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Harm guided Mac out of the elevator with a hand at the small of her back. His partner was just barely more alert than a zombie, grief, hunger, and exhaustion coming together to take all the fight out of Sarah MacKenzie. She had dozed for a few minutes in the car and Harm could tell she was seriously in need of a cappuccino, preferably in a nice warm bed, as she had once said to him. He hoped she would settle for a chair and stale coffee laden with sugar from the break room.
Sturgis and Carolyn had already arrived and were in the Admiral�s office. Jennifer Coates was searching through a filing cabinet and fighting a yawn as she told them to go right in. Harm and Mac stood at attention when they came in the room and the Admiral shot them a harsh glare. �There is no need to stand on ceremony tonight,� he said before indicating for them to sit down in the two remaining leather club chairs.
�Have you been able to reach Meg?� Harm asked as he poured himself and Mac coffee from the tray on the sideboard. The Admiral always had good, strong coffee, courtesy of Petty Officer Jennifer Coates.
�She�ll be landing at Dulles at 0545. Harm, you can pick her up and bring her here, right?� Chegwidden asked. Harm nodded. �I also called the SecNav and he�s going to send over papers in the morning to make this all official, including her permanent transfer to this office.� Harm nodded again. He was incredibly relieved that someone he trusted implicitly would be running the investigation. He was also looking forward to seeing his old friend again and working with her once more. �There isn�t much we can do tonight, I�m afraid. Until all this is settled I don�t want any of you to go anywhere alone, understood?�
A four-part harmony of �yes sir� was the Admiral�s response.