Chapter Eighteen - "Stalked"

Author's Note: Sorry, it's been a while since I've worked on this story, but writer's block combined with a career as a wildlife/nature photographer makes a regular update difficult. Hopefully I'll be able to get this recalcitrant muse under control and try to get a few more chapters up before the muse decides to take another prolonged siesta.

Annapolis Marriott Waterfront,

Annapolis, MD

Animal and Liandra walked into the Marriott hotel lobby. It was a large brick building styled much like the Maryland 18th Century architecture across the street, represented in the single-family dwellings that were lined in a nice neat similar row. As they got out of the Impala, Animal went to the trunk to pull out a navy-blue garment bag of his own along with Lia's garment bag, trucked them over his shoulder and slammed the trunk lid.

"Wow, nice place." Animal quipped as he looked over the brick building with a wise-ass grin on his face. "Sure hope that Harm can afford it."

"I'm sure he can, dear." Lia smiled indulgently as she intertwined her free hand with his "Oh, did you lock the car?"

Animal dropped his free hand and slapped his forehead. "Damn, I knew I forgot something!"…reached into his pocket pulling out the remote aiming it at his car, the car alarm chirping to let them know it was active and locking the door after which he turned to her and gave her a self-satisfied grin. Lia shook her head trying not to laugh. . She had to remind him every time he stepped out of the car. She swore up and down that he would lose his head if he hadn't had it attached to his body. Lia continually thought to herself that it was amazing that he could be so methodical when it came to flying a supersonic jet fighter yet so absent minded when he was in anything but an F-14 Tomcat or F-18 Hornet. "So, you think he's here yet?" Animal continued as the two resumed their walk to the front entrance of the hotel.

Walking through the doors and up to the reception counter, Liandra asked the hotel booking agent if there was a block of rooms reserved for the party of Rabb and if the name Nakamura was on the party list. Checking the invitations, the agent nodded as Animal and Lia handed her their USN Identification card which allowed for savings on room rental. The agent took down the pertinent details of the card and handed the cards back to them along with a key. "Room 314", the agent said "Have a wonderful stay."

"Thanks." Liandra said sweetly as she turned to Animal and grinned. "Shall we head up…and see if we see any of the wedding party loitering in the halls?"

"Sure…" Animal replied as he reached out his hand to encircle her waist and Lia nestled into his embrace as they walked towards the elevators. As they walked over, Animal noticed another familiar face. "Keeter." He grinned evilly as he let loose a sadistic laugh. "How are you doing?"

"OH GOD…NO!" Commander Jack Keeter, USN (Ret.) made a horrified look of dismay. "Not him!" he cried out in pseudo-anguish; his free hands up in the air in supplication. "Harm…" he pointed his head up at the ceiling to a non-present Harmon Rabb. "You just had to invite him…didn't you?"

"Glad to see you too, Keeter." Animal grinned evilly as he clapped Jack on the back.

"And who is this gorgeous lady that you've somehow managed to attach your slimy hands to?" Keeter looked over at Liandra who raised a cynical eyebrow at him.

"That gorgeous lady just happens to be my wife, Commander Liandra Gracen Nakamura, United States Navy, Judge Advocate General; Judiciary Division."

"Keeter…you dork. You must have absolute short-term memory." Lia said, a bemused tone evident in her voice. "I've been working at JAG as long as Harm has been and you've been around there to see him. You must have seen me around."

"Lia! My God, is that really you?" Keeter exclaimed in feigned shock aiming a thumb at Animal. "You married this loser?" as Animal looked annoyed and Lia snickered, coughing into her hand.

"Keep it up, Jack" Animal intoned ominously giving him a dark glare, "…and Harm's going to lose himself a groomsman." Keeter just laughed off Animal's threat.

"Well…long time since Oceana RAG, ain't it?" Keeter grinned amiably at Animal.

"I hear you're a spook now?" Animal looked at him warily.

Keeter shrugged his shoulders "Don't ask…can't tell…" as he looked around to see if anyone was listening…just then the elevator dinged. "Slower than molasses…" he commented wryly as he watched the elevator doors open. "Going up?"

"Yep, 3rd floor." Animal replied to Keeter's query as he looked around at the mirrored walls of the inside of the elevator. Funny how all elevators seemed to have some sort of mirror finish if not mirrored glass walls. "So, you process out as an O-5?" he asked continuing his former line of questioning from prior to entering the elevator.

"Yep, pretty much." Keeter said. "So you must be at least O-6 if not a commodore…" he inquired.

"Yep, pretty much." Animal matched Keeter's reply word for word as he unzipped his garment bag and parted the flaps slightly to exhibit the two embroidered silver stars on the gold encrusted shoulder boards of his dress whites. Animal was pretty sure he heard Keeter's jaw impact the floor. He was also pretty sure that he had never seen the normally ebullient and garrulous Jack Keeter speechless or his complexion turn ash white before either.

The elevator stopped at the third floor hallway whereupon Animal was immediately mobbed by Harm's parents and Meg who gave Liandra a welcoming hug.

"You never told me Animal was a rear admiral upper half before." Keeter accosted Harm as he griped, a tone of betrayal coloring his voice. "I coulda gotten myself in a big deal of trouble. Why didn't you tell me before I shot off my big mouth? I'm Naval Reserve, y'know. No ruptured duck yet! And Lia's a JAG Judge."

"Did you mouth off at him again?" Harm asked him with a look of wry amusement.

"Welll…uh…um…" Keeter stammered with an innocent who me? look on his face then subsided with a sigh of humiliation. "yeah…"

"Don't worry…" Animal said coming up behind Jack's back and clapping his shoulder. "No Article 32. I already know your big mouth and I've heard it too many times in RAG to give a shit."

"T-tthank you, S-ssir." Keeter stuttered.

"Keeter, we're not in uniform. Fire away." Animal grinned. "Don't worry, I give as good as I get." Keeter didn't feel very reassured. The elevator door opened to welcome Commander Sturgis Turner and Varese to the wedding party. "So we got the entire third floor?" Animal asked Harm.

"Frank made sure of it. Considering the rehearsal and dinner is tonight, they wanted to make sure that the large party didn't have anyone wandering through the third floor that wasn't a part of our wedding party." Harm looked up and down the hallway. "But it sure as hell must have taken a lot of money to do that."

"Never mind, dear…your wedding should remain private to all but friends…and family" Trish stopped by looking over meaningfully at Animal. "What are you gentlemen talking about?"

"Well, Mom…" Animal grinned at Trish then clapped his arm around Keeter digging his fingers into Keeter's shoulder painfully while Keeter cringed. "Keeter and I were talking over old times; from Reserve Air Group days."

"Oh Lord." Trish rolled her eyes "Try not to dump him into the pool from the third floor balcony…Tosh." She laughingly said over her shoulder as she walked away.

"I can't make any promises. Mom." Animal called back. Keeter tried to make a run for it and Animal reached out and collared him by his G-1 jacket. "Come back here, Keeter. We were still talking!" Harm was trying hard not to laugh as Animal did this. If there was anyone who could corral Keeter and make him listen up, it was Animal.

4 hrs later

The wedding rehearsal was over and all members of the wedding party were ensconced at Pusser's Caribbean Grille trying to order their meal. Considering how large of a wedding party there was, the servers had to push several tables together so that the entire party could sit together. When the server came around to take their order, the menu was consulted.

"I'm not trying the jerk chicken." Animal said to Lia as he looked warily at the Jamaican dish on the menu. "I'm not too enamored of hot food. I can tolerate mild heat in terms of spices, but not incandescent."

Harm leaned over to Animal "Yeah…well…there's other stuff here on the menu that you could try."

"I think I'll be adventurous and try the Pusser's Pasta, with white wine and basil pesto, add in some jumbo lump crab meat." Lia replied as she laid the menu down gazing at the server who jotted down her order and tapped Animal on the shoulder with a brilliant and loving smile. "Your turn, dear."

"I think I won't be adventurous and stick with the Olde English Fish and Chips." Animal said. "Tartar Sauce please. And I think I'll have a Bushwacker cocktail since I'm not going to be getting behind the wheel."

"Oh, that sounds delicious." Meg replied looking over at the cocktail menu and grinning at Animal. "I think I'll have one of those myself. Kahlua…mmmmmm."

"I'll have a Corona." Harm said. "I need a bit more time to figure out what I want to order." He looked at Meg then Animal.

"C'mon…Harm." Animal grinned. "Be adventurous. Try a Guinness. It's a better quality of beer at least compared to the crap we end up getting. I use Corona for watering the plants. Y'know, it makes 'em grow better." He snickered seeing Keeter's look of horror at the thought of dumping what passed for Mexican beer on plants instead of drinking it.

"OK…" Harm went along with the suggestion as he looked over at Animal "You know something about beers."

"Did one of my Staff tours in London." Animal answered Harm's query. "That's where I realized that our beers tasted like horse-piss." With that comment, Animal shot a look at Keeter who looked offended at Animal's disparagement of his favorite beer, "One of my British Liaisons told me to try a Guinness Stout. Haven't looked back since." He paused for a long moment then eyed Harm with a grin. "You'll find it's a bit stronger than what you're used to."

When the waitress came back with the ordered refreshments and opened them at the table with a bottle opener, Harm tried the Guinness. It was an Extra Stout. Sipping back the alcoholic beverage, he worked his mouth around the drink then swallowed. "Mmmm, this stuff is good. Tastes a little like chocolate and hazelnut. Earthy tones to this beer. Really good."

Dinner was a muted affair with a lot of the guests retiring to their rooms after the meal. Harm, Meg, and the closest of their friends stayed on the waterfront walk outside the restaurant for a nightcap to watch the moon-rise. The conversation was muted and quiet. When they finally tired enough of watching the moonrise, they retired to their respective rooms to get some rest before the big day.

As Harm entered his room after giving Meg one last lingering kiss on the lips he realized just what a life-altering ceremony tomorrow would be. He would be a married man and his beloved Meg would be his wife. He picked up the telephone and called down to the front desk. "Could you get me Room 325?" he asked.

A soft click interrupted the ringing tone as Meg's soft purr filled his ear. "So…flyboy, what do you want?"

"You…" Harm answered.

"Well, after tomorrow, you can have me all you want." Meg's voice sounded amused as Harm pictured her twirling her blonde locks around her fingers.

A Hotel Room Somewhere in Alabama

He sat quietly in his room watching nothing but the four walls that surrounded him. It had been a long time, forgotten quietly, if it wasn't for one slip-up, that one moment of inattention, Rabb would have been none-the wiser and he would have been the one in Leavenworth. He had played the fool all along and he played that role to perfection. His feigned bewilderment was written on his face like a mask and it was only when it was dropped that the true coldness of his perfection was evident. Standing up he walked to the mirror. Cold blue eyes looked back at him in the mirror, reaching into his little bag of tricks, he pulled out a set of glasses and put them on. By now, Leavenworth, the FBI and the NCIS would have been putting an APB out on him.

Oh, the fool ruse was perfect until he had been caught. He smiled; the visage in the mirror smiled too only the reflection showed to him that the smile never reached his eyes. Returning his glasses to his case, he looked over at the mirror and noted the boyish dimples on his cheeks. Oh, he was obsessive compulsive, the Leavenworth doctors had assured him of that and that's what made his psychopathy perfect, that he would leave no stone unturned until he reached his objective, that he would cover his tracks and leave no traces. He had learned from his mistakes - the ones that got him incarcerated in the first place. He would send his puppets to harass and intimidate Rabb and then he would seek Rabb out like a homing missile and destroy him.

And that fact in itself made him a very happy man. Harmon Rabb Jr. would never know what the hell hit him.

Lambert's look of outraged surprise as he was abandoned on the road in Florida was of immense amusement to him as he pondered back on the events of the past few days. Of course Lambert would be picked up by his militia mates. They hadn't even been contacted; but they'd find him loitering around in their territory. They'd interrogate him for a few days, possibly torturing him and then either they'd believe his back story or they'd kill him as a mole from the government. And in the swamps there were many places to hide a body. Frankly Lambert had his uses, but he could be a useful pawn if necessary. He'd make his contact with the Freedom Brethren eventually, but he needed to track where Rabb was and what he was currently doing. And to do that, he needed to create a whole different look.

NCIS Office

MCB Quantico, VA

"Hey, DiNozzo, Get over here!" Agent Tony DiNozzo winced as he heard Gibb's voice from across the office.

Kate whispered under her breath with a languid smirk "In trouble again? DiNozzo?"

"Whatever it was, I didn't do it." DiNozzo said with a shrug of shoulders. "I'm innocent."

"You manage to achieve the art of selective deafness. DiNozzo?" Gibb's voice was heard just five feet from his ear and DiNozzo restrained himself admirably from leaping into the air from surprise. Gibbs just gave him a look of amusement, then continued. "I just heard from Leavenworth. This guy just escaped a week ago." Throwing a file down, he gestured at Tony to open the file.

Looking down at the file he just opened, DiNozzo uttered a pungent oath. "I didn't think he'd be smart enough to try a break."

"Well, you thought wrong." Gibbs said gesturing his open palm at the open file. "Evidently when final roll-call was called, they ended up missing a head. When the extraction team went into the cell, they found several rolled up magazines he had stolen from the prison library, and an extra sheet balled up. Evidently he made a break when they took him out of solitary confinement and put him in with the rest of the prison population. The warden put him on kitchen chow duty and one of the jobs was to help with the stocking of the pantry. Turns out he got out with an extra uniform from the prison food service supplier." He looked over at DiNozzo. "Look in his psychological profile. He's considered a psychopath with obsessive traits. Which means one thing. Anybody close to whoever he considers an enemy is vulnerable."

"Shit!" DiNozzo said. "You remember the case that put him away. That means that the main target is going to be Commander Harmon Rabb Jr."

"That brings me to my next folder." Gibbs tossed down another brown manila folder that had the JAG logo on it. "It appears that Captain Harmon Rabb Jr. no longer works for the Judge Advocate General any longer. His file it appears has been picked up by Naval Air Systems Command under the command of Vice Admiral Mitchell Hadfield and serves as staff under Rear Admiral (upper half) Toshio Nakamura. We need to make sure that we shadow Captain Rabb and anyone who is associated with him including those who were his former co-workers." Tossing a third folder down. Written on the face of it was Jack Lambert. "Got this from the FBI. He's a Freedom Brethren militia type. He was in doing life for stealing an F-14 Tomcat. Turns out he got busted out by this guy." He said pointing to the first folder. "He masqueraded as a DSD Special Agent for an agency who doesn't exist anymore and got him out. The problem is that the first guy isn't what we think he is and what he was in jail for. We're dealing with a real slippery character here and a psychopath. His whole career was deep cover and most of his folder is classified. We don't know when he went rogue, but he's good at playing characters. Nobody would have even suspected him."

DiNozzo and Todd looked at each other with a wary expression. It wouldn't do to underestimate this guy. Too many people already had to their detriment.

Annapolis Marriott Waterfront,

Annapolis, MD

0700 Hrs

Animal rubbed his eyes as he woke up to see Liandra looking over at him with sleepy low-lidded eyes. "Are you up this early?" She said letting the covers fall off just enough to expose a bare shoulder.

"Yeah, internal alarm clock." Animal muttered softly as he peered through the slit in the curtains to see a hint of the beautiful day to come. "So when are you going to get your hair and makeup done? I figure the preps start early."

"Not that early, sweetie, wedding starts at 0300hrs so we have at least an hour left" Lia said, her voice a throaty purr. "Care to spend some of that time enjoying ourselves."

"Can't argue with that proposal." Animal growled softly as he gathered her into his arms.

Annapolis Marriott Waterfront,

Annapolis, MD

0745 Hrs

Harm opened his eyes. Looking over at the clock he realized that it was 0745 and grinned realizing that today was the day. Respecting the age-old custom that the groom wasn't supposed to see his bride until the next day at the altar; he showered and enjoyed a breakfast that was brought up to his room – a vegetarian one with no meat.

Getting dressed quietly in jeans and a t-shirt, he opened the window to the hotel room. Stepping onto the balcony he gazed over at the bay. Sailboats were moored at the marina and the wooden boardwalk was deserted as the tables had not been placed out yet for the restaurant opening hours were not yet in effect. The sun was low in the sky yet but steadily gaining altitude as the warmth of the celestial orb on his face fanned him joining with a nice cool breeze from the bay to make it feel just perfect. The sky ranged in color from a light fiery white-yellow closest to the sun to a dark navy blue to the west. The few puffy clouds that were visible would burn off by mid-morning to reveal a cloudless sky.

What a change-filled day he thought to himself as he took in the vista. By the time the sun made its way across the sky to a descent on the opposite side of the building, he would be a married man and on his way to a glorious honeymoon.

Annapolis Marriott Waterfront,

Annapolis, MD

0800 Hrs

Meg opened her eyes blearily. Fatigue was par for the course for her as the weeks leading up to her nuptials had been a whirlwind. This morning was going to be a blur of hair, makeup and dressing. It would be an insane few hours in the morning for her and her bridesmaids considering how much had to be done before the start of the ceremony. For now she lounged in the bed slowly waking and enjoying the calm before the storm. The only thing that mattered was that at the end of all the commotion and circus events of this wedding she would be Megan Austin Rabb. She looked over at the clock to see that it read 0815 by the end of her daydreaming and she finally persuaded her body to get up and head for the shower.

JAG Headquarters

Falls Church, VA

0800 Hrs

Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Mackenzie sat at her office, her mood disconsolate at the thought that over on Blake Road a little over forty-three miles away, Harmon Rabb Jr. was getting married to the one person she absolutely detested with every fibre of her being.

Her interlude to self-pity was interrupted by a telephone call. "Judge Advocate General's office. Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Mackenzie." She barked, annoyed at the interruption. AJ had left for Annapolis yesterday, and so had Commander Turner and Lieutenant Roberts. She opted to spurn the invitation and stay at JAG Headquarters. She hadn't wanted to see her "what she considered" best friend get married to someone else.

"Lieutenant Colonel Mackenzie. This is NCIS calling." The voice was a soft tenor. "Would you happen to know the whereabouts of Commander Rabb?" The question set off alarm bells in her mind 'Who could be calling for Harm when he was getting married.' And why was her mind telling her that she had heard this voice before?

"Well, Commander Rabb is now Captain Rabb and right now he is on leave getting married." Mac snapped. "What's this all about?" She queried the phone caller.

"The reason is that Captain Rabb is being stalked and we may need to put protection on him." The caller replied.

Mac's inhale of surprise. "We'll get a hold of Captain Rabb. Thank you for the information." The dial-tone replaced his voice as Mac realized the caller had hung up.

NCIS Office

MCB Quantico, VA

0815 hrs

"Tony! I need you to get a hold of the JAG office and tell them that Rabb is being stalked." Gibbs said, addressing him with a pointed glare. "There's a good chance that anyone connected with Rabb is going to be a target."