“Oh.” Kerry considered that in thoughtful silence. “She’s a friend of yours, right?”
Dar nodded quietly. “Yes, she is.”
The smaller woman’s brow furrowed. “I think you’d feel better if you told her.” Kerry paused a moment. “Because I think she knows anyway, just from the way she was talking to me the other day.”
Dar chewed on a fry. “I think she does, too. I just hate putting her, or Duks, for that matter, into an uncomfortable situation. She’s the director of personnel, and this is part of her job. I don’t know, Kerry.”
“Mmm.” Kerry stole a fry. “Think about it, okay?” She changed the subject. “These are nice pictures. Can I keep one?”
Dar smiled and glanced at the pile. “Sure. I was going to give them to Betty to put in the division newsletter.”
Kerry selected the one of them together on the ride and gave her back the other ones. “I like this one.” She gazed at it. “I really wanted you to offer to go on that damn thing again.”
Dar laughed. “I almost did,” she admitted. “Hey, it’s supposed to be nice weather this weekend. You up for a little time on the water?”
Kerry glanced up at her with a delighted look. “Yes!” she agreed quickly.
“I have my first scuba class on Saturday morning. How about we head out after lunch?”
“Sounds good.” Dar nodded. “You’ll have all those snowbirds jealous of your nice tan, that’s for sure.” She put a hand out and gently rubbed Kerry’s knee. “I think I’m going to call Mariana and ask her to change the location for dinner…two nights in a row.”
Kerry sucked in a breath. “Jesus, I forgot you took her there. You have someplace else in mind?”
Dar shook her head, then punched the phone buttons. It rang twice, then Mariana answered. “Mari, listen, would you mind a change of venue tonight?”
She heard rustling and a soft mutter in the background that she couldn’t make out, then Mariana cleared her throat. “No, no. In fact, Dar, I was about to call you. There’s a new Thai restaurant in North Miami Duks has been dying to try.”
Green and blue eyes met. Kerry tapped her nose, then made a scrunched
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up face and poked her teeth out, sniffing. “I smell a rat,” she mouthed.
Dar bit back a chuckle. “Sure, but Mari, I didn’t know you liked that stuff,” she agreed warily, her thumb still absently caressing Kerry’s skin.
“Life’s short, Dar. Always time to try something new. Besides, Duks swears by the stuff, and he’s promised me the chicken is really just chicken.”
“Okay, sounds good.” Dar relaxed with a pleased expression. “I happen to like Thai.”
“Oh, I guess I’d better ask Kerry. She might not…” Mari sighed.
“No, she does.” Dar answered without thinking, then slapped her head and rolled her eyes as Kerry covered her mouth with a hasty hand. “Jesus, she got me,” she whispered soundlessly. “We were talking about it the other day,”
she added towards the phone.
Kerry bent over in laughter and leaned against the desk.
“Oh. Well, that’s great,” Mariana said smugly. “It’ll just be the four of us.
It’s down near US 1, Dar, just before the tracks.” A pause. “You’ll let Kerry know, then?”
Dar sighed and covered her eyes, not quite able to believe Mariana had snagged her quite so easily. “Sure, I’ll let her know,” she agreed wryly, eyeing the now-composed blonde, whose sparkling green eyes were gazing merrily at her. “See you.” She disconnected and lifted her hands, letting them drop in disgust. “God damn it.”
Kerry glanced at the door, then leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. “You’re so cute when you’re flustered,” she told her with a smile.
Dar’s brows shot up. “I am not flustered!” she objected, straightening her cuffs and brushing her sleeve off. “I’m just…um…”
The light tap warned them, and Kerry slipped around to the front of the desk, hastily settling in one of Dar’s visitor’s chairs. Maria poked her head in and spotted them.
“Ah, there you are,
Kerrisita
.” The secretary entered and walked across the carpet. “
Dios mío
! Dar, what is that?”
The executive paused in mid-bite, enjoying her sandwich. “Lunch. What does it look like, José’s new account manager?” she retorted, taking a mouthful and chewing it.
“Tcha, that is so bad for you,” Maria scolded. “
Kerrisita
, you set her a better example, no?”
Kerry rubbed her brow. “Actually, I got it for her,” she admitted sheepishly. “Miami Subs really doesn’t have much in the way of healthy stuff, Maria.” She paused. “Only some Greek roll-up things.”
Dar stuck out her tongue, then went back to the screen. “Maria, what is all this junk in my inbox?”
“
Ay,
that’s what I’m here talking to you about.” The older woman wrung her hands. “Is Mark, he started up some…what he called it, mailing list,” she said. “Let me go get some of the papers.” She hurried out, closing the door behind her.
Dar clicked with one hand while handling her sandwich with the other.
“Oh, okay, that’s why the damn thing’s subjects range from TCP/IP to a…”
She peered at the screen incredulously. “A recipe for vodka jello eggs.” She glanced up, then punched the phone.
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“Yeah?” Mark’s voice sounded, as always preoccupied.
“Get me the hell off this damn list,” Dar growled. “Or I’m going to altroute every single message into an infinite loop and dump them in your voice mail.”
Dead silence. “Uh.” Mark cleared his throat. “Can you do that?”
“Yes,” Dar answered in a silken voice. “I can even make it page you twice for each damned message.”
“You’re off,” Mark squeaked. “Wasn’t on purpose, I’m just testing this new listing software that’s part of our web server. Honest.” He cleared his throat. “Listen, sorry I have to miss out on tonight, but I promised Barbara to take her on one of those Sea Escape things.”
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll catch you next time,” Dar told him. “Any luck on that trace?”
A moment’s silence, and the sound of the keyboard rattling. “Came in via the intranet through a link with the backbone routers in Chicago. Looks like someone hooked in via one of the milnet hubs. I’m sending a query out after it,” the MIS chief muttered. “Did you see the instruction set in that thing? I hex dumped it for you, that’s your shit in there, Dar!”
“I know,” the executive replied quietly. “I was poking around in it last night.”
A pause. “Yeah, I saw you logged in,” Mark replied. “Your incoming IP
looked a little strange, it’s not one of the dial-in lines you usually come in on.”
Dar wagged a finger silently at the phone. “The cellular connection was acting up, I had to use a land line,” she commented. “Listen, can you trace that packet or not?”
“I’m working on it,” Mark assured her. “Later, Dar.”
Dar slapped the button and frowned at the phone. “I think he’s curious about us.”
Kerry fiddled with her watch band. “I think he knows, too,” she admitted. “Or at least, I think he suspects, because he was asking me if I liked your condo.”
Dar’s eyebrows lifted. “Well, he knows you took me home,” Dar said.
“He’s not supposed to know I’m familiar with your waterbed, and that’s what he was asking about.”
“Oh.” Dar produced a brief grin. “Yeah, he said something about you logging in from my machine that next morning,” she admitted. “Guess he saw me come in from your place last night.” She sighed. “Nerds. Can’t hide anything from us, can you?”
“Mmm.” Kerry frowned. “Is that a problem?”
Surprisingly, Dar shook her head immediately. “No problem there,” she responded. “I know all his skeletons. He’s just curious about mine.”
“Ah.”
Maria re-entered the room and walked over to Dar’s desk. “See?” She handed her boss the papers. “It is jokes, yes? I hope so.”
Dar peered at the sheets. “I took care of it.” She set the papers down.
“Sorry about that, Maria.”
“Hmm.” Kerry stood up and brushed off her skirt. “Well, I’ve got a conference all in five minutes, I’m going to go grab some tea.” She left, using
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the front door to Dar’s office and closing it behind her.
Dar resumed chewing. “Did we get those contracts?” she asked Maria, glancing up at her.
“You know, Dar, Kerry is such a lovely person.” Maria smiled at her.
“You were so lucky to have found her.”
Dar’s jaws stopped, and she considered the statement for a moment.
“Well, I think so,” she finally answered cautiously. “I’m glad you like her.”
Maria reached over and patted her hand, then smiled, and made an impish face before she turned and walked out.
Dar just stared after her in befuddlement. “What in the hell?” she asked the empty room.
“YOU READY?” DAR waited, leaning against the side of her car as Kerry brushed her hair. The last fading rays of sun caught her through the glass of her windshield, and Dar found herself smiling at the image. They were outside the restaurant, in a small and crowded parking lot that boded well for the quality of the restaurant.
Kerry glanced into the rearview mirror a final time, flicking her hair into place, then she got out and brushed her shirt off. “I look okay?” she asked, giving her boss an inquiring look.
“Very much so,” Dar assured her. Kerry was wearing a pair of very dark, neatly pressed jeans and an aqua polo shirt under a snugly fitting white sweatshirt with its sleeves pushed halfway up. “So, you ready?”
Kerry exhaled and studied her companion, who had changed into a pair of tan Dockers and a red tank top, with her leather jacket thrown over her shoulders. “Yep. Let’s go run the gauntlet.” She tugged at Dar’s zipper. “You look nice.”
The taller woman smiled and patted her side. “So do you, c’mon.” She followed Kerry as they sauntered across the parking lot. “I like that sweatshirt.” She admired the tiny, embroidered birds that danced across the front and scampered down the sleeves.
Kerry straightened a little and smiled as they stepped up onto the deck which held the restaurant. She spotted Mariana and Duks leaning against the railing and cleared her throat. “Okay, here we go. I hope we can pull this off.”
Dar snorted. “No problem. Just relax, we’ll be fine.”
“Dar?” Kerry murmured softly.
“Hmm?” The dark-haired woman leaned a bit closer.
“You might want to take your hand off my back.”
“Right.” Dar took the disobedient hand and waved at Mariana and Duks as they came closer. “I was just making sure you didn’t fall off the steps.”
“Well, hello, you two.” Mariana smiled at them. The Personnel VP was wearing a pair of slacks and a sweater, and Duks had changed into a dark blue sweatshirt and black chinos. “It smells great out here, let’s go in.”
Dar gave them both a brief nod, then followed them inside, taking in the typical gold, red and black décor that oriental restaurants seemed to regard as almost a livery. The room was large, with a few scattered, small tables in the center, and a raised platform all the way around the walls which featured low 346
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tables and pillows. Lots and lots of pillows. And no chairs.
They were led to a table area in the back by a smiling, bobbing waiter, who indicated they were to take their shoes off and make themselves comfortable. The table had padded backrests to sit against, and piles of soft, silk-covered pillows that lined the pit like enclosure.
“Isn’t this cute?” Mariana mused. “I’ve never eaten in a place like this before.”
They sat down, one on each side of the table, and settled into the cushions. Dar found it surprisingly relaxing. She spread her arms out on the cushions, and gazed back. “So, hell of a day, huh?”
Duks looked up from his menu and cracked a sardonic grin. He had a powerfully built face, with a square jaw and a thick neck that disappeared into heavy shoulders that betrayed a youth spent doing something other than running a calculator. “If I believed in Hell, I’d agree with you.”
Kerry leaned forward, curiously. “Are you an atheist, Mr. Draefus?”
He turned his grin on her. “Duks, please, Kerry. And yes, I am.” He selected what he wanted, then put the menu down. “I find it makes my life so much simpler.”
“Simpler? How?” Kerry inquired. “I would think having to find explanations for everything would make it more complicated. It’s so easy just to say ‘because God said so.’ ”
“Yes, isn’t it?” Duks agreed softly. “Simpler because I have no expectations. I have nothing to live up to, nothing to spend my life striving for, because at the end, it’s just…the end,” he told her. “You stop and feed the worms. And so life becomes more precious, and you enjoy it more, knowing it’s the only chance you’ll get.”
Kerry cupped her chin in her hand. “You don’t believe in souls, then, right?’
A smile. “No. I think what we have in here…” He thumped his chest.
“…is blood and muscles, and nothing more.” A pause. “Do you believe in a god, Kerry?”
“Yes, I do. In that I believe there’s a higher power who directs things in our lives, and I think we all have an immortal soul,” Kerry answered seriously. “And that soul continues from life to life.”
“Ah, not a conventional Christian, I see,” Mariana murmured, fascinated.
“I had an orthodox Catholic upbringing…and it stuck, along with all the glorious pageantry and mysticism that goes with it. I still shiver during the Mass.” She glanced at Duks. “We have a long-standing argument over that.
He thinks I’d get over it if I’d just go and see a good opera.” Kerry let out a surprised laugh.
“What about you, my friend?” Duks turned to the silently watching Dar.
“I don’t think we’ve ever discussed the big R. And I don’t recall you ever saying you’d been in church, so…”
Pale blue eyes flicked over their faces, then Dar shrugged a little. “My mother is a pagan.” She smiled wryly at the surprised looks. “My father was as much of a Southern Baptist as you can get and not be a snake handler.” She regarded the table for a moment. “We didn’t have anything organized when I was growing up, I just knew they both believed in something, not necessarily
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