Skippy turned her head. ”Yes. We just turned off the expressway.

We’ve got a little bit to go yet.” She replied cheerfully. ”It’s way, way out there. We wanted to get to where you couldn’t hear the traffic at all.” Dar leaned against her seat back and peered out the window. A billboard went by. ”Aardvark Bail Bonds,” she commented, ”next right.” Her head turned. ”Guess you’re not the only ones who wanted some privacy.”

Skippy blinked at her. ”What do you mean?”

Dar peered out again. ”Bill’s Bail Haven,” she enunciated. ”No waiting, six lines.” Her blue eyes regarded her wryly. ”We’re out near Stark.”

”Stark?” Steven asked, obviously disgruntled at having his discussion interrupted. ”What are you talking about, Dar?”

”The federal penitentiary,” came the droll response. ”There’s also a state jail out near here if I’m not mistaken. No wonder it’s empty.”

”Oh, well, we’re not going there,” Skippy assured her. ”It’s a camp just west of here, really. We wouldn’t take you to a prison.”

”Oh, I don’t know,” Steven sniped. ”I’d like to see that, myself.”

Dar gazed at him. ”Steven, you’d have a lot more to worry about than I would,” she replied silkily.

He leaned back. ”Oh, I don’t think so. I think those women would knock that tough attitude of yours right off.”

Dar put her hands on her hips, and smiled at him. “They might try.

Idiots have been known to.”

Skippy had been watching them, her head bobbing between them like an errant, blonde ping-pong ball. ”Oh, do you two know each other well?” she asked brightly.

Steven studied Dar’s tall form speculatively. ”C’mon, Dar. Those days are long behind you. Cut the crap.” He laughed. ”When was the Hurricane Watch

53

last time you even hit the mat?”

”Mat?” Skippy seemed to sense a fight, and dove into an attempt to divert it. ”What kind of mats are those? Are you into aerobics? I am.”

Dar decided to ignore them, and instead strolled off down the aisle, ending up in the back of the bus where there was a toilet and a small refrigerator. Dar opened the fridge, finding a can of Yoo-hoo to her muted delight. She also picked up a bag of pretzels and held on as the bus took a right turn and slowed drastically.

”Oh, we’re almost there.” Skippy stood up and went to her seat at the front, gathering up her stack of paper and peering out the front window. ”Okay, folks. You’d better wake up, because the road gets a little bumpy up here and I don’t want anyone to get scared.” Her perky voice stirred the rest of the group, who struggled awake, peering around.

Dar made her way back to her seat and dropped into it, opening her soda and sucking at it in silence. A blonde head appeared over the seat in front of her and she glanced up, only just barely keeping herself from giving Kerry a friendly smile. The green eyes, amber in the bus’s low light, twinkled a little in acknowledgment. She offered Kerry some pretzels.

”Thanks,” Kerry replied politely, selecting one and munching on it.

The bus turned to the right again and now it felt like they were going over a thousand bumps, the vibration rattling through them unpleasantly.

”Jesu Christo,” José blurted. ”What kind of place is this we’re going to?” They all peered out the windows, but could only see darkness and trees, whose leaves slapped against the bus’s tall sides. After ten minutes of rattling, the bus slowed and pulled in under some kind of portal, now rocking unevenly as the road turned to soft dirt.

Finally, the bus stopped and the interior lights came on. ”Okay.”

Skippy faced them. ”We’re in front of the main hall. We’re going to get off the bus and I’ll walk you over to your cabin.” She checked a list. ”We have some hot coffee in the hall and some sandwiches if you’re hungry, but this camp is not a luxury hotel, okay?”

”Does that mean we have only mustard or catsup but not both?”

Duks commented dryly as he hefted his bag to his shoulder.

Skippy smiled. ”You’ll see. We try to make it so you don’t concentrate on your surroundings, but on each other instead.” She led the way. ”Well, let’s get started!”

They got off the bus and were assaulted by cold air full of the smell of pine and sand. In front of them was a wooden building with a porch that circled most of it, and they followed Skippy up the stairs and through the swinging door.

It was a drab place and Dar was forcibly reminded of a few Navy camps she’d been in during her younger years. There were trestle tables arranged in neat rows, with long, narrow benches next to them, and 54

Melissa Good

faded banners on the walls. The place had been swept, but it was chilled inside, and only three lights were on, lending a dank, almost dingy quality to it. ”Nice,” she stated with a shake of her head. ”What is this place?”

Skippy looked up from her papers. ”It’s a YMCA camp,” she replied, with a slightly smug smile.

Eleanor had been looking around and now she stared at the woman, aghast. ”You can’t expect us to stay in this disgusting place.”

She tugged her jacket around her. ”This is ludicrous.”

José stepped up next to her. ”I must agree. This is not a place for people like us.” He waved a hand at her. ”There must be a hotel around here.”

Duks perched on the edge of a table. ”I could protest this on religious grounds,” he stated, mildly, glancing at Mariana. ”Do I have a case?”

The Personnel VP blew out a breath. ”I have to admit, this is not what I expected from your company,” she addressed Skippy. ”I know this is not the kind of facility they used in Houston.”

Steven had been roaming around, studying the walls. ”Oh, I don’t know. It’s not so bad.” He turned a smile on them. ”Kinda reminds me of when I was a Boy Scout.” He spread his arms out. ”C'mon, it’s only for two nights. Lots of fresh air would probably do us all some good.”

He took in a deep breath.

As though by common accord they all turned to Dar, who was leaning against the wall. The tall Operations VP shrugged. ”I’ve been in worse,” she commented. ”My guess is there’s no other place around here, right?” Her eyes went to Skippy.

”No.” The perky blonde looked disturbed. ”They assured us you wouldn’t have any problem with this place. We were very explicit in describing it.”

José snorted. ”They must be laughing their asses off at us.” He spat disgustedly. ”Big joke, big joke, wait until I get back there. I’m going to call up those bastards and give them a piece of my mind.” He pointed at Dar. ”See what you got us into?”

”Yes, I hold you responsible for this, Dar.” Eleanor agreed. ”What were you thinking of?”

Mariana got between them. ”Wait a minute. This has nothing to do with Dar.”

”Of course it does,” Steven interrupted smoothly. ”Her lack of cooperation is what landed us here, Mariana, but now that we’re here, we might as well make the best of it.” He smiled at Skippy, who still appeared very upset. ”I’m sure we’ll carry on, despite what old Dar’s gotten us into.”

”That’s a very good attitude St...I mean, Mr. Fabricini,” Skippy asserted.

Dar gave them all a dour look, realizing Steven had won a point.


Hurricane Watch

55

”Arguing about this right now is pointless,” she stated evenly. ”We can discuss it when we get back to Miami, or better yet, we can all take a flight over to Houston and talk about it with Alastair directly.”

That threat got a wide-eyed response. ”Right now, let’s just get through this.” She looked over at Skippy. ”You were going to take us over to a cabin? I think some sleep would be a good idea.”

”Um, right, okay, let’s go.” The guide knew when to beat a retreat.

”Right this way. Now, we put sheets and blankets on the bunks. It’s a little nippy tonight, so I have someone out checking for space heaters, but we don’t have those right now.” She led the way across the dark ground towards a smaller, wooden structure. ”Here we are.”

She

opened the door and stood back to let them enter. ”Watch your step.”

It was, Kerry decided, pretty horrifying. She’d been to camps, sure, but the ones her parents had sent her to had carpet on the floors and private bunks for each camper. This was not like that. It was basically two rooms with a shared bathroom in the middle, featuring wooden framed bunks against the walls and shuttered windows between them.

Six bunks in one room, six in the other, and the bathroom was split in two also, with two toilet stalls and two showers, lacking curtains.

Oh boy. Kerry glanced at Dar, who looked like she was caught between wild amusement and true irritation. ”Men on one side, women on the other,” the Operations VP stated flatly. ”Just don’t think about it.

Pick a bunk, and let’s just get some sleep.”

Dar stalked across the wooden floor, selecting the bunk in the back corner and tossing her bag down on it. Kerry ambled over and chose the next one, sitting down on it and folding her hands in her lap.

Mariana followed suit, silently picking the bunk to the other side of Dar, then smiling as Mary Lou sat down next to her, leaving the far bunk for Eleanor.

”Right.” Duks grunted and headed towards the other room, which connected via a door. He opened it and passed through. ”C’mon boys.”

Steven laughed gently, giving Dar a smile before he followed the finance VP into the next room and José trailed after him with a disgusted look. Eleanor’s assistant meekly went along leaving the women all looking at each other.

”I’m going to be ill,” Eleanor stated firmly, holding her bag. ”This is unacceptable.”