by Melissa Good
"I think that's a great idea, Mark," Kerry answered before she could click in. "Thanks. I appreciate it, and I know Dar will appreciate it since there's a lot going on over there too."
Touche. Dar knew rejecting the offer now would seriously embarrass her partner and make her look like a cad since it was made in her best interest. Kerry's little payback for her hotel reservations. She clicked the mic on. "I do appreciate it, Mark," she said. "Especially since now I can send Kerry off shift to get ready to leave and relax before she has to fly."
Kerry forgot to turn her mic off, and her laughter echoed through the speaker, a strangely light sound after so much tension. "Right Kerry?" Dar inquired.
"Right boss," Kerry surrendered. "You win this round."
Dar glanced down expectantly at the message box.
Hoisted, wasn't I? Kerry's typing popped up.
Figured you could use some time to decompress. Dar typed back. You don't know what you're going to get into when you get to Herndon.
True, her partner responded. I'm going to go grab a shower and crash for a few hours. Thanks for the hotel reservations--I hadn't even started to look into that and I sure don't want to spend the night in DC.
I figured, Dar said. Sure you're okay with going?
There was a moment's pause in the response. Yeah, Kerry finally answered. I don't know. Maybe I'll get a chance to get this family thing worked out. I think you were right about the whole thing with my mother. I think she just wanted to have something to show her committee.
Dar smiled. Hell must be freezing over if I'm telling you not to think the worst of someone.
Ah heh, Kerry responded. Yeah. I know. Part of me wants to just move past it all and just drop the whole thing, and the other part of me just thinks about stuff they did and gets pissed off all over again. I just really wish I were home.
Right there with you. Dar sighed, glancing around the room, pausing when the door opened fully and Alastair entered. Hang on, Alastair just came back.
"Well, we've got good news and bad news." Alastair came over and sat down. He looked tired. "Which do you want first?"
"I can't believe there's any good news. So bad first," Dar said.
"Okay," Her boss responded. "Bad news is, there's not one person in the government that can tell me why someone from some agency is knocking on our doors in Virginia. This group says they think that group may be doing it and when you ask that group, they don't know anything about it."
"Ugh." Dar wasn't surprised.
"Hamilton's working on trying to track the request down, but he's coming up against a lot of people who are in high gear with no brakes, if you catch my drift," Alastair said. "But on the bright side, we've got flights to Mexico City tomorrow morning."
Dar blinked in surprise. "They found seats?"
"The board instructed me to charter an airplane," Alastair looked a touch bemused. "Apparently you and I are considered a little important. We've got a transfer in Mexico City to an executive jet service out to Nuevo Laredo and we're being picked up there for the ride across the border."
"Wow," Dar said.
"Lucky for us, there's quite a number of airplanes that are hanging around here unable to fly to the U.S. Finding one to charter was easy, or so Bea tells me," Alastair said. "At any rate, sorry we'll have to end up in Houston, but at least we won't be on the other side of the world."
"I'll take it," Dar said. "Maybe by then domestic flights will be going again." She felt a sense of profound relief, regardless of the destination. "That is good news, Alastair. Thanks."
Her boss smiled. "I know you want to get back home. Me too." He slapped Dar on the shoulder and stood up. "You going to get some rest?"
Dar nodded. "Mark's covering for us," she said. "He's heading up to DC in the equipment van and has a lot of time on his hands. I sent Kerry off to get some down time before she goes to Herndon tonight."
Alastair nodded. "All right. I'm going to go get some rest myself," he said. "The devil only knows what we'll have to deal with tomorrow, if today was any indication."
"Night." Dar waited for him to leave. Then she turned back to the screen. Ker?
There was no response. Dar frowned, and then picked up her cell phone and dialed, getting a fast busy. She sighed, and sat back, then rocked forward again when her message was answered.
Hey. What's up? Kerry typed. Sorry, Brian just showed up here, same time as Richard dropping off Sally.
Dar winced. Nice. She typed. Like it needed to be crazier.
Uh huh, Kerry agreed. Did Alastair find anything out?
No, Hamilton's still trying. Dar rattled her keys. But they chartered a plane for us to fly to Mexico tomorrow morning. She hit enter, and waited.
Yahhooooo!
Dar smiled. Yeah, well, then we fly local to the border and someone is picking us up to make the run into Houston. At least it's halfway home. And maybe by then I can just fly up to DC and meet you.
There was a long silence. Dar almost decided to send a follow up, when a response came back.
Sorry. Yelling match outside the study here. For once, not involving me.
"Oops." Dar sighed.
Fly fast. Kerry typed, after a pause I need you.
There was a rawness there that made Dar's breath catch. She reached out in reflex to touch the screen with her fingertips, and then let them drop.
I'll try to hold things together in Herndon. Kerry went on. But I've got a gut feeling this is going to be something more than a request to track some IP addresses.
Dar nodded to herself. Go with your instincts, Ker. You know what I'd go for and what I wouldn't. If it's something you know I wouldn't do, just tell them you can't do it and wait for me to land. I still have the systems locked down there.
"Systems control is passing to Miami ops," Mark's voice interrupted. "We are heading north. We picked up a Trailrider RV hitched to my truck and we've got every spare piece of gear we had in inventory with us."
"Miami ops, this is Danny at the Pentagon. That's great to hear. We'll need some of it to get stuff spooled back up, and some facilities. Do you have WAN rigs with you?"
"We sure do. This thing has even got a sat hookup and we're pulling a generator."
We have good people. Kerry typed.
"It's still on fire here," Danny said. "But we just got asked when all the stuff is going to be back up. We can't get inside, but we think the cross connect room was burned up."
We have the best people. Dar replied.
"Okay, we'll stop for some sixty six blocks. Can you guys source some three quarter ply if we need to rebuild the d-marc?" Mark asked.
"We can do that," Danny said.
"Then go ahead and get a dozen sheets," Mark said. "We'll get there, and we'll get it done."
"Will do, Miami ops. We'll be ready for you."
Dar keyed her mic. "Sounds like a good plan, gentlemen," she said. "Miami exec signing off for the evening. If something happens that requires senior approval, try my cell phone first."
"Try mine second," Kerry added. "Let's all stay alert. We don't know what might happen next."
Go get some rest. Dar typed.
You too, Kerry responded. Let's hope tomorrow's a much better day.
Chapter Eleven
REST WASN'T IN her cards, apparently. Kerry almost decided to turn around and go take back over operations when she eased out of the study and found her sister and her ex husband facing off with an unhappy looking Sally in the middle of them.
Richard hadn't changed much. Tonight he was wearing a shockingly casual leather jacket and corduroys though, something he'd have never worn in her parent's house when her father had been alive. Kerry took a deep breath and forced herself to move forward toward them, hoping her presence would break up whatever the issue was.
"If you think I'm going to leave her here with him here you're crazy!" Richard was saying. "She's upset enough as it is, she doesn't need that to complicate her life!"
Angie's face was set and angry. "Stop being such a jerk, will you? He's not going to complicate anything. She's known him all her life, for Pete's sake."
"That's not the point!"
"Aunt Kerry!" Sally spotted her and bolted, distracting her parents just long enough for them to turn and see her target before she collided with her aunt's sturdy legs.
"Hey, kiddo." Kerry gave her sister a brief smile. "How about I take her into the library and tell her a story."
Angie looked utterly relieved. "Thanks, sis," she said. "That would be great."
"Would you like that?" Kerry held a hand out to her niece. "Want to come hear a story?"
"Yes!" Sally was hanging onto her leg, looking up at her. She reached up and grabbed Kerry's hand, swinging on it.
"Okay." Kerry gave her ex brother in law a nod of acknowledgment. "Richard."
"Kerry," Richard answered, stiffly. "You look well."
"You too." She escaped with her niece through the archway and headed for the library at the other end. They ducked inside the dim, quiet room and closed the door behind them. "All right, here we go."
"Aunt Kerry." Sally reached up for a hug, and Kerry gladly complied, picking her niece up and wrapping her arms around her. "You been gone a long time." She put her arms around her aunt's neck and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Yeah." Kerry walked over and sat down with her on the big leather couch. "I know. It has been a long time, huh?" She sat Sally down on her lap and studied her. "How old are you now, almost five, right?"
Sally nodded, her dark blond hair in childish curls bobbling with the motion. She was an engaging child with a rounded, cute face and a snub nose that Kerry had seen in the mirror once upon a time. She had hazel eyes and a dimpled smile, and she smiled now at her aunt. "Where you been?
"Well," Kerry said. "I don't live in Michigan anymore. I moved down to Florida. Do you know where that is?"
"How come you went there?" Sally swung her legs a little. "Mommy said you live far, far away."
"That's where I work," Kerry told her. "And it's warm there, and pretty. I like it a lot. Your mama came to see me there--where I live now."
"Oh."
"It's far from here, but I have lots of friends there, and even a dog," Kerry said. "Maybe you can visit and meet her."
Sally's eyes lit up. "You gotta doggy?" she squealed. "Oh wow!"
Kerry smiled at this unrestrained enthusiasm. "I sure do. Her name is Chino, and she's about as big as you." She bounced Sally up and down on her lap. "She's really cute, too."
"I wanna see her," Sally said. "Daddy won't let me get a doggy."
No, Kerry bet he wouldn't. "Oh, maybe when you get a little older," she said. "They're a lot to take care of you know," she added. "I didn't get to have a doggy when I was little either."
Sally pouted.
"Aw, cmon." Her aunt chuckled. "So you want to hear a story? I know a good one, about a bumblebee."
"I want a doggy!" Sally said. "Can I come to where you live and stay there?"
Kerry studied her for a minute. "You can come visit us, sure," she said. "I said so, right? Then you can play with Chino, and go the beach and see the ocean."
The little girl pouted again.
"Want to see pictures of my doggy?" Kerry suggested.
Sally nodded.
"Okay, c'mon." Kerry set her on the floor and stood up, leading the way into her late father's study, where her laptop was still resting on the desk. She sat down as Sally climbed up onto the chair next to her, and unlocked her screen saver. "Let's see what we have here."
She had a folder of pictures, specifically arranged together for the purpose she was using them for right now. Safe pictures of home, and work, of Chino and humorous ones of Dar. "Okay, see? Here's Chino."
Sally squealed. "She's so cuuuutte!"
"I told you." Kerry gazed fondly at her pet. "That's her favorite bed. She loves to swim in the ocean, too."
"I want a doggy," Sally lamented. "All I got is a stuffed chicken and it's stupid."
Kerry gave her a one armed hug. "Aw. You'll get one someday. I did, right?"
"I don't wanna wait till I'm old!"
Kerry started laughing. "Gee, thanks!" She made a face at her niece. "Tell you what, I'll ask your Mom to get you one, okay?"
Sally's eyes lit up. "For real?"
Paybacks were certainly, certainly a bitch. "For real," Kerry assured her. "I'll tell her to get you one just like Chino. She'll have plenty of room to run around and play here."
Sally looked around the room. "Mommy says we have to come stay here now."
"Mmhm," her aunt said. "You know, your Mommy and I grew up here," she said, seeing a sad look in the little girl's eyes. "We had lots of fun with your uncle Michael, playing hide and seek and running around."
Sally looked around. "You did?"
"We did," Kerry said. "I used to close my eyes, right over by the wall there, and your Mommy and Uncle Michael would find a place to hide and I'd have to track them down. One day, I thought they were hiding in the kitchen, and I thought I would surprise them in there."
Sally giggled.
"So I got a basket, and I filled it with dirt from the garden, and I crept along the hallway really quiet." Kerry lowered her voice. "And I crept, and crept, and when I was at the door, I threw the door open and ran inside, and threw the basket up in the air."
"Oh! They got dirty!"
"Not exactly," Kerry smiled. "Your grandma was in there talking to a stranger and they got dirty."
"Ooooo." Sally giggled, her sadness forgotten. "Did you get in trouble?"
"I ran really fast outside and they couldn't catch me. And then I climbed up a tree and got stuck and everyone got so scared about that they forgot about the dirt." She chuckled as her niece giggled harder.
"That was funny," Sally said. "Can we play hide and seek?"
'Sure," Kerry said. "I'll get your Mommy and Uncle Michael to play too, and we'll see how much trouble we can get into. Doesn't that sound like fun?"
"Yes!"
Kerry gave her another hug. "It'll be fun for you here. When your brother's a little older, you can play with him too, like I did with Uncle Michael."
Sally got quiet. "Did your Daddy live somewhere else too?"
"Well, sort of." Kerry turned her head and regarded her niece. "Do you remember Grandpa?"
Sally nodded. "He's not here no more."
"No," her aunt agreed softly. "Did you know Grandpa was my Daddy?" she asked. "Mine, and your Mommy's, and Uncle Michael's?"
"Oh. He was?"
"Mm." Kerry nodded. "And Grandpa had to spend a lot of time in a different place because of his job. A lot of times we had to go there too, so sometimes we lived there, and sometimes we lived here, and a lot of times, he wasn't here because he had to do things."
Sally put her thumb in her mouth. "Mommy told me Grandpa went to Heaven."
Kerry just nodded. "I'm sure he didn't want to go, but I know he's happy there, and waiting for us to come too. Isn't that what your Mommy told you?"
Sally nodded emphatically. "I miss Grandpa." She was watching Kerry's expressive face intently and there was no way for her aunt to dissemble.
Kerry exhaled. "I think he misses us too, sweetheart," she said. "But we all have things we have to do, and he had something he had to do in Heaven, so he had to go there and wait for us."
The child threw her arms around Kerry's neck. "I miss you too, Aunt Kerry. I thought you went to Heaven too, but Mommy said you just went to Miami."
Kerry bit her lip to keep from laughing, despite the pang in her chest. "You'll have to come to Miami to visit me, honey. Then you can see if it's anything like Heaven."
Sally released her and sat up, looking back at the computer. "More pitchers?"
"Sure." Kerry was glad enough to leave that conversation alone. She opened up the folder and the pictures popped up, tiny little colorful chunks of her life spread out on the screen.
"Who's that?
" Sally pointed at one of them.
Ah. Kerry found herself looking back into a familiar pair of very blue eyes. "That's my friend Dar," she said. "She lives in Florida too."
Sally studied the picture. "She's pretty."
The picture was Dar sitting behind her desk in the condo, chin propped up on one fist, and a look of bemused tolerance at what Kerry knew was a just showered, T-shirt covered camera wielder on the other side of the office snapping the shot.
Nothing really remarkable about it, save the smile, and the warmth in those eyes, which were looking right through the viewfinder into Kerry's.
"I think she is," Kerry said, with a smile. "Dar's my best friend. We have a lot of fun together."
"Do you play hide and see?" her niece asked.
"Sometimes." Kerry's eyes twinkled. "We do a lot of things together. " She pointed at another picture. "See that? It's a fish."
"Big fish!" Sally said.
"That's a shark," Kerry told her. "I took that picture, under the water."
Sally turned all the way around and looked at her. "No you didn't," she said. "You're not a fish!" She looked up as the door creaked open. "Mommy! Aunt Kerry isn't a fish, right?"
Angie entered, looking very stressed. She took a moment to relax, and then she shut the door behind her. "What's that, honey? What crazy story is Aunt Kerry telling you now?"
"I was showing her my diving pictures." Kerry turned the laptop so her sister could see them. "That one."
"That on--holy Christ, Kerry! That's a shark!" Angie came over and sat on the edge of the desk. "Tell me you didn't take that."
"I took that," her sister said. "Honestly they're not bad to swim with. You just have to remember not to stick any body parts near their mouths."
"Oh is that all." Angie peered at the pictures. "Well, you still have all your fingers anyway. That's a nice shot of Dar," she said. "So, what have you two been up to?"
"Mommy, Aunt Kerry says you'll get me a dog," Sally piped up. "Like that one!" She pointed at the picture of Chino. "Can I have one, huh? Please?"
Angie looked at the picture, and then she looked at Kerry, who smiled charmingly at her. "You're lucky you're my sister, and I love you."
"Can I Mom?"
