Free In the Dark by Marliss Melton Page A

word that she was alive and helping them. He'd do whatever it took to keep her quiet.
    And Luther was just getting used to having her around.
    Naval Air Station Annex Dam Neck
22 September ~ 23:03 EST
    Hustling Hannah into the Spec Ops building at twenty-three hundred hours proved ridiculously easy. Master Chief had left word with the duty officer that the woman escorted by Lieutenant Lindstrom should have access to the building, with or without identification.
    It was late at night, the building deserted with the exception of the duty officer, a young ensign new to Team Twelve. He'd snapped Luther a smart salute and waved him through the checkpoint, not bothering to divest him of his weapon when the alarm went off.
    Luther carried Westy's pistol, not that he expected to use it in this highly secured building. Westy, in turn, was armed with Luther's MP-5, keeping an eye on the building's doors from the vantage of the parking lot.
    "This way." Luther urged Hannah down the empty hallway. The new, high-pile carpeting muffled the sound of their footsteps. He shivered with cold and an unusual case of the jitters. No one had bothered to turn off the air-conditioning, and with the temperatures moderate outside, the air in the building was downright chilly.
    Seeing a light at the end of the hall, Luther hesitated. He realized with a sense of foreboding that someone was working near the archives room, even at this late hour. And the only soul who had a habit of working late was the CO's secretary, Veronica.
    Talk about your worst-case scenario. Well, God damn! He cursed under his breath, drawing a curious look from Hannah as he came to a dead stop.
    "What?" she inquired.
    "We need to come back later."
    "Why?"
    But it was too late. The chair in the office squeaked, and there was Veronica, peering around the corner to see who was whispering in the hallway. She looked back and forth between the two of them. "What are you doing here?" she demanded of Luther, darting a disdainful look at Hannah's attire.
    Luther ground his back molars together. "We have business in the file room," he stated, heading doggedly toward it.
    Veronica's pretty face reflected skepticism. "Really?" she mocked. "And I suppose your friend, here, has top-secret clearance."
    "Actually, I do," Hannah said calmly.
    "She doesn't have her CAC card," Luther interrupted, making reference to the Common Access Card. "I'm letting her in with mine."
    "I don't think so," said Veronica with that smile that meant she was going to be a royal bitch.
    "She's cleared," Luther insisted.
    "Not if she isn't in the system," Veronica retorted, her dark eyes flashing.
    "This system?" Hannah indicated the thumbprint scan mounted next to the archive door. "Depends on whether it's synched to the larger database." Stepping closer, she inputted in her PIN and pressed her right thumb against the screen. It matched her print to the database, requesting that she insert her CAC card. "Like he said, I don't have my card, but it recognized me." She sent Veronica a pointed look.
    Veronica's eyes narrowed as Luther scanned his own thumbprint and inserted his card, releasing the lock on the secured door. He hustled Hannah inside before his ex-fiancée found a way to interfere.
    "Does she always work this late?" Hannah asked as Luther flicked the light switch. Soft halogen lights winked on, exposing row upon row of filing cabinets.
    "Only when she's going home with the officer on duty."
    Hannah gave him a long, perceptive look.
    "Forty-eight file cabinets," Luther commented, diverting her focus from him to the task at hand. "And two computers."
    "Do you have an account on these computers?" Hannah inquired.
    "All officers and senior enlisted have accounts."
    "Then we'll start by finding a comprehensive list of all the weapons stolen. That's got to be listed on a Navy Website somewhere. We'll cross-reference the list with all the missions that Lovitt was involved in or knew about. If his name comes up more