"Hrm."
"Really. I didn't get that vibe." Dar shook her head. "I got the feeling she was trying to find the other half of the story."
Kerry sighed. "Wonder how dad got outed? Maybe in retrospect that wasn't the smartest thing we ever did, asking him to go in there."
"Eh." Dar turned her head as her cell phone rang. "That's probably him. I'll ask." She picked it up and answered it, surprised to see the office's caller ID instead. "Uh oh." She flipped it open. "Yes?"
"Oh, Ms. Roberts? Good...this is the security desk." The voice answered, sounding relieved. "Listen, I have the security guy at the pier on the line; he needs to speak to you." There was a click, then another line was connected.
"Hello?" Dar ventured.
"Uh...oh, hi. Is this Ms. Roberts?"
"Yes."
"This is Steven at the pier, ma'am. We've been trying to call Ms. Stuart, and there's no answer. ?
Dar looked inquiringly at Kerry, who sat up and peered around like a startled meerkat searching out her cell phone. "She's here. What's the problem? You need to talk to her?"
"No, well...it's not..." The guard seemed unsure. "It's the port, ma'am. They're going nuts here. There's television cameras and all kinds of stuff all over the place, and I think they're asking everyone to leave."
"Huh?" Kerry took the phone. "Steven, this is Kerry. What's happening? Was there an accident?"
"No, ma'am. But some kind of government people are here, and boy, they've got this place lit up like a Christmas tree for sure. I think they're looking at the ships. Something's wrong, I guess. They won't tell us anything."
Kerry held the phone out a little, and lifted her free hand in question.
Dar was at a loss. "Okay, well?" She rubbed her jaw.
"Did they make all the workers leave the ships, Steve?" Kerry asked. "Are our contractors still there?"
"No, oh, wait. Hang on." The sound became muffled then came back. "Ma'am, one of my guys just came in to relieve me and he said he heard it's an environmental thing."
"Environmental." Kerry repeated. "Okay, but are they asking you to leave the pier?"
"No, ma'am, apparently what some of these people want is for the boats to leave the pier." The guard now sounded much surer of himself. "It's not about us at all."
"Phew." Dar exhaled. "At last, something that has nothing to do with us, for a change."
"Yeah." Kerry agreed. "Okay, Steve, you guys just sit tight near the office, okay? If they make everyone get out, give me a call." She paused, "Wait, give Dar a call because my cell phone's AWOL at the moment."
"Okay, ma'am, will do." Steve replied. "Sorry to bother you."
Kerry hung up the cell phone. She got up and started roaming around the cabin, searching for her own. "Where in the dickens did I put that thing, Dar? I know I had it when we got here."
"Sounds like Quest's got a real problem on his hands." Dar put the phone down and rolled to her feet, joining in the search for the missing cell. "Something he can't blame us for."
"For a change." Kerry paused, then slapped herself on the head. "Damn it, I left it on the bike." She groaned in disgust. "Be right back." She disappeared through the front door with Chino chasing after her.
A knock came at the back door. Dar scrubbed the fingers of one hand through her hair and went to answer it, wondering if it would be their reporter's boatmen, the coast guard, the cops, or the National Enquirer. Nothing would have surprised her at this rate.
She opened the door. "Yes?"
"Okay, listen." Pat said. "Can we start over?"
Well, almost nothing.
PROBLEMS FOR THEM tended to be rated by the number of pots of coffee they required while solving them. Kerry pressed the button to start pot number two while she listened with half an ear to what Dar was saying in the living room.
"Let me get this straight." Dar rubbed her temples. "You came down here because Shari and Michelle convinced you that we were trying to screw up your filming project by deliberately making them look bad."
"Right."
"And we didn't do anything to change that idea."
"No."
Dar folded her hands and rested her chin on her clasped fingers. "So why are you here? Just write your story. They're struggling good guys; we're monolithic bad guys trying to squash them--makes for great television. Go for it."
Pat got up and paced. "You know, I really want to go for that." She used her hands when she talked, her fists clenching and unclenching. "It's a great story, you're right. Make great television. Just what my boss was looking for."
Dar's ears pricked. "Your boss."
Kerry brought the new pot of coffee in, setting it down on the tray quietly and taking a seat next to her partner.
"My boss, really wants this show." Pat agreed. "Something new, you know? Yeah, it's travel related, but it's also got a big human angle, and people like that."
"Mm." Dar nodded. "But?"
"But." The reporter repeated softly. "But you know..." She turned and faced them. "Sweet as this story is, the good guys in it aren't the people I want my boss to see." Hesitating, she finally shrugged and went to the seat across from the couch, sitting down on it. "You're not the only ones with a personal agenda here."
Kerry blinked, positive she was missing something. A quick glance at Dar's profile clued her in to the fact that her partner wasn't.
Dar's head lifted, the entire expression on it shifting from bewilderment to understanding from one breath to another. "You want your boss to see how we work." She indicated Kerry and herself.
Pat nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Because let me tell you, those other two have tried their damndest to convince me that you two are as dysfunctional as they are, and believe me, they're a pair of head cases."
"Dysfunctional?" Kerry frowned then turned her head to face Dar. "We never malfunction, do we?"
A wicked twinkle appeared in Dar's very blue eyes. "Not that you've ever mentioned to me, no." She drawled. "And I've got no complaints."
Kerry looked puzzled for an instant, then she reached over and tweaked Dar's nose. "Wench." She shook her head and faced Pat again. "I don't understand how they'd give you that impression."
Pat's lips twitched. "Whole lot of talk,especially that Shari. She's got a lot to say about you." She looked at Dar. "And it sure isn't complimentary."
"That's just because Dar keeps kicking her butt every time they square off." Kerry snorted. "Shari should learn better business tactics."
The reporter leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. "It's not business she's talking about."
"Ah." Dar chuckled shortly. "Let me guess--Shari's painting me as a half unstable megalomaniac with twisted personal issues stemming from my upbringing."
"What?" Kerry barked.
"Who beats her girlfriend," Pat added crisply.
Dar just snorted. Kerry gave an excellent impression of a boiling teakettle without stirring a muscle as Chino trotted over and pushed her head against her shorter mother?s knees. "Boy, does she have her lines crossed." Dar shook her head. "I'm not the Tasmanian devil in this relationship."
"I'm gonna cross her lines." Kerry got out from between clenched teeth. "Has she really been telling people that?"
"Well, she had me half buying it, and to be honest, that's the real reason I came down here." The reporter admitted. "You can act however you want in the office, but like you said, this is not your office, and it's off the clock." She looked around. "And this ain't no movie set."
Dar scratched her nose and produced a brief smile. "No, it's not."
"Dar, do you think that's where all that crap in the office came from?" Kerry turned and looked at her. "From Shari? Is that possible, that she fed all that BS to someone inside?"
"That would be the obvious choice." Dar sat forward and started pouring herself another cup of coffee. She very gently nudged Kerry's bare foot with her own. "But you never can tell. Could be the other way around."
"Ah. Yeah.
"
"Problems inside your office?" Pat asked alertly.
"Just more of the usual chatter." Kerry shrugged it off. "We had a good laugh about it."
Dar stirred her coffee around counterclockwise just hearing that characterization of her partner's reaction. "So." She set the spoon down and took a sip. "What are you going to do?" Her eyes lifted and met Pat's. "Now that you've achieved your goal and interviewed us today."
Dar's cell phone chose to ring at that moment. With a faint sigh, she leaned over and picked it up, then answered it. "Yeah?"
"Hey boss." Mark's voice sounded aggravated. "Listen, I traced down the IP we saw, and it was one of the Marketing bullpen machines. Could have been any of ten people using it."
"Okay. Get me full scans on those ten." Dar replied quietly. "And put traces on them."
A pause. "All the way?"
"Yes."
"You got it." Mark said. "Hey, you know what? It's been a lot cooler around here since you put that stuff on the big pipes. I haven't had nearly as many alerts."
Inwardly, Dar smirked. "And you're surprised?"
Mark chuckled. "Nah. I knew you hadn't lost your touch. We've only got one little bastard who keeps trying. I'm keeping an eye on it though."
"Good work. Keep me in the loop." Dar said, and then she hung up. "Well?" She turned her attention back to the avidly listening reporter. "Decided what your angle's going to be or what?" Leaning casually back, she stretched one arm across the back of the couch and sipped her coffee, watching Pat over the rim of the cup.
Kerry decided to settle back herself, ending up by design in the curl of Dar's arm, and with one hand resting lightly on her partner's thigh. She recognized Dar's fencing mode, and figured it would be better all-around for her to stay out of the match until she could get more fully clued in on what was going on.
"Well, not yet, no." Pat said. "It's kind of a tough situation, you know? I mean, if Telegenics wins that bid, it's going to be real hard for me to slant my story any way except for what everyone's expecting. We need to have our viewers happy about who comes out on top."
"Well." Kerry pursed her lips. "Y'know, with two sets of dykes in the mix, you probably need to recruit some heteros or you're going to be upsetting most of your viewers no matter what, if either of us come out on top."
That caused a bit of a silence. Dar prudently stuck her nose in her cup and slurped up some coffee, as the reporter merely goggled at Kerry briefly.
"It's true," she said, with a slight shrug.
"Maybe they should back a dark horse." Dar mused. "Knock those lousy lezzies off their pedestal. That'd make a good story, don'cha think, Ker?"
"Mm. I wouldn't watch it, but sure."
Pat shifted uncomfortably. "Are you making fun of me?" She asked, with a slight hesitation. "We don't practice discrimination in our telecasts." She got up. "So that part of your lifestyle never came into the picture."
Kerry got up also, neatly drawing her attention. "How can't it? She asked. "You've got Shari and Michelle, who are very out, and Dar and I, who are also very out. We're competing for the same prize, and we're in a dog fight with all the dirty tricks stops pulled out." She cocked her head to one side. "How do you intend on portraying that without mentioning our sexual orientation?"
"Well, of course we were going to mention it but..."
"Are you saying you weren't going to focus your storyline on that?" Kerry's voice rose a little in disbelief. "Really?"
"Look. This is the Travel Channel." Pat said. "Not E! or Spice. So yes, that would have been mentioned but no, we weren't going to name it the Gay Boat Show."
"Huh." Kerry grunted and shook her head.
"We could always arrange for a Jell-O wrestling match." Dar launched herself from the couch and prowled over to the back window, watching outside and bracing both hands on the window. "That'd get ratings."
"Wrestling." Kerry looked thoughtful. "I'd go for that."
"Wait a minute. This isn't supposed to be about you all fighting each other. Well, not like that," Pat protested. "I mean, yes. We want the personal angle, but it's got to be about the goal too."
Dar turned. "Either you go the personal route, or you don't." She leaned against the window. "If you take that path, you have to deal with the dirty parts. You want your boss to see how we mix living and working? Then you have to show how Shari and Michelle don't, and that means you have the Dueling Dykes show."
"But..."
"She's right." Kerry picked the ball up effortlessly. "Mention why you were here and you have to go over why Shari talks about Dar the way she does. It's not for business reasons."
Pat looked cornered. "Wait a minute..."
"Tell you what." Dar swiped the ball back. "Invite your boss to dinner with us. Save the drama, and stick with the business line on your program. You'll end up with happier sponsors for it."
Kerry chuckled. "At the least."
Pat looked at them both uncertainly. "But the people angle..."
"Find another people angle." Dar pressed her. "Think about it." She turned and opened the back door, gesturing toward it with one hand. "Your boat's ready. I think the Coasties even left your drivers intact."
Slowly, Pat walked toward the door, watching them both until she was in the doorway with her hand on the sill. She took a breath to say something, then she merely shook her head and walked out, without looking back.
Dar swung the door shut. She and Kerry regarded each other for a brief moment then both sighed at once. "This is gonna be a mess if she doesn't take that advice."
Kerry joined her. "You got that right," she agreed. "But, I think it's a mess anyway." She exhaled. "I think we really did mess this one up, Dar."
Dar put an arm around her shoulders. "I think you may be right, Ker." She admitted. "I think we made some bad choices. But we can't change that now, so let's just make the best of it that we can."
"Break out the mops?"
"Yeap."
Chapter Ten
THE MORNING SUN rose gently over South Pointe Marina, gilding the forest of pristine white fiberglass that graced its many slips. Toward one side of the marina, in an area relatively uncrowded in the summer, a sixty foot Bertram yacht rode peacefully within its dock, rocking back and forth slightly as a tall, broad shouldered figure paced across its stern deck.
Andrew whistled softly under his breath as he worked, laying out a new set of white cotton lines for the big boat in orderly loops. His hands worked the rope with almost unconscious skill, fingers half twisting the lines to release the kinks in their new fabric.
It was Sunday, the weather was fine, he had work to do on his boat, and Ceci had promised him a hamburger for breakfast. Life, he reflected silently, just didn't get any better than this--especially given where his life had been not so long ago. He had no doubt at all this was just a gift from God he had no explanation for.
Could'a been a reward, he acknowledged, for the years he'd spent in hell already. Or it could'a been a nod from the feller upstairs over them lives he'd saved getting into all that trouble.
Andy perched on the side wall of the boat and blinked into the sunlight. Maybe it wasn't any of those things, though. Maybe it was just dumb luck, and the payback he'd gotten for pouring his heart into fatherhood.
He exhaled contentedly. Turned out a damn good kid, after all that. It irked him a little that he'd gotten taken out of the ship job. Being Dar's little bit of trouble inside there had been a good thing, and now, them women could be getting up to all kinds of no good without anyone to keep an eye on them.
Not a good thing. Andrew sighed. He hated half-finished missions.
The cell phone clipped to the wooden cabinet near the door buzzed, surprising him. He dropped the rope and walked over to the door, picking up the device and opening its lid. "Lo?"
"Hey, Ugly! Where the hell are you?"
Andrew studied the phone receiver as though it had morphed into a hamster. "This here Bradley?" He queried.
<
br /> "Sure is! Where are you, man? I told you I wanted everyone working today."
"Wall." Andy crossed his arms and leaned against the cabinet. "Them folks told me not to come back yesterday," he said. "They talk to you? They were pretty fussed up last night."
Ceci emerged from the boat's cabin and cocked her head curiously. "Who's that?" She was carrying a plate containing a cheeseburger, surrounded by a bunch of vegetables and fruit bits. She put it down near Andrew's elbow and leaned next to him.
"Feller thinks he's my boss." One of her husband's grizzled eyebrows waggled, as he covered the receiver with the palm of one large hand. "Ain't figgered out he isn't yet." Carefully removing the burger from its nest of healthiness, he nudged aside a carrot curl threatening to contaminate his breakfast and then bit into it.
"Ah, the mental midget who made your first petty officer look like Einstein. Gotcha." Ceci walked over to the canvas bucket chair on their back deck and seated herself, resting her head against the wooden seat back and contentedly absorbing the early morning sunlight. "Anyone ever tell him that whole Christian Sunday is the day of rest stuff? Only thing in the whole rigmarole that ever made any sense to me."
Andrew reached over to tweak a bit of her hair. "Yeap, ah am still here." He spoke into the phone. "Did you talk to them folks? Got their shorts in a big old twist yesterday."
"Yeah, yeah. I talked to them. Listen, that lady was just spouting some crazy stuff, and yeah, she doesn't want you around here, but I got a spot on that boat behind this one and I really need you to help me out."
"That big blue one with the patches on one side?" Andrew asked.
"Yeah, whatever. The one behind this one."
Dar's boat. Andrew took another bite of hamburger and chewed it thoughtfully. "Hmm."
"C'mon, buddy. I figured you could use the cash, right?" The supervisor sounded a touch desperate. "My guy over there walked out this morning, said he'd gotten a better offer. Tell you what, I'll give you a buck an hour raise."
Forty bucks a week. Andrew mused. Well, it'd pay the phone hook up fee for the month, at any rate. "All right." He agreed. "But I got to finish what I'm doing here right now, so it'll be a bit." He told the man. "Then ah will be over there."
Stormy Waters: Book 10 in The Dar & Kerry Series Page 28
