Eye of the Storm

Chapter

One

THE AIR WAS thick with nervous dread, even though the plain, if neatly furnished conference room provided a relatively relaxed appearance. Six people were seated around the nicked, wooden table, all eyeing each other with looks of trepidation. It was mid afternoon, and several beams of warm sunlight entered through a high set of windows, painting the opposite wall in lurid stripes.

“So,” a short, dark haired woman shuffled the papers in front of her, “never thought I’d see this happen.”

A taller, equally dark haired man across from her leaned back and folded his arms. “C’mon, Ann. We were sitting targets. Six new contracts, and two of them directly competing?” He sighed in disgust. “Just a matter of time.” He glanced at his watch. “Speaking of…when’s this piece of bad news going to get here?”

Ann Delaney stood and paced to the window, barely tall enough to peer out. “Beats me. Maybe the plane was late. You know these people.

They’ll come when they’re good and ready, and I hear this one’s a tough customer.”

A stocky, balding man stood up, went to the coffee pot, and poured himself a cup. “What else is new? They don’t send nice guys to do this sort of thing. I’ve told accounting to be on their toes, God knows what they’ll ask for.”

Footsteps sounded on the carpet outside, the door latch worked, and then the wooden door pushed open. A thin, pale haired man walked in followed by a stranger. “Good morning, folks. Please be seated.”

“Morning, Charlie,” Ann murmured, resuming her seat and watching their visitor as the woman walked around to the front of the conference table and set her briefcase down.

Charles Efton took a seat and folded his hands. “Well, here we all are, just like you asked.” He turned his attention to the silent figure waiting at the head of the table. “I guess we can start.”

Cool eyes regarded them. “Thank you.” The voice was calm, yet vibrant. “I have a list of things I’m going to need for us to start this process.” Strong, powerful hands opened the briefcase and removed a sheaf 2 Melissa Good of papers, which were slid down the table. “I don’t think there’s anything unusual there. Once I have this information, we can proceed.”

Ann took the top sheet and passed the stack down, then looked at it.

A list of reports topped the requests. Some were expected, others...

“Dependents?” She looked up sharply, meeting intelligent eyes looking evenly back at her. “Is that necessary?”

“You’d be surprised what I find necessary,” the woman answered briskly. “I’d like to drop my things off at the hotel. That should give you about two hours to gather everything. You shouldn’t need more than that.” She paused. “Right?”

Ann shuffled the papers and arranged them with small, precise motions. “Right.”

“Good.” The sound of a briefcase being zipped was suddenly loud.

Charlie stood up hastily and moved forward, joined by the tall, dark haired man. “Ah, yeah, that’ll give us time…um, Sam, sorry…I should have introduced you but we—”

The woman turned and held out a hand. “Sam Gershwin, right?

You’re the comptroller.”

Sharp brown eyes regarded her carefully, before her grip was returned. “Right...and, sorry…we didn’t catch your name?”

The pale eyes warmed briefly. “Kerry Stuart.” A smile appeared, breaking through the business facade easily, then disappearing. “Good to meet you. I’m sure we can make this a smooth transition.”

“I’m sure,” Sam murmured as he watched the slim, blonde woman shoulder her case. “You need a ride out?” The intense green eyes flicked to his face, then dropped.

“No, thanks.” Kerry gave him a brief smile. “It’s the Courtyard, right down the road. See you all shortly.” She stepped around the table and went to the door, aware of the eyes at her back, which were cut off as she closed the door behind her, and hearing the voices already rising.

With a sigh, she stepped out into the pleasant sunlight, taking in a breath of the pine scented air. “Maybe three hours,” she decided, heading for her rental car across a gravel strewn lot.

THE SOFT SHUFFLE of booted feet against the padded deck broke the silence, and the ring of watchers shifted to watch as two opponents circled each other. The taller of the two stepped backwards and twisted to avoid a kick from the shorter, and then caught the extended leg under the knee and turned, bringing the other body down and over an outstretched thigh to the mat.

“Shit.” The shorter figure rolled to its feet and circled again. This time diving right into an attack and grappling with powerful hands. He managed a solid hold but it was broken moments later when his opponent dropped to one knee and delivered a blow to his ribcage. “Oof.”

“Sorry,” the low voice drawled as they separated and then went at it again. This time kicks and blows were traded in a rapid exchange that Eye of the Storm 3

finally ended with the taller of the two taking them both through the air with a rolling attack and landing with a thump to toss the shorter outside the fight area.

He stayed there.

Dar got to her feet and flexed her hands inside their padded covering as she walked over. “You okay, Ken?” She extended an arm down to help him up. “Didn’t mean to toss you quite that far.”

“Sure, sure.” Ken Yamamura took the hand good-naturedly and allowed himself to be hauled upright. “Nah. I’m fine, Dar. Just needed to catch my breath. We’ve been at it for a while.”

“That’s true,” the tall, dark haired woman agreed mildly, looking around as the crowd broke up, giving her lingering, appreciative glances.

“I think I’m finally getting used to being part of the freak show.”

“Phew.” Ken dusted his body off, covered in a neat fabric outfit matching Dar’s, and tightened his black belt. “They love watching me get my butt kicked, is what it is, Dar. Believe me, there’s a bunch of those kids who are loving every minute of this.” He gave his opponent a smile to take the sting out of the words.

Dar bit off a smile and riffled her fingers through her sweat dampened hair. “Well, you’re the one who haggled me into entering that meet.

You can only blame yourself.”

“Ugh. Don’t remind me.” Ken winced as he rubbed his shoulder.

“They’re not going to know what hit them.” He paused. “Literally.” His voice held warm admiration though. “Seriously, Dar. You’ve really been working hard. I’m totally impressed.”

They walked towards the changing rooms. “Thanks.” Dar exhaled.

“It’s come back faster than I thought it would, frankly. I had half convinced myself I was being an idiot. Trying to recapture lost youth or something stupid like that.”

Ken paused, peering up at the strong, angular face with a puzzled look. “Lost? Did you lose that somewhere? Why Dar, you should have told me. I’d have put up a wanted poster.”

Blue eyes fastened on him with a dryly amused expression. “Very funny.” But the compliment pleased her and she clapped the younger man on the shoulder as she headed in to change clothes. “Thanks, Ken.

See you tomorrow?”

“Oh yeah.” Ken grinned wryly. “Same splat time, same splat channel. See ya, Dar.”

Chuckling, Dar entered the locker room and found her locker, then untied her belt and slung it over the door before she changed clothes.

Light beach shorts replaced her long cotton pants, with a tank top tucked into them. She stuffed her gear into the small gym bag and closed the locker door, then shouldered the bag’s strap and headed for the door.

THE HOTEL ROOM was quiet. The soft sound of rustling leaves coming in through the window acted as a counterpoint to the soft clicking of keys and the occasional shuffle of papers. Kerry rested her chin on one fist briefly and reviewed her laptop screen, which contained the begin-4 Melissa Good nings of a status report.

“Okay.” She sighed. “Maybe this won’t be too bad, but they’re not going to be happy giving up those perks.” Kerry reviewed the report again, then dropped her eyes to the pages of reports and leafed through them for the tenth time. “I wonder if they realize how lucky they are to be so remote. We don’t have an office within three hundred miles of here.”

She stood and stretched, wincing as her back protested from being seated in one place for far too long. Then she trudged over to the window and leaned on the sill to gaze out at the forest her snug little room was nestled in.

It was the silence, she realized, that was so significant. There was no traffic, or very little up here in this part of Vermont, and the entire pace of life seemed slower than she was used to. The hotel was a collection of small cabins, each tucked into pockets of trees and underbrush, with unobstructed views of the wilderness around them. It gave the illusion of complete privacy, and Kerry remained gazing out at it for a long moment before she turned and padded across the wooden floor, to throw herself down on the large, quilt covered bed.

It was nice, she considered, to be able to see different places. She rolled over and reached for the TV remote, clicked it on and sorted through the available cable channels. A familiar scene caught her eye and she paused, then put the remote down, and rested her chin on her forearm as she watched the travel channel focus on a skyline she knew.

Home.

A wistful smile tugged at her lips as she checked her watch. She’d been on the road for two very long weeks, though that was coming to an end after she wrapped up this assignment.

Good thing, too. Kerry pulled a pillow out from under the quilt and wrapped her arms around it, exhaling softly and turning her mind to figuring out where she could rustle up some dinner. Being apart from Dar had been tougher than she’d anticipated and as the days counted themselves down, she found her thoughts turning more and more eagerly to their reunion.

They talked on the phone to each other every day, of course, and exchanged email, but it wasn’t the same. Kerry gazed at the nondescript walls and sighed. Nights were the worst. During the day she was either working or traveling, but alone in her hotel room at night she had to force herself to find something to do other than think about…

Well, think about what Dar was doing, actually. Or wonder if she was being missed in return, while her previously solitary partner went back to her lone pursuits.

Or if maybe Dar was enjoying that.

Scowling a little at her own insecurity, Kerry got up and walked back over to her laptop. She paused for a moment, gazing at the report, then clicked over to her mail program and started up a new message.

Eye of the Storm 5

“HEY GIRL.” DAR managed to get inside the door to the condo without allowing the frantic Labrador to escape. “Hey. Take it easy. Take it easy. I know it’s late.”

Chino bucked around in a circle and whined, grabbing hold of the edge of Dar’s shorts in her teeth and tugging fiercely.

“Okay, okay.” The tall woman tossed her gym bag down and surrendered, sitting down on the cold tile floor and hugging the dog. “Yeah.

Okay. I missed you too.” She closed her eyes as the Labrador licked her face thoroughly and climbed up her chest, her half grown paws scrabbling for a good hold. “Easy...easy...”

Finally, Chino calmed down and curled up inside the circle of Dar’s arms, panting. “Good girl.” Dar leaned back against the door and rubbed the dog’s ears idly. In reflex, she looked up towards the kitchen, half expecting Kerry to appear from the doorway, then sighed as the emptiness of the condo settled around her. “You know something, Chino?”

Brown eyes looked up at her in question.

“It’s too damn quiet in here.”

The dog barked at her.

“You think Kerry misses us as much as we miss her?”

“Growf.”

Dar smiled and gave her a final hug, then stood up and retrieved her bag, crossed the large living room and entered the kitchen. It was almost painfully clean, and Dar averted her eyes as she ducked into the laundry room. She tugged her outfit from the bag and dumped it into the washing machine, along with her towel and underwear, and set the device running. Then she re-entered the kitchen and went to the cupboard, opened it and removed a tall glass, which she filled with milk from the refrigerator.

“Mail.”

“Dar Roberts, six messages, none urgent. Kerry Stuart, twelve messages, three urgent,” the console answered, bringing a faint smile to Dar’s face.

“Display mail, Dar Roberts.” She scanned the headers, then produced a real smile. “Read two.”

Hey Boss.

Vermont is nice.

“Eh. If you like trees,” Dar commented aloud, a habit of hers when reading Kerry’s mails.

It would be a lot nicer if you were in it, though...it’s really quiet up here in the woods. I keep thinking some raccoon is going to hop up on my windowsill and start talking to me.

“Trapped in a Disney movie. Very scary, Ker.”

6 Melissa Good Oh well. The account is going all right—I have all the information, and a copy of the plan is attached to this mail for you to check out. They were kind of upset when I first got here, but I think I made them relax a little, and maybe they realize I’m not here to turn everything upside down for them.

“I’m sure they warmed right up to you.”

Only some things, I guess. They’ve got some very strange acquisition flowcharts...I wasn’t sure what they were doing, Dar, so I scanned those in and attached them too. If you could take a minute and look them over, it’d be great.

“Sure,” Dar murmured softly, taking a sip of her milk. “No problem.”

It’s been a really long two weeks.

“Yeah. No kidding.”

I think it really hit me today, when I was driving to the hotel, just how much I miss you.

Dar bit down on the rim of her glass, rereading the words in silence.

A tiny grin formed on her lips.

It was really strange. I dreamt about you last night, and when I woke up and you weren’t here, I felt awful. I know a business email isn’t the place to say that, but...I just wanted you to know.

Anyway, I’m going to go see if I can find something around here for dinner. I noticed an advertisement at the front desk for maple ice cream. It sounded interesting. Call you later.

Ker

“Mmm.” Dar leaned a hip against the counter and permitted herself a few moments of idle daydreaming, then she sighed as the computer beeped.

“Incoming video conference request, Alastair M.”

“Go.”

A square opened, revealing the familiar features of her boss, a round faced man in his fifties, with a perennially cheerful expression. “Evening, Dar.”

“Hi,” the dark haired woman drawled. “Little late for you, isn’t it?”

“Who me? Nah.” Alastair waved a hand at her. “Listen. I need a Eye of the Storm 7

favor.”

Uh oh. “And that would be...”

“I’ve got a little problem here. Well, ” Alastair looked uncharacteristically troubled, “more than a little. You know David Ankow?”

“Mmm. The new board member. Yeah.” Dar grimaced. An outsider.

He’d been voted onto the board by the stockholders two months prior, as a sort of watchdog, and had been challenging Alastair ever since. The timing was bad since they were right in the middle of a huge network redesign project, which Dar was heading up, and that meant large expen-ditures without an immediate return to account for them.

“He’s called an emergency board meeting tomorrow morning to debate the new network. I’ve got the answers he’s looking for, but just to be sure, I could use your support.”

That, Dar realized, was as close to a scream for help as she’d ever hear from her boss. “Hang on.” She pulled the seldom used pointing device out from the console and clicked to a browser screen, then entered an address. Moments later, she reviewed the results of a query and approved them. Then she clicked back to Alastair’s window. “Okay.”

“Listen, I know it’s short notice, but you know I don’t really ask that often and I—okay what?” His brow creased.

“Okay, I’ll be there tomorrow morning,” Dar replied. “Anything else you need?”

Alastair merely gazed at her for a long moment. “Well,” he propped his chin up on one hand, “yeah, in fact. What’s Kerry’s favorite kind of flowers?”

Dar blinked in startlement. “What?”

“C’mon. Roses? Tulips? What?” Alastair pursued. “I want to send her something, because I honestly appreciate just how much of a human being she’s made you into in the last few months.”

Dar stared at him, shocked.

“I’ll make it roses. That’s safe. Later, Dar. See ya tomorrow.”

Alastair’s face disappeared, leaving a company logo behind in the box.

“T…b...you...hold on there you son of a...” Her voice rose in outrage and she stopped, realizing that yelling at a blank computer screen was less than useful. What in the hell had that been about anyway? “I certainly haven’t changed that much.”

Chino wagged her tail.

“Have I?” Dar almost jumped when the phone rang, then she set her glass down and answered it, feeling a little rattled. “Yeah?”

“Um...hi?” Kerry’s voice came back at her.

“Oh. Hi.” Dar picked up her milk and wandered into the living room, dropped down onto the leather love seat and slung one leg over the arm of it. “Sorry. Alastair just called. I’ve got to go out there tomorrow.”

“Oh? What’s up?”

“Some meeting. That damn new board member. What’s up with you?” Dar swallowed a mouthful of milk. “Did you get your maple ice 8 Melissa Good cream?”

A soft chuckle trickled down the line. “Oh yeah. I was bad,” Kerry admitted. “I’d bring you home some, but I think it’d melt.” She paused a moment. “Got my mail, I guess, huh?”

“Yeah,” her lover responded. “I’ll take a look at your paperwork. But I’m sure it’s fine. You’ve got a knack for that.”

“Mmm.”

“And I miss you too.”

“Ah.” The smile was very evident through the phone line. “How long are you going to be in Texas?”

“Just an up and back. Probably fly back tomorrow night.” Dar sighed. “Sounds like he’s getting a lot of crap from that new guy...and it’s about the network, so…”

“Ew.”

“Yeah.” Dar relaxed and closed her eyes. “He’s a pinhead. I’m going to have to come up with Sesame Street words to describe a global Intranet to him tomorrow. Wish me luck.” The project was hers, really. Something she’d been able to do because Kerry had really stepped up to the plate in the last few months and taken most of the day to day headaches off her shoulders. It would triple productivity and almost quadruple the amount of bandwidth they had to offer, and Dar was quietly proud of herself in the design.

It had been damn nice to have the time to sit back and really think about it, working with a hand picked engineering team and laying out a new design that replaced circuits in some places twenty years old. But it was obscenely expensive, and Dar knew that’s what the newbie had picked up on, as a way to make a name for himself with the stockholders, since they wouldn’t see any benefit from the new system for at least two quarters, maybe more.

Pinhead.

“Hey, Dar?”

“Hmm? Sorry. I was just thinking.”

“I love you.”

Dar smiled at the ceiling. “I love you, too.”

“What were you thinking about?”

“When?” came the puzzled response.

Kerry laughed. “Never mind. Listen, my flight’s due in at nine on Friday, assuming I finish up by then. Can I get a ride?”

Dar snorted. “You have to ask? What kind of dumb question is that?

You bet your ass I’m going to be at that gate, my friend, And you tell those people in Vermont their butts better be done by then, or they’re going to have a lot bigger problem than a consolidation to worry about.”

“Like you?”

“Like me,” Dar growled. “Live and in color, and wanting to know why they’re monopolizing a very, very valuable company resource.”

Kerry giggled. “Oh my god. You have no idea how cute you sound.”

“Cute?” Dar affected a wounded tone. “That’s the second time Eye of the Storm 9

tonight. Alastair accused me of turning into a mushball, too.”

“Did he?” Her lover laughed. “Well, he didn’t hear you with those network carriers before I left, I guess. They could have heard you in Atlanta without the phone.” She’d been privately thinking that she’d detected some changes in Dar recently and had wondered if anyone else had noticed.

Apparently they had.

“How’d practice go tonight?” Kerry asked.

“Pretty good,” Dar allowed. “I think it’s possible I won’t embarrass myself totally at that damn meet.”

“Great. I have my little flag and T-shirt all ready,” Kerry teased gently.

“Ermph.” Dar rolled her eyes. “I hope I don’t regret this.” She stretched her legs out, feeling the strong pull of newly redefined thigh muscles. “Me and a bunch of kids.”

“Ooo. Listen to old grandma there. Want me to send you a nice frilly cap for your cane?” Kerry retorted. “C’mon, Dar. Don’t start that. You bounce Ken all over the place and leave most of those other people in the gym standing slack jawed.”

It was true, Dar acknowledged silently. But what do I say, that most isn’t good enough? That I’m not happy unless I beat them all? Do I tell her coming close ain’t gonna cut it? “We’ll see,” she finally compromised. “Anyway, let me let you get some sleep. It’ll be a long day tomorrow.”

“You’re right.” Kerry sighed. “Have a safe flight and say hi to Alastair for me, okay?”

“Mmm. I will. He’s…um,” Dar shifted a little, “sending you flowers.”

Dead silence.

“Huh?” Kerry finally spluttered. “For what?”

“Apparently he, ah, thinks you’re a good influence on me,” her lover replied. “He appreciates that.” She could imagine the stunned look on Kerry’s face. “I think he may be right.”

A long, in-drawn breath was clearly heard. “Oh,” Kerry murmured.

“Well, it’s mutual, you know. I couldn’t do half of this stuff if you hadn’t shown me the way.” She paused a moment. “God, I so want to hug you right now.”

Dar smiled wistfully at the phone. “Yeah. That’d be nice,” she responded. “Anyway, have a good night, Ker. I’ll be in touch tomorrow.”

“G’night.” Kerry sighed, then closed the phone, and rested her chin on it thoughtfully. “Be careful,” she murmured softly. “Give ’em heck.”