Eye of the Storm

Chapter

Thirty-seven

THEY PUSHED THEIR way out of the hastily recessed chambers, surrounded by people who were grabbing and shoving and plucking at Kerry’s sleeve. “Ms. Stuart. Ms. Stuart, a moment with you please!”

Kerry kept her head down and kept walking, relying on Dar’s guidance to keep her from slamming into the press crews and other impedi-ments. A hand grabbed her arm and she looked up to see her microphone shoved in her face. “I’m sorry.” She took a breath. “I think I’ve said enough for now.”

“Wait!”

“Ms. Stuart!”

“Is it true?”

“Excuse us.” Dar put an arm around Kerry and put a hand out, shoving hard and making some space in the crush of bodies. Andrew came up on the other side and tucked Ceci between them, slipping an arm behind Dar’s and clasping her above the elbow.

“You all right?” Ceci murmured, patting Kerry’s arm.

“No,” Kerry whispered.

“Take it easy. We’ll get out of here.” Ceci glanced up at the two determined, serious faces above her head. She and Dar had gone down to the crowded building after Dar had finished her interview, doing a more than creditable job so far as Ceci could tell and fending off the repeated passes from the reporter with a wry good grace. They’d gotten to the stairs just as Kerry was speaking and stopped in the very doorway just as she’d admitted to releasing the information.

Gutsy kid. Ceci had followed Dar closely through the chaos, almost swallowed up by Andy’s welcoming grip as she reached the seats.

She’d been out of life for so long, Ceci suspected this was the Goddess’ little revenge.

They forced their way out the door and finally felt fresh air against them, and Kerry sucked in a huge lung full of it, trying to ignore the shouting of the protestors not far away. The cameras had followed and reporters were yammering, but her senses were on overload and she shut them down in self-defense, covering her ears with her hands and shivering.

“Down there,” Dar directed. “We’ll get a cab and get the hell out of here.”

Eye of the Storm 347

“I’m not going back in there,” Kerry muttered. “I don’t care what they say. That’s it.”

They headed down the stairs, past the crowd, and Dar flicked her eyes over them, seeing the angry faces and surging motion. “Look! There they are! That’s the one!”

“Shit.” Dar turned her shoulders just in time to deflect a large rock.

“Let’s move.”

“Son of a biscuit,” Andrew growled. “Dardar, switch spots with me.”

Another rock pelted the dark haired woman and she gritted her teeth. “Just keep moving.”

Epithets rolled over them. Nasty, dark words full of hate, and anger, and more rocks with them. The police struggled to keep the crowd back, but several men broke through, grabbed a barricade and moved towards them with wild intent.

Andrew cursed and ducked around Dar. “Stay with yer momma,” he growled, giving them all a shove towards the cab as he jumped to intercept the two men. “And where d’you think ye’re goin’, dog face?” He grabbed the barricade coming towards him and wrenched it from the man’s hands, then he tossed it away and towards an empty spot on the stairs. The man closest to him—a tall, thin youngster with cropped hair and ugly ears—reached for him, but a policeman caught him up from behind, and hauled him towards the line of barricades.

“You stupid bastard!” the boy yelled at Andrew. “I’ll kick your ass!”

His companion jumped on Andrew and rapidly realized what a bad mistake that was when the ex-SEAL got a grab on his neck and his crotch and flipped him over his head, landing him on the hard marble stairs.

Three more men broke through the ranks and ran towards them with sticks.

Andy grinned and bounced on the balls of his feet, feeling a rush of blood through him that left a pleasant tingle behind, prickling a lust for fighting that had never quite faded. “C’mon, y’little pollywogs,” he yelled, flexing his hands.

A cab pulled cautiously to the curb as Dar signaled, yanked the door open, and hustled her mother and Kerry inside.

“Where ya goin’?” the cabbie yelled.

“Anywhere but here,” Dar replied, looking around quickly and spotting several reporters heading their way. “Jesus. I shoulda left that damn system down this morning.” She turned to see her father holding his ground, then she sighed. “Be right back.”

She bolted up the stairs and grabbed Andrew’s arm. “C’mon, Dad.”

“Aw.” Andrew threw a last punch, then ducked an outstretched arm and followed Dar back to the cab. They beat the reporters by a few steps and got the doors closed just in time—the cab pulling quickly away from the curb as a stumbling cameraman slammed against its bumper.

For a moment, there was silence. Then Kerry slowly released a long held breath and leaned against Dar, who wrapped her up tightly and pulled her close.

348 Melissa Good

“Hope there’s a back entrance to that there hotel,” Andrew remarked. “Haven’t seen this much hoohaa since that Pamela Lee Ander-son showed up at a damn liberty near Mexico.” He half turned and regarded his wife, who was rubbing her ear. “You all right, Cec?”

Cecilia mentally caught her breath. “I think so.” She looked at Dar, who was pressed against the cab door with Kerry huddled against her.

“You?”

Dar nodded, as her lover burrowed further into her sweater. “I’m fine.” She put a hand against Kerry’s head as she heard her take a shaky breath. “All right. Let’s just get back to the hotel and regroup, then I’ll figure out what to do.” She half expected a protest from Kerry, but the blonde woman didn’t say a word. Okay. Dar mentally sorted things out.

What Kerry had just done had derailed two possible problems that had been nig-gling at her.

One was the fact that she and Dar lived together, which had been rolled right over.

Two was the fact that the information on her father had come from within ILS, which had also been rolled right over, obscured by the blonde woman’s startling confession.

ILS’s position then was simple, that its employee’s personal lives was none of their concern. One problem out of the way.

As for Kerry bursting out of the closet with a howitzer... Well, from the company’s standpoint they were on the high ground, able to placidly say their employee’s sexuality was also none of their concern, and the equal treatment of such was assured under the corporate bylaws. Made them look damn progressive, which ILS in most cases certainly wasn’t.

Okay. So she didn’t have to worry about the company. On the other hand, she did have to worry about the desperately upset woman in her arms, who was emotionally devastated and rapidly unraveling before Dar’s eyes. With a sigh, she pulled her cell phone out and dialed a number. Alastair answered on the second ring.

“Well, hello there Dar.” Her boss’s voice was wry. “Just saw your interview. Fantastic job. I got a call from ABC and CBS right afterward, asking for in-depth stuff.”

“Alastair—”

“And, I just saw the hearings.”

Dar was silent, wondering what he’d say.

A pause. “She’s a damn brave kid.” Alastair’s voice was warm. “Give her my regards, willya?”

Dar smiled quietly. “I will.”

“Think they’ll call you up there? Just so I know the worst?” Alastair sounded peacefully resigned. “I’ve called a teleconference for tonight with the board.”

“Not if they’re smart,” Dar replied.

“All right. Keep me advised, Dar. I want to know what’s happening.”

Dar chuckled wryly. “I’ll keep the company’s nose as clean as I can, Eye of the Storm 349

Alastair.”

“Couldn’t give a damn about the company, Dar.”

She stared at the phone for a moment.

“Ah…surprised you, huh?” The CEO laughed. “That’s a first. Later, Dar.” He hung up, leaving her to close her phone bemusedly and tuck it away. Kerry finally loosened her grip and tilted her head, gazing up at her with sad eyes.

“Hey.” Dar leaned forward a little to touch her forehead against her lover’s. “Bet you could use some ice cream.” She got a very tiny tired, hurting smile back, then Kerry exhaled and put her head back down. Dar stroked the pale hair comfortingly, glancing up to see her mother watching her. For an awkward moment they stared at each other, then Ceci tightened her lips into a brief smile and turned her attention to her husband, who was scowling at the surrounding, busy streets.

They got to the hotel and the cabbie drove into the parking garage, going down a level and arriving at a lower entrance that was pretty well deserted. Gratefully, they paid him and got out, slipped inside and grabbed an elevator. “Hold on.” Andrew held a hand up. “Let’s take that one there.” He pointed. “S’got a fireman’s control.”

“We don’t have a key,” Dar remarked, her arm still around the very quiet and withdrawn Kerry.

“Pshaw.” Her father pushed her inside and waited for the others to enter, then he pulled a small gadget from his pocket and used it to jimmy the fireman’s lock as the doors closed.

The elevator made a soft, whooshing noise as it climbed the floors.

Kerry’s eyes went from face to face as they waited. “I’m sorry you all had to go through that,” she finally said. “I wish…” She fell silent.

“S’allright, kumquat,” Andrew drawled.

“What did you call her?” Ceci consciously tried to lighten the atmosphere. “Good grief, Andy. How could you compare poor Kerry to a small, bitter orange?”

The doors opened and they peeked out, then edged into the empty corridor and made their way quickly to Dar and Kerry’s room. They got inside just as they heard the elevators open and voices come their way.

Andy closed the door hastily, then held a finger to his lips.

Kerry couldn’t have cared less if the entire Mormon Tabernacle Choir was outside. She trudged over and landed on the bed, spreading her arms out and closing her eyes in weary relief.

Sweet Jesus, what have I just done?

After they’d named her a hostile witness, she’d felt sure her parents knew she’d been the one to release that information. What other reason would there be to estrange her? Surely it couldn’t just be Dar.

But no. They hadn’t known. One look at her father’s face had told her that. Utter shock. Utter betrayal. He’d thought that revealing Dar as the source of the information would have driven a wedge between them, never realizing what he’d force her to say.

No, Daddy. It wasn’t Dar. She’d have deleted the entire file, left up to her.

350 Melissa Good I did it.

Me.

Your little girl.

Kerry heard Andy and Ceci move into their own room, mentioning something about ordering room service over there, then it got quiet and the bed next to her dipped and moved, bringing a warm body to settle against her. She opened her eyes to see Dar propped up on her side, a tired look on her face. “I fucked up.” Dar lifted an eyebrow at the use of the epithet. She never said that, unless it was the worst of the worst of things and her partner knew it.

“No, you didn’t,” her lover disagreed. “They did.”

Kerry exhaled. “He didn’t know.” Her eyes went to Dar’s. “He didn’t know it was me, Dar.”

“I know.”

“Now they have a good reason to hate me.”

Dar leaned forward and took her hand. “Listen to me a minute.” Her voice was very serious. “Stop blaming yourself, Kerry. I mean it.”

Kerry looked at her.

“You’re not the one who did the wrong thing.”

“I released that information.”

“You are not the one who did the wrong thing,” Dar repeated. “You are not the one who accepted those bribes and you are not the one who let industry pay you off to look the other way while wildlife was slaughtered and you are not the one who used government funds to maintain a mistress and two illegitimate children.”

“I could have just kept quiet like everyone else does,” Kerry murmured. “If I had, maybe someday I could have eventually sat down and talked to them about us.”

Dar sighed and rubbed her fingers. “Kerry, even if nothing had happened, do you really think they’d have accepted me? Accepted us?”

Kerry shook her head slightly. “I don’t know. I’ll never know.” She sighed, seeing Dar’s perplexed look. “I can’t help it, Dar. They’re my parents and I love them.” She regarded the ceiling. “How could I have done that to them?”

Dar nibbled her thumbnail, trying to figure out what to say. She was tired, her stomach was in knots, she’d had a very, very rough day, and it was only the afternoon. Sensitive discussions were never her forte at any time, and frankly, there was no good answer to Kerry’s question, was there? “Well,” she finally responded, “I can only tell you what I would have done.” She paused. “I think if I’d have gone through what you’d just gone through, with the hospital and all, I’d have been furious.” Another pause. “Hell, I was furious.”

Kerry turned her head and studied her friend’s face.

“Sometimes you do things when you’re really angry, that seem right at the time,” Dar went on. “I know I have. And then when you look back, later on, you second guess yourself and think about all the other things you could have done or said.”

Eye of the Storm 351

“Mmm,” Kerry agreed glumly. “Hindsight.”

“Yeah.” Dar nodded. “But the other thing I’ve realized over the years is, that there’s no point in beating yourself up over what you’ve done. It’s done.”

“Move on.” Kerry extended the thought. “Recover and deal with it.”

“Yeah.”

“So. How, exactly, do I deal with knowing I ruined my parent’s lives and am going to be on every tabloid cover in America next week?”

Dar squirmed a little closer. “First, just like you have to accept responsibility for what you did, you’ve gotta realize that they have to do the same thing.” Dar put a hand on Kerry’s shoulder. “Your father did those things, Ker. He knew if anyone found out, this could happen. He accepted the risk.”

Kerry sighed. “It hurts.”

“I know.”

But her brain was starting to work again, Kerry realized. She could feel it, the shock was fading and her mental processes were settling back down into a more normal pattern. “So what about the tabloids?” she joked faintly.

“Well, I was figuring.” Dar laid an arm over Kerry’s stomach and smiled as the blonde woman rested a hand on her shoulder. “When you and I are ancient, those things’ll make one hell of scrapbook to pull out and show people.”

Kerry’s face pulled into a real smile at the image. “My fifteen minutes of fame, you mean?”

“Something like that, yeah.” Dar returned the smile. “I’ll throw in a tape of my interview, and we got it locked down.”

Kerry moved a bit of dark hair out of Dar’s eyes. “Oh. How did that go? Is it on? Let’s turn CNN on. I want to see you.” Then she stopped.

“Hmm. Maybe not. I think I know what the lead story’s going to be.” She rubbed her temples. “You don’t have any aspirin, do you? My head’s killing me.”

“Sure.” Dar rolled off the bed, went to her briefcase, and tugged a bottle out. “Feel like eating something?”

Kerry shook her head.

Dar came back with the pills and some water and sat back down on the bed. “That can’t be helping your headache,” she commented, as the blonde woman curled onto her side and took the glass, swallowed several of the tablets, and washed them down.

“Probably not, but I think I’d lose whatever I tried to get down.”

Kerry put the glass on the bedside table and put her head down on her arm. “Maybe later.”

Dar stretched out next to her, letting her body relax against the bed’s mattress. She studied the tense back next to her and gave it a tentative scratch. Kerry’s shoulder blades moved, and Dar heard a soft grunt as she expanded the motion, making little circles with her fingertips.

I’m a big girl. Kerry closed her eyes as the touch continued. I don’t 352 Melissa Good need to be coddled like a little kid. One eye opened and peered around the empty room. “Hey, Dar?”

“Yeah?”

Kerry rolled over onto her back and turned her head. “Think we have time for a nap?”

A nap. Boy. That sounded good. Dar spread an arm out, smiling in invitation. “Sure. C’mere.” She gathered Kerry in and fitted her body around the smaller woman’s, until they were a warm tangle in the center of the bed. It was quiet for a bit and then Kerry sighed.

“Dar?”

The dark haired woman had her eyes closed and kept them that way.

“Mmm?”

“Would you have done it?”

Dar considered that seriously. “I don’t know. I can be pretty vindictive, Kerry.” She shrugged. “Maybe it would depend on whether or not I was PMSing.”

“Dar, you don’t PMS. I had to listen to an hour long discussion on that in the lunchroom last week.”

“Sure I do, Kerry.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do. It’s just that no one can tell the difference,” the placid response came back. “Think about it. What’s typical dropping eggs behavior? It turns you into a raving, overbearing alpha bitch with a thing for chocolate.”

Kerry had to laugh. She buried her face into Dar’s shoulder and muffled her snickering.

“This differs from my normal state exactly how?”

More snickering.

Dar smiled at the popcorn ceiling, glad she’d succeeded in making Kerry laugh a little. The chuckles wound down, and a warm hand slipped under her shirt and rubbed the skin gently.

“Thanks,” Kerry murmured. “I needed that.” She exhaled and closed her eyes, hearing Dar’s jaw crack as she yawned. Everything else would just have to wait for a while.

THE SOFT BURR of her cell phone nudged Dar out of a really good dream, one that involved fudge and cherries and a very messy boat deck.

She pried an eye open and glared at the instrument, then reluctantly disengaged one arm and answered it. “Yeah?”

A breath. “Um…is that…is…Dar?”

“You had a fifty percent chance and you won. What can I do for you?” Dar closed her eye.

“Dar, it’s Angie. Can I speak to my sister, please?”

Dar jolted awake. “Sorry. I didn’t… You don’t sound like…” She gently shook Kerry. “Are you okay?”

“I’m in the hospital. Please, can I talk to her?”

Eye of the Storm 353

“Ker.” Dar shook harder, feeling the gathering resistance as Kerry dragged herself out of a very deep sleep. “Kerry, c’mon. It’s your sister on the phone.”

“Mmm?” Kerry sucked in a breath, and rubbed her eyes. “Wh—” She lifted her head and peered upward. “Who? Angie?”

“Yeah. Here.” Dar handed her the phone. “She said she’s in the hospital.”

“Oh.” Kerry pressed the phone to her ear. “Angie?”

“Hey.” Her sister’s voice sounded exhausted. “Listen. The baby’s coming and I’m having a really tough time.”

“My god. What’s going on? Are you okay?” Kerry pulled herself up, her pounding heart sending blood to her head in a painful wave. “Where are you?”

“I saw you on TV,” Angie replied. “I…they brought me here yesterday, Kerry. It’s been hell all night. It just hurts…and hurts. I don’t know what’s going to happen, and I wanted…I wanted to talk to you, so you…so I could tell you. I didn’t want anything to happen, and then I…”

“Angie, it’s okay,” Kerry murmured. “Don’t worry about anything.

What’s important is how you’re doing.”

There was a brief silence. “Ow.” Angie finally sighed. “I’m so tired of hurting.” A rustle of linen. “I saw you on TV, Sis.”

“You did, huh?”

“Yeah.” Angela took a breath. “I’m sorry I didn’t come over when Mike did yesterday.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not okay,” Angie replied. “You have to stand up and be counted sometime, Kerry.”

“Angie, don’t worry about being counted. Just worry about yourself and your baby,” Kerry told her. “Where are you? Can I come over and see you? Is Richard there?”

“No,” Angie whispered. “He’s out of town.”

“What about Brian?”

There was a long silence and then her sister sighed. “He’s chosen not to be involved.”

Kerry’s eyes closed. “Oh, Angie.”

“Yeah, well. Better this way for the kids,” Angela replied. “Maybe I’ll at least get points for a cute baby, right?”

“I’m sorry, Sis.” Arms closed around Kerry in a secure hold. “Listen, hang in there. I’m going to come over and see you.”

“Be careful,” Angie whispered.

“I will. Take it easy, Sis. I love you.”

Angie hissed in pain. “I love you, too.”

Kerry hung up and then scrubbed her face with a hand. “I feel like I’ve been run over by a bus, Dar.” She sighed. “Can we find a way over to the hospital without dragging half the DC press corps with us?”

Dar kissed her head. “We’ll find a way.” She looked up as the room’s phone rang and then answered it. “Yes?”

354 Melissa Good

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but this is the hotel operator, and I have a Mr.

James Herkins who is very insistent on wanting to talk to Ms. Stuart.”

“It’s the prosecutor.” Dar held her hand over the receiver. “You want to talk to him?”

“Now he wants to talk to me?” Kerry answered with a touch of sarcasm. “Not really but I guess I’d better.” She took the phone. “Thank you.

Put him through. Sorry if this is being such a pain for you.”

“Oh.” The operator seemed surprised. “Well, thanks for saying that.

Most people don’t.” She clicked off and then a male voice came through.

“Ms. Stuart?”

“Yes,” Kerry answered.

“I’d like to set up a meeting. We need to talk.”

“Now that I have something to say that you want to hear?” Kerry shot back, getting a mildly raised eyebrow from her listening partner.

There was a pause. “Ms. Stuart, I had no reason to think you were the cornerstone of the situation. My information on you was that you were just another one of Roger’s kids.” Herkins hesitated. “It’s not like you came forward and said otherwise.”

Well, that was true. Kerry had to admit.

“And I don’t think you want to go through another day like today.

Am I wrong?”

Also true. “All right. But it can’t be today. I have something I have to take care of,” Kerry told him. “Besides, I’ve pretty much said all I have to say.”

“Except why.”

“Excuse me?”

“Why, Ms. Stuart. You solved a big problem for me today by saying how—there was always a question as to how that information got released. The question that’s coming to everyone’s mind right now is why. Why would one of Roger Stuart’s kids—seemingly a nice, intelligent, successful young woman—deliberately release information so damaging?”

Kerry was silent for a moment. “I was just asking myself that same question. I guess I just felt it was the right thing to do at the time.”

“Still think that?” Herkins asked shrewdly.

Kerry let a breath out. “Morally? Yes. He did things that were not right and not legal.”

“Well,” the prosecutor’s voice sounded satisfied, “I’d agree with you there, Ms. Stuart, and you sent a very powerful message today, whether you realized it or not. How about you and I meet for breakfast and we can talk? Maybe I can work things out so you can finish up here and go home.”

Home. “I’d like that,” she admitted. “Honestly, I really don’t have anything else to add to the case one way or the other. I didn’t know—or even suspect—until I was looking at it in black and white on my screen.”

“I believe you, Ms. Stuart,” he replied. “He fooled a lot of people.”

He paused. “Tomorrow morning then? I’ll pick you up in the back. We’ll Eye of the Storm 355

go over to a little place near the hearing chambers. Okay?”

“All right,” Kerry agreed. “Are the hearings over for today?”

A soft snort. “They requested a delay. Apparently you rocked their apple cart pretty thoroughly.”

“Okay.”

“Ms. Stuart, don’t be surprised if they contact you. It’s up to you if you want to talk to them, but I think you realize they’re not your friends.”

“I understand,” Kerry answered. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Eight all right?”

“Perfect. Have a good night, Ms. Stuart.”

Kerry hung up the phone and stared at it. “He’s supposed to be the good guy.” She looked up at Dar. “So why do I feel like such a traitor?”

“Because you have a conscience,” Dar responded promptly. “And a good heart.”

Kerry sighed. “I want this to be over, Dar.” She rubbed her neck tiredly. “I want to be back in my office, listening to José complain and having something stupid and disastrous to work on waiting for me.” Her shoulders slumped. “I want to have a cup of café con leche and one of those cheese pastelitos, and know when the sun sets that there’s a climbing wall waiting for me.”

Dar rested her head on her arm. “Are you telling me you’re happy with your life?” The question slipped out without her realizing it and was more serious than she’d intended.

“Yes.” Kerry’s eyes were unfocused, as she stared across the nondescript hotel room. “Maybe I didn’t realize until this moment just how happy I am.” She blinked. “True hearts are such a rare gift, Dar.”

Dar wasn’t sure where this was coming from. “Yes, they are,” she answered cautiously.

Kerry turned and put a hand on Dar’s chest, right over hers. “How in the hell did I rate one?”

Dar had no idea of what to answer to that and was saved from having to improvise by a light knock on the connecting door. “Yeah?” She kept her eyes locked with Kerry’s, searching the shadowed green depths as the door opened inward and her father’s head emerged.

“Thought I heard voices.” Andrew cocked his head at the two of them. “You two all right?”

Kerry exhaled, then turned her head. “We’re fine, Dad. But my sister’s in the hospital having trouble with the baby. I need to go see her.”

“All right, kumquat. We’ll put on the hip waders and slog through all the pony paddies wherever you want to.” Andrew pulled his head back inside to relay the request.

“Dar?” Kerry turned back to regard her lover seriously. “You need to have children.”

“Wh—?” Dar’s eyes went round and huge.

“You just do.” Kerry got up and went to the sink, rinsing her face with the cold, metallic water.