“Just saw the news,” Alastair said. “Tell Kerry I’m sorry; that’s a tough thing.”
88 Melissa Good Dar exhaled. “I will.”
There was a slight pause. “Easton took the deal. Didn’t think he would, but he did.”
“Good.” Dar felt a sense of relief. “Thanks for telling me.”
“Anytime, Dar.” Now, at last, Alastair’s voice gentled. “Take care, y’hear? Both of you.”
“We will,” Dar replied. “Talk to you tomorrow.” She hung up, folded the phone, and tucked it back into its cradle. “Alastair sends his condolences, and wants you to take it easy.”
Kerry watched her closely. She’d lived with Dar for over a year, and she’d learned through trial and error to be able to read almost every twitch of that very, very expressive face. “And?”
There was a glint of streetlamp off blue eyes as Dar glanced at her. “And?”
Kerry saw Dar’s hands flex and resettle on the steering wheel.
“And, what else is going on?” She waited through the obvious hesitation. “C’mon, Dar, you can bluff an entire roomful of stock analysts, but not me. What’s up?”
Dar inhaled, then squared her shoulders. “Things went south with the Navy.” She pulled into the hotel’s parking lot. “Easton called Alastair on the carpet and demanded he produce the information we found and turn it over, or face some pretty strong consequences.”
“What happened?” Kerry sat up straighter, perversely glad to have something else to focus on. “How’d he get out of it?”
Dar stopped the car in a parking spot and rested her hands on the wheel as she gazed thoughtfully out the window. “I agreed to a deal.” She turned to Kerry. “To turn over the data and not press forward with it.”
Kerry blinked at her with a look of utter shock.
“He had a deadline. I had to be there. I wasn’t going to be.”
Dar shrugged. “So, that’s what’s going on.” She shut off the car and opened the door. “Come on, I need to change into something warmer.” She got out into the still falling snow and closed the door, then trudged around the back of the car and peered in the passenger side window. Kerry was still sitting there with a stunned look on her face. It almost made Dar smile. She opened Kerry’s door and gave her an inquiring look. “Coming?”
Kerry finally turned and reached for the doorframe to pull herself up. “Dar—”
“No.” Dar touched two fingers to Kerry’s lips. “There was no option, I don’t regret it, there was no choice to be made. Got it?”
She stared seriously at Kerry. “Being here for you was that important for me.”
The snow drifted and flakes settled on Kerry’s upturned face.
Thicker Than Water 89
“Was Alastair mad?”
“Livid.” Dar pulled Kerry the rest of the way out of the car and closed the door. “But he understands.” She wrapped an arm around Kerry as they started towards the hotel. “He knows me.”
Kerry thought about that as they walked. “Does he?” The shock of Dar’s revelation was still ringing inside her, evoking an alternating mixture of dismay and awe.
A smile crossed Dar’s face. “Yes, he does.”
THEY HAD A surprise waiting in the hotel room. Dar entered first and switched the light on, then stopped in mid stride causing Kerry to crash into her back. “Whoa.”
“Wh…Dar, why did…Oh.” Kerry peered out from behind Dar’s back and saw the table covered in baskets. “Good grief.”
“Yeah.” Dar walked to the table and examined the items.
There were four in all—two sedate ones that contained subdued flower arrangements, one stocked with a variety of chocolates, and one with other snacks such as crackers and cheese. “Someone worried there weren’t any restaurants all the way up here?” She picked up the cards and read them. “Ah.”
Kerry peeked. The flowers were from Maria and Mariana, the snacks were from Colleen, and the chocolate… “Your folks certainly know you.”
“Me?” Dar glanced at her wryly. “Oh, does that mean you don’t want any?”
Kerry’s nostrils twitched as Dar removed the cellophane wrap from the chocolate basket, releasing a sweet, delicious scent. “I didn’t say that.” She plucked at the snack basket. “But I’m going to have some crackers and cheese, too, or I’ll be bouncing all over the place.”
“Good.” Dar selected a truffle and popped it into her mouth.
“While you do that, I’m going to put on my damn thermal under-wear.”
Kerry picked up the bottle of pills and handed it to Dar. “And take this, right?”
“Mm.” Dar accepted the bottle, but put it down for a moment as she pulled her sweater off over her head. Or tried to, at any rate, when she unthinkingly used her bad arm. “Shit.” She hissed and paused in mid motion.
“Hey!” Kerry dropped her crackers and jumped to her side.
She eased the fabric off over Dar’s head and carefully lowered her arm. “Oh, damn, Dar!” She was shocked at the new mottled bruising that covered Dar’s shoulder joint and spread across the front of her chest. “Sit down.”
90 Melissa Good
“Why? Is that supposed to take strain off my arm?” Dar did as she was told and sat quietly on the bed as Kerry examined her.
“Just a bruise, Ker.”
“It wasn’t like that when I left Florida yesterday,” Kerry said.
“You did this last night.”
“Yeah, so?” Dar shrugged.
Kerry seriously studied her, then she unclipped her cell phone, opened it, and dialed a number. “Hey, Ang.”
“Kerry, where did you disappear to?” Angie asked. “You were behind us, then you vanished. I thought you got lost.”
“In my own hometown? Not likely,” Kerry replied. “We stopped by the hotel for Dar’s medication.”
The phone juggled. “Hang on.” There was a moment of silence, then Angie’s voice came back, clearer and with less noise in the background. “Maybe it’s for the best. This place is a circus, Ker. The press is here, and all of dad’s staff, and it’s a madhouse.”
“Ugh,” Kerry murmured.
“And,” Angie hesitated, “with everything that’s going on, I think the general feeling is it might be better if you didn’t come over here.” She seemed almost embarrassed. “With all the press here, they don’t want any controversy.”
Kerry felt a burn of anger. “You mean, it’d be okay if I came, but not if I brought Dar with me.”
“Something like that, yeah.” Angie sighed. “That’s not from mom, but there’re so many—”
“Fuck them.” Kerry enunciated the words carefully.
Angie was prudently silent.
“But you know what? I’m glad,” Kerry went on. “Because I was just calling to tell you we weren’t coming over anyway. Dar hurt her arm again last night picking my butt up, and I’m going to spend the evening relaxing, eating very good chocolate, and taking care of her.”
Angie still remained silent. Dar’s eyebrows crawled up into her hairline and lodged there.
Kerry smiled mirthlessly. “So, if the press asks, you can tell them that.”
“Lucky stiff,” Angie finally muttered. “Mom wants you to come by in the morning, is that okay?”
“I’ll think about it,” Kerry answered. “Bye.” She closed the phone with a snap. “Sons of bitches.”
Dar circled the back of Kerry’s thigh with one hand and squeezed gently. “Easy.” She could see the anger flaring along the lines of Kerry’s body. “Everyone’s under a lot of pressure.”
“Bullshit,” Kerry snapped back. “Most of those people couldn’t give a damn about my father. They’re just polishing up Thicker Than Water 91