Winds of Change Book Two

by Melissa Good

  No loud bands, no drunken people, and no weird visions of potential ghosts around anywhere, not even around the Vanderbilt mansion they’d passed on the way back to the condo.

  She’d had no bad dreams, no spooky visitations. In fact she’d managed to mostly forget completely about any of the odd things they’d seen as she’d curled up in their water bed wrapped up in Dar’s long arms.

  So it was all good.

  She put her gizmo down and stretched her body out, feeling the mild ache of well used muscles from their session at the gym that morning. A little longer than their usual but a natural reaction to having spent the preceding three days in nonstop indulgence.

  Worth it though.

  Kerry smiled, and opened her mail, then she removed the contents of her inbox and began to sort through them. Four contracts to review, three new hires, and a report from their real estate agent on possible expansion options in the area. She set aside the report and pulled the contracts over, picking up a two ended pen and focusing her attention on the text.

  DAR WRAPPED HER legs around the base of her chair and leaned on the small worktable in the programmer’s area. Two of the database coders were across from her and they had a structure diagram spread out between them.

  “We started with the base platform but you said you wanted it to be flexible,” Fidel, a clean cut and dark haired Latino with broad shoulders and power lifter arms, said. “So we want to use relational, but we’re going to need a big box, maybe one of the IBM pSeries to run it.”

  “Here’s the problem with that, Fidel,” Dar said. “We know the customer’s good for the cash, but this is a step-by-step delivery project. We’d have to shell out for the hardware, then hope they’ll accept it.”

  “Why wouldn’t they?” the other coder asked. “It’s not like we’re getting it second hand from North Korea. It’s IBM.”

  “True,” Dar agreed “But those guys always have tech lists. We need to see what’s on theirs, or get their buy-in on the box before I sign the check for it.” She studied the diagram. “You always have to pre-buy to some extent, but you try to limit it wherever possible. It’s a gamble otherwise.”

  Fidel propped his chin on his fist. He was restless and aggressive and reminded Dar a little of herself back in the day. “Maybe we can get IBM to give us one for a POC?” he said, “so the deal would be, if it goes, then we buy it and they get paid.”

  Dar suppressed a smile. “Why would they do that?”

  “We tell them we’re going to buy a box from someone else. Like HP,” Fidel said. “I bet they’d do it. They did on my last gig.”

  Dar tapped her thumbs on the table. “If I’m going to play that game with them, might as well up the stakes,” she said. “Let me see if I can get them to use us as a platform for whatever experimental they’ve got on tap. No sense in going for a mid range.”

  Fidel looked surprised. “Experimental?”

  Mike, the second programmer spoke up. “Like that Big Blue thing that beat the chess guy? That would be cool.”

  “Something like that,” Dar said. “I like the idea of leveraging them. But I’ll bring the guys from Cray in, too. See if we can get a high level pissing match going.”

  “Cray? Wow,” Mike said. “You think they’ll play ball with us?”

  Dar smiled briefly. “We’ll find out. It’s worth asking at any rate. Good ideas, people.”

  Both men looked pleased at the acknowledgment. “Okay, so.” Fidel put his finger on the grid. “Then I can work out some three dimensional dynamics for the database structure. I’m going to need a crapload of table space.”

  “And a bigger SAN,” Mike said. “We’re going to run out of LUNs.”

  Dar sighed. “Yeah, Kerry’s already looking for more space for us.” She shook her head. “Mark’s working on bringing up a datacenter. I can’t put in any bigger systems until we get that done. Won’t fit in that server room.”

  “No way,” Mike said. “This all going faster than you thought?” He asked Dar.

  It was strange, yet refreshing, to have these people treat her so casually. Regardless of how long she’d worked with people at ILS, they’d never regarded her the way these men were. “It shouldn’t have,” she admitted straightforwardly. “But yeah, I was expecting a little more runway.”

  “Well, we can work out the structure on paper anyway,” Fidel said. “We could use that new coder they interviewed yesterday.”

  “Kerry’s working on it,” Dar said. “Okay, thanks for the recap. I’ll go give the big boys a call.” She pushed herself to her feet. “Onto the next group.”

  “Thanks, Dar.” Fidel collected the printouts. “Check back with you later.”

  Dar headed across the programming bull pen over to the other side where she heard a spirited argument about search metrics. The overhead lights were out, flashes of neon impacted her eyes as she went past desks covered in wall hangings. Over in one corner she saw the outline of a bean bag chair. It all made her smile.

  “Hey, Dar?”

  She paused and looked around a cube wall. “Yes?”

  “Can you check this code progression?”

  Even more so. “Sure.” Dar pulled up a rolling stool and cracked her knuckles. “Lemme see.”

  KERRY SIGNED OFF on the contracts and dropped them into her out bin, then paused. “Well, since you made your admin a manager, who are you expecting to come pick that up, Kerrison?” She asked herself wryly. “Get out of that big company mentality, get off your ass and take them down instead.”

  She got up and retrieved the contracts, then made her way out through Mayte’s space to the main corridor. She waved at Maria through her open door, then continued on to the suite of offices taken up by the accounting group. “Hey, Col.”

  “Hey, girl.” Colleen was supervising the installation of a set of file cabinets that lined the walls of the good sized storage area assigned to her department.

  Kerry came over to where she was standing. “Wasn’t technology supposed to get rid of all this paper?”

  Colleen laughed. “Oh, sure.” She held her hand out. “When you bits and bytes types are one hundred percent sure you can’t lose them in the ether, we’ll stop printing.”

  “Point made.” Kerry handed her the contracts. “Can you execute these, please? I’ll stop by HR with the personnel requests for them.”

  Colleen studied the contracts, whistling softly under her breath.

  “Good gracious.” She glanced up at Kerry, who returned the look with a wry, slightly sheepish grin. “I told my brother about this place. He thinks it’s that you and the tall dark and dauntless one have the touch.”

  Kerry cocked her head to one side. “What touch?”

  Colleen rubbed her thumb against her first two fingers. “The money touch, or really, success. Most people would have been out there pounding the pavement handing out fliers looking for work. Not you guys.”

  Kerry shook her head. “That won’t keep up. We caught a break because of the government projects.”

  Colleen held up the contracts. “And these?”

  “Well, we’re lucky in that we’ve got a history in this industry.” Kerry put her hands behind her back and rocked up and down a few times. “And we’ve got a history of success. If we didn’t we probably would be out there pounding pavement.”

  “Lucky for the rest of us.” Colleen winked at her. “Let me get these squared away and filed in these bonny new cabinets of mine. Half a drawer already with documentation.” She indicated one set with carefully labeled drawers.

  “We should talk about offsite storage,” Kerry said. “Set up an account with Iron Mountain, at least.”

  “Already did that, m’dear,” Colleen said. “But it would be better if we could transfer it all digitally. The tapes...I never did trust them.”

  “Me either,” Kerry said. “Let me see what I can come up with, okay? I’m going to go grab a cup of coffee.”

  “Surely.” Colleen went into
the office with the folder.

  Kerry headed for the stairs, dropping down them in an easy rhythm. The receptionist answered the phone, as she got down to that level.

  “Roberts Automation. Yes? Oh, yes, let me put you through to our accounting department.” The receptionist gave Kerry a little wave. “I’m sure they’re interested in a new stationary vendor.”

  Kerry rolled her eyes and chuckled as she ducked into the downstairs break room, newly finished and equipped with tables and microwaves and two big refrigerators. The coffee service had been moved inside and off its cart and she nodded in approval at the newly plumbed drink machines and the box with its selection of teas.

  The refrigerator was already full of lunch boxes and jars of various condiments in the door pockets as well.

  They had a smaller kitchen upstairs, but Kerry had decided to keep things on the lower level to encourage people to get up and move around, not get stuck in their chairs all day long. She opened one of the cabinets and spotted lines of neatly logoed mugs inside, in their blue, gray and buff colors.

  “Nice.” She took one down and examined it, then put it down and selected a green tea bag rather than the coffee she’d intended on making. She added some honey to the beverage then took her cup and strolled around the lower level. She heard carpenters and other workmen nearby and stuck her head inside one of the nearly finished staff work areas.

  The room was empty and looked large, but Kerry knew once they got the modular furniture inside it would rapidly shrink. She counted in her head how many cubes it would hold. “Sheesh.”

  This would be the room for the support group the HR firm was busy hiring. They would report to Mark. She studied the space and made a mental note to set aside the back section—which had a little angle to it and windows that overlooked the garden—for a supervisor.

  Yet another person they’d have to hire.

  Wow. Kerry moved along the corridor and headed around to the back side of the building where the HR group had moved, having expanded to require more space. She entered their new office, finding six people there, all busy on the phone.

  She looked around, but the supervisor spotted her and hurried over. “Busy in here.”

  “Boy is it,” the woman said. “Let me tell you something, Ms. Roberts. I’ve been doing this for fifteen years and I’ve never seen a company come off the blocks like this one has.”

  Kerry smiled. “I’ll take that as a compliment. But I’ve got another set of requests for employees. We’re going to need four more web developers and two mobile specialists.”

  “My goodness.”

  “And next week the support area’s going to be ready, so we need to fill it,” Kerry said, almost apologetically. “Six tech support people and a supervisor. That’s all for us.”

  The woman seemed slightly overwhelmed. “I’m going to have to call up some other agencies. Our pools are almost empty.” She grinned, though. “But that’s the kind of problem I like to have.”

  Kerry remembered something. “Let me send you a list of possibles. I heard of some layoffs in the recent past that could end up working in our favor.” She patted the woman on the arm. “See what I can do.”

  She left the HR people in a buzz of activity and went along the back side hallway heading for the other set of steps leading back up to the second floor. She paused when she heard voices outside. She went to the big rolling dock door and stuck her head out. Carlos was there with their persistent antagonist, Wheels. “Hey.”

  Carlos was standing on the dock, his big, muscular arms crossed over his chest, regarding the disabled man at street level. “Hello there, ma’am. Was just having a discussion with this guy.” He indicated Wheels. “He doesn’t like that I had Waste Management put a locked hatch on the garbage dumpsters.”

  Kerry didn’t realize their new security manager had done such a thing. “Well, it’s a shame that people can’t abide by our wishes, but there ya go. Good job.” She returned Wheel’s dour glare with a mild expression. “I’m not sure what your problem is.”

  “It’s just garbage,” Wheels said. “Why do you care if someone roots in it?”

  “Cause it makes a mess we gotta clean up,” Carlos said. “I saw what you did yesterday. That’s why I had them come out today and lock it. Guy had to spend two hours cleaning up after you.”

  “There ya go.” Kerry started to pull her head in.

  “Hey, chick!”

  Kerry debated on responding. Then she leaned against the door frame. “Hey, jackass,” she called back.

  But Wheels held up a hand. “I’m not trying to be an ass, that’s what we call women.”

  “I’m not trying to be an ass either, that’s what I call men who call women chicks,” Kerry responded. “So now if we’ve got that clear, I’ve got work to do.”

  Carlos chuckled and started to follow her inside.

  “Hey wait,” Wheels yelled after them. “I want to ask you a question.”

  Kerry paused just inside the door, exchanging a look with Carlos, who filled the opening. “I’m going to regret going back out there, aren’t I?”

  “Not with me around,” he said with a faint grin.

  Kerry sighed and eased around him and out the opening, emerging on the loading dock with Carlos at her heels. She walked over to the edge of the concrete and sat down, dangling her legs and leaning her elbows on her thighs. “Yes?” Her eyebrows lifted in question.

  Carlos leaned against the building wall, watching them closely.

  Wheels stared at her for a minute, apparently surprised that she’d come back. He looked embarrassed and he checked around him carefully before he looked back at her. “I seen new people around here all week.”

  “Yes. We’re growing.” She studied his scared face. “Why do you ask?”

  He looked away furtively. “Just wondered,” he muttered. “Stupid queer who owns the place said you were hiring. Just wondered why we never get a piece of that.”

  Kerry felt warmth between her shoulder blades and knew if she looked behind her, she’d find Dar there watching them. Either from the dock door or the windows above. She knew it as surely as she knew going down the road this disabled vet was heading on would likely bring them nothing but trouble.

  But that had never stopped either of them. “Piece of that,” she repeated slowly. “As in, why we wouldn’t consider hiring you?”

  “Us. Any of us.” He waved a hand in a vague circle. “All I heard was crap about bringing jobs in here. But not for us.” He refused to look at her.

  Kerry regarded him in silence for a moment until he looked up. “The jobs are open for anyone who’s qualified for them,” she said. “We didn’t tell the agency not to look around the neighborhood.”

  He stared truculently at her.

  “We’re an information technology company,” Kerry said in the same mild tone. “So if anyone around here is interested in that kind of job, they’re free to apply. I can give you a list of the openings we have and you can show people.”

  “You’re just saying that,” he accused.

  Kerry sighed. “You want to see them or not? Honestly, I wouldn’t bother just saying that. I’ve got enough to do as it is, but we’re expanding and we need people. If there’s someone around here who’s qualified and wants a job, better for me.”

  There was a long silence and then Wheels finally lifted his hands off the arms of his wheelchair and put them back down. “Yeah, okay. I’ll look at them. You’re probably way too snooty for the likes of anyone here, but what the hell.”

  Kerry started to get up but heard steps behind her and looked over her shoulder to see Mayte trotting out with a folder in her hands. She took the time to tip her head up, finding the windows overhead empty but the swinging plastic curtain of the main entry swayed enough to give her a glimpse of a tall figure inside.

  “Thanks, Mayte.” She took the folder and then hopped off the dock, walking over to offer him the papers. “There you go.”

&n
bsp; He grabbed them from her and shoved the folder between his body and the side of his chair. “Yeah, okay thanks,” he muttered. “Sorry about the mess. We didn’t think anyone cared.”

  Kerry crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the dock wall. She heard the scuff of footsteps behind her and a moment later Dar stood next to her, hands planted firmly on her hips. “Hey, sweetie.”

  “Hey,” Dar responded. “Was that a good idea?”

  Kerry shrugged. “We do need people and you never know, hon. Maybe one of those guys has tech experience.”

  “Maybe,” Dar said. “But do they have a bank account we can drop an ACH into, and will they pass the security review?” She took the cup Kerry still had and drank a sip of her tea. “At any rate, that was a lot better outcome than last time and we don’t need to call the cops.”

  “True.”

  Dar handed the cup back. “Think I’ll go get some java and apologize to my coders. I hauled ass out of their crib like the schizoid overprotective nut case I am and knocked some sodas over.”

  Kerry eyed her. “You didn’t really.”

  Dar made a face. “Maria came hauling past me saying you were out here and she was going to get security. I didn’t have super secret psychic powers this time.”

  Kerry smiled. “I think it was a good choice, Dar,” she said in a sober tone. “Halfway through escalating a bitch fest with him it occurred to me that we weren’t going anywhere with that attitude. Then he took a step in. I took one, too.”

  “Trust your judgment one hundred percent.” Dar offered her hand. “Let’s go back to work.”

  “You got it.”

  Chapter Eight

  KERRY WHISTLED SOFTLY under her breath as she folded another pair of underwear, bopping gently to the song playing in her ear buds as she worked. Chino and Mocha were sleeping in Chino’s bed nearby, after being run to exhaustion by Dar earlier in the evening.