Arctic Fire (35 page)

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Tabatha. “Why
are you doing this?”

“Why?” Tabatha shook her head in disbelief.
“You’re kidding right? Are you that dense?”

“No, I mean why are you going through all this
trouble to try and intimidate me, to get me to quietly step aside
as you put it? If you think you are so much better than me then why
bother? If you’re so confident then why not just go full speed
ahead and blow me out of the water?”

“What are you talking about?” Tabatha asked a
hint of hesitation in her voice.

“That’s it,” K.D. smiled. “You’re not doing this
just to be nice, to save me the embarrassment of losing and you’re
not thinking of Gabe and it’s not even because you’re unsure of
yourself; it because you’re unsure of Gabe. You’ve never met anyone
like him before and when he didn’t immediately fall under your
spell you had your doubts so you’re trying to get me out of the
picture to hedge your bet. You are not used to losing and it scares
you.”

“What? That’s crazy.”

“Is it?”

“Listen little Ms. Betty Crocker and her
brownies...”

“No, you listen to me you…” K.D. interrupted
Tabatha but was interrupted herself by a knock on the door. She
glared at Tabatha then angrily reached for the door. If it was
Marilyn trying to throw her two cents worth in then she was dead
where she stood. K.D. threw open the door and was surprised to see
Mallory standing there. For the time being she held her fire, not
knowing if she was friend or foe.

“Hi, K.D.” She said then looked passed her to
Amies. “Hi Tabatha, I’m glad you’re here. Mr. Cain is holding a
press conference tomorrow afternoon. I slipped an advanced copy of
the press release under your door and I thought you might want to
look at it.”

Tabatha was caught off guard by Mallory’s
statement. She wasn’t finished with K.D. yet but her reporter
instincts took over and she was excited to have a scoop before
anyone else did.

“Ah, thanks Beth,” Tabatha replied, “I’ll get
right on it.” She smiled at Mallory as she walked by but shot K.D.
a dirty look as she closed the door.

K.D. took in a deep breath then let it out
slowly. “Thanks, it seems like you’re making a habit of rescuing
me.”

Mallory chuckled, “From the look on your face
when you opened the door, it didn’t look like you were the one who
was going to need the rescuing.”

“Yeah, well thanks nonetheless.”

“Let me guess,” Mallory continued, “Tabatha was
here to warn you off Gabe, that she had staked her claim and that
you weren’t good enough for him?”

K.D. plopped down in the chair. “You guessed it.
She basically said that I had my chance and that Gabe was now out
of my league and for me to quietly step aside if I really cared for
him. She even threatened me if I didn’t back off.”

“Well do you?

“Do I what?” K.D. replied.

“Do you really care for him?”

K.D. sighed. “I’ve been giving that a lot of
thought lately. Gabe has become a whole new person and it’s kind of
exciting to be with someone like that, to get to know him all over
again and be a part of a whole new world, but you know what? I knew
him before he was this famous super hero and I liked him even
then.” She paused and thought for a moment, “So I guess to answer
your question, yes, I really do care for him.”

“Then what are you going to do about it?”
Mallory asked, picking up a brownie.

K.D. shot up from her chair and began pacing
like an expectant father. “That’s just it; I don’t know what to do.
I’m no Pollyanna, but I don’t know how to compete against women
like Tabatha or even Marilyn for that matter.”

“Don’t worry about Marilyn; she’s not a real
threat. She doesn’t want Gabe, she just wants to have him then move
on. If not, Gabe would have slept with her a long time ago.”

“Okay, what about Tabatha then?”

“She is definitely the one you have to contend
with.”

“Yeah, but how? She’s younger than me, makes
more money, and has a better, more exciting job that has taken her
all over the world. It’s a little tough for a local girl born in
Lake Stevens, Washington, to compete with that.”

Mallory smiled. “Most men are dumb and don’t
know what they want or have even when it’s standing right in front
of them.” She paused and licked the brownie off her finger. “These
are really good. If I were Gabe, I’d marry you. I’d be fat and
happy. Anyway, I don’t know Gabe as well as you do, but from what
I’ve seen he’s not going to be thrown by a little cleavage and a
tight, short dress. Again, if that were the case he could have had
much better looking women than you already with all the exposure
he’s gotten, sorry no offense.”

“She smiled, “None taken.”

“Still though, he is a man, and men don’t always
think with the right organ.” Mallory got up and walked over to the
closet and looked through her clothes. She turned when she heard
K.D. sigh. “What’s wrong?”

“Sorry, it just seems like everyone is
interested in what I wear.”

“Tabatha went through your clothes?”

K.D. nodded.

“Well, the old saying is true; clothes do make
the man, or the woman. You have to throw the man a bone here you
know. Everything you have here is very functional but not very
stylish.”

“I know, but what am I supposed to do? In my
work, a lot of the time I’m crawling under houses or swinging from
rafters looking for structural defects—not exactly the place for
high heels.”

“You may be doing a man’s job but it doesn’t
mean you have to look like one. Sometimes, yes, you do have to put
on coveralls and go spelunking around, but not always. You need to
think outside the box a little, stop being an engineer and start
being a woman; you can do both. You don’t have to have everything
hanging out to get noticed.”

“How?”

“Think about what you’re going to be doing and
dress accordingly.”

“I have been.”

Mallory smiled and shook her head. “No, again,
think like both, a woman and an engineer. For example, what are you
doing here, what is the environment you’re in? It’s cold but not
very messy. Instead of bundling up like Quinn the Eskimo in a bulky
fur liked parka, how about a nice ski jumpsuit? It’s warm,
comfortable, and functional and most import in this case, it’s
stylish. It can show that you’re still a woman doing a man’s
job.”

She nodded her head slowly as a smile began to
brighten her face. “I like it.”

“And so will he. I trust Gabe will make the
right choice here. He may just need a little push, that’s all.”

“Thank you, Beth.” K.D. said as she gave her a
hug. “All great advice, but as big as this place is, there’s still
no mall here.”

Mallory gave K.D. a knowing smile. “You just
leave that to me.”

After Mallory left, K.D. felt as giddy as a
schoolgirl, excited and terrified at the same time, her mind going
ten different directions at once. She sat down and grabbed a
brownie and had it halfway to her mouth then stopped and put it
back. She couldn’t fit into that snow bunny outfit if she kept
eating these things.

Chapter Thirty S
even

Pike was seated at the table in the conference
room with his laptop open, a cup of coffee and snacking on an apple
fritter. Marilyn was the first to arrive and like the day before,
she was all business. She greeted him politely and began to set up
for the meeting. The same routine was followed as Tony arrived and
K.D. walked in shortly thereafter.

As soon as he saw her, he knew something was
different but he couldn’t put his finger on it. She had the same
laptop, hair looked the same, same flannel… that was it! She wasn’t
wearing her usual cargo pants and flannel shirt and work boots.

She was wearing a light blue button down blouse
covered with a dark blue blazer with dark slacks and black leather
shoes. It was K.D., only different, and he liked the
difference.

As soon as everyone was settled in, Pike began.
“Marilyn, we’ll start with you. Do you have anything for us?”

“Nothing new here, it’s just like work back
home; we have a deadline to meet. I’ve been going over the events
and arrival schedules with Beth and things are pretty tight with
not a lot of leeway for delays. Until I get a report from you guys,
that’s all I’ve got. Oh, I almost forgot. Arthur’s oldest son Luke
and his wife Ashley just had their first baby, a little girl and
they named her Lucy Ann.

“Everybody doing okay?” K.D. asked.

Marilyn nodded her head. “Baby and mother are
doing fine but we’re not sure about Arthur, he says he’s too young
to be a grandpa.”

Pike was happy for Art but he had real mixed
emotions about kids. He’d seen families before, the shared smiles
that he knew love and being together brought, but he also knew
children were huge time consumers and honestly he didn’t know if he
was too selfish to be a good parent.

He stole a quick glance at K.D. and she had that
maternal look all over her that women get whenever someone mentions
newborns. She looked at him and smiled and he quickly looked away.
Her look scared the bejeebers out of him and yet…

“Thanks Marilyn.” Pike quickly said, letting his
mind run from places it didn’t need to go…right now. “K.D., what do
you and Tony have?”

“Nothing good I’m afraid.” She tapped a key on
her computer and sent a file to Marilyn and Gabe. “From a
structural standpoint, the starboard towing tower is in good shape.
A little stress and fatigue is visible at the base and at the
connection point to the tow cable itself but otherwise it passes
just fine. The port tower however is a completely different
story.”

She sent another attachment to everyone and
waited for them to open it. “As you can see in the first six
pictures, there is significant buckling not only on the deck
plating but also to the sub supports below deck. In pics 6 and 7
you can see that the housing around the tower where it joins the
ceiling is no longer flush but has routed out a two-inch wide ring
between itself and the ice, adding to its instability. The main
support arm attached to the towing bridle is actually bent. In my
opinion, under ideal conditions in calm, enclosed waters, this
would be very marginal at best, but in the open ocean, this is a
disaster waiting to happen.”

“Thanks K.D.” Pike said with a solemn face. “I’m
afraid my report is not that much better.”

“Sorry we’re late.” Cain said as he and Mallory
entered the room.

Pike looked up in surprise. “Mr. Cain, Beth,
what are you doing here?”

Cain grabbed a cup of coffee for himself and
Mallory while she sat down next to Marilyn and set up her laptop.
“We wanted to hear what your findings were from your
inspection.”

“This is just the preliminary, raw data sir.”
Pike explained. “We haven’t had time to come to any conclusions or
make any recommendations yet.”

Cain sipped his coffee and waved his hand,
dismissing Pike’s concerns. “Time is growing short so why waste it
reading a report when I can get it firsthand. There’s no time to
form a committee to discuss options. The clock is ticking so we
need to be able to take action now if we have to.”

“Yes sir, you’re the boss.” Pike continued. “To
bring you up to speed, in a nutshell, K.D. reports that the port
towing tower assembly is shot and unstable. In her words, a
disaster waiting to happen.” Pike noticed that neither Cain nor
Mallory showed much reaction to the potentially bad news.

“As I was about to say, my findings aren’t much
better. As everyone is aware by now, there was an explosion in one
of the access tunnels near the port anchor room. Fortunately, no
one was seriously hurt and damage was negligible. Just before the
explosion I found several large areas of the corridors covered with
leaking juice.”

“Juice?” Tony asked.

“Sorry, juice is the nickname for the
heating/coolant fluid circulated throughout the iceberg. Juice is
not supposed to be flammable so the burning cigarette that Senator
Williams threw should not have ignited it. I’ve talked with Dean
Miles and I’ve asked him for samples of the juice at both the main
circulation point and at a random location to make sure nothing has
been added to the mixture to make it flammable.”

Cain’s calm demeanor suddenly shattered. “What
do you mean, added to the mixture? Are you saying the explosion was
deliberate, that it was an act of sabotage?”

“I’m not saying anything yet, Mr. Cain, like I
said, this is all raw data.”

“Still,” Cain continued, “that seems like a
pretty big leap for just raw data.”

“I’m just kicking ideas around sir. It could
also be an accidental mixing, something caused by the stress from
the storm. Or, it could have nothing to do with the juice at all,
but maybe something site specific to the construction in that
corridor. Until we know for sure, I think caution is
advisable.”

Cain nodded his head in agreement. “I agree, but
what form does caution take shape for you?”

That was the $64,000 dollar question, Pike
thought. He knew he had better choose his next words wisely. “As
Chief Inspector, it is my responsibility to determine whether or
not this project poses a threat to public safety. As we have seen,
there are clearly issues of concern here; however, I am not ready
to delay the project at this time. I also want it clearly
understood that I will delay entry of the iceberg into New York
harbor for as long as necessary if I deem the danger great
enough.”

“All right then,” Cain said as he nodded to
Mallory and she began shutting down her computer. “Thank you all
for your hard work and I look forward to reading your report
in-depth and for your recommendations. Gabriel, please give your
final draft to Marilyn and Elizabeth and I will go over it with her
being she’s the liaison here.”