Eye of the Storm

Chapter

Four

DAR TOOK A sip of water, rolling it around in her mouth before she swallowed it. Her throat hurt from talking and she really wanted nothing more than to find a quiet place with hot tea in it.

Beatrice looked up from her computer and gave Dar a sympathetic look. “Long day?”

“You know it.” The dark haired woman sighed. “I must have explained the concept of burst bottlenecking a dozen times, if I did it once. God. He’s got the comprehension of a Dead Sea snail.”

Beatrice snickered and covered her mouth. “You know, Paladar. We could use more of you around here. I’d forgotten just how colorful you can be when you put your mind to it.”

“No thanks.” Dar shook her head. “Not if this is a sample of what it’s like. He’s had Alastair in there listening to him whine for over an hour.

How does he stand it?”

“That’s his job.” The older woman turned and leaned on her elbows, regarding Dar thoughtfully. “And he knows he has someone who can make things happen for him. So it makes it a little easier to take.” Her face grew serious. “I don’t think you realize just how much he depends on you, Dar. When you resigned, I thought he was going to go insane. I walked into his office and he was almost crying.”

Dar blinked, truly surprised. “I just do what he pays me to do, Beatrice.”

A door slammed and David Ankow walked swiftly by, not giving either of them so much as a glance. He exited the reception area and slammed that door too, making Dar jump a little. She turned her head and gave Beatrice an inquiring look. The secretary shook her head.

“Well,” Alastair appeared from his office, loosening his tie, “glad that’s over with.”

Dar gazed at him. “How’d we do?”

The CEO sighed. “He’s not happy. He’s not happy with me, with the board, with the company...and boy, oh boy, oh boy, Paladar, he’s really not happy with you.”

Dar shrugged.

“Fortunately, however, you nearly bludgeoned him to death with some very pointed logic and a very impressive set of statistics, by the 28 Melissa Good way, and he had to back off.”

Dar smirked.

“For now.” Alastair shook his head. “He’ll be back, though. He’s not nearly done.” He held a hand out. “C’mon inside, Dar. Let’s chat a bit. I know you must be ready to get going.”

Dar stood up, sorry to leave the comfortable couch, and followed her boss into his office, closing the door behind them. It was quiet, and Dar glanced around as she crossed the soft carpet, remembering the last time she’d been in the place. “Hasn’t changed.”

Alastair circled his fine mahogany desk and sat down, letting his hands drop onto his knees. “Not a whole lot, no.” He watched his CIO as she sauntered over, dropped into one of his visitor’s chairs and gazed at him with those incredibly blue eyes. “You’re looking good, Dar. You losing weight?”

“A couple of pounds, yeah,” Dar replied, with a shrug. “I started working out a little more…been pretty busy.”

Alastair nodded. “How’s Kerrison?”

Dar’s face relaxed briefly into a smile. “She’s fine. In Vermont, as a matter of fact, consolidating Allison Consulting.” She paused, fingering her sunglasses. “This jerk’s going to be real trouble, isn’t he?”

“Yeap.” Her boss pursed his lips. “If he gets enough support, he can force a stockholder vote and overturn the board. But you know that.”

“Yeah.”

Alastair shifted, looking a little uncomfortable. “Dar. The new network’s about ready isn’t it?”

Dar nodded. “First components start coming online next week.”

He sighed. “It’ll be six months before we see results. It’s going to be a very long, very tough six months.” Alastair leaned back in his leather chair and crossed a pinstriped leg over one knee. “Especially since the stockholders’ meeting is next month.”

“Yeah.”

“Dar,” Alastair looked down at his hands, “he’s going to be looking for any bit of ammunition he can get, and he’s the type to get personal.”

Dar went very still. “What do you mean?”

Her boss looked uneasy. “I mean, he’s going to go after anything that will make any of us look bad and...” He sighed and finally looked up.

“He’s not going to ignore the things that I do.”

Dar drew in a quiet breath. “Oh.”

“It’s pretty common knowledge, Dar.” Alastair cleared his throat.

“Not so much here, but certainly in Miami.”

It hit hard. Somehow Dar had managed to make herself forget just how out of bounds her relationship with Kerry was. She’d actually broken company rules by simply dating her assistant; now that they lived together… “Yeah. We don’t bring our personal lives to the office, but,”

Dar sighed, “it’s no secret, no.”

“And it’s in Personnel,” Alastair responded simply. “Autonomics flagged it when it discovered two employees in the direct chain with the Eye of the Storm 29

same address.” He paused. “I overrode it.”

They were silent for a long while. Dar lifted her head finally and looked him in the eye. “Do you want me to resign from the board?” she asked quietly. “Because if it’s a choice between the company and Kerry, you have no chance.”

Alastair rested his chin in his hands and gazed fondly at her. “If you think I’m so cowpoke dumb as to not know that, I might have to be insulted.” Then he exhaled. “No. I just want you to be aware of what might happen and make Kerry aware. This could get nasty.” He drummed his fingers on his cheek. “I have a mandate to do the best I can for this company, and losing two of my very top employees runs counter to that mandate.”

Dar nodded unhappily. “All right.” She paused. “Does that mean I can expect to see his ugly puss around my neck of the swamp?”

Alastair nodded. “He mentioned tonight he was planning a trip over the Gulf. Probably next week or so.” He made a face. “Maybe he won’t find out, Dar. He’s not likely to hang out in the lunch room collecting gossip and you two must be relatively old news by now.”

“True,” Dar acknowledged. “And it’s not like we...ahm...”

“Make out on your desk?” Her boss finally smiled, as he watched his normally icy CIO turn a deep crimson. “My god, Dar Roberts blushing.

Where’s my damn digital camera?” He laughed in genuine delight.

Dar rubbed her face and tried to get her rebellious body back under control. “Glad you’re amused,” she muttered, standing up and putting on her jacket. “I gotta get out of here.”

Alastair let his chuckles run down. “All right. Have a good flight, Dar...and thanks.” He stood and held out a hand. “You really made the difference today.”

“Glad I could help.” Dar returned his grip. “See ya.”

“See ya, Dar.” Alastair lifted a hand towards her. “Good luck.”

Yeah. Dar shoved her sunglasses on as she headed back through the reception area. “Nice seeing you, Beatrice.”

“Same to you, Dar.” The secretary smiled at her. “Safe flight.”

Dar closed the door behind her and headed for the elevator.

The airport had just passed its evening rush, and Dar only had to dodge several dozen hurrying businessmen as she made her way through the concourse to her assigned gate. She sat down and leaned back, her mind still churning over Alastair’s warning.

And it was, she knew, very clearly a warning.

Damn. Dar folded her arms over her chest and exhaled. Just when things were settling down and really starting to work out. Kerry had been in her position long enough to really make an impact and they’d started to achieve a real balance at home too.

A fact that had slammed itself into her conscious awareness over the past two weeks, when she found herself missing Kerry more than she could have possibly imagined. This was by far the longest they’d been apart since they’d met and when she wasn’t careful her mind had chewed 30 Melissa Good over the question of whether things would be different when Kerry got back.

Dar had no reason to think it would, but… She sighed and allowed herself the moment of insecurity. Things had been going along so well, it almost seemed logical to wonder when the other shoe was going to drop.

She didn’t want anything to change. Dar gazed sullenly out from behind her glasses. She really didn’t want anything to change because of an uptight pinhead who couldn’t find his butt with both hands and a flashlight.

Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast on the plane. She glanced around and spotted a small food court nearby. Ah. She perked up a little. Ice cream. Dar got up, walked over, and studied her choices with only a twinge of guilt at deciding on dessert before dinner. “Double scoop of chocolate mousse fudge, please.”

She accepted the cone and nibbled a little off the top as she handed over a five dollar bill. Then she turned and wandered back towards her gate, stopping to lean against the post outside it and watch the sun slowly sinking to the west. Three college age women crossed in front of her, clad in flannel shirts and carrying backpacks. Her eyes idly followed them as they moved into the waiting area of the next gate.

Her eyes flicked up to the destination.

KERRY SHOVED THE hotel room door open and trudged inside letting it close behind her. She dropped her briefcase by the small desk and sat down on the desk chair, as her head fell with a small groan into her hands.

What a mess.

She rubbed her eyes tiredly. That was the trouble when you suspected something was going on–you started looking. When you started looking, very often, you found, not necessarily what you were looking for, but things that got out of place very fast.

They’d run those reports. She’d taken the soft copies and dumped them into the twelve gigabyte storage of her laptop. But then she’d scanned the printed versions, and to her statistics trained mind, numbers jumped out at her, making her look deeper and deeper into the decep-tively docile black and white printouts.

Questions. Lots of them, and the answers were either a little too pat, or a little too vague. Yet they’d passed due diligence. Kerry shook her head. How? Something wasn’t right. She hadn’t had time, really, to analyze it. That would be up to Duk’s auditors, who would be getting her files tomorrow and, armed with her preliminary report, would start hunting.

She wondered if Allison’s staff suspected. She’d tried to be noncommittal, but the fact that she’d kept them there until after nine at night should have told them something. The atmosphere had grown steadily more hostile as the day went on, and Kerry had to force her body not to hunch up defensively as she brought yet another question to the table.

Eye of the Storm 31

It had made her sort of nervous and she’d had trouble not watching the lights behind her as she drove to the hotel, half convinced she was being followed. That was the kind of paranoia, she realized, that could easily make you nuts pretty fast.

And yet. Kerry eyed the window speculatively, conscious of the silence around the small cabin and just how dark it was outside, and the fact that the hotel was isolated by the woods around it for some distance around.

Her heartbeat picked up a little. Did she hear footsteps outside? She concentrated, and the soft crunching of boots on gravel came to her again.

The sound moved closer, then stopped and Kerry’s eyes widened as she stood up.

A soft knock came at the door and her pulse shot up, a chill running up and down her spine. She stared at the door in a half panic, her mind momentarily blanking on what to do.

The knock came again, a little louder, and she exhaled, getting a hold of herself. “All right. Just relax, calm down, and answer it.” She walked over on unsteady feet and put her hand on the knob, taking a deep breath. “Yes?”

“Hey.”

Kerry stared at the door in total, numb shock, then yanked the handle down and pulled it back so fast she almost knocked herself down. An incoherent sound gurgled from her throat as her eyes confirmed her hearing and she drank in the tall, dark haired form leaning casually in her doorway. “Urk.”

Dar’s eyebrows shot up. “Interesting reaction. Can I come in?”

Kerry reached out and grabbed handfuls of Dar and pulled her inside, hardly waiting for the door to close before throwing herself at her lover, tiny, incoherent sounds of delight coming from her throat. “Dar!”

She wrapped her arms around the taller woman’s body and squeezed as hard as she could. “Eurrgghhh!”

“That would be me, yeah.” Dar leaned back against the wall, afraid her knees were going to collapse on her as she hugged Kerry, basking in the obvious welcoming joy the blonde woman displayed.

The reaction was everything she’d hoped it would be. Dar let a breath out slowly and rested her cheek against Kerry’s soft hair, absorbing it, and feeling like a dried sponge tossed into a pond.

Kerry buried her face into Dar’s shoulder, scarcely able to believe what her senses were telling her. But it was her lover’s sturdy body she held and she could hear Dar’s heart pounding under her ear, a rapid pattern that slowed as fingertips rubbed lightly up and down her back.

She finally turned her head to one side, and reveled in the sight of her lover’s angular profile just above her. “Wow.”

Dar smiled in pure reflex. “Wow?”

Kerry exhaled, and nuzzled her. “Wow. As in, wow, that was one of the neatest surprises I’ve ever gotten.” She squeezed Dar’s ribs. “Wow, as in wow, you have no idea how glad I am to see you. And wow, as in wow, 32 Melissa Good you just made a really cruddy day absolutely perfect.”

Dar blushed at the effusiveness. “Hmm.”

Kerry laughed in delight. “Oh, my god. It is so darn good to see you, Dar.”

The blue eyes twinkled happily. “Same here.” She hugged the smaller woman. “I was in the Houston airport, and the gate for my flight back to Miami was right next to the gate for a plane coming here. I just ended up on the wrong one.”

“Uh uh. Right one,” Kerry mumbled contentedly. “I was just about to call you. This thing blew up on me today.”

“Yeah?” Dar asked, surprised. “Thought it was pretty straightforward.” Impulsively she scooped Kerry up, getting a startled squawk from her lover, then dropped them both onto the bed. “But that’s all right. I had a pretty lousy day myself.”

Kerry sprawled lazily over her and rested her chin on Dar’s collarbone. “Somehow, it’s really hard for me to give a raccoon’s butt about that stuff right now.”

Hmm. Dar had been having the same thought, as the aggravation of the day evaporated effortlessly. “You can fill me in tomorrow. And I booked myself back to Miami on the same flight as you have.”

“Awesome.” Kerry chuckled. “They all wanted to meet my boss. Just goes to show you, be careful what you ask for in life, huh?” She spared a moment to indulge in the guilty pleasure of imagining walking into Allison Consulting tomorrow with the ultimate in attitude with her. “Heh.”

She studied Dar. “Do you have any luggage with you, or did you just...”

“I just.” Dar grinned. “So I’ve gotta wash this stuff out tonight and wear it again. Guess I’ll have to buff it tonight.” They grinned and chuckled.

Kerry plucked at her jeans button. “You went to HQ in this?”

“Yup. I woke up late this morning and I didn’t have time for anything else. Figured Alastair would rather me there in this, than not there.”

“Were you right?”

“Oh yeah. We managed to get the pinhead to back down, but it’s gonna get ugly.” Dar sighed. “He’s gonna tour Miami.” She combed her fingers through Kerry’s pale hair. “Alastair warned me he likes to get personal.” She hesitated, worried about her lover’s reaction. “And that he’d make us an issue.”

A blonde eyebrow lifted. “My job performance stands for itself,”

Kerry answered proudly. “As for anything else, he can kiss my butt.”

Dar grinned. “That’s my girl.” She half sat up, leaning closer to whisper. “And if he comes within a foot of your butt, I’m going to remove his testicles.” She paused. “Got me?”

Kerry held it in for a moment, then she laughed helplessly. Dar joined in, then they let that wind down. Kerry sighed. “Is Alastair really worried?”

Dar nodded. “Yeah. But I had time to think about it on the flight up Eye of the Storm 33

here. Unless he can prove it’s affecting the company in a negative way, there’s not much he can do.” She paused. “I mean, yeah, we broke the rules. But it’s not like it’s the first time it’s happened at ILS. He can make it pretty public, though, and damned uncomfortable for us.”

“Everyone knows anyway, Dar. We get invitations addressed to both of us all the time,” Kerry reminded her, with a smile. “And being publicly linked with you doesn’t bother me.” She paused. “I’ve had a lot of time to myself to think about that the last couple of weeks.”

Dar studied the determined look on her lover’s face and a sense of relief flooded through her. “Guess we’ll take it as it comes, then.” She traced Kerry’s jaw-line with a finger. “I told Alastair if I had to choose, there wasn’t any contest.”

“He knew that,” Kerry replied quietly. “He’s not stupid.”

Dar laughed. “Funny. That’s exactly what he said.” She lifted her body up and leaned over, finding Kerry waiting for her. Their lips touched and a shudder of pure reaction swept through her body. Fingers started exploring her, then Kerry paused and nudged her with her head.

“Mmm?”

“Let’s get your clothes taken care of. ’Cause you certainly can’t borrow mine.”

Obligingly, Dar rolled up off the bed and pulled Kerry up with her.

The smaller woman immediately unbuckled her belt, then slid fingers under Dar’s waistband and unbuttoned them.

Dar reciprocated by tugging Kerry’s shirt free and unfastening it, unable to prevent her hands from slipping beneath the fabric and starting a teasing exploration of the familiar body pressed lightly against hers.

The cool air of the room hit her shoulders as Kerry pulled her shirt off and she reluctantly relinquished first one hand, then the other to remove it entirely, managing to do the same for her without totally tangling them both up in fabric.

“Sometimes,” Kerry breathed against her skin, as she nibbled a path up her breastbone and reached around to unhook her bra, “it’s very nice being shorter than you.”

“Oh really?” Dar purred, working on her lover’s jeans, then running light fingers over her back as Kerry kicked her pants free. “Mmm. Red hearts, huh?” she teased gently, pulling at the waistband of Kerry’s underwear.

“Look who’s taking.” Kerry moved down and kissed her navel, then bit at the sedate, white briefs covered with a plethora of Dogberts.

“Nerd.”

Dar slid her arms around Kerry and picked her up, then fell sideways onto the bed, rolled over and settled her lover’s bare body on top of her, welcoming the explosion in her senses as Kerry’s touch claimed her.

Guess I’m wearing wet clothes tomorrow, she remembered thinking, just before a low, breathy growl in her ear made tomorrow, and clothing, and everything else...

Irrelevant.

34 Melissa Good WAKING UP NAKED in bed with Dar Roberts was about the nicest thing Kerry could readily conceive of, she decided, having done just that.

She stretched a little under the soft quilt and snuggled closer, feeling really rested for the first time in two weeks.

They had managed to get Dar’s clothes washed and hung up in the bathroom, but it had been pretty late before that happened, and she wondered if the darn things would even be half dry by now.

The sun peeked in and Kerry peeked back, then put her head down on Dar’s shoulder, using her lover’s body to block out the intrusive rays.

A soft chime made her look up again to see her mail icon blinking.

She made a face at it. Dar had done a very quick review of her initial findings last night and, with a grim look and a shake of her head, immediately sent the files off to Duk’s auditors.

Not good.

Though, watching Dar browse Allison’s data files in the nude certainly had lent a piquant note to the proceedings. Or maybe surreal was the word she was looking for. At any rate, her instincts had been confirmed by her lover’s experience and now that bleeping blinking icon was probably Duks having a multiple coronary over the prelims.

But she didn’t want to check it. She didn’t want to move one inch from where she was, or tear her ear away from the soothing sound of Dar’s heartbeat, slow and steady under her.

Dear Lord, I’ve missed this. She hadn’t really acknowledged just how much until now, after becoming used to it for the several months of their intimate relationship. She wondered if Dar felt the same way.

The laptop chimed again, this time causing Dar to stir, and Kerry looked up to see her lover open one clear blue eye to stare at the PC in irritation. “Probably from our notes.”

“Grumph.” Dar sighed, then rolled over and wrapped Kerry up in her arms. “To hell with them. I want a longer night.”

Mmm. Guess she did feel the same way. Kerry smiled. “Me too.”

The phone rang, and they both groaned, then Kerry reached over and pulled it from the cradle. “Hello?”

“Morning, Kerry.”

“Hey, Mark.” Kerry stifled a yawn. “What’re you doing up this early?”

“The usual. Can I talk to the boss, please?”

Kerry snorted. “Excuse me? You call me at my hotel room in Vermont, when Dar is supposed to be in Houston, and you expect her to be here?”

“Yup.”

She covered the receiver. “How does he do that?”

Dar just held out a hand. “Don’t ask. You’ll be a happier person for it.” She took the phone and cradled it between her ear and shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“Good morning, Boss.”

Dar considered that. “Yeah, it is. Thanks.” She gave Kerry a squeeze Eye of the Storm 35

and smiled.

There was a momentary silence, then Mark cleared his throat. “Ah, right. Anyway. Listen, those circuit diagrams of yours finally came in over the CAD server.”

“Mmm, ’bout time.”

“Yeah, and the Cisco rep is busting my ass to try and convince you to upgrade the regional hubs to 7000’s.”

“Now?”

“Uh huh. He’s one of those granola and sunshine nerds. Gets up at dawn and goes to commune with the squirrels or something.”

“Good for him.” Dar rested her forearm over her eyes. “All right.

Have the print shop mount those diagrams on foam and get them up in my office…and tell Mr. Granola I’ll think about it.”

“Cool.” The sound of a keyboard came through the phone. “Oh yeah.

María’s looking for you.”

“Put me through.” Dar made a face and covered the mouthpiece. “I forgot to tell her I wasn’t going to be in today.” She waited through a moment of the company’s incredibly annoying hold music, then heard María’s voice. “Morning, María.”

“Ay. Dar. Where are you?” The secretary sounded worried.

“Vermont.”

“Ah, good.” María came right back. “This is good. Very good. Is Kerrisita there?”

Dar eyed the disheveled blonde head resting on her stomach. “Yes, in fact, she is.” Kerry looked up in question. “What’s up?”

“Is a policeman here. He has some papers. He says she must sign for them,” María responded.

“Police?” Blue and green eyes met. “A regular policeman?”

“No, no. In the plain clothing.”

Dar muffled the receiver. “You’re being served papers.”

“Shit.” Kerry mouthed, tightening her lips. “Only one thing that could be.”

“María, is he a federal policeman?”

“Sí.”

“Ah. Okay. It’s all right. Have Penny notarize your signature on them and take ’em from him.” Dar sighed.

“Is not trouble?” María’s voice lowered. “I could tell him she went to Cuba. He will not be back then.”

Dar chuckled wanly. “No. It’s…more complicated than that, María.

Kerry’s not in trouble, but they need to ask her some questions. She’s got to testify. That kind of thing.”

“Ay. Is for her familia?”

“Yes.”

“I will take them, Dar. You will be gone all day, no?” María now sounded briskly businesslike. “I have canceled your two meetings and Mr. Draefus is pacing in little circles here waiting to talk to you.”

Kerry felt a weight settle on her, as she considered the newest devel-36 Melissa Good opments. Not that she hadn’t been expecting the summons. She had. But she’d hoped the matter would take the usual government forever.

Guess not. She wondered briefly what the investigators would get into, remembering the last few she’d seen on CNN. Fortunately she’d been on her own for the last several years, without her father’s support.

That, at least, they couldn’t dispute.

College. Well, they’d all gone, though she’d taken at least a three quarter scholastic scholarship the whole four years. Michael, though…

Kerry winced. Angie had, at least, been only the Bachelors degree.

Well, she could honestly go in there and say she’d never had any idea her father was involved in the illegal acts—legally she was in the clear, and she actually couldn’t give any evidence against him, as a matter of fact.

Should be a short ordeal.

Might even be a little...satisfying?...to see her father squirm.

“Okay, Dukky. Lemme know what they find. I figure they won’t get anything before I’ve got to get out of here tonight.” Dar sighed. “We’ll keep them in a holding pattern. But tell Mari to push on those security checks.” She paused. “Right.” She pause again and looked down. “I’ll tell her. Thanks. Bye.”

Dar hung up the phone and exhaled. “Ho boy.”

Kerry traced a bare rib. “Had to come sooner or later,” she remarked.

“I can’t tell them much. It won’t take long. Did María say when it was for?”

“Three weeks from now,” Dar replied. “Duks pulled the auditing team off T and T and reassigned them to us. He says it’s gonna take time to figure everything out, though.” She considered. “And, it may be that some of those numbers just cross check strangely. Though I doubt it.” She tapped her nose. “Something stinks.”

Both blonde brows shot up. “I should be insulted.”

“Not here.” Dar slid her hands under Kerry’s arms and pulled her up until they were chin to chin. “Do you have a local lawyer to go up there with you?”

“No. Do I need one? I’m not being investigated, Dar.”

“Tch. Someone as politically savvy as you saying that, Ker? You know how out of hand those things get.”

“Mmm.” She sighed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Dar rubbed noses with her. “Okay. I guess a shower is in order. And let’s see how we can play your friends at Allison.” She tilted her head. “I could just go in there and kick them around a little.”

Kerry thought about that, then smiled. “Nah. I’ve got a better idea.”

KERRY DUSTED THE sleeve on her silk shirt off and twitched her gray linen jacket straight before she entered the conference room, aware of the tall, silent figure that followed her. She motioned to a chair then proceeded across the room and circled it, giving the other occupants a Eye of the Storm 37

brief smile as she did so. “Good morning.”

Eyes had flicked to the casually dressed woman sprawled in the chair near the door, but now they focused back on her. The attitude was wary, but lacked the nervousness of the day before, and even held a hint of complacence.

“All right. Thank you for getting me those reports. I’ve reviewed them and referred the findings to our main office. Our personnel department is processing the security checks, so things are in a holding pattern until those two items are completed.”

Kerry paused. “However, since the interconnectivity takes a while, we’re going to get started with that. We borrowed one of our local field technicians and asked her to come in to give your IS people a hand in the network migration. I’d like to get that started as soon as possible.” She stared pensively down at her briefcase, trying to ignore the mischievous face Dar was making at her. “I’m sure…um…Bunny here will get you up and rolling in short order.”

Paybacks. Kerry peeked up at her lover, who was giving her one of those “I’m gonna get you later” looks. She returned it with a charming smile. “Right, Bun?”

“Aaabsolutely,” Dar drawled, adding a hint of the South to her voice.

Sam swiveled in his chair, then tapped his teeth with a pencil. “Sue, can you get someone up here to show our guest the server farm? I’m sure she wants to get started.” He looked pleased. “In the meantime, I thought maybe you’d like to sit in on a client briefing, Ms. Stuart. Since you’re here, and all. Perhaps you’d like to see our methods firsthand.”

Kerry let him wait for a few seconds, while she considered the request. “All right. I’d like that.”

They all stood, and Sue brushed herself off, then walked over to Dar.

“Come with me, please?” Her voice was pleasant, but held a note of con-descension.

“Sure.” Dar unfolded her length from the bucket shaped chair and stood, towering over the smaller woman. She was dressed in her jeans and short sleeved shirt, the rolled sleeves exposing her toned arms, and had pulled her dark hair back into a tail at the base of her neck. “Lead on.” Her eyes flicked to Kerry’s face, then followed Sue out, pulling the door shut behind her.

“Funny,” Sam drawled. “I thought you people liked to present a much sharper image.”

Kerry bit the inside of her lip to keep the retort from emerging, then cleared her throat. “Well, it’s Bunny’s day off. She’s doing us a favor.”

The accountant shook his head. “I hope she knows what she’s doing.

We can’t afford down time today.”

“Oh,” Kerry scratched her nose, “don’t worry. She does.”