Moving Target

by Melissa Good

  "Hey." Dar shoved her back gently. "I needed light. Chill out." She turned and opened the laptop, reconnecting it to the router that was gently blinking at her from its place on the table. Her heartbeat was still a little fast, and her knees shivered in reaction to the adrenaline seeping out.

  Michelle was no threat. Dar knew that. No matter how many belts or how many wisecracks the woman had in her, there was no doubt in Dar's mind that she could kick her butt.

  Hell, there was no doubt in Dar's mind that Kerry could kick her butt. In fact, if Kerry had come in the room while Michelle was pawing at her, she had no doubt she'd have been picking up armfuls of pissed off Midwestern Republican, and hauling her off before the Telegenics president ended up dumped head first into a garbage can.

  Ahrg. How freaking professional. Dar now felt embarrassment overcoming her anger. "Okay." Now let me try this again," she said, glad at least that Kerry hadn't witnessed the childish standoff. What would she have thought?

  KERRY STEPPED AROUND the still supine Shari. "Where's the boxes. We don't have much time." She glanced behind her as Mark turned on his flashlight and shone it around the hold. "There?"

  "Bitch."

  Kerry leaned close to the stack of boxes. "Yeah, here it is. C'mon, guys." She started pulling at a box. "Carlos, give me a hand, okay?"

  "Ma'am! Ma'am!" Carlos scurried warily past Shari, who was slowly getting to her feet and rubbing her back. "Let us get that. It's heavy!"

  Mark quickly joined him. "Yeah. Hey, boss, why don't you wait outside for us, huh?"

  Kerry ignored them and held up her end of the box, as they edged it out of the stack and headed for the gangway. "Careful, guys," she warned. "All kinds of obstacles around here."

  "You should know," Shari snorted. "Sure you don't know why the lights are out? According to the guys upstairs they went out while your precious partner was playing with something."

  "Hm, well, yes, I can see that." Kerry grunted. "I've had that happen once or twice, but honestly, I don't think Dar did for the ship quite what she does for me. Scuse me. You're going to get stepped on."

  Mark clucked like a duck, but kept walking backwards as they got the switch out of the ship. "Hey, look out."

  Cruickshank thrust a microphone into his face. "What are you doing?"

  Mark looked at her, looked at the box, and looked back at her. "Lady, this thing weighs a ton. Could ya move, please?"

  "But this is the second piece of equipment your company has taken from the Telegenics ship. What's going on?" The reporter persisted. "What are you doing?"

  "Dropping this." Mark grunted, hauling backwards and just pushing the woman out of the way. "Hey, Mr. Roberts? Can you give a hand here?" He called out.

  "Roberts?" Cruickshank turned and spotted a new victim. "This gets even thicker. Over there boys! Get the shot on him, on that guy.

  DAR STUDIED THE screen briefly, scowling. "Huh. Is that how I did that?" She muttered, then shook her head and copied in the configuration, reviewing the results with bemusement. "Guess it was."

  Michelle had taken a seat on the table and was just watching her with a dour expression.

  "Okay." Dar reviewed the configuration again, then looked up. "What's the deal with the power?"

  "Is that ready?" Michelle asked.

  Dar nodded.

  Michelle opened her cell phone and dialed. There was apparently no answer, and she gave the phone an annoyed look before she got up. "Stay here. I'll go find out."

  Dar's brows hiked. "Not afraid I'm going to run out the door with this?" She inquired. "Sure you don't want to chain me to the table first?"

  Michelle gave her a withering stare. "You'd enjoy it too much." She stalked out, brushing past two of her workers as they entered shaking their heads and laughing.

  Dar didn't really want to just stay where she was, but she really didn't want to go back out into the muggy heat either. She compromised by pulling out her PDA and tapping a message to Kerry, hitting send before she wandered over to the doors and peered through the glass at the lower part of the pier.

  Her father's truck sped past. Dar blinked, seeing Kerry, along with Mark and Carlos, hanging on for dear life surrounding a crate in the back. "Whoa." She leaned against the glass, watching them go. Kerry had the straps holding the crate down in one hand with her legs braced and her free hand up in the air. She looked very much like she was riding a bucking bronco.

  Cute. But dangerous. Dar frowned. She watched until the truck was out of sight, then turned and went back to her table, drumming her fingers on the surface of it. She'd been there only for a few seconds when the two guys that had come in from outside approached her, eyeing her warily.

  She eyed them back. "Yeah?"

  The taller one folded his arms over his chest. "So, you're that big shot everyone's talking about?"

  Dar looked him up and down. "Probably."

  "You the one who said nobody could break into your network?" The shorter one blurted. "You're that super nerd chick?'

  Unsure of whether to be flattered or insulted, Dar settled on annoyed instead. "Yeah. Who's asking?"

  "Man, you sure don't look like it." The two men walked away, shaking their heads again.

  Huh? Dar quickly looked down at herself, half expecting to see paint or worse splashed across her ragged denim outfit or a rip in an unexpected place.

  However, she looked reasonably acceptable so, who knew? "Thanks." Dar called after them, spotting Michelle and Shari entering from the back door and dismissing the two men without further thought. "So what's the story?"

  "Somehow," Michelle paused, placing delicate emphasis on the word. "The main electrical panel seems to have blown a fuse. They're apparently..." She paused again, and grimaced. "Replacing it."

  "All right." Dar ran her hand through her hair. "I'll go put this back in so it'll come up when the power does. I still have to work a few things out with it once that happens." She closed the laptop and unplugged it, tossing the cable to one side. "Thing we've got to be careful of is not tipping off the damn filming people."

  "Little late for that," Shari remarked dryly. "Your father just tossed one of their camera rigs into the water. Hope you've got a nice size bank account to go with that condo."

  The back door from the pier opened and the filming team entered, for the first time looking really, really pissed off. Two of the men were dripping wet, and a third was carrying what was obviously a very soggy piece of expensive filming gear.

  "Hm." Dar picked up the router. "My guess is, time for us to go."

  "Don't want to face the music?" Shari taunted.

  Dar tucked the router under her arm and started walking toward the steps.

  "Ms. Roberts!" Cruickshank spotted her. "Hold on just one minute, please!"

  Dar just kept right on walking, but the room wasn't that big and the reporter caught up to her as she reached the stairs. "Excuse me a minute." Cruickshank said. "Can we talk?"

  "Nope." Dar started up the stairs. "I don't have anything to say."

  "What? You're turning this project upside down, and you have nothing to say?" The woman sounded angry. "You owe us some answers!"

  "No, I don't." Dar didn't even turn around. "Except to say... how do you like being on the dark side for a change?" She rounded the stairway and headed up the second flight. "Michelle? You coming?" She yelled down over her shoulder.

  "What?" Cruickshank spluttered. "Dark side of what? Where are you going? What are you doing?"

  Quest entered downstairs, his voice echoing across the hall as he crossed it down below. "All right, Graver. It's time to pay up or shut up."

  Cruickshank stopped, torn between following Dar and going to see what was going on. "Oh."

  Dar stopped also, cocking her head to listen. Where she was standing they couldn't really see her, and she reasoned it was as good a time as any to get some dirt.

  "Pay up? It's not sundown yet." Michelle's voice came back. "Come talk to me when it's dark out."


  "I'm not waiting," Quest said. "I want what you promised me, NOW!"

  "Screw you, ya little..." Shari burst in. "I'll tell you what I'm gonna give you!"

  "Uh oh." The reporter reversed her direction and started downward. "Damn you, Roberts. I don't have a camera for this!" She cursed. "What am I supposed to do?"

  "Take notes." Dar started down after her.

  "MS. STUART?" CARLOS had one foot wedged between the crate and the lift gate and both his hands clenching the strapping with all his strength. "I have to say to you that you, for sure, make this job very exciting."

  "Um, thanks." Kerry nearly pitched overboard as Andrew took a curve in the road on their way across the port. "Actually, I really didn't expect IT to be quite this, uh..."

  "Whacked?" Mark supplied.

  "Yeah." Kerry squinted into the wind, her blonde hair whipping wildly around her head. She realized her PDA was buzzing in her pocket, but faced with the choice of reading the message or possibly being tossed out of the back of the truck, she regretfully decided the note would have to wait.

  Bummer, because she was fairly sure it was Dar.

  "Hey, Kerry?" Mark inched closer. "That was pretty cool, you knocking whatserface on her ass."

  "I enjoyed it," Kerry admitted. "I've just had enough. Honestly. This has just gone over the top for me."

  "Yeah." Mark nodded. "This is not cool. I mean, actually doing it with you guys was cool, but the whole thing sucked otherwise."

  "Yeah." Carlos agreed. "What he said."

  They pulled up to the pier across from theirs and bumped to a halt at the ship's gangway. Graham was standing there waiting with three men at his side.

  Also at his side was the Miami Herald reporter.

  Kerry jumped out of the truck and opened the gate, as Andrew got out and ambled around to join her. Graham and his crew crossed the pier with the reporter following them, as Mark and Carlos started loosening the straps that held the crates down. "Hi." Kerry addressed Graham. "This what you need?"

  Graham jumped nimbly into the back of the truck and examined the packing slip on the outside of the casing, leaning close to read it and rubbing some grease off with his thumb. After a moment, he straightened up. "It is." He seemed pleased. "Fellows, give a hand here. We may not be dead in the water after all." He looked up at Kerry with a puzzled smile. "I thought this was coming from your other friends. Did you have extras?"

  "No. It's theirs," Kerry said. "I'm just your local FedEx gal."

  The reporter leaned on the side of the truck. "Mind if I ask what's going on here?"

  They all turned and looked at her. Kerry leaned closer. "Are you really sure you want to know?" she asked in a confidential tone. "Or have you figured out yet that the stink around here isn't from the fish in the channel?"

  Elena's eyes twinkled. "Do tell?" she said. "Because all of a sudden, everyone around here who was more than willing to yap at me all day long clammed up."

  Graham's men hauled the boxes off the back of the truck and started lugging them inside. He lifted a hand and waved it in Kerry's direction as he followed them, tactfully leaving her with the reporter out on the pier.

  Kerry found herself in a mild dilemma. She knew it would all have to come out sooner or later, but if she told the reporter now, they all still looked like prize jackasses for falling for Quest's game. If she didn't let the reporter in on it, though, there was a chance Dar's instrumental part in exposing the hoax would be overlooked.

  Hm. "Want a ride over to the other side of the port?" Kerry offered.

  Elena looked at the truck, then at her. She grinned wholeheartedly and hopped up into the bed, giving Andrew a slap on the shoulder. "Stoke 'em up, Commander. I got a feeling this sucker's gonna get me either a Pulitzer or another career."

  Kerry got into the back of the truck and settled herself on the wheel well, her booted feet braced against the ribbed bottom of the bed. She spread her arms to either side along the warm metal and gazed steadily at the reporter.

  Elena removed a camera from the bag slung over her shoulder and focused it, taking a shot of Kerry just before the truck started to move. "So," she hastily put the device away and hung on, "what's the scoop?"

  Kerry had pulled her PDA out and was reading it. "Hold that thought," she said. "It just went from one scoop to a hot fudge sundae."

  She got up, balancing carefully and knocked on the window to the cab, sliding it open as Andrew slowed the truck. "The other ship, Dad. I think it's all coming down there."

  "Ya'll know what?" Andrew replied. "Ah do believe this here whole damn thing's gonna owe all of us a case of damn beer 'fore it's over."

  Kerry sat down and braced herself, blinking against the dust in the humid air. "Hell, Dad, if we can just finish this stupid thing, I'm buying."

  The truck rambled over a speed bump and they all bounced.

  "WE HAD A deal." Quest said.

  "Yeah, we had a deal. You were supposed to make sure we had the best of everything." Michelle snapped at him. "So where is it?"

  Quest spread his arms and turned. "You had the ship in the best condition, the best port, and the best loading crew. I did what I said I would. So now, it's time for you to give me what you owe me." He held his hand up. "I'm out of time on this farce. I want my check. Now."

  "Bullshit."

  "Bullshit nothing. You failed," Quest accused. "You dropped the ball, you little lesbo freak."

  Dar stopped just short of entering the room, letting her hand fall against the corner wall that separated the stairs from the open area. Cruickshank stopped with her, and they both listened with remarkably similar expressions.

  "What the..." the reporter whispered.

  "Hm." Dar pressed against the wall, kneeling down to let the router and laptop rest on the floor before she stood up again and flexed her fingers. "That wasn't part of your script?"

  Cruickshank gave her a quick, almost furtive look. "My script?'

  Dar snorted softly.

  "Wait a minute...we've got some issues with your 'keeping your bargain.'" Michelle argued. "In fact, after what I learned today, I don't think we owe you a damn dime." She paused. "You clueless breeder."

  "What?"

  "Yeah, you're the one who didn't keep up his end of the bargain." Shari pointed at Quest. "You were supposed to keep ILS in the dumpster, and screw them over. What happened to that?"

  Cruickshank's jaw dropped. Dar's eyebrows lifted.

  "What?" Michelle turned and stared at her partner.

  "Insurance, baby." Shari smiled. "I always take out extra."

  "Without telling me?" Michelle asked sharply. "This was my deal, remember? Who asked you to get involved in it?" She rounded angrily on Shari. "What the hell do you think you were doing making side deals without my knowledge?'

  "Ooh." Cruickshank murmured. "Second thought, glad no camera. Fugly."

  Dar found herself silently agreeing. The last thing on earth she'd ever want to get captured on film would be her and Kerry arguing. "No kidding," she muttered back.

  "Give me a break. Someone has to look out for our money, because you sure as hell don't." Shari scoffed.

  Dar chose that moment to emerge, circling the end of the stairwell and stalking across the scruffy gray carpet toward the group of arguing people. After a moment, she heard the reporter scurrying out after her and they both arrived at roughly the same moment that Michelle whirled and was about to let her partner have it. "Excuse me." Dar correctly interpreted the smaller woman's body language.

  Michelle cut off in mid breath turned, her expression altering. "Thought you went to the ship."

  Shari smirked at Dar. "Finally getting a real clue, redneck?'

  "Roberts." Quest greeted her stiffly.

  Dar halted and let her hands rest on her hips. She studied the three jackasses standing in front of her as she considered her options, a faint, yet unpleasant smile crossing her face.

  Her options scattered as Michelle grabbed Shari b
y the arm and pulled her toward the small office in the back of the terminal. Shari looked like she wanted to protest, but then shrugged and went along, the two of them disappearing into the office as Michelle slammed the door closed.

  That left Dar, Quest, and Cruickshank standing there in a dour circle looking at each other. "Okay," Dar finally said. "So now we know you never intended a level playing field."

  Quest shrugged uncomfortably. "You said you were open to challenges."

  Dar chuckled mirthlessly. "You never said you were open to being paid off. I could have afforded more than they could. You should have shopped around." She gave the reporter a sideways look. "Sure that wasn't part of your script?'

  Cruickshank and Quest exchanged wary glances.

  What now? Dar wondered. Everything seemed to be shifting and skewing, leaving her with only a few clear options at this point. Should she blow it all right now? Somehow doing it here, with no one else present didn't suit her sense of strategy.

  "Okay." Cruickshank took over. "Well, we've got a new twist here it seems, Mr. Quest. You've been playing both ends against the middle. Interesting angle." She motioned the filming crew over, who had apparently just finished getting themselves a new camera. "Let's get some of this on screen."

  Quest turned and just left. He didn't say a word; he didn't even look back at them. He just walked out of the building and let the door close behind him.

  That left Dar to face the cameras, so naturally her cell phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID, then opened it. "Afternoon, Alastair."

  "Hello there, Dar." Her boss sounded relaxed and cheerful. "How's it going?"

  The outer door opened and Kerry slipped inside. She spotted Dar and headed over followed closely by the Herald reporter. The filming crew was approaching from the other side. She could hear shouting from inside the office Michelle and Shari had disappeared into.

  It was almost sunset.

  "Well." Dar sighed. "Alastair, about the only thing I can tell you right now is that we're at about one hundred percent suckage."