“Bud.”
Lieutenant Roberts turned to his wife. “Yeah, Harriet?”
“Commander Rabb said he’d be able to watch little AJ for us.”
Bud smiled. “I’ll have to thank him.”
“Bud, he also suggested that we stay for the weekend.”
“We’re going to leave AJ with the Commander for an entire weekend?” he asked in shock.
Harriet smacked her husband on the arm. “Bud, calm down! He’ll be fine. Besides, it was his idea.”
“Well, maybe AJ will help him get his mind off things...” was Bud’s answer.
~~~~~
1850 hours
Harm looked at his rearview mirror and smiled at his godson. “So, AJ, how does McDonald’s sound to you?” AJ smiled and nodded excitedly. Harm laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he said, turning on his signal.
Ten minutes later, they were seated in a booth. Harm sighed as his thoughts went to Mac. *Damn, I thought AJ would help me keep my mind off her!* He loved Mac so much. The day on the ferry, when she had called him on it, he was taken aback. Harm already had his mind on the murder case and he wasn’t expecting Mac to bring it up. He ignored the comment because he wasn’t ready to reply to the questions she had. Mac seemed to have given it some thought. Of course, he could have told her to ask him again later, but he didn’t.
And the next day, she was “promised” to Mic Brumby.
As soon as he saw the ring, he knew he couldn’t make a move. As an officer and a gentleman. All he wanted was for Mac to be happy and if that’s what made her happy, then he was happy. Harm was ready to rip Brumby’s heart out and throw it into the Atlantic when he found out Brumby had betrayed Mac’s love and trust. What had hurt this naval officer the most was the fact that Mac, his partner for three years, and best friend, truly believed that he had beat Brumby. But the Australian wasn’t beat up, it was all a plot to get Harm away from Mac. And it almost worked, too. Luckily, Mac had followed Mic and his friend, Darien, where she witnessed the two of them attacking Harm. The Admiral, proceeded to have Mic deported.
A french fry hit Harm in the head, breaking him out of his reverie. “AJ Roberts,” Harm said sternly. “Stop throwing those fries or no playland.” AJ stopped in mid throw. Instead of tossing the fry, he popped it into his mouth. Harm smiled and took the last bite of his garden salad. Little did he know that the two were being watched.
~~~~~
Josie Anderson sighed. She had been so upset when her son, Michael had been taken from her and her boyfriend, Bobby. It was a little over a year ago. The police suspected child abuse. She was shocked. She had never in her life beat up a child, let alone smack one. How could anyone think of such a thing? Josie knew that she had to find another child to take the place of Michael.
“Bobby, what do you think of that little boy? Isn’t he adorable?”
Bobby looked at the child his girlfriend was pointing at. He was perfect. “Yeah, Josie, we could definitely pass him off as ours. Of course, “daddy” will have to be taken care of.”
“I think we should keep “daddy” alive and if he doesn’t want to cooperate, we can threaten the kid. What do you think?”
“I guess that would work,” Bobby replied. “Lets wait outside for them.”
~~~~~
Harm looked at his watch. It was 1930. He attempted to find his godson in the sea of children. He finally did. “AJ, lets go,” he told the boy. AJ immediately came out of the playland. *What do you know, he actually listened.* Harm thought. He noticed that a few of the men standing next him weren’t have such an easy time.
“How did you do that?” One man asked him as AJ brought his shoes to Harm.
Harm shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe kids tend to listen when they’re not being told by their parents.”
“You’re probably right. I don’t suppose you could call my sons...?”
“Sure, what are their names?”
“Josh and Nick,” the man said pointing to two boys wearing Pokemon T-shirts.
Harm nodded. “Josh, Nick, come out now, that’s an order!”
The man watched in shock as Josh and Nick climbed out of the playland. “Are you in the military or something?”
“Navy,” Harm replied extending his hand. “Commander Harm Rabb.”
“David Williams,” he said as Josh pulled on his shirt.
“Dad, we were having fun in there!” Josh whined.
“I know, but your mother will have my head if we don’t head home now.” The boys nodded and got their shoes.
“Well,” Harm said, taking AJ’s hand. “It was nice to have met you, but we’ve got to go.”
“Nice to have met you too, Commander.”
~~~~~
“Piggy back ride!” little AJ squealed. Harm laughed and lifted him up on his shoulders. The two just got outside when Harm had a really bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“Unca Ham?” AJ asked confused.
Before Harm could reply, he felt AJ being pulled away from him. “Hey!” he growled, turning around. Just as he did, he felt a blinding flash of pain and everything went dark.