The chief was quiet for a long time, and then she sighed. “Son of a bitch,” she finally said. “What the hell, I’m in this so deep now, it won’t matter. Where the heck are you?”
Dar told her. “Chief?”
“What?” the woman snapped back.
“What made you change your mind?” Dar asked. “About me, I mean.”
Chief Daniel snorted, clearly audible even to Kerry. “Change my mind? Like hell, I did.” She paused. “You ever hear the term ‘least evil choice’?”
Dar allowed a dry chuckle to escape. “Oh yeah. I’ve heard that before.”
“I bet.” The chief hung up.
Dar folded the phone closed and relaxed back onto her pillow.
“That was a surprise.” She glanced up at Kerry. “Last time I saw her, she was cursing me for a pervert.”
Kerry gazed soberly back. “I can’t believe she’d just turn around and help you, Dar.”
A faint shrug. “She’s not a...” Dar lifted her uninjured hand and rubbed her eyes. “She’s a good officer, Ker. She knows her stuff, and she’s just protecting her people. She views me as a threat.” Dar considered her words. “Question is, what’s she found that’s more of a threat to her than I am?”
“Hmm.” Kerry tapped the end of the spoon against her chin. “Well, it’ll take her a while to head up here. Let me get this soup done.” She pointed the wooden utensil at the couch-bound woman. “Then you’re going to sit there and let me feed it to you.” She turned and headed back to the kitchen, leaving an amused Dar behind.
206 Melissa Good
“I DON’T SUPPOSE I can get away with staying dressed like this?”
Dar asked, as she used a washcloth and cold water to bring a little more life into her face. “Can I?”
Kerry leaned against the doorsill and regarded her. “If it were up to me...” she ran a fingertip under the elastic waistband of Dar’s soft gym shorts, “sure.” She traced a rib. “But I think your petty person is going to pop a solenoid.”
“I’m not in the mood to coddle her solenoids,” Dar responded, awkwardly trying to manage her toothbrush one-handedly. “Ker, could you...”
Kerry reached across her and picked up the toothpaste, spreading it neatly on the brush for her. “There you go.” She put the cap back on and watched as Dar brushed her teeth. “Well, all you need is a T-shirt or something.” Her eyes dropped to the very short shorts, which exposed almost all of the length of Dar’s very long legs. “On second thought, c’mon into the bedroom and let me see what I can do for you.”
Dar turned, a very rakish grin on her face. “Now that’s my kind of offer.”
“Tch.” Kerry moved forward and her hands found their way around the sling. “Do you remember how we... Ah.” Kerry found Dar’s arms wrapping around her, and the sling settled around her own shoulder, attaching them together body to body. “That’s right.”
Dar ducked her head and they kissed. She felt Kerry’s body press against hers, and the sensual rush erased the lingering aches like magic.
“Much better than drugs,” she murmured.
“Oh yeah?” Kerry slid her hands across Dar’s skin. “How about this?”
Dar growled softly in response and nudged Kerry backward a step.
She held her lover’s body close with the sling and unhooked Kerry’s bra, feeling her gasp a little in surprise as the snug cotton came free.
“Not bad for one hand, huh?” she whispered in the pink ear near her lips, which then was delicately nibbled.
“Uh.” Kerry’s fingers roamed restlessly over Dar’s half-clad body.
“This could get complicated.”
“Oh.” A soft, breathy purr. “I hope so.” Another nudge toward the bed. “Simple’s no fun.” Dar rubbed lightly against Kerry’s skin and smiled as Kerry melted into her, a jolt of warmth flaring as their bodies joined. She could feel Kerry breathing, her chest moving against Dar’s, and as she took another step toward the bed, she felt that breathing quicken in time with her touch circling Kerry’s breasts.
They stopped and rid themselves of extraneous clothing, still linked together by the sling. Dar slid her other arm under Kerry’s and half-turned, easing down onto the bed, pulling Kerry down with her.
Amidst a tiny giggle, Kerry ended up sprawling over her, their legs tangling together.
“Y’know...” Kerry licked Dar’s neck, then bit down lightly around Red Sky At Morning 207
her collarbone. “With our luck, she drives fast.”
“I haven’t cleared her on the ferry yet,” Dar replied blithely. “She’ll wait.”
Kerry’s chuckle turned into a soft moan, and she forgot about visitors.
Or ferries.
CHIEF DANIEL DROVE along the causeway, looking nervously right and left when she wasn’t glancing at the piece of paper on which she’d written the directions. “What the hell is that nutball talking about? She sent me to the goddamned Coast Guard terminal. Damn her...thinks I’m joking.”
Abruptly, she spotted a right hand turn and took it, almost causing a two-car collision behind her. The car she cut off honked furiously, and she stuck her hand out the window, giving him a rude gesture as she made the tight turn into the small, not-well-marked ferry base. “Son of a bitch.” She shook her head. “Should have figured.”
The chief maneuvered her pickup truck through the roped-off lanes and arrived at the edge of the dock. A uniformed guard greeted her courteously. She rolled her window down. “This how you get on?”
“The island? Yes, ma’am.” The security officer nodded, obviously used to the question. “Are you visiting one of our residents, or are you interested in purchasing a home?”
Momentarily distracted, the chief leaned on her window frame and pulled her sunglasses down to get a better look at the neat, almost military clean Latino man. “How much do they cost?”
The guard blinked. “Um...w...”
“Round numbers.” The chief smiled. “Leave off the pennies.”
He cleared his throat. “I think the little ones start at a million...”
“Ah. Is that all?” The chief fixed a smile on her face. “Tell you what, there’s someone called Roberts who lives out there. Dar Roberts.
I’m supposed to go see her.”
The guard flipped through his clipboard, then read a page intently.
“Ms. Daniel?” He looked up. “Is that you?”
The chief’s nostrils flared. Ms? She’d get the little catfish bait for that. “Almost.”
The guard directed her onto the patiently waiting ferry and they chocked her wheels, then after a few minutes and a few more cars, they got under way.
Out of long habit, the chief reviewed the boat, noting the properly secured lifesaving equipment and the stock of life preservers. The ferry itself was flat, with room for perhaps twenty cars, and had a small cabin where people who were just riding over could stay in comfort. It was neat and clean and well ordered, and the chief found herself approving of it despite her inclination otherwise.
208 Melissa Good In short order, they docked at the islandside dock, and she watched as the ramp to offload the cars was lowered. The island was plush and had lots of fancy-looking landscaping. She bet the hedges she was driving past cost more than a month of her salary.
The sudden impact of water on her windshield made her jump and grab for the window controls. “Hey!” She glared at the dockhand, who was washing off the front of her car. “What th— Oh.” Salt spray. Sure.
Seventy-two Mercedes per square foot; can’t have them rusting, now, can we?
She drove on and glanced at her directions again.
One road, clockwise. Simple enough. She turned left and followed the road around to the second drive, then slowed her pace until she found the parking she’d been told about. She slid the pickup into a visitor’s spot and got out, holding a briefcase close to her.