“A little.” Dar flexed her hand a bit. “Must have banged it on the car.”


Tropical Storm 79

Kerry just looked at her, a hint of a smile playing around her lips. “I had to pay extra for the screaming Mustang model, too. It makes a great car alarm,” she drawled. “I especially like the option that makes it holler ‘Jesus Christ’ in Spanish.”

Dar held her blank look for a moment more, then surrendered, relaxing into a smile that took five years off her age. “Ah. So my cover is blown, is that it?” She gave her hand a sheepish glance. “I was trying to figure out what horse’s-ass tale I was going to tell the office tomorrow.”

Kerry laughed. “To be honest, I didn’t even realize what was going on until I thought about it last night. I was too shook up before that.” She took a chicken wing and dipped it into a small dish of blue cheese dressing. “It was kind of like living the movie of the week, you know? Here I am, trapped in the bowels of Miami, getting attacked by street punks, when along comes this hero, beating them all up and chasing them away like dogs with their tails caught betw…” She’d looked up and found pale blue eyes staring at her from a very serious face as a hand covered hers with startling warmth. “What?”

Dar leaned forward. “Don’t call me that. I’ve known far too many people who really were.” Her voice went a touch deeper. “They just didn’t want any witnesses, so they took off.”

Kerry gazed at her. “Well, you might know many heroes, but I only know one.” Her chin lifted a trifle. “But I won’t mention it if it bothers you.” The dim lighting made it hard to tell, but the blonde woman thought it was possible her new boss was blushing, just a little.

The waitress arrived, much to both of their relief. “Um, the spicy pasta.”

Kerry didn’t try to pronounce the actual name of it.

Dar cleared her throat. “I’ll have the salmon steak.”

The waitress scribbled. “Vegetables or garlic mashed potatoes?”

“Potatoes, please,” Dar replied. “And some more tea.”

They were both silent after she left, and Kerry took the opportunity to sample some of the rest of the appetizers. She waited until her companion did the same, then finally looked up. “So, tell me about those contracts. I’d at least like to give the TCP/IP group a heads up. I know you said it was the IRS, but…”

Dar seemed relieved at the change in subject. “Oh, right. Well, it’s their master website. They set up a consumer site to provide tax help and all the forms support. It gets about forty thousand hits a day. The concerns involve mostly bandwidth issues and doc server glitches.”

“Mmm.” Kerry absorbed this.

“The contract specifies hardware and software. You’ll have resources in the local area to dispatch for the hardware. I think we contract out to NCR in that area.”

“Sounds good.” The blonde woman looked intrigued. “What about the other one?”

“Um…” Dar’s brow creased. “Oh yeah. The ATM contract for transmission services for the Navy.” She paused. “And the network support for that and for their ship-to-shore microwave network transmissions.”

Kerry blinked. “Wow. The WAN guys are going to freak out.” She laughed a little. “They were telling me only last month they were getting 80 Melissa Good bored.” She relaxed a little and so did Dar. “That’ll mean some extra training.”

Dar nodded. “I’ll give you the number of the training division in Houston. Give them a call and set up what you need. Depending on how many people you have, either they’ll go out there, or Houston will send a trainer down here.” They continued discussing details until dinner arrived, then talk slowed down as they paid attention to their food.

Kerry enjoyed her pasta and watched curiously as her companion methodically decimated the large salmon steak into neat squares, pairing each square with a forkful of mashed potatoes as she ate it. “That smells great.”

“It is,” Dar replied, after swallowing. “It’s honey and brown sugar glazed.” She hesitated, then casually dropped a square on Kerry’s plate.

“Here.”

Kerry obligingly tried it. “Wow, that is good.” She nudged a bit of the chicken from her pasta over on to her companion’s dish. “Fair is fair.”

She chewed the offering. “Wow.” Dar chuckled. “ You like stuff spicy, huh?”

“Mmm-hmm,” Kerry agreed. “It’s what I like best about living here.

Everything tastes different, it’s not all the same.” She took a sip of tea. “Do you like Thai food?”

“Anything with peanuts,” the executive replied with a grin. “There’s a good Thai restaurant right off US 1 near Dadeland. They make really good chicken curry.”

Kerry’s eyes lit up. “Really? And I never found it? W—” The “we” almost escaped, but she clamped her jaw shut on it. We should go there? What the heck was I thinking? This is my new boss, who certainly had better things to do than roam around Miami finding new Thai restaurants for me. “Thanks for telling me about it.”

“Sure.” Dar smiled at her. “How’d it go with your window?”

“Oh, fine. Fine. It’s done already,” Kerry assured her, then she dug in a pocket. “Oh yeah. Jerry found this when he was cleaning the glass up. Is it yours?” She held up a woodgrain-cased pen.

Dar blinked. “Didn’t even realize I lost that.” She reached over and claimed it. “Thanks.” She looked up as the waitress returned. “We’re done, yes. I’d like a large cappuccino, and, um…” Her eyes went to Kerry’s face, watching the blonde woman’s brows lift as a dessert tray went by. “Hey, share a cheesecake with me?”

Kerry’s eyes widened, then she sighed, and patted her stomach. “I shouldn’t.”

Dar just waited, sure of her quarry. She was beginning to gather an understanding about her new associate. It was a habit of hers, to try and figure out all the angles, and predict what people would do, and so far, Kerry Stuart was proving quite a challenge.

But not on this subject. Dar enjoyed indulging herself, and she suspected Kerry leaned in that direction as well, however unwilling she appeared on the face of it. “C’mon.”

“Oh well, okay.” She capitulated, giving Dar a little wry shrug. “Guess I’ll just put in extra time on the Rollerblades.” And how had the mildly unnerving Dar Roberts known she liked cheesecake? She decided to try Tropical Storm 81

another slightly more personal question, though she noticed Dar stiffened up when she’d done so before. “Have you ever tried that?”

“Cheesecake or Rollerblades?” Dar chuckled softly. “Both. I like one, and I’m not too fond of the other. I made close acquaintance with a tree last time I used them.” She glanced towards the fake waterfall, which was expelling another cloud of mist. “I stick to running.” She noticed Kerry’s eyes on the bare, subtly muscular arms emerging from her shirt. “And a little working out.” The sea green orbs lifted to hers, and Dar felt uncharacteristically off-balance. Something about the intensity, maybe? “So, you’re all ready for tomorrow? Did personnel forward you an electronic packet of forms for all the people you’ll be converting?”

Kerry watched as the server put down an enormous piece of cheesecake covered with chocolate, which was flanked by two bananas, equally doused.

She sucked in a breath. “Ooo.” Then she realized Dar had asked her a question. “Uh, yes. I got a ton of mail from them, including a three-page instruction list from someone named Mariana, who said something really funny like I was the new duckling?” She waited for Dar to pick up one of the two forks the server offered, then picked up her own and tried a bite. “Wow. I could get to like that way too much.”

“Duckling, huh?” Dar murmured as she worked a chunk off and nibbled it. “Mariana is our Director of Personnel. She’ll help you get everything straightened out.” She took another bite, enjoying the smooth, rich taste. “She has a unique sense of humor.”

Is that a company requirement? Kerry wondered, but didn’t reply.

They finished up and sauntered through the shop in the front of the restaurant, filled with rainforest-inspired merchandise ranging from T-shirts to tiny rubber geckos to Beanie Babies in the shape of toucans and monkeys.

Kerry fingered a tiny Beanie salamander in an interesting shade of greenish blue, then put it down with a sigh. “I have enough stuff on my desk.”

Dar, who had been examining the large cockatoo overhead, turned but didn’t say anything. They walked out and through the mostly closed mall, the stores shut up tight and only a thin strain of music playing. “Where are you parked?”

“Around by the food court,” Kerry answered as she pushed the door open and held it. The thick, moist air hit her, carrying a heavy scent of rain.

“Well, thank you, Dar. I really appreciate you coming up here.”

The darkness outside hid most of the taller woman’s expression. “My car’s back here; I’ll give you a ride around to the front,” she stated. “And don’t worry about it. I was glad to get a chance to pick up this stuff.” She hefted her bag.

Kerry followed her out into the dark lot, stretching her legs a little to keep up. The breeze off the nearby ocean was warm and sultry and she sighed. “It’s hard to get used to the heat sometimes.”

A soft chuckle answered her. “That’s why we all stay inside,” Dar replied. “C’mon, it’s over here, under that ledge.”

Moving shadows surrounded them—cleaners, and workmen, and other, darker, figures. The parking lot was large and mostly empty, and she could see several small groups of what looked like teenagers, lit cigarettes and low 82 Melissa Good laughter coming from them.