Winds of Change Pt 1 (Dar and Kerry Series Book 12)

by Melissa Good

  Surprising, a little, since they were so rawly new, but also gratifying in that these big companies seemed to recognize a potential for a small startup to grow.

  Her new PDA rattled softly, and she glanced at it.

  She was glad she’d turned over hers and Dar’s company cell phones to the courier, and she’d gotten a call from Mari saying that she’d received their equipment and locked them up for safekeeping.

  The office, not surprisingly, was in chaos. Someone had spread around her personal email address, and her new little gadget was buzzing like a drunken beehive with notes from more people than she thought she actually knew there.

  From security. From ops. From accounting. From the building custodial staff. Kerry thumbed through them with a sense of bemusement. People were angry, sad, outraged, disgusted. She picked out the one from Jack Bueno and read it again, almost able to hear the passion in his words.

  A little surprising. A little humbling. Kerry imagined that Dar’s inbox was quantum amounts fuller since she’d been at the company much longer and had a far deeper history there, and while certainly she’d made her share of enemies, she’d also made her share of devoted believers.

  She sighed, and opened a few more messages.

  Notes from other parts of the company, from small accounts in Wisconsin, New Hampshire, New York and Seattle. One from Nan in Herndon, expressing intense and straightforward upset at their leaving and including a picture of the ops group in Herndon, all with their thumbs pointing down. Kerry sighed. There were probably just as many who were glad to see them go, who saw room now for advancement, or who chafed under Dar’s management style but they probably wouldn’t send her notes relating that.

  “Ker?”

  She looked up to find Dar in her doorway. “Hey,” she said, “my court date is Thursday.”

  Dar paused and cocked her head in puzzlement, then her expression cleared. “Oh, the name thing.”

  “The name thing,” Kerry agreed, with a wry smile. “Crazy week, huh?”

  “Mm.” Dar walked over to her and handed her a paper. “Our option sales just went through,” she said. “Richard wanted to get that done before ILS made a public announcement.”

  “You think they will?” Kerry took the page and glanced at it, then stopped and looked closer. She blinked, then looked up at Dar. “Holy crap.”

  “Yeah. Had more than I thought in that account.” Dar shrugged somewhat sheepishly. “Richard thought maybe we could put it in to start up the business accounts for the new company. You think?”

  “Sure,” Kerry said. “That’ll help with all those things we need to do for that office, and on-boarding people, and also maybe buying the Queen Elizabeth 2.” She put the page down. “My inbox is blowing up.”

  “Mine too.” Dar took a seat on the reading chair next to Kerry’s desk. “I just got off the phone with Mari.”

  “And?”

  “She’s trying to get all the paperwork done to separate us. It’s a mess,” Dar said. “Because they’d been in the middle of creating our voluntary separation packages.”

  “Ah.” Kerry leaned on her elbows. “Sorry, Dar. Don’t feel bad for them, even for Mari. We didn’t ask for this.”

  “No, I know. Me either, but PR’s been on the line to her most of the morning trying to figure out what the hell they’re going to release to the press.”

  “Ah. Yeah, bet that’s a pickle for them,” Kerry mused. “What are they going to say they fired us for? Because you were too popular with our customers? Because your competency was so overwhelmingly sterling that major institutions like the federal government wanted you all to themselves?”

  Dar chuckled wryly. “I’m sure someone is working full time to come up with some story to explain it that makes them look good and intelligent, and makes us look bad.”

  “Well, from my side, they can’t do much worse than my father’s lawyers did on national television.” Kerry said. “Good luck with that.”

  “Mari warned them not to play any games.” Dar shook her head. “There’s too much public press out there about me for them to say it was due to any issue with my performance. Or yours. Or the fact that we’re married, because that’s been a fact for a couple years.”

  Kerry frowned. “They’re kind of idiots, Dar. They could have just asked us to resign early, couldn’t they?”

  “Not without saying why.” Dar sat back and hiked one foot up on her opposite knee. “I think they had a knee jerk reaction to what Alastair told them about the contracts, and didn’t think it through.”

  “Can they not say anything?”

  “After having the CEO walk out and the CIO, and the VP of operations fired? Hon, they’re a public company. I figure the word’s already out and they’re getting calls from stockholders.”

  “Ugh.”

  “Ugh,” Dar repeated. “I’m guessing I’ll get a call from someone at some point about it.” She got up. “Back to the legal paperwork. Glad I have a lawyer doing it. I’d have just filled it all out in random crayon by now and submitted it.” She pushed herself to her feet. “I’ll tell Richard you’re okay with using that to start up operations.” She indicated the sheet, and winked, then sauntered out and back down the steps.

  Kerry picked the paper back up and looked at it, then shook her head and put it away in a drawer. Then she went back to her list of things to do, picking up a pen and making another note.

  “DAR, WE’RE ALMOST done here,” Richard Edgerton said, sorting through the stack of papers. “Then I’ll go right over and file these, and open up your accounts.” He looked across the desk at her. “The irony of you using your options payout to start up your own biz isn’t lost on me, by the way.”

  “Me either,” Dar said. “I wasn’t looking for this to happen this way, but...” She shrugged. “Might as well just take advantage of an early start and get things in motion.”

  “Okay,” he replied. “So now, we talked about the differences between a general corporation, S Corp, and an LLC. All of them give you and Kerry protection in terms of personal finances, the difference otherwise depends on if you want to issue stock, and so on.”

  Dar nodded. “LLC seems to be the best choice for now, since I don’t want to get involved in any stock, and we’re self-financing. I want it to be as simple as possible at the start, because with my luck it’s going to get a lot more complicated fast.”

  Richard chuckled. “Definitely keep it close to the vest for now. I don’t know what those idiots at ILS are going to end up releasing, and the less public you are, the easier it’s going to be to deal with whatever that is.” He finished up the last paper. “Now, being as I’m a lawyer, I have to say, Dar...have you considered filing suit against ILS?”

  “For?”

  “Firing you? You didn’t do anything to initiate that, you know. Based on what you told me, all you did was tell them the truth, which you really didn’t have to do,” Richard said. “You didn’t solicit either of those offers. You’ve got a case, y’know.”

  Dar shook her head. “Don’t want it. Kerry and I talked about it. It’s not worth it, Richard. What would it get me? Is my retirement package worth what we’d spend in legal fees?”

  “Oh, sure,” Richard said. “Considering if they lose they pay them.” He smiled. “Listen, Dar, I know money isn’t on your priority list and given this stock windfall, it’s not something you need to get this company started. I just wanted to ask the question because you know, it rankles me. As a longtime family friend, and as your lawyer.”

  “Let’s get it going then. I want to get all this in motion before Ker and I take off for some R and R,” Dar said. “I don’t want the thought of lawsuits and attachments hanging over us. They lose far more than I do by firing me. I just lose cash.”

  “Well, being fired is not exactly good for your rep,” Richard said.

  Dar shrugged. “I’ll let my rep stand for itself. There are enough people out there in the industry who know the truth. En
ough customers whose asses I pulled out of the fire. It might throw people off at first, but in the long run, performance talks.”

  He smiled. “Take the high road?”

  “Something like that.” Dar returned the smile.

  “Okey dokey.” Richard got up. “I’ll get the bank accounts open, your general account, and both payables and payroll. I’ve got your power of attorney, and I should be able to get all this filed by the end of the day.”

  “You’ll be our corporate lawyer, won’t you, Richard? I only know two of your kind and the other one works for ILS and is probably trying to find a way to screw me, if only to get ILS’s ass out of the fire.”

  “Baird?”

  “Yeah. He’s sharp.”

  “He is,” Richard agreed. “Matter of fact, I know him. Know the family.”

  “Hamilton and I had the perfect love-hate relationship. He loved my results and hated my personality and attitude”

  “I’ll keep an eye out for him, Dar, and absolutely I’ll be your counsel. I haven’t had this much fun in years.”

  Dar’s cell phone rang and she opened it with a sigh. “Dar Roberts.”

  “Hello, Dar!”

  “Hey, Alastair.” She glanced at Richard and grinned briefly. “How’s your first day of retirement?”

  “Well you know, it’s been good so far,” Alastair said. “Been able to watch the circus and not have to be the ringmaster, as it were.”

  “Uh oh.”

  He chuckled wryly. “I’ve gotten a lot of phone calls, matter of fact, and I think there are some folks who are regretting some hasty action the other day.”

  “Little late for that.”

  “That’s what I’ve been saying,” Alastair agreed. “But there’s some talk of cutting a deal, as it were, to prevent all that public messiness.”

  Richard sat back down and cocked his head to listen.

  “You really think I’m going to go for that?” Dar asked, in a quizzical tone.

  “Well, the board obviously hopes so, that’s why they have me asking,” Alastair answered dryly. “The deal would be, you and Kerry, and me for that matter, gets the package they were working for us, in return for saying you left early to concentrate on family life or raise goldfish or whatever canned BS it is they say for this sort of thing.”

  Dar tapped her thumb on her desk. “We’d have to abide by the noncompete, though. Right?”

  “Sure.”

  “Really is too late, Alastair. We’ve already leased office space and my lawyer’s on the way to file my incorporation papers. Sorry about that.”

  There was a moment of silence. “Wow,” Alastair said. “You don’t screw around, do you, lady?”

  “Never have.”

  “All righty then, I’ll pass that along,” he said.

  “If they’re willing to drop the non-compete, I’ll consider it,” Dar countered. “Listen, Alastair, I gave almost twenty years of my life to ILS. I didn’t deserve to be fired because of someone’s jackass reaction.”

  “I know that, Dar,” Alastair said. “Apparently the board’s been getting angry phone calls ever since the news leaked out. Not to mention operations are pretty well disrupted across the board.”

  “Not my fault.”

  “Not your fault at all,” Alastair said. “They told you to walk away, and that’s exactly what you did, Dar. Cut the cord, broke all the ties, turned in your gear. Mariana said it was textbook. Board isn’t stupid, really. They knew you were the brains of the outfit, but they figured they could find more brains. What they didn’t know, and what apparently has become obvious, is that you also were the company’s heart, and there’s a lot of broken ones there today.”

  Dar stared at the phone in silence, caught off guard by the sentiment.

  “Dar?”

  “Yeah, I heard you,” she muttered.

  “Anyhow, I’ll see if they’ll bite on that.” Alastair cleared his throat. “Call ya back.”

  Dar closed the phone and looked up as Kerry entered, her eyes flicking around the room. “Hey.”

  “Hey.”

  “Okay.” Richard got up. “I’m heading out to file papers. Thanks for the pass for my car, ladies. I’ll be back as soon as you’re a company.” He picked up his briefcase and ducked out the door, giving Chino a pat as he headed out.

  “Something happen?” Kerry came over and sat on the desk. “You look weird.”

  Dar got up. “Let’s get a drink.” She led Kerry through the dining room and into the kitchen. “Alastair just called. The board wanted him to cut a deal with us.”

  “What?”

  “Apparently someone realized they might have screwed up a little in firing us.” Dar got herself a glass of milk. “So they wanted to give us our packages in return for us saying we left to go pursue other things.”

  “And...that’s bad?” Kerry hazarded.

  “Still have to have the non-compete.”

  “Ah. That is bad.” Kerry nodded. “So I get it you told him no?”

  “I told him no, unless they wanted to drop that.” Dar turned and looked out the window. “But it wasn’t that. Something he said just made my brain twitch.”

  Kerry stepped closer and put a hand on her back, rubbing it gently. “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” Dar took another swallow of milk. “You know I just got an email from the cleaning lady on fifteen. She sent me a blessing, through her son, who actually wrote the email. She said she’d miss me so much.”

  Kerry gave her a hug. “Well, I’ll tell you, Dar. If we weren’t partners, and I had come in this morning to find you gone, I’d have been a hysterical mess. So I know how those people feel.”

  Dar returned the hug and smiled. “I’m glad Maria and Mayte took time off. Wouldn’t want to have them there having to deal with all the chaos.”

  “Me too. Colleen called me before from her cell. Duks had a department meeting and Col said you could tell he was pissed off.”

  “He was never into the politics,” Dar said. “Never got the whole ego thing, just wanted everyone to come in and do their damn job.”

  “No wonder you two always got along.” Kerry leaned against her and exhaled. “Okay. I’m going to go back and continue working on finding equipment vendors, setting up accounts with telecom providers, and deciding what color your desk is going to be.” She gave Dar a kiss. “I’ve got a bunch of them already falling over themselves to work with us. Our favorite network vendor said she was glad we finally broke off on our own.”

  “Really? We won’t be giving anyone multi-million dollar orders for a long time.”

  “True,” Kerry said. “And they know that, but they also know if they put a new piece of technology in front of us, we’ll find something profitable to do with it.”

  “Yeah, that’s likely true.” Dar walked Kerry back to the stairs and watched her trot up them. “You go, hon.”

  Then she returned to her desk and settled behind it, as Chino jumped on the couch and curled up in a ball. She picked up her new PDA and looked at it, scrolling through the page of new messages that had appeared since she’d gone to the kitchen.

  “Wow,” she muttered under her breath. “Who’d have guessed?” She opened one and read it.

  Dear Ms. Roberts,

  You probably don’t remember me, but during theSeptember attacks you showed up and defended me froma very angry customer and I have never forgottenthat. All of the people in the New York office are upin arms, and in fact, they just walked out and I’mgoing with them soon as I send this. I hope thecompany knows what a bad thing it did.

  Charlene, the receptionist in the New York salesoffice.

  “I do remember you, Charlene,” Dar mused. “Glad you enjoyed that. Really was just my period cramps taking themselves out on some nitwad.”

  She opened another one.

  Dear Dar -it’s Francois from the Europeanoffice. I just want to say to you, we should be veryashamed. I am ashamed. There is no honor in this.


  “Ah, Francois.” She put down the gizmo and turned her attention to her computer, browsing the code archive she’d unearthed. “Glad I’m as disciplined as I am, Chi. Every time I did a compile and push to production, I iterated a copy here to my repository. You know what that means?”

  “Growf?”

  “It means we’ve got the latest versions of everything I wrote. Including Gopher Dar.” She sorted through the files and checked the dates with a sense of satisfaction, stopping to take some notes on her pad of the programs she thought they would be able to use.

  Then a thought occurred to her, and she hit the intercom key on the phone. “Ker?”

  “Yeah?” Kerry’s voice echoed softly. “I just realized my desk and laptop are locked down with that new security program they made us start using,” she said. “The one that requires my hash code and retinal display.”

  A soft snort of laughter came through the phone.

  “And if they deactivate my network account, half the running systems in the company are probably going to stop working. Mark was going through a project to transition those to a regular service account before I left.”

  “Oh crap, Dar!” Kerry sputtered. “Is Mark in the office?”

  “Oh, no. He’s down in the keys again with Barbara. On a fishing charter.” Dar scribbled another note on her pad. “Barbara sent me an email telling me she’s going to name her firstborn child for me for getting him out of ILS.”

  “He stayed because of you.”

  Dar paused, and tapped the pen on the pad. “Yeah, I know,” she said. “So anyway, you pick my desk yet?”

  “How about clear glass?”

  Dar’s brow lifted. “I’ll feel like a goldfish. What if I want to wear shorts to the office?”

  “Clear glass top, hon. Wood and brass frame.” Kerry started laughing. “Though I’m kinda thinking about that see through top and those shorts...hm.”

  “Kerrison.”

  “Okay, I’ve got A&T on the other line. Got to go.” T