Free Running Dark by Jamie Freveletti Page B

one in the government would complain.”
    The nervous assistant heaved a sigh. “I always get my paperwork wrong.”
    Banner felt sorry for the young woman. Especially since she probably wouldn’t survive another month in the job.
    “I’ll bring Major Stromeyer.” He rang off and called Stromeyer. When she answered in a voice filled with sleep, he almost regretted his promise. “Meeting at the DOD as soon as you can.”
    She gave a small groan. “Is my presence required?”
    “The assistant asked for you specifically. I forget her name. The mousy one.”
    “Susan Plower.”
    By now Banner had his shoes on, and one sleeve of his shirt. He headed to the door with the rest of the shirt hanging off him. He snagged his car keys from a leather tray that sat on a credenza near the front door of his town house.
    “She says she’s bad at paperwork.”
    “She’s terrible at paperwork. We’ll finish the meeting, and she’llget it wrong, and then Darkview won’t get paid for an additional six months while I straighten it all out. I’ll see you in twenty-five minutes.”
    Banner walked into a DOD conference room populated with various personnel. They all looked relieved to see him, which should have made him feel good about himself but somehow only made him wary. Since Darkview specialized in missions to “hot” spots around the world, he wished someone would tell him which area had blown up. He didn’t have long to wait. He watched Stromeyer enter the room and, directly behind her, the new undersecretary for international security policy and procedure, Jonathan Rickell.
    Banner didn’t know much about Rickell except that he’d been hired when the new administration took office and that he had a degree in international studies from the same Ivy League school the president had attended. About fifty years old, fit and balding, with shrewd eyes and a reputation for having an explosive temper, Rickell had been polite but distant the few times Banner had met him. Banner couldn’t get a handle on him.
    Rickell waved them all into their seats. The Plower woman sat at his right. She glanced at Stromeyer before giving Banner a look filled with gratitude.
    Rickell cleared his throat. “We’ve learned that the situation in Somalia has taken a sudden turn for the worse.”
    Banner wanted to groan out loud. He hated Somalia. He currently had ten security contracts for shipping companies plying the Gulf of Aden trade route, but none for security within Somalia. It was one of the few places he tried to avoid sending Darkview personnel, despite the fact that Somali operations allowed for premium pricing based upon the extreme danger. There were two other companies in the contract security business that routinely handled matters there and made great profits doing so. Banner wondered why they weren’t represented at this meeting.
    “Banner, I understand that you’ve been hired to protect some ofthe ships using the trade route and may have an operative in the Indian Ocean as we speak.”
    Stromeyer gave a little jerk next to Banner, revealing her surprise. Banner held still, but he felt the dread rising in him. No one, not even Rickell, should have known that Sumner was in the Indian Ocean. Whoever was tapping them must have leaked the information.
    “I’m surprised to hear you say that. Where did you hear this?” Banner responded.
    Rickell shrugged and turned to Plower. “Who told us that?”
    Plower’s face took on a frantic look while she shuffled through a stack of papers in front of her. After an awkward silence, when it became clear to everyone in the room that she was unable to divine the answer from the documentation, Stromeyer reached across the table.
    “Ms. Plower, why don’t you hand me the forms and I’ll look for the information while Secretary Rickell continues with the meeting.” Plower gave Stromeyer a relieved nod and shoved the papers at her.
    “Well? Do you have an operative there?” Rickell