“Oh, really?” Her aunt was a slim, hawk faced woman with silvered dark hair. “Like what, cooking?” she asked with a touch of sweet sarcasm.
Keep cool, Kerry
, she reminded herself. “I dabble in it, sure.
But mostly outdoor sports, really. Diving, underwater photography, that kind of thing.” She smiled. “And a little distance running and martial arts.”
“Funny,” Aunt Marcia sniped. “You were never interested in those things before.”
“Well, you know, there’s a limited amount of scuba diving available in Lake Michigan,” Kerry replied. “Miami’s a little more climactically friendly to outdoor sports. It’s been great for me. I’m having the time of my life.”
“Well you certainly look different,” her aunt said. “You definitely…filled out.”
Kerry refused to view that as the insult her aunt undoubtedly intended it to be. “Thanks. You look good yourself.”
“Yes, she certainly has changed.” A voice came from Kerry’s left, sending a chill down her back. She turned to find her worst nightmare looking back at her through cold, gray eyes.
“Hello, Kyle.” Her stomach lurched as she remembered the
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last time they’d met. She felt someone brush lightly against her on the right side, but she remained in place, warily watching her old adversary. She honestly hadn’t expected this confrontation. Her mother had told her Kyle had been sent overseas months ago, and she’d figured…
Damn.
“Yes, didn’t expect me, did you?” Kyle laughed. “I’ve just arrived. I’m so glad to see you.”
Kerry felt like throwing up. “Feeling’s not mutual.” She resisted the urge to look around for the comfort of Dar’s presence.
A thousand childhood fears reared their heads, a hundred memories of that smiling face echoed in places she’d thought well cleared. “Excuse me.”
“Oh, but we’ve only started to talk.” Kyle moved closer, very aware of the watching eyes. “Do tell me what you’ve been up to, Kerrison. I want to hear every detail.”
Feeling trapped, Kerry studied him to give herself a moment to think. “Nothing you’d be interested in, Kyle. I don’t think there’s much for us to discuss.”
Kyle put a proprietary hand on her shoulder. “Come now, is that any way to talk? Let’s—”
A hand covered his and removed it from Kerry’s arm with a power evident even in that brief contact. “Ah do believe this here young lady has other things she’d be liking to do.”
Kerry whirled in startled, disbelieving shock. She tipped her head back to take in the tall, grizzle haired man in a Naval uniform right behind her, his scarred face set in watchful stillness.
“Ya’ll might want to just let her get on with them,” Andrew drawled.
Kyle’s eyes narrowed. “Excuse me, but I don’t think this is quite your affair…ah,” he glanced at Andrew’s chest, “Commander, is it?” Then he looked again. “Roberts. Ah.”
Andy put a long arm around Kerry’s shoulders. “Ah’d say you were wrong. This here young lady is very much mah business.”
Kerry exhaled her tension, and threw her arms around him in a hug. Kyle had truly rattled her, and to have Andrew show up at just the right moment… “Wow,” she whispered, squeezing him hard before she released him and turned back around. Kyle was watching Andrew with wary dislike, and the rest of her relatives were frankly staring at him. “Sorry. This was kind of unexpected.
This is my father-in-law, Andrew Roberts.” She almost enjoyed the flinches. “A very welcome surprise.”
“I’m sure,” Kyle murmured. “For you, at least.”
Andrew eyed him steadily for a moment, then looked around at the gathered relatives. “Hi there.” His Southern accent dripped 142
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out like molasses. “Good t’meet y’all. This here’s mah wife, Ceci,”
he added, as Cecilia joined him.
“Hello.” Ceci smiled with charming frigidity at the crowd.
“Moments like this make even a rationalist like me seriously doubt Darwin.”
“Hi.” Kerry was hard pressed to restrain her glee at seeing Ceci, someone who could meet her relatives on equal footing and boot them in the rear with exquisite courtesy. It was seriously like having the cavalry riding over the hill. “When did you guys get here? Did you see… Ah.” She felt Dar’s presence at her elbow, and a warm hand touched her back. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Dar said. “Now the puppy-sitting makes sense.”
“Hm.” Kerry regained her balance. With Dar and Andrew bracketing her like a pair of sturdy bookends, life had gotten much better with startling rapidity. It wasn’t that she didn’t have confidence in Dar alone, but Kyle’s specialty had always been intimidation, and Andy simply was who he was, his scarred, yet potent strength making her old adversary seem almost childlike in comparison.
Maybe Kyle felt it. Certainly, he backed up a few steps, pretending to take more interest in obtaining a glass of wine from one of the servants. Then he looked up as a cluster of people approached and grimly smiled.
Kerry turned, only to be face to face with her mother and another pod of relatives. “Ah…uh…”
“Kerrison…Oh.” Cynthia Stuart stopped a little short, blinking at her unexpected guests. “Why, Commander, it’s good to see you. And Mrs. Roberts, how nice it is to have you here.”
Ceci’s eyebrows lifted almost imperceptibly. It wasn’t quite the reception she’d expected, given their last meeting. However, one took what one could get, and if she got caviar instead of fish turds, all the better. She dusted off her annoying company manners and presented them, knowing she’d get no help whatsoever from her beloved spouse. “Thank you so much for welcoming us in such a distressing time. We always do seem to be meeting under the worst of circumstances, don’t we?”
Cynthia pursed her lips. “You know, that’s very true. Perhaps we could invite you to a Christmas party or something in the future?”
“Well, I’m a pagan. Solstice, perhaps?” Ceci smiled charmingly and watched the comment fly over Cynthia’s head and splat against the white walls.
“Of course. Lovely,” Cynthia answered vaguely. “Ah…”
Dar was having an absolute ball watching the expressions on the faces of Kerry’s family. Their reactions ran the gamut from
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puzzlement to outrage. Dar made sure she smiled at each of them.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kyle slip away as a curious cameraman approached, drawn most likely by Andrew’s tall, uniform clad form.
Having had enough fun for the moment, Ceci took Cynthia’s proffered hands. “We knew it was a rough time for everyone.
Glad we could be here to give you our sympathies in person. You have a beautiful home.”
A camera flashed.
“Why, thank you,” Cynthia replied warmly. “Oh, do come and let me introduce you to my brother Anthony. I believe he collects your work.”
“When he finds out who I am, hopefully he’ll continue to do so.” Ceci smiled politely and held a hand out to Andrew. “We’d love to meet him.”
“One less thing for you to have to worry about,” Kerry murmured, turning her head so that only Dar could hear her. “What a gorgeous surprise, and what perfect timing.”
“Mm,” Dar grunted, giving the press a polite smile. “I could use a drink of water, how about you?”
Amazing how dry that suddenly made her throat. “You bet.”
Kerry edged out of the view of the press, who seemed intrigued by their new target. “Dad looks great.”
“Yeah,” Dar whispered back. “I’ve never seen all those decorations before. I can’t believe Mom got him to wear them.” She eyed them and gave her father a pointed look before she gently steered Kerry through a nearby doorway and into a small alcove just off the reception room. Here there was a linen draped table with glasses and a pitcher of water. She poured two glasses and handed one to her lover.
For a moment, they sipped their drinks and regarded each other. Then Kerry sighed. “Night of surprises.”
Dar nodded. “Some not so good.”
Kerry stared into the depths of her glass and swirled its contents. “Yeah. Damn. I forgot how much I hated him.” She was surprised to see her hands shaking, then realized the rest of her also shook. “Wow.”
Dar took the glass out of her hand and put it down. She took Kerry’s cold hands in her own and warmed them. “It’s a little chilly in here.”
“Yeah, it is.” Kerry felt lightheaded. She took some deep breaths and the shakiness subsided as her racing pulse slowed and steadied.
Dar noted the pale tinge to Kerry’s normally golden complex-ion. “You all right?”
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“Yeah.” Kerry nodded, relaxing a bit. “It was so good to see Mom and Dad.” She smiled at Dar. “When we heard they’d left Miami, I should have guessed they’d be coming here.” She turned her head and spotted a nearby bench. “Sit for a minute?”
Dar took a seat next to her, and they let out simultaneous sighs. “Here.” Dar handed Kerry back her water and watched her take a swallow. “Tough crowd.”
Kerry rolled her eyes.
“They make my family look like the Waltons,” Dar continued.
“On Thanksgiving.”
Kerry snickered, almost spitting out some of her water.
“If one more of them had made one more snippy comment about your weight, I was getting ready to spill a glass of that disgusting dry champagne down their backs,” Dar went on. “Especially since the last time most of them saw a gym was high school.” Another snicker from Kerry encouraged Dar to add,
“And even then, they probably just danced in it.”
Kerry cleared her throat. “Very true. They’re not much into the physical fitness scene; that was one subject that never really came up. It was fine and accepted to starve yourself into rapier thinness, but to actually consider…ugh...sweating, forget it.”
“I think you’re very cute when you sweat.” Dar crossed her ankles and swallowed some water.
“Let’s not go overboard,” Kerry replied, giving Dar a wry look. Then she sighed. “Okay, I’ve had my Dar break, I’d better get back out there. I think my other cousins just got here.” She stood up and twitched her dress straight. “Want to come meet them?”
Dar put her glass down and joined Kerry near the doorway.
They paused and looked over the gathering, spotting Andy and Ceci near a cluster of older guests. As they were about to step forward, Dar felt Kerry hesitate, and she glanced around to see what the problem was. Kyle was watching them from near the elegant bar, his arms crossed as he spoke in a low voice to two men in dark suits. “I don’t like the looks of that.”
“Me either. C’mon.” Kerry deliberately turned and walked in the other direction, towards two younger women looking self conscious and trying to be casual in black lace dresses neither did any justice to.
THE STUDY WAS very quiet, almost somber. Kyle ignored the ghosts watching from the corners and strode across the rich carpet, swung behind the desk, and sat in the leather chair with stolid arrogance.
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For a moment, he hesitated and laid his hands on the surface, then he shook his head and opened the center drawer. There were a few papers on top, and these he pulled out, impatiently flicked his eyes over them, and then tossed them on the desk, one after the other. “Nothing there.”
He put the papers back into the drawer and closed it, then went to the first file drawer on the right hand side. Inside, a series of hanging files were lined up in a typically neat row, labeled with the senator’s projects.
Most were empty. Kyle frowned, thumbing through them. “I know these weren’t finished. Don’t tell me someone’s come in to get them already. I’ll have them skinned.”
He shoved the files towards the back, then hesitated as he felt resistance. Pulling the folders forward, he craned his neck to see what was blocking them in the back of the drawer. “Maybe they fell down in there…Eh, what’s this?”
He tugged out a manila envelope, its edges frayed and par-tially split. It was fairly thick, and he put it down on the desk, opened it, and looked inside.
The scent of paper and laser ink hit him. Curious, he removed the first few pages and tilted them towards the light on the desk to see better. “Ah hah,” he whispered and chuckled softly under his breath. “Now here’s something I can use.”
He read further, a look of consternation appearing on his face. “Where in the hell did he get this?” he wondered aloud, then his eyes narrowed. “And why didn’t he tell me about it?”
He drummed his fingers on the desk, then picked up the envelope and tucked it under his arm as he got up to leave.
“Maybe that’s why he put a stop to my plan of stripping those contracts.” He chuckled as he headed for the door. “Now I can kill two jackasses with one grenade.”
MUCH LATER IN the evening, Dar found a moment to pause and lean against the wall, hoping the ordeal was almost over. It had been a very long night, with a lot of stress, and her shoulder had gotten so painful, it was hard for her to move her arm without screaming.
But now, people were leaving. That was good.
Good riddance.
Dar felt very little empathy for the wool suited, hostile eyed people who surrounded her beloved partner with appraising stares and veiled comments. Family, yes, but almost all of them either resented Kerry for what she’d done to her late father, or for her current lifestyle. Or for her choice of life partners.
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Fuck them.
Dar mentally enunciated the words with grim satisfaction. She then looked up as she felt someone approaching.
Ah.
“Hi, Dad.”
Andrew Roberts found a spot on the wall next to her and claimed it. “Hey there, Dardar,” he rumbled softly. “You don’t look so hot.”
Dar sighed inwardly. She’d never had much luck in fooling her father about when she wasn’t feeling well. “No, you’re right.
I’m tired and grumpy, and my shoulder’s killing me.” She saw Kerry walking across the room towards her with a forceful and determined stride. “Uh oh.”
Andrew chuckled. “Hey, Dar?” He eased closer and motioned with his jaw to the reception room doorway where Kyle was standing, just watching Kerry. “Who is that feller?”
“An asshole who deserves to be run over by a Mack truck,”