Eye of the Storm

Chapter

Seven

THEY ENDED UP raiding the local Publix and escaping back to the island when three possible ice cream parlors turned out to be packed with people or, in one case, a huge children’s birthday party.

So now they were home, and Dar was sprawled comfortably on the couch with a huge bowl of ice cream resting on her stomach. Andrew had taken over the love seat with a similar dish, and Kerry was seated on the floor next to Dar, sucking contentedly on a root beer float.

Chino, of course, roamed hopefully from human to human, the tip of her black nose already white and sticky with ice cream. The large screen TV was on, but mostly silent, with scenes of ancient Asia playing across it.

“Mmm. This is a nice way to end a really disgusting week,” Kerry commented around her straw.

“Yeah?” Andrew looked up. “What’cha get into, kumquat? More of that gibberish you two are always talking about?”

“Not really.” Dar sucked on her spoon as she remembered the phone call she’d gotten the previous day. “I heard from Mom.”

There was an awkward silence and stillness before Andrew went back to his ice cream. “Didja now?”

“Yeah. Um…Gran passed on. She wanted me to come up for the service.” Dar exhaled softly.

“You gonna go?” her father asked.

Dar considered the question. “I-I should.”

“But you don’t wanta.”

“Not really, no,” the dark haired woman answered honestly. “I haven’t seen any of them in damn near ten years. I don’t know.”

“Mmph.” Andrew slid a little lower in the cushions. “The old lady was always partial to you, Dardar.” He messed around with the ice cream a minute. “And it’s a…it’s not a bad thing for you t’see your mother. I’d um…I’d like to know how she’s doing.”

Kerry tipped her head back and let it make contact with her lover’s arm in mute comfort, feeling Dar’s hand come to rest on her shoulder in silent response.

“All right. I’ll go.” Dar took a spoon of ice cream and mouthed it, able to convince herself easily that her father wanting her to do it was 60 Melissa Good reason enough. “I was surprised she called.”

Andrew put his bowl down on the table and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Dardar, I’m sorry about that,” he told her softly.

“It’s so damn hard on everybody.”

Dar shrugged it off. “Old history. I am what I am. A chip off the old block, and that’s never going to change.”

A faint, pained smile crossed Andrew’s scarred lips. “Squirt, that’s some true, but there’s more of your mamma in you that neither of you realize.” He exhaled audibly and changed the subject, which was making them both very uncomfortable. “That all what made it a bad week?”

Kerry cleared her throat. “No. I was at an account that went pretty badly…and I finally got subpoenaed to testify about my father.”

Andrew made a face, recaptured his bowl, and resumed his aborted attack on the melting treat. “Sorry to hear that, kumquat. That means you’ll be mixing with your folks soon, eh?”

“Yeah. That’ll be pleasant,” Kerry agreed ruefully. “My sister says I’m a persona non grata in their house. I don’t get mentioned.” She paused. “They took all the pictures out of albums…that sort of thing.”

Dar’s arm moved and surrounded her suddenly, in a very welcome hug.

“Fortunately, Angie got a hold of most of my stuff there. She’s shipping it down.”

Andrew scowled. “I thought he didn’t know you spilled the beans?”

“He doesn’t,” Dar interjected.

“So he’s just doin’ that because—”

“Of us,” Kerry told him. “Yeah. You know something? That’s one of the things I like most about you—it was never an issue.” She smiled at Andrew.

“Wall, I like t’think I’m as liberal as the next Southern Baptist career military type,” he answered with a totally straight face. “Went out and got me a rainbow sticker to fit between my NRA poster and my pitcher of Stormin’ Norman the other day.”

They all laughed and the tension that had been building relaxed perceptibly. “Did you really?” Kerry suddenly asked.

“Damn straight. I walked right on in to that little place up in Lauderdale. Scared the bejezus out of them two little boys kissin’ behind the counter and bought me a sticker and one of these.” Andrew pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it over. “Got me a nice cuppa coffee, too.”

Kerry handed Dar the tiny rainbow striped keychain. “You’re so outside the box sometimes I never know what to expect from you, Dad.”

“Do what I do, Kerry, and what you find out is, doesn’t much matter what kinda packaging people got. They all bleed the same damn color,”

Andrew replied with quiet meaning. “Then you stop seeing people as this kind or that kind. Just they’re either a friend or they’re not.”

“Yeah. Well, I wish that attitude was contagious.” Dar sighed. “My other bad news was a new board member that’s making more trouble than he’s worth. Alastair’s worried he’s going to start digging in the Eye of the Storm 61

wrong places.”

“Again? Damn that company’s a pain in mah butt,” her father complained. “You should jest cut out and start your own company that does whatever the hell it is you do. Put them all the hell out of friggin’ business.”

They were all quiet for a moment, then Kerry turned her head and looked at Dar speculatively. “You know…”

“It’s crossed my mind.” Dar spoke at the same moment.

“Would backing be a problem? I’m sure we could—” Kerry spoke up eagerly.

“No.” Dar munched on a spoonful of ice cream. “All those bonuses could finally be useful. Last time I counted, which was a while ago honestly, there was about twenty million dollars in those damn accounts.”

She could feel the waves of utter shock beating against her. Dar glanced up right into Kerry’s astonished green eyes. “Which you, by the way, are heir to. Just thought I’d mention that. I’ve got some guy at Smith Barney who’s been investing and reinvesting everything I’ve gotten from them in fifteen years. He’s pretty damn good, and thanks to Aunt May, I don’t really spend much.”

“Jesus,” Kerry whispered. “Good Lord, Dar. I knew you said you had money stashed away but…”

“Wow,” Andrew muttered, for once at a loss for words. “I never done expected to be related to no millionaire, that’s fer damn sure.”

Dar shrugged. “Anyway, maybe after I finish this network project we’ll do some research on it. Would you come work for me?” she asked Kerry.

“That’s not a serious question, is it?” The blonde woman laughed in delight.

“What about you, Dad?”

“Hell yes,” Andrew answered immediately. “I want to get me some of those hot shot corporate executive perks I keep hearing so much about.

It ain’t bad working for Uncle Sam, but let me tell ya, you don’t get no leather chairs.”

They all laughed, then Dar put her bowl down for Chino to finish off and stretched, easing out strained muscles. She then relaxed into the leather’s soft, inviting surface as Kerry gave Andrew a humorous run down on Allison Consulting.

Start her own company. Would she want the headaches? What the hell? She had them now, didn’t she? Cutting out on her own was…a little scary. A little intimidating, because she was, she knew, much better at organizing and designing things than selling them.

Well, okay. So she’d hire a furking salesman for that…and maybe Mark would come work for her. Yeah...maybe María...

Aw, c’mon Dar. That’s been a daydream of yours for years. Who are you kidding? You don’t want to be responsible for the entire damn thing.

Right?

Huh.

62 Melissa Good MARÍA PUT HER cup down and sighed contentedly, enjoying the peace and quiet of the early morning. It was Monday, and she knew it would stop being peaceful very soon, but for right now, just after sunrise, she could sit and listen to the lack of voices, and the phone not ringing, and think clearly.

Having Dar gone for two days had thrown a wrench into quite a few things, and María had set aside items her boss needed to go into immediately in a bright red folder set exactly in the center of Dar’s almost painfully clean desktop. They’d all expected Dar back on Friday, but her sudden detour had been stated as both dire and necessary by Lou Draefus, whose status email on the Allison account had gotten more and more drastic as the day went on.

So it was good that Dar had gone there.

Of course, María knew perfectly well that Allison Consulting had nothing to do with why Dar was in Vermont, but that was all right as well. Kerry had been starting to sound very stressed in the last few days of her first long trip, and it was a good thing that Dar wanted to make sure the visit was a success. Kerry had been doing a fantastic job in the last few months, getting compliments from even the sour Eleanor, and a few, very grudging, from José as she worked their problems with her own, gentler style. But it paid to make sure of things, and that was reason enough for Dar to have gone.

She would be glad to have them both back, though. Things were piling up, and she’d started sorting them in colors. Blue for Dar, green for Kerry, with little red tabs on the items that were the most urgent. Truthfully, Kerry was at a level where she could easily justify having her own admin, but María felt a little protective of her boss’s partner and had decided the extra work was well worth the peace of mind it gave her. At least until she could find someone Kerrisita could trust.

Who would understand and not judge.

Coincidentally, her eldest daughter, Mayte was just graduating junior college and looking for a nice, respectable job. María snapped a rubber band around a package of Dar’s mail. Family was always the best to trust, no? She had spoken to Maríana already, and the personnel VP had promised to earmark the position for her, dryly thanking María for solving what could become the personnel nightmare of her life for her.

It was good, yes. Mayte was a smart girl, very good with the computers, and this would get her out of the house most of the day and away from her brother’s friends, who had little to do and lots of trouble to get into. Also, María smiled, it would give her eldest daughter a chance to be exposed to a new kind of person, since Kerrisita was also very smart, very strong, and not afraid of saying what she thought. She would be a good influence on her.

Besides, did Mayte not think she, María, who had a lifetime of experience, knew that the Jon Secada concert she and a few of her friends were supposed to have gone to the other week was actually a Melissa Etheridge one? Foolish girl. If she thought that she was not sure of what Eye of the Storm 63

she wanted, better she be exposed to people like Kerrisita, and her boss, Dar, then what she would find with her friends in not so nice places.

Not that she was hoping Mayte would choose the same. María was human enough to want a home and a family and a husband for all her daughters and she felt the family tradition was strong and very important. No. She was not hoping for that. But life, ay, life tended to give to you what it wanted and not what you did, so it was best to be prepared and do the best things you could for those you loved.

Ah. The elevator.

María heard the doors open, then two sets of footsteps approached, accompanied by familiar voices. She could hear Kerry’s low laugh, and she smiled as the door opened and the two of them came into the office.

“Good morning, Dar. Welcome back, Kerrisita.”

“Morning María.” Dar picked up her blue folder and leafed through it. “How was your weekend?”

“Very nice, thank you,” María answered. “Kerrisita, is that a new outfit? It is very nice. How was your trip?”

“Ugh.” Kerry collected her own folder. “I didn’t have time to get anything cleaned. So I ended up at the mall yesterday.” She plucked at the neat cotton shirt, which was tucked into pressed pleated pants. “I’m glad we went to business casual for the summer.” She removed the long, legal sized envelope tucked into her folder. “This the papers?”

“Sí.” María gave her a sympathetic look. “Is not nice, but the policeman was very sweet, who brought them.”

Kerry sighed and put the envelope back. “Other than the last few days, the trip was great. I don’t know what we’re going to do with Allison though. Did the security team make it out there?”

“Yes. Brady called in one half hour ago and said he had things taken care of,” María responded. “I passed him through to Mark.”

“Great. I’ll check on that, Dar, and let you know what the deal is. Are you going to that meeting at ten?”

Dar had been perusing her folder. “Yeah…and we need a team meeting after lunch, because Mark bullied facilities into finishing the two hub sites. We’re ahead of schedule.” She glanced up. “María, cancel anything I’ve got late Friday afternoon. I’ve got to fly up to Connecticut.”

“Sí.” María took notes. “Do you want me to book you?”

The tall executive nodded. “After lunch flight going up.” She paused, considering. “See if they have a really late flight coming back that night. Otherwise, early next morning return.”

Kerry looked up. “Don’t you want to maybe stay around there a day or so?”

Blue eyes met hers. “No.” Dar closed her folder and headed into her inner office.

María put down the pencil she had picked up to make notes and inclined her head inquisitively at Kerry.

“Mmm. Dar’s grandmother passed on,” the blonde woman explained. “She hasn’t seen that part of her family in a while. They don’t 64 Melissa Good get on well.”

“Ahh. That is too bad.” María clucked softly. “A funeral is always so hard.”

They fell introspectively silent, then spoke at once.

“María, what does my schedule show for Friday?”

“You know, your schedule is clear for that day, Kerrisita.”

They both chuckled.

“Do you want me to book you for that as well?” María asked.

Kerry considered. “Yeah. But book me separately, okay? I haven’t talked to her about it. And María. Book those tickets on my credit card this time.” She shook a finger at the secretary. “Dar doesn’t need any help in that department from you. She spoils me more than enough on her own.”

María smiled and held up a hand. “Ay, Kerrisita, the two of you are just like my children, sometimes. You’d better go check your office. I am thinking that my boss has missed you just a little being gone.”

“My office?” Kerry queried. “What did she do in my office?”

No answer, just a smile.

“Oh, my god.” Kerry exhaled, and headed for the door. “I should have brought that darn trophy in.”

DAR WAS HALFWAY through the red folder, one hand propping up her head as she studied the paper in front of her. She reached over and took a swig of apple juice, then put her bottle down and turned the page.

“No.” She picked up the sheet and tossed it into her out bin. “No.” She tossed the next one after it. “You’ve got to be kidding.” A third went wafting.

She picked up a pen and scribbled her signature over the next, then turned it over. A soft chime made her look up and she watched her mailbox fill with dark lines. Then she turned her head and went peacefully back to her papers.

A buzz. “Dar. Mr. Alastair on line número uno.”

Dar hit the button. “Morning, Alastair.”

“Good morning, Dar. Hear we had some trouble with the Allison account.”

Right to the point. Dar liked that. “Yeah. I’ve got a team up there and Duks has the auditors working on their books. Looks like someone bought off someone at Ernst and Young.”

Alastair made a soft clucking noise. “You’re kidding?”

“Nope. Unless the analysis comes up weird we managed to retrieve records that show they were buying their contracts. I can’t think of how they passed due diligence otherwise.” Dar signed a page, then flipped it over. “I fired their comptroller.”

“I heard,” Alastair murmured. “His uncle’s the president of Inter-corp.”

Dar put her papers down and folded her hands. “And?”

Eye of the Storm 65

“I got a call from him.”

“And?” Dar asked again, her eyes narrowing.

“He’s not happy.”

“I wasn’t happy on Friday. The idiot was stupid enough to keep records of what he was doing in his goddamned corporate server, Alastair. If they couldn’t find an angle to force the bid, they manufactured one. We’re talking major league slimeballs, here.”

She could hear the sigh. “He’s threatening to pull the French deal.”

Dar felt nauseous. “Did you tell him what we found?”

“He doesn’t much care,” Alastair told her, bluntly. “This kid’s a protégé of his, and it’s a lot of not nice smelling stuff on his face if he gets tossed on his rear.”

A silence lengthened. “Are you suggesting we rehire him?” Dar asked carefully.

“I’m suggesting you give me a reason not to,” her boss replied.

“Something that would make him ineligible to be employed by ILS.”

“How about filing criminal charges?” Dar snorted. “Jesus, Alastair, I can’t believe we’re having this conversation. Tell you what. Give me this guy’s phone number.”

“Who?”

“The uncle. I’ll call him.” Dar pulled a pad and her pencil over. “I don’t give a damn if he’s got egg on his face. He should have taught the little bastard better or at least made sure he had the sense to cover his ass.”

“Um no, Dar, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Alastair told her, delicately. “He’s got a hot temper.”

“And I don’t?”

“That was my point,” her boss remarked dryly. “Listen. Just get me something on him, so I can go back to the uncle with something other than lame excuses, huh?”

Dar glowered at the phone. “You know what I’d tell him?”

“Yes, in fact, I do and we need that contract, Dar. So be a sport, hmm?”

“Grumph,” the executive grunted. “All right. I’ll see what I can do.

But I’ll tell you, Alastair. Even if we don’t get something concrete, I’m not integrating that bastard.” She hung up the line and scowled at the desktop before dialing another number. “Mark?”

“Hmm?” The MIS chief cleared his throat. “Yes, Boss? What’s up?

Welcome home.”

“I need you to pull everything you can on that jerk from Allison,”

Dar told him. “He’s got some pull somewhere, and I need to nail him down hard.”

“Okay. I’ll see what I can get,” Mark promised. “Hey. Has Kerry seen her office yet?”

Oh shit. “She hasn’t come barreling in here, so I guess not.” Dar found her annoyance fading. “I’ll let you know.”

Mark laughed. “She’s gonna have a fit. Wish I could tape it. Later, 66 Melissa Good Boss.”

Dar leaned back in her chair and crossed an ankle over her knee, her hand smoothing down the soft cotton of her casual slacks. She took a sip of her juice and waited, hearing familiar footsteps coming down the back hallway.

KERRY DUCKED INTO the kitchen before she made it to her office, going to the cabinet and retrieving one of the extra mugs she’d stashed there. As she started a cup of espresso brewing, a familiar voice came in behind her.

“Hey, Kerry. Welcome back.” Mary Ann, Duk’s assistant bounced in, and grabbed her own cup. “We’ve missed you at the gym. How’d the trip go?”

“Eh.” Kerry leaned back and crossed her arms. “Great, until the last few days. I think the mess is sitting over in your office.” She smiled at the tall, heavyset blonde woman. “I’ve missed you guys, too. Finding a place to work out on the road is pretty tough.”

Mary Ann poured a cup of regular coffee and added cream to it, then she glanced around and lowered her voice. “So. How’d the meet go Saturday?”

Kerry grinned fully, her nose wrinkling up. “It was great. She came in first place, after all that grumping.”

“Really?” Mary Ann clapped a hand over her mouth. “Ohmigod.

That’s so funny. She really won it?”

“Uh huh. Got a trophy almost as tall as me.” Kerry laughed. “It was really something else. I wish you guys had been there.”

“You told us not to come.”

“I know, I know.” Kerry made a shushing motion. “Shh. She was really nervous about it, but I think the next one will be okay. But hey, can we get the class together before Wednesday? It’d be fun to do something to her before class starts.”

“Ooo.” Mary Ann’s eyes lit. “Yeah. We could get a cake. Would she kill us?”

“Not if it was chocolate,” Kerry replied, wryly. “Chocolate cake, chocolate filling, chocolate frosting. Trust me.”

“Gotcha.” Mary Ann grinned. “This is going to be fun. It’s been such a blast watching her unbend the past few months. No one would believe it if I told them.”

Kerry took her cup and poured the strong coffee into it, then added the steamed milk she’d been frothing during their conversation. “She’ll make faces, but she’ll like that,” she said over her shoulder. “Yikes. I better get going. I’ve got a conference call in ten minutes.” She ducked past the taller woman, headed across the hall, pushed her door handle down, and shoved the door open with one shoulder. She got inside, letting the door shut, and got halfway across the room before two things hit her.

What was on her desk, which wasn’t her large screen monitor, and…

Eye of the Storm 67

The smell of a new computer.

“Ooo.” Kerry stopped and put her cup down, circling her desk and staring avidly. “Ooo. Ooo…ooo…ooo.” Her eyes widened as she absorbed the sleek, twenty-six inch slim liquid crystal display that now smugly sat on the surface. “Wooowww.” The screen saver swirled a bril-liant morphing of shapes that disappeared as she touched the brand new ergonomic trackball. “New CRT…new mouse…”

Kerry dropped to her knees, shoved her chair aside, and squirmed under her desk to see the new, dark gray box underneath. “Ooo…I’m in geek heaven.” She got up and pulled her chair back over, then cracked her knuckles and opened the machine’s system information, her eyes scanning it rapidly. “Ohh…my…god. That’s more RAM than the Space Shuttle could hold in its cargo bay.” She sat up and did a little dance in her chair, then she got up and patted the display. “Honey, you wait right here, okay? I need to go thank my fairy godmother for you.”

DAR PINNED A serious look on her face as she watched the inner door open and Kerry appeared. It lasted all of a second before she clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh, since the blonde woman was doing a little dance in the middle of her carpet.

“You know what this is, Dar?” Kerry asked her, doing her best Snoopy imitation. “This is a happy nerd dance.”

Dar fell out of her chair, and hit the floor, laughing helplessly.

Kerry paused, delighted at the reaction. “Wow. That was almost as good as seeing that new ’puter.” She put her hands on her hips and smiled, then walked over and extended a hand down to her boss. “Here.”

Dar gripped the hand and allowed herself to be hauled upright, then dusted herself off. “Whew. Didn’t expect that reaction.” She chuckled wryly. “Glad you liked the new box. I told Mark to hold off on changing mine out till you saw yours.”

“It’s awesome,” Kerry enthused. “That screen is so much clearer. My eyes thank you.”

“Mmm.” Dar nodded. “Yeah. That was one of its selling points for me, too.” She walked over to her system and rolled the trackball, then selected a screen. “Couple weeks of reading these convinced me.”

Kerry squinted at the complicated CAD drawing, recognizing the network symbols. “Yow. I see what you mean.” She looked up at Dar.

“Were you getting those headaches again?”

The taller woman nodded mutely.

“Definitely worth it, in that case,” Kerry decided, giving Dar’s nearby leg a pat. “Thanks, Boss.”

Dar grinned, and dialed. “Hey Mark.”

“Uh? Oh. Hi, Boss. What’s up?”

“You missed a dancing nerd up here a minute ago.”

“A wh— Oh, man. I thought you meant the candy for minute. I was gonna say.” Mark laughed. “Hey, Kerry. Like the new box?”

68 Melissa Good

“Oooooo,” Kerry responded. “Very much. Thanks, Mark.”

“Bring mine up.” Dar chuckled. “When you get a chance.”

“I love working for the head geek.” Mark sighed. “Okay. Brent’ll be up in a minute.”

Dar hung up the line and perched on the edge of her desk, folding her arms over her chest with a satisfied expression. “So. You like it, huh?”

She was pleased with her surprise, having hand picked the systems in question.

“Very much.” The blonde woman smiled. “Now, let me get back to my new toy and try to get some work done. Hope those reports are in.”

Dar lost her good humor. “Ah. Me too. Apparently our slimy friend has relations in sticky places. Alastair’s getting pressured to rehire him.”

Kerry’s jaw dropped. “I know, I know. I’ve got Mark checking. But you keep your eye out for solid stuff, too.”

“That sucks,” Kerry replied forthrightly. “He’s big time trouble, Dar.

I’ll tell you what, I’m going to contact that woman from the account they just got. She was really upset about whatever they had over her. Maybe I can get her to talk now.”

“Good.” The executive looked up as the door swung open, and an audio visual cart entered, pushed by a short, stocky man in his early twenties, with a pugnacious buzz cut. “Thanks, Brent.”

“No problem, ma’am,” the tech stated briskly, visibly holding back from a salute. “I’ll get this hooked right up.”

Kerry peeked at him from around Dar’s desk. “Hi, Brent.”

The man visibly blushed. “Morning, ma’am.”

“Did you set up my new system, too?” the blonde woman inquired, a tiny, playful smile crossing her lips. “If you did, thanks.”

Furtively, he looked at her. “Yeah, that was me. No problem.” He messed around with some cables, then peeked up again. “If you want the cords tied back a different way, or anything let me know, okay?”

“I sure will.” Kerry caught his eye and smiled, making him almost drop the keyboard he’d picked up. Brent had a well known crush on her, and she wasn’t above tweaking him just a little because of it. Besides, he was cute and almost painfully shy, and Kerry liked him for his accuracy and good attitude.

“Can’t plug a mouse in there, Brent.” Dar’s voice rumbled dryly from across the desk. “Try the round hole.”

Kerry decided to leave before she caused the poor man any more trouble. “I’ll get those reports to you.” She waved her fingers at Dar and slipped through the back hallway door, closing it behind her.

Dar took pity on the tech. She strolled away from her desk and ended up at the window, gazing out over the water with an air of serene patience she’d rented from somewhere and kept in her drawer for special occasions. She thought of her dancing nerd, and the glass reflected back a cheerful grin as she waited for Brent to finish.