Page 33 of Sensual Nights

Jace stepped behind the bar. "Good morning."

Mason grinned. "Morning. Do you have a minute?"

"Sure. We have time before we open, let's head back to the office."

He followed Jace to the office, pulling the thumb drive out of his pocket that Carley had found. As they stepped into the office,Margo was sitting at her desk on her computer. She turned and smiled. "Morning."

"Good morning." He nodded.

Jace turned to him, "Is it okay if Margo stays or does this need to be private?"

He shook his head, "It's not private, and it's her office, too, so I'd feel bad asking her to leave." He held his hand out to Jace. "Carley found this on the grounds of the condos last night. It's military-grade. I recognize it, and whoever had it originally, had some security clearance. And when that place was a barracks, no one with that type of clearance would have stayed there."

Jace turned it over in his hand, then pulled the cap off of it. "Did you look at it?"

"No."

He pushed it into the side of his computer and a Military Intelligence logo appeared on the screen. Jace turned his head and stared at Mason. "Holy shit."

"Right."

Jace clicked on the logo, and a sign-in window appeared. He stood and huffed out a deep breath. "I don't have contacts with super-high clearance anymore. Do you?"

"I have a couple of people I can contact."

"Okay. Who else knows about this thumb drive?"

“The landscaper who was there and a client of Carley's named Layton Terry. That guy Terry seemed weird about it. He kept asking to see it and what she was going to do with it. It creeped both of us out."

"Okay. Tell you what, I'll put this in the safe. You call your contacts and see who we can get this to."

Mason nodded. "Thanks. I feel better knowing it's hidden and secure until we can hand it over."

Mason stepped out of the office and pulled his phone from his pocket. He dialed up his former Army Lieutenant, EthanDougherty. Putting his phone to his ear, he stepped into the storeroom where it was private.

"Hello, Mason Thompson. How are you doing?"

"Hello, Lieutenant. I'm fine."

Ethan's laugh sounded so good to hear over the phone. He'd always been a happy guy. "I'm not your Lieutenant anymore."

Mason grinned. "I'm aware. It's a sign of respect you know."

"Thank you. It's good to hear from you. What's going on?"

"I found, or I should say, my girl..." He swallowed. "My girlfriend found a military thumb drive. My boss put it in his computer and the Department of Military Intelligence logo came up on the screen. I don't know what's on the thumb drive, but it was buried in the dirt around an old barracks here in town that has been turned into condos. I live there. The barracks was decommissioned about twelve years ago."

"Interesting. Where are you?"

"In Blossom Springs, Florida."

"Okay. Let me do some checking on my end. I'll get back to you by the end of the day with a plan. Can you keep it safe?"

"Yes. I work at a bar called the Sandbar, and my boss has it in the safe."

"You work in a bar?"

Mason immediately began sweating. He'd forgotten for a moment about his situation. He froze, not sure what to say. Ethan spoke again. "I think we have some catching up to do."

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