”Oh really?” Dar rolled half onto her side, facing Kerry. ”Got any handy?”
Alarmed green eyeball. ”Any what handy?”
”Poems,” her lover replied, a wicked twinkle in her eyes. ”You said I brought that out in you. I know you’re writing them. I’d love to hear one.””B...” Kerry’s brain ran around in circles for a minute. ”I, b...”
”Well, that sort of rhymes, yeah,” Dar mused. ”Doesn’t have much emotional impact, though.” She took a sip of her wine. ”Is that one of those haiku things?”
Kerry laughed softly. “For Pete’s sake, Dar. Most of my poems are so corny.” Lips very gently brushed against hers, and she tasted their sweetness.
”They’re not corny,” Dar rumbled into her ear. ”I think they’re incredible.” She kissed Kerry again, glad of the dimmed cabin lighting.
”Just like you.”
”Mm...” Kerry found her hands moving irresistibly towards the warm body next to her. ”Now which one of us is the poet?”
IT WAS A dark and stormy night. Kerry rolled the words around inside her head, as she peered through the darkness surrounding them.
They’d gotten to the airport safely, and retrieved a rental car, then headed out to the networking office.
”Pretty remote out here,” Dar commented, the small muscles on the sides of her face tensing as she tried to see through the rain. The road was a two lane blacktop, bordered by trees and rolling up and down hills. Only the very occasional street lamp appeared out of the gloom, and the rain was so hard it reflected Dar’s headlights into a blurring glare.”You said it,” Kerry agreed. ”Something like the area I’m from, but more hilly.” She hung onto the strap as Dar took an unexpected curve, then blinked as the road banked down and to the left. ”Whoa.”
”Yeah.” Dar nibbled her lower lip. ”I don’t do hills very much, sorry.” She consciously slowed down, and ran a hand through her hair, wishing it was light out. ”It’s not that much further, though— Whoa!”
The car slid out from under her control, and she instinctively steered with it, resisting the desire to slam on the breaks. They did a three hundred sixty degree turn, and almost went off the road before Dar wrestled the car around straight, and slowed down almost to a crawl.
”What in the hell was that?”
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Kerry put a gentle hand on her arm. ”Ice.” She exhaled. ”Um, you want me to drive? I think I’m a lot more used to it than you are. They probably don’t have icy roads much in Miami.”
Dar considered that, then prudently pulled off the road and stopped, tugging her jacket up before she opened the door. ”Okay.
Yeah, we get rain slicks, but nothing like this.” She exited out into the frosty rain tinged with sleet, and exchanged places, settling into a cloth seat still warm from Kerry’s body.
It was a surprisingly sensual moment, especially since she caught her lover’s scent still clinging to the fabric. She sat back, a little bemused, and watched Kerry adjust the seat so her booted toes could reach the pedals. ”Sorry. I should have moved that.”
Sea green eyes suddenly glanced up, a hint of mischief in them. ”Or you could have just stayed there, and I could have sat in your lap.”
A dark eyebrow crawled up Dar’s face almost into her hairline. ”Oh really?” She was tempted, then sighed. ”Maybe after we get outta there.
It’d be a little conspicuous pulling up to the site like that.”
Kerry finished her adjustments, then put the car in drive and slowly pulled out. ”Mm, yeah, I guess.” She studied the road. ”Straight ahead?”
Dar nodded. ”Yeah, turn right onto the next major cross road. It has a state highway sign.” She let her head rest against the seat back and stretched her legs out, giving Kerry a look as she reached down and adjusted the passenger seat all the way back. She decided she liked being a passenger, because it gave her the opportunity to study her lover’s profile at her leisure, admiring the slightly upturned nose, and the smooth line of her jaw, the muscles shifting a little as she concentrated on the road.
Kerry was painfully aware of the eyes on her, and she fought the instinct to fuss with her hair nervously, which was a habit of hers.
”Um...” She tried to think of something to distract Dar. ”So, what are we going to do when we get there?”
”Well.” Dar folded her arms across her chest, pulling the leather of her jacket tight around her body. ”It depends on what the situation is.
Probably we’ll have to push a few people around, kick a little ass, get nasty... Hey, Kerry?”
”Kick ass, take names, be nasty, huh?” Kerry flicked a glance her way. ”What?”
”You’re really cute.” Dar grinned.
The car slid sideways with Kerry hanging on and cursing for several very long moments before she regained control of it. ”Dar, don’t do that,” she pleaded, willing her blush to recede. ”We’re going to end up in a ditch.”
Dar chuckled softly. ”Sorry.” She fell silent, and let her companion concentrate on navigating the slick roads.
The dark countryside passed slowly, broken only by the occasional
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car or truck going in the other direction. It was another hour before Dar nodded towards a half hidden driveway. ”In there, see where the arc lights are set up?”
Kerry nodded. ”Yeah. Wait...oh, yeah, I see the road. Okay.” She steered the car into the parking lot, seeing several trucks hazily in view through the rain. ”Looks like a circus.” Groups of people were milling around, and she parked near a large clump of them, putting on the parking brake carefully and unbuckling her seat belt. ”Well boss, now it’s your turn.” She glanced at Dar, who was watching the activity with sharp, shifting eyes.
”Right,” Dar murmured, letting the warmer side of her personality slip away, and calling up the cool aggressiveness she knew she’d need to deal with the situation. ”Okay, you got your cell and the laptop, right?”
Kerry nodded, watching her in uneasy fascination. ”Yes.”
”Right. Let’s go.” Dar zipped up her jacket and opened the car door, slipping outside into the rain and closing it behind her.
”Okay then,” Kerry murmured, tucking her phone into the pocket of her jacket and picking up her briefcase. She ducked out the driver side door and closed it, keying the lock and striding after her boss, who was already halfway to the building.
“ALL RIGHT, SO when can we get in there,” Dar said, standing under a dripping tarp in the very center of the building’s front lawn.
Two men were opposite her, clearly uncomfortable.
”Ms. Roberts,” one said, with a sigh. ”Look, the environmental people won’t clear us, because that chemical has been confirmed to be toxic.” He gave her a look that indicated the last thing he’d expected was to have a VP Ops drop into his tent, where they’d been having a pizza and beer.
Dar’s face tensed. ”How long?” she snapped.
He shook his head. ”I don’t know. The regulator told me an hour ago she wouldn’t even have a team here until tomorrow noon.”
Pale eyes almost silver in the glaring lights studied him thoughtfully. ”Where is she?” Dar’s voice dropped a bit, taking on a predatory burr.
The man glanced at her nervously. ”Well, she’s over there, by that van of theirs, but let me tell you, ma’am, she doesn’t take any bullshit.
I’ve worked with her before. ”
”What’s her name?” the burr deepened.
”Anne Simmonds,” the man answered. ”But, I mean, really ma’am, if she decides to get tough on us, we could be here for weeks.”
Dar turned and stalked out without a word, letting the rain drive against her in freezing darts, conscious of Kerry’s quiet form a pace behind her. She was met by a young man who was dressed in a white 190
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coverall as she approached the van. ”I’d like to see whoever is in charge,” she told him quietly.
He cleared his throat and pushed a pair of glasses up the bridge of his nose. ”Well, Dr. Simmonds is inside, but she’s busy. Can I help you?”
Dar stepped up closer and stared him down, her eyes inches above his own. She let the silence grow for a moment, watching him swallow a few times in reflex. ”No,” she finally told him. ”I’d like to speak to Dr.
Simmonds, please.”
”Uh. ” He looked past her to Kerry’s damp head. She smiled briefly at him. ”Uh, well, I...I can ask her, but, um... Okay, are you from this company or...”
Dar cocked her head and pinned him with a stare. ”I’d appreciate that, my name’s Dar Roberts, and I’m from our Miami office.”
”Okay.” He nodded. ”Okay, um, wait here. I’ll be right back.” He turned and walked towards the van, startled to find Dar pacing next to him. ”Oh, we, we’re doing some experiments, I...”
”I’d like to get out of the rain, ”Dar overrode him. ”I won’t break anything, I promise.”
He looked past her.
”Me either.” Kerry smiled kindly at him. ”Really. My mother used to take me into china shops when I was a child.”
Dar hurriedly wiped a hand across her face, muffling a laugh, then cleared her throat as they approached the van, which had a tarp extending from it’s passenger side, shielding several work tables with people busy over them. The young man went over to a figure bent over a microscope and touched her arm.
”What?” the woman snapped, not looking up. ”You just shook this whole slide. I’m trying to take pictures, Michael.” She was very short, shorter than Kerry even, and slim, with dark auburn hair that was pulled tightly back under a close fitting cap. Her bearing was powerful though, and exuded impatience.
”Um, yes, doctor, I know, but there are two people here from Miami. They wanted to talk to you, and I...”
”Tell ‘em to go the hell back to Miami. I’m not having some stuffed suits smelling of Cuban cigars hanging around my neck asking stupid questions,” the doctor snapped back. ”Nothing doing, Michael, so you march your lily white butt back out there and...” She glanced past his shoulder, where two shadowy, strange forms were standing. ”Get rid of them.”
”Actually,” Dar’s low voice spoke clearly, and concisely, as she strode forward, coming into the light with startling impact. ”I don’t think I’m going anywhere.” She stopped precisely in the center of the tent, letting the garish light outline her in stark detail. ”And I’ve never been partial to cigars.”
The doctor was surprised. Kerry decided, watching the smaller
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woman’s eyes flick warily over her boss’s truculent form.
An uncomfortable silence dropped over them, until Dar took a step forward and offered a hand. ”Dr. Simmonds? My name is Dar Roberts.”
She waited impassively as the doctor studied her for a long time before extending her own hand. ”I need some answers.”
It was the charisma. Kerry gave the doctor a brief smile as Dar released her hand and half turned. ”This is my assistant, Kerry Stuart.”
”I don’t have answers.” The smaller woman recovered her composure and scowled, giving Kerry a brisk nod. ”I told you people that hours ago. That damn extinguisher company put so much toxin in that system, it’s a damn good thing your folks evacuated, or they’d have been glowing like fireflies.”
Dar exhaled. ”What is it?”
”I have no goddamned clue, and those people won’t say,” the doctor stated, disgustedly. ”So damn scared of a lawsuit they won’t even admit to having first and last names.”
Dar glanced at Kerry, who handed her the cell phone without a word. She dialed a number and waited. ”Evening, Alastair.”
”Jesus, Dar, it’s...” A yawn. ”Midnight. What in bl...are you in North Carolina?” He cleared his throat. ”Listen, we’ve got twelve accounts set to cancel if we’re not back up by tomorrow morning.”
”Thanks. Needed the extra pressure,” Dar grunted. ”Damn it.”
”I wasn’t worried. I heard you were on your way. In fact, I went to bed,” the CEO told her cheerfully. ”You know I’ve got all the confidence in the world in you, Dar.”
The responsibility slammed down on her shoulders with an almost audible crunch. ”How much business are we talking about?” Dar asked, cautiously. ”It doesn’t look good here, Alastair.”
”Well...” he paused. ”It’s not good, Dar.” His cheerfulness vanished. “I’ve had a few calls from the board. Apparently some of them know some of the companies affected and they’re getting pressure too. They think for some reason I’m shielding them from what’s going on.” He paused. “Or shielding you.”
Dar’s eyes drifted out to the rainy ground. ”I see.” A dull throbbing started in the back of her skull. ”Nice.”
”Didn’t know until after six, you’d already left for the airport,”
Alastair told her. ”And anyway, what more could I do? You’re the best we have, Dar. If you can’t solve it, no one can.”
Dar rubbed her temples. ”All right. I need someone from Legal to call whoever’s in charge of that damn extinguisher company and threaten them with a full liability lawsuit, naming the officers as personal respondents if they don’t give the people here the name of the stuff they put in that goddamned system.”
”Hell with Legal. I’ll call him. I know him. He’s my second wife’s third ex-husband’s brother-in-law,” Alastair advised her. ”Call you right back.”
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”Right.” Dar disconnected, studying the building thoughtfully.
Then she dialed again, glancing over her shoulder ”Call Bellsouth. I’m going to need someone very high up in their provisioning department.”
Her voice had taken on a grim tone.
”Okay.” Kerry got out her own phone, and her palmtop, and checked the number, then dialed, sensing the sudden change in her lover, and feeling a sick gnawing in her guts.
Dar listened for a minute, then heard Mark’s voice. ”Evening.”
”Ah, Dar, hi.” Mark’s voice sounded blurry. ”Um... I was just...
uh... ”
”Sleeping at your desk,” Dar remarked dryly. ”Listen, I need an inventory check. Can we duplicate the setup in NC?”
Momentary silence. ”You’re kidding, right?” Mark answered, faintly. ”You know we can’t do that.”
”Thought so, call up Cisco and find out what they have on hand.”
Dar sighed. ”We’re locked out of here.” She hung up and faced the doctor. ”I need to get in there and get equipment out.”