In the Dark (23 page)

Understanding cleared his furrowed brow. His expression softened, then reflected humor as he chuckled out loud. "Ah,
querida,
all this anxiety is for nothing."

"What do you mean, nothing?" she demanded, angry that he should laugh at her.

"I'm retiring from the Navy in sixty days. The paperwork is done. My future is yours, if you still want me," he added with appealing modesty.

"You're retiring?" she repeated, stunned. "But you said that the Navy was your life, that you couldn't imagine doing anything else."

"That was when I met you. You have caused my dreams to change," he said simply.

Those words summoned a fresh flood of tears.

"Now I want a different life," Sebastian continued. "I want to finish my car so that you don't shudder every time you look at it. I want to make a home for our baby."

Stunned disbelief gave way to melting gratitude. Leila regarded him in amazement. In one simple sentence, he had banished all her fears.

"Better now?" he inquired.

There were challenges still to be faced, of course. Raising a baby, if there was one, to be healthy and happy was no small task. They would have to compromise on issues of faith. Deciding where to live—his place or hers? Both too small.

But with Sebastian at her side, those challenges were adventures to be anticipated. No hurdle was too high when they climbed it together.

"Much better," she confessed, loving him so much her heart felt near to bursting.

Oceana Naval Air Base Trial Services Building
1 October ~ 11:02 EST

Hannah had to admit that Commander Lovitt cut a fine figure in his dress-white uniform. The short, silver strands of his hair reflected the sunlight streaming through the courtroom's four tall windows. The colorful ribbons pinned to his uniform vied for space over his left front pocket. He answered the prosecutor's questions with remarkable credibility and not a second's hesitation.

Captain Bart Garret had coached him well.

Hannah sat in the second row immediately behind Jaguar's family—his pretty blond wife and his teenaged daughter. Wedged between Luther and Westy, her legroom was almost nonexistent. SEALs sat shoulder to shoulder on the defendant's side of the courtroom, making seating tight.

Representation on the prosecution side, on the other hand, was limited to mainly senior Navy personnel—Lovitt's colleagues—newspaper journalists, and the prosecuting attorney's unremarkable wife, who apparently followed her husband to work.

As Lovitt's lies began to mount, Hannah stirred, her backside sore from sitting on the hard bench for two hours while the prosecution strengthened its case. Its first witness had been a young SEAL, P03 Rodriguez, who testified that he'd escorted Jaguar on board the USS
Nor'easter
on the morning of August the nineteenth. Jaguar had grown increasingly disoriented. He'd seized Rodriguez's gun and shot the commander in the forearm. Then he'd shot Rodriguez in the chest, narrowly missing his heart. Rodriguez had been released from the hospital only days ago.

Commander Lovitt had taken Rodriguez's place on the witness stand and was telling a similar tale. At one point, his gaze collided with Hannah's. He'd looked quickly away, stuttering as he seemed to lose his train of thought.

"Plagued in what way?" Garret was asking. With his hawkish features and long, long legs, he reminded Hannah of a stork.

"Plagued with paranoia," Lovitt elaborated. "We've all heard of veterans who go off the deep end. The farther we went out to sea the more Lieutenant Renault lost touch with reality. I assured him that I was turning the boat around. P03 Rodriguez was getting very nervous and fingering his weapon. That was when the lieutenant jumped him. I tried to pull him off, and the weapon discharged. It cracked the glass in the pilothouse. Lieutenant Renault snatched the weapon out of Rodriguez's hand and shot me. Right here in the forearm."

"Commander, kindly show the courtroom the wound you sustained when Lieutenant Renualt fired upon you."

Lovitt uncuffed his sleeve and rolled it back to reveal a healing scar.

Garret thanked him, sending a disdainful look at the defendant's table, where Jaguar sat ramrod straight with his chin held high, to Hannah he looked anything but crazed.

"You may continue, Commander," the lawyer exhorted.

"Well, I lost consciousness briefly. When I came to, the pilothouse was empty except for Rodriguez who was lying in a puddle of blood. I was sure he was dead. I could hear gunfire up above me and coming from the back of the boat. I could also hear a helicopter circling. I thought, thank God, the MPs are here. They'll subdue Renault before he kills anyone else.

"But it wasn't the MPs," Lovitt added, shaking his head gravely. "Renault had summoned his platoon members, somehow. I don't know what kind of story he told them, but they'd fast-roped from the helo and were firing on the duty personnel."

"How many sailors were aboard the PC that day, Commander?"

"Just three. It was a Sunday."

"Did the sailors provoke the SEALs to shoot at them?"

"Of course not. They never had a chance, poor bastards. The SEALs would have mowed them down. But it was Renault who took my weapon, a .45-caliber pistol, and picked them off from behind."

"You saw this happen?"

"Yes. First I radioed for assistance. Then I left the pilothouse in search of another weapon. That was when I caught sight of him on the deck above me. He fired on two of the sailors who were taking cover below. He shot their legs out from under them," he added, his voice cracking in horror. "They were writhing in agony, incapable of defending themselves, when he hauled them to the deck rail and pitched them overboard to drown. God, it was terrible!"

From the corner of her eye, Hannah saw Luther tip his head to one side and then the other, betraying tension in his neck. Lovitt had missed his calling for the silver screen.

"When you saw the accused throw the men overboard, what was your response, Commander?"

"I made my way to the machine gun mounted on the forecastle. It was the only weapon left to me."

"Then you weren't using it to fire on the circling helo.”

"Good God, no. The Osprey is a multimillion-dollar helicopter. I wouldn't dream of shooting at it."

"Tell us how it came to be destroyed, Commander."

"Lieutenant Renault came after me. I threatened to shoot the Osprey if he jumped me, but he did anyway. My fingers flexed on the trigger, and the chain gun spewed a half-dozen rounds. Some of them struck the tail rotor and the pilot lost control. The bird dropped into the ocean."

"What did the accused do then?"

"He put me in a choke hold. He was trying to kill me," Commander Lovitt added with convincing drama. "There is no doubt in my mind."

Westy muttered a string of curses that sent Hannah's eyebrows toward her hairline.

Garret turned his attention to the judge, the glum-looking Admiral Pease, whose poker face betrayed no response to Lovitt's story. "Your Honor, I am finished questioning this witness " Garret announced. "At this time I relinquish him to the defense."

Finally! It was Commander Curew's turn to take the floor. As the defense lawyer approached the bench, Hannah noted with dismay the creases in the woman's uniform.

“Commander," the young lawyer began, her wavering voice betraying intimidation, "you say that you initially intended to have Lieutenant Renault back on your team. Please enlighten the court as to your reasons."

Lovitt glanced at Jaguar, his expression regretful. "Before his captivity, Renault was once a promising young officer. I thought he deserved a second chance."

"Before?" Commander Curew jumped on the word. "Is it not true that as a prisoner in the People's Democratic Republic of Korea, my client retrieved valuable intelligence which will be used to fight the war on terror?"

Lovitt's shoulders twitched. "That is true," he conceded.

"And were you not commending Lieutenant Renault for his bravery the day that you lured him out onto the PC.”

"Lured?" He took offense to her word choice.

"With the promise of return to active duty," she explained.

"He was more than eager to accompany me aboard the vessel," Lovitt protested.

"And yet, within moments of boarding, you claim mat he expressed unwarranted fears and misgivings? You claim that Rodriguez, feeling nervous, fingered his weapon. Is it possible, Commander, that Lieutenant Renault had good reason for feeling threatened?"

"No, no. Rodriguez kept his weapon pointed at the floor. It was Jaguar who snatched it out of his hands. He shot me for no reason!"

"In regards to the .45-caliber pistol that you carry out at sea, had you withdrawn the weapon at this point?"

"No. I was stunned. I couldn't believe I'd been shot by one of my own men."

"And then you fainted."

"Yes."

"In that case, you never actually saw Lieutenant Renault fire on P03 Rodriguez."

Lovitt blinked. "Well, that's correct, but no one else could have done it."

"And when you regained consciousness," she continued, ignoring him, "Rodriguez was bleeding and the lieutenant had left the pilothouse. It was then that you heard gunfire."

"Yes."

"Coming from the rear of the boat."

"Correct."

"Why would the SEALs shoot at unarmed sailors, Commander?"

Lovitt searched for an answer and shook his head.

"Was it possible that the sailors on board had weapons and were firing back? After all, P03 Keyes was shot while attempting to fire an antitank gun into the heart of the patrol craft."

Lovitt seemed unprepared to answer the question. "Well, certainly there are weapons in the armory aboard the boat," he allowed. "The sailors may have armed themselves to protect me, but I never saw their weapons." He slanted a nervous glance toward the prosecuting attorney.

"If there are weapons aboard the PC, Commander, why didn't you arm yourself with one of them?"

"I couldn't have moved toward the aft portion of the boat without being seen," he argued.

"I see. So you thought to protect yourself by threatening to shoot the V-22 Osprey helicopter but you had no real intention of firing at it."

"Objection," Captain Garret sang out. "Your Honor, the defense is making my client repeat the same testimony that he has already given. Where is her argument?"

Admiral Pease sent a disapproving frown at the defense counsel. "Commander, if you have an argument, kindly get to the heart of it."

Commander Curew drew herself up with indignation. "Very well. Allow me to offer an alternative interpretation of the events occurring on board the USS
Nor'easter
on August the nineteenth." In a surprisingly clear narrative, she presented the version that the SEALs would shortly attest to, suggesting that Lovitt had secrets to hide and, hence, a motive for killing Jaguar, which he had attempted to do the year before in North Korea.

Throughout her narrative, Lovitt remained impassive, but Hannah imagined she could see tiny beads of sweat forming on his brow.

As Commander Curew concluded her argument, Captain Garret came to his feet. "Your Honor," he opined, his tone dripping with scorn, "the defense makes a mockery of your courtroom with her fantastical interpretation."

Admiral Pease frowned down at Commander Curew. "You are leveling some heavy allegations, Commander," he observed. "It is my hope that you are not wasting this court's time by leading us on a wild and wasteful goose chase."

"Your Honor, I will prove to this court that my statements are valid and that my client has been wrongfully accused."

"Hmmph," said the admiral, clearly unconvinced.

The faces of the jury also reflected skepticism.

Just wait,
Hannah thought With all the evidence they had stacked against him, and a
little bit
of luck, Commander Curew was bound to make good on her promise. Jaguar would walk away a free man, and Lovitt would spend the next decade or so behind bars.

But by four in the afternoon, the direction of the trial was still uncertain. As Commander Curew had predicted, Captain Garret hindered her argument repeatedly, calling into question the validity of every scrap of evidence undermining Lovitt's integrity. While the burden of proof was supposed to fall upon the prosecution, it didn't seem that way to Hannah.

With little progress made, the trial was called into recess until the following morning.

Though they'd been sitting still for the better part of the day, the SEALs were slow to file out of the benches. Luther looked around at his companions' long faces. "Let's go to Rascal Jack's " he suggested. "We need to let off steam."

"What's that, a bar?" Hannah asked, rubbing her sore backside.

"It's a pool hall," Westy answered, watching Garret's wife as she waited for her husband
to
finish conferring with his assistant.

"Do you play pool?" she asked Luther.

"Westy does."

She looked back at Westy, whose gaze hadn't wavered.

"You've been staring at that woman all day" she told him.

"She's good," he said, stepping to one side so she could sidle by him.

Hannah took another look. Mrs. Garret wore no makeup, a beige dress, and tucked her mousy brown hair behind her ears. "Good at what?" she wondered out loud.

"Being invisible," he replied, his blue eyes bright with curiosity. "Makes me wonder why."

Hannah snorted. "Isn't it obvious? She doesn't want to be here. Her husband's an ass, and she's miserable."

Westy cut her a startled look.

“Come on," Hannah urged. "She's not your problem. I'll challenge you to a game of pool."

"Just so you know, Westy's going to win," Luther divulged, shepherding them toward the exit

"Well, thank you for the vote of confidence," Hannah retorted, "but you've never seen me play "

When he'd made his suggestion that the SEALs head over to Rascal Jack's, Luther hadn't counted on Hannah being the center of attention. Not that he could blame the SEALs, old and young alike, for gathering around her stool.