Free Category Five by Philip Donlay

same questions again and again. Each barrage focused in on Donovan.
    â€œDr. McKenna. You were upside down in a wrecked car in the middle of a hurricane. I find it difficult to believe that you could be aware of different styles of footwear.”
    Lauren ground her teeth. The helicopter had whisked them directly from Dulles to DIA headquarters. She’d barely had time to change clothes, then call and check in with her mother before being called in to this debriefing. She had a million things to do and these guys were starting to irritate her.
    â€œI’m a woman. I notice things like that,” she remarked coolly. “Look. If Donovan Nash wanted to steal my computer, why did he save my life? It would have been far easier for him to let me drown.”
    â€œDr. McKenna. What is your relationship with Mr. Nash?”
    â€œHe’s a friend.” Lauren wished her feelings were as simple as her words.
    â€œYou are aware of a previous investigation centered around Mr. Nash?”
    Lauren nodded that she was.
    â€œHave you ever passed sensitive documents to Mr. Nash?”
    Lauren glared at the agent who had asked the question. “That is perhaps the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. You may have a security leak, but it isn’t me and I doubt very much if Donovan is involved either.”
    â€œWould you please answer the question?”
    â€œI’ve never passed sensitive information to anyone.”
    The door to the room opened. Lauren looked up to see her boss, Deputy Director Calvin Reynolds. Tall and thin, Calvin always made an entrance. He was in his late fifties and had been with the DIA almost thirty years. Round wire-framed glasses were perched on his hawkish nose. Each strand of his thinning gray hair was carefully combed straight back. As he did almost every day, Calvin wore suspenders. Today they were red, and matched his perfectly knotted tie. Lauren prayed that this was her chance to escape the interrogation.
    â€œIf you’re about finished here,” Reynolds announced, “I need Dr. McKenna.”
    Lauren didn’t wait for a reply. She stood and glared at the two men. “Yes. We’re done.” She turned toward Calvin and mouthed a silent thank you.
    Reynolds held the door open for her to pass, then addressed the investigators. “I’ve just received a message from the Navy. Dr. Kenneth Browning is missing. He was last seen about to board the USS
Thorn
. Now he’s vanished. They suspect he was swept overboard as they steamed toward the eye of the hurricane. One dead, another missing. I’d like some answers, gentleman.”
    Standing in the hall, Lauren could clearly hear the news of Kenneth’s disappearance. He’d been her right hand man on the project and she’d last seen him this morning in Bermuda. Laurenremembered the awkward hug he’d given her before they’d parted company. She could easily picture him waving goodbye. It was just before she and Victor had made their mad dash for the airport. Her knees felt weak and unsteady as she processed the fact that he, too, could be dead.
    Calvin turned to Lauren and said quietly, “I’m sorry about Kenneth. But with so much happening right now, I don’t have time to sugar-coat every new development. This entire project is going to hell…And me with it.”
    Lauren was still in shock. Of all her people, Kenneth was by far the nicest and least deserving of an untimely death.
    â€œBut enough of my problems.” Calvin tried to force a smile. “They’re getting ready to deploy
Jonah
. Let’s get down there and see if something good has come out of all this.”
    Lauren nodded and fell in step beside Calvin. She could feel the adrenaline begin to pump.
Jonah
was her brainchild: a state-of-the-art advancement in hurricane research.
    â€œI hope the Navy can launch it without Kenneth,” Lauren worried out loud. “That was why he