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�The Admiral is investigating this?� Bud asked.
�Of course,� Harm said. �The whole office is going to.�
�What about conflict of interest?� Mac asked.
�He�s covered that, too. Remember Meg Austin?� Harm asked. Bud nodded and smiled weakly. He hadn�t gotten to know Meg very well but he had always liked her. �He�s calling her. She�s looking for reassignment and we know we can trust her.�
Bud nodded. �Meg is a good person,� he said softly. �She was the first person to push me to go to law school.�
Harm nodded, remembering his former partner.
�Come on,� Mac said gently. �We should get inside before they go to bed.�
Bud and Harm nodded soberly and they got out of the car and the three of them approached the door together. Harm shook off the d�j� vu feeling of the men coming with a priest to tell his mother that her husband was missing in action and presumed dead. Somehow he knew that this would be easier for the family to deal with. At least they had closure, knowing for sure that their loved one wasn�t out there somewhere, possibly hurt, suffering, wanting to get home but unable to. Harriet hadn�t died peacefully, and certainly not painlessly, but she was at peace now. Harm hoped the Simms family could appreciate that.
Harriet�s father, Roland, answered the door. His wife, Lydia, was trying to get little AJ into his jammies because it was already way past his bedtime. When AJ saw his father he ran to Bud as fast as his little legs would carry him and jumped into his father�s arms.
�Daddy, daddy, nana�s makin me go bed!� he complained.
�Sorry, Bud. He wouldn�t wake up from his afternoon nap so he�s a little wired now,� Roland said as he invited the trio in out of the cold.
�It�s alright,� Bud said, cradling his son in his arms.
�Unca Harm! Aunt Mac! Whadda youse doin here?� AJ asked when he spotted his beloved godparents.
�We�re here to tuck you in, little guy,� Mac said, reaching to take the little boy from his father. �Your daddy needs to do some adult talking,� she whispered conspiratorially to him as she and Harm headed off to the stairs so they could take AJ to his bedroom, �then he�ll come up and talk to you, �kay?�
�M�kay,� AJ nodded, waving to his grandparents over Mac�s shoulder.
Mac and Harm got AJ into his jammies and they tucked him into his new big-boy bed. He was so happy, and they hated knowing that in a matter of minutes Bud would come upstairs and tell AJ that mommy wasn�t coming home.