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Harm didn�t like how they were all splitting up, if only for a little while, but everyone assured him that they would be extremely careful and that they would call if there was even the slightest sign of trouble.
Within an hour everyone was at Harm�s and there hadn�t been any incidents. There was a collective sigh of relief as they all sat down in the living room together, dressed in civvies, food cooking in the kitchen and drinks chilling in the fridge.
�This is really a beautiful apartment,� Carolyn said, glancing around.
�Thanks,� Harm said. �I did most of the work myself. It�s� kinda a work in progress, though.�
�How long have you lived here?� Coates asked, biting her tongue to stave off the �sir� that was begging to come out.
�About six years,� Harm said. �Mac still thinks I�m crazy,� he added.
�The first time I was ever here was thirty-two minutes and forty-eight seconds after we met, Harm, and the place looked like a war zone, only without the fun,� Mac said. �You didn�t even have your fridge plugged in. You just stuck a cooler inside it and buried your beer in bags of ice.�
Harm rolled his eyes and Sturgis laughed. It was such a Harm thing to do�save space by keeping the cooler inside the fridge while foregoing the pleasures of electricity to do other things around the apartment.
�You only knew each other for half an hour before he got you into his apartment?� Carolyn asked Mac, her eyebrow arched and her voice laced with innuendo.
It was Mac�s turn to roll her eyes. �We met and were sent on an investigation right away. I had my bag packed, but Flyboy here needed to make sure he had his Cubans with him.�
�My cigars were the last thing on my mind,� Harm protested.
�Yeah. Right,� Mac scoffed. It felt wrong to be smiling, but they all knew that Harriet, one of the happiest people they knew, wouldn�t want them to be depressed. �You packed more cigars than you did clothes, Harm.�
�I wasn�t expecting to have to go undercover in civvies, Mac. You could have filled me in on what we were walking into before we left DC,� Harm replied.
�What were you investigating?� Sturgis asked. He had been told the story of how they met in the Rose Garden after Harm was awarded his first Distinguished Flying Cross, but he hadn�t been told anything about their first case together.