by Melissa Good
Kerry managed a smile. "I walked into the building with my mother," she said. "It's the only way I was going to get in. She ran interference with the guards, but she had no idea what was going on either. I just had time to get to the server room and put the optic in place before I got upstairs."
"So you knew they were up?" Hamilton asked.
Kerry shook her head. "I knew the link was up, and I knew the rest of it was up to Dar." She looked over at her partner. "She had about two minutes to do what I guess was about three hours work."
Dar shrugged modestly. "I type fast." She gazed over at Alastair."So you're telling me after we did what we did at the Pentagon, and after all we did for them up to the Exchange, they were going to railroad us?"
Alastair nodded. "Honestly, Dar, it wasn't personal." He saw both women make a face, and glance at each other. "The VP and I go way back. In their minds it was a case of what they thought was right for the country versus a bunch of nerds from some company giving them a hive."
"Scary," Dar murmured.
"It was," Alastair admitted. "I was standing there kicking myself for making a stupid decision and knowing we were all going to pay for it. I didn't want us to be a public failure. Instead, I almost walked us into the end of the company."
"Except we got lucky," Dar said.
"You really think that was luck?"Alastair asked with a smile. "I think it was just people who refuse to stop until they hit the end zone."
Dar shrugged again, lifting her hand in the air and letting it fall. "We made it happen," she acknowledged. "I'm very proud of our team."
"So am I," Alastair said.
"What are you going to tell the board, Al?" Hamilton asked.
Alastair gazed out the window for a few moments in thoughtful silence. "Haven't decided yet. They know I turned them down. I told them I'd take the fall and they were all right with that."
"Morons," Dar commented.
Hamilton snickered. "Al, you have to tell them the whole deal. Lay it out. They gotta know in case this comes back at us."
"Beh."
"Have Dar tell em," the lawyer persisted. "She can get on that call with her typical badass attitude and tell them 'Hey morons! Listen up!'"He gazed fondly at Dar. "You'd do that for Al, wouldn't you, Maestro?"
"Sure," Dar readily agreed. "But I think he's right. I think you should tell the board exactly what happened, Alastair. Everything,including the threats because I think we'll need to decide what the hell we're going to do with our being the government's IT Siamese twin."
Kerry nodded, but kept quiet.
"Half our business is U.S. Government," Alastair stated. "Might get tough."
"If we disband the company," Kerry spoke up at last. "I vote we open a clam shack down in Key Largo where the highest tech item is a wifi hotspot on the tiki roof."
"You ready to retire already?" Hamilton asked her with a smile.
"Right now, yes," Kerry answered. "In a heartbeat."
"I'm with you on that one," Alastair responded, surprising them. "I'm going to have a hell of a time going in to work behind that damn desk after what we all just went through."
Kerry felt that at a gut level. The experience had changed all of them, to a more or lesser degree. She glanced past Dar out the other window as she heard the faint rumble of an airplane taking off. "Almost there."
Dar turned to look too. The entrance to the airport was guarded,and the limo slowed as they reached the checkpoint. "Let's hope they don't have orders to throw us in a paddy wagon." She sat back as the driver opened the windows for the guards to peer inside.
"Hello there." Alastair remained in a relaxed pose his hands still behind his head. "Just catching a flight."
The guard studied them, then turned away dismissively and waved them on. The window closed and they pulled into the airport terminal. "Guess we didn't look dangerous." Hamilton commented. "Little do they know, the poor suckers."
"They're going to freak with the bus." Dar predicted. "We still have half a ton of gear in the back lockers."
"Let's hope they don't," Kerry said. "Dad's back there."
They got to the curb and eased out of the limo onto a sidewalk that was eerily quiet. There were guards stationed along the walk, but only a few cars were there discharging passengers. Alastair signed for the limo driver, and then they stepped back and stood together for a moment.
"Here comes the bus." Hamilton indicated the big vehicle now winding its way toward them. "We should go in as a group. I think our tickets are booked on one big itinerary.'
"They are," Alastair confirmed. "Bea took care of it."
Kerry stood with her hands tucked into her hoodie pocket, watching the bus unload itself of its human and luggage cargo. The techs were all in good moods, glad the work was over and even more glad to beheaded home.
She certainly was. She drew in a careful breath and let it out, wincing against the throbbing ache in her side. It felt raw and very painful,as though the bone was creaking in there and every movement almost made her bite her lip.
She felt Dar's hand settle on her shoulder. "Hey," she murmured.
"Doing okay?"
Kerry pulled the hand on her good side out and waggled it, then returned it to its nest. "I'm glad I don't feel like a zombie anymore but boy, this hurts."
"I've got some Advil. Dr. Steve said you could take that." Dar offered. "Let's go inside and get through security and I'll get you some."
That sounded great to Kerry. She followed Dar into the building with the rest of the group as they entered the terminal and started across the worn carpet toward the check in area. It wasn't that busy and they all went up to the counter at the same time.
Kerry stood quietly just behind Dar's shoulder as her partner handed over both of their identifications and declined the offer to check their luggage. It all sounded very normal, and Kerry wondered if it had been that normal for the hijackers as they had checked in not quite a week ago.
The gate agent asked Dar if she'd packed her own luggage. Dar answered that she had, and that no one had given them anything to take on. But that wasn't true, really, since Andrew had packed both their bags.
Should Dar have said that? In this case, of course, it didn't matter because it was her father. But what had the terrorists said in response?
Had they smiled?
Were there more of them right here in the terminal, just waiting for their chance? Waiting for everyone to relax again?
"Okay, c'mon, Ker." Dar handed her a folder. "Here's your boarding pass."
Kerry took it and stuck it in her hoodie pocket. She followed Dar through the winding lines around the corner and into another line, this time for security. "Hope they don't ask to frisk me," she said. "I can't hold my right arm out."
"Why in the hell would they want to f--no, let me rephrase that." Dar settled the straps of both their bags on her shoulder. "I totally understand the desire to frisk you. They better not think about it."
Kerry chuckled faintly. "You're so funny." She sighed, as the rest of their group caught up to them in line. "Hey Dad."
"Hey kumquat. You doing okay?" Andrew had his bag over his shoulder, and he eyed the ones Dar had but didn't grab for them.
"Eh." Kerry moved forward in line as they approached the security station."I'll be happy when the plane lands."
"You got that right, boss," Mark agreed. "Thanks for making a deal to get those trucks back, Dar. I really didn't feel like driving back tonight."
They got to the front and filed into the security line. Kerry was guiltily content to allow Dar to put all her stuff on the belt, as she waited her turn to go through the X-ray machine. She stepped through and heard no tell tale beeps, but she looked at the guard anyway in question.
He took her boarding pass and looked at it, then waved her through. Gratefully she went to the belt and reclaimed her overnight bag and briefcase just as Dar appeared behind her. They got their stuff and continued on moving down the hallway and then pausing
to wait for the others.
Andrew was being held up in the line. Dar watched as her father produced a card then waited, his arms crossed as it was examined. "He's got metal plates in him."
"I know. I remember when we went into the Federal building during my father's hearings," Kerry said. "Should we go help out? Oh, here he comes."
Andrew shook his head, and picked up his bag. He slung it over his shoulder before he joined them. "Can you take it out?" He mimicked the guard's question. "These people are some idiots sometimes. I swear."
Kerry smiled. They walked slowly toward their gate, the rest of the techs in a group behind them. They all stopped at one gate, and then Alastair, Hamilton and Nan started their good byes to go on to their own.
"I can't say this was fun," Nan said to Dar. "But it certainly was something I will never forget." She shook Dar's hand. "Thanks for letting me be a part of it."
"Thanks for volunteering," Dar responded. "I know the Virginia office will be glad to get you back."
Nan moved on and faced Kerry. "I hope you feel better."
"Me too." Kerry worked her left hand out of her pocket and reached over to squeeze Nan's. "Take care, Nan. I know I'll be talking to you on the phone." She paused. "And make sure you get your brother's resume in."
Nan blinked. "You remembered that? Wow." She laughed a little in surprise. "I feel like it was a year ago when we had that conversation."
Kerry smiled. "I have to catch the details." She waved at Nan as she walked toward her gate. "Have a good flight."
She turned to find Hamilton standing there. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a wry grin. "Boy, I hope we don't meet like this often," Kerry stated, catching sight of Alastair giving Dar a bear hug nearby.
Hamilton laughed. "You and me both, Kerrison Stuart." He patted her gently. "Take care of the Maestro, will you please? I owe her one for this little shindig."
"I will." Kerry watched him step aside then she was being gently hugged by Alastair. "What a week." She gave him a one-arm hug back. "Hope you have a safe trip back to Houston, Alastair. Come visit us soon, okay? I want to see Dar teach you to scuba dive too."
Alastair chuckled. "You're on, Kerry. You all have a safe trip home too." He gave the group a wave, and then he followed Hamilton down the hallway toward the next set of gates.
Kerry exhaled, as she turned and Dar put her arm around her shoulders. She looked up at her partner, seeing the exhaustion in her face."I like Alastair."
"Me too." Dar agreed. "He's seriously thinking of retiring," she added in a quiet tone. "That's what he just told me."
"Wow." Kerry looked back down the hallway. "I don't blame him, but--"
"Yeah, but." Dar mused. "I don't want to work for anyone else."
"Me either."
"Dar, they're starting to board." Mark came over and touched Dar's arm. "I know you guys want to get on and sit down."
Kerry was glad to head for the jet way. She was glad to hear the beep as her boarding card was processed and the motion under her feet as she walked down the ramp to the airplane door and passed inside,greeted by the flight attendant who stepped aside and indicated her path to her first class seat.
They all had them. Dar had told Bea to book the whole team as first class, so she settled into her leather seat surrounded by the chatter of the techs and Dar's low, burring response as they filled the first class cabin.
"Can I get you something to drink, ma'am?" the cabin attendant asked. "Some coffee maybe? You look a little tired."
Kerry looked up at her. "How about some warm milk?" she asked."Can you manage that?"
"Sure."
She sat back in her seat, resting her elbows on the arms. She was in the front row of the plane, and she could see the cockpit, a crude metal plate hastily covering it and it reminded her all over again of what had happened less than a week ago.
Were they safe? She looked around the first class area, which was mostly full of their people. What if there was a bad guy, or more than one in the back? She watched the crew. They looked wary and worried,their eyes taking in everyone and everything.
Including Kerry and the rest of them here in first class, who she realized, included Kannan's exotic features, and Andrew's scarred intimidation. Was the crew worried about them? Should they be?
The flight attendant returned with a steaming cup. She set it next to Kerry's hand, and set down a small dish of warm nuts next to it. "Here you go."
"Thanks," Kerry said. "Terrible week for you guys, huh?"
The attendant made a face. "The worst ever," she said. "You live in New York?"
"No." Kerry indicated the people around them. "We're from Miami. We work for ILS. We drove up to help out, now we're going home."
"Oh." The attendant looked around the first class cabin. "Are these people all with you?" She glanced back at Kerry, who nodded. "That's good to know. Every time I fly now, I wonder; who are these people? Are they crazy? Are they going to hurt me? I never felt like that before."
"I think we all feel that way now," Kerry commented, as Dar returned to her seat and dropped into it. "Hey. You got that Advil?"
"Sure." Dar got up and rummaged in the overhead bin, pulling the bottle out of her backpack. "Can I get some coffee?" she asked the attendant. "Before we take off?"
"Sure." The attendant gave her a friendly smile. "Be right back."
Kerry watched her return to the service area and talk to her colleague, who had a list in her hand and was reviewing it. She looked at the list, then out at them, and then nodded, a look of perceptible relief on her face.
Wow. Kerry leaned back, as Dar handed her some pills. She popped them into her mouth and swallowed them down with a sip of her warm milk. What would it be like to go to work every day and worry about someone trying to kill you and everyone around you?
It would be like being at war, she guessed. Or being somewhere that bombs going off were an everyday occurrence.
Welcome to the rest of the world, America.
Dar took her seat and reached over the divider to take Kerry's hand curling her fingers around her partner's and letting out a tired sigh. The attendant closed the door to the airplane and they were on their way.
At last.
Chapter Nineteen
"ALL RIGHT, YOU little scamp. Stay still a minute."
Kerry did, closing her eyes as she heard the hum of the X-ray machine. She was flat on her back, the chill of the table cool against her bare shoulder blades and her skin still just a little warm from the sun outside.
The sun of home. The achingly hot sun and the thick, swampy air that coated her with sweat not ten steps outside the door to the Miami airport they'd landed at shortly before.
Heaven.
"Okay, got it." Dr. Steve stepped around the X-ray shield and came to Kerry's side. "That's a hell of a bruise you got there, spunky."
Kerry glanced down at her side. "Yeah. It was so stupid, Dr. Steve.I tripped trying to keep some guy from falling on his face and ended up halfway under a raised floor."
Their family doctor put his fingertip on her nose. "Next time let the guy fall on his head. Don't cause yourself such pain, huh?"
"Twenty-twenty hindsight." Kerry accepted his hand up and swung her legs off the table, easing off it to stand next to the doctor in her jeans and sports bra. "It still hurts like hell. But at least I'm not all foggy from those drugs they gave me."
"Hon." Dr. Steve put his hands on her shoulders. "That stuff could have killed you." He told her bluntly. "You were lucky you were running around like a crazy woman because you could have sat down somewhere and nodded off, and not woken up."
Kerry stared at him.
"I am not kidding. Not only wasn't it the right thing, but it was too big a dose for you. That size dose is for someone like Dar's daddy. You are not the size of Dar's daddy. I am going to call up that doctor and read him the riot act."
Kerry took a breath, and then released it. "I don't think he did i
t on purpose."
"That's not the point. We're doctors. We're supposed to know what the hell we're doing and not deliberately try to kill people. It's called the Hippocratic Oath. Ever hear of it?" Dr. Steve seemed truly outraged. "I'm sure that guy didn't do it on purpose, he was just in a hurry."
"Well." Kerry picked up her T-shirt, holding it in her hands. "It's a good thing Dar called you then, huh?"
"For once, she did. If it had been her, I bet she wouldn't have." Dr. Steve patted her shoulder. "Now, go on in there and keep her company while I develop these. After that prescription, I want to make sure you don't have a tennis ball inside there or something he might have missed."
"Okay." Kerry walked out of the X-ray room and down the hall of the small family practice, passing two occupied rooms with nurses busy at their work. Dr. Steve had cut off the bandage she'd had on, and as she passed the reception desk, she saw the doctor's daughter glance over and wince.
"Yow." The girl stood up and came over. "Wow, looks like you got hit with a baseball bat."
"Yeah." Kerry smiled as Dar jumped up and headed over. "Hon, give me a hand with the shirt. The doc's looking at my X-rays."
Dar took the garment and gathered it in her hands. "If I'd known your ribs looked like that two days ago we'd have been home way before now." She frowned at her partner, getting the clothing over her head and settling it around her carefully.
"I don't care what they look like." Kerry leaned against her. "I just want to go home and spend a few hours in our hot tub, have something scandalously decadent delivered for dinner, and crash with you in our waterbed after that. "
Dar paused and looked slightly overwhelmed. "Boy that sounds great," she said, after a minute. "No laptops, no pagers, no pain in the ass government officials--"
"You guys had a rough time up there, huh?" Sheryl commiserated.
"We did," Kerry said. "We're glad to be home."
Dr. Steve came out of the hallway, and crooked his finger at them. "C'mere, kiddies."
Dar and Kerry joined him in his small office, where he put the X-rays up on a screen and turned it on. "Look here." He pointed at a curved shadow on the picture. "That's your rib, Kerry. You have not one, but three hairline fractures." He indicated three things that looked like scratches. "A little more pressure and that would have been a real fracture, and probably caused you a hell of a problem."
