By the time Forensics had come and gone, the MPs had turned the investigation over to another officer, a captain, who immediately called his boss. Smart move, Morrison thought, though she didn’t say so. She could feel Hong’s anger from a meter away, and no captain wanted to “investigate” an angry major with a split lip. Two hours had passed; the light was fading under the clouds, and the temperature had dropped.
“Can we move this inside?” Morrison asked. “It’s getting chilly out here.”
“I’m sure when Colonel Peleu gets here, he’ll do that, Sergeant Major, but he said to stay put.”
“Yes, sir,” Morrison said. She glanced at Hong and let the shift of her weight from one foot to the other convey sympathy. He relaxed a trifle.
Colonel Peleu wasted no time on the way, and soon seven people were crowded into Morrison’s small front room. Peleu turned out to be a quick, efficient analyst. He asked a few pertinent questions the MPs had missed, and then turned to Hong. “Major Hong, what was the purpose of your coming to the sergeant major’s quarters? Was the sergeant major under suspicion?”
“No, sir,” Hong said. “She had discovered earlier today that her office security had been compromised in her absence, while she was on remote duty.” He went on to give the details, including what he’d found was wrong during his team’s examination of her office and those on either side. “So I called the sergeant major, who said she was out on a run with her dog, and told her I wanted to check out her residence as well. I don’t know why someone would be hacking her security.”
“Sergeant Major, do you know why someone would be hacking your security?”
“No, sir, not with any certainty. I was on a classified mission, whose results are Level Two classified. It’s possible someone wanted to find out what that was about.”
“You can’t tell me.”
“No, sir, not without authorization from Colonel Nedari.”
“I think Colonel Nedari needs to be notified of this problem,” Peleu said.
“I sent a message to Colonel Nedari, suggesting he have his own security tested,” Hong said.
“Excellent. Any response?”
“No, sir.”
“I believe the colonel said something about taking his family to Falls Park today,” Morrison said.
“Ah.” Peleu jotted something down. “He may have turned his personal com off, if he took a day’s formal leave. He’ll get his message when he comes back, then.”
“I still need to go over this house,” Hong said. “And Forensics needs to go over that other van—they didn’t while they were here.”
“It will be towed to the main lab,” Peleu said. “If you’d like one of your techs to consult, that’s fine.”
“If those two were part of the hacking team, they might have tried to remove equipment they put in here,” Hong said. “It might be in that van.”
“Thank you,” Peleu said. A little edge to his voice told Morrison that he’d already thought of that. Hong took the hint, she noticed.
Peleu finished up quickly and turned as he was leaving. “Sergeant Major, I’d appreciate it if you’d stay in contact range; were you planning to leave base in the next twenty-four hours?”
“Sir, my dog’s lame; I know that man kicked her and hit her, and I want to take her to the vet when this is over with.”
“Oh—of course. Who’s your vet?”
“Off base. Kris Stevenson at Petsational. Depending on the diagnosis I might be there several hours.”
“Not a problem. In fact, there’s no reason to confine you to base; you didn’t create this mess. Just let me know if you want to go beyond Port Major, or if you’re assigned another trip.”
“Yes, sir. If they want me to work downtown—if the work on my office on base takes too long—I do have a downtown apartment. The address is on file, of course, but I could give it to you now.”
“On file’s fine. I need to get this organized and see if Colonel Nedari has shown up from wherever he went. Good day, Major Hong, Sergeant Major.”
Morrison looked at Major Hong. “Sir, I would like to go out and check my dog.”
“That’s fine. We’ll be about a half hour in here, and if you need to take the dog to the vet, we can lock up for you.”
Ginger flinched from touches in more than one place. Morrison didn’t feel any broken bones, but the right hind paw was swollen and might have been stepped on. “We’ll get you fixed up,” she said. “You’ll probably spend a night or so at the clinic.” And she wouldn’t have to worry about anything happening to the dog while she was at work.
She called Kris on her skullphone and explained a little of what had happened and her assessment of Ginger’s injuries.
“We definitely need to see her,” Kris said. “When will you be here?”
“I’ve got law enforcement in the house,” Morrison said. “They’re estimating another half hour, and then I’ll put her in the car…”
“If she’s that uncomfortable, I’d put her in her crate now—it’s not hot, leave the windows open—and let her rest. How many steps up to your back door?”
“Two.”
“Any chance of broken ribs?”
“Maybe, but though she’s tender I don’t think she’s that tender.”
“See if she’ll accept a sling so you can part-lift her. Call me when you leave. Oh, and nothing to eat or drink. Her, not you.” Kris closed the call.
And Ginger had of course wolfed down the treats before Morrison realized she was hurt. She had to remember to tell Kris that when they arrived. Getting Ginger into the house and then out to the car and into her car-crate took much longer than usual. Ginger was clearly in pain now, putting no weight on that swollen hind paw. Morrison had just finished when Major Hong came out with his techs.
“There was intrusion here as well. We believe we’ve eliminated it. I want to put a warning seal on your doors. It’s barely possible your downtown apartment has also been hacked, but frankly I doubt it. You should stay there, or with friends, tonight. Get what you need out of here, and let us seal it.”
“Yes, sir,” Morrison said. She packed quickly: uniforms, civilian leisure clothes, the papers she’d been working on from the safe, stowed all that in the car, and watched as Major Hong put official NO ENTRY seals on all three doors. Then he and his two techs got back in their van and drove off.
Rusty Rustowsky came across the street. “They’re shutting you out? You need a place to stay for a few days?”
“Thanks, Rusty, but I’ve got that spare downtown, and I may be staying overnight with the vet. I’m taking Ginger there now.”
“Think she’ll be all right? Brave dog—that scum was really whaling on her.”
“I think so. Just as soon nobody knew where I was headed, though. This mess has gotten bigger all day.”
“Gotcha. Best of luck, Sergeant Major.”
Kris and Irene met her in the clinic driveway with a gurney. “We’ll slide the crate right onto it; she won’t have to move and we can slide her onto the table. Could be broken toes, and maybe a rib, from what you’ve said.”
Morrison watched through the surgery window. Ginger lay flat on the table, with Kris and Irene both working on her. Irene came out to explain. “A couple of broken toes, all right. We got them aligned; she’ll be in a splint for at least four weeks, crated most of that time. Best keep her here, since you’ll be on duty.”
Morrison nodded. “Whatever she needs.” She would see to it that the man who broke her dog paid for the vet bills. Good thing he was in custody. She stayed with Ginger in recovery while Kris and Irene dealt with a string of more ordinary appointments. When Kris came back to see how Ginger was doing, Morrison asked, “Did you ever know a Master Sergeant MacRobert?”