. “… to send my fiancé on his way, and then you and I can go out to lunch on the way to see Mattie. I also need to stop by a grocery store, because I promised Mattie I’d bring her something better to eat than what they serve at the hospital.”
“Sounds good, ma’am.”
“I’m not in uniform, Jen. You can call me Mac today.”
“Sorry. I’ll come back in twenty minutes then.”
-------
Harm came out into the living room dressed in a regular suit.
“You’re going in civvies? Not uniform?” asked Mac.
“Yeah, I’m not going in official capacity. Plus, if I went in uniform, I’d have to wear my dress whites. And with my gold wings, I just don’t want to be that tempting to anyone,” he teased.
Mac raised her eyebrows. With a light tone she asked, “Are you worried about tempting the women or about yourself being tempted when they start coming on to you?”
“Ma-ac! You don’t have to worry about me being tempted by anyone but you.” He gently placed his palm on the side of her face. She put her hand over his and leaned into it with her eyes closed.
A moment later she opened her eyes and weaved her fingers through his, grasping his hand. “Harm, stay safe, okay?”
“Hey, I’ll be fine. Politicians can be dangerous, but I’ll manage.” He grinned.
“You know that’s not what I mean.”
“I know,” he said seriously. “I’ll be careful. Just in case.”
“Good, because I’m not convinced you’re not in some kind of danger. As a matter of fact, I’ve got a bad feeling about things. Leave your phone on, and take your gun.”
“I won’t be able to take a gun inside the party. You know that.”
“Leave it in the car, but at least have it available,” she begged.
“Fine.” He hugged her.
She pulled out of his embrace after a minute. “Harm, I want to give you something that you can take inside the party with you.”
“Oh yeah? Some sort of hidden weapon?”
“Not exactly.”
“A fancy hi-tech gadget? Hey, you know, … instead of a superhero, I could be like James Bond. And you could be ‘M.’”
All of a sudden Mac became visibly upset. “Don’t joke about that. I hate James Bond!”
Harm was surprised. “I thought women loved James Bond? He’s handsome and always saving the world.”
“I don’t care how many times he’s saved the world! Underneath the charms and the looks, he’s a sleazy, womanizing, double-crossing, untrustworthy … spy, with an overactive libido!”
“Mac?”
Mac didn’t hear Harm; she wasn’t finished. “Sure, he might say things a lady wants to hear, but it’s all lies. It’s all a game of manipulation, right before he’s in the sack with another woman!”
“Whoa. Power down, tiger!” Harm was surprised by Mac’s sudden outburst. He suspected there was more behind it than her dislike of a fictional character, but now was not the time to delve into it. Perhaps tonight, when she would have a punching bag in front of her, he could bring it up.
Harm tried to defuse her. “Alright,” he said defensively. “I got it: No James Bond.”
“Sorry.” Mac was a little ashamed of her sudden flare-up and hoped that Harm had not picked up on the fact that she was reacting to more than 007. “Just don’t ever compare yourself to James Bond,” she said much more calmly. “You’re so much better than he is.”
“I would have taken that as a real compliment before you completely trashed him.”
Mac smiled a little. “You can still take it as a compliment. After all, you don’t have his vices, but you are handsome, … and you’ve saved the world a few times.”
Ego adequately stroked, Harm replied, “I wouldn’t say I saved the world. Hundreds of lives, yes, … but not the world.”
“Okay. You may not always be saving the world-at-large,” she said quietly, “but you are constantly saving my world.”
Harm thought that if that was true, that’s all his life needed to be worth living. “Well, that’s the most important world there is,” he explained softly.
Mac let out a sigh at the sweetness of that statement.
“What is it that you want to give me?” Harm tenderly asked.
“Two things, actually. … I, uh, guess the first is sort of a secret weapon …” She gave him a piece of paper with a name and phone number written on it.
Harm read her writing out loud. “Major Ben Graham. Who is this?”
“A marine I know. He happens to be dating an important dignitary from Greece.”
“And you’re giving me his phone number because … ?” He waited for her to fill in the blank.
“Because I just confirmed that he’s going to be attending this afternoon’s shindig with his girlfriend, who he often doubles as security for.”
“And this concerns me how?” he implored, before joking, “You want me to start meeting all your marine friends?”
“It concerns you because Graham, acting as security, will have clearance to have a gun at the party. And I want you to have someone there, watching out for you and to be backup if you need it.”
“And when you say someone, you mean a marine,” he observed.
“They are the best,” she said smugly. “The Major is very good, and he owes me.”
At Harm’s questioning look, Mac explained, “I successfully defended him about two years ago.”
“And when did you arrange this?” He held up the piece of paper.
“Just now. I called while you were in the bathroom. Listen, when you get there, make sure to find him and introduce yourself.”
“What exactly did you tell him?”
“Just that you might need some extra security for yourself this afternoon, so he should keep an eye out. And that if you ask him for help, he should give it to you.”
“And he’s going along with this because he owes you? For doing your job?”
“He’s a fellow marine, Harm,” she explained. “We take care of each other.”
“But I’m not a marine,” he pointed out.
“No, but you’re marrying one.” She smiled tenderly. “From now on, think of my marine brethren as … your future in-laws.”
Harm chuckled at this. “I didn’t know we would be having such a large family.” Seriously, he said, “Mac, this isn’t necessary.”
“Maybe not,” she admitted, “but it will make me feel better.” With a warning tone, she added, “I could still change my mind, you know, and wait outside the party for you myself, instead of going to see Mattie, where I will be very far away and unable to do anything.”
He sighed and gave in. “Okay, I’ll find the Major when I get there. … So, what’s the second thing you want to give me?”
Mac swallowed and momentarily looked downward before pulling her Marine Corp ring off of her right hand. “This.” She held it out and kept her eyes on it, but did not dare look at Harm yet.
“I know it’s stupid,” she started. “It’s not going to do anything for you, but I just want you to have a piece of me with you, I guess, … since I can’t be with you myself. … Being a marine is the biggest part of who I am, er … have been, … and this represents that for me. And … well, … here.”
She started to open his lower left jacket pocket to place the ring inside it, but his hand came over hers to stop her.
Mac finally looked up and saw a very touched expression on Harm’s face. He took the ring from her fingers, looked at it carefully, and rubbed his thumb against it for a few seconds. Then he pulled open the left side of his suit jacket.
“It belongs in this pocket,” he said, putting her ring into his left shirt pocket and placing his hand over it. “Close to my heart.”
Mac could have cried at the gesture, but managed to keep herself together, lightly biting her lower lip.
“Thank you,” said Harm.
Mac answered with a loving gaze and a small nod. Then she took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, looking away, before shifting the conversation. “Well, Jen should be here any minute, and you should …” She looked up and noticed that Harm was grinning. “What?” she asked.
“I was just thinking … that we just had a successful Hallmark moment.”
Mac laughed. “Yeah, Flyboy. I think we did.”
To be continued in Diplomacy, Pt B