True Honor by Dee Henderson Read Free Book Online Page B

reset the security alarm. “The hotel was a bolt-hole, designed to be a safe place to disappear. This is more of a cover blind, a place to list as my residence that will hold up to the basic levels of a background check. And it is home, as much as any place on the East Coast is. Of course the cover blind in Paris is a bit more interesting.” She put her suitcase in the backseat and slipped into the passenger seat. “You’ll need to take a left at the light.”
    “That was your territory? Europe?”
    “For the majority of my years in the Agency.”
    He followed her directions out of Bethesda toward McLean, Virginia.
    “Would you mind one more stop?” Darcy asked. “The corner deli up ahead. I need good coffee for the upcoming hours, and I probably ought to drive the last mile to headquarters as security will pitch a fit with you. I don’t suppose you’re carrying three kinds of photo ID and your passport?”
    He laughed. “I’ve got my charm.”
    “That and waking up the Department of Defense liaison officer ought to do it.”
    He tossed over his wallet. “There’s probably a Navy ID in there somewhere.”
    SEPTEMBER 10
    Monday, 12:24 a.m.
    Central Intelligence Agency / Langley, Virginia
    Traffic circled around the I-495 Capital Beltway to the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Virginia, and a few cars took the exit marked with a small brown sign to the George Bush Center for Intelligence CIA/FHWA. The night shift was already here, but those who worked the European desks often preferred to work Europe day hours and were trickling in.
    Darcy found her two IDs as she reached the security gate. She lowered the driver’s door window and handed over her IDs and Sam’s Navy photo ID. She endured the flashlight in her face, then the beam moved to travel around the interior of her car and stopped on Sam. Darcy blinked away the spots in her vision and reached for the coffee mug in the cup holder. “DIA will have called down clearance for Sam.” The security checks would take a few minutes.
    “That stuff will kill you.”
    The voice helped her place who was on duty tonight. Dressed in black, walking in the dark, he’d been a man with a flashlight. Darcy blew on the coffee to cool it. “Not in the next five minutes. So far no one has tried to tamper with the coffee bean shipments.”
    “They do, and this will be a nation of sleepy, surly people. Nice to have you back, Dar.”
    He stepped into the security booth to check her ID against the clearance sheet.
    The bomb-sniffing dog jumped up to put two paws on the open window. Darcy bobbled her coffee. The German shepherd smelled the cinnamon roll she’d picked up in a moment of weakness at the deli counter. “Henry, you know as a rule I don’t share.” Her fingers were sticky with melted sugar, but she ignored the resulting mess to rub her hand under the dog’s muzzle. “You’re cute and you know it.” They were buddies even after two years of absence. Her noon jog had her passing his kennel, and he was often allowed out to run with her.
    “Down.”
    Henry obeyed his handler.
    “You’re clear, Dar. And your friend has an admiral vouching for him, so I suppose we’ll let him pass. An escort will be waiting at the front door with his visitor’s badge.”
    “Thanks, Kevin.” She accepted back the IDs, surprised at the easy treatment. She pulled into the complex and glanced at Sam as she handed him back his ID. “Your security clearance must be pretty high to get you off so lightly on the checks.”
    Sam lifted his ID and blew off a thin film of powder. “Probably higher than yours,” he offered, amused.
    “Sorry. I should have warned you they’d lift your prints.”
    “Don’t be. I’m just amazed the Department of Defense agreed to send over mine for comparison.”
    Darcy tucked her IDs in her pocket and hesitated. “Gabriel didn’t make the decision that I go alone to the meeting.” She felt it needed to be said. She knew when Sam met Gabe