Stormy Waters: Book 10 in The Dar & Kerry Series

by Good, Melissa

  Kerry slid off the gloves and offered them. "Sure."

  "Oh, no, no." Mayte grimaced wryly, holding her hands up in a warding off gesture. "Please, Kerry, if my mother ever knew I even put those on, she would go crazy!"

  Kerry looked at the gloves, and then looked down at herself, before returning her gaze to Mayte's face. "Just what exactly does she think boxing turns you into?" She queried. "I'm not a candidate for a freak show...or at least I wasn't the last time I checked."

  Her assistant turned a deep shade of coral. "No...no...it is not that,? she said. "It is just not what is considered proper in my culture."

  Kerry had to laugh. "Mayte, it's not considered proper where I come from either. I have to admit if my mother ever saw me put these on, she'd just keel right over and we'd have to call 911." She winked at Mayte. "But you know what?"

  "You do it anyhow."

  "Uh huh." Kerry tied the gloves together and hung them back over the dummy's neck. "So if you ever get the urge--go for it." She headed back for her desk. "I won't tell anyone."

  Mayte gazed at the dummy, and then she grinned. "Okay." She sidled back toward the door. "I am glad you like it." She disappeared, closing the door and leaving Kerry in peaceful silence.

  "Oh, I really do." Kerry grabbed her mug. "I really, really do." She walked toward the door, punching at the air in the direction of the dummy all the way.

  DAR RAISED HER head at the knock on the door. She was a little surprised since she'd given instructions not to be bothered. "Yeah?"

  Mark entered and crossed the floor to sit down opposite her. "Hey, DR."

  "Hi." Dar cracked her knuckles. "I'm in the middle of spawning an app. Is this important?"

  Mark blinked in surprise. "Oh, sorry." He started to get up. "No, it's just about that thing in the conference center...didn't realize you were coding." He paused. "Man, been a long time since I've had to say that, huh?"

  Dar's lips twitched, and then curled into a grin. "Yeah." She waved him back down. "But I can take a break."

  Mark sat back down. "Good news and bad news." He paused. "Bad news first?"

  "Always."

  "It's an unreleased beta rig from Taiwan."

  Dar scowled. "So no tracing the purchaser, is that what you're saying?"

  "Yeah." Mark nodded. "I contacted the place where it was built...they've been going nuts because it's missing, and man, they were crawling all over my ass right through the phone trying to find out how I got it," he said. "If they were Star Trek fans, I'd have had them beaming right onto my desk, hands grabbing for sure."

  "Ah."

  'They want it back, big time."

  "Uh huh. Bad enough to give us an exclusive license on it?"

  Mark grinned like the pirate he was. "Man, you are so psychic." He sighed admiringly. "That's the good news. They want to do a deal with us. One of their guys is heading over here."

  Dar sighed. "Doesn't help us figure out who it was." She nibbled the inside of her lip. "And if it wasn't who everyone thinks it was, then it could be someone who's on the inside here."

  Mark frowned. "An employee?"

  Dar nodded. "Yeah."

  "That would suck."

  Dar drummed her fingertips on her keyboard. "Yeah."

  KERRY TUCKED HER notepad under her arm and prepared to leave the conference room. Her team was still milling around, discussing some of the items they had pending, but it had been a good meeting and she was pleased with their progress.

  Mark walked over and perched on the edge of the conference table. "Did you hear from the wiring guy?"

  "This morning." Kerry nodded. "He's started, but he says it's like trying to wire inside the New York subway system. Tough going."

  "I bet." He nodded. "Hey, that shiner doesn't look that bad. The way DR was talking yesterday, I thought your eyeball was hanging out of your face."

  Kerry winced at the visual. "The way she was treating me I thought the same thing." She admitted. "She's such a nanny sometimes. You'd never expect it of her." She indicated the door. "C'mon. I've got lunch lined up and it's about that time."

  They walked together out of the conference room and down the hall toward the elevators. The tenth floor was somewhat more crowded than the fourteenth, and they had to dodge a stream of bodies, some of whom paused to greet them briefly.

  "Hey, Kerry." One of Eleanor's assistants waved. "How's the head?"

  Kerry paused and turned, stepping out of the path of traffic for a moment. "Ah, it's not too bad." She indicated her eye. "Just embarrassing, really."

  "Yeah." The woman looked sympathetically at her. "Hey, Joyce and I are heading down for lunch...you want to join us?"

  Kerry smiled and started to edge away. "Thanks, but I've got a date. Catch me some other time?" She continued toward the elevators, then paused seeing the crush of bodies around them waiting to go downstairs.

  "Oh yeah, reclaiming your territory." The woman called after her. "Gotcha. No problem, Kerry."

  What? "Heck with that." Kerry turned and pushed open the stairwell door, starting up the steps at a brisk clip. About at the twelfth floor, she heard footsteps coming down the other way, and looked up to find Mariana headed in her direction. "Hey there."

  "Morning, Kerry!" Mariana greeted her warmly. "How's the eye?"

  Kerry stopped in mid motion and gave her a look. "Was it such a slow news day yesterday that my darn eye had to be the center of everyone's conversation?"

  Mark had slowed down behind her and was now standing with a martyred look on his face. "I told you sending that email out was a bad idea," he said to Mariana.

  Kerry turned. "Email?"

  Mariana nibbled a fingernail. "Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time." She mused. "Maria thought so."

  "Maria?" Kerry repeated the name and then she held up both hands. "Excuse me. Could someone please rent me a clue here?"

  "Whoops...I'm late for a meeting." Mariana skirted Kerry and skipped off down the stairs. "Catch you up later, Kerry...okay?" She waggled her fingers and popped through the door on the next landing, leaving Kerry to turn slowly and look at Mark.

  Mark hesitated and then managed a weak grin. "I'll forward you a copy. It was no big deal, Kerry. It was just that everyone was kinda talking about how something had happened to you and she just aum..."

  "Talking?"

  Mark prudently didn't answer seeing that one blond eyebrow lift up sharply, uncannily like Dar's when she wasn't pleased about something.

  "Colleen mentioned that too. Isn't everyone over using us as discussion fodder by now?" Kerry's voice deepened a little in anger. "She told me people thought Dar did this." She pointed at her face. "Is that true?'

  Mark looked suddenly way out of his league.

  "Screw you all." Kerry turned and abruptly left him standing there, taking the rest of the steps two at a time until she reached the fourteenth floor and shoved her way through the door, slamming it behind her.

  Mark released a breath after a few moments. "Shit." He climbed slowly after his boss.

  DAR RELAXED IN the lobby, sucking at the straw in her smoothie as she waited for Kerry to join her for lunch.

  She leaned against the wall, crossing her ankles and letting her thoughts wander briefly, going over the design she'd left sitting on her laptop up in her office. Most of a module was finished, and almost ready for testing, and Dar found herself looking forward to the trial with a giddy sense of anticipation.

  If it worked...

  Well, it would not work at first. No program did, Dar acknowledged, mentally preparing herself for it, but if she tweaked it, and got the logic right, and it worked...

  It would be an amazing breakthrough ironically spurred on by her own lack of good judgment.

  Life was just so funny that way sometimes. Dar idly let her eyes wander over the lobby, and then she straightened up a little as she spotted Kerry coming off the elevators.

  Uh oh. Kerry never threw her arms around or otherwise projected her a
nger, but Dar could always tell by her body posture when she was pissed off. Her hands would clench up, and her head would tilt forward a little, along with the point of her jaw.

  She was pissed off now. Flicking her mind over the events of the morning, Dar decided it wasn't anything she'd done that had caused it, so she pushed off from the wall to go meet her ticked off lover, and see what she could do about fixing whatever was making her so mad.

  Kerry spotted her approaching, changed course and headed for Dar, reluctantly grinning as they met near the center of the large space. "Hi. Sorry I'm late."

  "Hi." Dar gracefully circled her and gestured toward the outside doors. "No problem. I just got down here myself. C'mon." She draped her arm casually over Kerry's shoulders as they started off, and immediately felt the stiffness in them relax. Okay. So she knew for sure it wasn't her Kerry was annoyed at.

  Direct, or non-direct? "How'd your meeting go?" She decided on non-direct for now.

  Kerry sighed. "It went fine. The project's on track, though John's having some problems in the wiring. I might have to run down there tomorrow and see if I can smooth things out for him."

  "Cool." Dar replied. "My program's close to test state."

  Kerry perked up a little. "Yeah? That was fast. You said the other day you were a little stuck." She circled Dar's waist with her right arm and bumped her hip lightly. "What changed?"

  "You inspired me this morning." Dar told her, as they walked out the front door and into the heat of the day. "Me?"

  "Yup." Dar bleeped open the doors of her car and steered Kerry toward it.

  "I thought we were walking?"

  Dar opened the passenger side door, and indicated the inviting leather seat inside. "I feel like wings."

  "Wings?" Kerry climbed inside, reaching over to open Dar's door. "Are we going to Bayside?"

  "We are." Dar got in and started the Lexus, adjusting the air ducts to dump a larger volume of cold air into her lap. "I'm not in the mood for Cuban, and I had my fill of sushi yesterday."

  "Mmph." Kerry settled back in her seat and watched the heat simmer off the tarmac as Dar pulled out of the parking lot. "Well, if we eat at Hooters, you can bet there won't be useless little catty do-nothings from our office sitting at the next table."

  Hmm. Dar made the turn onto Biscayne Boulevard and watched her partner out of the corner of her eye. "Y'know, Ker, you shouldn't let all that bullshit bother you so much."

  "I know." Kerry acknowledged readily. "But it does. I can't help it."

  The traffic was light, and Dar made quick work of the drive from the office to the trendy shopping mall, driving under the parking garage to find a spot somewhere out of the sun near the entrance. They got out and she locked the door, joining Kerry for the short walk into the mall's confines. "So what was it this time?" She finally asked. "I didn't hear any chatter today, and I usually do, from Maria."

  Figures. Kerry paused to window shop, spotting a pretty dress in a nearby window. "Oh, everyone's just buzzing about my war wound," she muttered. "Mariana felt the need to put a damned email out about it."

  Dar peered at the dress. "You'd look good in that." She pointed out.

  "Mm. I like it." Kerry said, before she turned to continue down the walk. "Why should anyone care about what I do in my off hours, Dar?"

  Dar shrugged. "It's human nature," she said. "What'd they all think, that I clocked you?? She watched Kerry's reaction, the sudden shift of her features and turn of her head giving her the answer before she even spoke. "Figures." She chuckled wryly. "If I'd have tried that move it would have gone right over your head, and you would have slapped me in the ass on the way around."

  Kerry's entire face twitched. "You know something?" She stopped and faced Dar. "You know why I was so pissed about all that?"

  "Because they're idiots?" Dar offered.

  "Because I didn't want you to hear all of it and feel bad that people thought that." Kerry put her hand on Dar's belly, giving her a little scratch. "It really bothered me."

  Dar bumped her toward the sidewalk again. They walked together along the shops, pausing to peek inside the windows from time to time. Kerry paused to plaster herself against one pane of glass, spotting a Ski-Doo inside. "Oooo...you know, Dar, that's just like a..."

  "Motorcycle for the water." Dar agreed, with a grin. "Much as I hate to dodge them on the water, they're a lot of fun." She paused, watching Kerry's face intently. "Want to get a couple for the cabin?"

  "Mmm..." Sorely tempted, Kerry unstuck her nose from the window. "Let's think about it." She took Dar's arm and they strolled on, passing a Sharper Image and, by common consent, not even peeking inside. They had to get back from lunch at a reasonable hour, and if they went inside not only would they not get back, but they'd end up spending a fortune on enticingly useful, but less than critical, items to boot.

  Shopping together was always dangerous but fun. They both tended to trigger spending splurges in each other, and when they were together, it sometimes got ridiculous. It wasn't as if they couldn't afford it, but really, did they need more colorful wooden parrots for the house? Or hand painted ceramic dog bowls?

  "Hey look." Dar pointed. "Hermit crabs."

  Kerry kept walking, making sure she had a tight hold of Dar's arm. "No."

  "But they're cute...look they painted their shells." Dar walked backwards, peering at the vendor stand. "And they have little coconut shell houses...it'd look great on your desk."

  "Nonononono." Kerry pulled harder. "Wings...wings, c'mon, forget the crabs."

  Dar chuckled, turning around and steering Kerry up the escalator. They dodged a few confused tourists at the top trying to take the upstairs down, and circled the upper deck to end up at the door to Hooters.

  Kerry was right about one thing; Dar had to agree as she followed her to an empty table near the window. No one, absolutely no one, would either expect to see them here, nor be found dead eating lunch here themselves because of what people would say about it.

  "Hi!" A pretty, red haired girl in criminally short shorts and a cutoff white t-shirt approached. "How are you guys?"

  "Hi, Cheryl." Kerry greeted her with a smile. "How's the classes?"

  "Driving me nuts." The woman shook her head wryly. "I have three advanced biochemistry labs this semester, and every time I see a plate of wings, I keep expecting them to twitch. You want the usual?"

  "Sure." Dar settled on her stool and hooked her feet into the rungs. Aside from the visuals--which she wasn't too proud to admit to enjoying--she liked the restaurant because it lacked the usual lunchtime crowds more common near their building.

  "So," Kerry fiddled with the table tent, "did I overreact to all the BS talk?"

  Dar rested her chin on one fist. "Did Mari really put out an email?"

  "Yeah. It wasn't...I mean, she didn't get into any details. She just said I got nicked by the guy I was sparring with in karate class."

  "It's not karate." Dar frowned.

  "No, but it was worded cleverly." Kerry admitted. "I don't know, the more I think about it, the more I think I really did just blow up for nothing." She sighed. "Especially at Mark, who didn't deserve it."

  "Tell him." Dar suggested. "He knows you did it for a good cause."

  Pale green eyes lifted and studied her and a gentle smile appeared on Kerry's face. "What makes a difference for me is that you know I did it for a good cause."

  Cheryl returned, setting down a pitcher of ice tea and a couple of glasses, along with plates and a new roll of paper towels. "So, what's up with you guys?" She asked. "I saw a couple of your techie guys here yesterday. They said they were working down at the port?"

  "Yep." Kerry answered, while Dar busied herself pouring them some tea. "We're working on those ships over there." She pointed toward the port, even though not much of it could be seen except the top decks. "Our guys ended up here? Oo...wait till I tease them." She chuckled.

  "Uh huh...and you're going to explain knowing that how?" Dar handed
her a glass, and winked at Cheryl.

  Cheryl winked back and sauntered off to get their wings.

  "You and your logic." Kerry felt a lot more relaxed now. The worst of it, she realized, had been how afraid she'd been of Dar finding out about the rumors. Now it seemed like Dar just thought they were stupid, so she was free to feel the same way.

  Did she?

  Kerry sighed, wishing she did and could dismiss it. But she didn't, and it still ticked her off. Now she just had to decide what she was going to do about it. Then a thought occurred to her, a memory of earlier that day. "Reclaim my territory?" She asked aloud, giving Dar a puzzled look.

  "What?"

  "Nothing. Just something someone said..." Kerry's voice slowed, and trailed off. She sighed again. "Just more crap."

  Dar reached over and ruffled her hair. "Thanks for your outrage on my behalf, Ker. But the only opinion in that building that means jack to me is yours." She gave Kerry a smile, and then her eyes slipped past her partner as a motion caught them. "Son of a biscuit."

  "Now what?" Kerry turned her head, almost chucking her ice tea when she spotted who Dar was looking at. Shari and Michelle, along with a very smug looking Peter Quest had just seated themselves at an outside table. "Oh, poop."

  "I don't think they can see us." Dar observed. "Let's see how much I can offer Cheryl to do a Maria."

  "Oh god." Kerry covered her eyes.

  "Or maybe just listen in." Dar continued, in a softer, more calculating voice. "After all, last place they'd expect to find the competition would be here, eh?"

  "Mm." Kerry felt a tickle of apprehension in her guts. Or maybe it was just the thrill of it all. "Last place they'd think of."

  But at what point, she wondered, did they just become what Shari and Michelle were? Were they already? Kerry picked up her tea and took a sip. "I'd rather we just ate." She finally said, looking Dar in the eye. "And just ignore them."

  Cheryl came back and put down two plates of crispy hot wings in front of them. "Here you go guys. Anything else right now?"

  Dar selected a wing, and saluted Cheryl with it. "Nope. We're just fine."