“Really?” Kerry digested the information. “Well, that’s great. She’ll be glad to hear it.” Green eyes flicked up and caught him staring at her.

“We’re hoping to continue your streak. This is a new market for us.”


26 Melissa Good He settled back in his chair and laced his hands over his stomach. “I bet you are.” He picked up his coffee cup and took a sip. “We’ve put a lot of effort into building a team here. That’s part of our success. You come in and break it up...well, I can’t guarantee anything.”

Ah. Now that motive, Kerry understood only too well. “We’re running everyone through the checks, Mr. Gershwin. I don’t see any reason to make wholesale changes.” She put a reassuring tone in her voice.

“That’s not part of the current plan.”

He started to answer, then stopped as Kerry’s cell phone rang. “Ever in demand, eh?”

Kerry unhooked it and opened the phone. “Hello?”

“Hi.”

It took a lot of effort to not smile. “How are things going?”

“We’re on a break. It’s not pretty.” Dar’s voice sounded slightly hoarse. “How about you?”

“Same,” Kerry replied.

“You all right? María said you sounded upset.” The concern almost leaked through the phone at her, giving Kerry a warm feeling.

“Yeah. I’m just clarifying some of the plans here. I should have something for you later this afternoon.”

“Caught you in front of them, huh?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

A soft, gentle chuckle traveled over the connection. “All right. Call me later.”

“I will,” Kerry promised, as the line disconnected. She folded the phone back up and tucked it into her belt. “Sorry. What were you saying?”

“Just was going to say I’m glad to hear that,” Sam replied, a smile lurking around his lips. “Though some of our people found your...security...very intrusive.” He paused. “Almost communistic.” He bit down on a French fry. “They were very upset.”

Kerry considered that. “I’m sorry if they were,” she told him, sin-cerely. “If it’s any consolation, everyone goes through it.” She shrugged.

“I did. We just hate surprises.”

“Mmm.” Sam paused. “I suppose it comes down to privacy. Everyone’s got something in their life they’d like to keep secret, don’t you agree?”

Kerry felt a chill. “I never thought about it.”

He smiled. “C’mon, Ms. Stuart. You’re telling me you’ve got no closed doors in your life?”

A tiny, wry smile tugged at Kerry’s lips. “Mr. Gershwin, you’d be surprised at just how open a book my life really is.”

He studied her intently, then laughed. “Maybe I would be.”

Kerry sucked on her milkshake, unsure of what, exactly, to answer to that.


Chapter

Four

DAR TOOK A sip of water, rolling it around in her mouth before she swallowed it. Her throat hurt from talking and she really wanted nothing more than to find a quiet place with hot tea in it.

Beatrice looked up from her computer and gave Dar a sympathetic look. “Long day?”

“You know it.” The dark haired woman sighed. “I must have explained the concept of burst bottlenecking a dozen times, if I did it once. God. He’s got the comprehension of a Dead Sea snail.”

Beatrice snickered and covered her mouth. “You know, Paladar. We could use more of you around here. I’d forgotten just how colorful you can be when you put your mind to it.”

“No thanks.” Dar shook her head. “Not if this is a sample of what it’s like. He’s had Alastair in there listening to him whine for over an hour.

How does he stand it?”

“That’s his job.” The older woman turned and leaned on her elbows, regarding Dar thoughtfully. “And he knows he has someone who can make things happen for him. So it makes it a little easier to take.” Her face grew serious. “I don’t think you realize just how much he depends on you, Dar. When you resigned, I thought he was going to go insane. I walked into his office and he was almost crying.”

Dar blinked, truly surprised. “I just do what he pays me to do, Beatrice.”

A door slammed and David Ankow walked swiftly by, not giving either of them so much as a glance. He exited the reception area and slammed that door too, making Dar jump a little. She turned her head and gave Beatrice an inquiring look. The secretary shook her head.

“Well,” Alastair appeared from his office, loosening his tie, “glad that’s over with.”

Dar gazed at him. “How’d we do?”

The CEO sighed. “He’s not happy. He’s not happy with me, with the board, with the company...and boy, oh boy, oh boy, Paladar, he’s really not happy with you.”

Dar shrugged.

“Fortunately, however, you nearly bludgeoned him to death with some very pointed logic and a very impressive set of statistics, by the 28 Melissa Good way, and he had to back off.”

Dar smirked.

“For now.” Alastair shook his head. “He’ll be back, though. He’s not nearly done.” He held a hand out. “C’mon inside, Dar. Let’s chat a bit. I know you must be ready to get going.”

Dar stood up, sorry to leave the comfortable couch, and followed her boss into his office, closing the door behind them. It was quiet, and Dar glanced around as she crossed the soft carpet, remembering the last time she’d been in the place. “Hasn’t changed.”

Alastair circled his fine mahogany desk and sat down, letting his hands drop onto his knees. “Not a whole lot, no.” He watched his CIO as she sauntered over, dropped into one of his visitor’s chairs and gazed at him with those incredibly blue eyes. “You’re looking good, Dar. You losing weight?”

“A couple of pounds, yeah,” Dar replied, with a shrug. “I started working out a little more…been pretty busy.”

Alastair nodded. “How’s Kerrison?”

Dar’s face relaxed briefly into a smile. “She’s fine. In Vermont, as a matter of fact, consolidating Allison Consulting.” She paused, fingering her sunglasses. “This jerk’s going to be real trouble, isn’t he?”

“Yeap.” Her boss pursed his lips. “If he gets enough support, he can force a stockholder vote and overturn the board. But you know that.”

“Yeah.”

Alastair shifted, looking a little uncomfortable. “Dar. The new network’s about ready isn’t it?”

Dar nodded. “First components start coming online next week.”

He sighed. “It’ll be six months before we see results. It’s going to be a very long, very tough six months.” Alastair leaned back in his leather chair and crossed a pinstriped leg over one knee. “Especially since the stockholders’ meeting is next month.”

“Yeah.”

“Dar,” Alastair looked down at his hands, “he’s going to be looking for any bit of ammunition he can get, and he’s the type to get personal.”

Dar went very still. “What do you mean?”

Her boss looked uneasy. “I mean, he’s going to go after anything that will make any of us look bad and...” He sighed and finally looked up.

“He’s not going to ignore the things that I do.”

Dar drew in a quiet breath. “Oh.”

“It’s pretty common knowledge, Dar.” Alastair cleared his throat.

“Not so much here, but certainly in Miami.”

It hit hard. Somehow Dar had managed to make herself forget just how out of bounds her relationship with Kerry was. She’d actually broken company rules by simply dating her assistant; now that they lived together… “Yeah. We don’t bring our personal lives to the office, but,”

Dar sighed, “it’s no secret, no.”

“And it’s in Personnel,” Alastair responded simply. “Autonomics flagged it when it discovered two employees in the direct chain with the Eye of the Storm 29

same address.” He paused. “I overrode it.”

They were silent for a long while. Dar lifted her head finally and looked him in the eye. “Do you want me to resign from the board?” she asked quietly. “Because if it’s a choice between the company and Kerry, you have no chance.”

Alastair rested his chin in his hands and gazed fondly at her. “If you think I’m so cowpoke dumb as to not know that, I might have to be insulted.” Then he exhaled. “No. I just want you to be aware of what might happen and make Kerry aware. This could get nasty.” He drummed his fingers on his cheek. “I have a mandate to do the best I can for this company, and losing two of my very top employees runs counter to that mandate.”

Dar nodded unhappily. “All right.” She paused. “Does that mean I can expect to see his ugly puss around my neck of the swamp?”

Alastair nodded. “He mentioned tonight he was planning a trip over the Gulf. Probably next week or so.” He made a face. “Maybe he won’t find out, Dar. He’s not likely to hang out in the lunch room collecting gossip and you two must be relatively old news by now.”

“True,” Dar acknowledged. “And it’s not like we...ahm...”

“Make out on your desk?” Her boss finally smiled, as he watched his normally icy CIO turn a deep crimson. “My god, Dar Roberts blushing.

Where’s my damn digital camera?” He laughed in genuine delight.

Dar rubbed her face and tried to get her rebellious body back under control. “Glad you’re amused,” she muttered, standing up and putting on her jacket. “I gotta get out of here.”

Alastair let his chuckles run down. “All right. Have a good flight, Dar...and thanks.” He stood and held out a hand. “You really made the difference today.”

“Glad I could help.” Dar returned his grip. “See ya.”

“See ya, Dar.” Alastair lifted a hand towards her. “Good luck.”

Yeah. Dar shoved her sunglasses on as she headed back through the reception area. “Nice seeing you, Beatrice.”