Melissa Good - Tropical Storm

“Goat-sacrificer?” she mouthed.

“Shhh.” Kerry put a hand on her lips. “No on both counts, Angie,” she assured her. “Honest.”

An awkward pause. “Are you alone?” Angela asked hesitantly.

Kerry let a breath trickle out of her lungs. “No.”

“Oh.” It came out awkwardly. “Well, I should let you go then. You must be…busy.”

Blue eyes and green met and dropped. “I just got back from skating, actually.” Kerry cleared her throat. “We’re just sitting around talking. But listen, keep an ear on the folks for me, okay? I’d rather know if I’m going to walk into Hell next week.”

Angela sighed. “Okay, I can do that. You take care of yourself, Kerry, okay?”

“I will. You too, Angie. See you next week.” Her sister told her. “ ’Night.”

336 Melissa Good She hung up, and let the phone rest on the floor. “My sister.”

Dar chewed on that. “She seems nice. You sure you two aren’t foundlings?”

Kerry snorted softly. “It’s crossed my mind, believe me.” She reached down and ran her fingers through Dar’s dark hair. “Want some chocolate milk? Some followed me home from the store today.”

“Sure.” The taller woman stood and extended a hand down to her.

“C’mon, I think the Crocodile Lover is on.” She grabbed Kerry’s arm and pulled her upright, smiling as the skates brought her smaller companion a good two inches higher than usual. “Mmm, nice positioning.” She leaned forward a little and kissed the waiting lips, feeling Kerry’s hands slip down and come to rest against her belt.

“Oh, great…” Kerry enjoyed herself, hooking her fingers in the loops and pulling herself closer. “I’m destined to be stuck on skates for the rest of my life.” Dar’s arms closed around her, and she gladly let her body relax against her companions.

“Goat-sacrificer? What kind of stories have you been telling your sister?”

Dar breathed in her ear. “You haven’t been scaring her with that stuff about Santeria and the Chupacabra, have you?”

Kerry let her head rest against Dar’s shoulder. “No, she’s been watching reruns of Miami Vice on cable again.” There was a pause while they both silently absorbed each other. “What are you doing for Thanksgiving?” she asked unexpectedly.

“You could invite me home with you,” Dar teased, watching a wistful look cross Kerry’s face. “I’m invited up to Gerald Easton’s house. He’s been a good friend, and sort of an uncle to me since I was a kid.”

Kerry patted her gently. “Good, I’m glad. I hated to think of you being all by yourself. That’s in Washington, right?”

Dar nodded. “Maryland, actually, just over the border. He’s promised me leaves other than green ones, and the chance of a little snow.”

“Mmm.” Kerry nibbled her jaw. “You’re taking your cell phone, right?”

Dar leaned back and studied her seriously. “If you get into trouble with your folks, you call me, Kerry. I’ll be there, okay?” She paused. “Cell phone, oh shit, that reminds me, I need to log in. Mark conveniently interrupted me as I was dropping Michelle off and told me we had a security breach.”

“Yikes!” Kerry sat down on the couch and started unstrapping her skates.

“Did he catch them?”

“Yeah. But they shot off a packet into the network, he was tracing it when he talked to me. He was going to route it and find out where it came from.”

“Help yourself.” Kerry motioned towards her desk. “I’ll get some milk and cookies.” She got up and leaned on Dar’s back, watching her start up sessions. “And turn on the crocodile dude.” She got a gentle, insistent kiss for that, and closed her eyes as Dar half turned to continue the pressure . Bite me, Michelle. I hope you spend the whole night with your pillow and a breadstick. The night was definitely looking up.

“LOOK, I DON’T much care what he’s saying, that circuit isn’t going to be completed in ten days,” Dar pronounced for the sixth time. “Not even if I drive to Tampa personally and kick the telco crew in the butt, so forget it.”

“But, Dar,” the voice on the other end of the phone protested, “it’s been two months, they’re screaming!”

Dar exhaled. “It’s not our fault they got hit with a flood and it took out an entire CO, Brendan. We’re pushing telco as hard as we can, all right?” She glanced at her watch. Only eleven thirty? Damn, it feels like I’ve been here for eight hours already. “They had to rebuild from scratch. Listen, tell them it’s a good thing, they’ll get brand new lines.”

Brendan sighed. “All right, I’ll see if I can snow them with that. But do me a favor, and push a little harder, huh?”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Dar promised, then disconnected and went back to her mail. “Damn, must be three hundred messages in here.” She went to the next one, a report from Mark about the mysterious packet the previous night.

“Someone scoping the place out, eh?” She examined the trace. “From an outside link, huh?” It was a request for information searching on specific strings, and as she scrolled through the dump, she stiffened.

“Well, well.” Her name and social security number. “Son of a bitch.” She picked up the phone and dialed Mark’s number, waiting as it rang and gave her his voice mail. “Mark, it’s Dar. I need to know where this came from.” She hung up, then put that aside and went to the next message.

The phone buzzed. “Yes?” A touch of impatience entered her voice.

“Dar, it’s Miss Mariana on numero uno,” Maria said over the intercom.

“She says urgent.”

The dark-haired woman felt a twinge in her gut. “Okay, I’ll take it.

Thanks.” She drummed her fingers a moment, then pressed the button. “Hi, Mariana, what’s up?”

“Dar, I need to speak with you.” The formality of the tone sent warning bells off in Dar’s head. “Now, please.”

Shit. “Mariana, I’m in the middle of a dozen fires here. What is it?” she objected warily.

“Please just come down here,” the Personnel VP stated quietly. “I need to show you something.”

Dar sighed inwardly. “All right, I’ll be right over.” She hung up, then stood and shrugged into her jacket, running a hand through her hair to order it. “I can just imagine what this is about,” she muttered softly as she headed 338 Melissa Good for the door.

Moments later, she was knocking lightly on the frame leading into Mariana’s spacious office, giving the woman a nod as she looked up. “As you requested.”

“Close the door,” Mariana said in a quiet, serious tone.

Dar did so, then walked across the carpet and sat down in the visitor’s chair across from her, pretending a casualness she really didn’t feel. “So, what’s up?”

“I got these delivered via courier.” The brunette tossed a manila envelope over to her.

Dar reached across the desk and lifted the envelope, opening the top and slipping out a stack of 8"x 10" photos. She glanced at the first one and started laughing. “Well, that was predictable.” She leafed through the others, then tossed the pile down in front of her friend. “And?”

Mariana leaned forward. “Dar.” She put a finger on the pictures. “What’s going on?”

Dar also leaned forward. “With what? Ten pictures of two people at Disney World?” She let a touch of incredulity show in her voice. “Is there a problem with that?”

“That’s not two people, Dar. That’s you and an employee of yours,”

Mariana stated quietly. “I need to tell you this is a very serious matter.”

The taller woman let out a snort. “ Get a grip, Mari. It’s not against company policy to have a couple hours off.” Her heart was beating so fast it was making her lightheaded. “What’s the big deal?”

“Dar.” Mariana stood and leaned on her hands. “What’s going on with you? Do you understand what these pictures look like?” She pulled the first one off the top and showed it to her. It was a nice shot, if somewhat fuzzy, of her and Kerry on Space Mountain. Her arms were wrapped snugly around the smaller woman’s body and both of them laughing.

“It looks like two people having a good time,” Dar answered calmly.

“Which is what it was. I’m not sure I like what you’re insinuating.” She stood, letting a little anger show. “Look, I know it’s going to disrupt the entire corporate structure, but it’s just possible there’s someone in my OrgID who actually doesn’t hate my guts. It’s odd, but there you have it. What’s the goddamned problem, Mari?” She realized going on the offensive was her only chance here.

“You’re telling me there’s nothing going on between you?” Mariana shot back. “Is that what you’re saying?”

“No.” Dar answered, her tone dropping dangerously. “There is most certainly something going on. It’s called friendship, Mariana. Or don’t you think I’m capable of that?” she snapped back. “You think every time I talk to someone I have to be sleeping with them, is that it?”

Mariana edged back a little, staring at her uncertainly. “Okay, okay, hold on, Dar.” She put her hands up. “I’m trying to protect you, and more importantly, protect Kerry. It’s my job, remember?” She looked away from the ice cold eyes glaring at her. “So…you’re friends, is that what you’re telling me?”

“Yes,” Dar replied. “I don’t hit it off with many people, Mari. You know Tropical Storm 339

that. I just got lucky. I can actually spend time with her and not want to strangle her to death. Is that a crime?” Despite her brave words to Kerry earlier, she was shaking inside. Dar knew they were both on the edge of professional disaster, her friendship with the HR VP notwithstanding.