Unlike the deliveries for the women on the other boat, this here pile had an order to it that had Andrew nodding as he reviewed the list of contents. "Ah do not know which of this here is a leg bone, and which is a foot bone, but I figure this here stack probably makes a whole skeleton and don't that make sense?"
"Hey, you there."
Andrew turned to find a scruffy, sweat-shirted man headed his way with a clipboard. He waited for the man to arrive, surprised when the clipboard was held out to him. "What's this here for?'
"You're Roberts, right?" The man asked.
Andrew allowed that he was.
"Great. The man said you'd be in here to take over for that joker. Here's the lading list, and this is the stuff we're expecting in today. Just get it unpacked and moved wherever you can find a place for it, okay?"
Andrew looked down at the clipboard. "Y'all want me to take charge of this here job?"
"Sure, right. Didn't he tell you?" The man seemed impatient. "C'mon, we're behind a day already, and everyone's screaming at me." He pointed to the stacks of boxes in front of Kerry's pallets. "Start with this bunch first and get it out of the way. Guys are in the break room, just go grab 'em when you're ready, which is like now, right?"
"Right."
"Great. Bye."
The man left at an almost run. Andrew regarded his back a moment, then shook his head. "Hell of a crazy damn place this is." He turned and went to the center of the hold, turning in a slow circle, and looking for a suitable place to start.
"Bloody hell."
Andrew turned, but the comment wasn't directed apparently at him. Two men in coveralls were walking from a just opened hatch toward a stairwell. They didn't look happy.
"Now we've got to get that leak fixed, damn." One said. "I thought they'd gotten that covered."
The other shrugged. "Didn't give 'em enough, probably. Always the same. Well, they can say what they want, that hole isn't getting plugged any time soon, not by me."
The two men disappeared into the stairwell, closing the door behind them. Andrew filed the information away for later study, and headed for the break room to find some bodies to shift them boxes like the feller asked.
But of course he'd start with Kerry's first.
"COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING, hmm?" Kerry asked.
"Program put out the TFTP request out of sequence." Dar folded her hands over her stomach. She was lying flat on her back on the padded bench outside on their porch with her head cradled comfortably in Kerry's lap. "Can't find any reason why," she added, "and it's driving me insane."
"Uh huh." Kerry leaned back, one hand idly riffling through Dar's hair. "Could it just be a fluke?"
Dar wiggled her injured foot, which she was putting in the sun for some mysterious and possibly imaginary medical benefit. "I'd rather not think so."
Kerry eyed her, a tiny, knowing grin on her face. "Because it's your program?"
One blue orb appeared, sparkling in the sunlight, and its brow hiked up. "What are you saying? That I'm a snob when it comes to my own work?"
"Mm." Kerry traced the eyebrow with her fingertip, admiring its fine arch. "You're a perfectionist," she remarked, smoothing the thin hairs down lovingly.
For a half second, Dar almost looked like she was going to be insulted, then her face relaxed into a grin. "Well, I picked you, so I guess I am."
A charmed smile appeared on Kerry's face. "I love you too, honey, but I'm not anywhere near perfect." She trailed her fingers over Dar's lips chuckling a little as they were caught and nibbled.
"To me you are." Dar answered simply. "So get over it."
Get over it. Kerry marveled again at just how fortunate she was in life. No matter what troubles they were facing at work, what they had together was, in a word, priceless and she knew it. She'd seen enough of the world to know that the synergy she and Dar shared wasn't common and needed to be cherished, protected, and nurtured.
They needed these moments. Certainly, Kerry savored them, her ego enjoying the gentle burnishing from Dar's regard. "Well, takes one to know one." She sorted Dar's bangs, running her fingers through them and moving them out of her eyes. "Can I interest you in a shrimp salad sub for lunch? I have a conference call scheduled for an hour from now."
"Mm." Dar licked her lips. "It's your shrimp salad, right? Not that mealy mess the store sells?"
"Mine." Kerry smiled. "With real, identifiable shrimp in it, not mushy shrimplets. That all right?"
Dar nodded, closing her eyes and exhaling in contentment.
It only lasted an instant, before her cell phone rang. Dar scrunched her face up in annoyance, but unclipped the phone from her pocket and opened it. "Yes?"
"Roberts, is that you?" Peter Quest sounded harried and upset.
Dar debated on denying it, then sighed. "Yes."
"All right, that's everyone." Quest said, a little more briskly. "I've got you all on the phone, so I only have to say this once."
Dar held the phone so Kerry could hear it, half lifting one hand as Kerry looked at her in question. "All right."
There were soft murmurs in the background, and Dar thought she recognized Michelle's voice in there somewhere.
"Here's the situation." Quest said. "Some asshole called the EPA, who came down and inspected the waterfront. We haven't done anything wrong, but the bleeding heart fish lovers think they see gas leaking, so they're forcing the port's hand."
"Think?" Kerry mouthed. "They've been leaking since they got here."
Dar put a finger over her lips.
"We've got until Friday. The ships have to be finished then."
Kerry's eyes popped wide open and so did Dar's. "No way!" Kerry whispered. "Dar, that's impossible!"
Dar nodded. "Quest, that's insanity."
Two male voices grunted agreement, then Michelle spoke. "It's a lot more possible for those of us who are actually here, thanks."
Kerry grimaced and made a rude gesture at the phone.
"I don't care." Quest dismissed them all. "That's the bottom line. Finish by Friday, and turn in your bids. If you can't do it, fine, but you leave everything in place on board the ships and just walk out."
"Wait a minute!" Mike Eldridge protested. "You can't just ask us to leave all that equipment if we're not going to bid. That's..."
"Then shut up and finish, because that's my deal." Quest cut him off. "And I'll have my security people enforce it. Now, I have to get off this phone and go deal with some whining liberal, so you've got four and a half days. I suggest you get moving, or get leaving. Good bye."
Dar stared at the now dead cell phone for a long moment. "Son of a bitch."
"Shit." Kerry's eyes flicked to the horizon, going unfocused as she thought about the suddenly mountainous obstacles before them. "Dar, there's no way."
"Did the infrastructure come in yet?"
"It was due yesterday, but--" Kerry hesitated. "No, wait...I had a note this morning from the shipping company that it was coming in this afternoon."
Dar had her eyes closed again. "Okay." She paused. "Call John. Tell him to bring in however many guys he can get hold of."
"You can't be serious...there's no way to..."
"Kerrison." Dar looked at her.
"Dar, c'mon now..."
"Hey." Dar reached up and cupped the side of Kerry's face, drawing her chin down a touch so their eyes were forced to meet.
"Darrrr..." A thousand arguments died before the look in those blue eyes.
"Kerrison Stuart."
A sudden flash of a cold rainy night in North Carolina formed in Kerry's mind, and she heard Dar's voice all over again in a cool, angry bark when she'd protested the impossible. This time there was no anger, just a gentle firmness just as effective in its own way. "Sorry." She leaned against Dar's hand a little. "Go on."
Dar understood the doubt she saw. "We don't know we can't do it, because we haven't tried yet." Dar stated. "So I vote we try, and if we fail, we do, but it won't be because we quit."
Kerry also knew the tasks ahead of them, and she knew no matter how much Dar willed it otherwise, they did not have the time to do what Quest was asking.
But...hey. Dar was right, they had to try. Neither of them were quitters. "Okay, boss." Kerry smiled again. "Guess we better get moving, huh?"
"After lunch." Dar said. "I'll call Mark and have him send everyone we have over there. We'll overrun the damn boat with nerds, and maybe everyone in our way will just run screaming."
Kerry cocked her head to one side. "You don't want to leave right now?"
"No."
"Um. Okay."
Dar resettled her hands over her stomach. "Ker?"
"Mm?"
"Trust me."
Kerry covered Dar's hands with one of her own. "Trust you? I trust you with my life, my soul, and everything that I am, Dar. It's not a matter of trusting you; I just want to know what you're up to."
A blue eye appeared again. "When I figure that out, you will."
"Oh."
"Mm."
"HEY THERE OLD MAN."
Andrew looked up from his bottle of pop to find the cowboy trucker heading his way. "Wall. howdy there, young feller." He drawled, exchanging an amused look with the man. In truth, they were probably pretty close in age, and the trucker chuckled as he extended a hand.
"Wanted to come over and say hello after the other day. I was halfway outta the state, when a company rig broke down and they turned me back. More stuff for this place."
Andrew looked around the dock, where there were trucks and men unloading everywhere. The pace on the pier had picked up incredibly, and he could almost sense panic from the workers around him. "Wonder what got 'em all in a hustle?"
The trucker looked surprised. "Did'ncha hear? Gov'mint tossing them outta here end of the week."
"Yeah?" Andy said. "Heard something like that, but I didn't figure they'd really do it."
"Well, if they ain't, no one's told my boss. We got ten more trucks headed this way right now." The man said. "Hope you all got room for it."
Ten trucks worth? Two for each ship more than likely. Andrew shook his head. The below decks area of the ship was a mess for sure, and just trying to keep it all straight had taken most of his day so far. "What you got now?" He asked. "Stuff for this one?" He pointed at the ship.
Obligingly, the trucker handed over his manifest. "You get nailed for messing with that little sissy boy the other day?"
"Naw." Andrew studied the papers, noting again Kerry's name on one side. "Got me moved over to this here tub." He indicated the ship with a motion of his head. "This here all for us?" He asked, flipping through to the last few pages and catching sight of something else. A tiny grin appeared on his face.
The trucker took back the manifest and examined it. "Far as I can tell, yeah." He agreed. "Where do you want it?"
"Right over there." Andy indicated a spot on the dock. "I'll have them boys move it all inside after."
"You got it." The trucker agreed. "Man, they got those people all riled up. What a mess." He watched as a group of ship personnel gathered near the stern of the vessel, along with a couple of suits all pointing and looking at the water behind the ship. "Well, let me get going. Be right back."
"Yeap." Andrew finished up his pop and stood there in the shade, considering what to do next. A motion caught his eye and he half turned, surprised to see Ceci pulling up to the curb in the truck. He tossed the pop bottle in the trash and jogged over, leaning down to rest his elbows on the window sill and peer inside. "Hey there."
"Hi." Ceci reached and handed him something. "You forgot this, and our child has been trying to get hold of us."
"Aw, hell." Andrew took the phone. "You call her?"
"No." Ceci glanced past him at the chaos on the dock. "I'd have to admit to causing this if I did."
"Cec..."
"Yes, I know. Our relationship is quantum leaps past what it was, Andy, but I'd still rather you did it." The slim, fair haired woman said. "Uh oh...I better go. That guy knows me." She set a pair of wraparound sunglasses on her nose, and ducked behind Andrew's bulk.
"Lord." Andy started dialing.
"You knew you married a leftist radical."
"Yeap, I surely did."
"Well, it could have been worse, Andy."
"Yeap. Dar coulda joined the Army."
"Pffft!"
KERRY LEANED BACK in the driver's seat of the Lexus, watching the somewhat boring bushes pass by as they headed north. Next to her in the passenger seat, Dar was rattling away on her keyboard, pausing impatiently as she waited for her keystrokes to catch up with her over the cellular modem link. "What on earth did we do before cell modems?"
"Got lots of speeding tickets." Dar answered absently.
"Did you?" Kerry adjusted the sun visor to block out the blast of golden light from the west.
"Uh huh. For a while I almost gave up living in my place and thought about bunking at the office. There was space under my desk."
"Hmm. Is that why you have a couch in your office now?"
Dar chuckled. "Yes, but not if you ask the majority of the small minded." She eased her leg straight, wincing a little as she banged her foot against the center console. "The sordid events everyone was convinced took place on that couch were legendary."
"Legendary?"
"Uh huh."
"How legendary?"
Dar paused in mid type, her eyes shifting from her laptop to Kerry's profile. She could see the curve of her partner's jaw line, and the slight bunching and relaxing of the muscles there that meant the question wasn't frivolous. "Um..." She tapped the side of her thumb against the wrist rest. "They were all fictional, Ker," she said. "The only person who's ever slept on that couch besides me is you."
"Oh."
Dar muffled a grin of her own and went back to typing.
Kerry's face tensed into a sheepish grin, as she glanced at Dar. "Boy, do I have a green streak a mile wide, or what?" She sighed. "You know, I never really suspected that about myself until I met you."
"Well, given all the stories you've heard about me in that office, I can't say I blame you for wondering." Dar admitted. "But I have to admit that my reputation in that area was way overrated. I think it was easier for me to let everyone think I was out there having a wild and crazy time rather than them knowing the truth."
Kerry thought back to her days in Miami before she'd met Dar. She'd had, she'd thought, a reasonable social life with her friends from the office, and near her apartment. They'd gone bowling, seen movies, played around at Dave and Busters--it hadn't been bad.
Except. "Nights are a lot more fun now."
Dar raised both eyebrows at her.
"No, I mean...I was always busy during the day." Kerry explained, changing lanes to go around a very slow gasoline tanker. "Or around dinner, with the gang. But then I went home."
"Mm." Dar grunted. "Did your couch have torrid tales?" She asked, a little surprised at the fact that not only was it the first time she'd asked, it was the first time she'd wondered.
Kerry pushed her sunglasses higher up on her nose. "You inaugurated that couch," she replied straightforwardly. "I don't think I had done anything more risqué than eat crackers and cheese on it before that."
"Ah."
They were both silent for a while, immersed in their own thoughts while Dar continued pecking away on her keyboard. Outside the SUV, the scrub brush and occasional crab shack slowly gave way to tacky tourist outposts that beckoned the unwary with deals on seashells and cheap t-shirts.
Kerry passed the first few miles of them, then she pulled into one of the next parking lots. "Drink break. Want something?"
Dar put the laptop on the seat behind her. "Stretch my legs." She responded. "I've got a cramp."
"You going to go out there in your little booties?" Kerry asked.
"Sure. They're not white socks with black sandals. No one'll think I'm a tourist." Dar opened the door and carefully hopped out. The
bite on her foot was quite painful and somewhat swollen, and she had to limp to keep her weight off it. "At least not a Florida tourist."
"No, they'll just think you're from New Zealand." Kerry got out on her side and closed the door, then jogged over to Dar's side as they walked toward the mini-mart. "How's the foot doing?"
"Sucks." Dar grunted.
Kerry gave her a sympathetic rub on the back as they reached the door and entered. The mini mart was very mini, and not much of a mart, featuring a lonely coffee burner with a pot of burned coffee in it, a single refrigerator with Coke bottles, a rack of gum and bags of one day old doughnuts on the counter.
Without exchanging even a glance, Kerry veered to the refrigerator case and grabbed two bottles of coke while Dar carefully skirted the doughnuts and examined the sparse choices of packaged snacks.
"Hi there ladies." The proprietor of the mart appeared from a tiny back room. "Can I get you something? We got a special on these doughnuts." He nudged one of the bags forward. "They're pretty good."
"No thanks." Dar responded briefly. "We...um..." She paused as Kerry plunked two bottles of coke and two packages of Snowballs on the counter along with a five dollar bill. "have what we need."
The door opened and let in a blast of warm air and sunlight, along with a tall, burly figure. The newcomer paused as the door closed, revealing an intimidating biker image complete with mirrored shades.
The mart owner regarded him warily. "Howdy."
The man, however, was far more interested in Dar and Kerry. He pulled off his sunglasses. "Hey guys! What's the odds, huh?"
"Hey, Tom!" Kerry smiled. "You here on your bike? Dar hasn't seen it yet."
"Sure am. How's the eye?" Their fellow kickboxing student asked her. "What brings you guys down here?" He tossed a five dollar bill down on the counter. "Pump two."
They walked outside together, and crossed the broken tarmac parking lot to the gas pumps. Tom's new Harley was huddling there in the sunlight, and drew an admiring whistle from Dar. "Nice." She complimented him. "I love the fish."
Stormy Waters: Book 10 in The Dar & Kerry Series Page 31
