“You want me to drive?” Andy asked.

“Honey,” Ceci struggled with the wheel a moment more, then got the car straight, “I’m sure Kerry and Dar would like to see us in one piece sometime this evening.” She accelerated cautiously.

“Ah. That’s better.” It really was hard to believe they were actually there. Certainly it was only marginally their business, and their presence would not, she suspected strongly, be a welcome one.

That one shot of Dar and Kerry coming out of the hospital the night before, both faces strained to an almost scary extent, made their decision for them, for better or worse. Ceci exhaled and nodded to herself. They had the means, they had the method, and by the goddess, here they were about to turn into the driveway of the Stuart family manse.

“Think we should have warned them?” she asked, waiting in line behind a maroon Jaguar.

An unexpected smile crossed Andy’s scarred face. “Nope.

Better to just do it and fill in the paperwork later.”

“Mm.” Cecilia pulled up to the guard and opened the window. The man leaned over and peered inside as she marshaled several well thought out arguments to gain admittance, prepared to bombard the man with inescapable logic and plain intimidation if she had to.

“Go right ahead, sir,” he murmured courteously. “Ma’am.”

The gate opened. Ceci glanced at her husband who looked back at her, equally puzzled. “Well.” She pulled the car through the opening gates. “I’m not looking that gift donkey in the ass.”

“Musta been taken by your pretty face,” Andy said.

“More likely by the glare off your chest, sailor boy.” Ceci patted the front of his uniform, which was liberally bedecked with medals and ribbons. “He probably figured you run the Navy.

C’mon.”

They got out and Ceci pulled the lapels of her coat closer as the cold wind chilled her skin. After a second, Andy was next to her, and he put a hand on her back to steady her steps as they 138 Melissa Good headed up the icy walk towards the house. “Stuffy looking, isn’t it?” she commented as they rang the bell.

“’Bout what I expected,” Andrew grumbled as the door opened. The staff member immediately retreated and allowed them to enter, offering to take their coats with a quiet word. They accepted the offer, and continued towards a large, crowded room off to the left.

Ceci checked out the house with a knowledgeable, patrician eye. The Stuarts occupied roughly the same social class as her own family, but there were differences. This was conservative, stolid, Midwestern money, concerned with presence and stability and tradition.

Ick. Ceci had a sudden, almost irresistible urge to throw a bucket of paint over the stately white walls. With an effort, she controlled herself and concentrated on studying the room full of dignitaries, searching for familiar faces. It was tough, being the height she was, but she managed to find Dar’s tall, elegant form almost immediately. She had her back to the door and was speaking to a tall, silver haired man. “There’s one.”

“Yeap. Easy to spot. Prettiest girl in the room,” Andrew noted with complete seriousness.

Ceci chuckled softly. Then she stopped laughing when she saw Kerry off to one side, ringed by a number of older men and women.

“That don’t look so good,” Andrew said. “Think I’ll go scout.”

“I’ll go clue in our daughter,” Ceci replied, and they moved off in opposite directions.

“WELL.”

Dar turned her head and found a most unwelcome sight. Kyle Evans was standing there with a slightly mocking expression on his face. “Ah. What rock did you crawl out from under?”

One silver eyebrow lifted. “Not even a pretense of civility?”

“Not for you.” Dar met his gaze evenly. Of all the members of the late senator’s staff, this was the one she had the most reason to hate. And she did, with a completeness that allowed for no mitigation. Kyle had been Kerry’s persecutor, the man who had carried out her father’s rigid policies, and a nightmarish tormentor who had scarred her gentle lover’s psyche in ways it horrified Dar to think about.

“Well.” Kyle examined the room with cool eyes. “Finally got what you wanted, didn’t you?”

“No. I’ve always had what I wanted.” Dar met his sudden Thicker Than Water 139

look with an icy smile. “But he finally got what he deserved.”

Kyle didn’t answer. Instead, he continued to study the room.

“Pity I was out of the country,” he purred. “I’d have made sure you didn’t join this little family reunion.” He turned and smiled at her with no humor at all. “But look, there’s the little prodigal. Let me go pay my,” his lip twitched, “respects.”

“I don’t think she wants them,” Dar said.

“I’m sure she doesn’t.” Kyle smiled again. “Maybe we can talk over…old times.”

He turned and glided away, leaving Dar with an icy facade over wild inner turmoil. She felt her blood pressure rise, sending a surge of warmth to her skin and muscles as her body interpreted the emotion she felt with uncanny accuracy. Her hands twitched, and it was only by the barest of margins that she held herself back from going after him.

“Dar?”

Her head snapped to one side, and it took a few seconds for her rational mind to recognize the voice and register the sudden, completely unexpected appearance of her mother at her side. Her glare melted as she took a breath and blinked. “Mom? What are you doing here?”

“Well…” Cecilia eased closer, now that the impending erup-tion seemed to be under control. “Up ’til now I’d have said we were here just to piss everyone off and give you two some friendly faces.” She studied her child with concern. “But after that little scene, I’m not so sure that moral support is the only kind you need. Who the hell was that?”

Dar’s eyes darted over the crowd. “Dad’s here?”

“Yes,” Ceci said. “He was heading over to thump Kerry’s relatives a moment ago. Why?” She put a hand on Dar’s arm. “Dar, are you all right?”

Dar closed her eyes and took firm control of herself. “Yes.

Thanks.” Now that she knew they were safe, one worry was done away with. And she had another to take its place. She finally turned and regarded her mother. “I’m glad you’re here.” She drew a deep breath before addressing the question. “And that was Kyle Evans. He’s…he was Stuart’s chief bastard and whitewasher.” Her lips twitched. “His personal assistant.”

“Uh huh.” Ceci relaxed a little. “Tight-assed looking creature.

Sorry about the surprise. We saw you two on television last night and you looked like you could use a little support.”

“I tried to call you earlier.” Dar felt her pulse slow. “Colleen said you’d gone out of town, but she didn’t know where.” She scanned the crowd again and immediately found her father’s tall form as he slid into place beside the unsuspecting Kerry, just as 140 Melissa Good Kyle approached from the other side of her.

An unexpected smile crossed Dar’s face, which vanished just as quickly. “It’s been a rough couple of days. Most of her relatives are giving her hell.”

“So I gathered,” Ceci murmured. “Shall we go rescue her?”

Dar glanced around the room. It was full of dignitaries, most of whom were watching the cluster of people around Kerry with thinly disguised interest. She watched a camera flash and saw the reporter angle for a better shot of Kerry’s face as she stood holding her ground against her various aunts and uncles. She was tense; Dar could see that in the way she held her body and in the careful, controlled hand motions as she fought to remain civil.

“Yeah,” Dar said. “Let’s go do that.”

KERRY RETURNED THE thin smile from her youngest aunt.

Viciously polite. That was the term she was looking for. So far, though, she’d done all right. Even her uncles, aware of the cameras and the outsiders’ stares, were behaving themselves. “Sorry, what was the question?”

“What’s the social life down there like for you?” Marcia repeated. “I’m sure you participate, don’t you?”

“Not really,” Kerry replied quietly. “I do on a corporate level, naturally, but we have other interests besides parties.”

“Oh, really?” Her aunt was a slim, hawk faced woman with silvered dark hair. “Like what, cooking?” she asked with a touch of sweet sarcasm.

Keep cool, Kerry, she reminded herself. “I dabble in it, sure.

But mostly outdoor sports, really. Diving, underwater photography, that kind of thing.” She smiled. “And a little distance running and martial arts.”

“Funny,” Aunt Marcia sniped. “You were never interested in those things before.”

“Well, you know, there’s a limited amount of scuba diving available in Lake Michigan,” Kerry replied. “Miami’s a little more climactically friendly to outdoor sports. It’s been great for me. I’m having the time of my life.”

“Well you certainly look different,” her aunt said. “You definitely…filled out.”

Kerry refused to view that as the insult her aunt undoubtedly intended it to be. “Thanks. You look good yourself.”

“Yes, she certainly has changed.” A voice came from Kerry’s left, sending a chill down her back. She turned to find her worst nightmare looking back at her through cold, gray eyes.

“Hello, Kyle.” Her stomach lurched as she remembered the Thicker Than Water 141

last time they’d met. She felt someone brush lightly against her on the right side, but she remained in place, warily watching her old adversary. She honestly hadn’t expected this confrontation. Her mother had told her Kyle had been sent overseas months ago, and she’d figured… Damn.