Eye of the Storm

Chapter

Twenty-eight

“HEY, KER!” COLLEEN’S voice rang across Bayside, and Kerry swerved around a clown blowing up balloons to find her. It was girl’s night out, and she was more than ready for it after a long, aggravating day and Dar’s grim news on top of it.

“Hey!” She greeted her friend with a hug. “We the first one’s here?”

“Yep. C’mon, let’s sit down and grab a drink before the crowd arrives.” Colleen took her elbow and steered her to a table by the bay. She took a seat and waved at a roller skating waiter. “Your usual?”

“Make it a double.” Kerry slid down and groaned. “What a bitch of a day.”

The waiter took down their order and skated off. “So. Like, what’s happening? Last time I saw you was at the bowling alley. Everything work out okay? I didn’t want to just call and ask.”

Kerry stifled a yawn. “Everything worked out great.” She rolled her head to one side and smiled. “Really great. Better than I could have imagined, in fact. Dar’s father went up there, they got together, and they came back here. We spent all day yesterday with them.”

“Really.” Colleen laughed. “That’s fabulous.” She leaned closer. “So.

When do I get to meet this mystery lady? I think Dar’s father’s a hoot, I can’t imagine what someone he’d marry would be like.”

Kerry sighed. “Well, we might be having more free time in the near future, so I’m sure we can arrange something.” Dar had tried to make light of the whole thing, but even in their brief hallway encounter, she’d picked up how upset her lover was. “Looks like that guy who was causing all that trouble may have really done it.”

Colleen gave her a shocked look. “Wait. He’s after both of you?”

“Me by association.” Kerry accepted her large, festive looking pina colada, then selected the huge chunk of pineapple and took a bite of it.

“Dar says he’s not really after her, either–he’s really after the company, but he knows he has to either have her on his side, or get rid of her to do that, and she told him to kiss her ass, so…”

“Ugh.” Colleen winced. “But where do you come in for all this?”

“Well.” Kerry sipped at the frozen drink, blinking at the kick of the rum. “Mmm. When they say a double, they mean it. Anyway,” she took Eye of the Storm 259

another sip, “he’s got this trumped up lawsuit about Dar making money off the company and taking advantage of her position. One of the things he points out is me.”

“You?”

“Me.” Kerry knew she should feel worse about the whole matter, but she didn’t. “Me, because I got my job the way I did, and the fact that we live together, and the fact that he’s got a picture of us half naked practically crawling all over each other.”

Colleen just stared at her.

“It was that party on Saturday. I told you about it.”

“The reunion?”

“Yeah. Dar dressed up like a punk and part of the deal was, I’d do the same, so I did. It was late, it wasn’t really any big deal, we were just walking out to the Harley together, and he took a picture of it. Slimebag must have been hanging out in the parking lot half the night.”

“The Harley?”

“Mmhm. Part of the costume, so to speak.”

“So…you’re not worried about all this?” Her friend leaned forward.

“Kerry, you guys could both get fired.”

“We know,” Kerry replied. “We were thinking of starting up our own company. You want a job?”

Russet eyelashes just blinked and blinked at her. “You’re joking, right?”

“No. Why should I be? Dar’s got a few bucks set aside. She knows her stuff, I know my stuff. We’ve both got a lot of good networking contacts. It’s not like systems design and support is rocket science, Col.”

Kerry sucked on her straw. “We’ve been talking about that for a while, as a matter of fact. Too much BS around ILS lately.”

“Huh.” Colleen sipped her own drink. “Wow. That’s so wild.”

“I know.” Kerry held up her glass and nodded at the waiter. “I mean, I’m not happy about it, Col. Don’t get the wrong idea. Neither is Dar.

She’s worked for them for fifteen years, for Christ’s sake.” She paused.

“And I won’t lie and say it doesn’t hurt, I mean, I’ve done a good job for them and I know it.”

“Kick ass, if you ask me.”

Kerry smiled. “And to make it worse, that new network Dar’s been busting her ass over for the last couple month’s about ready. The new servers came on line today and she couldn’t even enjoy it. It made me really mad. That system is killer, Col. Dar did such a fantastic job on the design and implementation. It’s got everything.”

“I heard my bosses talking about it.” The redhead nodded. “Clyde was saying he can’t wait to get switched over. It’s supposed to improve our processing speed by over forty percent. He was practically drooling right there in the elevator.” She exhaled. “That whole thing must sting like hell, then.”

“Yeah,” Kerry murmured sadly. “I feel so bad. She was so excited about the project and now she said today it’d at least be nice to see real 260 Melissa Good production data running on it before they lock her out of the systems.”

“Damn.” Colleen bit her lip. “So, it’s a done deal, or—?”

“She’s got to go to Houston on Thursday. They’ve got a big meeting of the board there. She figures they’ll do it then.” Kerry played with her straw. “And I can’t even be there, because I’ll be on a plane for stupid Washington.”

“Ow.”

“She said she’d just finish up with everything there, then meet me in DC. I guess we’ll figure out what to do after that,” Kerry murmured.

“Maybe take a few weeks off. Spend some time hiking, or do Key West, or whatever.”

“Live a little?”

“Yeah.” She smiled. “Depends on how they are though. They might not bother with me at all.”

“Would you stay?”

“Are you nuts?” Kerry snorted. “No way. They’d make that asshole Ankow my boss, probably, and I’d have to kill him.”

Colleen regarded her. “Ooo. Aren’t we butch.”

“Oh, please.” She glanced at the table tent as their server returned.

“Can I get a big basket of chips and salsa while we’re waiting?”

The waiter smiled as he set down her second drink. “Sure, hon. Be right back.”

“So. Tell me about this punk outfit?” Colleen sipped her drink and leaned back. “Punk as in you had safety pins in your nose, or what?”

“Punk as in a leather bikini.” Kerry blushed even as she said it.

“Thank God I convinced Dar to let me wear jeans with it. I’d have died if he’d gotten me with the little leather mini skirt it came with.”

“A leather bikini?” Colleen squealed. “What’s this guy’s name? I want that picture. What was Dar wearing? The same thing?” Her eyes widened nearly to golf ball size. “Oh my god.”

“Col, calm down before your brains start seeping out your ears.”

Kerry covered her eyes with one hand. “No, no. Though now that you mention it, I should have had her…well, anyway, no. I picked out a nice, lacy leather vest for her, and she wore that, with jeans and some silver chains and things I scraped up from around the house.”

“Leather vest? That doesn’t sound like fun.”

“Well, it had a lot of openings in it. In fact, it was mostly a few scraps of leather laced together.”

“Still,” the redhead shrugged, “sounds kinda boring, after what you had on.”

“Um, she didn’t wear anything under it.” Kerry lowered her voice.

“Oh.” The red eyebrows knit. “Oh!” Her eyes widened. “Whoooaaa.

Now I’m gonna go find that guy and pry that picture out of his hands with a set of needlenose pliers.” They laughed and relaxed. “So, you spend the day out on the water yesterday? You’re pink again.”

Kerry nodded lazily. “Yeah. Went out in the morning, did two long, long reef dives, then went fishing, then did a couple more dives, then had Eye of the Storm 261

a cookout on the beach at Dar’s island.” She dug something out of her pocket and handed it over. “Look what I found.”

“Ooo.” Colleen took the item and examined it. “It’s a coin. Wow. Is this like, pirate treasure or something?” She watched Kerry smile and hitch one denim covered knee over the arm of her chair, consciously acknowledging just how much more self confident and comfortable with herself her friend was now. “So, how is it having in-laws?”

Kerry wrinkled up her nose. “It’s so weird. I mean, I’ve always been so cool with Dar’s father. He’s a really nifty guy, and I love him to death and Dar’s nuts about him. I thought her mother was going to be such a problem but in a way, she’s not, because there are bits of her that are just like Dar, and I can see that.” She gave her head a tiny shake. “I don’t think they realize it, but they’ve got a lot of the same reactions and just little stuff, like the way Dar folds her arms and crosses her ankles, you know, like this.” She demonstrated. “Her mom does the same thing.”

“Huh.” Colleen nodded. “Our family’s like that. My brothers were doing their Da imitation the other day, and you know, you can just see when those huge lunks are twenty years older, it’s gonna be like having six of him around.” She stopped. “Oh, Sweet Mary. What am I saying?”

She covered her eyes.

Kerry laughed, then waved as more of their friends appeared. “Here comes the gang. What’s the plan, we just going to do dinner, or...”

“Thought maybe some dancing over at the club.” Colleen nodded towards the distant sound of music. “Dar joining us?”

“She can’t. She’s going to be up in her eyebrows with that network tonight. I was going to stay, but she chased me out and told me to have a good time.” Kerry nibbled her lower lip.

“Like she hasn’t clued in yet that you’d be just as happy sitting with her and punching buttons or whatever it is she’s doing?” Colleen chuckled. “C’mon, let’s get wild and crazy. I’m in a Macarena mood tonight.”

A chorus of groans.

“We could always do Karaoke.” The redhead warned, “Remember, we had a bet on last time to see what it would take to get Kerry up there and singing.”

“There is not that much alcohol in Miami,” Kerry muttered under her breath, then stuffed a salsa laden chip in Colleen’s reopening mouth.

“Okay, let’s go. The Hard Rock first, right? I’m itching for a nice big cheeseburger.”

“WOW. THIS PLACE has changed,” Ceci remarked, as she edged past a roller skating half naked person coming down the sidewalk.

“Yeap,” Andy agreed, as he took a breath of the salty air. “Best cheap entertainment I found yet, though.” He eyed a blading woman who skimmed by, then made a small face. “Structural engineer’d have a ball with that one.”

Ceci laughed. They’d spent the morning doing some research on 262 Melissa Good boats and the marina, then decided to have lunch out on South Beach and take a stroll up the old boardwalk, taking in the new sights and the older ones. “I remember when this was nothing but a sleepy, weatherworn part of the beach, full of retirement hostels.” She glanced over Andy’s shoulder. “Is that a roller skating dog?”

“Yeap.” Her husband nodded. “Usta sit over there.” He pointed to a small balcony near a motel being rebuilt. “Watch that damn dog come up and down. Finally figgured out what his deal was.”

“Hmm?”

“Guy owned him worked down at Penrods.” Andy poked a thumb over his shoulder. “Had him a little girlfriend up twenty blocks or so at one of them little snack shops. He was taking notes.”

“How do you know?” Ceci asked curiously.

“Stopped him and read one.” Unrepentant blue eyes twinkled briefly. “Boy needed a dictionary and a bucket more imagination, tell ya that.”

“Andy! How could you?” she scolded.

He hummed a bit.

“What did it say?”

“Heh.” Andy smiled, then paused and glanced at a strip of beach visible through the buildings. He walked up the grassy slope and onto the boardwalk, then leaned on the railings and gazed at the wide, green blue expanse past the sandy shore. “That’s a spot Dar likes.”

Ceci regarded the wild bit of beach, near an abandoned old hotel and full of sea grapes. It was mostly hidden from the walk and, if you were down there, probably had a nice view. “Is that where she was, that first time you saw her?”

“Yeah.” Andy rested his chin on one hand. “Thought my eyes were playing damn tricks on me but there weren’t no mistaking that profile.”

Ceci turned her head slightly and peered at him. “No,” she admitted with a tiny smile. “That’s very true.”

“Came back a few times, usually at night, always by herself. She always seemed sad, somehow.” He exhaled. “Then one night, it was real late. I’d been down off the waterfront helping out an old bud of mine and came back up here. Thar she was.”

Ceci just listened, understanding how hard it must have been for him to stay away.

“That night, I was scared for her,” Andy went on. “She looked t’me like she was at the end of something. Her rope, the road. I was halfway across the sand, couldn’t help myself, when she just up and left.” He took a breath. “Didn’t come back.”

“Is that why you finally contacted her?”

“Had to know if she was okay,” he replied simply. “Found out later that was the night she and Kerry hooked up.”

His wife nodded thoughtfully. “What did you think when you finally met Kerry?”

He cocked his head to one side, in a manner very like Dar’s. “Wasn’t Eye of the Storm 263

gonna have to put up with being called granpa, fer one thing.” He chuckled at her laughter. “Naw, I was glad. Damn glad to see my kid finally find someone down the road and gone for her.”

“She is,” Ceci agreed. “And she’s a real character sometimes, too.

Which reminds me, sailor boy, how much did you have to do with that very neatly staged little drawing exhibition last night?” She poked Andy in the ribs.

“Ow.” He put on an innocent expression. “Ah do not know what you are referring to, ma’am. Ah was just upstairs steering the boat.” Andy pushed away from the railing. “And speaking of that. Don’t we got a meeting with some guy about one of them damn things?”

“Mmm,” Ceci relented and took his hand as they turned and started down the boardwalk towards the marina. “She’s got an interesting style, you know,” she remarked casually. “Talk about a pleasant surprise.”

Andy just grinned into the late sunlight.

“Hey. How about sushi after we pick out our new home?”

Wide, very round, blue eyes stared at her. “’Scuse me?”

“C’mon, Andy. There’s a great place just down the beach from here.

Or at least there used to be. Let’s go.”

“You are asking me to put raw fish into my body?”

“Everyone does it. You know it won’t hurt you.”

“Mrs. Roberts, if you knew as much about where them fish had been as ah do, you would not be consuming a square inch of them without it being boiled for half an hour. Then deep fried and served with potato chips,” Andy warned her, glancing up as a man in nothing but a pale blue Speedo went by on a unicycle. “Good Lord.”

“See? I bet he eats sushi,” Ceci teased.

“Yeap. And it made his parts fall off, so’s he kin ride that thing like that,” the ex-SEAL stated. “Whoa. Hold on a minute.” He steered Cecilia up a short flight of stairs into a nondescript building. “Lemme get one little thing here out the way.”

“Sure.” Ceci looked around at the plain walls. “What is it?”

“Gotta sign my divorce papers from Uncle Sam.” Andy glanced at her. “Make me a private citizen fer the first time since I was sixteen years old.” His eyes dropped for a moment. “Thought maybe you’d want to be there fer that.”

That plain, drab office with faded bulletins on the walls, and cracked folding chairs around the edges suddenly took on a patina of wonder for her. “You thought right.” She took a breath as the uniformed attendant behind a small, scarred wooden desk looked up and smiled, evidently recognizing Andy.

“Evening, sir. I’ve got some mail for you.”

Andy walked over, pulling Ceci with him, and took the rubber band wrapped package. “Thanks.” He glanced at a small door behind her. “He in?”

She nodded. “We’ve got the papers all ready. I think you just have to sign them.” Her eyes moved to Ceci curiously. “Ma’am.”

264 Melissa Good

“C’mon.” Andrew led the way to the door and knocked on it, then pushed it open at a grunt from inside.

The office turned out to be an oddly adapted space, evidently converted from its original use as part of an old hotel kitchen. There was a screened back door and a high ceiling and shuttered windows all painted in a dull blue. A desk was squarely near the rear of the room and seated behind it was a huge man with a bull neck and a sparse crew cut. He looked up from under lowered, pale eyebrows as they entered.

“’Lo, Andy.”

“Keith.”

“Who’s your pretty lady friend?” The low voice was almost a growl.

Half a grin flickered on and off Andy’s face. “You never did meet mah wife, Cecilia, did you?” He glanced to one side. “Ceci, this is Keith Hawkins, he sorta took care of things here for me.”

The man behind the desk stood, towering over even Andy’s tall height, and stuck a hand the size of a loaf of bread out at her. “No, ma’am, I never did have the pleasure. But I’m damn sure glad I have had it now.” A grin shaped his craggy face. “This damn barnacle didn’t mention he’d met back up with you. Just sent me a note asking for mustering out rags.”

Ceci took his hand gingerly and pressed it, since shaking something that big didn’t seem to be a good idea. “Nice to meet you…and thanks, for helping Andy out.”

The giant took a folder from a tray on his desk and opened it, then reversed its direction and pushed it across the desk surface. “Sign.”

Andy pulled a pen out of his back pocket and sat down on the corner of the desk, blue eyes flicking over the document quickly. Then he looked up at Hawkins in surprise. “Ah didn’t ask fer this.”

The bigger man chuckled softly. “Andy, shut the fuck up and sign it, willya?” Andy gave him a look. “Sorry for the language, ma’am.”

“I’ve been married to a sailor for over thirty years,” Ceci replied dryly. “I’ve heard the term before.”

“I never talked like that in front of you,” Andy protested indignantly.

“No, honey, but all your friends did.” His wife patted him on the knee. “It’s okay.” She leaned over and studied the papers. “What is it?”

“You make it long enough to get retirement benefits, you need to take ’em,” Hawkins replied quietly. “’Specially if you done it the way Andy did. Not spent the time behind some damn desk.” Andrew carefully signed his name to the bottom. “And while you’re at it, gimme a goddamned address for you so I can have the Department of the Navy, which is crawling up my butt, send you all those frigging decorations you refused to go pick up.”

“Ah don’t want them,” Andy said fiercely.

“Too damn bad,” Keith shot back. “Give ’em to your kid, if you don’t like the colors.”

Andrew scowled. “What in the hell would she do with the damn Eye of the Storm 265

things?”

Ceci put a hand on his arm. “Treasure them.” Their eyes locked.

“This is the child who bought and made a scale model of every ship you sailed on, Andy.”

“Aww.” Keith grinned. “He never told me that. Ain’t that cute?”

“Son of a biscuit.” Andy sighed in exaggeration. “Fine, fine. Here.”

He scribbled down Dar’s address on the paper. “Send the damn things there if you have to.” Long, scarred fingers pushed the papers back across the desk. “Lemme go get my kit.” He got up and ambled out the back door, leaving them in silence.

Keith sat back down and regarded her. “So. You’re the missus, huh?”

“Yes.” Cecilia looked around, then glanced back at him. “Bet you didn’t know he had one.”

“Bet you’re wrong.” The man snorted. “Bet I know more about you and that damn kid of his than I do my own mother.” He gave a crooked smile. “Andy’s private’r then hell about himself, but damn, did he mouth off about the two of you.”

Ceci smiled and nodded, and they regarded each other in silence for a bit.

“He’s been through Hell,” Keith finally said quietly. “He lived through something woulda killed just about anybody else I ever knew.”

“I know.”

“Take care of him, ma’am. He’s a special guy.”

“I will,” Cecilia answered softly.

They turned as Andy came back in, with a simple, dark blue duffel bag. “That’s ’bout it,” he stated, holding a hand out to Keith. “Ain’t going far. Be seeing you guys ’round the docks.”

Keith took his hand and shook it with a quiet respect. “Keep in touch, Andy. You know where to find us.”

“Yeap.” With a brisk nod Andrew turned and captured Ceci’s hand, then headed for the door, walking calmly out of a chapter of his life and closing it firmly behind him. They emerged onto the sidewalk, into a wash of colorful sunlight and a blast of salsa music and started off down the street.

Ceci allowed the silence to go on for a while, as they passed trendy hotels and those in the process of becoming trendy. “How does it feel?”

she finally asked, as the marina came into view. “I know they were like a family to you.”

Andy walked along a few paces, visibly thinking. “Yeap,” he mused, as they mounted the steps. “They were that. But I’ll tell you, Cec. Having to choose all the time ’tween going and staying, that about killed me.” He paused, giving her an honest look. “I know you didn’t think so sometimes but climbing that gangplank again was so hard.”

Ceci studied him. “Watching you walk up it just as hard for me.” She held a hand out. “C’mon. Let’s go buy our own this time. We can run up and down it all day long together.”

A slow smile touched his face. “All right.” He took her hand. “But, 266 Melissa Good Cec?”

“Hmm?”

“No pink.”

She pointed a finger at him, and shook it. “Just for that, pink curtains.”

“C’mon now.” He pulled the door open.

“Pink seats on the head.”

“Cecilia Roberts.”

“A pink pennant on the masthead.”

“Oh mah god.”

Ceci chuckled. “So, what are we going to name it?”

“Pepto Bismol, at this rate.”