Hurricane Watch

Chapter

Six

THEY’D FINALLY GOTTEN to sleep. Dar had convinced them, by sheer force of will, that if they’d turn the lights off and pull the covers up over their heads no bugs would get to them, even if there were bugs.

So they had and now she was snuggled down in her own bunk, waiting for her body to relax in this strange environment and listening to the soft breathing around her.

A low, rumbling sound came from next door and Dar smirked quietly, then exhaled, hoping none of her sleeping companions were prone to snoring.

Kerry wasn’t, she knew, unless she was flat on her back and exhausted. Dar suspected she’d be guilty of that in the same state as well. Usually Kerry preferred to curl up on her side, or against Dar’s shoulder, her breath gently warming the taller woman’s neck.

It was incredible, Dar mused, just how good that felt. She turned her head and gazed into the darkness, barely able to distinguish the huddled figure in the bed next to her. Hmm. Dar inched forward, getting as close to the head of her bunk as she could, then she slipped a hand between the rough two by fours that lined the beds and closed her fingers over the hand she could just see curled over Kerry’s head.

A soft gasp, then the blonde head lifted and the faint light reflected off her pupils. ”Oh” she barely whispered, ”you scared the bejezus out of me.”

Dar smiled and chafed her hand. ”Cold?” She murmured in response.

”Mm.” Kerry squirmed closer until her face was within inches of her lover’s. ”Even with the extra padding I’m still shivering; pretty embarrassing for a northerner,” she admitted. ”Camp wasn’t like this for my younger WASP self.”

Dar grinned, then looked around carefully. ”Can’t have that.” She slipped out of her bunk and into Kerry’s, the darkness shrouding them in safety.

”Dar,” Kerry mouthed, ”What are you doing?”

”Protecting corporate assets,” the executive purred right into her ear as she curled her body around Kerry’s and tucked the cover around both of them. ”Got a problem with that?”

”I don’t, but everyone else is going to, Dar,” Kerry breathed. ”I 60

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thought we were trying to keep this quiet. I think them waking up with us in bed together is going to be just a tad conspicuous, don’t you?”

”Shh, I’ll get out of here before it’s light. Just relax.” Dar reassured her. ”Unless you don’t want to be warm, that is. I can leave.”

Kerry snuggled closer. ”Mmph,” she grumbled, burying her face into a very welcome, very warm neck. ”Well, at least I’ll be safe from snakes.” A pause. ”Legless ones, anyway.”

Dar chuckled softly and felt her body easing into sleep, comfortably tucked around Kerry’s, her hands moving in slow, gentle circles against the smaller woman’s skin.

Kerry’s breathing evened out and slowed, and she dozed off, her hands flexing gently against Dar’s chest. Somehow that made the aggravations of the day ease and float off, clearing her mind and allowing her to drift off as well.

She was seated on a grassy slope, overlooking a river valley. The open, rolling land stretched out before her, split by the deep blue and gray line of water whose rush and rustle came to her faintly. The wind blew against her face, pushing the hair back and ruffling the soft fabric that covered the body of the blonde woman lying curled up, with a pale head pillowed on her outstretched legs.

A hand she recognized as her own gently stroked the soft hair spilling over her skin and she was lazily aware of the soft buzz of a bee nearby, and a songbird trilling overhead.

Her eyes traveled down her companion’s body and she felt the strange blur of surprise and familiarity as she realized the woman nestled against her was with child, her belly swollen under the soft fabric. Her other hand was interlaced with the woman’s, and both were tucked against the surface. As she sat, caught between her dream and the faint memories resting against her consciousness, she felt the soft flutter of a tiny life against her fingers.

A little smile moved the lips of the blonde woman and her eyes slid half open, meeting the blue ones watching her and taking on a quiet, warm sparkle.

She felt the muscles of her face move and knew she was smiling back.

The blonde woman nestled her head back down and closed her eyes, and she tilted her own head back to rest against a tree’s rough bark as the sweet, cool wind lulled her into a dreamy, wonderful haze.

SHE JUST BARELY beat the dawn. Dar’s eyes fluttered open as the first gray outlines were beginning to be seen beyond the trees, her heart pumping as she tried to reconcile the strange surroundings.

Then memory flared and she let her head briefly drop back onto the pillow as she let her heartbeat slow, safe for at least a few minutes more Hurricane Watch

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in the darkness.

She then remembered her dream and her brows knit as she tried to figure out where in the hell she’d imagined a pregnant Kerry. Could it be a premonition? Kerry hadn’t said anything like that had happened during her visit home, but Dar sucked in a breath, remembering finding her lover in the bathroom the day before, white as a sheet, and she wondered. Surely Kerry would have told her if she’d been assaulted at home, right?

Unless it wasn’t an assault, of course. Unless... Dar mentally slapped herself. “Stop it,” she mouthed silently. Kerry had gone over every minute of her visit home from when she’d left Miami until she’d been rescued by Dar in that hospital and there hadn’t been time enough for her to get a bag of fries at Burger King much less anything else.

Besides, she’d had her period since then and she was regular as clockwork. Dar dismissed the thought and frowned again. Just mental housekeeping? Yeah.

And if it wasn’t? Well... Dar put her chin down on her forearm and thought about that. She’d never wanted children. She knew herself to lack the patience she thought a parent needed, and that complication was something she had never considered adding to her life.

She still didn’t. Her eyes traveled over Kerry’s peaceful face. What did Kerry want, though? Did she want kids? Dar reached out and fingered a bit of her lover’s pale hair, trying to remember if they’d ever talked about it.

She didn’t think so, but what if she did? Dar bit the inside of her lip and wondered if she could adjust to the thought of a family if it turned out Kerry really wanted one. Could she?

She closed her eyes and remembered the look of utter love that had been in the eyes looking up at her, and she knew the answer. For that, she would accept anything. Everything. The sense of panic receded and she relaxed, speculating that her own subconscious had maybe just prodded her into a moment of self-awareness, one that brought a wry, wistful smile to her face.

The outline of the window was becoming clearer and, reluctantly, Dar eased out from under the covers, settling them back around Kerry’s sleeping body before she moved silently back to her own bed.

The mattress was simply laid on a metal base without any telltale springs and she managed to settle down on its marginally comfortable surface without waking anyone up.

It was cold. She rolled onto her stomach and wrapped her arms around the almost flat pillow, resting her chin on the surface and glowering at the rest of the cabin. She wondered what would happen if she went back to where she’d been and let them wake up and find them together.

If Eleanor hadn’t been there she would have. Mariana knew about them and she figured out that Mary Lou wouldn’t give a damn. She 62

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thought about doing it anyway. The constant need to deny their relationship grated on her.

Dar argued with herself for about five minutes, then sighed and decided she’d better get up and go do something before she caused havoc for both of them.

And Kerry had been worried about spilling the beans herself. Dar gave the growing dawn an evil look, then she sat up and grabbed her bag, pulling out a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt and trudging off to the bathroom.

It was a relatively nice morning, she decided. She exited the cabin and stood on the porch, breathing in air thick with the scent of trees around her and with a faint hint of hickory smoke. Fog was rolling across the grounds, rising from the lake and she could barely see the outline of the main hall or of the scattered cabins that peeked out from between the trees.

Dar stepped off the porch, her sneakers crunching gently over the fallen pine needles, and the tiny pine cones. She headed down towards the lake, taking deep breaths to wake her body up and spotted a small path that was well tended that apparently went around the water’s edge. She broke into a light jog as she reached it, then headed on down the path, enjoying the brisk morning air.

The sun was rising over the water and its rays filtered through the trees throwing pale salmon stripes across the path and her as she ran in silence.

She was about three quarters of the way around before she heard steps behind her and she cocked an ear, frowning as she didn’t recognize the sound of them. A glance back made her curse roundly and she took a breath, composing her temper before Steven Fabricini caught up to her. ”Morning.”

He fell into step next to her, running easily in his black and silver running suit. ”I’m surprised, Dar, didn’t think you kept this up.” He peered around in mock cheerfulness. ”I do marathons, so it’s part of every morning for me.”

Dar debated not answering, then she twitched her lips. ”Great way to start a morning,” she commented.

”Oh yeah,” He agreed. ”I do between five and eight miles a day, twice that on weekends. I placed top ten my last three races.”

Dar glanced at him. ”Congratulations.”

”Not your speed, huh?” Steven laughed. ”No, I can see you’ve lost that edge.”

A subtle, dangerous glint appeared in ice blue eyes. ”Bunch of guys running around New York in their underwear is not my idea of fun,”

she commented mildly.

”Oh, you’re wrong.” Steven shook his head in amusement. ”It’s the competition that I like, pitting yourself against a hundred or a thousand other people who all want what you want, and you beat them.” He eyed Hurricane Watch

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Dar. ”I like that,” he purred. ”I like leaving people in my dust, just like I’m going to leave you in my dust, Dar.”

”Think so?”

”I know so. You’ve made too many enemies,” Steven told her confidently. ”Even this trip. I thought this was a mistake, but now...”

He laughed. ”I’m going to enjoy watching your decline, Dar. I really am.” He surged ahead, lengthening his stride and pulling ahead of her.

”Time to think about retiring.” He yelled back, heading around a bend in the path and disappearing from view.

Dar continued on at a steady pace, smiling a little when she heard a muted scream. ”Watch out, Steven,” she commented to the empty air.

”Lake bends in there—must be a big mud wash.” A loud, outraged yell shook the air. ”The sticky, stinking kind.” She trotted around the bend and slowed to a halt, putting her hands on her hips and observing the black, odorous, thrashing form. ”Last step’s a bitch, Steven,” she remarked cheerfully, hopping up on a long, sturdy log which went over the muddy pit, balancing neatly as she crossed over his head and landed on the other side. ”Guess I don’t have to worry about your dust right now, huh?” She waved and broke into a jog again, contentedly increasing her pace and heading back towards the camp.

SHE WAS ON the back of a horse, the easy, rocking rhythm familiar to her from childhood. So comforting was the motion that she was half asleep, her head nodding against the tall back of the person in front of her. Her arms circled a lean waist, loosely clasped against a surface that had the feel of sun warmed leather, and she could feel the cool hardness of metal under her cheek.

She was too sleepy to open her eyes, too sleepy to look around her.

All she wanted was for the hot sun to finally fall behind the mountains she knew were at their back, and give her some relief from its relentless force.

A warm pressure surrounded her fingers, and she cast a lazy half of an eye up, to gaze at the long, dark hair that gently covered the dark leather surface and the dully gleaming bronze of the metal she was leaning against.

”Almost there.” The low, vibrant voice was as familiar to her as her own and she gave the tall figure a gentle squeeze to let her know she’d heard. She was aware of being hot, and tired, and hungry, but there was a distinct sense of contentment, which warred against that and made her wish the ride would never end.

Strange.

Kerry was chiefly aware of being cold. She opened one eye grumpily and confirmed that she was where she was afraid she was, stuck in this damned backwater camp full of snakes and spiders and 64

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who knew what else. She rolled over, then smiled a bit as she detected Dar’s scent on the sheets and pillow next to her.

Her dream drifted back into her consciousness and she reflected on its weird quality. She was sure that the person she’d been seated against had been Dar, but Dar in armor and leather?

Kerry's brow wrinkled and she smiled a little. Was that how her subconscious saw her tall lover? As some warrior?

Yeah, maybe. Or maybe it was her mind’s way of rationalizing the reason she suffered all the discomforts of being Dar’s right hand was in order to stay at the tall woman’s side. Woo, that was profound. She almost had to giggle imagining herself telling Dar about it.

She could hear her voice, ”I was dressed in what?” Kerry smiled at the vision.

A glance to her right told her Dar was missing and as she viewed the dawn light, she figured she was out running. Should she join her?

Kerry pondered the web covered ceilings and decided acting as though running with her boss every morning was normal wasn’t a smart idea.

Even if it had become normal, much to her surprise.

It beat

aerobics, too.

Mary Lou pushed herself up at that point and ruffled her short, ash blonde hair. ”Oh my god.” She peered around the cabin, then gazed at Kerry. ”This is a nightmare, right?”

Kerry sighed, sitting up cross legged on the bed and tucking the blanket around her. ”It sure feels like it, doesn’t it?” She rummaged up a smile. “I went to camp a few times in my younger years, but boy, it sure wasn’t like this.”

“Me too.” Mary Lou stifled a yawn. “Up in the mountains, everyone dressed alike and had a group sing at the end of it.”

“The camp show.” Kerry chuckled softly. “Boy, did they learn fast I can’t sing.”

“Would you both shut up!” Eleanor groaned, lifting her head from her pillow and peering at them in the dawn’s quiet. The Marketing VP’s hair looked like a curious ferret had been nesting in it and her eyes had blue and black rings around them from her smeared mascara.

She looked, Kerry realized, like a grumpy, blonde raccoon.

Mariana kept her eyes straight up, folding her hands on her stomach. ”All right, we’ve got one day here and then tomorrow we’ll be going home,” she paused, ”We’re all adults.” She paused again. ”We can do this.”

Mary Lou yawned. ”You’re right, Mari. I’m sure we’ll survive.

Look, we made it through the night, didn’t we?” She glanced over towards Kerry. ”Hey, where’s Dar?”

Everyone sat up to look. ”Maybe the spiders ate her,” Kerry remarked innocently.” Just kidding, I don’t know,” she added when all eyes turned to her in question.

“It’s not funny,” Eleanor told her. “This pointless exercise is Hurricane Watch

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supposed to make us more agreeable with each other. So far, it’s certainly not working.”

Kerry clasped her hands together. “I don’t know if that’s really true,” she said. “I think it’s supposed to let you see other aspects of people you work with so maybe you find something in common with them.”

Eleanor snorted. “Don’t hold your breath.”

Dar chose that moment to reenter the cabin, her dark hair damp with sweat. ”Morning,” she greeted them briskly as she headed over to where her bunk was. ”Our hostess has provided something resembling breakfast up at that main hall. They want to start things up at nine.”

Kerry checked her watch. Seven thirty. ”Okay. You said something resembling...what are we talking about here, peanut butter and jelly?”

”Yes.” Eleanor edged to a more dignified sitting posture. ”I usually have Mueslix.”

Dar sat down and started taking off her sneakers. ”Well, there’s coffee and hot water and a couple of baskets of bagels, and some boxes of individual cereal,” she paused, exhaling, ”and bananas.”

”Great.” Mariana sat up, then gazed at Dar. ”What on earth have you been doing?”

Dar gave her a look. ”Running,” she answered briefly. ”You all want to pick who takes a shower first?”

They all looked at the bathroom with its tiny, bare shower stall, then back at her in mute horror, except for Kerry. The blonde woman merely looked off out the window with lightly twitching lips.

”Fine.” Dar stood and stripped off her sweatshirt leaving her in her sports bra, then picked up the towel she’d rolled into her bag and her small kit of soaps. ”Be right back.” She padded barefoot to the bathroom and kicked the door shut.

”Rude,” Eleanor spat with a disgusted look.

”Efficient,” Mariana disagreed. ”She’s right. We’re going to feel awful if we don’t shower.”

”Practical.” Kerry nodded. ”That’s Dar.”

”Buff.” Mary Lou noted, approvingly. ”Very nice.”

They all looked at her in surprise.

”Hey, I call ‘em like I see ‘em,” The Personnel assistant stated, lifting her shoulders in a little shrug. They all got up and twitched their beds into some kind of order. Mariana and Mary Lou went to the window and peered out at the new day. ”Dear god, what is that?”

Mariana suddenly said, with a start.

They clustered behind her and peered out. ”Oh...my...gosh...” Mary Lou exhaled, ”it’s a bog monster.” The sun was behind the approaching apparition, which was moving towards them with stiff, unnatural motions, a solid black form with little white flecks here and there.

”God in the heavens,” Eleanor snapped. ”What is that?”

The figure lurched up onto the steps and opened the door, and the 66

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women all clustered in the back. ”Where in the hell is that bitch?” the figure screamed, eyes and teeth white against the black stained skin. A pungent, unpleasant odor floated in with it. ”Dar, I’m going to kick your ass!”

”Steven?” Eleanor asked, cautiously. ”What happened to you?”

He ignored her. ”Bitch! Get out here!” he yelled louder.

The bathroom door opened and Dar stepped out, her towel wrapped around her otherwise bare body and her dark hair slicked wetly back. ”Yes?” she asked, taking in the apparition with a stifled grin. ”Looks like you’re next up for the shower, Steven,” she drawled, leaning one hand against the wooden wall and crossing her ankles.

He seethed and, for a moment, Dar thought he was going to attack her. Muscles along her arms and thighs visibly tensed, but he thought better of it. Instead, he threw open the door to the men’s part of the cabin and stormed through. A chorus of loud complaints echoed back, then José came to the door, rubbing his eyes. ”What in the hell is going on? Oh Dios Mio, Dar, put your clothing on!”

He was almost run over from behind as the doorway filled with bug eyed, wild haired men.

Dar smiled, perversely flattered. She kept her pose in the doorway, not intimidated by the stares. “You guys must not get out much.”

José looked like he was going to say something, and then thought better of it. He slammed the door shut, sending a scattering of debris from the ceiling rafters onto the floor.

“What did you do to him?” Mary Lou asked, curiously.

“Nothing.” Dar headed for her bunk, her workout clothes in her hand. “Though I’m sure he’ll blame me for him being stupid, just like always.” She rummaged in her overnight bag, ignoring the rest of them as she pulled out a fresh shirt.

“Guess I’ll go next,” Kerry volunteered, after a moment’s awkward silence. She picked up her toiletries bag and a change of clothes and disappeared into the small bathroom, closing the door behind her and leaving the rest of them to gawk. “Been there, done that, seen it all,” she uttered to herself, unable to hold back a grin now that she was alone.

“Dar, you little exhibitionist punk.”

She pulled off her sleeping shirt and turned on the shower, keeping a cautious hand under the stream before she stepped under it and quickly scrubbed her skin with body wash.

“Really can’t get much worse, can it?” she said, watching the corners of the stall for snakes. “We’ll get through it. I know we will.”

She jumped as a crash sounded from the men’s cabin and she heard the sound of water running rapidly, as yells soon followed. “Okay, maybe not.” She hurriedly rinsed her hair and grabbed for a towel before the wall collapsed and she stole Dar’s thunder.

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THE SUN FILTERED through the pine trees and bathed the camp in a cheerful light, taking some of the dinginess out of it and rendering it more rustic than rundown.

Dar walked up the steps to the main hall, a straggle of disgruntled people behind her. She held the screen door open with dour courtesy, following Mariana inside as the last one in.

“Thanks, Dar.” Mari glanced behind her. “Looks like nice weather at least.”

“Mm.” Dar nodded as they gathered around a trestle serving board and she picked up a clean, but battered looking plate. Kerry was two people ahead of her in line. They hadn’t really spoken to each other since she’d come back from running.

It was grating on her nerves. Dar felt annoyed at herself as she picked up a muffin and a bowl with a box of cereal. Was it grating on Kerry’s?

“Not much of a selection, huh?” Mariana selected a banana and a bagel. “What do they have to put...oh.” She sighed and scooped some peanut butter onto her plate. “Great.”

Dar, however, brightened. “Mm.” She took her own scoop and plopped it down. “Favorite of mine.”

“Really?”

“Uh huh,” Dar said. “My father used to trade for big cans of the stuff for me on base,” she volunteered. “I’m surprised I never overdosed on it.”

“What kind of base?” Mary Lou asked from the other side of Mariana. “My family was Air Force.”

“Navy,” Dar replied, then edged out of line and headed for a table.

She put her plate down at an empty one, then looked around for something to drink.

“Here.” Kerry put down two glasses of milk by her plate before seating herself and taking a sip from a glass of juice she’d gotten for herself.

Steven and José were just passing the table and they both glanced at Kerry, then looked at Dar. José just continued past, but Steven’s eyebrow twitched and he smiled faintly. Dar merely returned his gaze without reacting, but she could feel the skin on the back of her neck heating and she caught Mari’s expression from the next table over.

Screw it. “Thanks, Ker.” She seated herself and opened the cereal box, dumping its contents in the bowl and pouring one of the glasses of milk over it. After a moment, she looked up to find Kerry staring at the glass with slightly widened eyes.

“Shit,” Kerry uttered quietly.

“No problem.” Dar dug into her flakes, chewing them noisily.

“Eat.” She glanced around, then back at Kerry, who was visibly blushing now. “Looks like everyone’s heard about my drinking problem,” she added in a louder voice. “Even you.”

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Kerry rested her head on her fist to hide her face and focused on her plate as Mari managed a hesitant laugh and José frowned at them.

It was going to be a very long day.

“ALL RIGHT.” SKIPPY had donned a perky pink sweatshirt with her company’s name on it over neatly pressed white slacks. ”Well, did we all have a good night?” Silence greeted her words. ”Well, that’s great. I’m glad to hear it, okay.”

They were seated around a circular table in the smaller hall near the lake, its screened in walls giving a good view of the water that no one seemed to appreciate.

”Okay. Let’s start with this little exercise.” Skippy plugged bravely on. ”I’d like everyone to tell us about a favorite hobby of yours.” She looked encouragingly at Duks, bypassing Steven. ”How about you start?”

Duks inhaled, then exhaled, folding his arms across his chest. ”A hobby is it? All right...I collect pencils.”

Skippy sighed. ”Mr. Draefus...”

”No, no, I mean it.” Duks held up a hand. ”My oldest one is from 1833, truthfully.”

Everyone looked at Duks suspiciously. ”Who’s next?” The accountant went on blithely.

Mariana was next to him. ”I grow herb gardens.”

“Oh, that’s so nice,” their guide burbled. ”For cooking?”

The personnel VP smiled. ”For Santeria, my uncle’s a priest.”

Skippy’s eyes jiggled. ”Oh, um, next?”

”I, um,” Charles swallowed nervously, ”I raise fish,” he mumbled.

”Salt water tropical fish. I have a tank.”

”Really?” Dar asked. ”How big?”

He looked up at her and pushed his glasses up onto his nose.

”Seven hundred gallons.” He nodded a little. ”I converted my garage.”

Even Dar's eyes popped. ”That’s not a tank, that’s the Seaquarium,”

she murmured. ”That must take a lot of time to take care of.”

”It does, but my wife and the kids, they help,” Charles stated, happy at the reaction. ”I have a baby nurse shark,” he stated proudly. ”I had to segment him, though. He was eating all the flounder and getting fat.””My god,” Eleanor blinked at her assistant in amazement, ”that’s incredible.”

Everyone looked at her. ”What?” The Marketing VP snapped. ”Oh, a hobby, how silly. I have no hobby.”

”Nothing? What do you do in your spare time?” Skippy inquired, encouraged by her last success.

Eleanor remained silent for a moment. ”Well, I go to dinner, of course, and go out shopping, and play cards with friends of ours.”

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”Oh, well, that’s nice,” the blonde guide smiled perkily. ”What about you?” She turned her gaze to Steven.

He glared at Dar. ”I run,” he answered grumpily. ”I enter marathons.”

Big smile from Skippy. ”Oh, that’s wonderful. I always wanted to do that. I participate in all our corporate walks and runs. Isn’t it great exercise?”

”Yeah.” He tried to clean the black muck from under his nails with little success. ”Great.”

Mary Lou leaned back and grasped her knee with both hands. ”I fly ultra lights,” she stated, grinning at the reaction. ”Yeah, that’s me out there in south Dade on the weekends, buzzing around.” Her eyes slid to Dar, who was seated next to her. ”What about you?”

The blue eyes blinked innocently. ”I collect heads,” she answered with a straight face. ”You know, shrunken ones, with the laces through the lips.”

Everyone stared at her, with reactions ranging from horror to wry amusement. ”Well, it’s what you all expected to hear,” the executive drawled. ”Isn’t it?” She caught the swiftly hidden grin on Kerry’s face.

”Actually, I scuba dive.”

Skippy nodded her head like a back car seat Chihuahua and turned to Kerry, hopefully. ”Hi there.”

Kerry drew in a breath. ”I write poetry,” she answered very quietly, her peripheral vision catching the warm twinkle in Dar’s eyes.

“You do?” Mariana half turned to look at her. “Really?”

Kerry nodded. “I have, off and on, since I was small,” she elaborated. “And I scu...like to take pictures, too. Photography.”

”That’s wonderful.” Skippy looked like she could have kissed her.

”So creative!”

José had propped his chin up on his hand with a bored look. ”I collect baseball cards,” he told them. ”For investments, you know?”

Another pathetically grateful look from the guide. ”Oh, that’s so fantastic. I always wanted to do that.” She made a mark on her clipboard. ”Well, we certainly are a varied group, aren’t we?” She went through her papers. ”Okay, well, I hope you all learned something about each other. Um, let’s try a trust exercise now.” She stood up.

”Everybody stand up, and we’ll take turns catching each other.”

They all looked at her.

”It’ll be fun,” she assured them. ”Really.”

”THIS IS A bad idea.” Dar stood in the back of the circle of people.

Kerry turned and glanced at her. ”It’s okay. We used to do this during practice for gymnastics. It’s just a game, Dar.” She kept herself from giving Dar a comforting pat on the arm, but leaned closer and dropped her voice. “Don't worry, whatever happens, I won’t let you fall.”

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Dar gazed at her, a smile playing about the edges of her lips. ”I knew that,” she murmured back. ”I just...” She chewed her lip. ”I don’t like people touching me.”

Kerry rubbed her jaw. ”Well, you could tell everyone not to catch you,” she commented softly. ”But that’s gonna hurt.”

Dar sighed and watched as Skippy joined them with her ever-present clipboard, her hair tucked up under a delightfully pink hat with a prancing, coy pony on it. The executive had an almost irresistible desire to snatch it and bury it deep in the earth.

”Okay. This is how this works,” the guide explained. ”One person stands in the middle, and the rest of you get behind. Then that person just lets themselves fall back, and everyone else catches them. Okay?”

”What if they don’t?” Duks asked, in his deep rumble.

”Excuse me?” Skippy peered at him.

”What if they don’t catch the person?” The Financial VP inquired.

”Oh, well...um... I guess they just...well, they fall, I guess.” The woman’s brow knit. ”I don’t know, really. It’s never happened.”

”That’s very reassuring.” Duks put his hands behind his back and rocked on his heels. He was wearing a pair of cotton painter’s pants and comfortable looking hiking boots, along with a crimson flannel shirt.

Then he turned to Mariana, who was wearing a crisp tan shirt over blue jeans. ”You did bring workman’s comp packets just in case, right?”

Mariana cleared her throat. ”Of course.”

Skippy blinked at her, disconcerted. ”You did? Oh, well, I’m sure you won’t need them,” she hastened to reassure her. ”This is a very safe course. We never have accidents, never.”

”Don’t worry, my dear. The ship is absolutely unsinkable,” Mary Lou muttered, sotto voce, making Dar snicker in reaction.

”Shh,” Kerry scolded her. ”Or we’ll be at this all day. Let’s get it over with.”

”Um, who wants to start?” Skippy gave Steven a little smile.

With a little shrug he came forward. ”Might as well, can’t be worse than being dumped on my ass in the mud this morning.” He glared at Dar.“I didn’t touch you,” Dar shot right back. “If you can’t watch where you’re running, don’t blame me.”

”You could have warned me!”

Everyone looked at Dar, who shrugged. ”How was I supposed to know that mud was there?” she asked reasonably. ”You decided to run ahead of me. Not my fault you didn’t stop in time,” she said. “My reputation as a psychic is highly overrated.”

“Your reputation is highly overrated, that’s for damn sure,” Steven shot back.

”Oh, will you two shut up?” Eleanor snapped, in a foul mood.

”Let’s get this idiocy over with already.”

Sullen glares all around. Steven turned his back on them and let his Hurricane Watch

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arms hang down straight, his bright blue sweatshirt over a white polo shirt contrasting with his khaki chinos. ”Ready?”

José sidled forward and nudged them all along. ”Come on, come on.” They clustered in a group. ”All right.”

Steven very obviously squared his shoulders, then let himself tip back.A loud explosion behind them sounded. Everyone jumped and whirled, even Skippy, who threw her clipboard up as a defense. ”Oh my!”Steven, forgotten by the distracted group, dropped into the pine needle filled ground with a thump. ”Son of a bitch!” he screamed as his head hit the turf. “You bastards!”

The sound was repeated and they realized it was a backfire from some vehicle. Skippy dashed over to where Steven was lying, rubbing his head, and knelt down. ”Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Are you all right?”

They were all torn between giving him guilty looks and watching the camp entrance, where a low growling sound indicated someone was approaching. ”Listen, sorry about that kid.” José offered him a hand up.

”That noise, you know, it just startled us, sounded like a damn gun.”

The sound got louder, then a flash of sun on metal almost blinded them as a Harley roared in. It slowed a bit as the driver checked out the scene, then thumped across the uneven ground and headed in their direction. It pulled to a stop and the rider pulled his helmet off. ”Hey.”

It took all Dar’s considerable concentration to keep a devilish grin off her face. ”Hey, Mark, didn’t think you’d make it.” She greeted him.

The MIS chief got off his bike and glanced down at his body, which was covered in tiny, blood specked forms. ”Neither did I, goddamned love bugs. The company owes me big time for this one. It’s gonna take me a week to get all their guts off my bike.” He glanced over. ”What’s he doing on the ground?”