Red Sky at Morning

Chapter

Five

DAR LEANED BACK in the hard wooden chair and rubbed her eyes, closing them for a moment as she reloaded data for the hundredth time. She listened for the hard drive to stop spinning, then sighed and rocked forward, scanning the results with a tiny scowl on her face.

“Damn it.” She checked and rechecked the figures. “Something’s just not adding up.” Dar paged through the reports strewn over the desk and shook her head. She’d taken the performance data of the base first and dumped it into her analyzer, letting the custom-built scripts she’d written sort through the columns of figures, matching dollars spent with viable product—in this case, qualified personnel who were assigned out to various Navy installations around the world.

Something just wasn’t matching. Her scripts kept returning errors, finding discrepancies between the list of expenses and the lists of demands for payment, and so far she hadn’t been able to put her finger on the reason. It was almost as though parts of the data were misplaced, not missing, because the end result balanced, but in the wrong areas—

so that the orderly progression of bookkeeping went every which direction.

Hmm. Dar scratched her jaw. Maybe that was why her data parse on the base hadn’t brought back snips of relevant data, like who the new base commander was. Her eyebrows hiked and she dove into her briefcase, retrieving the case study she’d done before starting the project. Impatiently she flipped through the already ruffle-edged papers, her eyes darting back and forth until she found the spot she was looking for. “Ah.”

She leaned back and rested the report on her knee as a warm draft of air entered through the window and stirred the pages, bringing with it a scent of freshly cut grass and the sound of rugged chanting. Dar had requested, politely, a small office space for her use, and Commander Albert and Lieutenant Perkins had, equally politely, led her to this tiny room with its single scarred wooden desk and unpadded chair.

And no air conditioning. Dar had given them both a smile, then simply taken off her denim overshirt, leaving her comfortable in a very light tank top as she sat down and kept them standing there, answering questions in their full uniforms until they’d both turned red as beets 84 Melissa Good and started sweating.

Dar chuckled to herself and glanced out the window, watching a training group go through an obstacle course, clawing their way up a tall wooden wall and flipping over with strained grunts she could hear all the way where she was sitting. It wasn’t too different from when she and the rest of the base brats used to sneak over after dinner and try the course themselves, ending up with splinters and cuts as they struggled along.

She remembered the first time she’d made it all the way through, at age fourteen. Almost without a scratch until she came to the last hurdle, the rope ladder she’d swarmed up, sweating and almost yelling with exultation as she grabbed the top and flung herself over.

Completely forgetting the ditch on the other side. Ow. Dar winced, even all these years later, and reached down to rub her ankle, which she’d twisted so badly she almost didn’t make it home. Fortunately, her daddy had spotted her limping down the sidewalk and pulled over in their sturdy pickup halfway there.

Andrew Robert’s rugged, crew-cut head poked out the window of the pickup. “What in the hell happened t’you, young lady?”

Dar grabbed the doorframe gratefully and hung on, catching her breath.

“Nothin’...I just fell offa something.”

Andrew leaned closer. “Were you over at that monkey pit?” he accused.

Dar chewed her lip. Lying to her father was never a good idea. She’d learned that the hard way. “Yeah.”

“After I told you not to go there?” The low growl made her flinch.

“Yeah.” She looked back up into his face. “Got through this time.” She wasn’t able to help grinning, just a little, but she stopped at the scowl on his face. “You are just a pile of trouble, ain’tcha, Paladar?” Andrew shook his head. “Git your ass into this here truck.”

So she did, limping around the front and getting in on the other side, glad of the chance to sit down and get off her aching ankle, as he pulled away from the curb and started down their street. It took her a moment to realize it when he passed the house and kept going, and she gave him a startled look.

“Where’re we going?”

“Git you some ice for that leg and some water to wash the mud off yer face,” her father told her. “’Cause I ain’t bringing you in the house looking like that, little girl. Your mother’d kill me.”

Dar scowled and looked down at her mud-stained hands, her momentary happiness fading. They’d only recently returned to Florida, and the adjustment back had been tough for her. Friends were very few and far between, and Andrew was facing another six-month tour in just a few weeks.

“’Sides...you can’t eat ice cream with all that dirt down there,” Andrew muttered.

Dar looked at him sideways.

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“Figure anyone stubborn enough to get through that monkey pit deserves an ice cream cone, don’t you?” Andrew stopped at a stop sign and turned, reaching over and wiping a bit of mud off Dar’s cheek. “I know I went and got me one first time I got my butt through it.” He patted her face. “Good job, Dardar. That’s a tough thing you done.”

Dar smiled so hard it hurt, making her forget her ankle completely.

“Thanks, Daddy.”

Hmm. Dar licked her lips thoughtfully. Ice cream. Now there’s a thought. She decided to take a side trip during lunch, and resettled her attention on the report she held. The date was current—as of two weeks ago, as she’d thought—but the name of the base commander she knew now was wrong.

So what else was wrong, and why? Dar switched to the laptop and typed in a query. It came back, this time with the correct information.

Was the reporting that far behind, and she just got caught in the lag?

She checked another bit of data and frowned. Okay, that came up all right now, too. So maybe she did get caught between updates. “All right, let me just run these suckers all over again.” She typed in a request and watched a long bar start across her screen. “Note to self. Self, upgrade this damn base to 100 Base-T before you do anything else. Jesus. At ten I could walk to the blasted server and get this faster.”

Her cell phone buzzed and she flipped it open. “Yeah?”

“Morning, boss.” Mark’s voice came through. “You left me a voice mail to call ya, so here I am.”

“I need a T1.” Dar flipped through another set of reports as she talked. “Even a fractional would do if we can’t get a full. I’m gonna need the big boxes to run the specs on this place, and they don’t have a pipe big enough for me to hook into.”

“Hang on. I’m GPSing you,” Mark muttered. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up. Stop with the error messages, willya...Ah, shit, Dar. You’re in bumfuck.”

“I am not,” Dar protested.

“You most certainly the heck are, boss. The nearest CO to you is freaking Marathon,” Mark replied. “I’d have to piggyback on the National Defense circuits. BellSouth’s not gonna go for it, that’s for sure. They don’t have crap anywhere in the area.” He paused. “What in the hell are you doing out there in the scrub, anyway?”

Dar felt stung; irrationally, she realized, but stung nonetheless.

“I’m on a project out at the Naval base here,” she answered slowly. “The one I grew up on.”

There was a very awkward silence on the phone. “Uh...sorry, Dar,”

Mark finally stuttered. “I didn’t mean to dis the place.”

Dar sighed. “It’s okay.” She glanced around. “It is bumfuck.”

“Well, it must be a pretty cool slice of bumfuck if you’re from there,” Mark rallied gamely. “But I gotta tell you, even if I cross my legs 86 Melissa Good and squeeze, I can’t really imagine you as a kid.”

No. Dar tossed the report onto the desk. “That’s probably a good thing,” she told her MIS chief. “When can I get my T1?”

A silence filled with clicking followed. “Best I can do is Thursday.”

Dar’s eyebrows lifted. “After all that griping? You’re a damn fraud, Mark.”

Mark chuckled softly. “Yeah, well, I was checking the commercial availability; I went back and checked the governmental. They’ve got a big POP not far from there. We can zap in a pipe there. I’ll ship you down a Cisco and a mini hub.”

“Good,” Dar responded. “When it gets a completion, I want to hook up and suck everything in their main systems out and over to the mainframes. I ran an analysis on my laptop, but there’s something not jibing, and I don’t have the CPU cycles to rip it apart.”

“Sounds good to me. Oh, hey.” Mark’s voice altered and warmed.

“I was just talking to the big kahuna.”

“The big kahuna who nearly got my ass nailed to the table in a marketing meeting? That big kahuna?” Kerry’s voice echoed through the circuit. “Gimme that phone.” There was a fumbling noise. “Paladar Katherine Roberts.”

“Uh-oh.” Dar started laughing. “You sound like my mother.”

“You are so busted.” Kerry joined her in laughter. “Oh my God, Dar...you knocked me for a such a loop in that meeting. How’s it going?”

“Eh.” Dar reviewed the report now running on the laptop’s screen.

“All right, I guess. There’s so much to do, I can’t decide where to start.”

She sent the report to print. “How’s it going there?”

“Well,” Kerry exhaled, an audible rushing sound, “I’ve got a session with Jose in about an hour. Wish me luck.” She perched on Mark’s desk and winked at him, “Other than that, it’s been fine, with the slight exception of me being rendered speechless earlier. What was that all about?”

“Someone’s initials,” Dar replied succinctly.

Kerry smiled. “Oh,” she murmured. “Yeah. I don’t know what got into me. I got to use the Leatherman you got me, though.” She’d circled the small house and tried to imagine her lover and her family living in it, succeeding only when she pictured Dar out on their little island—in her scruffy cutoffs. “Well, I’ve got to get to my meeting. Here’s Mark back. See you later at home?”

“You bet.”

Kerry handed the phone back and stood, picking up the handful of requisitions she’d come to collect. She gave Mark a pat on the back and walked through the MIS command center with its semicircular desks and racks of seriously blinking lights. Just as she hit the door an alarm went off, and she paused, looking back over her shoulder to where two techs were scrambling toward a monitor. “What is it?”

Red Sky At Morning 87

“Shit.” One tech slapped buttons, then glanced up. “Sorry, ma’am.”

Kerry returned to the desk and peered over it. “What’s going on?”

“Crap...crap...crap...we just lost the Southeast.” The other tech was furiously rattling his keyboard, and now Mark approached, leaning over them. “Mark, something big just took a dump over Georgia.” He looked at Kerry. “You know what that means.”

Kerry grinned cheerfully. “Hot darn. It means I get to cancel my meeting.” She set her papers down and rolled her sleeves up.

“Okay...Mark, you start checking the access routers; I’ll call BellSouth.”

DAR MADE HER way through the labyrinth of corridors and pushed open Commander Albert’s door without ceremony or even a knock. She found him just getting off a call, and she paused, giving him a look. “You wanted a conference?”

Albert took in a breath visibly and released it. “Okay, look.” He held out both hands. “Can I raise a truce pennant here?”

’Bout goddamned time. Dar folded her arms, but relaxed her posture at the same time. “Depends on what your terms are,” she said. “This can be just as tough as you want it to be.”

“Okay.” The man sat down and motioned her to do the same.

“Look, Ms. Roberts, I really don’t mean to be such a bastard, but...” He paused.

“But I’m stomping all over your territory with spike heels,” Dar finished for him. “You think I don’t know that? Listen, Commander, if I were in your shoes, I’d be just as pissed off as you are, believe me.”

Albert relaxed a little. “Have you ever been? In my shoes?”

Dar considered the question. “Not really, no,” she admitted. “My company was taken over by ILS, but I was just a programmer then. I remember resenting the hell out of having to explain to clueless githeads what my code was, though.” She crossed an ankle over her knee. “So I do understand, but you need to understand that I’m not your enemy.”

He watched her closely. “You were hired to do this, I know that.”

Dar nodded. “That’s right. The brass is looking for two things. One, to make themselves look good by hiring the biggest, most well-known IS firm around to come in and evaluate them; and two, they’re wanting justification to spend billions in improving infrastructure. If it comes to a question, they point to our analysis, and it’s right there, in black and white.”

Albert grunted, his brows twitching in thought.

“So, do yourself a favor, Commander, just let me do what they’re paying me a fortune for, okay?” Dar said.

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk surface, clasping his hands together lightly. “All right, Ms. Roberts. I’m just going to get my butt chewed up one side and down the other if I don’t.”

88 Melissa Good He exhaled. “So, do you have everything you want? Lieutenant Perkins told me you were pulling down statistics most of the day.”

Dar got up and walked to the window, resting both hands against the sill and peering out the dusty panes. “That’s right.” She watched a squad of men carrying huge logs move past. “But I’ve got programs to analyze all that. I want to start looking at facilities, firsthand.” She turned, and faced him. “You can let me wander by myself, or give me someone who can answer questions.”

A faint grin crossed the commander’s face. “I think we can arrange for a guide, Ms. Roberts.” He hit a button on his desk. “I was anticipating the issue.” His voice got louder. “Send in Chief Daniel.”

After a moment the door opened, admitting a short, very stocky woman, her ginger hair peppered lightly with gray. She gave Dar a brief glance, then turned her attention to Albert. “Sir?”

“This is our Senior Operations Staff, CPO Daniel, Ms. Roberts.

She’s in charge of implementing and supervising all our overall processes.” He gave the newcomer a brief nod. “Chief, this is Ms.

Roberts. She’s here on orders from Washington to do an evaluation on us and recommend improvements,” the commander said pleasantly.

“Please take her where she wants to go and answer any questions.”

In her spare moments Dar often played a little mental game where she tried to match people up with what breed of dog they would be if they suddenly morphed before her eyes. She’d often amused herself in meetings by imagining Eleanor as an Afghan hound, discussing sales with Jose the sheepdog, for instance. She’d even drawn a sketch of it, which had sent Kerry into a fit of hysterics and made her leave the room.

The bulldog in a naval uniform gave Dar a once-over, then nodded briefly. “Yes, sir, I’ll be glad to do that. Would you like to start now, ma’am? It’s a big base.”

“Absolutely,” Dar responded, recognizing the aggressive stance with an internal sigh. “Let’s start where they come in. After you?” She gestured toward the door. “Thank you, Commander.”

“My pleasure.” Albert gave her a pleasant, albeit vicious smile.

“Let me know if there’s anything else I can do.”

Dar followed the woman out of the office and organized her resources for this new challenge. Given how Albert had phrased her assignment, calculated to offend the petty officer as much as possible without actually coming out and accusing her of not doing her job, she had to wonder which one of them he disliked more.

She eyed the woman plowing along beside her.

“Would ma’am like to stop at Supply and pick up a pad and pencil?” Daniel asked suddenly. “I’m sure you’ll have notes to take.”

“No, thanks,” Dar replied mildly. “I usually work at a macro level.

I leave the micro details to the people who actually implement the designs.” Hmm. What would Kerry do? Dar sorted through her options.

Red Sky At Morning 89

“Look, Chief, I’ve got no intention of spending days wading through your attitude. Let’s go get a cup of coffee and get the fistfight out of the way, then maybe we can get something done.”

The petty officer stopped and turned and studied her with a ferocious intentness. She had a strong presence and an air of fierce competence that almost matched Dar’s own. “I don’t know what your real purpose is here, ma’am, but I’m not one of those data center fluffheads who wander around with printouts tucked up their butts all day. I have a job to do, and I do a damn good one. So, if you want to tell me what your agenda is, maybe I can save us both time and sweat.”

“Problem is, I don’t have one,” Dar replied. “So if you’re doing a good job, you’ve got nothing to worry about, right?”

“What makes you think you can walk in here and judge us?” Daniel moved a step closer. “You think I have an attitude? What did you expect, an outsider coming in here like this, walking into a world you can’t possibly understand?”

“Chief—”

“You think we don’t know what you people out there think of the military? You think it’s easy always getting that attitude from people who couldn’t last through a day of basic training, who think we’re a bunch of mindless idiots?” Daniel stabbed a finger at Dar. “Don’t talk to me about attitude, lady.”

Dar cocked her head. “You like the Navy, Chief?”

That threw the petty officer right off her track. “What?”

“Do you like the Navy? You’re a career in, right?”

Warily, Daniel backed off a pace. “It’s a job,” she answered slowly.

“You take a lot of shit, but it’s like a family. I’ve gotten used to it.

Why?”

Unaccountably, Dar smiled. “You just gave me an answer to a question I’ve been asking myself since I was eighteen. Thanks.” A flock of “what ifs” took off and left her shoulders lighter. “You’re right, Chief. I am an outsider.” Now she met Chief Daniel’s eyes. “You need to choose whether you want me to be a hostile or a friendly one.”

They stared at each other in silence.

THE OCEAN ROLLED in nearby, a rhythmic shush and roar followed by a faint tinkle of shells. Dar and Kerry were sitting braced against a tree with their legs extended out on sand still holding the day’s warmth. Or, to be more precise, Dar was leaning against the tree and Kerry was leaning against Dar, seated between her lover’s legs in a blissfully comfortable sprawl.

“This was a good idea.” Kerry exhaled. “Glad you decided to meet me down here. I was so in the mood for that spicy lobster.”

“Even with the sand?” Dar picked up her bottle of root beer and took a swig of it. “Sure was better than what I’d have gotten at the base 90 Melissa Good if I’d stayed for dinner.”

“I bet.” Kerry picked up her own bottle and sipped from it. “It didn’t look like there’d be much gourmet food there, though that lunch was pretty good.”

“Mess on a whole wasn’t bad,” Dar agreed. “I think that’s why I never bothered learning to cook. It was easier just to go there and grab something, and then when I went to college, they had the cafeteria, so…” She shrugged. “Never got in the habit.”

“Mm.” Kerry studied the silver moonlight. “So, where did you get a taste for stone crabs, then?” She turned and regarded her partner curiously. “I’m pretty sure they didn’t serve them there, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen one diving.”

“Ah.” Dar chuckled briefly. “Yeah.”

Kerry waited for her to continue, but the silence lengthened so she peeked back over her shoulder to see Dar looking quietly out at the sea.

“Dar?”

“Mm?” The blue eyes shifted and focused on her. “Sorry. Not much of a story to it. Just something I…once I was getting a decent paycheck I tried a few things.”

Kerry could sense the discomfort, so she gracefully abandoned the question. “Like I did when I got here.” she agreed. “Know what I did when I realized you’d given me a raise when you hired me?”

“Tried stone crab?” Dar hazarded a guess.

“No. Went out a got new nerd toys.”

Dar laughed, relaxing against the tree. “Yeah, I think I did the same thing,” she admitted. “Problem was, after they promoted me they had no idea what to do with me in those senior management meetings in my motorcycle boots.”

Kerry covered her face and stifled a giggle.

“One of the other managers finally dragged me into Macy’s,” Dar said. “Told me I had more brains than South Beach had boob jobs but I wasn’t going to last in the company if I didn’t at least try to look the part.”

“You obviously learned fast.” Kerry turned her head and watched her partner’s profile. “You’ve got an amazing sense of style. I remember that time you took me into Macy…oh, my gosh. You did take me into Macy’s!”

Dar smiled.

“Same Macy’s?”

“Yep.”

“Good grief.” Kerry covered her eyes again. “I was blown away, Dar. You picked stuff that not only looked good, it looked good on me.”

Dar exhaled. “Yeah, well, thank about six months of reading the stupidest most puerile fashion magazines I could find and watching video tapes of the worst nighttime soap operas that made my brain almost dissolve.”

Red Sky At Morning 91

“You’re kidding me?” Kerry asked in a dumbfounded tone.

“No.” Dar shook her head. She took another sip of root beer. “I felt like one of those chimpanzees you see on Discovery, learning to ride a bike.”

Kerry turned all the way around, and braced her weight against one hand as she looked at her partner. In the half darkness, Dar’s face was mostly in shadows, but she could see the furrow in her lover’s brow even so. “That must have been really strange for you,” she finally said.

“It was,” Dar replied. “Still is, sometimes. I felt like a fraud then and sometimes I do now, too, but not the same way.” She paused, then a wry grin appeared. “It didn’t hurt that I figured out the silk suits didn’t look bad on me.”

She remembered being in the dressing room, surrounded by the smell of silk and expensive perfume. To her right was a hanger full of sophisticated clothing, and directly ahead was a full length mirror that reflected back the scruffy beach rat she knew herself to be.

“Madame, do you require any assistance?”

Dar glared at the closed door. “No thanks. I can dress myself. Can you?”

Bad enough she’d had to suffer the skeptical looks of the salespeople on the floor and the careful counting of the hangers by the attendant. She sure didn’t need some jerkass snoot face wanting to dress her.

With an aggrieved sigh, she stripped off her T-shirt and let it drop on top of the padded bench, then unbuckled her jeans, kicking off her sneakers, and adding the worn denim to the pile as well.

What was she doing in here? Dar debated simply walking out, then she recalled David waiting outside, and turned to remove the first suit he’d picked out from the hanger.

It was silk, and a rich burgundy color. She dubiously slipped on the shirt, making a face as the fabric bound her around the arms and shoulders. “That’s not gonna work.” she muttered, but buttoned it up anyway, adding the skirt after that and tucking the shirt into it. “I don’t get what this is supposed to accomplish.”

“What was that, Dar?” David’s voice came from outside. “Need something?”

“No.” Dar ground her teeth, as she donned the jacket and turned to look at the mirror with a scowl. “I don’t…”

She blinked at the reflection, one eyebrow lifting. The jacket outlined her athletic body relatively well, and she found herself unexpectedly liking what she saw.

Totally different than her usual chinos and polo, or the vests she tended to wear.

The cream of the shirt offset her tan, and the sophisticated cut of the suit made her almost unrecognizable in her own eyes—and she suspected, her coworkers as well.

“Dar? You all right?”

92 Melissa Good Dar pulled the jacket lapels straight and turned to regard a surprisingly sleek profile. “Well, damn it.”

“Dar?”

“Would you please shut up, David? Go find a damn espresso cart or something,” Dar growled back. “Leave me the hell alone!”

Footsteps retreated, and she was left in peace. Dar turned and put her hands on her hips, making a face at the fit of the jacket. She sighed and went to the door to the changing room, opening it and sticking her head out. “Hey,”

she called out to the attendant. “Buddy.”

The man turned and managed not to frown too much. “Yes, madame.” He stopped in mid word, his sandy eyebrows lifting in surprise at the unlikely vision before him. “That color does suit you, Madame.”

“Do you have someone who can make these things from scratch?” Dar asked, ignoring the compliment.

“Madame?” The man came closer. “What things, the clothing?”

Dar opened the door all the way, and came out, extending her arms. The sleeves of the jacket were halfway to her elbows, and it was visibly tight across her shoulders. “I’m betting you don’t have anything that’s gonna fit me off the rack with these wings.”

The attendant, encouraged a bit, studied the problem. “We could offer you a larger jacket, I suppose, but it will probably blouse here, and…” He plucked at the lapel. “We do have a tailor, of course, but getting this pattern custom will be very expensive.”

“How expensive?”

The man tapped his fingers against his lips. “Probably a thousand dollars over the cost of the suits.” He watched Dar’s face like a hawk. “At minimum.”

Dar ducked back inside the changing room and grabbed the suits off the rack. She popped back out and handed them to him. “Can he do all of these?”

The salesman blinked hard. “Ah…well, certainly.”

“Can I get them delivered to my house?”

“Well, yes, I’m sure we can arrange that.”

“He here now? Get his ass in here,” Dar said. “I don’t have all day.”

“Bh…uh…yes, madame, of course, ah, let me...I’ll put these over here and just give him a call, do you, ah…”

Dar handed him her brand new platinum card. “Here.”

He took it, his attitude morphing so fast he almost resembled a piece of silly putty being pulled. “Of course, Madame. May I call one of our shoppers for you, since you are in a rush?”

“Shoppers?” Dar’s ears perked.

“Yes,” the salesman said. “We have a service, you see, someone will be glad to go and pick out accessories for you, shoes, a belt, a purse perhaps…” He caught Dar’s expression. “Perhaps not, but other things?”

“This person will do my shopping?” Dar said. “Pick stuff to go with that stuff?”

“Yes.”

‘Bring ’em on.”

Red Sky At Morning 93

The salesman positively beamed at her. “Would madame like some coffee while the tailor comes up?”

“Got any ice cream?” Dar countered, beginning to enjoy herself just a little.

“I am positive we can get some.” The salesman picked up the phone. “And if you would like to come with me, we have a private fitting room for our special customers.”

Ah. So this is what that ‘how the other half lives’ thing is all about.

“Lead on.”

Kerry laughed, bringing her back to the present. She glanced down at her partner, who was smiling back at her. “What’s so funny?”

“You are.” Kerry gave her a pat on the leg. “Of course you look good in silk suits, Dar, you look good in everything.”

“Glad you think so.” Dar gave her a hug. “I have to admit I was laughing to myself when you asked me to help you pick clothing, though.”

“You did a great job.”

Dar snorted. “Like anything I picked wouldn’t have looked good on you?”

Kerry pondered that. “Well, I’m sure you could have found something in mustard yellow that wouldn’t have been flattering,” she allowed. “But I was too busy being freaked out that you knew exactly what size I wore.”

Dar chuckled.

“How did you do that?” Kerry turned and looked up at her curiously. “Don’t tell me you looked it up in some obscure database we manage for megalithic department stores—most of my stuff was privately tailored at home.” She nudged Dar. “What was the trick?’

Dar stared off into the waves for a long moment, nibbling at her lower lip with a pensive expression, then she glanced sideways at her companion, a wicked twinkle appearing. “I guessed.”

“You did not.”

“I did.”

“Dar, c’mon.”

“I did.” The dark-haired woman insisted. “Or would you rather me tell you I’d already undressed you in my mind and figured out all your angles?”

Kerry blushed, a sudden heat that made her blink. “You didn’t.”

“I didn’t. I really did just guess.” Dar allowed, then paused. “The undressing part didn’t happen until you were in the changing room.”

Kerry stuck her tongue out at her. An instant later, she found it caught between Dar’s teeth as it was gently nibbled and tasted, then lips brushed hers and disappeared, restoring the view of the ocean to her.

“Ooh.” Kerry enjoyed the tingling. “That was erotic.” She turned her head. “Can we do it again?”

94 Melissa Good

“Only if you’re interested in making the front page of the Lifestyles section of the Herald.” Dar indicated the strolling passersby. “On the other hand, I know a hot tub that might be willing to look the other way for us.”

“Eeoorwl.” Kerry emitted a contented gurgle and stretched. “I could go for that. You can tell me more about this petty person who’s giving you such a migraine. Do I need to come down to the base again and have a chat with her?”

Dar stood, tugging Kerry up with her, and they started back toward the church parking lot. “No. The chief’s all right. At least she knows what she’s doing and understands base ops. I just get the feeling she’d like to bump me into the two-hundred-pound hamburger grinders and give herself a mark for reducing chow costs,” she said. “I feel like I’m walking around with a slightly rabid dog trotting around after me, ready to clamp on at any second.”

“Hmm.” Kerry’s nose wrinkled up as she smiled. “I think that’s how people feel about you sometimes, you know.”

A sigh. “I know.”

“Not really nice, huh?” The green eyes twinkled.

Dar gave her a look. “Are you laughing at me?”

Kerry pulled her closer, tucking her hand around Dar’s arm. “I’m not laughing at you. I was just thinking that it must be strange for you to be faced with the kind of challenge that you usually present to other people.” She felt Dar sigh again. “Why don’t you try making friends with her? I’m sure you two have something in common.”

THEY APPROACHED KERRY’S car, and she used the remote to unlock the door, then muffled a smile as Dar opened it for her. She got in and paused as her lover leaned on the window and watched her get settled. “Meet you at the ferry?”

“Drive careful,” Dar told her, then closed the door. She walked around the back of the Mustang and got into her own car, starting it and pulling out after Kerry onto the main street. They drove along the beach road and turned right onto the causeway that led home, navigating the relatively sparse traffic in tandem. They reached the first bridge and rolled over it, reaching the top and starting down the other side.

It took Dar’s mind a frantic second to confirm that the headlights coming toward them were really in the wrong lane, a half-ton of truck barreling down toward Kerry, who was starting to react, throwing her wheel hard to the left and sending the Mustang bolting toward the green center island.

For a second, Dar froze, her eyes caught in the glaring headlights bearing down on both of them. Then she reacted with pure instinct, gunning the engine of the Lexus and roaring past Kerry, putting herself between the oncoming four-by-four and the skidding Mustang as she Red Sky At Morning 95

slid into a sideways block.

The oncoming blue vehicle jerked to the right, then suddenly made a hard turn, skimming Dar’s front bumper as it clawed its way over the center island and bounced into the eastbound lanes, missing a taxi by a hair and roaring off down toward the beach.

Dar slowly unclenched her fingers from the steering wheel and pushed back, her heart slamming so hard in her chest it threatened to squeeze between her ribs and escape. She jerked the door open and tumbled out of the car, hanging on to the edge of the window for a long moment as her shaking legs refused to hold her up. Then she took a breath and forced herself into a run to where Kerry’s car was half up onto the center island, her engine off and her headlights shining wanly into the tropical foliage.

The door opened as Dar reached it, and she yanked impatiently, dropping to her knees beside the seat as Kerry leaned halfway out.

“Hey.” She hugged Kerry to her in mindless relief, feeling the shaky breath as Kerry buried her face against Dar’s neck. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Kerry nodded. “Just scared the holy pooters out of me.”

“Me, too.”

Kerry released her and got out of the car, leaning on Dar’s shoulder as she glanced around and examined the damage. Though the other car hadn’t touched her, climbing onto the center island had done evil things to a car not intended as a four-wheel-drive vehicle. “Erf.”

Dar got to her feet and regarded the apparently broken axle. “Well, that’s it.”

Kerry was leaning against the side of the car. “That’s what?” She turned and gave her lover a puzzled look. “I’m sure they can fix this.”

“You’re getting a new car,” Dar responded matter-of-factly. “If that thing had hit you, this would have folded like a used piece of tin foil.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that, Dar. It always seemed pr—” Kerry got a good look at Dar’s face, and cut her sentence off in mid-word.

“Well, I was thinking about a new one the other day. Maybe it’s a good idea.” She walked over and leaned against her partner. “Can we call a tow for this, and go home?”

“Good idea.” Dar took out her cell phone as they walked toward the balefully crouching Lexus, its hazard lights flashing as traffic drove cautiously around it. “We can go car shopping on the web when we get there.”

Kerry let out a slightly hysterical chuckle. “Honey, we don’t have to do that. Besides, I think I want to check out one of these for myself.”

She patted the SUV. “It’s nice and solid, right?”

Dar glanced up from her conversation. “I was thinking maybe a Hummer.” She went back to the phone and gave directions.

“A what?”

“Unless maybe Dad could get a Humvee.” Dar closed the phone, tapping it against her chin thoughtfully, her face completely serious.

96 Melissa Good

“He probably could.”

Kerry knocked on her chest. “Hello? Earth to Dar? I’m not driving an armored personnel carrier around Miami, so I hope you’re joking.”

Dar nudged her into the car, then closed the door and got in on the driver’s side. “Deny that it wouldn’t be handy in afternoon traffic.” She started the car and shifted cautiously into drive. “Maybe a tank.”

“Dar.”

“What? They come in surplus, and Dad loves tinkering with the engines.”

“Dar!”

“Hell to park, though.”

“You are joking, right?”

Pale blue eyes regarded her as they waited in line for the ferry.

“Yes.” Dar finally smiled. “I tend to say stupid things when I lose my mind.”

Kerry lifted a hand and they interlaced fingers, a gesture that always brought a sense of warm familiarity to both of them. “Well, I was completely safe. I had this huge Lexus between me and the kamikaze wackos. They’d have probably bounced off and ended up in Biscayne Bay.” She was rewarded by another smile. “Crazy people.”

Dar nodded, leaning back in her seat in quiet relief. The draining of the adrenaline that had raced through her body left her almost sleepy, and she didn’t feel like moving, not even when the ferry docked and she had to maneuver the Lexus onto its lightly shifting deck. She kept her eyes half-closed and rubbed Kerry’s fingers with her thumb as they rode over to the island. Then she turned and gazed at Kerry’s profile. “You sure a Hummer’s out of the question?”

“Dar.”

“They come in nice colors.”

“Blue, gray, and green.” Kerry regarded her amusedly. “And black.

I’d like something a little lighter.”

“Hmph.” Dar leaned her knee against the steering wheel. “The tank comes in desert camo. That’s light.”

“Dar,” Kerry started laughing, “would you just cut that out? I’m not getting a tank.”

They were both quiet for a few minutes.

“Can you imagine the gas mileage those things get?” Kerry finally spoke up. “It’d cost a fortune.”

“No problem. I’ll give you a raise to cover it,” Dar responded instantly. They looked at each other, then they both burst out laughing in relief. “Think of the impression you’d give, pulling up to a consolidation in that,” Dar got out.

Kerry just kept laughing.