Read Jace (River Pack Wolves 2) (Paranormal Romance) for Free Online Page B

significant others of soldiers traveling on and off base, but her ID said she had top-level security and thus access to the more secure buildings on the grounds.
    The guard took too long to scrutinize her ID. “State your name,” he said without looking up. His gruff voice sounded like he’d already been up half the night.
    “Daniela Wuldinger. On reassignment from the Senator’s office. Temporary.”
    The guard lifted one eyebrow, still examining her ID. For far too long.
    A nervous sweat broke out between her shoulder blades, but she kept the smile at full force.
    Then he gave her a short nod. “Just a moment, please.”
    His hard-soled shoes scuffed the pavement of the street, then the concrete of the guard shack floor as he stepped inside to consult with his computer and a fellow guardsman. They were both wearing the desert camouflage that was standard for active-duty personnel on base, as well as a bright yellow reflective vest, presumably for the traffic.
    Piper waited, forcing the smile to remain on her face… as if she had no concerns whatsoever that her completely falsified identification would be discovered. She truly was connected to the Senator’s office, as a consultant to the defense subcommittee—but her altered ID was a hodge-podge of hers and Daniel’s real clearances mixed with a falsified name. She’d conjured worse IDs in much more hostile territories in her operations around the world, but security in the US was actually competent most of the time. Which made it a higher bar she had to hurdle. And this false ID was a slap-dash effort at 4 am in her apartment, not going through her normal chain of command… not least because it would never have been approved.
    There was far too much discussion going on in the shack.
    When the original guard finally returned to her car, he said, “Welcome to Lewis-McChord, Ms. Wuldinger.” He handed her ID back to her.
    She did an impressive job of not letting the sigh of relief show.
    He leaned in with one hand on top of her car, gave her an appreciative look, and smirked. “You might want to stop by the Soldiers Field House during your stay, Ms. Wuldinger. We’re having a Combatives Tournament today. I’m afraid civilians can’t compete, but Senator Krepky might want a personal report on the fine fighting form of our active-duty personnel.”
    She returned his flirtatious grin. “A bunch of sweaty grunts, muscled up and testing their hand-to-hand combat skills? Wouldn’t miss that for the world. Thank you, Corporal.” She mock-saluted him.
    He just stepped back, grinned, and waved her through.
    Piper had only been on base at Lewis-McChord once before, but the directions around the sprawling military city were fairly straightforward, and she’d mapped out her route anyway. She sailed right past the red-bricked, colonial-style Headquarters with the large brass cannon on the front lawn and headed for the command center, which had the high-security access she needed. It was just a short drive along the nearly-empty early-morning streets, near the center of the base.
    Unlike the traditional architecture of Headquarters, the command center was a modern architectural beauty. The designers had mixed traditional red brick with native white granite and thousands of square feet of glass. The 66th Theater Aviation Command (TAC) Readiness Center was the largest and newest command center for the Washington Army National Guard, according to their website. Piper had seen the pictures before, but the building itself was undeniably gorgeous—three stories of soaring glass and steel that let in tons of natural light. She had no doubt her father strutted through the doors like a peacock every morning. But the building was large enough—and she was early enough—that the chances of crossing paths with him should be infinitesimally small.
    She hoped.
    Two guards with semiautomatic M-16 rifles stood at the entrance, but they were primarily an honor guard, and their