Chapter 3

2 days before the attack on Steven

Hannah was going over her bills for the month when her cell phone rang. Looking to see who was calling, she smiled when she saw it was Denise.

“Hey there super spy, how’s things?” She asked Denise.

“Oh, you know how it is, paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork. Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll get to do some paperwork about the paperwork. Throw in more paperwork, lunch and a couple breaks throughout the day and that’s my life.” Denise told her.

“Yeah that sounds more boring than listening to Robert talk about stock market trends. Time for a career change yet?” Hannah asked.

“No, I’m happy where I am and with what I’m doing.” Denise told her.

“I’m going to be skiing in Germany next month and would love to stay a few days if you’ve got the room.” Hannah told Denise.

“Actually, I’m in the states right now and would love to see you.” Denise told her with a little bit of an edge to her voice hoping Hannah would catch it.

“What a coincidence, I have the time. Where are you staying at the moment?” Hannah asked her.

“I’m helping Steven out with some side work and I think Dominic and Robert are coming also.” Denise told Hannah. “We’re planning on fun times like after we all took that trip to Germany.”

“Give me a minute...” Hannah said while she looked at flights on her computer. “I see a flight into Albuquerque for two days from now that lands at 1500.”

“Make it El Paso, it’s closer to Tularosa.” Denise told her.

“Ok, arrival at 1430 same day. Do I need to stop and get anything for the party or for guests?” She asked Denise.

“No, the guys have it covered. I’m looking forward to seeing you sister.” Denise told her; confident she understood the message.

“It’s gonna be good to catch up with everyone again. I’ll call you when I land for any changes, okay sweetie?” Hannah told Denise.

“Looking forward to it Sully, see you in a couple of days.” Denise said to her before she hung up.

She understood exactly what Denise had told her. Steven had people coming for him and it was related to the money they had taken from the insurgency in Afghanistan. Hannah finished paying for her flight and rental car for when she arrived at Albuquerque. Closing the blinds to her bedroom window and dimming the light, she pulled out an atlas from her desk and opened it up to New Mexico. She wrote down the route to Tularosa New Mexico she was going to take, double checked it on her computer for road construction or detours in the route. When she was sure of her route, she memorized it and fed the piece of paper to the shredder.

Hannah Sullivan then got up and walked into her walk-in closet and stood in front of a full-length mirror. She typed in a code on a hidden keypad and the mirror slid to the left revealing a small closet. Only instead of clothes, she had a small collection of weapons and tools left over from her days with Super 5-1. She reached in and pulled out a different cell phone than hers and her trusted Sig P226. She dropped the magazine and replaced it with another one that she knew held subsonic rounds in it. After quietly clicking the magazine back into the gun and grabbing 4 more, she grabbed the suppressor that mounted on the gun and threaded it on. Hannah grabbed an extra round to top off the magazine after she chambered the first one.

Putting the pistol on the shelf next to her, she pulled a backpack out of the bottom of the compartment. Setting it on the floor, she opened it up and inventoried what was in it. She pulled out the 2 extra sets of clothes, the 6 power bars, the 10 packets of energy drink, a small hygiene kit, a compass, some paracord, her Benchmade knife, a Marine issue field tarp and an Army woobie. She smelled the woobie to make sure it was clean. Hannah organized and repacked everything in the order that it might be needed. She slid the extra pistol mags into pouch on the outside and grabbed a couple extra power bars and hydration packets. Stripping down, she changed her clothes quick and put on jeans, a long sleeve shirt, Merrill boots and grabbed her favorite coat. It was a Navy issue pea coat that the team had bought for her birthday. They actually went the extra mile and had a thin layer of fleece sewn into the lining for better tolerating the Seattle winters.

After closing the door to the closet, she turned off the light in her bedroom and proceeded to lock her house up for the night. Getting to the front door, she checked the locks and then turned on the security system. She wasn’t worried about someone getting in and hurting her. Hannah had kept up with her shooting skills and was a level 5 in Krav Maga.

Having finished locking up, she walked into the kitchen and poured a half a glass of wine. Hannah walked into her living room. After putting the wine on the table next to her, she put her pistol on the couch cushion next to her. Her mind drifted back to the first time she’d met Denise Heikkanen...

8 years ago

Hannah Sullivan sat in one of her classes at the Air Force NCO academy listening to one of her instructors’ drone on about critical thinking and applying it when you’re leading your troops. She had made the promotion list for Master Sergeant and was trying to get all the schooling she needed out of the way so there’d be no delay in her getting promoted when her date of rank came up. She was the only woman in the room and in her class wearing an 82nd Airborne combat patch on her right sleeve. Her squadron commander had selected her team to work with the 3rd battalion 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment as the NCOIC for the Tactical Air Control team when they deployed to Afghanistan last year. Every time there was a mission going out, Hannah was on it. She wasn’t out there to micro-manage her team members. She let her airmen work with the aircraft to target the ordinance. Hannah’s job was to coordinate with the leadership her team was supporting and give guidance to her airmen. She did more mentoring than she did her actual job. That is until a roadside bomb outside Fallujah wounded her section leader.

Hannah took over the team leader slot and was hell on wheels with her troops. She embraced the “Fight smarter not harder” approach. When the deployment was over, her troops would follow her past the gates of hell, confident she could bring them out with no casualties.

When her class was over, she had a 2-hour break for lunch and to study. She grabbed a bottle of water and was sitting in the sun reading quietly when a shadow appeared over her.

“You don’t stand and salute an officer when he or she approaches?” The female voice asked.

Hannah, not even looking up from her book pointed to the sign 10 feet from her location that said “No Salute Area” on it. “Please excuse me ma’am, I’m trying to study for a test I have in my next class.” Hannah politely explained to her.

“Carry on then Technical Sergeant Sullivan.” The female said as she walked off.

Hannah glanced at the officer as she walked off. The only thing she could tell about her was that she was wearing a Naval dress uniform and was a Lieutenant Commander. Other than that, there was nothing remarkable about her.

A couple days later, Hannah in the middle of an ethics test. One of the instructors walked over to her and handed a slip of paper to her. Hannah didn’t look at it, but instead slid it into her pocket till she was finished with the test she was taking. When she was finished, she collected her gear and turned in her paper. Walking out of the classroom, she opened the note to read it. Seeing there was nothing written on it, she looked around and saw what looked like the same Naval officer from earlier and that she was watching what she was doing. The officer wrote on a notepad, got up, and walked off before Hannah could say something to her.

Two days later, Hannah was leading morning PT as part of her class requirements. She knew it was nothing more than a formality, but it was a graded portion of the school and it was her day to get graded. Hannah was walking up and down the rows of airmen watching form and body position. If there was a mistake, she’d correct it and gave compliments to those that were exceeding “the standard”.

40 minutes later the PT session was completed, and Hannah had dismissed the group to shower, change, and eat breakfast. She was talking to the class instructor about how she did when she noticed the same woman from yesterday, only this time she was wearing Naval PT gear. When the instructor had dismissed her, she ran and caught up to her.

When she got close enough to the naval officer, she yelled “Excuse me ma’am!” rendered a salute and got one in return. “I don’t know if you remember me from a couple days ago...” Hannah started to ask her but was interrupted by the woman.

“Yes, I do remember you from Tuesday technical sergeant Sullivan from the bench in front of the mess hall in the common area. How are you this morning?” she asked Hannah.

“Doing well this morning, thank you ma’am. If I may...” She was interrupted again.

“No, you may not ... Dismissed.” the officer said turning around and walking off.

“Must be an Annapolis grad to have tree log that big shoved up her ass.” She said quietly to herself as she ran back to the barracks to get changed for the duty day.

Her first class of the day was a mandatory sexual harassment class that her entire class had to attend. “Holy crap, 3 hours of death by PowerPoint.” She said whispering to the guy sitting next to her.

“Yeah, but it could be worse...” He said back to Hannah.

“I’d rather be getting a root canal than sitting here.” She said to him. “I mean seriously, why would I want to know the PC way respond and report someone sexually harassing me? It’s pretty simple response matrix. If I’m interested, I take them back to my place and screw their brains out. If I’m not, I kick his or her asses. What more do you need to know?”

“Sergeant Sullivan, is there something you’d like to add to this discussion?” The lecturer asked her.

Standing up and speaking loudly enough to be heard, “Yes sir, actually I was wondering what the Air Force’s policy is on broaching the subject with said sexual harrassers about them possibly having given you a social disease?” She asked.

The auditorium erupted with laughter at her question to include the lecturer. “Excellent question Sergeant Sullivan. If I in that scenario, I’d think about it, consult with my immediate leadership to formulate a plan, and then put the boots to whoever gave me said social disease.” he said as there was more laughter. “Get with me later Sullivan if you want the answer. Alright, let’s continue on with this oh so interesting topic.”

Hannah was on her way through the academy area to lunch when she heard “Technical Sergeant Sullivan, a moment please.” from behind her.

She turned around and there again was the same Naval officer from yesterday and this morning. Hannah waited till she got closer and rendered her salute. It hadn’t been returned as the officer started talking.

“Put your hand down Sergeant, this is informal.” She said to her.

“Excuse me ma’am, but when proper respect is rendered to a commissioned officer, the officer is required by DOD regulations to return the salute.” Hannah told her standing there holding her salute.

The Naval officer returned the salute and Hannah dropped hers but remained at the position of attention.

“Relax sergeant, I told you this is informal.” She told her again.

“Ma’am, when a commissioned officer asks to speak with any enlisted person, the enlisted person is required by the same DOD regulations to stand at the position of attention until otherwise commanded by the officer he or she is speaking with.” Hannah explained to her.

The Naval officer thought for a moment before speaking. “I upset you a bit this morning when I didn’t answer your question about why I’m watching you.” She told her.

“No ma’am, I just figured that you followed regulations to the letter.” Hannah said to her.

“Is that the only reason sergeant Sullivan?” The officer asked Hannah.

Lowering her voice so that the officer was the only one that could hear her. “No ma’am, it’s not. I am damn sure not going to you a reason to or the satisfaction of, watching me get kicked out of here for disrespecting a commissioned officer.” Hannah said to her.

“Good...” She said looking at Hannah with a smile. “VERY good ... Carry on technical sergeant.” Hannah saluted and the officer returned it as she walked off. Hannah didn’t see her again till 4 days later, but she was sure that the “naval bitch” was still watching her.

Hannah was at the gym using the heavy bag when the Naval Officer approached her. “Good morning sergeant Sullivan, may I work in with you this morning?” She asked. Hannah looked her over some. She was maybe 2 inches shorter than Hannah’s 6’0 frame, but you could tell that the officer was active in the gym.

“Please feel free Commander. Do you need me to hold the bag for you?” Hannah asked the other woman.

“Please, I’m doing kicks, knees, and elbow strikes this morning.” She responded.

For an hour the two women worked the heavy bag as hard as they could. They were both sweaty at the end of their work out. Walking over to the cooler, Hannah grabbed 2 bottles of water and handed one to the Naval officer. “Your form is excellent, Krav Maga mixed with a bit of Muay Thai?” Hannah asked.

“You’ve got a great eye, I started Muay Thai when I was still in college and picked up Krav Maga in the last few years.” She told Hannah. It’s a great workout and it’s a great offensive weapon if you have to use it.”

They talked for another couple minutes about martial arts before they parted ways. Then the officer addressed the elephant between them. “I know that 7 days ago you wanted to know why I’m watching you. Report to the Commandant’s office tomorrow morning at 0900 and all will be explained.” She told Hannah. “Any questions?”

Hannah rendered a salute when they got out of the gym and it was returned. “Very well ma’am, 0900 at the Commandant’s office.” She said as the officer walked off.

“Oh, sergeant Sullivan...” The Navy officer called out.

“Yes ma’am?” Hannah responded with.

“I graduated from Duke, not the Naval Academy.” She said as she turned and walked off.

The next morning, Hannah was standing in her dress blues at the commandant’s office at 0845. At 0850 she glanced at her watch and walked into the outer office of the Air Force’s NCOA Commandant. She walked over to the woman that handled his appointments and told her who she was and that she was to report to him. The woman told her to give her a moment to see if he was ready for her.

Hannah was not an OCD person at heart. But this morning she was timing everything to the second because of who she was reporting to. At 0855 on the second, she knocked firmly on his office door. “Enter” was all she heard.

Technical sergeant Sullivan walked till she was 5 paces center front of his desk and stopped. Standing at attention, she snapped a salute off and said, “Technical sergeant Hannah Sullivan reports to the NCOA Commandant as ordered.”

The Commandant, who was also looking at his watch, stood, returned her salute, and walked around his desk to inspect Hannah’s uniform. He looked at her ribbons for the correct wear and order of importance they were worn. Looking to see if her ribbons were centered over her pocket, the commandant took a small metal ruler from the top of his desk and measured the distance between the end of each side of the pockets to where her ribbons were pinned. He looked at her “gig” line to see if it lined up. He then looked at the patches in her sleeve to see if hers were straight. He took a white glove out of his pocket, put it on, and rubbed two fingers over the unit crests on her shoulders. He held the glove up for her to see. It had a small amount of dust on it. “Care to explain this?” He said quietly.

“I have no excuse. I should have double checked myself before I reported to you, Command Chief Master Sergeant.” Hannah told him without moving.

“Yes, you should have. The hallmark of a great leader is attention to detail, sergeant Sullivan.” He said taking off the glove and returning to the other side of his desk. “As leaders, we have to be more attentive than the airmen we’re appointed to lead. Remember that and it will serve you well.” He said to her. He came to attention behind his desk and gave her an order. “Execute an about face, walk three paces, execute another about face and stand at parade rest Technical Sergeant.” He said to Hannah.

Hannah executed perfect facing and marching movements to the spot that the commandant told her to move to. She was standing at parade rest and when the commandant started talking to her.

“Did you notice anyone else in the office when you reported to me sergeant Sullivan?” He asked her.

“Yes, Command Chief Master Sergeant, the female Naval officer I’ve seen all week is here, more than likely waiting in your conference room.” She answered him.

He looked at her with surprise, “I can’t wait to hear this ... How do you know she’s in my conference room?” He asked with a smirk.

“When I spoke with her yesterday afternoon at the gym, she had a very distinctive perfume on. 4711 Eau de Cologne is what it’s called. As far as I know, you can only get it in Germany. I bought a bottle for my mom before I returned to the states from my first enlistment.” She told the commandant.

The naval officer chuckled a bit from the doorway and then walked out of the commandant’s conference room and over to Hannah. She was wearing civilian clothing and at that point, there wasn’t much on her that gave her away as military. “You’re very observant Technical Sergeant.” She asked her.

“I have to be ma’am. If I’m not watching my surroundings at all times, I could get hurt or killed.” Hannah said not moving a muscle from parade rest.

“Do you place your well being over that of those below you?” She asked Hannah sounding flippant.

Hannah’s eyes narrowed a little bit in anger as she looked the female officer in the eye. “No.” She said with a bit more emotion than she should have. “But to be a truly great leader, you have to first take care of yourself. If I’m hurt or wounded because I’m careless, or not paying attention, then what kind of message does that send to my subordinates?” Hannah asked her.

“At ease sergeant Sullivan.” The female officer told her. Hannah relaxed a little bit, but not much more than releasing a breath and loosening up some.

“Sergeant Sullivan, this is Lieutenant Commander Denise Heikkanen, she’s assigned to Little Creek as an interrogator, but currently works for the Agency.” He told her. “She is looking to possibly recruit you for something I’m sure you’re more than qualified for, otherwise she wouldn’t be here bugging me about you.”

“I would call it ‘aggressively inquiring’ more so than bugging. But that sums it up completely. I’d like to talk to you a bit and see if I think you’d be a good fit for the team I’m building.” Denise told her.

“With all due respect to the Command Chief Master Sergeant ma’am...” She paused for a second before speaking again. “After seeing you watch me, take notes, and have interactions with me for the last 8 days around the academy, I’m reasonably certain you’ve already made your decision as to my working for you and this is just a formality.”