A Monster's Ball--CSIM/JAG

[jaglady]

Thanks, everybody.
I hope to post more tonight. We're having GORGEOUS weather this weekend, so I might sit outside and not do much of anything.

[jaglady]

Thanks to everyone for their kind comments and reviews. I'm sort of confined today, since I stepped on some kind of critter hill in bare feet. Thought they were fire ants, but fire ants don't make my foot swell and give me a fever. ICK!
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Chapter 3--Suspicions

Miami-Dade Crime Lab, Florida, 0900 hours

Lt Col Sarah MacKenzie perused her notes as she waited patiently in the visitors’ area. Admiral Chegwidden’s office had emailed her documents about the Logan case, and from what she remembered, things were starting to sound hauntingly familiar.

She looked up and a smile crossed her face when she saw spotted a familiar figure.

Emmie smiled at her old acquaintance. “Mac? Oh my God! Great to see you!”

The petite Marine stood up to hug her old acquaintance. “Emmie Stockburne! How are you?” The two ladies held each other in an embrace for a few seconds.

Emmie backed off and looked at Mac. “Look at you! Lieutenant Colonel! So you in town for this dog-and-pony show?”

Mac smiled and nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t know I was a VIP too. Harm is gonna fly down later in the week. Well, maybe you better let me know what’s going on with Judge Schwender.”

The computer tech nodded. “I’ll take you over to the autopsy room. Dr. Woods is briefing my boss right now.” She looked at Mac with more serious eyes now. “So you really think this has to do with the KAF case? Hey, you want some coffee? Lieutenant Caine put me on coffee detail for the day shift.”

Mac shook her head with a laugh. “No, thanks. I remember your coffee. When A.J. told me about Logan’s escape—“

Emmie stopped and touched her arm. “Logan escaped? How?”

Mac looked at her seriously again. “Happened when they were escorting him from Ramstein. Killed one of the SP’s. NCIS in Europe is working that one. Did you know Art Logan?”

“I’d heard of him. You know the Navy SEAL community is pretty close. We really didn’t talk about it much, because, well, we considered the guy to be a traitor.”


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Mac stood next to Horatio and watched down through the morgue’s viewing area.

“Find anything else, Alexx?” he asked into the mike.

Alexx looked up. “Officially? COD was asphyxiation, Horatio. But I’ve never seen anything quite like this.” Mac had her eyes glued to the viewing room’s monitor as Alexx carefully turned the pale body’s head and directed their attention to the left side of the neck. “Remember those marks at the base of his skull? It looks like pressure was applied on his carotid artery. This looks like a thumbprint, but it’s pretty big. Both the carotid artery and the vagus nerve were pressed at the same time, hard enough that the blood flow was cut off to his brain. And the killer pressed on the vagus nerve with just the right amount of pressure, so his lungs wouldn’t work.”

Horatio nodded thoughtfully. “He couldn’t breathe, and most importantly, he couldn’t scream for help. But that had to be a lot of pressure, Alexx.”

“These were the only marks I could find on Judge Schwender. The killer paralyzed him while he died slowly.” Alexx then caressed the judge’s matted black hair. “It didn’t end quickly for you, Your Honor.”

Horatio turned to Mac. “Is any of this familiar to you, Colonel MacKenzie?”

Mac held out some old NCIS crime scene photos to Horatio. It sent a chill through her to see this happen again. “Same M.O., Lieutenant. All five of his victims killed that same way. It’s a lesser-known Navy SEAL tactic. No weapons. Victim dies slowly. Officially? The practice is highly illegal. Unofficially? It’s still widely used in remote jungle warfare. Usually when there are no weapons available. Or, because the victim dies so slowly, the idea is to send a message.”

The Lieutenant nodded. “Yes. No weapons, no DNA left behind.” He looked more fully at Mac now. “Colonel MacKenzie, why do you have reason to believe Arthur Logan might be in the Miami area?”

“Well, Horatio, he’s been in the wind since he escaped from Ramstein. He has acquaintances here in the Miami area, especially with KAF.”

“KAF?”

“It stands for ‘Keep America Free.’ It’s an anarchist group very similar to the Freemen that had the standoff in Montana some years ago. Logan was high on their food chain. We believe he murdered five people this way, but we could only tie him to the assistant U.S. Attorney who was found dead in Mobile, Alabama. Not enough evidence to tie him to the other four. And what concerns us right now is that Bill Schwender heard the case. Threw the book at him.”

Horatio nodded thoughtfully. “I see. So if Arthur Logan is in Miami, do you think he’ll be after anyone else?”

“Let’s just say this. We JAG’s talk. I knew the Captain who prosecuted him. Arthur Logan is a firm believer in revenge, especially his own. If I’m right about this, Horatio, Miami’s gonna have a much bigger problem than babysitting a bunch of high-maintenance politicians.”

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JAG Headquarters, Falls Church, VA 1600 ZULU

Commander Harmon Rabb stood next to his desk and probed feverishly through the mountains of folders as Lieutenant Bud Roberts strolled in.

“Looking for something, Harm?” Bud wanted to know.

He looked at the Lieutenant expectantly. “Yeah. The Wilson case. Pretrial is at 1400, and I don’t have the case file.” He motioned to the folders under Bud’s arm. “Did you borrow it?”

“Yeah. I had to review it.” He pulled out the folder and laid it on top of the tallest stack. Both Harm and Bud lunged at the pile as it tipped and landed on the floor with a CRASH! Harm glared at him as he sank to his knees to quickly sort out the mess. “Thanks.”

“Sorry!” Bud looked at him ruefully as he quickly stooped over and helped him. “Oh, here it is.”

Harm reached his hand out, exasperated. “Let me have it.” He suddenly stiffened up. “Attention on deck!” Harm and Bud immediately shot to the position of attention.

“As you were.”

Admiral A.J. Chegwidden stepped into the office and looked down at the sea of folders. “Harm. Bud. Been busy?”

Harm and Bud relaxed. “Just a little, Sir.”

“Need to talk to you in my office, Harm.”

As he turned to leave, Harm glanced down at Bud. “Don’t touch those. I’ll get them when I come back.”

A.J. sighed as he closed his door. “Logan’s still in the wind.”

Harm nodded. “The KAF case?”

“Yep. I received word that an SP Cullen was in charge of his transport to Leavenworth. He was killed at Ramstein Air Base. Escorted Logan into the men’s room in the holding area. Somebody busted out the light and shoved a metal shank into his neck. SP Milligan was standing guard. He heard the commotion and had trouble getting the door open. By the time he got into the men’s room, it was too late. Cullen bled out. No sign of Logan anywhere. Nothing. NCIS is working the forensics in Ramstein now. But since it’s a high-profile case, they alerted us.” He sighed and gathered his thoughts. “There’s more. I just got off the phone with Mac down in Miami. She just spoke with a Lieutenant Horatio Caine. She’s a little worried that Arthur Logan or one of his KAF cohorts could possibly be at work in Miami right now. Ends up Captain Bill Schwender was found murdered outside the perimeter fence of Homestead Air Force Base this morning. I guess the base commander got suspicious and gave her a call.”

Harm looked down in shock. “Bill Schwender? Didn’t he hear the case?”

A.J. nodded. “I still remember. Bill swore Logan would take his dying breath in a military prison. Logan swore one day he would somehow get even.”

“How do they know it was a KAF murder, Sir?”

A.J. motioned to the left side of his neck. “Well, there were the same marks on the base of Bill Schwender’s skull that we found on Logan’s victims.”

Harm shook his head. “With all due respect, Sir, how can we be sure Logan’s in Miami? I mean, he was part of a group. We put all of them away.”

“Not all of them. Anyway, we found out your old Quantico liaison to the Cyber Crimes unit is working in Miami. Remember Emmie Stockburne?”

Harm smiled. “Yeah. I remember Emmie. So she’s in Miami now, huh? Small world.”

A.J. nodded. “She’s now the senior computer tech at the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. She’ll be Mac’s and your contact when you go down there. And if anything good came out of all this, you and Mac are going to this VIP conference on Uncle Sam’s dime, because it just turned into TAD. They’re cutting your orders now. You fly down there tomorrow morning.”

Harm nodded. “I’ll take care of it, Sir.”

“And Harm? Work with Lieutenant Caine. Body was found outside the perimeter fence. That makes it Miami’s case too.”

[ladytaz29]

I love a good mystery... Hope your foot is ok.

[jaglady]

Thanks, LadyTaz. The fever seems to be gone, and now I just have lots of bug bites. It's gonna be cotton socks and sneakers tomorrow.

[earthylady]

Wonderful chapter JL. Love the attention to detail.
Take care of those bites.

[jaglady]

Chapter 4—Dangerous Liaison

The Silver Palm Resort and Spa, one of Miami’s most upscale hotels, was just as busy as any other hotel during the VIP conference.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched a sea of well-dressed travelers walk through with their rollaway suitcases or red-jacketed valets pushing carts as she relaxed on the red and gold sofa in the lobby. The short, stocky woman thumbed idly through a Miami tourism book as she smoothed her shoulder-length wavy black wavy hair back off her shoulders and adjusted her white summer dress.

“Evening, Audrey” a soft male voice said behind her.

The woman turned around and stood up, smiling. “Hi Steve. Ready to go?”

The rugged, charming man with short blonde hair smiled back at her confidently. He adjusted his burgundy dress shirt. “All set. Appreciate your driving me.”

“I hope the Homestead Officers’ Club sounds good. They’re opening it to all ranks and civilians while this thing is going on.”

He nodded. “Sure. I really don’t know my way around Miami.”

It was completely dark when the green Dodge Stratus slowed to a stop at the brightly lighted main gate of Homestead Air Force Base. Steve quietly handed Audrey his white civilian ID card. The young gate guard inspected both identification cards before looking carefully at the car’s occupants. Satisfied, he handed Audrey both cards. “Have a nice evening” he said cordially.”

“Thanks.” The woman handed Steve back his civilian ID card, which he immediately pocketed. Audrey quickly slipped hers back into her black purse under her seat.

“So how long have you been a medical liaison, Steve?” she asked as she turned down the side road.

He looked at her thoughtfully. “Few years now. They have me at Landstuhl. Ever been there?”

She chuckled. “Nope. Actually spent most of my time in Fantasyland. The Pentagon.”

The man settled back in his seat and sighed. “Bureaucrats. Gotta love ‘em. So how long have you been out of the Navy, Audrey?”

The woman shrugged with a smile. “Only a year now.”

The man discreetly scanned the car’s black interior and glanced in the rear view mirror. “So how do you like the U.S. Attorney’s Office?”

Audrey nodded confidently. “It’s good. I can still get into places like this.”

Steve smiled back and nodded confidently.

The green car meandered through the dimly lighted park and had come to a stop sign by the side of the lake. Audrey quickly glanced down at the gauge on the dashboard. There were no other cars in sight.

Without a word, the man calmly leaned toward her and, in one quick, smooth motion, slammed the car’s transmission into park with one hand and snaked his left arm around her neck, yanking her tightly to his chest and digging his thumb firmly against her neck just under her ear. At first the surprise paralyzed her, but then the force of the man’s strong thumb between her neck and jawline was enough to keep her pinned to him. Barely able to move her arms and legs, she tried to squirm in the seat in a useless effort to break free. The man calmly held her head to his chest with the pressure of his thumb in her neck and his arm, moving his body with her. She couldn’t breathe or scream.

“Don’t fight it, Audrey. It hurts worse if you fight it” he said calmly, facing the windshield, his eyes scanning the rear-view mirrors. “It’ll be over quickly if you just go with it.”

Panic turned into blind terror. In the rear view mirror Audrey could see her wide eyes and her mouth open, but something forbade her to scream or even react. Her lips quaked as she lost all sense of reality. Her ears rang. Pain now shot up and down her neck, followed by tingling, warmness, and then numbness. Her head dropped as she slowly closed her eyes and her body went limp like a rag doll.

Satisfied that Audrey was dead, Steve stepped out of the passenger side. He grabbed Audrey’s lifeless arm and leg and pulled her over, positioning her, straightening her white dress, buckling the seatbelt, and tilting her head to the side as though she were just passed out. He then quickly took the small bottle of Chloraseptic out of his pocket and pried open the dead woman’s mouth, spritzing twice before closing her mouth and turning her lifeless head to lean back against the window. She looked as though she had merely drunk too much and passed out.

Steve quickly and quietly walked around to the other side and settled into the driver’s seat. He shifted the transmission back into drive and pulled away nonchalantly. Out of the corner of his eyes he glanced at the dead woman. With one hand he then rummaged through her black purse, pulled out her civilian identification card, and placed it on her lifeless lap. He glanced around in the darkness one more time as a shrilling cricket shattered the silence from the nearby pond.

“I told you I’d get even, Lieutenant. Didn’t believe me, did you?” he said to the dead woman.


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“Guys on four-wheelers called it in.” Ryan Wolfe stood at a distance and snapped pictures while Harm Rabb watched anxiously. The dusty green Dodge Stratus sat just off the dirt road, surrounded by sawgrass. Eric Delko snapped on his latex gloves before slowly opening the passenger side door.

Harm sweated in the balmy Florida dawn as he stood behind Delko. “Don’t let this be Audrey” he nearly whispered.

Delko looked in the dead woman’s lap. His eyes confirmed Harm’s worst fears as he produced the identification card that lay there. “Audrey Hennessey?”

Harm closed his eyes and pursed his lips in anguish. “Dammit!”

“You knew her?”

“She was Logan's defense counsel.” He sighed and looked at her peaceful closed eyes. “I’m sorry, Audrey.”

Delko lowered his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Harm closed his eyes. “We’re really close in the JAG field. She wasn’t just a colleague. She was a friend of ours.”

As Ryan prepared to snap a picture of Audrey in the passenger side seat, he sniffed the air. “You smell alcohol?”

Delko looked at him and nodded. “Yeah.”

Harm looked at them quizzically. “Alcohol?”

“Yeah. You suppose she was out drinking with somebody?”

The Commander shook his head. “Audrey’s a staunch Mormon. She doesn’t smoke or drink.” He lowered his eyes. “That is, she didn’t.”

Ryan nodded to Delko. “Tox panel.” He stiffened up as his eyes noticed something shiny behind the driver’s seat. “Wait. Something back there.” With his gloved hand he carefully reached behind the driver’s seat and pulled out what looked like a white identification card. He glanced at it. “Steven MacPherson?”

Harm looked at him. “I don’t know him. Hang on.” Harm opened his cell phone and pressed the speed dial. “Emmie? It’s Harm. Need a favor. You at your computer right now? Great. What can you tell me about a Steven MacPherson? Civilian out of the Landstuhl Army Medical Center in Germany?”

Emmie clicked her keys at the main computer console. “Steven MacPherson is the patient liaison there. I wonder if—Hey, wait a minute, Harm. I’m getting a flag.”

“What’s it saying?”

“Steven MacPherson is deceased. Hang on. Just a hunch, but I’m just gonna look at something else.” She rapidly clicked her keyboard again as the screen flickered at her. “Interpol. Yep. Steven MacPherson was found murdered in Ramstein, Germany. Doesn’t give me too many other details.”

The Navy Commander pursed his lips and looked down. “You sure?”

“I’m looking at the international alert right now, Harm." She paused. "But there’s more.”

“Tell me.”

“His civilian ID and his U.S. passport were missing. Looks like somebody used his passport to get a flight to the United States before anybody had a chance to flag it. He entered the U.S. by a charter flight here in Miami. The day after Arthur Logan escaped.”

Harm lowered his head. “Does it say how he died?”

“No. Harm? What’s going on?”

“Patch me through to Lieutenant Caine.”


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Horatio flipped open his cell phone. “Caine.”

”Horatio. Commander Rabb. I think Arthur Logan’s in Miami.”

The Lieutenant dipped his head and paced back and forth. “You sure, Commander?”

Harm shook his head slightly. “Involved with the Logan case. Ryan Wolfe and Eric Delko are processing the scene now. Emmie ran a search on a civilian ID card for a Steven MacPherson. I don’t know whether the killer dropped it by accident, but we have reason to believe Arthur Logan might be in Miami posing as Steve MacPherson.”

Horatio nodded slightly. “Okay. You think he might still be under that name?”

“I don’t know, Horatio. If it’s Arthur Logan, he’s pretty smart. Probably as soon as he realizes he dropped that ID card he’ll think of something else. He’s a Navy SEAL. He’s built for survival.”

“I’ll put out an all points for a Steve MacPherson. Just in case. Thanks, Harm.”

“And Horatio? We need to be careful. This guy’s dangerous.”

The Lieutenant had a determined look. “So are we, Commander.”

[earthylady]

Logan is really on a vengeful murderous streak.
Another good chapter JL.

[jaglady]

Thanks, Earthylady. ;D

[ladytaz29]

Finally got caught up...been working a lot lately.

I never get tired of these....

Great job JL

[jaglady]

Thanks, LadyTaz. Not sure why you're using the slapping smiley. Is that a hint? ;D
I totally understand the work thing.