“I’m forwarding this to my mailbox,” the blonde woman murmured.

“That was really kind of slimy to read, Dar.”

She settled warm hands on Kerry’s shoulders. “I know, the entries from United Klan’s of America kind of got to me.”

Kerry logged out then logged in as her own account, the screen popping up immediately. She accessed her mail and opened the documents again.

“Dar, you know, I’ve been having to spend a lot of time with those marketing people, and they gave me a tour of their operation the other week.”

Dar blinked in confusion. “Um, yeah. Okay. What does that have to do with anything?”

Kerry selected the documents, then opened a new mail message and pasted them in. “Well, one of the things they showed me was their distribution network; it’s really kind of neat. They can get information out by using a mailing list. See? Like this.” She addressed the message. “You just click here.” She hit the Send key. “And it gets sent to sixty different news outlets.”

Dar’s jaw dropped in utter shock. “Did you just…”

Green eyes looked calmly up at her. “Yes, I did.” A pause. “You said it would be my decision, didn’t you?”

“W…but…uh, yes, but I…” Dar sat down on the desk, nonplussed.


Tropical Storm 461

“Jesus, Kerry!”

“I wasn’t going to,” the blonde woman stated softly. “But then I thought about how he just couldn’t let go, he couldn’t just let me leave. I thought about how before he had to send that bastard down here because he thought I was bluffing about not moving back.” Now she looked right up at Dar. “You told me if someone calls your bluff, you have to just go with it. So I did.

“You understand what that will do,” Dar said quietly. “Don’t you?”

“Yes,” Kerry answered steadily. “I do.” She studied the desktop. “I’ll warn Michael and Angela.” Her eyes lifted to Dar’s still-shocked face. “I surprised you, huh?”

A faint nod. “Yes, you did.” She hadn’t expected quite that level of vindictiveness in her friend. “I didn’t think you would do that.”

Kerry sighed and rested her chin in her hands. “If it had just been me, I probably wouldn’t have, but they came after you.” She rubbed her lip with her thumb. “That was too much, Dar. I can’t have that. Maybe some of that ruthlessness I see in him came down to me.” She blinked at the screen. “I feel pretty ruthless right now.”

Dar slowly exhaled and curled her fingers around Kerry’s wrist, which was resting on the desk’s surface. “No, what he did, what Kyle did, that was ruthless. What you did was justice.”

“Maybe,” Kerry murmured.

“I know you care about your family, Kerry, and this wasn’t an easy thing for you to do.” Dar gave her a sympathetic look. “In a way, we’ve both lost our families.”

A slow, almost puzzled smile crossed Kerry’s face. “But there are two kinds of families, Dar. The ones you’re born into, and the ones you make yourself.” She looked up and met the blue eyes regarding her. “And our friendship binds us closer than blood ever could.” Memory chimed, clear and piercing as a bell.

Dar smiled acknowledgment, holding up one hand, palm outstretched, and watching Kerry’s fingers curl into hers. “You are my family,” she agreed, then reached into her shirt pocket. “By the way, thought you might want this back.” She turned Kerry’s palm over and set a golden circle into it. “It’s an interesting piece.”

Kerry took the ring up between her forefinger and thumb and peered at it. “I always felt there was something behind it, some story, you know?” She turned it over. “Probably just an overactive imagination on my part. Though when my great-aunt gave it to me, it was kind of strange. She hadn’t seen me since I was a… Jesus, probably three, four years old. I went to visit her after I got out of college, and when she saw me, she had me stand in the light and just looked at me for about ten minutes—not saying anything. Then she laughed and got this out and gave it to me.”

“That is kind of strange,” Dar agreed. “What kind of person was she, did she do a particular thing, or…”

“Hmm? Oh, she was a writer.” Kerry sighed. “Poetry and these lyric, old-fashioned stories about the past, and knights, and things like that.” A shake of her head. “The family mostly thought she was a little crazy. I liked reading her stuff, though. She even had a story about Paladins.” Her eyes twinkled 462 Melissa Good teasingly at Dar. Who rolled her eyes and chuckled a little.

Kerry was silent for a moment, then she looked up. “What your father did was kind of scary, wasn’t it?”

Dar nodded soberly. “Yes, it was.”

“Yeah.” Kerry chewed her lip. “Is that…I mean, what he did, is that really what you wanted to do?” She looked up and searched Dar’s face.

A sigh. “I thought I did. Yes, for a long time.”

“What about now?”

Dar remained silent, considering the question. “I think you hit a point where you…I mean, when I was sixteen or so, and taking those tests, I was hot for it. It seemed like the most exciting, the most incredible life I could imagine.

I wanted it, really bad.” A pause. “But now, I look back and think…Jesus, was I nuts? “ Dar sighed. “I’m glad, in a lot of ways, it worked out differently.”

“Me, too.” Kerry twined their fingers and looked up into her eyes. “For one thing, we probably would have never met, and for another, I think that kind of thing puts a very heavy toll on your conscience. I can’t imagine that.”

“No, I’m glad I don’t have to bear that burden,” Dar acknowledged softly. “Life’s hard enough, I’m glad I didn’t take that path after all.”

The green eyes gazing at her took on extra depth as Kerry stood, putting a hand against her cheek tenderly. “So am I, tiger.”

Dar felt a warm fist of emotion squeeze against her heart. “Tiger?” she murmured. “Haven’t been called that in a long time.” She laced her fingers around the back of Kerry’s neck and gazed at her, blinking a little as a faint haze seemed to obscure her vision for just a moment. “Brings back a lot of memories.”

“Does it?” Kerry whispered, feeling a tremor run through her knees as their bodies drew closer and joined, and their lips met. An emotion half joy and half relief coursed through her as they paused, and she leaned back, meeting eyes both newly met and well known.

“Welcome home.” Dar’s voice burred the words, low and sweet, as they joined again in the warm light of a tropical winter’s day.

The End