Kerry blinked, also a little startled at the retort. “Uh, that’s okay,”

she told him. “I kind of opened myself up for that, didn’t I?”

Alastair chuckled. “I try to be good,” he said. “Anyway, as I said, I’m under a lot of pressure, here, Kerry.” He turned serious again.

“They want a meeting tomorrow in Washington. I’m going to have Hamilton get hold of that JAG officer and shake him up a little, but I’d really rather not go into the meeting, ah...”

“In nothing but your boxers?” Kerry asked.

“He wears briefs,” Dar’s voice burred. “White cotton ones.” She Red Sky At Morning 319

closed the door to Kerry’s office and walked over to the desk, hitching up the leg on her khaki cargo pants before she sat down on the edge.

“Hello, Alastair.”

“Ah. Hello, Dar,” the CEO replied. “Good to hear your voice.”

One of Dar’s dark brows lifted. “Why, you been listening to Eleanor again?”

“The Navy wants to sue us for reckless endangerment,” Kerry told her.

A chuckle. “Oh, really?” Dar leaned on her good arm and addressed the phone. “Who did a bunch of unarmed IS workers endanger, Alastair?”

“I don’t know. I’m having Ham handle it,” her boss said. “Listen, Dar, I know you’ve been on this all day, but what’s the word? Do we have something or not?”

“Alastair, this isn’t an Internet search,” Dar answered, a touch testily. “It’s a fifty-gigabyte drive array that I’m having to reconstruct in hex, sector by sector.”

There was a reverent silence following this pronouncement, as everyone gave the information its due respect.

“And?” Alastair asked briskly.

Dar sighed, and rubbed her eyes. “I’m not done,” she said. “But so far, so good.”

Kerry got up and walked around the desk. She put her arms around Dar and gave her a gentle hug and a kiss on the cheek. “You are so my hero,” she whispered in her lover’s ear. “Can I be you when I grow up?”

Dar blushed, her tanned skin darkening appreciably. “I can’t promise anything,” she muttered.

Alastair chortled. “Will you let me know tomorrow? They want me on the carpet first thing Friday morning in DC.”

“I said, I can’t promise anything,” Dar repeated. Alastair remained prudently silent. Kerry gazed confidently at her. Dar sighed. “I’ll call you tomorrow after lunch.”

“Right. Have a great night, Dar,” the CEO agreed. “Night, Kerrison; nice talking to you.”

Dar released the line and gave Kerry a look. “One of these days, I’m not going to be able to deliver him the River Nile in a coffee cup, and we’re going to be totally screwed.”

Kerry smiled and reached up to straighten the unruly dark locks.

“You look bushed, sweetie.”

“I am,” Dar admitted with a nod. She blinked, then rubbed her eyes again. “Ow.”

Kerry gently took hold of her jaw and tilted her head toward the office light. “Your eyes are all bloodshot,” she informed her lover.

“Hang on.” She went to her desk drawer and retrieved a bottle of eye drops, then came back. “Hold still.”

Dar patiently did as she was asked, watching the ceiling as Kerry 320 Melissa Good administered the treatment. She blinked as the liquid hit her eyes, stinging momentarily as her lover wiped off the excess with a fingertip.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” Kerry capped the bottle. “These are designed for us, you know.” She examined the label. “Imagine, an entire product line based around the IS industry.”

Dar peeked at it. “Wonder if it’s any different from garden-variety Visine?” She rested her chin on Kerry’s shoulder.

“Probably not.” A smile. “But I felt so virtuous buying it in Office Depot, along with that gel wrist pad I got you and my new trackball.”

“Mm.” Dar straightened and stretched her back out. “You order dinner?”

“Yep.” Kerry looked up as her intercom buzzed. She reached around Dar’s body and hit the key. “Yes?”

“Ms. Stuart, this is Security at the front door. Did you order something?”

“Ooh. Nice timing,” Dar purred into Kerry’s conveniently close ear.

Kerry managed not to laugh. “Yes, thank you. I’ll be right down.”

She released the button and turned, not moving away from Dar, so that they ended up nose to nose. It was too easy not to just lean forward the additional inch, so Kerry did and they kissed.

It was a very pleasant, sensual jolt that followed, and Kerry found herself enjoying it a lot. It chased away the stress and exhaustion of the long day and made her smile, especially when she felt Dar doing the same. “You know.” She backed off a few inches. “I really like that.”

Dar merely smirked.

“Stay here. I’m going to get dinner,” Kerry said.

“No.” Dar patted her cheek gently. “Let me. I need to stretch my legs. That chair in Mark’s dungeon was made for a dwarf.” She got up off the desk and headed for the door before Kerry could disagree.

Kerry exhaled. “That crumb,” she commented to the empty room.

“She just conned me out of paying for dinner, didn’t she?”

DAR LEANED AGAINST the elevator wall, watching the numbers count down. As it was after hours, the annoying music that usually played in the contraption was turned off, and she could hear the hum and shush of the mechanism as it worked.

“You’re not even going to think about getting stuck in this thing, Roberts,” she told her reflection sternly.

The elevator seemed to hesitate, as though it was considering stopping. Dar glared at the panel and narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you even think about it,” she rumbled in a low growl. “I’ll take you apart and make you into a toaster.”

The chastened device obediently kept moving.

Dar smirked at her reflection, her upper body encased in a crimson Red Sky At Morning 321

short-sleeved shirt tucked into her cargo pants. She reached the bottom floor and the doors opened, allowing her to exit into the large empty lobby. She walked across the marble floor and past the fountain toward the security station, where she could see a guard talking to a man in casual clothing.

At her approach, the guard turned. “Oh. Ms. Roberts.” He blinked.

“I thought Ms. Stuart was picking this up.”

“Nope.” Dar gave the deliveryman a brief smile and handed him her credit card. He swiped it efficiently in a handheld device and offered the receipt to her for a signature. She reviewed the bill, added a tip, and signed it. “Thanks.”

She accepted the box of food, its spices already sneaking out and tickling her nose. “Back to the mines.”

The guard chuckled. “Good to have you back, Ms. Roberts. We missed you.”

Dar swiveled and regarded the man, whom she might have seen all of twice before. “Why?”

The man blinked at her. “Pardon me, ma’am?”

“Why the hell would anyone down here miss me?” Dar asked curiously. “Is there a rumor going around that I bring in doughnuts or something?”

The guard looked around, then took a few steps closer to her. “No, ma’am, but everyone knows that when you’re here, no matter what happens, we’re okay.”

Dar studied him in mild surprise. “Everyone knows that, huh?”

He nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Interesting.” Dar turned and made her way back to the elevator, supporting her tasty-smelling box with her good arm and balancing it with the other. She punched the button for the tenth floor and watched the doors close.

THEY ATE IN the ops center, with Dar leaning back in her uncomfortable chair, her feet propped up on the desk and her container of spicy chicken and rice nestled in her lap. Kerry was perched on a box of computer paper next to the desk, and Mark was sitting on an old mounting rack.

They were alone and it was quiet, the only activity around them in the operations control room itself just around the corner behind its secured door. At 8 PM, the office building was emptied of its staff and only the computer support group was left to tend the servers and provide support for the other offices around the world.

Mark selected a pea pod, turned it around so the small end faced him, and took a bite. “This reminds me of the old days, boss.”

Dar chuckled. “The bad old days, you mean.” She deftly used her chopsticks to transfer some chicken to her lips. “I spent so many damn 322 Melissa Good hours in this room.”

Kerry looked around. “This room?”

“This used to be Dar’s office,” Mark supplied, with a grin. “I remember whatshisface, that John whatever-his-name-was, that used to be the CIO. Remember when he came in here and saw this place the first time?”

Dar snorted. “Oh, yeah. Took one look at the posters on the wall and nearly laid a load in his pinstripes.” She looked around fondly at the small space, its walls at an odd angle due to the room’s position in the corner space. “Took one look at me and hauled ass right back to Houston to sign my termination papers.”

“Didn’t help you had your favorite uniform on,” Mark grinned.

“It was after hours,” Dar demurred. “I was going clubbing after work.”

Kerry had been watching them, her eyes moving from one to the other like she was at a particularly interesting volleyball match. “Was this during your rebellious phase?”

Dar waggled an eyebrow at her. “Definitely.” She took a sip of Thai coffee. “I had on biker boots with more chains dangling from them than you’d see in two days at the Westminster Kennel Club.”

Kerry covered her eyes as her shoulders shook.

“Mm-hmm. Those were nice,” Mark agreed. “I have a pair.” He chewed thoughtfully. “Without the chains. They get stuck in my gears.