Eye of the Storm

Chapter

Fifteen

“TELL ME AGAIN, chica. Who had this idea?” Ray ducked, as a rubber ball went flying flew over his head, and the lights started to dance.

“This a circus.”

“Eh.” Colleen grinned, and motioned over a skating waitress. “It’s cute. There are a lot of company groups here. Look, there’re the guys from FedEx.”

Ray moved his head, then laughed. “In those tight blue shorts. I see them.” There were four of them there, Ray and Colleen, and two others from Synergenics who had worked with Kerry before her promotion.

“You want something to drink, Susan?”

The programmer nodded. “Hell, yes. A beer, please.” She leaned back in her chair and put her feet up on the one next to her. “Feels good not to be in front of a screen. That last project nearly killed me.” She rolled her head towards Colleen. “What time’s Ker getting here? Eight?”

“Supposedly, yep.” Colleen glanced up at the door, some distance away, then chuckled. “Right on time. Just like always. You can set your watch by the woman.”

They watched as Kerry opened the door and slipped inside. She was alone and she paused for a moment, letting her eyes adjust before she spotted them and waved.

“Good god.” Susan sat up. “I can’t believe that’s the same person.

Would you look at her?” The programmer ran her hand through her silvered auburn hair and shook her head.

Kerry headed towards them, trotted down the short series of stairs and dodged the busy crowd. She was dressed in faded jeans and a snug fitting aqua colored tank top which exposed a good portion of her upper body to the watching eyes.

“Mi Madre. ” Ray shook his head. “I remember her all frills and lace, and being so quiet. She has changed so much.” The support manager of Synergenics, who had taken Kerry’s position, hadn’t seen his ex-boss in over four months.

“She sure has,” Colleen mused, observing the self assured figure moving towards them, seemingly oblivious to the appreciative looks from the people she brushed by.

“Hey guys.” Kerry dropped into the nearest chair and let out a 134 Melissa Good breath. “Just made it. We had a wild day at work.” She watched the eyes flick over her shoulder and smiled. “Dar’ll be here in a bit. She was just finishing up a call when I left.” Her gaze turned towards her former coworkers. “So. How are you guys doing? Susan, I got your email with those jokes. I hope you know they’re floating around HQ now.”

The programmer chuckled. “That’s okay. Things are fine by us. We just finished up remapping that IRS website program. Put them on IIS

with some custom scripting. They like it.”

“I know.” The green eyes twinkled. “I keep track of stuff coming from you all. It’s been fun watching everything come together.” She looked up as the waitress rolled back up and delivered drinks. “Ooo.

What’s that? Draft beer? Can I have one?”

The lights dimmed and the strobes started up, throwing patterns of balls and beams around the bowling alley. Tacky music added to the atmosphere, as teams moved towards their assigned alleys. “Do they really expect you to…um…bowl…in this?” Kerry, with a wry grin, peered around.

“Nah. It’s more of a gag than anything.” Susan waved a hand at it.

“The proceeds go to the United Way, so...” She held up a ticket. “You’d better go get a pair of ugly shoes and we’ll claim our spot. They’ll bring the beer over there for ya.” She pointed. “Lane 32.”

“Good idea.” Kerry stood up and Ray joined her. “We’ll meet you guys over there.” She edged around the table and walked towards the control desk, with the slim Latin man right at her heels. “This is just goofy enough to be fun, Ray.”

Ray laughed. “Sí, you got that right, jefa.” He patted her back, a touch gingerly. “Kerry, I have to say this to you, I think you look fantastic.”

Her friendly smile and warm green eyes were the same. “Thanks, Ray. You look great yourself. Is that a new haircut?” Ray’s dark hair was almost shaved in back and the front wasn’t much longer. She reached over and ruffled it.

“I hate to tell you what happened.” He lowered his voice, as they waited their turn at the desk. “I was under the sink, you know? Fixing the pipes and I turned that little torch on.”

Kerry cocked her head. “For the copper things?”

“Sí, sí. Only the dog, she’s so cute, but she put her nose…I was not wearing…” Ray stopped, and cleared his throat. “Anyway, I jumped up, and forgot the torch, and burned my hairs off.”

She clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from bursting out laughing. “I’m sorry. That’s not funny.”

“Oh, honey. Of course, yes, it is.” Ray smiled sheepishly. “But it does not look so bad, does it?”

Kerry smiled back. “No. Not at all. You just look different.” She paused. “Younger, I think.”

“You too.” The dark eyes flickered beneath even darker lashes.

“Look at all those muscles.”

Eye of the Storm 135

She glanced down, then spread her arms a little and shrugged.

“Yeah. I know. All that wall climbing, and diving, and…” Kerry exhaled.

“Took me a little while to get used to it but it doesn’t look too bad, huh?”

“Tch.” Ray bit his lip, and given this permission, indulged in a long look. “Honey, you look gorgeous…and so happy.” He leaned closer. “I am so glad for you, jefa. The chupa, she did good for you, no?”

Kerry nodded slowly. “Better than good, Ray.” She turned around as they reached the desk and handed the ticket over, ordering shoes for herself and Dar and paying for them. “It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“OKAY, OKAY, OKAY.” Dar finally checked off the last box in the form she was filling out, carefully writing in several notes near the bottom of it. “Can we beta or not?”

An aggrieved sigh came through the speakerphone. “Dar, we have just gotten the routers in place. Willya give me a damn week to get them programmed and tested before you start tossing packets at them?”

“A week?” Dar protested, leaning over her work and writing a long paragraph in her strong, but confusing handwriting. “Jesus, Byron. I got twenty of the damn things programmed in one night. What do you mean, a week?”

“Dar…”

Another scribble, and a pause for thought. “Shows exceptional grasp of business cases and acts with solid responsibility,” she muttered.

“Excuse me?”

“Not you, Byron.” Dar chewed the end of her pen. “All right. I’m tired of arguing and I gotta go. You’ve got a week but when that’s over, I want a clearance to bring the system up.”

A grumble. “Okay. I think I can do that.”

“You think?” Dar’s voice dropped.

“We’ll do it.”

“Night, Byron. Tell Sandra I said hello.”

“Tell her yourself,” Byron grumbled. “She’s right here laughing her ass off. She loves watching me squirm.”

Dar smiled. “Hey, Sandy.”

A low, melodic voice answered, full of the musical quality common in the East. “Hello, Dar, long time. I’ve been enjoying every minute of this.” Sandra chuckled. “I keep picturing this eighteen-year-old punk sitting in the CIO’s office though. It’s making my brain hurt.”

Sandra Weing had been Dar’s first supervisor after the company had bought out the tiny programming group she’d joined as a summer job.

Dar was fairly certain she’d driven the lovely, talented, patient, and serene Dr. Weing to banging her head against the wall and she was always surprised the woman remembered her fondly.

She’d also been Dar’s first crush and a medium of startling revelation. Sandra had married Byron, a well thought of systems engineer, and 136 Melissa Good decided to settle down at home and have kids, though, and Dar had always wondered how that’d worked out for her. “Well, I’m certainly not eighteen anymore,” she remarked, filling in another line on her form.

“But I’m glad you’re having fun.”

“No. I realized that when they posted those pictures of you online.”

Sandra chuckled. “Well, dinner’s calling. Nice talking to you, Dar.”

“Same here. Next week, Byron,” Dar warned.

“Yeah, yeah.” He sighed. “You’ll have it.”

“Night.” Dar hit the phone button with her pen and finished a last entry, her real reason for staying late.

Kerry’s evaluation, which would be a touch difficult to do during the chaotic day, or at home with the very tangible reminder of her lover’s presence so close by. She glanced at her watch. “Only eight-thirty. Not bad.” She added her recommendations for Kerry’s future and signed the review, with a strong scribbling, smiling as she sat back and let the pen drop on the desk.

The sound of footsteps didn’t surprise her. She’d known Ankow was still in the building, based on little security pop-ups that had been helpfully tracking him for her for the last few hours. “Well,” she stood up and locked her PC, then slid Kerry’s evaluation into her top desk drawer and locked that, too, “it’s not going to be a repeat of last night, that’s for sure.”

She already had her gym bag over her shoulder as he walked in and she peered briefly and uninterestedly at him as she picked up her keys.

“Just leaving.” She paused. “Sorry.”

He leaned against the doorframe, regarding her sourly. Maybe he doesn’t like parrots. She had two of them in a snuggly pose on her left breast, embroidered into a faded blue denim shirt tucked into natural stone washed jeans.

“Slumming tonight?”

Dar moved towards the door. “Disco bowling,” she answered, with strict truthfulness, as she stopped in front of him and gestured towards the outer office. “Bar’s closed.”

For a minute, she thought he was going to remain standing there, then he eased out ahead of her. “I’m surprised. Someone who lives out on a ritzy island spends her evenings bowling?”

Dar didn’t react. “Better than spending my time digging through public records in the Dade County Courthouse.”

He got to the door first and leaned against it, holding it shut and smiling at her. “But you find out such fascinating things leafing through those microfilmed titles.” He paused. “I’ve got you, Roberts.”

“With an inherited condo?” Dar glanced at her watch. “Get out of my way, I’ve got a lot more important things to do than this.”

“With your co-owner.”

Uh oh. Dar exhaled inwardly, but kept her composure. “Who?

Kerry?” She managed a completely bland look. “Why? She pays her half of the taxes.”

Eye of the Storm 137

A moment’s doubt shone in his eyes. “You live together.” He’d obviously expected a different reaction from her.

“Yep. Sure do,” Dar agreed amiably. “Best roommate I ever had.

Now, is there a point to this conversation? Because otherwise, I’m leaving.” She shouldered the gym bag and moved several steps closer.

Slowly, he moved away from the door and opened it, watching her face intently. “Roommate, hmm?”

Dar felt like punching him. She really, really did, and maybe he realized that, and it excited him. “Yeah.” Then she smiled with feral intensity. “What’d you think? We were screwing like squirrels on the coffee table?” She almost laughed at the look on his face. “Get your head out of your groin, Ankow, and your ass out of my office.” Dar brushed by him and strode towards the elevator, leaving him behind her in dangerous silence.

At the last minute as the doors opened and she stepped inside, he joined her, the elevator doors closing them both into a charged stillness.

They stared at each other in the oppressive atmosphere, the floors seeming to crawl by. At last the trip was over, and Dar escaped into the cool peace of the lobby, trying to ignore the stalking figure at her side.

He waited until they were past the doors and past the security guard, before he reached out and grabbed her arm.

Dar stopped.

And turned ice cold eyes on him. “Take your hands off me.” She kept her voice down, but it rumbled with intent.

He let go of her biceps, then pointed a finger at her chest. “I’m going to find out the truth,” he promised softly, “and bury you with it.”

Then he turned and headed for his rental car that was parked near the front of the building.

Dar took a deep breath and turned, then almost yelped when she came close to crashing headlong into a tall, menacing figure. “Hey!”

“Easy thar, Dardar.” Andrew peered over her shoulder, his eyes mere slits in the lamplight. “Whointhehell was that?”

“An asshole.” Dar felt like hugging him in pathetic gratitude. “Just a real asshole, who’s got it out for me.” A hand patted her arm awkwardly.

“What brings you here?” She nodded her head towards the Lexus. “Don’t worry about him.”

Andrew turned his attention from the car Ankow was driving back to his daughter. “I need yer help,” he muttered, embarrassed. “Got a minute?”

“Are you kidding?” Dar unlocked the car and motioned him into the passenger side. “What is it?”

Andrew climbed in and shut the door, waiting for her to start up the engine before he blew a breath out and peered sideways at her. “Been trying to figure out…good Lord, all the clock round the past few days how I could get…get my butt in a place where I could…um…”

“Contact Mom?” Dar paused at the stoplight, then turned when it changed.

138 Melissa Good

“Yeah.” Her father blinked and rubbed his eyes. Dar recognized the gesture with a faint smile. “And I want to. Damn, I do. But I can’t figger a way.” He studied his scarred hands. “Picked up the phone a dozen hundred times, started to dial…just couldn’t.” He looked up at her. “What do I say? What kin I say?”

“Hello?” Dar joked faintly, as she drove. “I know what you mean, though. I remember how shocked I was. She’s gonna lose it.”

He remained silent, just twisting his fingers.

Dar thought, turning her mind to the puzzle as she did throughout the day on less personal, less vital matters. Her father was counting on her. Finally, she exhaled. “Let the Navy do it.”

He looked up. “What?”

“Let the Navy do it. Have them contact her, say there was a mistake.

You know it happens,” Dar responded quietly. “It’s damn close to the truth.”

Andrew considered the words. “Doesn’t explain the months I been here.”

Dar had stopped at a red light, and now she turned. “No.” She searched his face. “That’s gonna be the tough part. Your tough part.”

The light turned green and she drove on, trying not to hear the audible sounds as he swallowed a few times.

“Damn it,” Andrew finally whispered. “I want to have the guts to just call up and do this and I don’t, Dardar. That’s a damn tough thing for someone’s stared down death as many times as I have and not cared.” He dropped his head against one hand. “Don’t wanta get the Navy into it.”

Dar pulled into the parking lot and turned off the Lexus, then pulled her cell phone out and checked the charge. “I understand being scared.”

She leaned her forearms against the wheel. “It’s like being in a dark pit and there’s no way out and you only go deeper into it, the longer you stay.”

They looked somberly at each other.

Dar keyed in her phone’s memory, and dialed a number, then held the instrument to her ear, until it was answered. “It’s Dar.” Hesitation, then a quiet response. “I’ve got someone here that wants to talk to you.”

She handed the phone to her father, who took it purely by reflex. “Here, say hello to Mom.”

Then she opened the door and tossed him the keys, closed it, and walked towards the building, without looking back.

Crossing her fingers and hoping they both would forgive her.

“OKAY,. OW, WATCH where you’re swinging that, Col.” Kerry ducked around the heavy blue ball Colleen was swinging. “I have no idea where—ah, there she is.” She spotted her lover enter and stop, her ears visibly twitching at the assault of noise around her. Dar had a strained expression on her face, though, and Kerry set her ball down on the tray.

“Uh oh. Be right back, guys.”

Eye of the Storm 139

She trotted up the stairs and dodged around moving waitresses, relieved when the roving blue eyes fell on her and softened in perceptible relief. “Hey.” She got up next to Dar and tugged her into a corner.

“What’s the matter?”

Dar chewed her lip. “What do you want to hear about first? Ankow figuring out we live together or me calling my mother and handing the cell phone to my father?”

Kerry’s jaw dropped. “Dar, I only left you alone for forty five minutes,” she spluttered in protest. “Jesus…wh…bu…” She rubbed her head in shock.

The tall, dark haired woman managed a faint smile. “Everyone here?

Let’s…just…I um…I need a distraction.” She put a hand on Kerry’s back.

“We can talk about it all later. The Ankow thing wasn’t that big a deal. I just told him we were roommates.”

“Yeah. Yeah, sure.” Kerry took her arm and guided her back to the lane, where their friends were waiting, watching with interested faces.

“Well, we are roommates,” she replied reasonably, then stopped. “Wait.

Where is Dad?”

“Outside,” Dar replied quietly. “I didn’t know what to do. I…he was so frustrated, and I…so I just…I…”

“Dialed her number and said ‘here you go.’” Kerry winced.

“Honey…”

“Tactless, huh?”

Kerry sighed. “Well, it’s direct and straightforward, and both you and your daddy are certainly that.” She exhaled again and smiled as they reached the lane. “Hey guys. Sorry about that. Dar had some problems before she left the office.”

“And after,” her lover muttered.

“Mmm. Would you like a drink?” Kerry signaled the waitress.

“Oh, yeah.” Dar ordered a Kahlua milkshake, then paused. “On second thought make that a double.”

The waitress popped her bubble gum and smiled. “Shawer.” Then she rolled happily off.

CECELIA STARED AT the phone, deeply puzzled. Getting called out of the blue like that from Dar was shocking enough, but who in Miami would want to talk to her? Unless Dar wasn’t in Miami, of course. Impatiently, she put the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

All she could hear was the faintest sound of breathing.

For no reason she could detect, a chill passed over her. “Hello?” she asked again, softer. “Is there someone there?”

A soft rasp of in drawn air, then an almost inaudible sound came through the phone and touched her ears. “Cec?”

No. She was frozen in place, unmoving. Unbreathing. No. No, that voice couldn’t be what she’d heard. Her chest moved, pulling in air audibly.

140 Melissa Good

“Ceci?” The sound again, a little stronger.

It couldn’t be. It was just another dream.

Just another nightmare. She should hang up. That’s what she should do, hang up and forget about it.

Yes.

Her hand moved.

Her heart spoke. “Andy?”

“Yeah.”

Her world collapsed around her, becoming a small space filled with only that voice. “Andy.” She curled around the phone, cradling it with both hands.

“Ceci, it’s me.”

She gasped softly. “Oh.”

“Cec?”

She closed her eyes. “Yes?”

The voice took on an aching sadness. “I’m sorry.”

Her chest suddenly erupted in a sob. “Where are you?” She managed to get the words out. “Andy, where are you?” She started crying helplessly, hugging the phone to her so tightly it creaked.

“Cec. There’s so damn much I have to say I…”

“I don’t care,” Cecilia whispered. “I don’t care where you’ve been or what you’ve done. Just come here. Come home. Please.” She stopped, as the tears choked her. “Please.”

He was curled up in the front seat, shaking so badly he could hardly hold the phone. “All right,” he finally choked out.

“When?” came back a barely audible whisper.

Andrew opened his fist, seeing the blood where his hand had clenched down over the set of keys his daughter had given him.

Cast bread up on the waters and it came back to you, didn’t it? God bless you, Dar. “Now,” he answered, hearing the almost hysterical sob on the other end.

God bless you.