The Captain's Lady (13 page)

Eric rose again and paced several steps before sitting back down in the leather chair behind the mahogany desk. He leaned back, feeling his brows knit together in confusion and weariness. “What else is it?"

Rising again, Joe took the chair across the desk from Eric. Joe pursed his lips together before continuing. “A charge has been laid against you for sexual harassment.” He let several seconds pass before adding, “By Gail Carruthers."

The ringing vibrated in his ears, silencing every clank and thump on board. Time seemed to stop. Blinking as he tried to regain steady ground, he wondered for just an instant if someone had blindsided him. “Huh.” A strange sensation ensued: confusion, uncertainty that this must be a mistake, a sick joke.

"You heard me right; she filed a report of sexual harassment."

Eric leaped out of the chair, slamming his palms down on the desk with a loud smack and bouncing the chair off the wall. “Are you fucking kidding me? This has to be a joke!"

Anger and disbelief shimmered in Joe's eyes. “Sorry. No joke. She filed the report directly with command. The Admiral's Assistant sent me a copy. I guess she figured if she filed with me I'd try and bury it."

Eric felt fire burn in his cheeks. Pressure built inside his head and he clamped his hands to his temples, afraid the anger would spew all over the room. “Why that conniving, fucking, lying little bitch. I want her off my ship now!"

Joe leaned forward in the chair. His expression was sober. “You can't touch her right now. She's not going anywhere pending an investigation, and just so you know, she's already asked to have you removed as Captain.” He raised his hands up, palms forward. His reaction helped stem the sputter of curses exploding from Eric's mouth. As sobriety sunk in, he winced at his own crude reference comparing Gail to a donkey's ass.

"I'm just giving you the heads up right now,” Joe added. “They're not going to replace you."

Joe spoke calmly and evenly, but as Eric thought about the ridiculous accusation, the anger popped back to the surface. “Just let them try and replace me!” He flung his hands in the air then slapped them on the desk again. The intensity made the pencil can jump. The intensity soared as he looked for any outlet to drive the point home.

"Want to hit me?” Joe asked, smiling. Eric allowed a small chuckle too.

"Look, you need to be smart about this, Eric. I know the charge is bullshit and so will the higher-ups, but you know how it is right now. As soon as the press gets wind of this, there'll be a spotlight to rival those in Vegas. We need to disprove this quickly and quietly, and make it go away."

Eric leaned forward, resting his forearms on the desk. “As soon as we do, I want that fucking bitch off my ship.” The words were intentionally sharp so there would be no misunderstanding. The silent nod from Joe was an acknowledgement that yes, she would be gone and that they would beat this together.

"As the Captain of this ship I need the details of the incident. As the accused I am entitled to know what I'm being accused of. What I really want to know is, when did this supposed incident happen and what is it exactly that I am accused of doing to her?"

"She said it happened in sickbay—yesterday as a matter of fact. Abby was asleep. You brushed up behind her and...” He paused to clear his throat. A telltale blush rose in his cheeks. He lowered the husky voice and continued, “You cupped her butt, gave her a tight squeeze, and told her to go into the bathroom so she could, and I quote, ‘let you fuck her.’ She said she refused and you threatened her with reassignment, along with putting her on report for some incident you would create if she didn't cooperate.” Clearing his throat again, Joe propped a hand under his chin and rubbed it back and forth. His gaze met Eric's squarely.

Eric's eyebrows lifted—he felt the tightening in his forehead. He blinked as though trying to close out the brash boldness of her story. Jabbing a forceful finger in the air, he grimaced at the disgust of the accusation. Then he burst into laughter. It took him a moment to recover and add, “You know this whole thing is a bunch of crap. Who the fuck would want to fuck her? You've seen her. Shit ... anybody in their right mind ... shit, I can't believe—"

Unable to form a complete sentence he laughed again at the incredulity of the situation. Clasping his hands behind his head, he leaned back, while shaking his head back and forth in utter amazement.

He closed his eyes, furious at that moment about having women on his ship. He had fought for so long and hard to keep them out of the Navy and was frustrated when his superiors told him to “back off,” that this wasn't a fight he was going to win. Although saying they agreed with him in principle, they advised him to exercise a bit of control when expressing his opinion. The senior officers were compelled to keep any of the women billeted on the ship under their direct command, at a careful distance from him. Eric was aware of their efforts and, although impossible on a ship of this size, it had definitely limited interaction with the women onboard.

He remembered the few encounters he did have, with only one or two recriminating speeches. “
You have no business being in the Navy. You should be home looking after your husband and being a mother to your kids. Tend to your home, be a good role model for your kids, and be there for them. You have no business gallivanting all over the place, trying to make yourself into a man, when what you are is a woman."

He knew this reputation of being a hard-nosed chauvinist preceded him and the women serving under him had learned either by rumor or personal experience to give him a wide berth. There were even a few overwhelmed by his good looks—he'd often been told he was good looking—that truly believed they could convert him. Some even dared cross the rigid military regulations of fraternization, and had been harshly put in their place. He recalled when it had finally sunk in. His good friend, Vice Admiral James, a man who had been a father figure to him, had laid it out plain and simple: unless he stopped voicing his opinions, this would escalate, having a negative effect on his career. Rather bluntly, James urged him—in an in your face kind of way—to find a way of dealing with his issues.

Eric shook his head, haunted in that moment by all the treachery he'd experienced from women, first his mother, then the female caregivers in the foster homes he lived in, now this. He was sure there was much talk aboard expressing total surprise that he'd even look at Abby.

He met Joe's sympathetic gaze. “Gail's story. It's not what happened. I dismissed that stupid twit as soon as I got there. I didn't want her to bother Abby."

"Was Abby awake?” Joe asked.

Running his fingers through his hair, he closed his eyes and took a breath before responding. “No, I think she woke up shortly after."

"So then it comes down to your word against hers."

The seriousness of the situation hit Eric like a freight train. Looking over to meet Joe's pensive gaze, he was very aware of his friend's efforts to lighten the mood with an artificial smile. The only thing that gave it away was that all the light had gone out of his eyes at the gravity of the situation.

"Does the crew know?"

Joe shook his head and waved his hand toward the door. “Some of the officers do, but they know its bullshit. The crew doesn't know yet, but I'm sure they will by day's end. You know I can't stop news like this. It's impossible. You can be sure Gail is making sure everyone knows. You know, create dissension in the ranks. Get people on her side."

Eric couldn't contain the flow of curses from his mouth. “Morale is low enough with news of the extension in our deployment. Now this. You can bet the crew will be taking sides. Yeah, this will cause problems, all right."

"Eric, I want to talk to Abby. To see if she remembers anything Maybe she can clear up this whole thing before it goes any further."

Shaking his head, not willing to budge, Eric's warning was clear. “No, Joe, leave her out of this. She's too shaky. For now, let's just look at other avenues. I'm going to put a call into the admiral and see what help I can get from him."

Joe's cheeks pinched into red balls, and Eric expected him to voice a dissenting opinion. But he said nothing. Standing, he reached for the file on Eric's desk and gathered up the strewn papers. Then he paused. “Eric, I know you're angry. You have every right to be, but I need to warn you again: be smart and avoid Gail. Don't allow yourself to be alone with her anywhere on this ship, for even a minute. Don't give her that kind of power. Okay?"

Eric gave only a dismissive wave in response. His mind was busy with his defense.

Joe opened his mouth as if to say more, and then shook his head and closed his mouth. He spun on a heel and strode to the door. With a slight hesitation in his step before leaving, he pulled the door closed behind him.

Standing outside, he clenched his fists and made a silent promise. If this charge did not clear up right away, he would talk to Abby with or without Eric's permission. Eric would take his hide off if he found out. But he would do everything he could to make sure his friend did not end up with a charge as serious as this against him. There was a lot at stake, not just the end of his career, but he could be facing some serious jail time.

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Chapter Fifteen

Unable to get hold of the Admiral, Eric left word with his assistant that he needed to talk to him right away. Running on sheer adrenaline, he knew there was no way he could sleep right now, not after this news. Eric gave a head shake in an attempt to free himself from the overwhelming bitterness he felt for Gail. His thoughts turned to boxing, not just a workout on a bag, but to what he really needed, to work out his aggression in the ring.

Eric couldn't remember ever feeling such a loss of control. Maybe a few rounds on a bag would help work out the weighted tension. Better yet, he envisioned a picture of Gail's head pasted to the leather as he pounded away at it. That thought brought a twitch of a smile to his lips.

It was already 0700. He wiped his face with his hands. The preceeding minutes had brought some peace of mind. He hated when the cutting edge of his raw jumbled nerves became exposed for all to see. Right, right, then a quick left jab, working a pattern as he pounded away. He allowed the force of the blows to rock the 80-pound black bag chained to the pipe above.

Out of breath he stopped, sweat dripping from his forehead and soaking his shirt. Drained now, weariness seeped into his bones, making him feel far older than his thirty-five years. Eric could not help the direction his thoughts were taking as they drifted back to Abby. Concerned, he felt a desperate need to check on her, for his own peace of mind. Shower first, though.

In the past, he would have painted all women with the same brush. Only since meeting her, was there now some flicker of awareness that, unlike Gail, Abby would never be able to pull something this despicable.

Pushing away from the bag, he used his teeth to rip the Velcro encircling his wrists on the well-aged faded gloves. Eric dumped them in his duffel and grabbed a towel to wipe his face. He tilted back his head and sucked down the water from the bottle he'd packed with his gear. He pulled in the last of the liquid, then sucked a breath as he swiped the wet dribbles from his mouth with an equally wet forearm. Sapped of energy—and sour thoughts—Eric headed for his room.

Petey stood there, hand raised in midair about to knock. Sighing, Eric anchored his hand over the top of the door to lean on it, his bag slung over his shoulder. He realized the scowl was still on his face when Petey suddenly swallowed, the color drained from his face, and his eyes widened in wariness. He was holding a stack of folders.

Eric was not in the mood to review anything right now and he conveyed that in his tone, advising quite sternly that he was expecting a call from the admiral. “Notify me as soon as it comes in. I'm going to grab a shower then head to sickbay."

As he squeezed pass Petey, he was stopped by the warm words of support. “I was real sorry to hear of what Gail Carruthers did, accusing you like that. Me and the boys know none of it's true and would like to help if there's anything we can do, sir."

Eric hesitated before asking. “How well do you know her?"

"Well ... not real well, but my friend Ernie Biggs in engineering says she hit on him a few times, only he didn't like her, said she was trouble. He said she likes to recruit others to do her dirty work, makes things up about people. He said trouble follows her."

He listened with keen interest, all the weariness suddenly forgotten. Petey gave an account of what his friend said. It was then that something clicked in his memory, a vague flicker of recognition that he'd heard something a while back along the same line. It was about an incident involving Gail and another commanding officer.

The ringing in his ears was like the blast of an early warning beacon. Why hadn't he red flagged her before? Eric made a mental note to check into the details of that prior incident. He vowed to find out everything about this girl and the deceptions that lurked around her. He cringed when the thought struck him: whoever promoted her here did it to keep her quiet, but why? He rubbed the back of his neck. Why had he overlooked so much?

"What was that, Captain?” Petey asked nervously.

Eric gave a startled intake of breath, realizing he'd cursed quite obscenely. He waved his hand for Petey to ignore him, as he decided to track down Joe. He could handle checking into Gail's background—if he hadn't already started. Joe was just that efficient. Eric let his hand drop to his side. “Sorry, Petey, I was distracted. You were saying?"

He crossed his arms and listened with consideration as Petey related the rest of the information he had heard about Gail, eagerness bouncing off him as he continued a steely recant of all the gossip aboard the ship. Eric usually didn't condone such behavior, but at this moment he was unable to reprimand the young sailor; the information might be useful. For just a moment, Eric felt like a life preserver had been extended to him. The power of finding out every secret of the enemy pulsed with prominence through his mind.