"Are you okay?" "When I said I wanted some exercise this morning, this isn't exactly what I meant." "We do this every Sunday morning." "That's why I was thinking something a little different." "What exactly did you have in mind, Your Honour?" "You have to catch me first." "Laura!" "Laura, wait!" "I'm not falling for that, A.J." "Laura!" "What the hell is going on, A. J?" "Following in his father's footsteps as a Naval aviator," "Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb Jr." "Suffered a crash while landing his Tomcat on a storm-tossed carrier at sea." "Diagnosed with night blindness," "Harm transferred to the Navy's Judge Advocate General Corps, which investigates, defends and prosecutes the law of the sea." "There, with fellow JAG lawyer, Major Sarah MacKenzie, he now fights in and out of the courtroom with the same daring and tenacity that made him a top gun in the air." "When did you realise he was dead?" "We pulled over to check on him." "When we opened up the trunk, he wasn't moving." "At first, we just thought he was drunk." "You gave him alcohol?" "Just a couple beers, sir." "We thought it would calm him down." "So you abducted him, coerced him into drinking alcohol and then forced him in the trunk of a car." "Yes, sir." "At any point, did you try to revive him?" "Oh, yes, ma'am." "We tried to get him on his feet and walking, but he had stopped breathing." "Malcom..." "Midshipman Holmes even tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation." "Can I see you outside a moment, major?" "You too, lieutenant." "Do you think this is funny?" "No, sir." "Come on, Harm." "You gotta admit that was..." "Bill is dead, Mac." "They killed him." "Harm, he's a goat." "They gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a goat." "Bill has been the Annapolis mascot for as long as I can remember." "Now, though that may mean nothing to an OCS graduate, it means a hell of a lot to anybody who's ever attended the academy." "Come on, Harm." "It was an accident." "Don't tell me when you were at Annapolis, you never did anything like this?" "Well, Keeter told me that Commander Rabb was..." "Lieutenant, this conversation is not about me." "Now, let's approach this with a little dignity." "Yes, sir." "Commander, do you have a moment?" "Judge Delaney." "Nice to see you again, ma'am." "Thank you." "Somebody booby-trapped the admiral's running trail yesterday morning." "Well, A.J. Insists it was a prank, but I'm not sure I agree." "Listen, if you hear anything give me a call." "A.J. Won't tell me a damn thing." "The man makes a mule look cooperative." "I don't suppose you've seen that side of him." "No, ma'am." "Commander, the admiral would like to see you ASAP." "Enter." "Good morning, admiral." "You wanted to see me, sir?" "I'm adding a codicil to my will." "I'd like you to take care of it." " Yes, sir." " I've outlined everything you need." "Is there a problem, commander?" "I heard about the booby trap yesterday, sir." "Sir, Mr. Osbourne is here to see you." "Send him in." "That will be all, commander." "Yes, sir." "I don't know, sir." "He didn't have an appointment." "Buzz me when he leaves, okay?" "Yes, sir." "The police gave me a photo of this holy Buddha." "They found that near the booby trap that you tripped yesterday." "Now, we both know whose calling card that is." "I don't believe in ghosts." "Maybe it is time you did." "Perhaps we could convince the commandant that it was not meant to be a malicious act." "I'm sure you're not the first midshipman to engage in an academy prank." "Isn't that right, commander?" "Lieutenant Commander Rabb." "Thanks, Tiner." "Excuse me." "Sir, may I have a word with you?" "Not now." " But, sir...?" " Not now, commander." "Lieutenant Roberts, would you ask Midshipman Danvers if he'd like a coffee?" "Sir, we just had coffee." "Then have some tea." "Tea, sir?" "Yes, sir, tea." "Follow me." "Yes, sir." "What's up?" "Judge Delaney told me someone set a booby trap on the admiral's running trail yesterday." "What kind of booby trap?" "Well, it was a harmless one, evidently." "But it has her worried and the admiral too." "He's asked me to add a codicil to his will." "A few moments ago, Osbourne showed up." " Osbourne?" " He and the admiral had a tête-à-tête." "The admiral cancelled all his appointments and left." "I found this in his trash can." "You went through the admiral's trash?" "It was sitting on top." "Well, what's the connection?" "I haven't the vaguest." "But I think I know someone who might." "Lieutenant Roberts." "You are now in charge of Midshipman Danvers' case until we return." " Me, sir?" " You, sir." "Yes, sir." "Don't worry." "I'll get you out of this, son." "Danvers." "Yes, sir." "Here we are, Mother." "What's Webb doing with this crowd?" "Having lunch." "Mother, could you go on ahead?" "I'll join you in a minute." "Clayton, you're getting more like your father every day." "Well, thank you, Mother." "That wasn't a compliment." "Taking Mom out to lunch with the big boys?" "Actually, she's taking me." "Well, give us what you got so you don't miss the shrimp cocktail." "The admiral tripped a simple CO2 whistle connected to a monofilament line." "It was used to train replacements for Vietnam." "Why is Osbourne involved?" "I guess someone at the firm thinks this goes back to Vietnam." "Osbourne was the company Saigon section chief during Operation Phoenix." "Phoenix used SEAL teams, didn't it?" "I wish I could tell you more, but that's all I know." "Any idea what this means?" "No." "But it's Asian." "We figured that out ourselves, Webb." "Osbourne might know." "Well, I doubt he'll share what he knows with us, Clayton." "Goliath." " Goliath?" " Thomas Wilson." "He was in-country with Osbourne at the same time." "Vietnamese nicknamed him Goliath." "How much?" "Since it's for the admiral, just pay for Mother's lunch." "Done." "You do know that's a $500-a-plate luncheon in there?" "No, it's over." "Now, the sooner you understand that, sooner you can get on with your life." "Phil, the sooner we can both get on with our lives, okay?" "Hi, sailor." "You don't know how glad I am to see you." "He still drinking?" "Yep." "Listen..." "I think..." "I think it's best that we stop seeing each other for a while." "Someone pulls a prank in the park and you're ready to call it off?" "It wasn't just a prank." "Yeah, I should have caught it." "If I was that unaware in Nam, I'd be dead." "I must be getting old." "Well, not that I can tell." "And this isn't Vietnam, A.J., and it's not a war." "I'm not so sure." "Look, you got a confirmation hearing coming up and I don't want a ghost from my past to jeopardise your future." "Ghosts never scared me, A.J." "Not even when I was a little girl." "This one would." " Where did you get this photo?" " Does it matter?" "It does if you want any info from me." "Out of an admiral's garbage can." "Chegwidden?" "You know about the booby trap?" "I know." "Is there a connection between this Buddha and the admiral's booby trap?" "For your admiral's sake, I hope not." "During Phoenix, one of our boys went over the edge, started waging his own psi-ops campaign." "He'd remove internal organs from NVA sympathizers he killed." "It meant the victim would never get to heaven whole." " And the CIA condoned this?" " Of course not." "Not officially anyway." "It was a war, major." "I guess that's why we call them war crimes." "He'd also leave a maimed Buddha, like the one in this photo, as a warning to NVA sympathizers." "Who was this sicko?" "Jack Holford." "Why would he be after Admiral Chegwidden?" "Your admiral was a SEAL." "Holford had a squad in SEAL Team Three assigned to him." "Can you get their names?" "I'll see to it Webb owes you one." "Oh, my God, Admiral Chegwidden was in SEAL Team Three." "Holford is listed missing in action, presumed dead." "He wouldn't be the first vet from Nam to see his name on the wall." "Funny, they're all dead except for the admiral." "Last one died in a car accident two weeks ago." "You don't have Chief Stroud's car?" "The accident only happened two weeks ago." "No, it's gone sure as hell." "Wish I could help you, folks, but the fact of the matter is, once a car is smashed up as bad as that one, we just run it through the crusher, you know, sell it for scrap." "She's a pancake by now." "Do you remember anything unusual about it?" "Like what?" "Had it been tampered with?" "The brakes?" "Anything?" "I'll tell you what it looked like." "It looked like a wreck." "Except for that stone fat guy." "That was kind of weird, I guess." "Stone fat guy, Mr. Schwandt?" "Yeah." "This." "I thought it was one of them statues people like to put on their dashboards." "You know, like one of them plastic Jesus things?" "I kept it for good luck." " Funny where I found it though." " Where was it?" "On the bumper, sitting there grinning with a hole through its belly like some goof had walked up and put it there." "I mean, after the accident." "Commander, major, I think I've come up with a line of defence on Bill." " Bill?" " The goat that died, ma'am." "I had an autopsy done and we found out..." "You had a goat exhumed?" "Well, yes, ma'am." "We're lucky he wasn't cremated." "Everyone thinks it was toxic shock from the paint that killed him." "But I had the guys at Graves Registration dig him up." "And guess what." "It was a heart attack." "Midshipman Danvers' and Holmes' actions had nothing to do with his death." " It was old age." " Good work, Bud." "Now all you have to do is resolve the kidnapping issue, although we can't call it kidnapping, can we?" "We can't?" "Not if it was an old goat." "Okay, I get it." "Kidnapping." "That's funny." "Enter." "I have something to show you, sir." "What?" "It was found on the bumper of Chief Stroud's car at the scene of his accident." "Chief Stroud was a member of your SEAL team in Vietnam." "I know who the hell Chief Stroud is." "Yes, sir." "That's Jack Holford's calling card, isn't it, sir?" "Just what the hell don't you know, commander?" "Why someone would want you to think Jack Holford's alive and after you." "Well, that's the $64,000 question, isn't it?" "Could he be alive, sir?" "No." "Why not, admiral?" "He's an MIA." "Why couldn't he be alive?" "You want him alive, don't you?" "Sir?" "If Holford's alive, maybe some other MIA's are alive, maybe even your father." "That was not my motivation, sir." "Holford's dead, commander." "I saw him die." "Now, I appreciate your concern." "This is my problem, not yours." "Dismissed." "Aye, aye, sir." "What makes you so sure I have anything?" "It's that smug look on your face." "Don't ever play poker, Clay." "I don't." "I always lose." "What do you got?" "A few years ago, a former Vietnamese refugee was busted for bilking MIA families." "He'd show them something he said belonged to their missing loved one, usually a dog tag and some tattered clothing." "Then he'd ask for money to have his cohorts in Vietnam continue the search." "Thank God no one ever approached my mother like that." "My father's an MIA." "I'm sorry, Harm." "I didn't know that." "Thanks." "Anyway, when they busted this guy, they found Holford's dog tags and a couple of teeth he was getting ready to show Holford's mother." "Were they authentic?" "The tags were, the teeth weren't." "What about Osbourne?" "What do you want?" "Another Polish dog?" " What?" " No." "If Holford is still alive, he is potentially a big embarrassment to the agency." "I told you before, Osbourne's a sweeper, remember?" "So he'll kill Holford if he finds him." "I didn't say that." "Well, that's what sweepers do, isn't it?" "So you know about Jack Holford?" "We know he worked for your company and was a killer in Nam." "We were all killers, every one of us, even your admiral." "Maybe I should have said murderer." "Semantics." "Is Holford alive?" "Why don't you ask A. J?" "He's the one who left him behind." "The CIA sent Osbourne after him." "They must think that Holford's alive too." "Or they're just buying insurance." "Oh, for God's sake, what is so hard about this, Laura?" "I just..." "I just need two or three weeks, that's all." "That's all I need." "You'll see I've changed." "Changed?" "Phil, you're so drunk I want your car keys." "It's over." "No, Laura, it is not over." "Not yet." "Easy, fella." "Well, I guess one sailor's not enough for her, huh?" "Commander Rabb?" "Sorry to bother you, Judge." "In here, it's Laura." "And you are?" "Sarah MacKenzie." "Pleased to meet you, Sarah." "Anything?" "Just a lot of questions." "Did the admiral ever talk to you about a man named Jack Holford?" "Jack Holford..." "He served with the admiral in Vietnam." "No, not that I recall." "But I didn't even know A.J. Served in Vietnam until I quizzed him about his ribbons." "The truth is, he's told me very little about his past." "And about this prank the other day, nothing." "Is it unreasonable to think that love should rank above some stoic warrior ethic?" "He probably just wants to protect you, ma'am." "I don't want protection." "I wanna share things." "He has no right to shut me out." "It's not his fault, ma'am." "It's what he's been trained to do." "But the admiral's smart, and smart people can be retrained." "Even the old ones?" "I have no opinion about that, ma'am." "Well, right now he doesn't even wanna see me until all this is settled." "Well, maybe that's best." "No, commander, that's not what's best." "And it's time your admiral learned that." "Yes, ma'am." "Laura, damn it." "What are you doing here?" "Making chicken soup." "My mother always said that tough times go much easier with chicken soup." "Now, A.J., you're gonna come in here and we're gonna eat dinner." "And then we're gonna have a nice long talk." "Don't move." "A.J.!" "No!" "No!" "Oh, God." "No!" "No!" "No!" "Pulse, 110 and thready." "BP, 80/35." "Five units O-negative stat." "Let's push her fluids." "Normal saline IV." "What the hell happened to this woman?" "She stepped on a mine." "In Virginia?" "Systolic blood pressure is below 90." "Systolic still dropping." "She's distended, must be bleeding internally." "Prep ECR." " Flatline." "She's in full arrest." " She stopped breathing." "Stand by to V-fib." "Standing by." " Clear." " Clear." "Give me 220." " Adding 20." " Clear." " She's still flat." " Got no response." "Getting nothing." "I'm gonna call it." "Time of death, 7:14." "You can bring him in." "Disconnecting the CSS." "Respiratory therapist call CCU." "Respiratory therapist call CCU." "Hey." "Hey." " Where is she?" " In O.R." " All right." " Phil?" "What?" "She's dead." "No." "No, no." "No, she..." "She can't be dead because we talked this morning about us getting back together again." "I'm sorry." "Wait a minute." "Wait a sec!" "Wait a minute!" "Wait a second, wait a second." "Did...?" "Did she ask for me?" "She was in shock." "She couldn't talk." "Was she in pain?" "She's gone, Phil." "Let it go." "She was my wife." "And I got a right to know how she died." "She died alone." "Just like you and I will." "Well, I should have been with her." "I should have been with her because I'm her husband, not you!" "She's dead because of you!" " Is it strong?" " Not strong enough today." "I sent flowers to the funeral home on behalf of the JAG staff." "Good idea." "I'm sure the admiral will appreciate it." "How is he?" "Well, you know the admiral." "He's pretty tight-lipped." "Bud has dug something up for us." "I know." "A goat." "I can't believe I'm laughing after what happened." "Well, you know, Mac, life goes on." "Exhuming that goat saved Midshipman Danvers' six." "Tell her, Mr. Roberts." "Well, since Bill died of natural causes, the commandant reduced the charges to wilful misappropriation, which he's willing to dismiss if Midshipman Danvers buys a new goat." "And walks a hundred hours of punishment tours, which should keep him marching until the end of the year." "But it's a far sight better than being dismissed from the academy." " Nice lawyering, Bud." " Thank you, ma'am." "Listen, Bud, having that goat exhumed by Graves Registration got me thinking." "There's a lot of stuff coming in from Vietnam these days." "Now, I know it's a long shot, but maybe something has come in on Holford." "Well, that's a real long shot, Harm." "Well, that's why people buy lottery tickets, Mac." "I'm gonna go over there." "Well, who's investigating the booby trap?" "The Virginia State Police turned it over to the FBI." "Since we're working long shots, I'll see how that's going." "Meet back here at 1500 hours?" "Good idea." "I'll take Bud with me." "Yes, sir." "Let's go, Bud." "Sir, Mr. Osbourne's here." "Tell him to make an appointment." "Sorry, sir, he got past me." " Should I call security?" " No." "I might order them to shoot him." "That will be all, Tiner." "Aye, sir." "I'm sorry about Judge Delaney, A.J." "I know she must have meant a great deal to you." "You have no idea." "And it must be even more difficult knowing that the bomb was meant for you." "You said that you don't believe in ghosts." "Well, I don't either." "But Jack Holford is out there alive." "And he's after you, I'm sure of it." "Why?" "You tell me." "He's one of your boys." "Okay, I will." "Jack was a little bit overzealous." "A bit?" "That kind of passion can be misunderstood, even detested." "Some men, young men, who still think that some kind of decency is possible on a battlefield might even think that he was worse than the enemy." "Sounds like you're describing yourself." "Your SEAL team fragged Holford, didn't they?" "There you sit, the head of JAG, and you either committed or condoned a murder." "Get out of here." "I hope he gets you, A.J., before more innocent people die." "How long have you been sitting there?" "Ten minutes and seven seconds." "I snuck in." "Marines have a way of doing that." "Even JAG lawyers." "Admiral Chegwidden send you?" "No, I'm here on my own." "Unofficially?" "And I suppose you want me to tell you everything I know about this booby trap?" "Yes, please." "Well, that's nice." "No one around here says please or thank you." " Well, thank you is my favourite word." " Yes is mine." "That depends on the question." "Dinner, at Enzio's on Wisconsin." "Saturday night." "Yes?" "Yes." "So far I've only identified the explosive, C-4." "But this trigger mechanism, it..." "It's unusual." "I think once I identify it, we might have something." "Can I help?" " Should I lie?" " No." "Sit down and be quiet." "Thank you." "Hanoi wants to normalize relations with us, sir, but the government wants a full list of the MIA's and POW's first." "The government's not the only one." "So Hanoi's been flooding us with personal effects." "Most of it's probably stuff that the Gls left behind, but we have to check it all against the MIA lists." "Here we go." "Holford, Jack." "Hey, he was CIA." "Anything of his here?" "Well, there is a box with some items that might be his, but it hasn't been positively identified." "What are the items?" "Except for his dog tags." "Well, there's photos, reading materials, some miscellaneous stuff." "Can we see them?" "I guess so." "I mean, you being JAG and all." "Is there anything in here about a Commander Harmon Rabb, Sr?" "Let's see." " Rob?" " Rabb." "Romeo, alpha, bravo, bravo." "Nope." "Nothing." "Follow me." "Sir?" "Yeah, I'm coming, Bud." "Platinum Panther." "That's worth a lot of money now." "Except for this one has a coffee stain on it." "Oh, no, that's not coffee, that's blood." "Recognise him?" "That's Admiral Chegwidden." "Admiral?" "I saw a photo of your SEAL team at Graves Registration." "Along with Holford's dog tags and a comic book." "Platinum Panther." "I was hoping you'd say that, sir." "I told you he was dead." "Yes, sir, you did." "But somebody's trying to kill you, admiral, and dead or not, Holford's involved." "Why?" "Talk to your boys out of fragging me, lieutenant?" "Or did they elect you to try?" "Give me your weapon, Jack." "I'm placing you under arrest." "You can't arrest me, A.J. I'm not..." "He was shot in the heart." "I was taking his pulse when Charlie hit." "He was dead so I took cover in the jungle with my team." "I called in air support, beat them back." "When I got back to the hut, Holford was gone." "Well, he was obviously killed by the VC, sir." "They hit us with automatic weapon fire, commander." "Holford was killed with a single shot, pistol shot." "And I never reported that." "Vietcong had pistols too, sir." "Don't try to rationalise it for me, commander." "I've been doing that enough over the years." "If I hadn't, Laura would be alive." "No, she wouldn't, sir." "Whoever set that booby trap for you was not avenging Holford." "Now, how do you know?" "Assassins don't have avengers, admiral." "Maybe it was his ghost." "Not his ghost, sir." "His spook." "The trigger used to activate the booby trap was developed in 1992 for the CIA." "Osbourne." "I'll kill him." " Prove he did it in court, sir." " You prove it." "I'm killing the bastard." "You tortured yourself for not reporting what might have been a murder." "How are you gonna feel committing one?" "We'll get him, sir, in court." "I promise you." "No." "You don't get scum like Osbourne in court." "But you're right, commander." "As much as I'd like, I can't kill him." "Do you think he meant it?" "About not killing him?" "I hope so." "Tiner, the admiral in?" "He's waiting for you, sir." "Your will is ready for your signature, sir." "You aren't going to read it, sir?" "You did what I asked, didn't you?" "Yes, sir." "Then I don't have any need to read it, do I?" "Try out my chair, commander." "My guess is it'll be yours in a couple years." "Go ahead, Rabb." "It's not gonna turn you into a growling old salt." "You'll have to grow a couple stars for that." "It fits you, Harm." "He's gonna kill Osbourne." "Why else would he resign?" "I'm afraid you're right." "Sir, I found him." " The admiral?" " No, Holford." "He's alive." "Impossible." "The admiral swears he was killed in Vietnam." "You were at Graves Registration." "You saw the stuff." "I showed Chief Stroud's widow the photo you gave me of Holford with the admiral's team." "And she said that the day before the chief died in the car accident, a man who looked like Holford's father came to their house." "The photo was taken 27 years ago." "Holford would look like his father now." "Well, it could be a coincidence." "Someone who looked like him." "I don't think so, ma'am." "I have Holford's address, sir." "37 Elm Street, Middleburg, Virginia." "Harm, we've got to find the admiral before he kills the wrong man." "Okay, Mac, you take the admiral's house." "Lieutenant Roberts and I will run down Webb." "He's our best chance to get a fix on Osbourne." "Jack?" "Jack's dead, Gayle." "A.J." "You set me up." "Like a deer at a salt lick." "Lose it." "Now, out the back the way you came." "Let's go." "If you wanna kill me, you do it here." "I'm not going anywhere." "Do you remember how Jack slaughtered that village chief in Tao Lai?" "You wanna die like that?" "I don't wanna die at all, admiral." "I'm not an admiral, I resigned, but you heard that." "You knew I bugged your office?" "I had it swept 15 minutes after you left." "That means your JAG officers are in on it." "You kill me, they're abetting a murder." "I know you, A.J." "You wouldn't do that to them no matter how much you hate me." "They're not in on it." "I set them up just like I did you." "No, I heard that young lieutenant say that he spoke to Chief Stroud's widow." "My sister Adele." "She always did love doing summer stock." "Move." "We got Webb." "Give me a heads-up as soon as you get there." "This better be good, Rabb." "I've got the first soft shell crabs of the season waiting." "Get in." "Admiral Chegwidden's about to take Osbourne down." "You're kidding?" "Would I make you miss the first soft shell crabs of the season?" "Sir?" "What about me?" "Sorry, Bud, Mr. Webb has priority seating." "Go back to headquarters." "I'll call you as soon as we got him." "Water." "Thanks." "Go to hell." "Is that where it happened?" "You know damn well where it happened." "You planted the mine." "No, I swear." "Why would I?" "If I wanted to kill you, the bomb Sunday would have been real." "Because you like to watch me sweat." "You and Jack both always got your kicks out of watching people in pain." "Did you see the pain Laura was in?" "Did you?" " No." " The hell you didn't." "You wouldn't have missed it for a million bucks." "I know you, Gayle." "You were out there somewhere, watching." "Move." "Still the honourable man, A. J?" "It's a wonder you survived all these years." "Not so honourable, Gayle." "Not anymore." "You can't leave me here." "I didn't mean to kill her." "The booby trap was meant for you." "I thought you'd find it and disarm it." "It was the Magida case, wasn't it?" "You humiliated me, A.J." "The company sent me to Zaire after that one." "There is nothing in Zaire except Ebola, for God's sake." "Why did you kill Chief Stroud?" "Well, he was dying anyway." "He had cancer." "He had a couple of months." "I just used him to set you up." "Hell, half the country applauds Kevorkian for what I did." "He's so loud, we could have planted this mike in Arlington and picked this up." "It'll never stand up in court, you know?" "It doesn't have to." "What would happen if the company heard this tape, Clay?" "They'd put a sweeper on him." "Osbourne would disappear faster than a..." "Than an Ethiopian chicken." "A.J." "Please." "Please tell me if this thing can be disarmed!" "Please!" " Did you get it?" " Every word, sir." "Mr. Webb?" "Lt'll be heard by the appropriate people, admiral." "Thank you, Mr. Webb." "How long do you think he'll wait there, sir?" "Not long." "He'll try to disarm it, but it can't be done." "I gotta see this." "Don't go down there, commander." "It is a training mine, isn't it, sir?" "No!" "It was a training mine." "Of course." "Why'd you stop me, sir?" "To watch would be taking pleasure." "That's what he did."