Tropical Convergence

Chapter Eight

KERRY HEARD THE soft ding of mail arriving into her inbox. She swiveled around in her chair and rolled her trackball, glancing at the sender and the subject and stifling a curse. "Oh, pooters." She clicked on it anyway and read the text. "Crap, crap, crap."

Finishing, she sat back in her leather chair and frowned at the pc, sitting inoffensively on the center of her office desk. "I can't believe I forgot about the damn party tomorrow night." With a sigh, she hit the intercom button on the phone. "Dar?"

She released the button and waited, but after a minute there was no answer. She pressed the button again. "Dar?"

Still no answer. Kerry got up and circled her desk, emerging from her office on the second floor of the condo and starting down the staircase. She peeked over, but the living room was empty, Dar's laptop sitting mutely on the coffee table spinning its screen saver in lonely silence. "Hm."

She continued down the steps to the lower level, poking her head into Dar's office and finding an equally empty space. "Where are you, hmm?" She turned and realized Chino wasn't around either. "Ah." She headed for the patio, spotting a blond Labrador tail near the two person swing they'd hung out there.

"Hey." Kerry slid the door open and stepped out, grimacing slightly at the contrast between the cool dry air inside and the warm, languid sea breeze outside. "Listen, I fubared."

Dar looked up in surprise from the book she'd been reading. "You?"

"Me." Kerry walked over and joined her on the swing. "I...um...committed us to a party tomorrow night that I completely forgot to tell you about." She studied her bare feet for a moment, before she glanced sideways at her partner. "Fubar."

Dar let the book close over her hand and studied her penitent appearing swingmate. "Hmmm...what kind of party? Don't tell me it's the condo association again."

"No."

"Good. I'd have to whip you with soggy Ramen noodles." The blue eyes twinkled gently. "Let me guess...the church?"

Kerry nodded, watching the expression on Dar's face carefully. "Are you going to kill me?"

"Nah." Dar displayed her book cover. "Conversation there's gotta beat this. I've seen drier material about heuristic switching, but not by much."

Relieved, Kerry rested her head against Dar's shoulder. "Remind me to get you some nice, trashy bodice rippers for your afternoon time outs, honey. You'll go blind reading this stuff." She tapped the book. "But I really am sorry it slipped my mind. I said yes right before we started talking about leaving early for the trade show and...well..."

Dar put her arm around Kerry and pushed against the railing, rocking them both gently in the light breeze. She wasn't that fond of parties, but the church ones were pretty harmless, and she'd taken a liking to a few of the more regular members. "Maybe I'll even stop having cramps by then. Son of a bitch, I got it bad this month."

"Want to go for a walk? Maybe it'll help."

Dar tossed her book down and stood up, taking Kerry's hand as they opened the gate and walked down the steps into the small patio garden with Chino frisking happily at their heels. It was late afternoon, and the breeze from the sea had started to cool off the air a little, bringing the scent of the salt water with it.

They made their way down to the beach and turned to walk along it as the incoming tide chased their steps. Chino found a piece of driftwood and pounced on it, lifting it and returning to her owners with an air of excited triumph.

"Whatcha got?" Dar reached out and took the stick, examining it before she tossed it ahead of them. "Good girl!"

Chino raced after it, living up to her breed as she retrieved the stick and plowed back toward them.

Kerry was content to watch, her hand still tucked into Dar's as they walked along the mostly deserted beachfront. They got a glance or two, but most of the residents knew them and she returned the smiles and half waves of the few still lying on neatly toweled chaise lounges, soaking up the sun.

Dar swerved a little, taking them into the surf up to their calves. Chino bolted into the water, barking as the surf surged back at her.

"Chino, you silly dog," Kerry scolded their pet.

The Labrador bounded over to her and shook herself vigorously, showering both of them with cool sea water. "Gruff!"

"Bah." Dar shielded her face with her free hand. "Chino, you little..."

"Bitch?" Kerry supplied, with a chuckle. "Yes, she is, isn't she? G'wan, Chi...get the stick!" She pointed to the shore. "Get it!"

Chino bounded away to retrieve her prize, leaving her owners to walk out of the surf in peace.

"She's so cute." Kerry sighed. "She gets away with everything, and she knows it," she added. "She has us wrapped right around her little paw."

Dar chuckled softly.

"Walking helping any?"

"No." Dar managed a wry grin. "But the two of you are keeping my mind otherwise occupied, so the end result is all right," she told her partner. "I feel better."

"Mm.. well, that's what your family's for. To make you feel better when you feel crummy." Kerry squeezed her hand around Dar's lightly. "So I'm glad we're doing our job."

Dar didn't answer, but her face lit up visibly at the words, and her step took on an extra swagger as they enjoyed the late afternoon sun. They passed the beach club, exchanging lazy waves with a few people seated outside and continued on along the south side of the island.

It was quieter on this end. They faced the terminal island where the cargo ships loaded up with containers bound for South America and beyond. Dar shaded her eyes and then pointed to one side of the cargo area, a large, open space with several cranes standing slack and waiting for work. "Think that's where he's talking about."

Kerry reviewed the spot. "Dar, it's really twisted that these damn things are going to be almost in view of our bedroom."

Her partner chuckled softly. "Remind me to point that out in a loud voice if we bump into our friends during the process."

They watched a cargo cruiser move stiffly away from the dock, chugging out of the channel toward the cut, shepherded by two hard working tugs.

"I think..." Kerry mused, as they continued their walk, heading around the back side of the island. "I think we should throw a big party. Invite all our competitors over to break the ice, kinda, since we are the...um..hosts...so to speak."

Dar eyed her. "Invite them all to our condo?"

"Uh huh."

"You really mean, invite Shari and Michelle to our condo so they can drool all over it and be jealous of our home life and good taste?"

"Uh huh."

Dar ruffled Kerry's hair with her free hand, feeling around on the crown of her head. "Careful, Yankee, your horns are showing," she teased. "Michelle's got some class. I'm sure they live in a nice place."

Kerry solemnly stuck her tongue out. "Not as nice as ours," she said. "I looked up the address just to prove my excruciatingly thorough WASP upbringing." Her green eyes glinted slightly. "But I was serious, Dar. If we're going to do this, I don't want to spend two weeks being miserable like we were in Orlando. Let's take the high road, and let them be jerks if they want to be."

Dar pondered in silence as they rounded the curve and started up the northern edge of the island, which bordered the cut. Watercraft were moving through the channel, including two daredevil jet ski riders courting disaster as they wove through a stately parade of sailboats. Chino trotted along behind them, and now that the sun was starting a serious tilt toward the horizon a cooling breeze sprang up and made the walk far more pleasant.

"Well, let's see what happens," Dar finally concluded. "After all, they might not come down here. I'm gonna guess most of the bidders will send an engineering team, not executives in silk and pumps."

Kerry accepted the tacit victory with a gentle smile. "Bet you ten bucks they'll be here," she countered. "Because they know you will."

"We will," Dar corrected her. "I think Michelle respects you."

Kerry's face wrinkled up into an expression of distaste. "You know something, I sort of liked her, way back when. I thought she was pretty cool, the way she made that pick the first time, and even after she messed around with those snapshots and came to the office, she seemed pretty straightforward."

"Mm." Dar stepped over a piece of driftwood. Her cramps seemed to be easing after all, and she was finding the walk increasingly enjoyable. "Yeah, I didn't have a problem with her that first time. I wasn't crazy about her sending those photos to Alastair, but I figured she was pretty stung when I blew her off that night at her hotel."

A smile played around Kerry's lips. "The night you came over to my apartment," she murmured. "Ah, yes. I remember that night. I'm surprised I didn't stain that beige carpet green I was so freaking jealous."

Dar looked at her, caught in the middle of continuing her original thought. "You were?"

"Dar." Kerry laughed, rolling her eyes. "Oh, Jesus, please. Tell me you didn't see it written all over my face."

"Um." Dar cleared her throat gently. "Actually, no. I was too busy staring lustfully at the half naked, gorgeous, sweat covered woman on the carpet to notice what color she was."

Kerry looked at her, both eyebrows hiking up. Dar responded with a sexy grin, triggering a now far more rare heated blush that rapidly colored Kerry's face. "Euhr...you do say the nicest things sometimes, honey." Kerry rubbed her cheek with one hand, and then she glanced up. "Really?"

"Really," Dar replied. "It was quite a feeling--after being hit on all night by someone I wasn't attracted to." She tucked Kerry's hand into the crook of her elbow. "Funny how I used to like playing that game. I was in a meeting the other month with a half dozen new reps from that consulting company we integrated...didn't know me, didn't know about us...they started that sniffing around crap and I called a break and went out and put this on." She raised her right hand, displaying her ring. "End of that problem."

Startled to have her unasked question answered in such an unexpected way, Kerry merely stayed silent for a few steps. Then she released a small puff of air, almost a laugh. "So that's why," she mused. "I remember you telling me once how you felt that people formed certain ideas about other people based on whether they had a ring on or not."

Dar nodded. "Yeah," she agreed. "I damn well wanted them to think that about me." She glanced at Kerry's hand tucked in hers, its ring glinting softly in the sunlight, and then she met Kerry's eyes. "Yeah."

"I was wondering," Kerry admitted. "I was getting dressed one morning and I was about to put my necklace on and I stopped just to look at my ring...it's so pretty." She glanced down at their hands. "I decided to put it on my hand instead. Not really sure why, but then I saw you had yours on."

"I thought you did it because I had mine on." Dar cleared her throat.

"No, we just ended up doing it the same day," Kerry said. "Kinda strange, but in a nice way. I'm really not sure at all why I did it."

"Maybe it's an evolution thing," Dar suggested, after a brief hesitation.

"Maybe."

Dar scuffed a rock with her foot. "Anyway. I'm glad we did it."

"Me, too." The smile on Kerry's face left no doubt of her feelings. "You know, Dar, we should do these little walk and talks more often."

A wry chuckle spilled from Dar's lips. "Sure beats cramps." She looked up. "Hey...hey...Chino!!!"

"Oh no." Kerry's eyes widened. "No! C'mere, girl."

Chino spotted a duck and bolted after it, spurring her owners into a mad dash after her, leaving laughter in the air behind them.

"HERE YOU GO." The short, curly haired man behind the makeshift bar handed Kerry a beer. "Careful, it's a little foamy."

"Thanks." Kerry inhaled some of the sharp tasting fizz before it poured over her hand and moved to one side out of the way of the crowd.

The church was mostly full, it's homey interior buzzing with low conversation and the occasional spurt of laughter. Kerry dodged around a few chatting groups and headed for the low couches near the back wall where Dar was lounging inside a circle of people they were more familiar with.

At least the party was casual. Kerry eased past a man in shorts so short she wondered why he really bothered and took the cushion next to her partner on the couch. "What'd I miss?"

"Oh, Lori and I were just filling Dar in on the latest church news, you know," a tall redhead told her. "This and that...we keep trying to lure her into the choir."

Kerry settled against Dar's warm body. "She'd be good at it," she agreed, ignoring the mock glower from a pair of nearby baby blues.

"You should see her singing in the shower. It's amazing."

"I'm sure we'd love to. Invite us over." Lori shot back, with a mischievous grin. "Right, Rachel?"

"Absolutely! Kerry, you little charmer! What a sweetie you are!" Her partner chortled. "When's the viewing?"

Kerry felt Dar start to snicker. "Well, I walked right into that one, didn't I?" she admitted, toasting them all with her beer. "Sorry ladies, I don't share." A reluctant grin appeared. "The view, or anything else." She bumped Dar with her elbow. "And you stop laughing!"

"Ahem." Dar cleared her throat. "Honestly, my work schedule just won't permit me getting involved in anything that regular." She told Rachel, the redhead who was also one of the principals in the choir. "And I don't commit to things I can't guarantee I'll do."

Rachel slouched in the easy chair across from them, swinging one denim covered leg over the arm of it. "Yeah, yeah. But all work no play..." She let the words trail off suggestively. "Workaholics are so uncool these days." She shook her finger at Dar.

An amused glint appeared. "I play," Dar replied in silken voice. "I just save all my playtime for one person." She turned her head and looked at Kerry, catching the quick grin and returning it.

Their attention was drawn by a sudden noise nearby and they all turned to see two women facing off against each other, hands grappling at cotton shirts and faces twisted in anger. "Oh crap." Lori rolled her eyes. "Here we go again." She lifted her voice. "Would you two cut it the hell out and grow up?"

"You keep the hell out of this, bitch!" one of the women yelled back at her.

"Who are you calling bitch, you ugly piece of shit?" Lori got up. "Take your fucking drama out of here, yeah?"

"Lor, sit down." Rachel grabbed her by the back of her jeans and hauled her down into the chair. "Leave them alone."

The short, dark haired woman glowered at the two arguing women, who were now ignoring her, busy with shoving each other around. "Assholes."

"Hey, ladies." David, one of the church workers hurried over. He was a middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair, and a neatly trimmed beard. "C'mon, c'mon now...it's a party! Let's be festive!"

Dar slid her arm around Kerry's shoulders and idly watched the entertainment unfolding before her. The two women were on again, off again partners who always seemed to be arguing about something. Dar suspected they both had some real problems and were using each other to keep their minds off them, but she'd never gotten interested enough in the situation to find out.

That sounded so damn callous, Dar acknowledged, but the two women were nasty to most, unpleasant to the rest, and quite probably deserved each other.

"Kiss my ass, fag," the shorter of the two women snapped at David. "Just leave us alone."

"Hey, c'mon now." David held his hands out. "We don't need to get nasty," he warned. "So calm down, okay?"

"Calm this." The same woman shot him a bird.

Kerry looked at Dar. Dar looked back at Kerry. "Do we want to get involved in this?" Kerry asked.

"Well." Dar set her bottle of YooHoo down. "Either we get involved, or we find a different party. I'm not in the mood to listen to this much pointless cursing." She got up and dusted her faded jeans off, stepping around Lori's chair and heading toward the battleground with a resigned sigh.

Kerry got up and followed, trying not to see the anticipatory grins on the faces of their friends. She caught up to Dar as she reached the outskirts of the disturbance, which had now drawn a small crowd.

The two women were short and heavy set, one with close-cropped hair and the other with long braids threaded with beads. The short haired woman also had an eyebrow ring, and a beautiful tattoo of a parrot on one bare shoulder.

"Okay, people." Dar stopped just short of them, putting her hands on her hips and tilted her head slightly to look down at them. "Do what the man says and take it outside."

David sidled up to her immediately, more than pleased to find a ready ally. Kerry stopped a step behind her partner, folding her arms over her chest and waiting to see what would happen next, satisfied to watch the two other women with a sharp eye.

Not that she was at all worried. Dar could more than take care of herself, of Kerry, of David, and probably of everyone in sight without breaking a sweat. In her red tank top, with her burnished tan and solid muscularity, she had presence that was undeniable.

The shorter of the two women turned to confront Dar. "Did someone ask you to get in our business?" she asked.

"Yes," Dar replied in a calm voice. "You did, by acting like a pair of rutting jackasses. So knock it off."

"Or?" the woman asked, sarcastically. "You gonna beat me up?"

Kerry stepped forward, about to intervene. Dar beat her to it, though, and added a tiny bump to her shoulder.

"No. You'd enjoy it too much. Instead, I'm going to cancel all your credit cards and get your driver's licenses revoked if you don't get the hell out of here and stop being such a pair of pitas," Dar replied. "Scram."

The short woman's eyes narrowed, and she tensed, but after a second she shrugged and turned away. "Whatever. Asshole." She flicked her long nailed fingers as she sauntered off, pushing her way through the crowd as she headed toward the door.

Her partner glared at Dar as well. "You think you're so hot. Why don't you go back to your fancy island and leave the real people alone. We were here a long time before you were."

"Okay," Kerry finally got a word in edgewise. "So let me get this straight. You guys cuss and punch each other and mess up everyone's fun here...and you're mad because we don't like to watch?"

"Stupid asshole."

"Kerry Stuart," Kerry corrected her mildly. "And if you're that much into people watching you, why not join the theatre group? I think they're doing MacBeth this summer...sounds right up your alley." She took a step forward, putting herself between Dar and the other woman. "You know what I think? I think you just like to be the center of attention, so that's why you always act out at these shindigs."

"Oh yeah, sure," the woman replied. "Kiss my ass."

"Never in a million years." Kerry took a swig of her beer. "I have better things to kiss." She heard a faint sound come from Dar, and knew if she turned around she'd see very hiked eyebrows. "So now that the show's over, why not go get a drink and be normal like the rest of us."

"Great idea," David chimed in. "C'mon folks, let's get the music started again. She's right. Show's over." He gave two men next to him a nudge, and then signaled the woman standing near the stereo system to turn it up. "Enough, enough, okay? It's a party. Everyone chill."

Kerry turned and bumped Dar with her head, pushing her back toward the couch. "Gwan, you high falutin' rich chick, you."

Dar chuckled under her breath, allowing herself to be herded back to the couch as the crowd slowly broke up and moved way. They settled back down together, giving Lori and Rachel a twinned roll of the eyes as a few others gathered around, watching them with casual interest. "What's next?" Dar asked. "Unisex twister?"

Lori settled into a half unstuffed chair next to the couch. "You guys are too funny. Like Batman and Robin." She accepted the cup Rachel handed to her after a brief sojourn to the bar. "But those two and their little pod always had a problem with the two of you. I'm not really sure why."

"Our bank balances?" Kerry suggested, with a grimace. "Yeah, like we come in here in silk and pearls, flipping our minks." She glanced down at her somewhat worn aviator pants, with their odd assortment of pockets, and then indicated Dar's faded jeans. "What's up with that?"

Lori shrugged.

"I guess some of them figure..." Rachel hesitated. "You know, we're always raising cash for the place. Maybe they think if you have more, you should just give it over."

Dar snorted. "We donate." She lifted a hand. "They want more, they can come do my job and then they can take what they want. Screw that."

"That's right," Kerry said. "We've never said no when David's called us."

"Hey!" Rachel edged back a little. "I didn't say that's what we thought. I just said maybe that's what they think, you know? I mean, your paycheck's your own, yeah? Like all of ours is." She shrugged. "Some people get really jealous when they see someone who has stuff they don't."

"Give me a break." Dar picked up her YooHoo and took a sip.

Kerry sucked at her beer, a look of wry cynicism crossing her face. "Isn't that the truth. I've had to deal with that since I was in frilly Pampers." She sighed. "But you know what, my family only has money. I earn mine."

Lori perched on the arm of the chair her partner was sitting in. "What exactly do you guys do, anyway?" she asked, tactfully steering the conversation down a different track. "Investment banking?"

Dar settled back and extended her legs out, crossing them at the ankles. "We're nerds," she explained briefly.

"Nerds?" Rachel laughed. "You're kidding me. Really?"

Kerry nodded. "Really. Regular, ordinary, working nerds," she added. "Besides, we do our part here. I'm working with those kids every week, and Dar..." She glanced at her partner, who smiled faintly. "Dar shows up and looks great, and doesn't get mad at me for dragging her in here all the time."

"Heh," Dar responded.

"You could join our community action group," Lori suggested. "We've got a lot of stuff planned for this year...lobbying and all that. Bet you're good at it."

"Bet I'm not," Dar said. "Thanks, but no thanks."

Both women across from them looked uncomfortable at that, Kerry noticed. But it was the truth, and she knew Dar generally refused to sugarcoat her answers. "Honestly, our schedule doesn't permit either of us a lot of slack in doing organized things," Kerry said. "We never know when we might have to travel, or get stuck late taking care of a problem."

"Okay, just a suggestion," Lori said. "I'm getting another beer. Want one?" she asked Rachel.

"Sure."

Lori got up and left. Kerry used the slight pause to finish up her beer, and note that Dar had done the same with her YooHoo. "Want another one?" She indicated the bottle. "Or something stronger?"

Dar fiddled with the bottle, then handed it over. "Nah. I'll stick to this. Thanks."

Kerry eased off the couch and gave her a pat on the knee as she planned a path through the growing crowd toward the bar.

Rachel waited for Kerry to vanish, then turned her attention back to the tall, dark haired woman on the couch. "Nerd, huh?"

Dar plucked at the seam of her denims. "Yeah."

"Uh huh."

"KNOW WHAT I think?" Dar sat back, letting the car's air conditioning cool her off.

Kerry was curled up in the passenger seat, looking tousled and somewhat aggravated. "What?"

"I think we need to find a new church."

"Ungh." Kerry rested her head against the leather seat back. "Tell you what. Give me tomorrow off, and I'll find us a new church. How's that?" She shifted, grimacing at the cramping that had manifested with aching suddenness, giving her an unwelcome, yet welcome excuse to leave the party.

Dar glanced at her in perfect sympathy. "Sweetheart, you can have the day off any time you want," she replied. "I know your area's covered."

Kerry grimaced again. "You know what's not covered?" she asked mournfully. "I forgot to stop and pick up supplies at Walgreen's." Her eyes met Dar's. "And you know I can't handle the kind you use."

Dar put the car into reverse and commenced backing out. "Guess we're going to the drugstore then," she said. "S'all right. I need some stuff too. We're low on Advil..."

"Ahhhh!!!" Kerry squeaked.

"And I need some batteries for my digital," Dar finished. "So put the seat back and relax, and we'll get ourselves taken care of."

Kerry took advantage of the offer, releasing the seat and tilting it back about halfway. She closed her eyes and left the driving to her partner, idly listening to the soft new age music coming from the speakers. "They really were kinda sucky today, huh?" she said. "I wonder why? We never had them act like that before. Did we do something I don't remember?"

Dar was silent for a while, drumming her thumbs on the steering wheel as she made her way through the surface streets toward the drugstore. "I don't know," she finally muttered. "It just pisses me off that they act like we owe them something all the time."

Did they? Kerry pondered the idea. "Well, most churches do assume their memberships will do stuff like bake cookies and put money in the plate, Dar," she conceded. "I know ours did at home. Big time. Not that anyone ever said anything outright, but boy...if you skipped a week, the looks you got."

Dar made a rude noise.

"Well, you know, they have to raise money somehow." Kerry felt herself in the odd position of defending a faith she often was at serious odds with. "They have to keep the place up, and pay the pastor, and do community programs. The money has to come from somewhere."

Dar pulled into the parking lot and parked in front of the drugstore. She set the parking brake, but left the car running. "Yeah, I know." She opened the driver's side door. "It's not that part I mind. They do good stuff, especially for those kids you mess with. It's the other stuff they expect us to do." She got out. "As if just because we're gay, we have to be revolutionaries about it. Not my gig."

Kerry watched in bemusement as her partner shut the door gently, and strode off toward the entrance to the Walgreen's.

DAR WAITED IN line, glancing at the items available for sale on the nearby racks out of boredom. She had her chosen items, obtained in quick order, but there was only one clerk working and several people ahead of her waiting to pay.

C'mon. I've got melting ice cream here. Dar glared evilly at the line from behind her shades.

The clerk, unfortunately, was busy trying to understand the request of the first woman in line, who was attempting to obtain a specific type of cigarette using a language even Dar wasn't familiar with. It was hard to say at this point which one of them was the more frustrated.

Her eyes fell on a shelf about thigh level, and she examined the contents, a grudging smile slowly appearing as she reached down and selected one of the items. After a quick look around, she added it to her basket, then resumed waiting.

The woman ahead of her let out a deliberately audible sigh. "Jesus."

The clerk glanced up at her, giving her an apologetic grimace, but slightly shrugging her shoulders. The foreign woman pulled out a piece of paper from her purse and unfolded it, showing it to the clerk with a bit of impatience. "Ma'am, we don't have those."

The woman questioned her in her own language.

"Ma'am, we don't have those," the clerk repeated, with commendable patience. She pointed at the picture in the paper and shook her head. The woman shook the paper at her, her voice rising.

"Jesus." The customer in front of Dar repeated. "What an idiot." With a disgusted look, she tossed her packages onto the counter and walked away, leaving the store with a slap at the sliding door on her way out. The man ahead of her did the same, shooting the clerk a bird as he followed suit.

At the same moment, the foreign woman grabbed back her paper and shoved it in her purse, storming off and walking quickly through the door on the heels of the other two.

That left the clerk staring after them, and Dar with no one ahead of her in line. Not one to look a gift tourist in the mouth, she stepped forward and began removing her choices from her basket, placing them down on the register counter.

"Why do people do that?" the clerk wondered, as she picked up the first item and scanned it. "Move to a place and not know how to communicate?"

Dar studied her from behind her wraparound shades. "To give Americans a taste of what it's like to deal with them overseas?" she suggested mildly.

"Huh?" The girl frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You ever been in another country?" Dar inquired.

"No," the girl replied. "Why would I want to go to another country?"

"Doesn't matter. How much?" Dar indicated the register. She watched the total come up, and swiped her ATM card through the reader, punching in the code with an impatient motion. The machine hesitated, and then regurgitated her receipt, which she snagged along with her purchases from the clerk's hands. "Thanks."

"Bye." Now bereft of customers, the clerk waggled her fingers at Dar. "Have a nice day."

KERRY HAD AMUSED herself by trying to make up stories about the people she watched coming out of the store while waiting for Dar's return. The first man who had come out seemed to have gotten something he wasn't too sure about based on how he kept looking inside the bag he'd carried out as he walked to his car. She decided it was a choice between hair growth formula, some feminine products, or birth control.

She watched him until he got into his car, whereupon he drew something out of the bag and took a bite of it, skewing her theory.

She hoped.

The next two women who exited were apparently together, talking non-stop in Spanish as they walked right past the Lexus and got into a maroon station wagon right next to her. They started their car and without breaking their stream of discussion, began to pull out.

Kerry's eyes widened as she realized the car's front wheels were turned sharply to the right, aiming the vehicle right for the passenger side door inches from her. Reacting instinctively, she leaned over and slammed her hand on the Lexus' horn, closing her eyes and sprawling half over Dar's seat as she waited for the crunch and impact.

After a moment's silence, however, she opened her eyes and peered over her shoulder. The maroon station wagon was gone, and as she straightened up and looked behind her, she spotted it pulling out into traffic with a squeal of tires.

A blue Jeep barely missed sideswiping it. Kerry blew her hair out of her eyes and faced forward again, deciding the women had probably picked up either legal stimulants or prescription sedatives or maybe a combination of both.

Another customer stormed by the front of the Lexus, walking with short, furious steps. She banged into a trashcan on the sidewalk, and shoved it away from her with a audible curse even through the closed windows of the Lexus. She gave the can a vicious kick, before she continued on and around the corner of the store to the other side of the parking lot.

Didn't like her one hour photos? Kerry wondered. She had little time to consider it, because the woman was followed almost immediately by another, equally upset looking, who seemed almost in tears. She walked over to a small four-door car near the entrance and spoke to the man inside it, showing him something she had in her hands.

The man grabbed it and then shoved her backwards with an angry snarl. He pushed the car door open and headed for the door to the drugstore, leaving the woman behind. She looked unhappily at the car for a brief moment, then went around and got into the passenger side, pulling down the sunshade and peering anxiously into the mirror.

Now, what was the story there? Kerry wondered, but not for long because her peripheral vision was filled with an approaching figure that captured her attention fully as she turned her head to watch Dar walk over to her.

Just the sight of that angular face made her smile. Kerry could feel her facial muscles responding, and she watched Dar react and return the grin as she opened the door and slid inside bringing a puff of hot, moist air and the scent of the apricot scrub still lingering on her skin. "That didn't take long. Thanks for getting my stuff."

Dar handed her the bag. "No problem. Careful, there's a jug of..."

"Ice cream in here," Kerry finished, peering inside. "And...what in the..." She removed something from the bag and held it up, letting the plastic bag drop down to the floor between her hiking boots. "Dar, what is this?"

Dar was concentrating on removing the Lexus from the parking lot and keeping the body of the car intact while she did so. "Um...it's a hamster."

Kerry tapped the small, furry foot, and the stuffed animal started to dance to the tune of "Over There..." "It's a dancing hamster," she observed, dancing a little in her seat along with it. "It's a dancing hamster in a sailor suit, Dar."

"Yeah." Her partner peered fiercely through the windshield. "You were calling me a hamster the other day so..."

A giggle worked its way out of Kerry's chest. She set the creature on her lap and tapped its foot again, watching it dance and squiggle in its white outfit and hat. "Is this supposed to be you?"

Dar cleared her throat. "I thought you'd think it was cute."

"Hehehehehehehehe." Kerry let out a long, low chortle. "Oh, you're so right, I do." She danced with her new little friend. "Wait till your dad sees it."

Dar turned her head and gave her a look over the tops of her sunglasses.

"I'm going to put this on my desk," Kerry decided.

"At work?" Dar's eyes nearly popped.

Kerry reached over and turned her head back forward, as the light turned green and they were free to proceed across to the causeway home. "Don't be goofy. Of course not at work. At home."

Dar settled back in her seat, relieved. "Yeah, well...I had some time to kill at the register. They were short handed."

"Though it might be a great ice breaker at new client meetings," Kerry mused.

Dar turned to stare at her again, only to find mischievous green eyes waiting in knowing silence. "You're lucky I love you," she mock growled.

Kerry's smile softened and gentled. "Don't I know how lucky I am," she replied. "And I will find us a different church, Dar. I like belonging to something like that. It gives me a sense of community here. But not at the expense of you being uncomfortable with it."

Dar fell silent as she directed the car onto the ferry base. "Does it have to be a church?" she asked as they pulled up to the cones. "Maybe we could join a computer club or something?"

Kerry rested her chin on her fist. "We spend enough time with nerds," she disagreed. "Hey...how about a biker club?"

Dar covered her eyes with one hand.

"Vroom, vroom."

NOW IT WAS Kerry's turn to be a couch potato, and she readily took advantage of it, tucking the light, worn childhood quilt she'd brought back from Michigan around her as she watched the late news. She had a cup of hot blackberry tea on the table nearby, and sufficient quantities of painkillers to render her acceptably comfortable, at least for the moment.

They had paused at the Island Market on the way home and gotten some fish filets, which Dar had insisted on cooking. Much to Kerry's surprise, and also to her partner's she suspected, the relatively simple broiling experiment had turned out very tasty. After that, and some of Dar's newly purchased ice cream, the stresses from the party had finally dissipated.

"Nothing." Dar looked up from her perch sprawled across the love seat. "I don't get it. There's nothing here." She lifted a hand and let it drop, shaking her head at the screen of her laptop. "No mention, no little notes in the paper, nothing in the trades...a major contract falls through, and all you see is news about rugby."

Kerry chuckled softly. "I don't know, sweetie. I think I like those priorities for a change." She took a sip of her tea. "Oh well. We'll find out eventually what the deal is. Once we get to those ships, someone'll talk. They always do, Dar."

"Mmph." Dar was rattling away at her keyboard.

Kerry returned her attention to the big screen television, where an overly earnest reporter was relating the day's news in serious, emphatic tones. The shot cut away to a nighttime scene, with flashing police lights, and after studying it for a minute, she frowned. "Hey, Dar? Look."

"Mm?" Pale blue eyes flicked to her, then to the television. "What am I looking at?"

"Isn't that the Walgreen's? The one we were at today?"

Dar leaned on the love seat arm and peered at the screen. "I don't...hell, they all look alike to me, Kerry. Maybe it is. Why?"

"Shh." Kerry turned the sound up to listen.

"Police are unsure of how the woman got left in the trunk, or who might have done this to her. She was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital where she's in critical condition." The reporter on the scene drew back, showing a small, four door car parked on the side of the building. It's trunk was hanging open and obviously had been forced. "The car was rented, police say, by an unidentified man they are now looking for."

"Huh," Dar murmured. "Someone locked in a trunk? Lucky they didn't croak in this heat." She shook her head and went back to her laptop screen. "Wonder when it happened?"

"I don't know." Kerry leaned forward. "They can't have found it that long ago. It's a live report. Oh, Dar I'd hate to think that poor woman was in that trunk when we were there!"

Dar looked up again, studying the car. "We weren't on that side of the building," she said. "Car looks a little familiar though, but it's a common rental type. Dime a dozen, Ker."

"Yeah." Something was niggling at Kerry's memory, and she rested her chin on her fist as the news went on to another story. After a few minutes of trying to root it out, however, she gave up and tuned back in to the reporter. "Ah...gonna have rain tomorrow," she chortled softly. "Sure you don't want to spend the day inside with me watching it?"

"Mm." Dar gave her a narrow-eyed look. "Temptress."

Kerry gave her best impression of sultriness, aware that her Pooh T-shirt was probably skewing the impact just a trifle. "Actually, I've got a ton of stuff to do tomorrow. I want to get a hair-cut for starters, and my car's due for service."

"Thought you were going to relax?" Dar reminded her.

"I will," Kerry said. "But I want to get something accomplished too, so I don't feel so guilty thinking of you slaving away in the office stuck in your monkey suit."

"Ahh, and I have to meet with all the international sales directors. They're in tomorrow." Dar reminded her. "So you can really pity me. Maria has a four hour block scheduled in the afternoon."

"Ew."

"Uh huh."

Kerry rolled over on to her back and watched Dar's profile as she worked on her machine. "I could pass on having a day off," she suggested. "You want some backup?"

"Nah." Dar glanced up at her, and grinned. "But thanks for the offer."

"Okay." Kerry wiggled her feet under the cotton covering. "But I'll make sure you've got something great to come home to."

The blue eyes twinkled. "Something other than you? What else do you think I need?"

Kerry sighed happily.

"Besides, you're going to have to run the ball game with Quest," Dar continued dryly. "Don't thank me yet." She went back to her typing, listening to the soft chuckle as Kerry rolled back onto her side and the news switched over to sports.

"Okay." She reviewed her work for the last time, studying the presentation she'd put together for the meeting. "I think that'll work." She set the laptop down on the coffee table and stretched, reaching out to scratch Chino's head.

It was a completely ordinary Sunday night at home. They usually watched whatever was on either the Learning Channel or Discovery, or a movie, then the news before getting together whatever they needed for work the next week and going to bed.

Comfortingly predictable. Dar regarded the shots of football players practicing in the hot sun with a touch of bemusement. "Y'know, they took us to see those guys do that once."

"That?" Kerry pointed. "You mean, summer practice?"

"Yeah," Dar said. "They used to take school kids on different field trips. See the zoo, that sort of thing." A rakish grin appeared. "Summer day, ninety degrees, no water anywhere. We all ran off and raided a McArthur Dairy milk truck that'd stopped to make a delivery. Nearly got tossed in jail."

Kerry started laughing.

"Haven't liked watching those guys play since."