Eye Of The Storm - DK3 (54 page)

“Not nearly often enough,” Cecilia admitted quietly.

Kerry was about to pursue that line of questioning further, when the buzz around her lowered and chairs scraped. Then they all rose as the
Eye of the Storm
295

examining council walked in and then they sat down after the six people behind the elevated table got to their places.

“All right.” The man in charge shuffled some papers and put a pair of half glasses on his nose. “Let’s get going.” He looked at the special prosecutor. “Mr. Dileko?”

“Thank you.” The lawyer, a dapper Democratic political appointee stood and studied his legal pad. “I’d like to call Kerrison Stuart to the stand, please.” He glanced up into the crowd expectantly. “The bailiff tells me she’s here?”

Oh boy.
Kerry was completely not ready to face the crowd. She gathered her shredded confidence and stood, then looked down as a hand patted hers. “Wish me luck.”

“Hang in there, Kerry.” Cecilia smiled. “Anyone who could tame my daughter shouldn’t have any trouble with this bunch.”

Kerry returned the smile gratefully, then straightened her shoulders, edged out of the row of seats, and went to the front of the room. She clenched her hand and felt her ring bite into her palm, lending her a measure of strength as she passed her family’s seats and sensed their eyes on her.

Then she was on the stand and had to turn and face the room, a myr-iad of expressions looking back at her. She lifted her hand and repeated the words the clerk muttered, then sat down and turned her face towards the lawyer and waited.

And tried to pretend the most hostile of the looks directed at her weren’t related to her by blood.

“WE HAVE SOME serious issues to discuss with you, Ms. Roberts.”

Dick Beresen folded his arms. He was a deep pockets, mostly in the back-room kind of board member, with a deep scar running across half his face and thin, mostly missing gray black hair.

Dar waited, her hands resting lightly on the chair back. One dark eyebrow lifted and invited him to go on.

“We’re about to close the quarter and these reports are frankly not only disappointing, they’re unacceptable.” Dick stood up. “Four accounts were total losses and three others are just barely making their numbers.”

Dar remained silent, lifting the other brow.

“And then there’s Allison Consulting.” A murmur rose. “Care to explain that?”

“Should I have to?” Dar asked mildly. “The operations team report was very extensive.” She folded her arms across her chest and moved away from the table. “Their management falsified information and is facing criminal charges.”

“Why wasn’t it caught before we laid out two million dollars for them?” This was from Alan Evans, a CPA whose family represented twenty percent of the outstanding stock in ILS.

“Ask the auditors,” Dar replied. “I have no explanation for that. I can just tell you what my team reported during the integration.” She shook her head. “They were uncooperative.”

“That’s not what we found.” Evans pulled a folder over and opened it. “According to the interviews I had commissioned, their staff reported that your representative was inexperienced and didn’t understand their systems and they were unfairly dismissed by yourself.”

For an answer, Dar removed her laptop from its case and booted it. It brought up her desktop and she opened a database program, then selected a record. “The last six bids they won were forced through black-mail on the individuals making the decision. According to the police report, two of their senior management had over five hundred thousand dollars of unexplained funds in their bank accounts. Searches of the property of twenty employees turned up company equipment still in boxes piled up in their garages. And one of their clients has turned over tele-Eye of the Storm 297

phone records and tapes of their chief accountant giving instructions on where to leave a cash payoff of over twenty thousand dollars or face embarrassing personal pictures being released to the local press.”

She clicked the box to close it. “The integrator in question was our Operations Director, who had successfully integrated twenty accounts prior to theirs, so that leaves their last statement.” She paused. “Which is half true. I fired them.” She shook her head. “I don’t consider it to be unfairly.”

“How do you explain this then?” Evans tossed a picture towards her, an unpleasant smirk on his face. Dar glanced at it, expecting it to be the doctored one of Kerry in the bar. Instead, she found herself looking at an excellently focused shot of herself and Kerry in bed together—completely naked.

Fifteen years of troubleshooting came thankfully to her rescue. She gave her breathing several beats to relax, then glanced up at him, with the most amused, deprecating smile she could muster on her face. “Are you asking for an artistic opinion, or would you like a graphic demonstration of my technique?” She tried not to look at Alastair’s shocked face, though, and she knew this was going to be uglier than she’d forecasted.

“Are you admitting that is you in that picture?” Evans leaned forward.

Dar looked at the shot, then plucked her shirt out and glanced down the opening. “Yep, that’s me all right,” she agreed amiably. “A perfect example of what I was talking about with Allison Consulting.”

“Ms. Roberts, is that not your assistant in that picture with you?”

Grab the gonads time.
Dar folded her arms. “Yes, it is.”

Evans picked up the shot, then let it fall, and dropped his glasses on the table as well. “That’s enough for me.” He glanced across the table at a smiling David Ankow. “I don’t think that suit’s near enough to cover this.”

“Oh, there’s more.” Ankow stood and stretched, very obviously enjoying himself. “Let me just read it out.” He picked up his pad and walked to the head of the table, opened the leather cover, and set it on the wood surface. “Then if you gentlemen agree, we can proceed accordingly.

I have security already standing by.”

Dar stole a glance at Alastair, who briefly met her eyes, then let his drop, letting her know she was really on her own for this one. She felt a sinking sensation, then she lifted her head and put the regrets behind her, focusing on the here and now and gathering her thoughts and resources, ready for Ankow to start in. “I think security is a very good idea,” she remarked, giving him an unexpected smile. “But you go first.”

She saw the momentary doubt in his eyes and widened her grin.

No, Daddy. You didn’t raise me to be no quitter.

“All right.” Ankow cleared his throat. “What we’re establishing with this suit is a systematic and deliberate use of company property, resources, and funds to further your personal ends and those of your live-in lover, the Operations Director of this company, Kerrison Stuart.”

298
Melissa Good

“Partner.” Dar interrupted him.

“What?”

“Partner. Kerry is my partner.” She cracked her knuckles. “You might as well get the terminology of that right, since I know you won’t get the technical parts anything close to accurate.”

Ankow stared at her. “Point one.” He glanced at his pad. “During the integration of Associated Synergenics, the accused caused a position to be created in the Operations ORGID, which she filled with Ms. Stuart, disregarding all company policy and ignoring over thirty qualified candidates for the job.”

Eyes shifted to Dar.

“Absolutely correct.”

“How could you justify that?” Evans stood and pointed.

“Simply.” Dar gave him a direct look. “She was the best choice.” She paused. “As her subsequent job performance proves.”

Evans pulled out a set of papers and read through them, with several people looking over his shoulder. He put them down and folded his arms, but didn’t make any further comment.

“Next?” Dar cocked her head.

“Do we have to go through with this?” Beresen threw up his hands.

“Frankly, I don’t want to spend an hour listening to this crap.” He stood up and pointed at Dar. “This is what you’re going to do. You’re going to resign and get your ass out of this building and go back to the banana farm.”

Heads nodded.

“You’re going to sign a paper admitting to all this, and we’re going to figure out just how much it’s cost us, and then you’re going to cut the company a check for that and hope we don’t file criminal charges.”

Dar turned her back and went to the window, peering out at the parched landscape and ignoring the rising speech between the men, letting the hateful comments bounce off her back and knowing not even Alastair’s face would be friendly if she turned around.

She caught her reflection in the glass and stared into her own eyes for a very long moment. It would be easy just to sign the paper and go home.

It really would be. Then she could take off with Kerry and they could go someplace nice and quiet and feed each other lobster in the sunset with nothing but surf and sun and sand to worry about.

Yeah.

She imagined calling the office and telling them.

Having María pack up her office.

Having Mark shut down her access and disable her passwords so no one got any bright ideas.

Telling Kerry.

Facing her father.

A quirk appeared at the corner of her mouth. So much for that.

She turned around. “Hey!” Her shout brought shocked silence. “Sit
Eye of the Storm
299

your asses down.” Dar stalked back over and put her hands on the chair back. “Number one, I’m not resigning.”

“Bu—”

“Now, hold on—”

“Shut up!” Dar snarled. “If you want me out of here, you’re gonna have to fire me.”

“No problem,” Ankow yelled.

“And then it’s
my
turn for a lawsuit,” Dar barked back. “A nice, big fat one for wrongful dismissal.” She leaned forward. “And one for discrimination.”

There was a moment of silence. “Your perversion isn’t covered under the law,” Ankow finally spat. “Thank God we kept that out of the books.”

“No.” Dar smiled darkly. “My sexual orientation isn’t covered under the anti-discrimination laws, though it is covered by the corporate bylaws, but,” she started a circle around the table, “gentlemen,” she emphasized the word, “my sex is.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Evans blurted.

“Check your shorts.” Dar paced around the corner of the table.

“Largest public IS company in the world. With a ton of US government contracts—and I am the only, single, solitary minority representative in the entire board.”

“None of this has anything to do with the facts.” Ankow pointed at her.

“That lawsuit has nothing to do with the facts,” Dar shot back. She whirled and pointed to several members. “Since when does this slut festival care who the hell I’m sleeping with? Give me one example of one single time at any single moment that the fact that Kerry Stuart and I are lovers hurt the company.” She raised her voice. “Give me one!”

Total silence.

“You big bunch of sanctimonious, useless pig farts!” Dar roared.

“Between the two of us we run the fucking company. So drop the goddamn bullshit and put the cards on the table.” She slammed her hand on the surface and sounded like a shot. “Fire me, and so help me God, I will take this company down.” She glared at all of them “You want trouble?

You have no idea what kind of trouble I can make. I know skeletons in closets so deep even the fucking Anthropological Society couldn’t find them.” She paced around the chair. “I know all the hiring for tit size, the payoffs to the Feds, the deliberate exclusion of minorities—you name it, I know it, I’ve lived in it for fifteen years and there is no,” she pointed at Ankow, “no single goddamned corner of this company that I haven’t been in.”

“Dar,” Alastair stood and held a hand out, palm down, “let’s just back it down a little.”

Dar gave him a murderous glare.

“Please.” The CEO took a breath. “Bottom line, Dar is right.”

“Figures you support her. You’re probably screwing her,” Ankow muttered.

300
Melissa Good

“I should be so lucky,” Alastair responded shortly. “The facts of the matter are, gentlemen, that none of us are saints and, operationally speaking, we are in better shape with the present management than we have been in a number of years.”

“Bet the shareholders won’t think so when you announce the loss this quarter,” Evans snapped. “I hope they tar and feather your ass.” He stood. “When that lawsuit goes public with the quarter results we’ll lose the company.”

“Not this quarter,” Alastair replied quietly. “José just signed a four hundred million dollar contract to provide backbone services to a consor-tium of ISP’s.”

Absolute, dead shocked silence—even from Dar.

“Running, of course, on Dar’s new network, which is the only one in the country capable of it.” He paused. “Gentlemen, we
are
the Internet.”

He drew a breath. “Congratulations, Dar. That was the shortest cost of doing business assessment in the history if ILS.”

Son of a bitch.
Dar was speechless, the anger in her guts still boiling, but having no where to go. “Thanks,” she finally muttered. She’d known she was making the right decision on the network, but being vindicated so quickly hadn’t been a thought of hers. She felt mostly disgusted, and tired, not even a little bit triumphant. “Can we dump the bullshit now?”

“Oh no.” Ankow met her gaze. “I’m not nearly through with you.”

He shook his head. “I don’t care what they put on that network. I’m not going to back off exposing you for the poison you are.”

“Funny you should put it like that.” Dar dropped her amused attitude and went very serious. She started around the table towards him.

“Speaking of poison,” her eyes found his and held, for a very long moment, “makes me wonder what your game is here.” She circled him, like a shark would, lazily testing the waters. “Why would a jockstrap lawyer from Oregon latch onto an IS company and try to take control of it?”

“None of your fucking business,” he snarled back. “Maybe I just want to give the stockholders some value for their money.”