by Melissa Good
Moving Target
Copyright © 2013 by Melissa Good
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
About the Author
Other Yellow Rose Books
Visit Us On Line
ALSO BY MELISSA GOOD
Dar and Kerry Series
Tropical Storm
Hurricane Watch
Eye of the Storm
Red Sky At Morning
Thicker Than Water
Terrors of the High Seas
Tropical Convergence
Storm Surge: Book One
Storm Surge: Book Two
Stormy Waters
Science Fiction
Partners: Book One
Moving Target
by
Melissa Good
Yellow Rose Books
by Regal Crest
Texas
Copyright © 2013 by Melissa Good
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The characters, incidents and dialogue herein are fictional and any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
ISBN 978-1-61929-151-5 (eBook)
eBook Conversion December 2013
First Printing 2013
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cover design by Acorn Graphics
Published by:
Regal Crest Enterprises, LLC
229 Sheridan Loop
Belton, TX 76513
Find us on the World Wide Web at http://www.regalcrest.biz
Published in the United States of America
Chapter One
DAR ENTERED HER office and closed the door behind her. The windows that surrounded the room showed the pearlescent light of dawn as she dropped into her chair and nudged the power switch on her desktop computer.
Nothing could happen on board the ship until after lunch. So she decided to come in to the office and get caught up on things before she joined Kerry out at the pier.
While she waited for her PC to boot, she pulled her inbox over and began sorting through its contents. Security reports were on top, and she set those aside for reading. A two page single spaced incident report followed, and this she studied, resting her head on one hand as she read.
Their security department had been thorough. The Army ringer hadn't stolen a uniform at all, and now Dar wished she'd shown the woman to their services manager. She'd worked for him after all, applying for a job the day after Dar had gotten back from Orlando, and passed their mandatory background check.
Of course, she'd gotten herself assigned to the swing shift, starting at noon, and working until eight. Who would notice if she stayed a little later? How many nights did she prowl the hallways, looking for tidbits?
And for that matter, Dar wondered, why search her office? She looked around the big room. There was nothing, absolutely nothing in the office worth searching for. She kept her desk locked, but only when she was doing evaluations. Otherwise, the most scintillating item in her desk drawer was a handful of Hershey's kisses deposited regularly by Kerry.
Dar hated paper. She never printed anything out if she could help it. Everything she did was kept locked up tight in her system shares on the network. The Army brat could have riffled through her office for hours and not found anything more interesting than the half done sketch of Kerry on her notepad, laying face up in the hollow drawer at the desk's center.
So, what was she looking for?
Dar reviewed the report again, and couldn't find anything in it to fault--outside of requiring the cleaning company to do the same government level security scan they did on their own new hires.
Well, with a faint shake of her head, Dar turned and opened her mail program. If that's what they had to do, then that's what they had to do. She typed up a request to security and copied the cleaning vendor's president.
Then she went back to looking at the reports. Eleanor had turned in a terse, one page missive, reluctantly admitting to the identity of the marketing admin who'd logged into the spare PC. It was an older woman, Mary Hingtanton, who had been with ILS for fifteen years, and was close to retirement.
Why had she been logged on there? According to Eleanor it had been stupidly simple. She'd been ordering lunch for the senior managers, and forgotten the order. She'd logged onto the network to get it from her mailbox, and then forgot to log off.
True?
It was very plausible. Dar knew Mary, who was a fluffy, elderly woman with a heart of gold. She didn't really suspect Mary of being the Army's accomplice, but it all seemed just so...pat. Dar grumbled under her breath and swallowed a gulp of her café con leche.
Could it have just been opportunistic, as Mouser had said? Dar didn't want to believe it. The coincidence was just too strong for her to buy into the notion that the little runt had just gotten lucky.
With a sigh, she turned back to her mail, and composed a note to Eleanor.
Eleanor --
I'm sure Mary didn't do any of this on purpose. Try to find out if she saw anyone else in the break room while she was on the computer. I just don't buy it all happening by happy accident.
We're still looking for someone who logged in by your area on Saturday. Anyone in your group griping?
Dar
"She's gonna love that," Dar murmured. Then she turned back to the reports and scanned the next one from Duks. Again, she shook her head. Coincidence that someone had gotten to one of his people with an offer they couldn't refuse at this very moment?
It all seemed just so unlikely. Dar wanted to find the pattern behind it, the one thread that would link it all together and make it make sense, because right now, it wasn't.
The Army people, the auditors, the mystery person in marketing, cellular devices...hackers...Dar briefly covered her eyes, the chaos making her head spin. Then she rubbed her eyes and settled down to answer her mail, deciding to do something about something she did understand.
IT WASN'T OFTEN that Kerry could watch the sun rise on a weekday through the sliding glass doors to the townhouse. She was sprawled on the couch, the newspaper open in her hands and a steaming cup of hot tea nearby as the warm, golden light spread across the room.
The crew wouldn't be at the pier until nine, so that had given her a while to relax after Dar left. They'd decided to skip the gym, since Dar's foot was really bothering her. Kerry hadn't felt like going alone, so here she was browsing the front page with plenty of time before she had to leave.
It felt sort of good not to be rushing around. She didn't mind their usual schedule, but after all the malarkey going on around the pier and the office it was nice to simply relax for one morning. She scanned the headlines, taking a moment to read about a prehistoric site discovered during a construction dig then switching over to a story covering some new additions to the airport.
She'd really been wondering if she was going to show up in the business section, but nothing was there from their friend the reporter. In fact, no mention was made about the pier at all, which surprised her a lot. She'd expected to see it splashed everywhere. After all, it was summer and there weren't any hurricanes brewing. Why wasn't the story being covered?
"Hm." Kerry made a note to give their reporter friend a call. Maybe she could mend a fence from last night, and get a little
information at the same time. In the mean time, she lifted her cup and sipped the contents, enjoying the blackberry tea and the rich taste of the honey she'd sweetened it with.
Chino was curled up on the end of the couch just past her feet, very happy with the fact that Kerry was keeping her company. Kerry patted her on the leg with her bare toes, as she turned to the important part of the paper--the comics.
What would it be like, she wondered suddenly, if she could do this every day? Not read the paper, but relax at home and not have to go to work? Kerry pondered Dogbert's image while she considered the thought. "Hm." She poked her lower lip out a little. "It would be fun, for about two days, Chi."
"Growf?"
"Yeah, about two days, then I'd go postal." Kerry shook her head and went back to the cartoons. Dar had once said to her that she didn't care if Kerry wanted to stay home and--what was it? Sell seashell futures? Or write poetry, or whatever.
But she knew aside from how she would feel having Dar support her, that living an isolated life out here just wasn't in the cards. She was a social creature, and she liked the interaction with her co-workers and friends on a daily basis.
In fact, she wondered if even Dar would now choose a less interactive lifestyle, though Dar was far more a loner than she was. She suspected Dar had gotten used to having people around her and that she'd miss it if she made a change.
Wouldn't she? Kerry let the paper fold down onto her chest and gazed past it at the sunlight catching dust motes in the air. Or had Dar sacrificed her natural comfort in isolation as a trade off for their relationship, deferring to Kerry's more social wishes?
Hm. Kerry now wondered if she should worry about that. Would it all get to be too much for Dar one of these days? Or would she just consider it a worthwhile price? "Well, I could ask her," she murmured. "Or would she freak out if I asked her?"
No, she decided after a moment, Dar would not freak out to be asked, and she resolved to do so in the very near future. With a slight nod, she picked up the paper and went back to her reading.
She put the paper down as her cell phone rang. With a tolerant look, she picked it up and answered it, without glancing at the caller ID. "Kerry Stuart."
"Mm. Formal." Dar rumbled softly. "I like it."
Kerry wiggled her toes. "Hey." She wondered, as she had before, if Dar was in some weird way psychic, since she always seemed to call when Kerry was thinking the hardest about her. "What's up?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" Kerry repeated. "So..."
"Just wanted to call you," Dar said. "Maria called in sick, and it's too quiet here."
Kerry looked around. "It's pretty quiet here too," she said. "Chi's sleeping on the couch, and I'm reading the funnies. Did you get your stuff done?"
"Pretty much. I'm going to go over and talk to Duks in a few minutes, and find out what happened with his auditor. Mark's meeting with the guys who invented that cellular thing today."
"Yeah?" Kerry stretched her legs out, arching her back a little. "You want to stay there and talk with them? That was a pretty wild gizmo."
After a moment's silence, Dar grunted. "No. Mark knows what to ask," she said. "I wish we could tie any part of this together. I can't figure out how any of it is connected."
"You mean all the stuff that's happened the last two weeks?"
"Yeah."
Kerry considered. "What if it isn't?" She suggested.
"You mean we have twelve different security issues in two weeks and none of them have anything to do with each other?" Dar's voice rose at the end of the statement, gaining a touch of incredulity.
"Well?" Kerry smiled. "Hon, if you can't see a connection, maybe it's not there."
Dar sighed audibly.
"Did that Army guy contact you?" Kerry asked.
"Left a message yesterday," Dar said. "I was going to call him just before I left--give me a reason not to talk long."
"Good plan," Kerry said. "Hey, look at it this way. He obviously is interested in the new stuff you're working on. Why not sell it to him?"
Dar grunted. "It's not ready."
"So tell him that."
"I don't want to sell it to him," Dar replied. "He broke into our office. Why should I give him what he wants?" She asked plaintively.
Kerry sighed. "Because he's willing to pay for it, and if this ship thing goes down the tubes like you and I both expect it to, we need something to fill the gap, Dar."
"Hmph."
"Think about it."
"The ship thing will work out." Dar argued. "It's just going to be a bitch."
Kerry stared pensively at the ceiling. "We'll get it working, Dar, but I looked at the numbers yesterday, and given what our costs are, there's no way we're going to put in the lowest bid."
"We could fudge that."
"And do the same thing Telegenics does?" Kerry replied somewhat sharply. "No thanks, Dar. If we win, I want it to be a legit win, not a low ball."
Dar was silent for a brief moment, then chuckled. "Okay, I'll talk to the dogface," she said. "We'll work something out. Need anything from here?"
"You."
"Besides that."
Kerry considered. "My projects portfolio, matter of fact. It's in my top desk drawer."
"You got it. See you in a bit, Ker."
"See you." Kerry folded the phone closed and laid it on her stomach. She let the paper drop to the coffee table and closed her eyes, allowing her thoughts to drift pensively, focusing on what Dar had said, and what she hadn't.
DAR LIMPED DOWN the hallway that connected her office to Kerry's and popped the door open to her partner's office. It was quiet inside, as she'd expected, and she went directly to the desk and sat down behind it.
Unlike her own, Kerry's desk had a judicious amount of personal items on it. Where she just had her fighting fish and her inbox, Kerry had several small ceramic animals, some trinkets she'd picked up on their vacations, and pictures.
The largest one was a completely non-business related shot of Dar, and she gave it a brief glance as she rolled back to open the drawer. A second picture was of the two of them together on the back of the Dixie, and the third was of them and her parents on the pier.
The pictures were positioned so Kerry could glance up from her monitor and look at them and Dar had often seen her do just that--as though she were giving her mind a time out and focusing on the things she felt were most important in her life.
Dar did that too, but she kept the photos on the screens of her PC and laptop rather than out on her desk.
Why? Dar retrieved the slim, leather portfolio from the drawer and paused, leaning her forearms on the desk blotter as she regarded the pictures. Did Kerry think she was embarrassed and didn't want to be that public about their relationship?
With a slight frown, Dar started to push herself to her feet, pausing when the outer door opened and Mayte entered. "Ah." She watched the young woman's body jerk in surprise. "Sorry. Morning."
"Oh! Ms. Dar!" Mayte blurted. "I did not expect you to be in here!"
Dar held up the portfolio. "Just getting something for Kerry. How's your mom feeling?"
Mayte approached, viewing Dar with a touch of trepidation. "It is the flu, I think," she said mournfully. "Which of course means my papa and I will probably also get it. Poor mama!"
Flu. Ick. "She need anything?" Dar asked. "If she does, or if you need to go get stuff for her, take off. That's an order."
Mayte smiled shyly. "I think she is fine for now, thank you," she replied. "But I will tell her you said that. It will make her very happy to hear. She felt bad about staying home today."
"Why?" Dar started to limp around the desk. "We have sick time for a reason. Tell her to take off any time she needs. No one needs to be in here when they're feeling crappy."
Mayte looked at her injured foot, and then looked at Dar's face, blinking innocently. "Si, I will tell her that."
"I don't count." Dar muttered, heading for the door.
&nbs
p; "Ms. Dar, did you for really save Kerry from a shark?"
Dar stopped in mid motion, turning with one hand on the door latch. "Huh?"
"They were talking in the break room just now." Mayte blushed. "About that you saved Kerry from a shark, and that is how you got your foot hurt."
A shark? Dar looked down at her foot in reflex. "Um..."
"That is a very brave thing," Mayte said. "Was it a very big shark?"
Well. Dar looked at the respectful, almost worshipful expression on Mayte's face. Theoretically it could have been a shark, I guess. "Happened too fast." She temporized. "I couldn't really see that well how big it was."
"Wow." Mayte smiled.
Dar opened the door. "If you need us, we'll be at the pier." She decided a change of subject was needed. "Okay?"
"Okay." Mayte nodded. "I hope you have good luck there today."
"Me too." Dar edged through the doorway and waved the portfolio in goodbye as she closed the door behind her.
Shark. She shook her head as she headed back to her office. Well, at least it was positive for a change, but she couldn't help but wonder how the story had gotten so out of whack.
Maybe Kerry would know.
KERRY BECAME AWARE of her cell phone ringing again, and she opened her eyes, her mind struggling to reconcile the change in the light outside as she flipped the phone open. "Hello?" She cleared her throat of its huskiness, a sense of disorientation coming over her.
"Hey. Where are you?" Dar asked. "Here somewhere?"
Kerry half rolled over and spotted the clock on the entertainment center. "Oh, shit." It read 9:30.
"I'll take that as a no." Dar chuckled. "Thought I didn't see your car in the lot."
"Jesus. I fell back asleep on the couch." Kerry got up, swinging her legs down to the ground. "Give me ten minutes and I'll be on my way over." She scrubbed her hand over her face, trying to get some alertness back. "I can't believe I did that. Holy Moses."
