by Melissa Good
"Really? You finished?" The reporter exclaimed. "Everything?"
"We did." Kerry agreed. "We put out the point of sale systems this morning, and I finished the server configuration just before we made port. I'm very pleased with how everything turned out."
"I bet you are." Eleana said. "That was a pretty slick maneuver you pulled off...getting aboard. I don't think Mr. Quest really approved."
Kerry shrugged one shoulder as she watched the gangway. "You know, I think Mr. Quest really wants to have his cake and eat it too. He wants to control every aspect of this contract bid, and yet he keeps telling us we have to be creative and deal with all the setbacks as best we may. "
"Hm." The reporter made a note on her pad. "You know, that's a darn good point."
"Well, we were creative, and we did what we had to do to complete this project." Kerry concluded. "So I would hope he has nothing to complain about."
"Hm. And now the ship has no power, is that what you said?" The reporter glanced up. "Convenient glitch."
Kerry had been thinking that very thing not long ago. "Well, according to the captain, they blew the transformer. He's got someone working on it." She looked toward the gangway as the rude little engineer appeared, furtively peering out and motioning for one of the crew on the dock to come over.
A bit of sunlight hit him, outlining his face, and suddenly Kerry knew where she'd seen him before. "Oh." She inhaled in surprise.
"Excuse me?" Elena gazed at her in puzzlement.
Was it really the same guy? Kerry focused her peripheral vision on him and tried hard to recall that fleeting glance she'd had outside the drugstore. The man started berating the dockworker, and with that, she was sure. It was that same twisted face, the same sneering expression.
"Ms. Stuart?"
"Sorry." Kerry collected her wits. "I was just thinking about something."
"What's going to happen if they don't get power on? You do have to demonstrate those gizmos, don't you?" the reporter asked.
"We'll come up with something." Kerry assured her absently. "If Dar has to hire three hundred hamsters and make an interlocking power wheel, we'll get it done."
The reporter started laughing. "Oh, that's a quote," she said. "You know they had a big meeting last night, the rest of the companies bidding and Quest."
Kerry forced her attention back to the woman. "No, I didn't," she said. "What happened?"
"Don't know. They didn't invite me in, and no one's talking," the reporter said, cheerfully. "I was hoping you'd find out, and let me in on it too." She looked around, then started backing up. "Matter of fact, I think I see an interview opportunity right now...catch up with you later, Ms. Stuart."
Kerry turned toward the ship. The little engineer had disappeared back inside, and now she trotted over to the gangway and climbed up it, edging past a few workers coming from the other direction. She entered the ship's hold and looked around, but the man was nowhere to be seen.
Andrew was, however. He walked over to meet Kerry, his overnight bag slung over one shoulder. "Hey there."
"Hi, Dad." Kerry greeted him absently. "Hey, did you see a little guy...kinda scruffy looking in here a minute ago?"
"Wall." Andrew considered. "I think I know what feller you mean. He's the engine guy on here."
"Right." Kerry turned and faced him.
"Believe that feller went off to get the lights on. Said he's expecting a part or something," Andy said. "That's what you all need, right?"
Right. Kerry took a step back and leaned against the wall of the ship. "Yeah." She agreed. "Guess he's the one who knows what to do, huh?"
"Yeap," Andy said. "Talked to him a little bit. Old timer."
"He looks a little creepy." Kerry remarked.
Her father-in-law shrugged. "S'allright feller, I guess. Been with this here ship for most twenty years." He moved closer to Kerry, clearing the way for a flood of electricians and other craftsmen to pile onboard cursing and shoving.
"Stupid assholes," one man said. "How in the hell do they expect us to do shit with no power? What a bunch of..."
"Ahh. Shutup," his companion said. "Who the hell cares? They're paying us."
Kerry shook her head. "You know, they're right. What the heck are they going to do in the dark, Dad?" She asked. "Darn if this entire thing just makes less and less sense the longer it goes on." Her eyes flicked to the stairs, where a familiar figure was fighting her way down against the tide. "Ah. Good."
Dar emerged from the stairwell and spotted them. She walked over, shoving her way through the line of workers in complete disregard to the complaints and outrage she left behind her. "You two ready to get out of here? I saw mom get off before."
"Waiting for you, sweetie." Kerry told her, setting aside her new revelation for later. "The guys are all going over to Hooters for lunch. You up for it?"
Andrew snickered. Dar cocked her eyebrow at Kerry. "Hooters, huh?"
Kerry shrugged sheepishly.
"You hungry?" Dar asked Andrew. "I'm not sure mom can get anything but celery sticks and French fries there, but..."
"Naw. We'll head on back home." Andy responded. "Catch up with you all later." He gave Dar a pat on the arm, gave Kerry a wink, and ducked under the edge of the shell opening that held the gangway.
"Hooters?" Dar grinned.
"Okay, okay. You win. You were right. Can we go eat now?" Kerry asked. "And, there's something I need to talk to you about, but not until we get away from here."
Dar appeared intrigued, but she refrained from questioning Kerry and instead steered her toward the gangway. They worked their way down past the line of workers and walked together across the pier, both glad to leave the ship, its hot chaos, and the busy dock behind them.
They passed through the gates and across the short stretch of grass between the terminals, glad of the shade from the palm trees as they headed for the parking lot. "Should we find Quest and talk to him?" Kerry asked suddenly.
"Want an honest answer?"
"I don't want to either, Dar, but I think we should."
"Well, you're probably right." Dar amiably agreed. "But it's a moot point, because the little bugsucker's headed this way right now." She jerked her head slightly to the right. "So hustle up your good manners, because mine took a hike and I just might kick him in the groin rather than speak to him."
"Gotcha." Kerry slowed her pace and turned, coming to a halt as Peter Quest intercepted them. He was wearing a sweat stained polo and chinos, and he had a very harried expression on his face. "Good morning, Mr. Quest."
"Where do you think you're going?" Quest asked.
Kerry decided to take the question at face value. "To get some lunch. Would you like some?" she answered politely.
"What about your project?" he asked. "Giving up?"
"Finished," Dar supplied dryly.
"What?"
"We're done." Kerry confirmed. "We just need for them to get power back on the ship to demonstrate it to you, and we can close the book on it. You'll have my financial bid paperwork shortly thereafter."
Quest looked honestly stunned. "You mean it? He asked. "You really did finish?"
"We did."
Quest started laughing. He backed away from them, and then turned and jogged off, still laughing. He waved a hand at them as he went back through the gates, then turned and moved in the direction of Michelle and Shari's ship.
Kerry turned and faced Dar. "If you at any point figure out what the hell's going on here, you will tell me, right?"
Dar tipped down her sunglasses and peered after Quest. "Uh, sure," she said. "But you know what? I'm gonna enjoy showing off that system to that bastard. Maybe he'll invite the rest of those jackasses to come see it too."
Kerry bit her lip, her conscience wrestling with her desire to take the project out on top.
"Ker?"
Kerry leaned against the palm tree they were standing under. "Yeah?"
"What's up?" Dar rested her hand against the tru
nk. "You all right?"
Should she even tell Dar? If she did, Dar would be as responsible for this decision as she was. Did Kerry want that? Wouldn't it be better to just keep it to herself and have total control over it?
"Kerry?" Dar moved closer, and her voice dropped in concern.
Did she really want to lie to Dar? Kerry tipped her head up and met her partner's eyes. No. She didn't want lies between them. It wasn't how she'd decided she wanted them to live their lives together. "That guy," she said. "That little nasty guy...the one we saw in the hall last night?"
Dar cocked her head. "The engineer?"
Kerry nodded. "Remember I said I knew him from somewhere?"
"Yeah."
"He's the guy from the drugstore. That guy with the car and the woman in the trunk?"
Dar's jaw dropped. "Are you sure?" She put a hand on Kerry's shoulder. "That was the guy?"
"I'm..." Kerry exhaled. "Dar, I really think it was. Am I absolutely positive? It was dark, and I just saw him for a minute or so, but I think it was him."
Dar removed her sunglasses and studied Kerry seriously. "He goes off the ship, we'll never get power. Not in time. Not after what I heard about him."
"I know."
They looked at each other. "What are we going to do?" Kerry finally asked.
Dar nibbled the inside of her lip briefly. "We're going to go to lunch," she said. "This guy's not going anywhere. Let's just think it through and then we'll decide."
Kerry thought a moment, then nodded. "All right. That sounds good."
They turned and continued walking toward the parking lot, getting to their car just as a group of people came out of Michelle and Shari's terminal, arguing. They paused to watch them.
"Ah." Kerry murmured. "Guess we found out where our little friend Jason from New York went."
Dar watched Quest apparently make a final point, then walk off, leaving Michelle and Shari standing there with the newcomer, and the Army captain, and the Travel Channel filming crew. "Know what I think?"
"Hm?"
"Everything just went to hell." Dar opened the doors. "So let's go to lunch, and maybe they'll all have sunk on that thing before we get back."
Kerry climbed into the car and almost appreciated the hot leather as it eased the suddenly tense muscles in the back of her neck. Just when she was convinced things couldn't possibly get any worse...
"Hey Ker?"
"Uh?"
"Love you."
Kerry smiled, reaching across the console to give Dar's arm a squeeze.
Hell with 'em.
Just straight to hell with 'em.
IN THE END, they decided against Hooters. Dar suggested a quieter spot so they could just sit and digest everything that had happened. So they ended up at the little Thai place near the office in one of the back booths that afforded the most privacy.
Kerry leaned back against the banquette seat, and relaxed a little in the cool air and dim lighting. "Good choice." She half turned sideways and rested her elbow on the table, propping her head up against her fist. "Wow." She let out a breath. "I'm wiped."
Dar folded her hands together and rested her chin on them. Kerry did look tired, she realized, and her eyes were a bit bloodshot. "Been a long week."
"I vote we sleep in tomorrow." Kerry picked up her iced coffee and took a sip. "How's your foot feeling?'
"Eh." Dar waggled a hand.
"Mm. That about covers how I feel too." Kerry gave their waitress a smile as she put down a steaming plate of curried shrimp in front of her. "Thanks."
The woman put down Dar's meal and then a bowl of fragrant brown rice, giving them both warm smiles before she backed off and left them to eat in peace. "Much as I appreciate Hooters," Kerry said, "I'm a lot happier to be here." She scooped some rice onto her plate, and mixed it with some curry sauce.
"Me, too." Dar turned and motioned to the waitress. "Can we get a couple of glasses of the plum?" she asked. "Thanks."
Kerry checked her watch. "Isn't it a little early for that?" She teased gently. "Last time I had alcohol with you this early was when you got cleared at the heart institute."
"We can handle it." Dar smiled, remembering that morning with utter clarity. "We went to work after that."
"Oo yeah. I remember twirling around in my chair for a while counting the seagulls when we got back. I was about as useful as a pig with a PDA."
"So was I, but it had nothing to do with the damn champagne." Dar picked up a bit of chicken and ate it. "I was just in there thinking...'man, what can I do to make her hug me again'"
"You were not!"
The waitress put down two glasses of plum wine. Dar lifted hers and toasted Kerry. "I sure as hell was. It's a damn good thing I turned out not to have a heart problem, because mine was flopping around like a beached fish that whole day."
Kerry picked up her glass and touched her partner's with it. "Well, I don't know what mine was doing, because you'd already stolen it and had it somewhere in your desk drawer, I think." She took a sip of the cold wine, enjoying the sweetness against her tongue and the warmth as it traveled down into her stomach. "We're such a couple of hopeless mush balls, you know that?"
"Yes, I do know that." Dar settled down to her lunch. "But I think I like it that way."
"You think?"
"Mmhm."
They munched away in a companionable silence for a little while, having learned through experience that eating their food while it was still hot was worth forgoing the pleasure of talking to each other while they were consuming it. Kerry, especially, tended to go off on verbal tangents and since her upbringing would not allow her to chew while speaking, she often ended up with a plateful of chilly ingredients at the end of her meal.
Besides, it gave them a chance to think, and Kerry used that to think about the ship's engineer. There was no question in her mind that she was going to call the police, but she knew the unspoken question between her and Dar was when she was going to make the call.
Now? If they took the man off the ship, chances were they'd never get to test their solution, and by default, they'd lose the bid.
Kerry knew it was more important to bring the man to justice than for them to win the bid. But she also had enough of her shining altruism knocked off to know that one more day of freedom wasn't going to make a material difference to anyone. She really had no desire to shoot herself, Dar, and the company in the foot by turning him in before he got the power back on.
She took another sip of wine, allowing it to relax her, and continued working on her plate oblivious of the blue eyes watching her from across the table.
Dar was right. It had been a very long week, and now here at the end of it, she was really feeling the strain. The usual stress of her job combined with the stress of actually doing the nuts and bolts of it, combined with the emotional overload of dealing with all the bull hockey, had left her feeling like she'd been run over by one of the eighteen wheel trucks busy delivering to the ships.
She really just wanted to go home.
"Ker?"
Ah well. Kerry looked up to find Dar gazing back at her, chin propped up on one fist. "Yeees?"
"Listen." Dar cleared her throat slightly. "My foot's killing me and I've got a headache that could drop Godzilla. You mind if we just go back to our place and wait for them to call us when the juice is on?"
Kerry blinked in surprise. "Um--w--uh, sure." She stuttered. "Yeah, sure. That makes sense. No reason for us to stand around the pier, right? We'd probably only end up being the subject of more snitty video."
"Yup." Dar drained her wineglass.
"Good idea, Dar." Kerry felt a distinct sense of relief. "Especially if you're not feeling well," she added. "We have to take care of you. Last thing we need is for you to get a bad infection or something."
"Mm. Yeah." Dar worked on clearing her plate. "Maybe we can just hang out in the hot tub for a little while. That might help."
Oo. The thought of the warm water, a col
d ice tea and Dar next to her perked Kerry up considerably. It also did nice things for her mentally, and she finished her last bit of rice with a touch of impatience. "Sounds great." She wiped her lips. "You going to tell Mark to give us a call?"
Dar had already signaled for the bill. "Sure." She agreed amiably. "Bet Chino will be glad to see us."
"Cheebles." Kerry grinned in reaction. "Yeah, bet she will." She found herself looking forward to crossing their threshold and getting out of the heat of the day into the placid chill of the condo's interior.
She scooted out from behind the table and followed Dar up to the cashier's booth, leaning against the taller woman's shoulder as Dar paid the lunch bill.
She'd gotten past giving her grief about that. Now they generally took turns, since all their joint income was deposited, appropriately, into a joint account. Didn't really matter then, did it?
They walked out into a blast of sunlight, pulling down sunglasses over their eyes and heading quickly for the car.
Chapter Seven
KERRY TOSSED THE mail down on the table as they crossed the living room, stifling a yawn as she did so. "We get a lot of junk mail." She noted. "Hey Cheebles, honey, c'mere." She sat down on one of the dining room chairs and greeted their pet, who was dancing from paw to paw in excitement. "C'mere sweetie...I love you. Yeah."
Dar paused at the door to the bedroom, then ducked inside to rid herself of her hiking boots and their overnight bag, tossing both into the closet with benign disregard. Wiggling her toes against the cool floor, she then unbuttoned her jeans and folded them neatly tucking them into a wash pile and adding her shirt to them a moment later.
"Dar?"
"Huh?" Dar called back. "I'm getting undressed."
A blonde head poked itself around the door microseconds later. "Ooo...can I watch?"
Dar turned and put her hands on her hips, giving her partner a droll look. "Yankee hedonist."
"Dixie nerd." Kerry slipped around the door and joined her in the closet, pulling her shirt over her head and folding it over so it could join Dar's in the laundry bag. She was about to unbuckle her belt when Dar's hands slipped around her and pulled her close and she abandoned her undressing for some skin on skin contact instead.