Stormy Waters: Book 10 in The Dar & Kerry Series (34 page)

"Legendary?"

"Uh huh."

"How legendary?"

Dar paused in mid type, her eyes shifting from her laptop to Kerry's profile. She could see the curve of her partner's jaw line, and the slight bunching and relaxing of the muscles there that meant the question wasn't frivolous. "Um..." She tapped the side of her thumb against the wrist rest. "They were all fictional, Ker," she said. "The only person who's ever slept on that couch besides me is you."

"Oh."

Dar muffled a grin of her own and went back to typing.

Kerry's face tensed into a sheepish grin, as she glanced at Dar. "Boy, do I have a green streak a mile wide, or what?" She sighed. "You know, I never really suspected that about myself until I met you."

"Well, given all the stories you've heard about me in that office, I can't say I blame you for wondering." Dar admitted. "But I have to admit that my reputation in that area was way overrated. I think it was easier for me to let everyone think I was out there having a wild and crazy time rather than them knowing the truth."

Kerry thought back to her days in Miami before she'd met Dar. She'd had, she'd thought, a reasonable social life with her friends from the office, and near her apartment. They'd gone bowling, seen movies, played around at Dave and Busters--it hadn't been bad.

Except. "Nights are a lot more fun now."

Dar raised both eyebrows at her.

"No, I mean...I was always busy during the day." Kerry explained, changing lanes to go around a very slow gasoline tanker. "Or around dinner, with the gang. But then I went home."

"Mm." Dar grunted. "Did your couch have torrid tales?" She asked, a little surprised at the fact that not only was it the first time she'd asked, it was the first time she'd wondered.

Kerry pushed her sunglasses higher up on her nose. "You inaugurated that couch," she replied straightforwardly. "I don't think I had done anything more risqué than eat crackers and cheese on it before that."

"Ah."

They were both silent for a while, immersed in their own thoughts while Dar continued pecking away on her keyboard. Outside the SUV, the scrub brush and occasional crab shack slowly gave way to tacky tourist outposts that beckoned the unwary with deals on seashells and cheap t-shirts.

Kerry passed the first few miles of them, then she pulled into one of the next parking lots. "Drink break. Want something?"

Dar put the laptop on the seat behind her. "Stretch my legs." She responded. "I've got a cramp."

"You going to go out there in your little booties?" Kerry asked.

"Sure. They're not white socks with black sandals. No one'll think I'm a tourist." Dar opened the door and carefully hopped out. The bite on her foot was quite painful and somewhat swollen, and she had to limp to keep her weight off it. "At least not a Florida tourist."

"No, they'll just think you're from New Zealand." Kerry got out on her side and closed the door, then jogged over to Dar's side as they walked toward the mini-mart. "How's the foot doing?"

"Sucks." Dar grunted.

Kerry gave her a sympathetic rub on the back as they reached the door and entered. The mini mart was very mini, and not much of a mart, featuring a lonely coffee burner with a pot of burned coffee in it, a single refrigerator with Coke bottles, a rack of gum and bags of one day old doughnuts on the counter.

Without exchanging even a glance, Kerry veered to the refrigerator case and grabbed two bottles of coke while Dar carefully skirted the doughnuts and examined the sparse choices of packaged snacks.

"Hi there ladies." The proprietor of the mart appeared from a tiny back room. "Can I get you something? We got a special on these doughnuts." He nudged one of the bags forward. "They're pretty good."

"No thanks." Dar responded briefly. "We...um..." She paused as Kerry plunked two bottles of coke and two packages of Snowballs on the counter along with a five dollar bill. "have what we need."

The door opened and let in a blast of warm air and sunlight, along with a tall, burly figure. The newcomer paused as the door closed, revealing an intimidating biker image complete with mirrored shades.

The mart owner regarded him warily. "Howdy."

The man, however, was far more interested in Dar and Kerry. He pulled off his sunglasses. "Hey guys! What's the odds, huh?"

"Hey, Tom!" Kerry smiled. "You here on your bike? Dar hasn't seen it yet."

"Sure am. How's the eye?" Their fellow kickboxing student asked her. "What brings you guys down here?" He tossed a five dollar bill down on the counter. "Pump two."

They walked outside together, and crossed the broken tarmac parking lot to the gas pumps. Tom's new Harley was huddling there in the sunlight, and drew an admiring whistle from Dar. "Nice." She complimented him. "I love the fish."

"Me too." Tom agreed, opening the gas tank and inserting the filler. "Some of the guys, though, they were too wussy, but you know what? Chicks dig it."

Well, it was hard to argue on that since both she and Kerry were undeniably chicks, and they both did like them. "Great paint job. How is it to ride?" Dar asked. "I rented one a few months back and liked how it handled, but it wasn't that good long distance."

"I remember that." Kerry murmured.

"Oh, it's great." Tom told her readily. "I thought it was gonna be a little tough on my...uh..."

"Buns." Kerry supplied.

"Yeah, those too. But it's been cool," Tom said. "Sure you don't wanna trade up to one, Ker?"

"Hmm." Kerry regarded the big bike wistfully. "They sure are cool." Her eyes went to Dar's face. "They just really pissed us off when we went to go buy one." She saw the faintest twitch at the corner of her partner's mouth, and sighed as she leaned against the pump.

"Well, you should go get one at bike week, like I did." Tom said. "Hey, speaking of, how'd the tat come out, Ker? Did'ja go through with it?"

Kerry obligingly unbuttoned and pulled down the shoulder of her short sleeve cotton shirt, exposing the tattoo. "I did." She confirmed. "And you were so lying to me, Tom. It hurt like crazy. I think I made the poor guy deaf from my screaming."

Tom examined the tattoo, and then gave Kerry a very respectful look. "Well...uh...mine was on my arm." He flexed his bicep, displaying a beautiful parrot. "I think it'd hurt a lot more right on your...uh..." His eyes dropped to Kerry's tattoo, then averted, as he blushed slightly. "You know what I mean."

Dar reached around Kerry's shoulder and encircled her with both arms as she re-buttoned her shirt. "We know what you mean," she said. "And I'll keep that in mind when I go get mine done."

Kerry turned and looked up at Dar in surprise.

"Anyway, hey, I'm glad I ran into you guys," Tom said. "Something sorta weird happened on Friday, and I don't really know what to make of it." He put the gas nozzle back in the pump and closed the gas cap. "I was at the bar and some women came up to me."

"That was weird?" Dar was aware of Kerry's intense regard, but she merely laid her arm over her partner's shoulders and addressed Tom instead. "Why? You're not that bad looking."

Tom scratched his nose. "Well, this was kinda serious, you know? One of them said they were some kind of reporter or something, and they were asking questions about you guys, or mostly Kerry, really."

It stopped being funny, and Kerry stopped thinking about tattoos, no matter how startled she was. "What?" She turned around and faced Tom. "Questions about me?"

Tom had the grace to look both abashed and embarrassed. "Um...about you and me, matter of fact."

"You and me what?" Kerry spluttered. "You and me in kickboxing class, or drinking beer together?" She was aware suddenly of Dar's close presence behind her, and felt the warmth of her partner's hands as Dar put them on her shoulders.

"They had...you remember when I showed you the bike?" Tom seemed a little uneasy. "And we kinda...you took that picture with me?"

Kerry's eyes narrowed. "Yes."

"I guess I was showing it to the guys at the bar, and I guess..." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I got it blown up and one of the copies sorta disappeared."

Dar snorted softly, but didn't make any comment.

"Jesus." Kerry exhaled. "Where did the reporters say they were from? Was it the Travel Channel?

Tom shook his head. "No, uh...the Herald, you know? Some kind of story they were doing about the port, and some ships...and I guess about you."

"And they have that picture, right?" Kerry covered her eyes.

"I guess. They mentioned it, so..." Tom shrugged sheepishly. "I mean, no one thought much about it, Kerry. I knew it kinda went walking, but you know, it was a rocking picture, so..."

"Uh oh." Dar said. "How bad was this photo?"

"Me and Tom on the bike," Kerry still had her eyes covered, "with me posing as a biker chick."

Dar sorted through that, and didn't find anything altogether that dangerous in it. "Okay," she said slowly. "So...when was this?"

"When you were in New York." Kerry sighed.

"Uh huh. Same night you got this?" Dar indicated the tattoo.

Kerry nodded.

"It wasn't anything!" Tom spoke up suddenly. "All Kerry was doing was giving me an ego shot on the damn bike. We didn't do nothing!"

Dar looked at him. "I know that," she said. "Question is what is it they're looking to illustrate using it?"

Kerry put her hands on her hips and stared disgustedly at the broken tarmac. "I've had it," she finally said, turning and heading for the Lexus. "I'm quitting and becoming an itinerant poet. Then maybe no one will give a crap what I do." She opened the door and got in, slamming it behind her.

That left Dar and Tom facing each other across the Harley. Dar sighed, and produced a brief smile. "It's been a rough couple weeks," she said. "Last thing we need is to drive back to town and be greeted with a front page story."

Tom stuck his hands into the pockets on his jeans. "Dar, I'm real sorry."

"Wasn't anything you did." Dar shrugged. "What did you tell the reporters, anyway?"

"Not much." He admitted. "I just couldn't get what they were after, so they kinda just left when I wouldn't tell them me and Kerry had been...um...like, hanging out together or whatever."

"Yeah." Dar pushed her sunglasses up on her nose. "Well, thanks, Tom. Nice bike. Don't worry about the picture, okay?" She lifted a hand to wave goodbye and headed for the car. Circling the back of it, she got in the passenger side and closed the door, half turning in the seat to face the huddled, silent Kerry. "Hey."

Kerry sniffled, and wiped the back of her hand across her eyes. "I'm so sick of this."

Dar leaned further over the center console, and gently gripped Kerry's forearm. "Ker?"

Kerry sniffled again. "Yeah?"

"I'm sick of it too."

Kerry took off her sunglasses and looked at Dar with tear moistened eyes. "I know it's chickenshit."

Dar shook her head. "Just human." She slid her grip down to clasp Kerry's hand, then drew the hand up to kiss its knuckles. "Let's just go do what we need to do, then we can sit down and decide where we go from here."

Kerry looked at her hand, now pressed gently against Dar's cheek. She gave the fingers clasping hers a squeeze, and exhaled, nodding a little in answer.

"Want me to drive now?" Dar asked. "I can try it left footed."

"No." Kerry gathered her wits. "Just open my coke for me, and gimme a Snowball. I'll live." She started the car and put it in gear. "Dar, what are we going to do if that does end up on the front page of the Herald?"

"Won't." Dar was busy ripping cellophane with her teeth. "You're not a communist sympathizer. You might make the business page though." She removed the soft, fluffy pastry and handed it over. "And if it does, we just deal with it."

Kerry bit into the marshmallow top, tearing it apart ruthlessly. "How's ILS going to deal with their VP Ops being a biker chick?"

"About like they did with their VP Ops being a gay redneck." Dar took a sip of Coke. "We'll all cope."

Yeah. Kerry settled into her seat, gazing ahead into the slowly fading sunlight. "Know what I'm going to do if it happens?"

"What?"

"Frame a copy and send it to my mother."

"Ouch."

IT WAS DINNERTIME before they pulled into the driveway. Kerry parked the Lexus and opened the door, sliding off the leather seat to the ground and stretching her back out. "Ugh."

"C'mon, Chino." Dar got out on the other side and opened the back door, allowing the Labrador to jump to the ground. She shouldered her laptop and waited for Kerry to join her, then she limped up the steps to the front door of the condo.

They had debated stopping at the port. Chino had tipped the balance, since neither of them wanted to leave their pet in the car while they checked on things and bringing her onboard the ship just wasn?t an option.

Dar keyed the door open and entered, waiting for Kerry to pass her by and then shutting the door. "You want to change, and we'll run over there?"

Kerry dropped her briefcase and overnight bag on the love seat. "You want to hear the politically correct corporately responsible answer or the truth?"

"Me either." Dar limped past her and went into the bedroom. "Is there really a point? We're both fond of saying we can trust our people, aren't we?"

Kerry trudged into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, removing a bottle of juice and pouring herself a glass. "Good point." She called back into the living room. "How about we commit to being there early tomorrow morning? We can assess what's going on, and decide what we want to do."

"Uh."

Kerry took a sip of juice, and cocked her head. "Did you say something?"

"Uh."

Drawn by this odd utterance, Kerry left the kitchen and entered the living room, finding Dar sprawled on the couch looking at her injured foot with a frown. "What's wrong?"

"That." Dar pointed.

Kerry walked over and sat down, cradling Dar's foot in her lap and examining it closely. "Oh." She grimaced. "Ow."

The foot was swollen and an angry red color. Dar folded her arms across her chest and glared at it. "Stupid god damned fish."