“Shit.” Dar stopped on the stairs. She tucked the banana under an arm, dug out her phone, and opened it. “Hello?”

“Dar.” Alastair’s voice was very serious. “I have a real problem.”

Dar glanced up at the stairwell ceiling, dully lit with bland incandescence. “Yeah?”

“They’ve called me to the Pentagon,” Alastair said. “It’s no joke, Dar. Easton wants that data and he wants it today, or we’re looking at sanctions and God only knows what else. Every contract we have with them is at stake.”

Dar leaned against the railing. “Is he nuts?”

“He’s a very angry man. You need to come here and talk to 76 Melissa Good him,” Alastair said. “I had Bea book you a flight.”

“Alastair—”

“No excuses, Dar,” Alastair said. “I need you here; I need you now. This is critical.”

Dar blinked at the wall opposite her, tracing the bricks with her eyes as her mind worked. “I can’t. I’m not in Miami.”

“What do you mean yo…Not in Miami? Where are you?”

Alastair demanded. “You didn’t say you were going out of town.”

“I’m in Michigan,” Dar said.

“What? What problem do we have there?”

Dar felt the press of the cold metal against her back. “We don’t.” She exhaled slowly. “It’s personal.”

There was a momentary silence. “Dar, what in the hell’s going on? Have you lost your mind? I told you I need you here or there’ll be hell to pay!”

“I can’t,” Dar repeated.

“The hell you can’t!” Alastair spluttered. “What the hell’s going on that you can’t get on a damn plane?”

A pause kept Alastair waiting for his answer for just a few seconds. “Kerry’s father’s dying. I’m not leaving her here to face that alone.” The funny thing was, she realized much, much later, it had actually been one of the easier decisions she’d ever had to make. “General Easton is going to have to wait.”

Alastair seemed to be at a loss. “I can’t tell him that. Jesus, Dar—”

“The answer’s no, Alastair,” Dar said.

Alastair sighed. “Dar.” The phone crackled, as he apparently shifted position. “Now you listen to me, all right? You’ve scared the crap out of this man, and he’s ready to do something stupid.

He’s going to do that stupid thing if you aren’t here to talk about it, and a lot of people could get hurt.”

Dar felt unusually calm. “I know, but I’m not leaving here.”

“Dar.” Now Alastair sounded a touch desperate. “He’s not going to let me postpone this. He needs an answer, and he needs it this afternoon. Either you deal with him, or…” He left the thought unfinished.

Dar could hear her own heartbeat, and she closed her eyes.

“All right.” She paused, then surrendered. “What does he want?”

“What does he want?” Alastair’s voice rose. “Nothing much.

He wants that data, and your guarantee every part of it’s going to be destroyed, Dar. You need to talk to him, work something out.”

“All right,” Dar said. “He can have the data. I’ll sign a release.”

“You will?” The shock was evident in Alastair’s voice.

She drew in a long, long breath. “I’ll give him what he Thicker Than Water 77

wants.”

KERRY LOOKED UP as she felt a light touch on her wrist.

Her mother leaned closer and said softly, “We’ll wait for your brother to get here.” She paused, as though debating whether or not to continue. “I want you all together.”

Kerry nodded in understanding. “Okay.”

“In a way,” Cynthia went on softly, “it’s easier to come back today and think of these things. The shock, you know, it’s over.”

She drew in a breath and released it. “But it was very difficult last night.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” Kerry murmured.

“Angela said you were sick?”

Kerry glanced up at her. “I got a migraine.” She watched her mother wince slightly, knowing she was prone to the debilitating headaches herself. “It was…” She faltered. “Anyway, I’m sorry I didn’t come to the house to be with all of you.”

“Kerrison,” her mother put a hand on her arm, “this anger between us must cease. It has done far too much damage to us all, and I will not have it any longer.”

What answer can I have to that? Kerry wondered. That it wasn’t my anger to begin with? Or that it was, but they’d caused it? This is no time to start that up, she reminded herself. “All right.”

Cynthia was about to continue when a stir at the door made them both look up. Dar entered, her tall body filling the doorway with its vibrant presence. Her pale eyes flicked around the room then settled on Kerry’s face, a faint smile twitching at her lips as their gazes met.

Kerry smiled back and heard her mother sigh. Angie moved over, and Dar dropped into the seat next to Kerry, and offered up a brown and white carton and a banana.

“Thanks.” Kerry stuck the banana between her knees, opened her milk, and took a sip. It was thick and sweet, and she took a few mouthfuls before she swallowed the tablets Dar handed her.

Dar leaned back and draped an arm over Kerry’s shoulders, letting her other arm rest against her stomach. She could tell she’d walked in on some kind of discussion; the furtive glances and general air of discomfort were boringly familiar to her, usually duplicated whenever she entered the restroom at the office when it was already occupied.

Though, that hasn’t happened that much lately, Dar admitted.

Apparently, settling down and gaining a steady partner had elim-inated her from most of the racier personal gossip, and everyone still seemed a little embarrassed over the last false rumor about 78 Melissa Good Kerry and Andrew. She didn’t think she’d be getting any invita-tions to Tupperware parties any time soon, though.

That is, if Alastair forgives me for this one, Dar reflected quietly.

For putting my personal life before the company’s well being for the first time. He’d been very angry; even through the slightly raspy connection and the distance between them, Dar recognized that.

Angry and disappointed and more than a little frustrated.

But what choice did she have, really, between her honor and Kerry’s well being?

Well, I’m here. Dar firmly put work and the conversation with Alastair out of her mind as something she could no longer do anything about and concentrated on the situation at hand. She shifted her hand a little and gently rubbed the back of Kerry’s neck, which had a knot in it the size of a plum.

“Mmm,” Kerry murmured appreciatively, rocking her head forward to loosen the muscles Dar was working on. The warmth of her touch was almost as effective as the strong massage, and the tension eased out of her body after a few minutes. It was an odd sensation, because part of her knew that doing what she was doing, where she was doing it, was making everyone else uncomfortable.

Is it selfish? Kerry lifted her head and stretched, then eased back as Dar’s long arm curled around her shoulders. Her mother was staring off into the distance, and her aunts were pointedly looking elsewhere. Only Angie seemed unaffected, and as she met her sister’s eyes, Angie gave her a tiny, rueful shake of her head and the barest of winks.

Yes, Kerry decided. It is selfish of me. Everyone was hurting.

She was making it worse. She’d always been taught to deny herself for the comfort of others, and this was a prime example of the opportunity to do just that. Right. Now she just had to clue in her other half.

Kerry glanced at Dar, who was gazing down at the chocolate milk in her other hand. Dar’s profile was tense, and she could see the shift of the muscles along Dar’s jawline as she clenched and relaxed it. Dar was as uncomfortable as her family was, being there in a place where almost everyone hated her, and involved in a highly emotional situation she had little experience and less skill in dealing with.

Hm. My lifelong flowchart, Kerry realized, has gained a branch.

Sacrificing my comfort for others is fine—unless it hurts Dar. The solicitous attention was Dar’s way of dealing with the situation, focusing her concentration on something she could do something about and gaining some measure of balance from that.

Push Dar away, and it would please her family. Kerry swal-Thicker Than Water 79

lowed as Dar looked up and their eyes met. She saw the tiny fur-row form over the bridge of Dar’s nose, and in pure reflex she reached out and smoothed it away.

Dar relaxed and sat back, holding up her milk with a wry grin. “Open this for me?”

“Sure.” Kerry glanced casually around as she pulled the carton’s top open, then handed it back. Then she peeled her banana, took a bite, and chewed it thoughtfully.

MICHAEL AND BRIAN arrived just after noon. Kerry stood near the window in the waiting room, and she turned as she heard the footsteps. She met her brother’s eyes as he entered, followed by her old friend.

Mike went to her, and she pulled him into a hug. She gave Brian a pensive smile over her brother’s shoulder. “Hey, Mikey.”

“Hey.” Michael sighed, releasing her. “Sucky day.”

“Yeah. Big time.” She gave him a final squeeze, then ducked past him and found herself being hugged by Brian. Michael joined Angie and her mother on the other side of the room. “Hey, Bri,”

she greeted her onetime boyfriend.

“Hi, Kerry,” Brian replied shyly. “Sorry about all this.”

“Me, too.”

They parted. Kerry tipped her head back and they regarded each other for a moment. If things had been different, she realized, they’d have been married by now. She tried to imagine that, and found she really just couldn’t—it was too remote from who she was now. Though she felt an echo of warm affection when she looked at Brian, she knew she’d never loved him enough to spend her life with him. She wondered if he felt the same way.