Red Sky at Morning

Chapter

Thirteen

CECI LOOKED UP from her brush as she heard a throat being cleared. She shaded her eyes, then felt her eyebrows lift. Sue Ainsbright was standing at the edge of their gangplank, looking warm and very uncomfortable. “Hello, Sue.”

“Ceci.” The older woman took a breath. “May I come aboard?”

It was so very naval. Ceci almost gave in to the temptation to refuse the boarding request, which, along with yelling “avast, ye maties,” was something she’d always wanted to do. “Sure.” She put away her brush, unsullied as yet by paint, and stood up as Sue crossed over onto the boat. “You look thirsty; c’mon down.”

“Thanks.”

Her guest followed Ceci down the steps into the cabin. Ceci walked over to the compact galley, gesturing toward the chairs as she did so.

“Sit down. Andy’s taken a walk over to the store.” She walked over and handed Sue a glass of iced tea, then seated herself across the table from her. “This is a surprise.”

The gray-haired woman stared at her glass, turning it slightly between her fingers in silence for a few seconds. “I know.” Sue looked up finally. “I just wanted to come and talk to you.” She hesitated. “To apologize for last night.”

Ceci laced her fingers together and rested her chin on them. “To me? For what?”

Sue just looked at her.

“I mean it,” Ceci said. “If anyone’s got an apology coming, it’s Dar and Kerry, not me.” She got up and got her own glass of tea, more just to do something than anything else. “Poor Kerry. You know, what happened last night was exactly what she was afraid of.”

“She seems like a nice girl,” Sue replied softly.

“For a dyke, you mean?” Ceci shot back.

“Ceci.” Her old friend gave her a wounded look. “I’m trying here, give me a touch of slack, will you?”

Ceci took a sip of her tea, feeling very unsettled. “Sorry,” she said.

“That automatic dismissal and exclusion of anything you don’t understand has always been a peeve of mine.” A breath. “I’ve been on the wrong side of that line all my life.”

212 Melissa Good Sue remained silent for a bit, then she, too, sighed. “You know, I’d forgotten all about that.” Her eyes lifted. “Did that make it easier for you to accept her being...ah...”

“Gay?” Ceci supplied the word. “No, it didn’t.” She crossed back over and sat down. “By the time Dar told us that, nothing would have surprised me. Hell, Andy and I talked it over that night and I think...

Yeah, you know, we were mostly just relieved.”

Sue’s eyes opened wider. “Relieved?”

A dry chuckle issued from Ceci’s throat. “We knew she’d been working up to tell us something. Andy was just glad it was that, and not that she was running off somewhere, or pregnant, or on drugs. A thousand things went through our minds before we found out.”

“Oh,” Sue murmured. “She was a...she was pretty headstrong, I remember.”

“Yes, she was,” Ceci agreed. “And is.” She paused reflectively.

“Andy says she gets that from me.” A curious expression centered itself on the slim woman’s face for a moment, and then she shook her head.

“Accepting Dar was never an issue for us,” she stated crisply.

“Welcoming Kerry into our family was never an issue either. Andrew and I made a decision early on in our lives that one of the things we’d never teach our children is how to hate.” Her eyes pinned Sue. “Unlike you, apparently.”

Sue stood up. “Cecilia, that’s not fair,” she snapped. “We most certainly did not teach Charles to hate anyone. We’re good, God-fearing people. I resent that.”

Ceci also stood. “Do you? Let me tell you what I resent.” She put her cup down and circled the table. “I resent my child being called a pervert. I resent your half-assed, no brain, boot-licking son thinking he can judge her, and I really...” she came closer, poking a slim finger at the startled woman, “I really, really resent the fact that you didn’t even have the grace to teach him to hide his sick bigotry in polite company.”

Sue stared at her. “You didn’t have to smear our faces in it, Ceci. To be out in a restaurant like that—”

“Like what?” Ceci’s voice rose. “We were eating dinner, Sue. If you hadn’t been acting like we were lepers, no one in the place would have looked twice. They don’t wear fucking brands on their foreheads.”

“Ceci!” Sue was breathing hard. “I think I’d better leave.”

“Truth sucks, doesn’t it?” Ceci stood her ground.

They stared at each other for a long, silent moment. Then Ceci exhaled and folded her arms across her chest. She eyed the carpet pensively. “Sue, you were the first wife on the base who came to knock on our door.” Her voice was quiet now. “The first one to brave the pagan unknown and reach your hand out.” She looked up. “What happened to that person?”

Slowly, Sue sat back down and laid her hands on the table. They were weathered, and she looked at them as though they were a Red Sky At Morning 213

stranger’s. “Time.” She exhaled. “Berkeley was a lot fresher in my mind then.”

“I remember being so impressed by that.” Ceci managed a faint smile. “Wow, she went to Berkeley.”

“I remember,” Sue admitted. “Big shot that I was...I felt sorry for you. So young, so...”

“Feckless.” Ceci nodded.

“Different,” her old friend disagreed. “So out of place there.” She hesitated. “But Dar wasn’t.”

“No,” Ceci said softly. “And she cherishes her childhood, Sue.

Despite everything we went through, she really does; so when something like last night happens, it’s like having to give part of that up.”

Sue nodded and finally took a sip of her tea. She took a deep breath before she went on. “Ceci, there’s no excuse for what my son did.” She pronounced the words carefully. “Jeff and I talked it over last night, and if you—” She stopped and rubbed her temples. “I’m sorry. I sound like such a parent. If Dar wants to press charges, she should.”

Ceci felt like the world had just shifted slightly to the left.

“Charges?” she asked. “For what, Sue? Verbal abuse?”

Her friend’s dark blue eyes blinked twice. “Didn’t—” She stopped, then took a breath. “Ceci, Chuck went after her with a baseball bat.”

“What?”

“I thought surely she’d...” Sue’s voice trailed off again. “Jeff was so angry last night. He...he and Chuck had it out in the living room. It was...very ugly,” she said. “I don’t know what happened, but Chuck just...he broke down and said it was driving him crazy, and how he’d taken the bat and...”

Ceci concentrated on breathing. In, out; in, out. “Oh, dear goddess,” she whispered. “Dar said she twisted her shoulder. We had to drive her car home.”

“She didn’t tell you?” Sue seemed dazed. “I don’t understand.”

Ceci got up and walked across the cabin, coming to the window and looking out at the peaceful, sunlit water. “I do.” She heard steps on the rampway up above. “Dar knows her father too well.” She turned toward Sue. “Don’t say anything to him.”

“But Ceci—”

“I’ll tell him,” Ceci replied. “I don’t keep anything from him, never have, but let me do it my way.”

Sue nodded faintly as the cabin door opened and Andrew entered.

“’Lo.” His eyes raked over her in wary surprise. “Didn’t figure t’see you here.”

“Sue came to apologize for last night.” Ceci walked over and took the grocery bags from her husband. “We’ve been talking.”

Pale blue eyes flicked to Ceci’s face and studied it, then went to their visitor’s. Then they narrowed slightly. “Have you now,” Andrew drawled softly. “Ain’t that special.”

214 Melissa Good IT HAD STARTED to rain again. Dar stood by the sliding glass doors and watched it fall in sheets that almost obscured her view of the ocean. A low rumble of thunder sounded overhead, and she could feel the vibration through the hand she had resting on the wall.

She hadn’t expected this.

Petty theft, yeah. Some finagling with the bills, yeah. Fudging on the recruits’ scores, yeah. Maybe even so far as someone falsifying fitness records, to hide old friends they didn’t want to have to make hard decisions on.

But smuggling?

Dar was no fool, and she wasn’t naive. Florida was a prime choice for smuggling because of its relative closeness to South America and because of its multinational population base. It would take a lot to stand out in this city, so hiding in plain sight was something easy a smuggler’s operation wouldn’t have to worry about.

In addition, it was a peninsula. Surrounded on three sides by water, with ample opportunity for someone to slip in to the thousands of small bays and islands unseen and undetected. The largest stretch of continuous coastline in the US, in fact.

So the fact that drugs or anything else was being brought in didn’t surprise her.

That the Navy was involved...

No. Dar cut that off angrily. Not the Navy. Some pig scum who were using the Navy to break the law and line their own pockets. Who were using a place she considered more than any other to be home, and hurting the people who were a part of that who were not involved.

Maybe even, since they were bringing in recruits who didn’t belong there, endangering the innocent sailors who would be depending on those people to do their jobs. Sailors like her father was, once. Like she might have been.

Bastards. Dar felt her anger rising. Despite everything, and especially despite last night, she still considered the service part of her family. It had given her a place to belong for many years, had accepted her, given their family a home and put bread on the table, and she was damned if she was going to let a bunch of criminals hurt that.

“So.” Chief Daniel’s grating voice made her wince. “You got a plan, or are you just gonna stare outside for a few hours?”

“Do you have a plan?” Kerry’s voice answered instantly, a distinct challenge in its tone. “If you came here for help, your best bet is to just sit down and shut up and wait for Dar to think.”

Dar watched her reflection smile in reflex.

“If you’re her secretary, then you’d better get your steno pad, kid,”

the chief answered.

Dar held her breath, wondering what her lover was going to hit back with.

Kerry simply laughed. “Boy, do you have your stereotypes crossed.”

Red Sky At Morning 215

Dar turned and faced them, leaning back against the cool glass and feeling the pressure of the rain outside against her shoulder blades.

“The problem is this. I want to locate and pin down every son of a bitch who’s involved in this. If the Navy sends police in there, they won’t catch one in twenty.”

“They’ll run.” Kerry nodded. “And they’ll dump the systems.

We’ve only got a soft data capture, Dar. We don’t have the file structure or the algorithms you found. I’m surprised they haven’t started doing that already.”

“They went for what they knew I was looking at.” Dar shook her head. “Must have known I found that data hub.” She looked directly at the chief. “Who’d you ask about it?”

Chief Daniel was momentarily taken aback. “It’s my right to ask!”

“That’s not in question.” Kerry took a dried cherry from the bowl on the table and nibbled it. “Point is, someone was nervous enough about it to get it removed, and that says a lot in itself. Dar, I did a trace on the company that installed it. They’re a private fiber house who do a lot of work for the city.”

Dar lifted an eyebrow.

“The last big thing they did was wire the mayor’s place for teleconferencing,” Kerry added, as they both exchanged looks.

“Shit.” Dar closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “This is getting too big for us. Let me go call Alastair and find out what the hell he wants me to do. We stepped into a cesspool here.” She walked past them and into the study, shutting the door behind her.

Kerry released a held breath. “Shit,” she echoed Dar. “She’s right.

This is way outside our contract.”

Chief Daniel snorted. “Sure. Stir up everything, then run, and let us all sink.”

“It’s not that,” Kerry snapped. “Do you understand what we’re talking about here? These are federal crimes.”

“No kidding.”

Kerry turned her back and walked into the kitchen, grabbing a glass from the cabinet and going into the refrigerator. She studied her options, then gave in and took two squirts of chocolate syrup and filled the glass with milk.

Troubled, she leaned back against the counter and swirled her milk to mix it. So many complications crowded into her mind. First, the problem of the drugs. It was far beyond anything Dar had expected to find, and she knew it had thrown Dar for a loop. That was hard enough, without the possibility of someone Dar knew being involved.

What if it was Jeff Ainsbright? Kerry took a long swallow of her chocolate milk. She’d liked the big commander and had found him open and straightforward, even in the uncomfortable situation they’d found themselves last night. What about little Chuckie? Kerry’s lip curled up into an almost unconscious snarl. Dear God, she realized uneasily, I’m 216 Melissa Good hoping he is. I’m hoping they take his obnoxious ass and throw him in the federal jail for twenty years. A very unchristian thought stared her in the face. Maybe he’ll develop a taste for a different lifestyle.

Jesus. Kerry put the glass down and covered her face. Do I really feel that way? She folded her arms unhappily. Damn it, yes I do. He hurt her.

Kerry felt a sense of helpless rage. He hurt her, and all I want is to... Her muscles tensed, and her shoulders twitched with tension. I want to beat him senseless.

She’d never felt like this before. Even in the bad times, even with Kyle, she’d never thought about physically fighting back. A soft snort left her. “Look at me,” she whispered. “A year’s worth of martial arts and a dark-blue belt, and I think I’m the Terminator.”

A noise at the door made her look up to see Dar quietly looking back at her. “How’d it go?”

Dar entered and walked over to her, taking up a spot leaning on the counter at her side. “He’s as gobsmacked as I am,” she admitted. “All I got out of him was, ‘Dar, do what you have to do, you know I trust your judgment.’”

“Oh boy. That helps.” Kerry picked up her glass and drank from it.

“So, what’s your best judgment, boss? You know I trust it, too.”

Dar took the glass from her. “He’s calling Hamilton, though, and briefing him.” She took a sip. “I honest to God don’t know what to do, Ker. I know we should turn this over to the military, and let them handle it. It’s out of our league.”

Kerry nodded slowly. “You’re right,” she agreed. “This is outside our expertise, and it could potentially be very dangerous to be involved in. General Easton should take it from here.”

They were both quiet for a few minutes, sharing the glass of milk until it was drained to the last drop. Finally, Kerry put the glass down and turned her head to look at her lover. “You think they’ll botch it.”

A tiny cocking of Dar’s head indicated reluctant agreement. “I want to get all of them,” she murmured. “I’m afraid of two things, Ker: one, that they’ll take too long; two, that they’ll go in there and lose the data that will identify all the people involved.”

Kerry folded her arms. “Dar, I understand how you feel, but this is beyond us.”

“I know.” Dar’s voice was unhappy. “Let’s go call Gerry. We can’t sit on this any longer.”

Kerry followed Dar out of the kitchen and across the living room.

“Chief, we’re going to turn this over to the Joint Chiefs—who contracted us.”

A snort. “Figures.” Chief Daniel got up. “Do you know what that’ll do? They’ll take a brush the size of an aircraft carrier and paint us all with it. Some reward for helping you out. Assholes.” She went to the door and was through it before Dar or Kerry could respond. The slam reverberated, making Chino bark in surprise, then it was quiet.

Red Sky At Morning 217

“Ugh.” Kerry rubbed her forehead. “What a totally unlikable person.”

Dar picked up the telephone. “Yeah,” she agreed. “She’s a nastier son of a bitch than I am. I never thought I’d live to see that.” The phone buzzed in her ear, then was picked up. “Gerry? It’s Dar.”

ANDREW WALKED TO the end of the dock and took a seat, extended his long legs out, and squirmed to get more comfortable on the hard wooden bench. He didn’t have that long to wait, as footsteps sounded after a few minutes, and he turned his head slightly to see the tall, burly figure making its way toward him.

He waited until the intruder was very close, then he swiveled to meet him. “’Lo.”

Jeff Ainsbright slowed and came to a halt a body’s length away.

“Hey, Andrew.” He cleared his throat. “Thanks for saying you’d meet me.”

Quiet, patient blue eyes surveyed him. “Sit yerself down.” He moved over to let his old friend take a seat, then he waited in silence.

The anger inside him would be patient for a while longer.

“Listen, Andy...” Jeff seemed at a loss. “About last night.”

“Y’know,” Andrew interrupted him, “been a long time since I been to a parent-teacher meeting. Dar’s a grown woman, has been for years.

If you got something t’say about what happened last night, y’need to be saying it to her.”

Jeff exhaled and rested his weight on his elbows. He laced his hands together and studied them. “Andy, you know I always liked Dar.”“I always got that idea, yes,” Andrew said. “She always talked well of you.”

The commander was silent for a few moments. “I just wasn’t ready for last night,” he admitted. “Chuck came home and told us, and I just didn’t...I didn’t have a chance to think about it.” He looked up. “D’you understand?”

A shrug was eloquent. “Never mattered to me, so no, I do not understand.”

Jeff sighed. “You always had a blind spot with her.”

Now, Andrew looked up and met his eyes fully. “She is a gift God gave me.” He spoke slowly and with an almost gentle passion. “He made her, and I love all that she is.” A breath. “Ah do not know why people do not understand that.”

Jeff looked at him, then dropped his eyes. “Because you’re a better man than most of us are, Andy.”

“That’s bullshit,” Andrew snapped. “And what the hell’s wrong with that kid of yours?”

The commander shifted away a bit. “What do you mean?”

218 Melissa Good

“What the hell you think I mean? Goddamn ship captain goin’ off his damn gourd, lashing out at some civ?” Andrew’s eyes flashed. “He leave his brains on board, or what?”

Jeff gave him a defensive look. “C’mon, Andrew. He was under a lot of stress. He was really stuck on Dar.”

Andrew stood and paced restlessly. “No, no no. Ah don’t buy it, Jeff.” The ex-SEAL shook his head. “Not after all this damn time. Don’t you be telling me he’s stuck on her since they was in high school. So stuck he goes nuts when he finds out he ain’t got no chance, fer the second time.” Andrew turned and put his hands on his hips. “Don’t sound like somebody I want running mah boat, let me tell you that.”

Ainsbright looked at him warily. “He’s a good ship captain.”

Pale, ice-blue eyes regarded him. “Seems to me, I’m remembering they washed his ass out of command school.”

“He tried again. Had to grow up some. You know how it is.”

Andrew’s jaw worked. “From what I seen outside that steakhouse, he ain’t growed up near enough to be in charge of himself, much less a boat full of other folks.”

Frustrated, Jeff threw up his hands. “C’mon, Andrew, he lost his temper. Don’t tell me you never did. I know better.”

“I never ran me no boat,” Andrew replied softly. “But I never picked me up no baseball bat and went after no civ woman, either,” he added. “I’m thinking that should be enough to take back them stripes.”

Jeff went very still. The two men stared at each other for a long moment, then Ainsbright sat down again and rested his head in his hands. “Yeah, he fucked up.” His voice echoed off the pavement.

“Damn stupid kid.”

Andrew leaned back against a wooden pylon and gazed up at the clouds. Thunder rumbled overhead, but it had not, as of yet, started raining. The headache that had started when Ceci had told him, in her own way, about the bat now worsened. “Damn lucky kid.”

Jeff jerked his head up. “Lucky?”

The chill in Andrew’s eyes was unmistakable. His nostrils flared.

“Lucky ah did not come out that door thirty seconds earlier than I did.”

The commander snorted in weary bemusement. “Shit, Andy. Dar didn’t need your help. Chuck’s in the base hospital with a ruptured eardrum and partially dislocated jaw.” He closed his eyes. “They’ll probably discharge him for that. Maybe it’s for the best.”

Andrew sat down. “You ain’t going to report him, then?” he asked, quietly. “’Cause if you don’t, ah will.”

Ainsbright looked up at him, taking in the uncompromising stance and the inflexible will showing on his old friend’s scarred face.

“Andrew...”

“Not fer me, or fer Dar,” Andrew said. “You’re right. Dar don’t need me to take care of her anymore. She’s a big girl, and she can handle herself as well as most.” He straightened. “But out on that boat, Jeff, Red Sky At Morning 219

there’s folks down under decks who don’t deserve t’have someone like that taking charge of their lives.”

“He has a spotless record!” Jeff protested.

“I used to be one of them folks below decks,” Andrew shot right back. “Someone has to watch out for them, if you ain’t.”

“Andrew, for God’s sake!” the commander yelled. “It was a little scuffle, c’mon now!”

“No, sir!” Andrew went nose to nose with him, jabbing a finger into his chest. “It was a Navy captain attacking a civilian and displaying conduct unbecoming to a goddamned officer!” He glared at Ainsbright.

“And if it was Dar that done that, I’d report her, too!”

Silence. “Would you?” the commander asked softly.

“I would,” Andrew replied.

“Well,” Jeff Ainsbright dusted off his uniform, “I’m not you.” He turned and walked around the bench, then headed off down the dock without a backward glance.

Andrew let out a sigh, then he sat down on the bench and stretched out his long legs, studying their denim-covered length with a frown.

The rising wind blew a tiny bit of sea spray against his face, and he tipped his head back, eyeing the dark clouds pensively.

“No luck, eh, sailor boy?” Ceci stepped lightly over her husband’s outstretched legs and settled down on the bench at his side.

“Naw.” Andrew shook his head. “Stubborn old fool.” He turned his head slightly. “You sure Dardar’s okay?”

“Why don’t you call her?” Ceci held out the cell phone. “Make you feel better.”

Andrew examined the electronic device, then handed it back. “Got me a better idea.” He stood, and held a hand out. “Let’s go see for ourselves.”

Ceci allowed herself to be hauled to her feet, and they started down the dock. They were halfway back when the rain caught them, sweeping across the way with a scent of ozone and damp, warm wood.

“HEY.” KERRY SAT on the edge of Dar’s desk. “Why don’t you let me get you another shot of those pills, huh?” She could see the pale tinge to Dar’s normally tan skin.

“No.” Dar shifted her arm in its sling to try and ease the ache.

“They put me out, and I don’t want to risk that before Gerry calls us back.” The pain had gotten worse as the medication wore off, though, and now she had bursts of sharp agony moving up her shoulder and into her neck.

“Okay.” Kerry tried another tack. “I’m going to make some herbal tea, want some?”

Dar thought about that, then nodded. “Yeah. Do we have that peachy kind?”

220 Melissa Good

“It’s apricot and honey,” Kerry told her. “And yes, we do.”

“I’d like that.” Dar smiled. “I guess I can go lay down on the couch for a while, huh? I’m sure Gerry’s going to be a few minutes.”

“Sounds like a great idea to me.” Kerry got up, waiting for Dar to join her, then tucked a hand inside her elbow and walked with her to the living room. She got Dar settled back into her comfortable nest of pillows and fleece, and then she headed off toward the kitchen.

“Hey, Chino.” She greeted the Labrador, who had followed her.

“You want some tea, too?” The blonde head cocked curiously at her.

“No, probably not, huh?” Kerry put some hot water up, then pulled a bowl from the cabinet and raided the crisper, pulling out some fruit and washing it. Cherries, which were a favorite of Dar’s, and grapes, apples and peaches, and the bananas that were her own favorite. Then she removed a thick, sweet banana nutbread from the refrigerator, and sliced off a few slices, spreading a coating of cream cheese on them before setting them on a plate next to the fruit. “There.” She pulled a bottle of Advil from the cabinet and set it down, idly spinning it as she waited for the water to heat.

Dar tilted her head back and regarded the popcorn ceiling. Her findings had surprised Gerry; she knew that from the shock in his voice.

She also knew he would react quickly, and that troops were probably already heading for the base—military police and Marines, more than likely.

It bothered her, though, to simply release control of the situation.

Kerry was right. She knew they’d botch it. She knew they’d miss out on catching all the bastards who were involved, and maybe only get the obvious ones. And people like Jeff Ainsbright, who, even if he wasn’t involved, would be taken down because he damn well should have known what was going on in his own command.

Dar sighed, remembering the long afternoons she’d spent as a youngster running wild with Chuckie and the other kids in the housing area’s grassy spaces as their fathers huddled over barbecues in the front yard. If she tried, she could close her eyes and hear the football games playing in the background.

A warm touch on her arm made her jerk, and she opened her eyes.

“Sorry. I was just thinking.” The scent of apricot drifted over from the tray Kerry was setting on the coffee table.

Kerry took her partner’s hand in her own and chafed the fingers.

“Dar, if you’re tired, go ahead and go to sleep. I’ll wake you up as soon as the phone rings.”

“Hmm.” Dar shook her head. “I slept half the day, Ker.” She shifted her head on the pillow, then pulled herself up a little. “Did you wrap that brick up?”

Kerry nodded, then handed Dar her cup. “Wrapped it up, taped it up, put it in a box, and put it up on top of the cabinet so Chino can’t get at it.” The Labrador, hearing her name, came snuffling over looking for Red Sky At Morning 221

goodies. “Stuff gives me the creeps just looking at it.”

Dar took a sip of the tea. “You never experimented?”

“No.” Kerry shook her head. “I stuck to beer, thanks, and that got me in more than enough trouble.” She paused in the middle of handing over a piece of bread and looked up at Dar. “Did you?”

A pained sigh gave her the answer. “Once,” Dar admitted. “Not the hard stuff. A bunch of us got hold of some wild weed growing back south of the base and decided to have a party.”

Kerry finished handing over the nutbread. “And?” she asked curiously.

“I was sick as a dog for three days.” Dar nibbled her treat.

“Throwing up, seeing spots, couldn’t keep anything down until my mother finally got me to the doctor’s and he got some intravenous Dramamine into me.”

“Oh.” Kerry bit her inner lip. “I thought you couldn’t take that.”

“That’s when we found that out.” Dar grimaced. “Next time someone asked me if I wanted a joint, I slugged them.” She took a bigger bite. “Mm...I really like this.”

“I know.” Kerry seated herself on the floor, leaning back against the couch and exhaling. “Me, too.” She handed over a handful of cherries. “I was only really tempted when I was in college,” she said.

“Everyone did it. All those late nights and stress...I had a couple of friends who had a source for just about everything. They were always telling me what they had and asking if I wanted any.”

Dar watched her profile and the motion of her jaw muscles as she chewed. “We had that a lot in college, too.”

“Mm.” Kerry exhaled. “I remember one night, I had this paper due in my writing class and a systems design due on the same day. I’d had a full schedule of classes that day, and I was totally wiped out. Just exhausted. Even double espressos weren’t doing a thing for me.”

“Mm,” Dar murmured encouragingly.

“Jane came over and saw how trashed I was. She offered me a handful of amphetamines and a shot of coke and told me it would get me through the two assignments, no problem.” Kerry took another bite thoughtfully. “I took the drugs from her.”

Dar bit into a cherry and skillfully separated the fruit from its pit.

“And?” She echoed Kerry’s earlier question.

“I came pretty close to taking them,” Kerry admitted honestly.

“And would you believe, it was my father that kept me from it?”

Dar’s eyes opened very wide. “Your father?”

Kerry laughed softly. “He had this speech he used to do about people needing crutches. You know, Dar, that old thing about liberal programs being a crutch for the poor that kept them from really going out and making a living?”

“That’s such a crock of shit,” Dar stated.

“Not the point. It reminded me that I’d chosen to take this double 222 Melissa Good major, and if I couldn’t handle it, I shouldn’t use an illegal substance as a crutch. Either do it, or don’t do it, but don’t fake it,” Kerry replied. “I wanted to do it on my own, so I could look back and say, yeah, I did that. No one helped me.”

“Hmm.” Dar depitted another cherry and took another bite of her banana nutbread. “Yeah, I see your point,” she admitted. “So, what did you do?”

Kerry thought back to that long night, with its aching struggle she’d spent alone. “I worked through it. I wrote the systems design first, because you need brain cells to do that, and the creative writing paper...” Now a smile crossed her face. “Dar, do you know I still don’t know what I put in that paper? It got me a B, but I have no idea what I wrote.”

Dar chuckled. “Whatever works.” She looked hopefully at the plate. “Any more of that bread?”

Kerry turned her head and eyed her. “What’s it worth to you?”

Dar poked out her lower lip.

“Ah. So you think that’s all it takes to get me to give up this really great tasting nut bread?” Kerry inquired.

Dar gave her a sad look.

“You’re such a brat.” Kerry handed it over. She peeled a banana and settled back as Chino put her chin down on her thigh hopefully.

“Oh no, madam. Last time we gave you fruit, you got sick, remember?”

The phone rang, and Kerry shot a look back at Dar, then she picked up the portable receiver and answered it. “Hello?”

“Ah...yes, is Dar there?”

“Yes, General. Just a minute.” Kerry handed the phone back and half turned, resting her chin on the couch as she listened.

Dar took a breath before she pressed the phone to her ear. “Gerry?”

There was a soft knock at the door. Kerry frowned, then scrambled to her feet and trotted over to it, peeking through the eyehole. “Uh-oh.”

She hesitated, then realized she really had no choice and opened the door. “Hi.”

“Howdy there, kumquat,” Andrew drawled. “Y’all going to let us inside there?”

Oh boy. Kerry slipped outside instead, closing the door behind her.

DAR GAVE THE condo door a curious look as she listened to the voice on the other end of the line. “Gerry, we’re not equipped for that.”

Dar closed her eyes against the throbbing she could feel growing in her neck. “I have security teams that can protect data, sure, but this is a damn Navy base.”

“I’m aware of that, Dar.” Gerry’s voice was uncharacteristically serious. “The trouble is, we can’t shake a team loose to go down there for at least forty-eight hours.”

Red Sky At Morning 223

By then, it would be too late. “Damn.”

“John Taylor from the JAG office is on a plane headed your way,”

General Easton stated. “He’ll handle the official part, but if there’s any way your people could protect the evidence—”

“Gerry, people could get hurt,” Dar said. “This isn’t the kind of thing we get involved in. Corporate double-dealing, yeah, but smuggling? I’m responsible for these people, and for their safety.” She paused. “And I don’t know how many bastards are implicated.”

Injudiciously, she shifted, and stifled a gasp. “Shit.”

“Dar?” Gerry spoke quickly. “Are you all right?”

Dar bit her inner lip for a long moment, then exhaled as the sharp pain receded. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just twisted something.”

“Well, listen, my friend, I’ll find some other way of doing this,”

General Easton replied. “If nothing else, we’ll just round up the lot of them and start shaking.”

The unfairness of that, Dar acknowledged, was exactly what she’d been afraid of. “Hang on a minute, Gerry.” She put the phone down and let her head drop back on the pillow, thinking hard about her options.

Was it dangerous?

Be honest, Dar. Sure it is. Look what happened to you last night, and Chuck was a friend of yours. Dar rubbed her forehead. This was a military base, full of sailors and Marines, an unknown number of whom could be involved in criminal activity and react with violence.

But...

If she didn’t help, innocent people could and probably would get blamed, and the criminals would probably get away. Dar mulled that over. Question was, how could she help Gerry, help the base, protect the innocent, and keep her people safe at the same time? “Jesus, Paladar,” she murmured to herself. “What the hell do you think you are?”

Finally, she picked up the phone again. “Gerry?”

“What’s that? Oh, still here, Dar.”

“Let me see what I can do.” Dar heard herself say the words, and wondered how she was going to back them up. “Maybe I can get a small volunteer team inside.” Then an idea occurred to her. “With an escort.”

There was a momentary pause. “Dar, do me a favor, eh? Don’t take chances. I want to see your whole family this Christmas. Been waiting for that for a long while now.”

Dar evaded the question. “See if you can contact that JAG staffer, send him over to my office. We’ll get things moving here. Talk to you later, Gerry.” She disconnected and put the phone down on her belly, considering what to do next.

IT WAS A crowded doorstep. Kerry stood effectively blocking the entrance, despite her relatively small size. “Dar’s on the phone,” she 224 Melissa Good explained. “It’s business.”

“Uh-huh.” Andrew crossed his arms. “Not like we’d know one word in six she was using.” He eyed Kerry curiously. “Something bothering you, kumquat?”

“Me?” Kerry exhaled. “Uh, no, no. I’m fine.”

“How’s Dar?” Ceci asked casually.

Ah. “She’s... Why are you asking me that?” Kerry temporized.

Dar’s parents exchanged knowing looks. “All right, kumquat.

What’s going on?” Andrew asked. “I knew something wasn’t right.”

Oh boy. “It’s—”

“She get hurt last night?” The question snapped at her.

“Well—”

“That little half-assed bastard hurt my kid?”

“W...y...” Kerry sucked in a breath. “Yes, that’s what happened, but—”

“Son of a biscuit.” Andrew was visibly angry.

Kerry put both hands out in a calming gesture. “It’s not that bad.

We’ve already been to the doctor’s and had tests done. It’s more painful than anything else.”

“You got her to go to the doc’s?” Andrew had both fists planted on his hips. “I am going to whip her behind for not tellin’ us.”

“Dad.” Kerry gave him a pleading look.

Ceci ruffled her silvered-blonde hair. “Some things just never do change, do they?” she murmured. “Keep your BVDs on, Andy. I can remember many a time I had to drag you kicking and yelling to the base hospital.”

Her husband gave her a look. “That is not the point,” he replied with a scowl. “We are not talking about me.”

“No, no.” Ceci patted his arm. “We’re talking about your daughter.

Remember her? The tall, blue-eyed, dark-haired girl with an attitude and more guts than sense?”

“Hey. She’s got a lot of sense,” Kerry objected.

“Exactly,” Ceci remarked.

Andrew scowled harder. “If I’d a known that little—”

“Yes, which is why Dar didn’t tell you.” Ceci circled his arm with both hands. “Now, come on, let’s go in and see the poor kid. See if you can make her feel better instead of yelling at her, hmm?”

“Ah do not like Dar thinking she can’t tell us something like this,”

Andrew replied. “Ah do not like it one bit.” He nudged past Kerry and opened the door. “Son of a biscuit,” he muttered, leaving Kerry and Ceci behind to gaze at each other in amused sympathy.

“He’ll be nice,” Ceci told her. “He talks a good game, but the minute she looks up at him, he’s going to cave in like one of those marshmallows you toast over a Bunsen burner.”

“I know.” Kerry smiled. “I’ve been on the receiving end of those baby blues.” She sighed and opened the door. “But we’ve got a big Red Sky At Morning 225

problem. I’m sort of glad you’re here.” She followed Ceci inside. “Dar went looking for trouble down at that Navy base.”

Ceci stopped, watching Andrew kneel at Dar’s side. “And?”

“And she found it,” Kerry replied grimly.

DAR SAT ON the couch, watching her father pace. The brick of cocaine was on the coffee table, and her mother was sitting across from her, staring at it in bemused fascination.

Kerry entered and sat down next to her lover, absently slipping an arm around her back and gently rubbing it. “I know it seems bizarre,”

she stated. “We certainly never expected this.”

Andrew halted, and shook his grizzled head. “Ain’t that saying something.” He walked over and crouched down in front of Dar, putting a hand on her knee. “You know who done all this?”

Dar met his eyes, so very much like her own, and shook her head.

“I haven’t had time to analyze all the data we copied, and a lot of the structure is in the programming.”

“You think Jeff knows?”

Dar shook her head again. “I don’t know. I’d have to check the physical documentation, see what had his signature on it or what passed through his personal authorization.”

“What’s yer gut telling you?” Andrew persisted quietly.

That took some thought. Dar focused her mind inward, reviewing the facts she did know and the assumptions she’d made. She was vaguely aware of Kerry’s arm, warm against her back, and she could feel the slim fingers tracing a soft, irregular pattern against her skin.

It felt really good. She leaned against Kerry a little, and the blonde woman’s embrace tightened as Kerry rested her cheek against Dar’s shoulder.

Dar set the puzzle pieces out and examined them carefully. One, she had a situation that was obviously a long-term plan in progress—

the evidence she’d seen indicated it had been going on for quite some time. Jeff Ainsbright had only been in charge at the base for three months. Not enough time. Dar put a tick in that mental column.

Two, whoever was organizing the situation had technical skills beyond Jeff’s, and the general sense she got of the meticulous arrangements didn’t fit the commander’s personality. Dar put another tick in the column.

Three, with the number of people apparently involved, it would be damn near impossible for the base commander to be blind to the fact that something was going on. Dar put a tick in the opposing column.

Was it possible Jeff Ainsbright thought, as Dar had, that whatever irregularities he noticed in the books and procedures were evidence of some harmless, petty larceny to which he could safely turn a blind eye?

Three months wasn’t a long time to get a handle on a place as big as that 226 Melissa Good was, after all.

Be honest, Dar, her conscience quietly spoke. If this were just another target acquisition of Alastair’s, would you even be considering the question? Or would you assume the worst?

Dar’s eyes narrowed.

Ceci sat back in her chair and tucked a leg up under herself, watching the silent tableau with fascinated eyes. Her daughter was obviously deep in thought, the blue eyes unfocused and remote, their lids flickering lightly as the mind behind them worked. Ceci had always had respect for the intellect she’d watched Dar develop, despite its edgy restlessness that often made her daughter hard to deal with.

She’d had her child tested, without Andrew’s knowledge, when Dar had come home from grade school one day with a note from her fourth grade teacher informing Ceci that he was giving up on trying to retain Dar’s attention in class. Even then, she’d tested years older than her age, and Ceci had been shocked to find out just how high octane her little fourth-grader’s mind was.

Genius, the doctor had told her, was a two-edged sword. On one hand, Dar’s potential was unlimited. On the other hand, the very fact of that intelligence put Dar on a plateau that separated her at a time in her life when being different was tantamount to a prison sentence.

And there she’d been—someone who’d had a high school education, and had grown up in a family who valued the price of a person’s car more than the depth of their thoughts—trying to deal with decisions on what to do about the whole thing. Ceci had felt so out of her depth raising her child.

Now, watching that same intellect, grown and matured and shaped by Dar’s intense personality into the sharp, incisive force that it was, she wondered if she’d ever have been able to deal with Dar, even if she hadn’t had her so young and been so isolated.

Dar’s head lifted, and the introspective look vanished as she drew in a breath and returned to the here and now. A cool expression settled over her face as she met her father’s patiently waiting gaze. “No.” Dar’s voice was calm. “I don’t think he was involved.”

Andrew’s eyebrows lifted a trifle.

“But I do think he was aware,” Dar went on. “The question is, to what degree.”

Kerry nodded slightly, as though confirming thoughts of her own.

“We won’t know that unless we get all the data.”

“Exactly,” Dar replied. “Call Mark. Have him call in a security team. Make it five or six people, but tell him volunteers only.” She turned and regarded Kerry. “I want them to know where they’re going, and that there’s a possibility of getting hurt. No pressure.” She watched Kerry nod. “We’ll meet at the office.”

“All right.” Kerry stood up and headed for the phone.

Dar looked at her father. “You want to help?”

Red Sky At Morning 227

“Hell, yes,” Andrew responded immediately. “Tell you what. You stay up in that penthouse of yours and rest yer arm, and I’ll take them kiddies down to the base and shake their shorts out clean.” He patted Dar’s knee. “All right?”

Dar’s lips edged up into a tense smile. “I don’t think so. But thanks for the offer, Dad.”

“Dar, I’d be the last one to encourage your father to get into trouble, but it makes sense,” Ceci offered, a trifle hesitantly. She felt a faint flush as a pair of sharp blue eyes pinned her, and reminded herself again of just how little right she had to give her daughter advice.

“Doesn’t it?”

“No.” Dar got up from the couch, moving fluidly around Andrew’s still crouching form and stalking toward the study. “There’s too many ways for someone who knows what they’re doing to stop even one of our best techs from getting what I want.” She paused in the doorway, the restlessness evident in her flexing hand. “But they won’t stop me.”

Dar disappeared into her office, leaving the rest of them to exchange looks.

“Nice try,” Kerry offered, holding her hand over the receiver. “I could have told you she wouldn’t go for it, though.” She returned her attention to the phone. “That’s right, Mark. It’s the base... No, I can’t even start to go into it.” A pause. “Dar wants volunteers. Can we get a few?” Another pause. “No, that’ll be up to Dar... Okay, we’ll meet you there.” Kerry put the phone down. “Okay, that’s that.” She glanced at the study through the half-open door, seeing Dar’s tense form crouched over her PC. “Be right back.”

Ceci exhaled as Kerry, too, disappeared. She watched Andrew as he got up and crossed to her, then sat down on the tile floor with a sigh.

“What do you think, sailor boy?”

Andrew shook his head. “Ah think this is the goddamndest piece of horse’s butt end I ever did see.”

“Mm.” Ceci could only agree.

KERRY PAUSED IN the doorway, then entered the study and pushed the wooden surface closed behind her. Dar was studying something on her screen, but after a moment she stopped pointing and clicking and looked up.

Blue eyes gave her a direct stare. “Coming to tell me how stupid I am?”

Kerry felt her heartbeat pick up as she heard the tension in Dar’s voice. “Have I ever said that?” she asked quietly, meeting Dar’s gaze with patient honesty. “I don’t think you’re capable of being stupid.”

Dar glanced at the screen, moving her hand restlessly.

Kerry sat down on the couch and rested her forearms on her knees.

“I could question your faith in my abilities, of course.”

228 Melissa Good

“Don’t,” Dar snapped. “This has nothing to do with you.”

“Excuse me.” Kerry gave her a direct look. “You are sending my people into that place; it most certainly does have everything to do with me.” She pushed herself to her feet and advanced on the desk. “I know how to supervise a security sweep, Dar. I’ve been doing it for months.”

Dar avoided her gaze. “This is different.”

Kerry studied her. “Your father was right. You should stay here.”

Her voice gentled to remove any sting. “You’re too close to this, Dar.”

Her lover drew a forceful breath and stiffened. “That’s bullshit.”

She tipped her head back as Kerry rounded the desk and confronted her. “I’m perfectly capable of doing my job, thanks.”

“No one’s debating that.” Kerry sat on the edge of the desk, realizing by the defensive tensing of Dar’s muscles that looming over her wasn’t a good idea. “But this is different, Dar. Think about it. You grew up at this place. These people are your friends.” She put out a tentative hand and covered the larger one resting on the desktop. “I don’t know if I could handle it if it were me.”

Dar’s face kept its set expression for a moment, then the jaw muscles relaxed slightly, and she blinked. “Because I did grow up there is why I have to do this,” she answered softly. “It’s not that I don’t trust you.” Her eyes flicked up to meet Kerry’s. “But I can’t give you what I know, how I know the way things work there.”

Kerry studied her lover’s face, seeing the pain etched into the tense lines around her eyes. “I’ve seen the layout, honey. It’s just a big complex system,” she protested. “I know how to get it locked down.”

“It’s not that,” Dar answered. “I just don’t want to take a chance.

Too many people can get hurt.”

“What about you taking a chance with yourself?” Kerry countered.

“I don’t want to see you get hurt, Dar.” Slowly, she slid off the desk and knelt, looking up now into Dar’s face. “Nothing is more important to me than that. Not this job, not that base. It’s not worth the risk.”

A faint smile finally tugged at Dar’s lips. “Don’t worry.”

“Dar—”

“You’ll be right there next to me.” Dar touched Kerry’s cheek with her fingertips. “The only muscle I’m going to be using is this one.” She lifted a hand and tapped her forehead. “I promise.”

She wasn’t going to win this one, Kerry knew. She was also smart enough to realize that what Dar was saying was completely true—

they’d have a much better chance of not missing anything with her there. “Okay,” she agreed. “You should take the rest of your drugs though, even if you don’t want the painkillers.”

Dar’s face took on a wry smile. “I do want them.” She sighed and leaned back, relaxing a little now that the fight was over. “I want to take them, and lie down, and just go out for the rest of the day.” Her body felt stiff and achy, and the tension had given her a headache again. “But yeah, I’ll take everything but those, if you wouldn’t mind bringing the Red Sky At Morning 229

others over, and some Advil.”

Kerry nodded. “Sure.” She leaned forward and kissed Dar’s knee.

“Mark and the rest of the team are going to meet us at the office in an hour.”

“Mark?”

“Of course.” Kerry smiled. “You said you wanted volunteers.”

Dar sighed. “Figures he would. I wonder if anyone else will.”

Wonder if anyone else won’t, Kerry amended silently.