"I bet."
"Are you a hell raiser, Ms. Stuart?"
Now it was Kerry's turn to grin, and she did, a smile of genuine amusement that lit up her eyes. "Sometimes."
"Tell me a story, then. What's going on here?" the reporter asked, poising her pen over the page. "Tell me Goliath's side of the story."
Kerry was aware of Dar's watchful eyes, and she knew if she turned her head to the left, she'd see her partner in the shadows standing by if she needed her. "Okay." She agreed. "I'm a little short for Goliath, but I'll do the best I can."
"I'm sure you've got help if you need it." The reporter didn't look at Dar. "I'm not looking to get my butt kicked. Will that happen?"
Kerry smiled. "Depends."
"Thought you'd say that." Rodriguez chuckled. "I'll take my chances."
THEY ENDED UP in the small office, since everyone had migrated outside to have some dinner and relax. Kerry was seated in one of the comfortably innocuous office chairs they'd supplied, leaned all the way back with one sneaker resting on her opposite knee.
The reporter had taken a seat across from her, using one of the desks to lean on in her writing, and they both had cups of coffee courtesy of Dar, who had briefly disappeared after deciding Kerry wasn't in any imminent danger.
"All right, Ms. Stuart."
"Kerry." Kerry interrupted. "I hate being called Ms. Stuart."
The reporter scribbled a note. "Okay, Kerry." She continued agreeably. "So, you were approached in Orlando by Mr. Quest, right?"
"Actually, Dar was stalked by Mr. Quest." Kerry clarified. "He hunted her down in the lobby of the hotel and approached her with the idea."
"Stalked is a pretty strong term."
"Well." Kerry took a sip of her coffee. "What would you call it if someone had pictures made of you and then went searching through a hotel to find you?"
"Hmm."
"At any rate, he pitched his idea to Dar, and she turned him down."
"Why?" Rodriguez asked.
Good question, Kerry reflected. "I think, because she was wary of how he approached her. It seemed to be something that was outside the normal way businesses approach each other," she explained. "It almost seemed underhanded."
"Hmm." The reporter tapped her pen against her jaw. "So what made her reconsider?"
Another very good question and one Kerry was fairly sure she couldn't answer honestly. "She thought about it, and we talked, and it seemed like it might be a good opportunity to at least get a foothold into an industry we weren't a part of."
Rodriguez nodded, and scribbled a note. "That makes sense," she said. "So it had nothing to do with the fact that Telegenics was also one of the bidders?"
Truth? Kerry acted on impulse. "Sure it had something to do with it," she answered back. "We wanted an opportunity to go head to head with them, after some of the claims they'd been making, and also, after they approached our staff at the trade show to try and offer them jobs."
"Uh huh." The woman grunted. "Telegenics claims that never happened."
Kerry chuckled. "Sure it did," she replied. "The problem is, they forgot to brief their technical manager and he had no idea who he was recruiting." She went on. "When we got to the trade show late the night of the setup day, we found out there was no setup crew on duty. So Dar and I helped our staff to set up our booth, and we were two of the potential recruits."
The reporter looked at her, a half grin on her face. "You're kidding."
Solemnly, Kerry shook her head. "They were telling us how we should join their company instead of working for a faceless corporation where their bosses were sitting somewhere sipping caviar and lounging in limos. My guys thought it was pretty darn funny."
"I bet they did." Rodriguez got up and walked around the small office, stretching her arms over her head. "Did that really tick you off?"
"Getting recruited? We laughed," Kerry replied. "But to us, it was one more indication of the fact that Telegenics was coming after us in a very personal way, and neither of us really caught on to why until we left that night and saw Michelle and Shari coming into the building."
The reporter turned. "You didn't know before then they were part of it?" She sounded incredulous.
"No, we didn't." Kerry answered honestly. "Ms. Rodriguez..."
"Elecia."
Kerry smiled. "Elecia, we have a lot of competitors. We do business analysis on them, sure, but we don't go hunting for people who might be holding a grudge in their offices." She glanced past the woman toward the door, where Dar's head was now peering around the corner. "Hey." She bit her tongue on the 'sweetie'.
"John needs to meet with you." Dar said. "Sorry to interrupt."
"Any way I can chat with you for a few minutes while that's going on, Ms. Roberts?" The reporter interrupted smoothly. "I think we're at a logical holding point here."
Kerry got up, relinquishing her chair to her partner with a flourish. "Be my guest. Let me go see what John's...well, I won't say problem because I know what his problem is, but what he wants." She eased past Dar's body, stuck in the doorway, and gave her a pat on the side as she squeezed by.
Dar hesitated briefly, then limped into the room and took Kerry's chair, rubbing her thumbs on the arms still warm with her body heat. "Well?"
Elecia sat back down at the desk and studied her for a moment. "Thanks for taking the time to talk, Ms. Roberts."
Dar nodded briefly at her and waited.
"Anyone ever tell you that you two are real opposites?"
"It's been mentioned once or twice." Dar allowed.
"Okay." The reporter gathered her notes. "Kerry was just telling me that after first declining to participate in Mr. Quest's bid, you changed your mind."
"Right."
The reporter waited, but nothing more was apparently forthcoming. "You have a history with the two gals from Telegenics, don't you?"
Dar half shrugged. "Yes," she agreed. "Michelle was the IT director of a company I worked a contract negotiation for a year or so back, and I've known Shari for many years."
"That sounds so civilized," Rodriguez said. "And yet, from what those gals say, this bid had been anything but. What's your take on that?"
Dar steepled her fingers and rested the edges of them against her lips. She was very aware that this article would end up being a high profile one in the Herald. Granted, the Miami Herald was not the Washington Post, nor was it the New York Times, but in its own way it was a respected dispenser of local news, and she knew whatever the article ended up being, it would be seen by the board of directors who paid their salaries.
So, how to present utter chaos? "It's been a difficult bid so far," Dar answered slowly. "There were a number of things that contributed to that, most of which did not involve any of us or our respective past histories. For instance," She ticked off a finger, "the unexpected move of the project from New Zealand to Miami and the speeding up of the timeline. That put a focus on us that would not have existed there."
"Because you're local."
"Exactly," Dar agreed. "Second, putting the project into the spotlight by the involvement of the Travel Channel and their filming crew. That added to the circus."
"True."
"Third, the confusion over the intervention of the EPA that further truncated the timeline, and turned the bid into something of a frantic horse race."
"Also true." The reporter nodded. "But that's not what I meant, and I think you know that."
Ah. "Does this article have to do with business or gossip?" Dar countered, looking directly at her. "To be honest, sure, we've all been behaving like contestants for a trip to Jerry Springer, but the bottom line is, we need to get this job done and whoever does it right wins the prize."
The reporter's eyes glinted. "So, you're not saying the controversy between the four of you is the real story? It's their opinion that the discord is what is preventing both of you from being able to effectively compete."