Eye Of The Storm - DK3 (12 page)

“It’s so damn hard on everybody.”

Dar shrugged it off. “Old history. I am what I am. A chip off the old block, and that’s never going to change.”

A faint, pained smile crossed Andrew’s scarred lips. “Squirt, that’s some true, but there’s more of your mamma in you that neither of you realize.” He exhaled audibly and changed the subject, which was making them both very uncomfortable. “That all what made it a bad week?”

Kerry cleared her throat. “No. I was at an account that went pretty badly…and I finally got subpoenaed to testify about my father.”

Andrew made a face, recaptured his bowl, and resumed his aborted attack on the melting treat. “Sorry to hear that, kumquat. That means you’ll be mixing with your folks soon, eh?”

“Yeah. That’ll be pleasant,” Kerry agreed ruefully. “My sister says I’m a persona non grata in their house. I don’t get mentioned.” She paused. “They took all the pictures out of albums…that sort of thing.”

Dar’s arm moved and surrounded her suddenly, in a very welcome hug.

“Fortunately, Angie got a hold of most of my stuff there. She’s shipping it down.”

Andrew scowled. “I thought he didn’t know you spilled the beans?”

“He doesn’t,” Dar interjected.

“So he’s just doin’ that because—”

“Of us,” Kerry told him. “Yeah. You know something? That’s one of the things I like most about you—it was never an issue.” She smiled at Andrew.

“Wall, I like t’think I’m as liberal as the next Southern Baptist career military type,” he answered with a totally straight face. “Went out and got me a rainbow sticker to fit between my NRA poster and my pitcher of Stormin’ Norman the other day.”

They all laughed and the tension that had been building relaxed perceptibly. “Did you really?” Kerry suddenly asked.

“Damn straight. I walked right on in to that little place up in Lauderdale. Scared the bejezus out of them two little boys kissin’ behind the counter and bought me a sticker and one of these.” Andrew pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it over. “Got me a nice cuppa coffee, too.”

Kerry handed Dar the tiny rainbow striped keychain. “You’re so outside the box sometimes I never know what to expect from you, Dad.”

“Do what I do, Kerry, and what you find out is, doesn’t much matter what kinda packaging people got. They all bleed the same damn color,”

Andrew replied with quiet meaning. “Then you stop seeing people as this kind or that kind. Just they’re either a friend or they’re not.”

“Yeah. Well, I wish that attitude was contagious.” Dar sighed. “My other bad news was a new board member that’s making more trouble than he’s worth. Alastair’s worried he’s going to start digging in the
Eye of the Storm
61

wrong places.”

“Again? Damn that company’s a pain in mah butt,” her father complained. “You should jest cut out and start your own company that does whatever the hell it is you do. Put them all the hell out of friggin’ business.”

They were all quiet for a moment, then Kerry turned her head and looked at Dar speculatively. “You know…”

“It’s crossed my mind.” Dar spoke at the same moment.

“Would backing be a problem? I’m sure we could—” Kerry spoke up eagerly.

“No.” Dar munched on a spoonful of ice cream. “All those bonuses could finally be useful. Last time I counted, which was a while ago honestly, there was about twenty million dollars in those damn accounts.”

She could feel the waves of utter shock beating against her. Dar glanced up right into Kerry’s astonished green eyes. “Which you, by the way, are heir to. Just thought I’d mention that. I’ve got some guy at Smith Barney who’s been investing and reinvesting everything I’ve gotten from them in fifteen years. He’s pretty damn good, and thanks to Aunt May, I don’t really spend much.”

“Jesus,” Kerry whispered. “Good Lord, Dar. I knew you said you had money stashed away but…”

“Wow,” Andrew muttered, for once at a loss for words. “I never done expected to be related to no millionaire, that’s fer damn sure.”

Dar shrugged. “Anyway, maybe after I finish this network project we’ll do some research on it. Would you come work for me?” she asked Kerry.

“That’s not a serious question, is it?” The blonde woman laughed in delight.

“What about you, Dad?”

“Hell yes,” Andrew answered immediately. “I want to get me some of those hot shot corporate executive perks I keep hearing so much about.

It ain’t bad working for Uncle Sam, but let me tell ya, you don’t get no leather chairs.”

They all laughed, then Dar put her bowl down for Chino to finish off and stretched, easing out strained muscles. She then relaxed into the leather’s soft, inviting surface as Kerry gave Andrew a humorous run down on Allison Consulting.

Start her own company. Would she want the headaches?
What the
hell?
She had them now, didn’t she? Cutting out on her own was…a little scary. A little intimidating, because she was, she knew, much better at organizing and designing things than selling them.

Well, okay.
So she’d hire a furking salesman for that…and maybe Mark would come work for her.
Yeah...maybe María...

Aw, c’mon Dar. That’s been a daydream of yours for years. Who are you
kidding? You don’t want to be responsible for the entire damn thing
.

Right?

Huh.

62
Melissa Good
MARÍA PUT HER cup down and sighed contentedly, enjoying the peace and quiet of the early morning. It was Monday, and she knew it would stop being peaceful very soon, but for right now, just after sunrise, she could sit and listen to the lack of voices, and the phone not ringing, and think clearly.

Having Dar gone for two days had thrown a wrench into quite a few things, and María had set aside items her boss needed to go into immediately in a bright red folder set exactly in the center of Dar’s almost painfully clean desktop. They’d all expected Dar back on Friday, but her sudden detour had been stated as both dire and necessary by Lou Draefus, whose status email on the Allison account had gotten more and more drastic as the day went on.

So it was good that Dar had gone there.

Of course, María knew perfectly well that Allison Consulting had nothing to do with why Dar was in Vermont, but that was all right as well. Kerry had been starting to sound very stressed in the last few days of her first long trip, and it was a good thing that Dar wanted to make sure the visit was a success. Kerry had been doing a fantastic job in the last few months, getting compliments from even the sour Eleanor, and a few, very grudging, from José as she worked their problems with her own, gentler style. But it paid to make sure of things, and that was reason enough for Dar to have gone.

She would be glad to have them both back, though. Things were piling up, and she’d started sorting them in colors. Blue for Dar, green for Kerry, with little red tabs on the items that were the most urgent. Truthfully, Kerry was at a level where she could easily justify having her own admin, but María felt a little protective of her boss’s partner and had decided the extra work was well worth the peace of mind it gave her. At least until she could find someone Kerrisita could trust.

Who would understand and not judge.

Coincidentally, her eldest daughter, Mayte was just graduating junior college and looking for a nice, respectable job. María snapped a rubber band around a package of Dar’s mail. Family was always the best to trust, no? She had spoken to Maríana already, and the personnel VP had promised to earmark the position for her, dryly thanking María for solving what could become the personnel nightmare of her life for her.

It was good, yes.
Mayte was a smart girl, very good with the computers, and this would get her out of the house most of the day and away from her brother’s friends, who had little to do and lots of trouble to get into. Also, María smiled, it would give her eldest daughter a chance to be exposed to a new kind of person, since Kerrisita was also very smart, very strong, and not afraid of saying what she thought. She would be a good influence on her.

Besides, did Mayte not think she, María, who had a lifetime of experience, knew that the Jon Secada concert she and a few of her friends were supposed to have gone to the other week was actually a Melissa Etheridge one? Foolish girl. If she thought that she was not sure of what
Eye of the Storm
63

she wanted, better she be exposed to people like Kerrisita, and her boss, Dar, then what she would find with her friends in not so nice places.

Not that she was hoping Mayte would choose the same. María was human enough to want a home and a family and a husband for all her daughters and she felt the family tradition was strong and very important. No. She was not hoping for that. But life, ay, life tended to give to you what it wanted and not what you did, so it was best to be prepared and do the best things you could for those you loved.

Ah. The elevator.

María heard the doors open, then two sets of footsteps approached, accompanied by familiar voices. She could hear Kerry’s low laugh, and she smiled as the door opened and the two of them came into the office.

“Good morning, Dar. Welcome back, Kerrisita.”

“Morning María.” Dar picked up her blue folder and leafed through it. “How was your weekend?”

“Very nice, thank you,” María answered. “Kerrisita, is that a new outfit? It is very nice. How was your trip?”

“Ugh.” Kerry collected her own folder. “I didn’t have time to get anything cleaned. So I ended up at the mall yesterday.” She plucked at the neat cotton shirt, which was tucked into pressed pleated pants. “I’m glad we went to business casual for the summer.” She removed the long, legal sized envelope tucked into her folder. “This the papers?”

“
Sí
.” María gave her a sympathetic look. “Is not nice, but the policeman was very sweet, who brought them.”

Kerry sighed and put the envelope back. “Other than the last few days, the trip was great. I don’t know what we’re going to do with Allison though. Did the security team make it out there?”

“Yes. Brady called in one half hour ago and said he had things taken care of,” María responded. “I passed him through to Mark.”

“Great. I’ll check on that, Dar, and let you know what the deal is. Are you going to that meeting at ten?”

Dar had been perusing her folder. “Yeah…and we need a team meeting after lunch, because Mark bullied facilities into finishing the two hub sites. We’re ahead of schedule.” She glanced up. “María, cancel anything I’ve got late Friday afternoon. I’ve got to fly up to Connecticut.”

“
Sí
.” María took notes. “Do you want me to book you?”

The tall executive nodded. “After lunch flight going up.” She paused, considering. “See if they have a really late flight coming back that night. Otherwise, early next morning return.”

Kerry looked up. “Don’t you want to maybe stay around there a day or so?”

Blue eyes met hers. “No.” Dar closed her folder and headed into her inner office.

María put down the pencil she had picked up to make notes and inclined her head inquisitively at Kerry.

“Mmm. Dar’s grandmother passed on,” the blonde woman explained. “She hasn’t seen that part of her family in a while. They don’t 64
Melissa Good
get on well.”

“Ahh. That is too bad.” María clucked softly. “A funeral is always so hard.”

They fell introspectively silent, then spoke at once.

“María, what does my schedule show for Friday?”

“You know, your schedule is clear for that day, Kerrisita.”

They both chuckled.

“Do you want me to book you for that as well?” María asked.

Kerry considered. “Yeah. But book me separately, okay? I haven’t talked to her about it. And María. Book those tickets on my credit card this time.” She shook a finger at the secretary. “Dar doesn’t need any help in that department from you. She spoils me more than enough on her own.”

María smiled and held up a hand. “Ay, Kerrisita, the two of you are just like my children, sometimes. You’d better go check your office. I am thinking that my boss has missed you just a little being gone.”

“My office?” Kerry queried. “What did she do in my office?”

No answer, just a smile.

“Oh, my god.” Kerry exhaled, and headed for the door. “I should have brought that darn trophy in.”

DAR WAS HALFWAY through the red folder, one hand propping up her head as she studied the paper in front of her. She reached over and took a swig of apple juice, then put her bottle down and turned the page.

“No.” She picked up the sheet and tossed it into her out bin. “No.” She tossed the next one after it. “You’ve got to be kidding.” A third went wafting.

She picked up a pen and scribbled her signature over the next, then turned it over. A soft chime made her look up and she watched her mailbox fill with dark lines. Then she turned her head and went peacefully back to her papers.

A buzz. “Dar. Mr. Alastair on line
número uno
.”

Dar hit the button. “Morning, Alastair.”

“Good morning, Dar. Hear we had some trouble with the Allison account.”

Right to the point.
Dar liked that. “Yeah. I’ve got a team up there and Duks has the auditors working on their books. Looks like someone bought off someone at Ernst and Young.”

Alastair made a soft clucking noise. “You’re kidding?”

“Nope. Unless the analysis comes up weird we managed to retrieve records that show they were buying their contracts. I can’t think of how they passed due diligence otherwise.” Dar signed a page, then flipped it over. “I fired their comptroller.”

“I heard,” Alastair murmured. “His uncle’s the president of Inter-corp.”

Dar put her papers down and folded her hands. “And?”

Eye of the Storm
65

“I got a call from him.”

“And?” Dar asked again, her eyes narrowing.

“He’s not happy.”

“I wasn’t happy on Friday. The idiot was stupid enough to keep records of what he was doing in his goddamned corporate server, Alastair. If they couldn’t find an angle to force the bid, they manufactured one. We’re talking major league slimeballs, here.”