I…I talked around it more than anything.” Her eyes lifted wryly. “We’re going to have to watch it tonight, though. She’s not easy to fool.”

“Oh.” Kerry considered that in thoughtful silence. “She’s a friend of yours, right?”

Dar nodded quietly. “Yes, she is.”

The smaller woman’s brow furrowed. “I think you’d feel better if you told her.” Kerry paused a moment. “Because I think she knows anyway, just from the way she was talking to me the other day.”

Dar chewed on a fry. “I think she does, too. I just hate putting her, or Duks, for that matter, into an uncomfortable situation. She’s the director of personnel, and this is part of her job. I don’t know, Kerry.”

“Mmm.” Kerry stole a fry. “Think about it, okay?” She changed the subject. “These are nice pictures. Can I keep one?”

Dar smiled and glanced at the pile. “Sure. I was going to give them to Betty to put in the division newsletter.”

Kerry selected the one of them together on the ride and gave her back the other ones. “I like this one.” She gazed at it. “I really wanted you to offer to go on that damn thing again.”

Dar laughed. “I almost did,” she admitted. “Hey, it’s supposed to be nice weather this weekend. You up for a little time on the water?”

Kerry glanced up at her with a delighted look. “Yes!” she agreed quickly.

“I have my first scuba class on Saturday morning. How about we head out after lunch?”

“Sounds good.” Dar nodded. “You’ll have all those snowbirds jealous of your nice tan, that’s for sure.” She put a hand out and gently rubbed Kerry’s knee. “I think I’m going to call Mariana and ask her to change the location for dinner…two nights in a row.”

Kerry sucked in a breath. “Jesus, I forgot you took her there. You have someplace else in mind?”

Dar shook her head, then punched the phone buttons. It rang twice, then Mariana answered. “Mari, listen, would you mind a change of venue tonight?”

She heard rustling and a soft mutter in the background that she couldn’t make out, then Mariana cleared her throat. “No, no. In fact, Dar, I was about to call you. There’s a new Thai restaurant in North Miami Duks has been dying to try.”

Green and blue eyes met. Kerry tapped her nose, then made a scrunched Tropical Storm 343

up face and poked her teeth out, sniffing. “I smell a rat,” she mouthed.

Dar bit back a chuckle. “Sure, but Mari, I didn’t know you liked that stuff,” she agreed warily, her thumb still absently caressing Kerry’s skin.

“Life’s short, Dar. Always time to try something new. Besides, Duks swears by the stuff, and he’s promised me the chicken is really just chicken.”

“Okay, sounds good.” Dar relaxed with a pleased expression. “I happen to like Thai.”

“Oh, I guess I’d better ask Kerry. She might not…” Mari sighed.

“No, she does.” Dar answered without thinking, then slapped her head and rolled her eyes as Kerry covered her mouth with a hasty hand. “Jesus, she got me,” she whispered soundlessly. “We were talking about it the other day,”

she added towards the phone.

Kerry bent over in laughter and leaned against the desk.

“Oh. Well, that’s great,” Mariana said smugly. “It’ll just be the four of us.

It’s down near US 1, Dar, just before the tracks.” A pause. “You’ll let Kerry know, then?”

Dar sighed and covered her eyes, not quite able to believe Mariana had snagged her quite so easily. “Sure, I’ll let her know,” she agreed wryly, eyeing the now-composed blonde, whose sparkling green eyes were gazing merrily at her. “See you.” She disconnected and lifted her hands, letting them drop in disgust. “God damn it.”

Kerry glanced at the door, then leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. “You’re so cute when you’re flustered,” she told her with a smile.

Dar’s brows shot up. “I am not flustered!” she objected, straightening her cuffs and brushing her sleeve off. “I’m just…um…”

The light tap warned them, and Kerry slipped around to the front of the desk, hastily settling in one of Dar’s visitor’s chairs. Maria poked her head in and spotted them.

“Ah, there you are, Kerrisita.” The secretary entered and walked across the carpet. “Dios mío! Dar, what is that?”

The executive paused in mid-bite, enjoying her sandwich. “Lunch. What does it look like, José’s new account manager?” she retorted, taking a mouthful and chewing it.

“Tcha, that is so bad for you,” Maria scolded. “Kerrisita, you set her a better example, no?”

Kerry rubbed her brow. “Actually, I got it for her,” she admitted sheepishly. “Miami Subs really doesn’t have much in the way of healthy stuff, Maria.” She paused. “Only some Greek roll-up things.”

Dar stuck out her tongue, then went back to the screen. “Maria, what is all this junk in my inbox?”

“Ay, that’s what I’m here talking to you about.” The older woman wrung her hands. “Is Mark, he started up some…what he called it, mailing list,” she said. “Let me go get some of the papers.” She hurried out, closing the door behind her.

Dar clicked with one hand while handling her sandwich with the other.

“Oh, okay, that’s why the damn thing’s subjects range from TCP/IP to a…”

She peered at the screen incredulously. “A recipe for vodka jello eggs.” She glanced up, then punched the phone.


344 Melissa Good

“Yeah?” Mark’s voice sounded, as always preoccupied.

“Get me the hell off this damn list,” Dar growled. “Or I’m going to altroute every single message into an infinite loop and dump them in your voice mail.”

Dead silence. “Uh.” Mark cleared his throat. “Can you do that?”

“Yes,” Dar answered in a silken voice. “I can even make it page you twice for each damned message.”

“You’re off,” Mark squeaked. “Wasn’t on purpose, I’m just testing this new listing software that’s part of our web server. Honest.” He cleared his throat. “Listen, sorry I have to miss out on tonight, but I promised Barbara to take her on one of those Sea Escape things.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll catch you next time,” Dar told him. “Any luck on that trace?”

A moment’s silence, and the sound of the keyboard rattling. “Came in via the intranet through a link with the backbone routers in Chicago. Looks like someone hooked in via one of the milnet hubs. I’m sending a query out after it,” the MIS chief muttered. “Did you see the instruction set in that thing? I hex dumped it for you, that’s your shit in there, Dar!”

“I know,” the executive replied quietly. “I was poking around in it last night.”

A pause. “Yeah, I saw you logged in,” Mark replied. “Your incoming IP

looked a little strange, it’s not one of the dial-in lines you usually come in on.”

Dar wagged a finger silently at the phone. “The cellular connection was acting up, I had to use a land line,” she commented. “Listen, can you trace that packet or not?”

“I’m working on it,” Mark assured her. “Later, Dar.”

Dar slapped the button and frowned at the phone. “I think he’s curious about us.”

Kerry fiddled with her watch band. “I think he knows, too,” she admitted. “Or at least, I think he suspects, because he was asking me if I liked your condo.”

Dar’s eyebrows lifted. “Well, he knows you took me home,” Dar said.

“He’s not supposed to know I’m familiar with your waterbed, and that’s what he was asking about.”

“Oh.” Dar produced a brief grin. “Yeah, he said something about you logging in from my machine that next morning,” she admitted. “Guess he saw me come in from your place last night.” She sighed. “Nerds. Can’t hide anything from us, can you?”

“Mmm.” Kerry frowned. “Is that a problem?”

Surprisingly, Dar shook her head immediately. “No problem there,” she responded. “I know all his skeletons. He’s just curious about mine.”

“Ah.”

Maria re-entered the room and walked over to Dar’s desk. “See?” She handed her boss the papers. “It is jokes, yes? I hope so.”

Dar peered at the sheets. “I took care of it.” She set the papers down.

“Sorry about that, Maria.”

“Hmm.” Kerry stood up and brushed off her skirt. “Well, I’ve got a conference all in five minutes, I’m going to go grab some tea.” She left, using Tropical Storm 345

the front door to Dar’s office and closing it behind her.

Dar resumed chewing. “Did we get those contracts?” she asked Maria, glancing up at her.

“You know, Dar, Kerry is such a lovely person.” Maria smiled at her.

“You were so lucky to have found her.”

Dar’s jaws stopped, and she considered the statement for a moment.

“Well, I think so,” she finally answered cautiously. “I’m glad you like her.”

Maria reached over and patted her hand, then smiled, and made an impish face before she turned and walked out.

Dar just stared after her in befuddlement. “What in the hell?” she asked the empty room.

“YOU READY?” DAR waited, leaning against the side of her car as Kerry brushed her hair. The last fading rays of sun caught her through the glass of her windshield, and Dar found herself smiling at the image. They were outside the restaurant, in a small and crowded parking lot that boded well for the quality of the restaurant.

Kerry glanced into the rearview mirror a final time, flicking her hair into place, then she got out and brushed her shirt off. “I look okay?” she asked, giving her boss an inquiring look.

“Very much so,” Dar assured her. Kerry was wearing a pair of very dark, neatly pressed jeans and an aqua polo shirt under a snugly fitting white sweatshirt with its sleeves pushed halfway up. “So, you ready?”