Stormy Waters: Book 10 in The Dar & Kerry Series (3 page)

Dar spotted Michelle and Shari at the far table and steered Kerry toward the closest table, reasoning there was no sense in getting into a fistfight before even getting a beer out of it.

Quest approached them just as they reached the bar looking quite pleased with himself. "Good evening, ladies." He greeted them cordially. "Glad you could make it."

"Thanks. It was a nice thing for you to do." Kerry replied. "I realize we're all competing, but the goal of the project is to give you a solution you can use and that we can implement," she said. "And besides, we're all adults, right?"

Dar handed her a cold beer.

"Exactly." Quest agreed. "I'm very glad you have decided to take that view." He turned slightly and ordered a drink from the bar, then leaned on it and looked back at them. "Especially since one of our applicants has chosen to capture this process on film." He indicated behind them.

Kerry turned her head to see a cameraman and an assistant over in the far corner. "Why did you let them?" She turned back to Quest. "I thought you wanted this to be low key."

The man shrugged. "Once it was out, it was out. No point in hiding it anymore. This way, we get some good press for free. What can I tell you?"

Practical. Dar silently agreed. "Look at it this way, Ker. One day you'll end up watching yourself on the Discovery channel."

"Travel Channel." Quest corrected her succinctly. "They've already signed the deal. My people weren't that thrilled, but they never put a restriction in the contract so we're stuck with it."

Dar studied him. "Be a lot of pressure for Telegenics to win the bid then," she remarked casually. "Otherwise, makes for bad TV, doesn't it? No happy ending for the little guy."

"Doesn't it?" Quest tipped his drink toward her then walked off in the direction of the camera crew.

Kerry strolled away from the bar with Dar at her heels. They both stopped in a relatively empty spot reviewing the room together. "Hmm," Kerry said. "Why does this whole thing just get slimier and slimier every time we turn around?"

"The smell of mildew is in the air. Let's go see what they've got over there." She nudged Kerry toward the canapé table. Halfway there, she realized they'd been spotted by Michelle and Shari, but she just kept walking one hand coming to rest on Kerry's back as they reached the line. "Ker?"

"I see them." Kerry observed the choices. "Oh, look, hon...lots of little potential weapons. I bet those stuffed potato puffs would sting."

"Contain yourself, Jesse James." Dar handed her a plate. "Maybe it'll be civil."

"Maybe our dog will learn to fly."

Dar offered her plate up to the uniformed attendant and watched as he placed several canapés on it. Her peripheral vision picked up their adversaries approaching and she took a moment to sort out her possible responses before she turned and made eye contact with them. "Evening." She decided on a gracious nod.

Kerry's shoulders squared visibly before she looked up. She merely returned the stares evenly, allowing Dar to do the communicating for the both of them.

"Evening." Michelle responded, taking a breath to continue. But after a second, her jaw closed and she merely picked up a plate and continued down the line.

Shari glared at both of them. Dar lowered her head slightly and subtly altered her posture as an icy edge came into her eyes.

The camera man from the filming crew closed in focusing on them tightly, and with a twitch of her lip, Shari also turned and went down the line, cutting in front of them and grabbing a plate of her own.

Kerry smiled pleasantly at the cameraman. "Hi."

"Hi," the man returned her greeting cheerfully. "So, what do you think about the party?"

"It's been just charming so far." Kerry said. "Hope it stays that way." She added just loud enough for her voice to carry.

Neither of their adversaries turned, but both backs stiffened.

The man moved off to follow Shari and Michelle followed by another man who was talking into a recorder.

Kerry removed a generic puffy something from Dar's plate and popped it into her mouth chewing with thoughtful vehemence. After a second, she stopped chewing, and, with a weird expression on her face, hastily washed her food down with a swallow of her beer. "What was that?"

"The establishment of primate dominance as a vestige of our biological lineage," Dar replied succinctly. "Or did you mean the spicy mushrooms and anchovies? Thanks for trying it for me, by the way."

Kerry digested both pieces of information. She took another swallow of beer to get the last of the taste from her mouth. "Ook, ook."

"Me Jane, you Jane, you know how it is." Dar sounded more than amused. "Let's go talk to those guys from Cangen. I think that second one in the corduroy trousers used to work for us."

"Cords in summer?" Kerry muttered, as she followed her partner across the tile floor. "Bet he didn't work for us long."

JUST HER LUCK, it would be the bathroom again. Kerry found herself face-to-face with Michelle as she stepped up to the sink and leaned forward to wash her hands. The red haired woman was dressed in a caramel colored cocktail dress that did not flatter her at all. "Hi."

"Hi." Michelle responded. "I've got to hand it to you, Kerry. You surprised me."

Kerry concentrated on washing her hands. "Did I?

"Yes." Michelle leaned against the sink and waited for the other woman washing her hands to finish up and leave before she continued. "I thought you were civilized."

"Ah." Kerry straightened up and reached for a towel. "Well, you know, most of the time I am." She faced Michelle squarely. "But you stomped all over my last nerve to such an extent that I just lost the ability to deal civilly with you. Isn't that a shame?" She tossed the balled up paper towel into the basket and walked past. "Good night."

"Kerry."

Michelle was, if nothing else, persistent to the core. Kerry debated a moment, then paused and waited. "Yes?"

"I know you think we hate you..."

"No," Kerry interrupted firmly. "I don't think that at all. I think your partner hates Dar, and you both will do anything to beat us. I don't mind competition, just don't put a friendly face on it. Be square."

Michelle folded her arms over her chest. "We can compete and not be enemies." She suggested. "I know there's an issue between Shari and Dar, no question. But you and I always got along."

"Until you starting playing dirty tricks."

Michelle's eyebrows arched. "Says the woman who sent thugs from her office to attack me?"

The characterization of their staff just struck Kerry as sadly funny. "They didn't go there for that," she told Michelle. "They just wanted to let you know I wasn't coming." She paused. "I had to leave town on unexpected business."

"Your way of sending a message?" The other woman countered with a touch of sarcasm. "Nice."

"No." Kerry turned and opened the door. "I didn't send them. I would have just let you sit there and rot." She gave Michelle a last smile, and walked out.

Michelle stood for a moment in quiet thought, her eyebrows lifting. "Now that is a damn surprise." She murmured to herself. "I guess the old divide and conquer isn't flying anymore." With a shake of her head, she walked out of the bathroom and headed across the floor. "I knew I should have stayed at the hotel tonight."

Kerry was ahead of her angling toward the other side of the room where she suddenly spotted Dar and Shari facing off, Dar's body language aggressive and exuding energy.

Michelle sighed gustily. "Oh, crap." She hastened her pace, then, just as suddenly, she slowed again. "You know what?" She said to the air. "To hell with it. If she's opened up her mouth again, let her take the consequences this time. I'm over it." With a nod, she turned on her mid height heels and headed back for the bar.

KERRY REACHED DAR'S side just as she heard her partner say something she hoped wasn't related to Shari's biological origins. "Hey." She put a hand on Dar's side.

"Sorry, that's just bilge wash," Dar replied crisply, then glanced to one side. "Not you."

"Why is giving a customer a low cost solution bilge wash? Because it can be done cheaper than you can do it?" Shari countered.

"Because it doesn't work," Dar said. "Not long term. There isn't a piece of software out there that can't be hacked or modified without firmware backing it up."

"Oh, that's bull."

Dar refused to lose her temper. "No, it's not bull. It's just how technology is. Engineers know that." She exchanged a slight nod with her counterpart at another of the companies. "If you want to have real control of the process, you have to control it at a machine level."

"But hardware costs more." Shari argued.

"Failing costs more than whatever you pay to succeed," Dar said. "If you ignore that, you set up your clients for failure." She continued, "Here's an example. A client puts in production a new application, whose over WAN link bandwidth had never been quantified."

"That's not my problem as the network provider," Shari said. "I sell a service and a pipe."

Dar's blue eyes glinted with sharp glee. "That's the difference between being a business partner and a vendor. I don't just sell pipes."

"No." Shari didn't miss a beat, very aware of the cameraman focusing on them. "You sell insurance, at a premium."

The man Dar had been talking with, interjected a hand wave. "Yeah, but it's like clean underwear. You don't have a pair, boy, you end up needing 'em," he said. "I don't go for all the high priced goodies you do, Dar, but there has to be some ass covering. I don't ever trust just one piece of anything to be the only solution."

"Pithy way of putting it Don." Dar produced a grin.

"In my time, I've seen more software than hardware take a dump, ma'am." He shrugged unrepentantly. "I, for one, do not intend on pushing a low ball I can't sleep at night over just to get a contract."

The cameraman's assistant winced a little at the language, but indicated to his partner to keep filming.

"It's got nothing to do with low balling!" Shari broke in. "It has to do with not waving the latest and greatest and most expensive at people who don't need it!"

"But why shouldn't we offer the latest technology?" Kerry asked. "Isn't that the whole point?" She frowned. "You all talk like using the best and the newest stuff available is a handicap. Hello? We're in the technology business, folks. It changes every ten minutes. If all customers want is a canned, old solution let them go to BestBuy."

"Are you nuts?" Shari now addressed her directly. "People want the cheapest solution the fastest way possible. They don't want to be cutting edge."

"No, but we do." Dar smoothly took back over. "You've got it all wrong, Shari, just like always. People don't want the cheapest solution. They want the one that is most economical for them."

Shari rolled her eyes. "Ah yes, Professor Roberts, who probably barely passed freshman English. I see the difference."

"ILS doesn't pay me to write essays." Dar still maintained her composure. "But if you don't know the difference between economical and cheap, that'll explain things when those companies you sold bargain basement solutions to all fall apart and come crying to a real IT company for a solution."

"You wish."

"No, ILS does pay me for in depth analysis and trending. I don't wish. I know." Dar replied coolly.

The cameraman seemed totally engrossed in the exchange sliding the lens back and forth between the talkers. He lingered on Dar. She noticed, and turned her head slightly to look right into the blank, black eye. She winked at it, and unexpectedly grinned. "Now remember. I'm the bad guy."

The assistant grinned back at her, making an okay sign with his fingers.

Shari glanced around, but apparently did not find what she was looking for. "Well, we'll find out which one of us has the right approach soon enough. Excuse me."

Dar watched her go, feeling a sense of vague personal triumph that she hadn't let Shari's jibes rattle her. Outwardly, anyway. She took a deep breath feeling Kerry move just a little closer to her, her partner's body heat gently toasting her left side.

Did Kerry sense how she felt? Dar let out her held breath slowly, only marginally paying attention to Don's subject change. The cameraman was still standing there fussing with his gear, and the assistant took the opportunity to approach them.

"Well, that was a great piece of film," the man said. "I think that was one of the best we have so far. Ms. Roberts, mind of I ask you a few questions?"

"Well..."

"Just a few?" The man coaxed. "Let's go over there where it's a little quieter."

"Go on, boss." Kerry poked her a bit. "I'll go get you a refill." She captured Dar's glass and plate.

Dar gave her a brief, uncertain look, then shrugged and indicated to the cameraman to lead on. "Can't guarantee I'll answer, but you can ask."

Kerry waited for them to move off, before she headed back toward the tables, running her mind over what had just happened. Dar had won the exchange, she realized, and without getting mad in the process. She'd also impressed the television people, and used her charm on them to very good effect.

Wow. Kerry handed the bartender her empty glass. "Can I have a...um..." Beer? Scotch? Something cocktailish to match Dar's newly burnished image? She leaned forward and put her hands on the edge of the bar. "Do you have any milk?"

The bartender paused in the act of pouring a glass of wine and looked at her. "Milk?"

"Milk."

He finished and handed the glass to a woman standing by waiting. "Uh...yeah..."

"I got some ginger ale?" The man offered with polite persistence.

"Milk." Kerry repeated again. "Don't make me go find a Farm Stores."

"Okay." The man gave up gracefully and produced the milk. "Here you go." He handed it over. "I never argue with a woman wearing a snake on her chest."

Kerry almost gave her snake a milk bath, but managed to regain control over her grip on the glass and retreated toward the food table intent on finding something appropriate to go with it.

DAR SAT DOWN at one of the small tables on the far side of the room and fiddled with a table tent as the camera assistant joined her.