by Melissa Good
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.”
”No way,” The woman answered instantly.
”Look,” Dar started.
”Hey, I said, no way.” Anne put a hand up. ”So don’t try it, lady.
I’ve said no to a lot worse than you.”
Kerry put her hand over the mic on her phone and stepped artfully between the two women, seeing the sudden icy glare settle over her boss’s face. ”Here Dar, it’s some Executive VP of something or other.
Was that high enough?” She passed her the phone, watching the flare of Dar’s nostrils as she took the instrument.
”Yeah. That’s fine,” she muttered, taking a breath before half turning away to talk.
”So.” Kerry gave the doctor a grim smile. ”Any coffee around here?”
“WELL, THAT’S IT.” Anne Simmonds closed up her cell phone.
”All right, guys, pack it up,” she yelled to her team, then turned to a waiting Dar. ”Sorry. They’re going to have to bring in a team to scrub the place. Thanks for getting me an answer, though.”
Kerry shot a glance at her boss. ”What does that mean?” she asked.
”Means the stuff is so toxic we can’t go in there without environmental suits.” The doctor answered succinctly. ”And I’ll be glad to get out of this weather. You might as well do the same.”
”How long?” Dar spoke for the first time, her voice sharp.
The doctor shrugged. ”Who knows? Take the team a day, maybe two to get here, then probably a week or so.” She packed up her kit.
”I can’t keep this facility closed a week,” Dar stated flatly.
”Well, that’s just too bad,” Simmonds replied. ”Because I’m leaving a trooper here to keep everyone out.” She gave Dar a grim smile. ”Have Hurricane Watch
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a nice day.” She shouldered her bag. ”Oh, and Ms. Roberts?”
Cold blue eyes watched her silently.
”My boss, Shari, says have a nice day too.” She turned and walked off, joining her group as they got into their van and closed the door, driving off and leaving them in the fitful, freezing weather.
Kerry watched them, then turned and studied her boss’s face, which had gone dark and cold, with a glittering anger in the pale blue eyes that sent a chill down her back. ”What was that all about?”
Dar felt the sour taste in the back of her mouth. ”Old history,” she replied, then returned her attention to the building. ”All right. C’mon, we’re going to have to do this the hard way.” She started towards the tarp the rest of their assembled group was huddled under at a brisk pace.”But.” Kerry caught up to her, tugging her collar up a little. ”Dar, I don’t, um.”
”Okay, folks,” Dar stated, as she ducked under the blue plastic.
”Bad news. We don’t get in for a week, at the least.” She pointed to the Bellsouth regional service coordinator who had just arrived. ”I need all the circuits in that building stripped and redropped, and I need them tonight.”
His jaw dropped. ”You’re joking, right?”
”No.” Dar stared him down. ”Just get started. I’ll let you know where I need them dropped.” She turned and faced the building manager. ”I have seventy Cisco 7200's headed here on a charter, find someone to go pick them up.”
His jaw dropped too. ”What in the hell are you doing, Dar? You make it sound like we’re rebuilding the goddamn complex.”
A dark brow lifted. ”We are.”
”That’s impossible,” he told her flatly. ”There is no way this facility is going to be duplicated overnight.”
”Have you ever tried it?” Dar countered her temper building. ”No?
Then how do you know it can’t be done?” She pointed. ”Just get moving, and get me someone here with a truck, who knows the area, and you,” she pointed at another woman who was muffled in a large mackinaw, ”start getting your people back in here.” The staff had been sent home earlier.
”Look, Dar,” the regional manager objected.
She whirled on him and jabbed a finger into his chest. ”You want a job tomorrow morning?”
Silence.
”Then start moving your ass,” she snarled. ”All of you!”
A low muttering sprang up as people started to move, more than one whisper of ”crazy” leaking back to Dar’s ears. She turned her back on them and walked to the edge of the tarp, staring out into the darkness and trying to calm the churning tension in her guts.
Kerry took a breath, then stepped up next to her. ”Hey, look Dar. I 194
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think he’s right, this is really crazy.”
The back facing her stiffened, and it was a long moment before Dar turned her head and looked right at Kerry. Her face was an unreadable mask, but the turmoil in her e
yes was unmistakable. ”If you don’t want to help out just go back to the car and wait,” Dar spoke with low intensity. ”But don’t stand here and tell me what I can’t do. I don’t need that from you.”
Kerry felt her knees start to shake and she sucked in a shocked breath, having not expected the response. She tried to think of something to say, but before she could, Dar simply turned and walked away, out into the darkness.
THE FREEZING RAIN now matched her mood completely. Dar stared into it, hardly even feeling the sting against her face as the last warm spot inside her dissolved, replaced by a damp bleakness that already regretted her words to Kerry.
Damn it. She tucked her hands under her arms, ignoring the pain the cold was inserting in her joints, and took a quick glance over her shoulder. Kerry had disappeared. The knowledge sank into Dar’s guts, and she felt a long moment of just wishing she could scrap the entire night, and go after her.
And say what? Sorry for being an asshole. It’s just something you have to get used to? Wasn’t it good old Shari who had told her she’d never have a successful relationship, because she always put everything else ahead of it?
Yeah. Funny she should turn up right at that moment. She let the freezing rain drive against her, numbing her face until heavy footsteps ran up and she turned, to see the Bellsouth supervisor pulling his yellow rain suit tight against him.
”All right, we’ve got the pairs pulled out,” he told her, scrubbing his face. ”Now what? I can’t keep those guys up on those poles, Ms.
Roberts. You need to give us some direction here. We’re pulling all the stops out, but I’m not putting my guys in danger, and it’s icing up.”
More than you know. Dar rubbed her arms, then exhaled. ”Okay, let’s see where everyone else is.” She led him back to the tarp, ignoring the angry looks she was getting by the rest of the team, channeling her focus only on the goal. ”What’s the status?”
”Plane just landed with the routers,” one man grudgingly admitted, blowing on his hands. ”I got a truck. We were about to leave to go pick them up.”
”Good.” Dar nodded. ”Take off.”
”Staff’s headed back in, those I could reach,” the older woman told her. ”But I had to get pretty tough. No one’s happy and a few flat out refused.”
”Fine,” Dar told her. ”Okay, now we just need a...”
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”The warehouse next door is empty,” Kerry’s voice quietly interrupted her. ”They have a Telco punch down and the landlord’s on his way with a key.”
The flapping of the tarp was suddenly loud as everyone turned to look at her, and Dar felt an irrational jolt deep in her guts. She studied the set, serious face for a moment. ”Thank you, Kerry, good work.”
Kerry nodded and glanced down at the churned, half frozen mud they were standing in, folding her arms over her chest and exhaling.
”All right, let’s move everything over there. We’ll get inside as soon as they open it up. It’ll be warmer and drier at least,” Dar stated quietly. ”John, that’s where we'll need the lines dropped. I think I spotted a block on the back end of that building.”
”Right you are,” the Bellsouth manager nodded briskly, pulling out a walkie-talkie and speaking into it. ”That’s an easy swing. They might even be wired for it already as that used to be a telemarketing operation.”
Kerry listened to the conversation, letting it roll over her, until she was aware of footsteps leaving, and then silence. With a sigh she lifted her head, almost jumping when pale blue eyes met hers. ”Oh.” She’d thought Dar had gone with them.
They studied each other for a long, pensive moment.
”Sorry about that I...” Kerry started.
”Sorry I snapped at you. I...” Dar rumbled at the same time.
Silence fell again, then Dar released a breath and wiped a weary hand across her face. ”You didn’t deserve that.”
Kerry stepped closer. ”No, I shouldn’t have questioned you, Dar.”
She put out a hesitant hand and touched Dar’s arm, as though reassuring herself. ”You needed my support right then, and I blew it.”
Dar dropped her eyes to the ground. ”I don’t want you to think that,” she said, after a moment’s thought. ”Sometimes you need to question me, Kerry. I don’t know all the answers and sometimes I push too hard, and the result doesn’t end up justifying the means.” Her eyes swept up in startling honesty. ”You should know that.” She sighed and looked around. ”I don’t know if this is the right thing to do, but I don’t know what else to try, and I have to try something.”
Kerry nodded, and moved another step closer. ”I know. I went over to the truck there and sat down, and I thought about it.” She paused.
”That’s why I called about that warehouse. I knew that’s where you had to go next.”
Dar lifted a hand and gently laid it alongside her cheek. ”Thank you,” she murmured, sincerely. ”That really was well done. How’d you know about the punch down?”
Kerry smiled, feeling her cold stiffened facial muscles protest.
”Modern technology. I linked up to the local real estate page and did a search on available commercial property in this area, listed my specifications, and it popped right up.” Her eyes twinkled gravely at 196
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the widening of Dar’s eyes. ”Even had the landlord’s number there,”
she added. ”He wasn’t happy about me calling him at two a.m., but since I offered twenty percent more than what he was asking, he made an exception, and said he’d get right over here. He lives about ten minutes away.”
Dar gave a little shake of the head, then she impulsively pulled Kerry into a hug, reveling in the warmth as the smaller woman wound her arms around her and squeezed really hard. ”You’re the best.”
Kerry smiled in pure relief, ignoring the dampness of Dar’s jacket.
Then she released her boss and patted her gently on the side. ”And, hey Dar?””Mm?” The now warm blue eyes regarded her.
Kerry lifted her chin. ”If and when you want to talk about the old history, I’m here.”
Dar’s eyelids fluttered as she ducked her head for a moment, then raised it. ”Thanks,” She replied quietly. ”Maybe we’ll have time this weekend.”
”Okay,” Kerry exhaled. ”Well, I think that’s our landlord over there. I guess we’d better get started, but Dar, I have to ask you. We’re replacing the routers, but what about the mainframes? We can’t duplicate those, not even if you commandeer half the air force.”
Dar slipped an arm over her shoulders and started to walk towards the now lit building behind the operations center. ”No, but the mainframes are in a separate room. They connect over a fiber optic LAN
bridge.” She pointed. ”And the access block for that is on the roof.”
Kerry stared at the roof, then her eyes shifted to a new truck that had just pulled up, bearing the fiber optics division insignia of the telephone company. ”Oh, you’re just too good.” She turned an admiring gaze on her boss. ”That’s slick, Dar, but do we know they have power and are turned on in there? I thought those environmental people turned everything off.”
Dar let out a breath. ”We’ll find out, but we’ve got a lot to do before then and it’s going to be a race.”
Kerry lifted her head and regarded the growing crowd they were heading towards. ”I have a feeling I’m going to be present at yet another Dar Roberts legend in the making.”
”Hmm, let’s just hope it’s not my swan song,” Dar muttered. “I’ve got a feeling a lot of things are lining up against me on this one.”
Chapter
Fifteen
KERRY STOOD BACK and watched the group disperse inside the large, ill lit warehouse, scattering out from the door and trying to avoid the tumbleweed size dust bunnies that were rolling languidly across the stained carpet. It smelled like a cross between a dirty shed and a mildewed garage, and Kerry wrinkled her nose
in pure reaction.
But at least it was warm, sort of, and not raining inside. Dar was standing in the center of the room, her hands on her hips and her eyes regarding the space they had to work with, and Kerry noticed the rain dripping off her jacket with a frown.
”All right,” the tall, dark haired woman finally said. ”Truck here yet?” She turned to the facility manager. ”Thought I heard the engine outside.”
He nodded. ”Just got here. I’ll have them stack the boxes over there and start unpacking things.”
”Right. There should be racks with them, and a spool of Cat 5,” Dar told him. ”Better start having people make the jumper cables. I’ll work with Telco to get the lines dropped in.”
”Okay.” He rubbed his eyes. ”Damn, wish we had an urn of coffee in here.” He moved off towards a clump of grumpy looking technicians.
Coffee. Dar wished he hadn’t said that. She could feel the day’s exhaustion catching up with her and she had to make a conscious effort to jump start her brain, turning it to the stuff still undone. The cold had stiffened up her muscles as well, and her half healed knee had been aching for hours, since she’d been standing and walking on it. With a sigh, she turned, almost slamming right into Kerry. ”Wh... oh, sorry.”
Kerry pushed a bundle of clothes into her hands. ”Here, go change.
You’re making my teeth chatter.”
Dar put her hands up in reflex and found them filled with warm, dry clothes. ”Whe...um...thanks.” She gave Kerry a grateful smile.
”Where’s yours?”
Kerry showed her the bag slung over her shoulder. ”I’m going to make a quick run out with Ruth.” She indicated the day manager who had called in the staff. ”When I get back, I’ll change. They’re offloading the routers now.”
Dar nodded. ”I know. Okay, I’m going to start getting the T1's punched down.”
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”After you change” Kerry persisted. ”Right?”
A soft chuckle. ”Right.” Dar followed the hastily lettered signs which indicated the rest rooms, and ducked inside the one marked Wo m en , wincing at the smell of rotted grout. ”Oh god.”