Honor & Betrayal PT 50 /
58
Honor & Betrayal PT 50
AUTHOR: Gabrielle T. Stuart
**************************
INT
HARM'S APT
1118 HOURS
Standing before the living room
window with a coffee mug in hand, Harm gazes down upon the snow covered street
below. The wind still howling and the snow still heavily falling, Harm
shakes his head with disbelief at the depth of snow already blanketing the
ground two stories below his window.
MAC
Morning!
Hearing Mac's voice coming from behind him, Harm
gazes over his shoulder to see Mac descending the steps from his bedroom now
dressed in his Navy sweat shirt and a pair of jeans.
HARM
Hey, you're finally up! Sleep
well?
MAC
(smiling slightly as she joins him at the
window)
Yah!.......Once I got to sleep.
HARM
Well Mac, it only took you all of twenty minutes if
that!
MAC
(surprised)
Really?.........Well, it must have been the shoulder I had to lean
on! (her eyes meet his for a long moment) Thanks!
HARM
(smiling
gently)
Hey, I'm available anytime you feel
the need, Mac! I hope you know that.
MAC
Yah!
....... I do!
With that, she draws closer to him and gently wraps
her arms around him in a warm embrace.
MAC
Thanks for being
supportive!
With his coffee mug still in hand, Harm is only able
to return her embrace with his left arm. Affectionately
placing his cheek against the top of Mac's head, he smiles
gently.
HARM
No problem, Mac! (then adding
mischievously) But let's hope that no one ever
finds out that we shared the same bed last night Mac! I mean think
of the scuttlebutt!
Laughing, Mac releases him and gazes up
into his eyes.
MAC
Would that embarrass you so much? I mean it's
not like the idea hasn't been kicked around the office a few times
already.
HARM
(shocked)
What?
MAC
You and I.......sleeping together! You mean
you've never heard any scuttlebutt to that effect?
HARM
No! (obviously uncomfortable with the gist of the
conversation, he gazes down to the snow covered street below his
window) Mac!.........Take a look outside!
Her eyes following Harm's gaze down toward the street
below, Mac's eyes widen in disbelief as she observes the deep layer of snow
blanketing the ground.
MAC
(her eyes
widening with shock)
Oh my
gosh!......Look at all that snow! There must
be.......
HARM
Eighteen inches and counting, Mac!......That's the
official accumulation according to channel nine!
MAC
So much for it turning to all ice.
When do they expect it to stop?
HARM
(walking away
from the window toward the kitchen)
Not until later
this afternoon. They're talking another three to six inches or so before
all's said and done.
Mac follows Harm's lead toward the kitchen.
MAC
Well, I guess that'll shut down the city for a few
days.
HARM
Well, not JAG Ops! You know the Admiral.
MAC
All too well, I'm afraid.
Harm walks to the coffee percolator and pours himself
another mug of coffee.
HARM
Want a
cup?.......It's freshly brewed.
MAC
Sure!........Thanks!
HARM
(reaching for a
second mug)
I made some
breakfast for us! I've been keeping it warm in the oven.
Are you interested in something to eat?
MAC
What's on the menu?
HARM
(handing Mac a
mug filled to the brim with coffee)
How does whole wheat waffles, and veggie omelets
sound. I can even throw in some freshly squeezed orange juice to
boot. What do yah say?
MAC
Sounds good!
With that, Harm smiles, reaches in the oven and
withdraws a pan containing two large Belgian waffles and two fluffy
omelets. Mac eyes widened with pleasure at the sight of
them.
MAC
Well now, that looks appetizing!
Harm covers his heart with his lobster pot holder
mitten exclaiming his surprise in an exaggerated manner.
HARM
What?......Was
that a compliment, Mac, or have my ears deceived me?
MAC
(shooting Harm a look of
annoyance)
Harm, can we just eat, please!
With that, Harm reaches for a couple of plates from
the cabinets above him and begins to serve out the food. Meanwhile, Mac
walks to the refrigerator, removes the pitcher of orange juice from the
shelf and places it on the counter top opposite the stove.
MAC
(reaching for two
juice glasses from the shelves above the counter)
Harm, I'm ready to hear what Mrs. Malory had to say to
you yesterday.
HARM
(his head
snapping immediately toward Mac)
Mac,
.......I..... don't know! After what happened last
night....I...
MAC
(gazing toward
Harm)
I'm ok, Harm! Besides, nothing could be
worse then what I saw happening on that video tape. It just reinforced
what I knew to be true about Captain Peterson.
Harm gazes away from her as if attempting to avoid the
very subject she wanted to approach head on. He lifts both
plates of food from the counter top and walks them toward the dining room table.
HARM
Come on, Mac! Brunch is about to be
served.
Mac picks up the two glasses of orange juice and
follows Harm to the dining room table.
MAC
Harm, did you take the time to view that
video?
HARM
(placing the
plates down on the table and indicating the chair one over from
his)
Have something to eat while it's still hot,
Mac!
Slightly annoyed by Harm's indifference, Mac walks to
the chair that Harm's indicated and sits down beside him.
There is a long silence between them as both of them salt and pepper their eggs,
add syrup to their waffles and butter their toast.
MAC
Harm look, I'm really sorry about
what happened last night! I mean I know I lost it there for a
moment.....But I'm ok now......promise!
HARM
Mac, you don't have to explain anything and you
certainly don't have to apologize. I understand
........
His words drift into silence as he turns his attention
away from Mac to the plate of food in front of him.
MAC
(observing him
carefully)
Understand
what, Harm?......How I'm feeling? What I'm going
through?......What?
HARM
All of it, Mac
MAC
Then you saw the
video!
HARM
Yah, Mac.......I
did! .......well some of it anyway! Enough to get the general gist
of it all.
MAC
Then you know that Lieutenant Mallory was a willing
participant in the rape of that woman.
HARM
A participant,
ah, Mac!.......Willing,.......well, I'm not so sure about
that.
MAC
Are you trying to
defend what he did, Harm?
HARM
No Mac, of course
not! There's no defending or excusing what he
did! But....... I think once you hear Mrs Mallory's story you'll
understand what happened to the man.
MAC
Well, I'm all ears, Harm!
He hesitates for a long moment as his eyes meet
Mac's.
MAC
(observing his
hesitance, she starts the conversation)
Ok......I'll start then.......From what I've learned
about GHB in it's pharmaceutical form, it's fast becoming a common
treatment for many types of human maladies.........so telling me that the good
Captain used it to kick his drinking habit didn't exactly come as any
surprise. What I need to understand is how it all
ties into the lives of Helen and Brian Mallory!
HARM
(sucking in a
deep breath)
Then I guess the best place to start would be the
beginning.
MAC
That would be the logical place to start, Harm,
yes!
HARM
Two years ago Helen Mallory was diagnosed with breast
cancer. Against her husband's wishes, she elected to postpone
treatment until months later.
MAC
What?.......Why?
HARM
She was pregnant, Mac! ....... Five months
pregnant to be exact!
MAC
Oh God!
HARM
(pushing his
plate away)
By the time the baby was born, the only way to treat
the cancer was by a radical mastectomy. Apparently,
Lieutenant Mallory didn't handle it very well.
MAC
What happened?
HARM
He started drinking heavily .......and.....their
relationship began it's downward spiral from there.
MAC
Talk about being unsupportive!
HARM
Well, he had his love for her pulling him in one
direction while Captain Peterson pulled him in the other.
MAC
What do you mean?
HARM
It seems that Brian began spending more time with his
mentor and friend. Captain Peterson even went so far as
to tell Mrs. Mallory that it was better for the Lieutenant if she were to stay
away from her.......that her cancer was destroying him bit by
bit. When his emotional state seriously jeopardized a black
ops mission, the good Captain insisted that she cut off all contact with
him.
MAC
Lieutenant Mallory should have been relieved of his
duty, not cut off from the two people he loved most in his life.
HARM
I certainly agree with you there, Mac. And
I can't even begin to speculate what motivated Peterson into handling things the
way he did.
MAC
So where does GHB fit into all of this?
HARM
Lieutenant
Mallory went through periods of severe depression that were further complicated
by bouts of insomnia. Peterson knew how GHB had helped him
with his alcoholism and saw it as a way of solving Mallory's personal
problems. So he turned to his physician friend who had
originally treated him.
MAC
I take it that this physician was a civilian and that
their treatment was strictly confidential.
HARM
It was strictly off the record, Mac! If
either of their problems were made known, it would have effectively
destroyed their careers as Navy Seals. But apparently there
was a little glitch in Peterson's
plan.
MAC
It didn't stop Peterson from drinking, Harm! I
know that for a fact.
HARM
It did for awhile, Mac. But after months of
repeatedly going back to drinking, Peterson's supply was cut
off. Then there's the little glitch I just mentioned.
Somehow the good doctor discovered that Peterson was using the drug on
unsuspecting women..........one of them being Sergeant Nichols'
fiancée.
Mac's mouth drops open in horror at the recognition of
the man's name.
MAC
Sergeant Nichols' fiancée? Harm, am
I seeing a connection here?
HARM
Yah!.......Sergeant Nichols' fiancée
identified Captain Peterson as her rapist. The Sergeant was on
his way to report the rape to the proper authorities when Lieutenant Malory
confronted him. The fight broke out and Nichols ended up
dead.
MAC
Why did Malory want to protect Captain
Peterson?
HARM
I don't know, Mac! Maybe out of some sort
of misguided sense of loyalty! Or maybe Peterson convinced
Malory that the woman was lying.
MAC
Harm, he didn't
hesitate for one moment when it was his turn to rape that
woman.
HARM
He was drunk, Mac!........And I know that it's not an
excuse. But from everything Mrs. Malory told me, it's apparent that
Peterson had so much control over the Lieutenant that he would have done
anything that the man asked of him.
MAC
(angrily)
Including raping someone?
HARM
Yah, Mac!
Including raping someone.
MAC
Harm, in the end,
everyone's responsible for the decisions that they make.
HARM
I know that, Mac and I'm not trying to excuse what he
did! But sometimes desperation can drive a person to doing things that
ordinarily they would never have been capable of. I think we've both
experienced that sort of passion at some point in our own lives.
MAC
(at length,
taking a moment to consider Harm's words)
So if the good doctor wouldn't supply either of them
with GHB, am I assuming correctly in that they resorted to getting it
illegally.
HARM
Yah!....... A street supplier. Normally a
person wouldn't have suffered the side effects that you did, Mac! But it
probably was a bad batch and combined with the alcohol that Peterson forced into
your system, well,.......it's a wonder it didn't kill you!
MAC
Thank God! ............This doctor,
did Mrs. Malory give you his name?
HARM
Yah. Carolyn called me earlier this
morning with the details. He'll be testifying
tomorrow.
********************** TO BE
CONTINUED ***********