Free All Due Respect by Vicki Hinze

“Then, at the moment, he has no need to know.”
    Julia saw the logic in that. Pullman was thousands of
    miles away, unable to do anything, so why drag him into the net and risk further comprising security? “What about lab Security or the Home Base team members?” she asked. She knew the answer, but she wanted it official.
    “No, not a word about the theft,” Agent 12 confirmed. “And no one is to know an investigation is in progress. That’s vital.”
    “Is this the best possible course of action?” Julia squinted against the harsh glare of the fluorescent lights. “Being unaware, another team member could divulge crippling information to the thief.”
    “I hope so.” Agent 12 gave her a solemn nod. “When the theft seems to go unnoticed, the thief is going to doubt that he or she stole the right sensor codes. If the right codes had been stolen, then the lab would be locked down and a formal investigation launched. Security, OSI agents, Intel, a team from the Inspector General’s office—everyone would be swarming the place, crawling up everyone’s backside and down their throats, right?”
    “Yes,” Julia answered. They would be in everyone’s face with microscopes, digging into professional and personal relationships, sifting through every tidbit of data, much of which would prove insignificant but had to be investigated and verified to be dismissed.
    “So the absence of an investigation, and of anyone seeming to notice a theft in a high-security area has occurred, makes doubt gnaw at the thief. He needs confirmation.” The agent gave her a steely look. “When he seeks it, he tips his hand. We’ll know it.”
    “It’s our best shot,” Seth agreed.
    “That’s the way I see it.” Agent 12 stood up. “Keep me posted on anything unusual. Even if it seems trivial. Sometimes what seems insignificant makes the case.”
    Julia gathered her purse. “Nothing about a theft in a Black World vault’s inner lab is insignificant, Agent 12.”
    “True.” He nodded an apology. “I’ll have someone review the Security films. Maybe we got lucky and the cam
    eras picked up your badge being switched, Dr. Holt. If not—”
    “I know.” Seth dipped his chin. “I’m guilty until proven innocent.”
    “I’m afraid so.” Agent 12 turned his gaze to Julia. “Theoretically, I should pull Dr. Holt’s clearances until this matter is resolved.”
    Julia glimpsed Seth out of the corner of her eye. He fully expected she would ask Agent 12 to do exactly that. And she should. But she hesitated, wavering, and then did the only thing she could tolerate doing, though she cursed herself as a damn fool for it. “I’ll accept responsibility. As I said, I noted the badge had been switched before the theft. As far as I’m concerned, Dr. Holt has already been proven innocent of the security breach.”
    She’d said and meant it. Now she had to hope she could live with it—without regret, and without creating more demons.
    WHY had she done it?
    Seth closed the Lexus’s passenger door, glanced at Julia through the window, and then walked around the hood and got in on the driver’s side. He still couldn’t figure it out.
    Julia hadn’t accepted personal responsibility for him out of a sense of loyalty. When it came to security breaches, she had no loyalty. She might not be convinced he was guilty, but she doubted he was innocent. No way had he misinterpreted that.
    She sat silently, staring straight ahead, her purse in her lap. Something strange was going on with her, right down to her name. Jeff and the kids called her Dr. Julia. Understandable. Dr. Warner-Hyde was a mouthful for six-year old kids, and confusing, with a “Mr. Warner” also teaching at the same school. But why had she introduced herself as “Warner” and dropped “Hyde” from her surname at Grayton?
    Seth cranked the engine, pulled out of the OSI parking lot, and then headed back across base toward the office. At
    the intersection of Powell