The man nodded. "It is good." He motioned Carlos to move the cart in the other direction. "Vamanos."
"Senor?" The older man was confused. "Como?"
The supervisor took him by the arm and led him off, leaving Duks, Dar and Kerry in the hallway facing the closet door. "Well?" Dar held her key up. "Do we?"
Duks shrugged his broad shoulders.
"Ker?"
Kerry also shrugged, lifting her hands slightly.
"Hey, you in there." Dar banged on the door. "If I open this, so we can talk, you cool it or you're gonna hit the dirt again, got me?"
"Ah." Duks exhaled gently. "That is the Dar I know."
"You better open this door! Don't worry, I'll talk. I'm not into physical abuse like you are."
Dar shook her head and stuck the key in the lock, turning it and shoving the door open. She spread her arms out and flexed her knees a little, wondering if their erstwhile captive was going to come out swinging.
As it happened, she didn't. The woman walked warily out, giving Dar a dour, suspicious look. "Hope you've got a good lawyer."
"You too," Kerry advised her. "Especially since you attacked me while trespassing."
"I didn't attack you." The woman scoffed.
"Yes, you did," Kerry responded evenly, "after I surprised you in the act of burgling Dar's office. So if I were you, unless you want to have this discussion with a police officer, I would start cooperating.?
The woman studied her, then flicked her eyes to the rest of them. "This isn't what you think," she remarked, reaching into her back pocket, halting when Dar reacted. "Take it easy," she cautioned, removing her wallet and opening it. "Here. See?"
She held out a card.
Dar took it, and glanced at it. "Military intelligence," she repeated slowly. "Interesting."
"My father always claimed that was an oxymoron," Kerry murmured.
It wasn't the reaction the woman had clearly been expecting. "I don't think you quite understand what's going on here," she said. "You're the subject of an investigation."
"Let's go inside." Dar indicated the outer door to her office. "Louis, maybe we have an answer to your issue as well."
"Perhaps we do," Duks agreed. "Perhaps we do."
The woman looked from one of them to the other. "Do you understand that this is a serious situation?"
"Do you understand that we quite probably issued your paycheck on this very past Friday?" Duks retorted. "Do not threaten us with the government. We know better. Now, please go inside, or else, as Dar says, we shall call the police."
"Yeah," Dar agreed. "Wait--let me ask you one thing." She addressed the woman, "Are you from the Army?"
The woman looked warily at her. "Yes."
Dar's eyes narrowed and she snorted softly, as she closed the door behind them.
DAR TOOK A seat behind her desk, and Kerry perched on the edge of it. Duks sat in one visitor chair, and their unwelcome guest elected to remain standing.
"Okay," Dar said, "Explain to me why I have a member of military intelligence breaking and entering in my office."
The woman smirked. "It's really simple," she said. "My boss assigned me to break in here and blow wide open your reputation for security." She spread her arms and turned. "And I did."
"Why?" Kerry asked.
"What?"
"Why did your boss ask you to do that?"
"Hey, I don't question my orders." The woman held a hand up. "I just do what I'm told. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a report to file, and believe me I'm going to enjoy it." She looked at Dar. "You made all kinds of claims, lady, and you run all kinds of things for the US Government. It really pisses me off that you're so full of shit."
"Now, wait a minute..." Kerry started to stand up.
"Oh, don't bother." The woman waved her off. "Please, let's not even get into this little conflict of interest perversion the two of you have going here."
Dar's eyes narrowed slightly. "I'd watch it if I were you."
The woman snorted. "If you cooperate, and you're very lucky, my boss might consider just getting all the government's contracts cut quietly, and not blast it all over the papers." She looked at Dar. "I wouldn't because I think you stink. But he might, because he thinks you could be useful to us."
"Does he?" Kerry said. She turned to her partner. "Dar?" Her voice trailed off as the pale blue eyes pinned hers, and she read Dar's expression. She quietly turned back around and folded her arms, watching the intruder in silence.
"I think he's nuts," The woman stated frankly. "But he's the boss." She held up a cell phone. "And now I can call him and tell him what I found." She started dialing, the smirk plastered seemingly permanently on her face. "And believe me, you're gonna pay for hitting me."
Dar had her fingertips steepled, and she regarded the woman with a surprisingly benign expression. "Kerry?"
"Hmm." Kerry glanced at her.
"Call the police," Dar said. "Tell them we've caught someone breaking and entering in the office. Tell security what's going on, and have them send a couple of officers up here."
The woman stopped dialing and stared at Dar. "What?"
Kerry picked up the phone and dialed.
"You didn't quite catch what I said, did you?" the woman asked Dar. "My boss wants to keep this quiet."
"I don't," Dar replied. "If you legitimately blew our security, then I want it out in the open."
Duks stared at her, his eyebrows lifting. "Ah, Dar..."
"We're a public company, Duks."
"Of course I know that," he said.
"She's here. She had a password into the system or else someone left the machine logged in. It's legit. I'm not hiding it," Dar stated flatly.
Duks subsided with a thoughtful look.
"Thanks." Kerry finished speaking into the phone. She depressed the hook then dialed again. "John?" Kerry Stuart. I need a few of your guys up in Dar's office right away, please."
"Matter of fact?" Dar went on. "When you're done with that Ker, put a call in to corporate communications. We'll need a press release."
The intruder slowly let her hand drop, with the cell phone in it.
"You're not serious."
"Sure." Dar half shrugged. "Don't worry. I'm sure your boss will be glad to explain to the press why you're here, and we'll be glad to explain how we found you, and how you were stopped from committing theft of proprietary technology that had nothing to do with security on any government account."
The woman's expression switched to wary. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't you?" Dar inquired. "Well, then you've got no problem when the police take your fingerprints and match them against what's on the keyboard of the machine I confiscated from our Xerox room." She got up and circled her desk advancing on the woman. "You want to play in the big leagues? Fine, tell your boss, Captain Mousser, he can come down to Dade County jail and bail your ass out."
There was a soft knock on the door. Kerry crossed over and opened it standing aside to admit two of their night security guards. Unlike the day guards, the night men tended to be a little more serious, and these two, she knew, were off duty police officers. "Gentlemen, I found this person inside this office. The cleaning supervisor confirms she does not work for them. We've called Metro-Dade."
"All right, ma'am." The guards took up positions on either side of the intruder.
"Better call your boss now," Dar advised the woman. "I'm not sure what you'll be able to do once the police get here."
"How did you know his name?" the woman asked. "I didn't tell you that."
Kerry had been wondering the same thing herself.
Dar merely smiled. "Guess we all have our little secrets, don't we, Lieutenant?" She commented. "It's going to be interesting watching him--and you--explain why you were investigating government account security in a building that doesn't house any of it, of course."