As it happened, she didn't. The woman walked warily out, giving Dar a dour, suspicious look. "Hope you've got a good lawyer."
"You too," Kerry advised her. "Especially since you attacked me while trespassing."
"I didn't attack you." The woman scoffed.
"Yes, you did," Kerry responded evenly, "after I surprised you in the act of burgling Dar's office. So if I were you, unless you want to have this discussion with a police officer, I would start cooperating.?
The woman studied her, then flicked her eyes to the rest of them. "This isn't what you think," she remarked, reaching into her back pocket, halting when Dar reacted. "Take it easy," she cautioned, removing her wallet and opening it. "Here. See?"
She held out a card.
Dar took it, and glanced at it. "Military intelligence," she repeated slowly. "Interesting."
"My father always claimed that was an oxymoron," Kerry murmured.
It wasn't the reaction the woman had clearly been expecting. "I don't think you quite understand what's going on here," she said. "You're the subject of an investigation."
"Let's go inside." Dar indicated the outer door to her office. "Louis, maybe we have an answer to your issue as well."
"Perhaps we do," Duks agreed. "Perhaps we do."
The woman looked from one of them to the other. "Do you understand that this is a serious situation?"
"Do you understand that we quite probably issued your paycheck on this very past Friday?" Duks retorted. "Do not threaten us with the government. We know better. Now, please go inside, or else, as Dar says, we shall call the police."
"Yeah," Dar agreed. "Wait--let me ask you one thing." She addressed the woman, "Are you from the Army?"
The woman looked warily at her. "Yes."
Dar's eyes narrowed and she snorted softly, as she closed the door behind them.
DAR TOOK A seat behind her desk, and Kerry perched on the edge of it. Duks sat in one visitor chair, and their unwelcome guest elected to remain standing.
"Okay," Dar said, "Explain to me why I have a member of military intelligence breaking and entering in my office."
The woman smirked. "It's really simple," she said. "My boss assigned me to break in here and blow wide open your reputation for security." She spread her arms and turned. "And I did."
"Why?" Kerry asked.
"What?"
"Why did your boss ask you to do that?"
"Hey, I don't question my orders." The woman held a hand up. "I just do what I'm told. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a report to file, and believe me I'm going to enjoy it." She looked at Dar. "You made all kinds of claims, lady, and you run all kinds of things for the US Government. It really pisses me off that you're so full of shit."
"Now, wait a minute..." Kerry started to stand up.
"Oh, don't bother." The woman waved her off. "Please, let's not even get into this little conflict of interest perversion the two of you have going here."
Dar's eyes narrowed slightly. "I'd watch it if I were you."
The woman snorted. "If you cooperate, and you're very lucky, my boss might consider just getting all the government's contracts cut quietly, and not blast it all over the papers." She looked at Dar. "I wouldn't because I think you stink. But he might, because he thinks you could be useful to us."
"Does he?" Kerry said. She turned to her partner. "Dar?" Her voice trailed off as the pale blue eyes pinned hers, and she read Dar's expression. She quietly turned back around and folded her arms, watching the intruder in silence.
"I think he's nuts," The woman stated frankly. "But he's the boss." She held up a cell phone. "And now I can call him and tell him what I found." She started dialing, the smirk plastered seemingly permanently on her face. "And believe me, you're gonna pay for hitting me."
Dar had her fingertips steepled, and she regarded the woman with a surprisingly benign expression. "Kerry?"
"Hmm." Kerry glanced at her.
"Call the police," Dar said. "Tell them we've caught someone breaking and entering in the office. Tell security what's going on, and have them send a couple of officers up here."
The woman stopped dialing and stared at Dar. "What?"
Kerry picked up the phone and dialed.
"You didn't quite catch what I said, did you?" the woman asked Dar. "My boss wants to keep this quiet."
"I don't," Dar replied. "If you legitimately blew our security, then I want it out in the open."
Duks stared at her, his eyebrows lifting. "Ah, Dar..."
"We're a public company, Duks."
"Of course I know that," he said.
"She's here. She had a password into the system or else someone left the machine logged in. It's legit. I'm not hiding it," Dar stated flatly.
Duks subsided with a thoughtful look.
"Thanks." Kerry finished speaking into the phone. She depressed the hook then dialed again. "John?" Kerry Stuart. I need a few of your guys up in Dar's office right away, please."
"Matter of fact?" Dar went on. "When you're done with that Ker, put a call in to corporate communications. We'll need a press release."
The intruder slowly let her hand drop, with the cell phone in it.
"You're not serious."
"Sure." Dar half shrugged. "Don't worry. I'm sure your boss will be glad to explain to the press why you're here, and we'll be glad to explain how we found you, and how you were stopped from committing theft of proprietary technology that had nothing to do with security on any government account."
The woman's expression switched to wary. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't you?" Dar inquired. "Well, then you've got no problem when the police take your fingerprints and match them against what's on the keyboard of the machine I confiscated from our Xerox room." She got up and circled her desk advancing on the woman. "You want to play in the big leagues? Fine, tell your boss, Captain Mousser, he can come down to Dade County jail and bail your ass out."
There was a soft knock on the door. Kerry crossed over and opened it standing aside to admit two of their night security guards. Unlike the day guards, the night men tended to be a little more serious, and these two, she knew, were off duty police officers. "Gentlemen, I found this person inside this office. The cleaning supervisor confirms she does not work for them. We've called Metro-Dade."
"All right, ma'am." The guards took up positions on either side of the intruder.
"Better call your boss now," Dar advised the woman. "I'm not sure what you'll be able to do once the police get here."
"How did you know his name?" the woman asked. "I didn't tell you that."
Kerry had been wondering the same thing herself.
Dar merely smiled. "Guess we all have our little secrets, don't we, Lieutenant?" She commented. "It's going to be interesting watching him--and you--explain why you were investigating government account security in a building that doesn't house any of it, of course."
The woman looked around the room. "This is..."
"The government systems are handled through our Houston office," Kerry told her quietly. "The Miami Ops center handles commercial accounts. Surely you knew that, right?"
Dar folded her arms as she watched their unwelcome intruder. The woman half turned and dialed a number, keeping her face averted and covering the mouthpiece of her phone with one hand. It was still a bad situation, she knew. There had been a breech, and there was no real way for her to whitewash it, save by the few details she'd already thrown forth.
Well, that, and the fact that the woman had not been successful in obtaining anything while she, Dar, had been watching. No telling how long she'd been at it and no telling what she'd sucked down when Dar hadn't been looking, since she wasn't apt to spend her evenings browsing the network.
Kerry sidled over to her side of the desk and eyed her, her back turned to the room and her expression open and very emotive.
Dar scrunched up her own face into a wry half grin in response, and both her shoul
ders moved slightly upward.
"We are so screwed." Kerry mouthed silently.
Dar nodded, keeping the same expression.
Surprisingly, Kerry now shrugged in return. "Oh well." She mimed.
Equally surprisingly, Dar understood the sentiment, and agreed with it. In the corner of her mind, a tiny bit of her ego was soothed by the knowledge that the breech, when it had come, hadn't come through her network. It had come, as security cracks often did, through the human end of the equation.
"Check the logs," she uttered softly. "Find out who logged into that workstation today."
Kerry nodded and slipped off the desk, crouching behind it and pulling Dar's keyboard over to her. After a moment, she knelt instead and rattled the keys, focusing her attention on the screen instead of the rest of the room.
The woman turned around and approached Dar, pausing when the security guards intercepted her with quiet, yet distinct intent. She held the cell phone out. "My boss wants to speak to you."
Dar let her wait while she considered the request. Then she got up and came around the desk, taking the phone and perching on the corner of the wooden surface to talk into it. "Yes, Captain?'
Kerry looked up from the monitor. "Dar?" she interrupted gently. "Marketing admin, four p.m., logoff twenty one hundred plus."
Dar's nostrils flared.
"That is an odd location for that resource." Duks commented. "Perhaps I should call Eleanor."
Dar blocked them out for a moment to listen to the phone. "What was that?"
"I said, Ms. Roberts, my intention was not to blow you out of the water," Captain Mousser stated.
"Not what your puppy dog said," Dar replied. "Get your story straight."
The man sighed audibly into the phone. "She's just a kid, and she doesn't understand complex politics. It was easier to just tell her that, anyway listen..."
"I'm not going to listen, Captain," Dar said. You decided to send some half assed kid in here to do god knows what, and she got caught. My bad for not running my own building services crew. Your bad for not doing your homework. So now we'll just let the press decide which one of us is the bigger asshole."
"Roberts, will you chill out?" the Captain hissed. "You're making this into a big deal, and it doesn't have to be!"
"You don't think trying to steal proprietary code is a big deal? I do!" Dar snapped back. "I don't give a rat's ass what your intent was, Captain! Figure out how you're going to defend that!"
There was a moment's silence. "Hey, that was just opportunistic," the Captain finally said. "She had a chance to go grab it so...you can't blame me! We've been trying to find a back door into that place for a week, and..."
"Mister, you are so screwed." Dar was merciless, though inwardly relieved she'd solved at least one mystery. "I'd get my ass down to Dade County jail if I were you, and bring cash. They don't take credit cards or government PO's." She got up and limped back around the desk, pausing to look out the windows at the moonlit sea.
Pressing a hand against the glass, she suddenly wished more than anything she was out there. A sigh fogged the window, and she looked up to catch the reflection of Kerry's sea green eyes gazing out at as well. Their glances met, and held.
"Roberts! Roberts! Jesus! You want this on page one? Really?" The Captain's voice rose. "C'mon! Get real!"
Dar turned and sat down. "I'd rather that, than have you holding some bullshit piece of nothing over my head. Get it out in the open, and we'll deal with it." Her mind was already busy with figuring out how to explain the whole damn thing.
To the press. To Alastair. God. To the board.
What a mess. She closed her eyes and welcomed the casual touch of Kerry's hand on her shoulder. Kerry didn't say a word, but the silent support was obvious. "So if you're done wasting my time, I've got a press release to arrange."
"Roberts." Mousser sighed. "Look, you have something to offer. Your skills are something I really, really want to add to the team I have supporting the country. Don't you care about your country? Don't you want to help it out?"
"I do my part providing civilian jobs, thanks," Dar said. "Are we done?"
"C'mon, Roberts, you're not a communist," he coaxed. "Uncle Sam's Army wants you."
"I'm gay," Dar stated the obvious.
"We can work around that."
Kerry's eyes nearly came out of her head as she listened.
Dar glared at the phone. "I'm a Navy brat." She added, "And my dad's a retired SEAL."
Silence. "Okay, that's a problem," he admitted. "But listen; can we chalk this one up to patriotism? Let my girl out of there, and we keep this between us."
Dar's phone rang. Kerry answered it. "Okay, thanks." She looked at Dar. "Police are downstairs."
Dar hesitated, considering their options. Duks chose that moment to come around the desk and lean close to her. He put a hand over the cell and caught her eye.
"This is not the explanation for our other problem, my friend. If you can avoid the publicity, do so." He murmured under his breath. "We have much bigger issues to deal with right now."
Dar hated swallowing her pride, but she hated making stupid mistakes even more. She gave Duks a brief nod, then lifted the phone back up. "All right," She snarled. "But you're gonna have to come up with some damn good assurances that your light bulb here isn't going to open her mouth to half the earth, since she's so proud of what she did."
The Captain chuckled. "Leave that to me." He sounded much surer of himself now. "Now...can we talk about that little program of yours?"
Dar looked up at the ceiling. "No," she said. "Right now, I have to get the cops out of my lobby."
"Then give my soldier her phone back. I'll be in touch with you tomorrow," the captain answered smugly. "Don't worry, Roberts. This is going to end up being good for both of us."
Dar shook her head and threw the phone back to its owner. Now she had the police to deal with. What the hell was she going to tell them?
"Let me go downstairs." Kerry patted her on the back. "I'll handle the cops, Dar. Don't worry about it." She circled the desk and headed for the door before Dar could stop her, not that she had any intention of trying.
"Okay." Dar turned to the two security guards. "Escort this person out of the building. Take her picture before you do, and I want to know how and where she got the cleaning department identification card."
"Ma'am." The nearer guard took hold of the intruder's arm. "Should we file an internal report on this?"
"Bet your ass you should," Dar replied instantly. "Get her out of here."
The lieutenant's smirk had returned, but it wasn't as brazen as it had been to begin with. She had closed her phone and put it away, and wasn't resisting the grip of the guard. She gave Dar a look of triumph as she was led off, but remained silent.
That left Duks and Dar alone in the office. Dar rested her chin on her fist and regarded her friend, who gazed back with an equally serious expression. "We're in trouble," Dar said.
"Yes," Duks agreed. "And the big problem is, if it turns out my people were compromised then that is something that will be very difficult to hide. If it comes out, then this will as well."
"I know." Dar felt very tired. "Let's schedule an executive meeting first thing in the morning. We all need to talk."
"Yes. We do," Duks agreed. "This is a time for teamwork."
The ultimate in non-team players let out a long, aggrieved sigh.
"It's time for something," she muttered. "Right now, I'm thinking maybe a beer."
"Perhaps two," Duks agreed solemnly. "After you, madam."
Dar logged Kerry out of her PC, and shut it off. She flipped the lights down as they left, shaking her head all the way to the elevator.
IT WAS AFTER midnight as they trudged back up the steps to the condo, Dar leaning against the wall as Kerry keyed in the lock and opened the door. Chino corkscrewed up to greet them, and Kerry distracted the dog long enough for Dar to slip inside and close the door behind her.
>
"Ugh." Dar limped across the living room and headed for the bedroom, holding a boot in one hand. "Ker, can you check in the mailbox to see if they dropped off those drugs?'
"Sure." Kerry gave Chino a kiss on the head, and then she ducked back outside to look for the bag. It was hanging neatly on the hook under their mailbox, so she grabbed it and scooted back inside. "It's here, hon."
"Yippee." Dar's voice floated in from the bedroom. "Y'know, I used to look back on all those long nights and stressful deadlines with some kind of half assed affection." She limped back in, now dressed in just a t-shirt and her underwear. "What drug was I on?"
Kerry handed her the bag. "Why don't you sit down, and I'll grab us some hot chocolate after I change," she suggested. "I need to decompress for a while. My head's spinning."
"Go change." Dar bumped her toward the bedroom. "I'll crank up the drinks." She continued on into the kitchen and set the bag down on the counter, leaving it there while she retrieved a glass from the cupboard and squirted herself some milk.
Her foot was killing her. The long evening encased in her boot had rubbed the injury raw, and her sock had been covered in blood when she'd taken the shoe off. She perched on a stool and added a handful of Advil to the antibiotics, swallowing them all with the help of a mouthful of her milk.
Chino trotted in and sniffed at her foot, giving it a sympathetic lick. Dar regarded the dog with a wry grin, then she got off the stool and retrieved the microwavable pitcher they used for their late night hot toddies.
She filled it with milk, and added the appropriate squirts of chocolate syrup, swirling the liquid around once or twice before she slapped the lid on and gave it a vigorous shake. She pulled open the lid and considered the contents, and satisfied with the consistency she put it in the microwave.
Seating herself back on the stool, she swung her legs back and forth a few times, idly tracing a long, thin white scar crossing her right kneecap. Free of her shoe, her injured foot was beginning to stop throbbing. She cautiously wiggled her toes.
Stormy Waters: Book 10 in The Dar & Kerry Series Page 37
