“Hey.” He came over and sat down, picking up Mocha to pet him as the puppy came pattering over. “Guess what?”
“What?” Kerry started sorting through her mail.
“Pete got a call from the old place.” Mark said. “Said they were straightening stuff out, and did he want to come back.” He scratched Mocha behind his ears, and the puppy yowped, tilting his head back and poking his tongue out. “He said he told them thanks but no thanks, but at least they sounded sane again.”
“Well, it must help that things are working again.” Kerry said. “And boy am I glad that’s done.”
Mark nodded. “The way the big D did it – that was slick, you know? Got those guys in Herndon to do it. And they recorded the whole thing.”
Kerry nodded. “I don’t’ blame you for not wanting to touch that, by the way.” She said. “I was glad Dar didn’t either though at the time I was ready for it to get done any way she could.”
“I felt like a chickenshit.” Mark admitted. “But man, I so didn’t want to go in there. It gave me creeps just standing at security, even though those guys were totally cool, and would have let me up if I asked them to.”
“The guys at Herndon were pretty glad to see us too.” Kerry said. “Until I told them the government wanted to hire them.” She shook her head. “Not sure how that’s all going to work out.”
“They really going to take all those contracts?”
Kerry glanced up at him and nodded. “They lost trust.” She said. “I still can’t believe they were that stupid.”
“Wow.” Mark said.
“Speaking of stupid.” Dar came to stand in the connecting door, leaning against the frame of it. “Hamilton just called. He said he’s got a meeting with the lawyer from the ousted board members in about a half hour. He’ll let us know what comes out of it.”
“Tell him to tell Richard.” Kerry took a sip of her coffee. “Maria said no process servers have shown up here yet so who knows what’s going on.” She pushed a folded newspaper across the desk towards her partner. “No sign of anything in the news.”
“Which is probably good news.” Dar said. “So lets move on.” She winked at them then returned to her office, with Chino at her heels.
“She’s right.” Kerry said. “So, I got your note about the data center. Dar and I had talked about not doing that, but now I think we should. Talk to me about the location.”
“Sure.” Mark got up and came over to the desk, putting down a folder. “So here’s the deal, it’s a giant freaking datacenter one of the big boxes put up and then the county tanked em. So it’s all ready for us… “
“You guys can get this rolling while Dar and I are on vacation, right?”
“You bet.”
**
Kerry wriggled a little into the base of sand she was lying on, gazing up at the canopy of stars overhead and listening to the breeze stirring the sabal palms and palmetto bushes nearby, surrounding the small beach on Dar’s little offshore island.
She felt mellow and relaxed, tired from a long day of diving and swimming, content to lay where she was being warmed by a nearby campfire and waiting for the sounds of Dar coming up out of the ocean, where she was busy collecting them some dinner.
That would mean she would need to stir and go cook whatever it was Dar came up with, but until then, it was just her, and the salt tinged night air and the gentle sounds of the Dixie riding at anchor nearby.
The weather was perfect. Not too cold, but not muggily hot either, the air full of the smell of the ocean and the seaweed on the shore, and the wood smoke from palm branch fire.
Here there was no sound of civilization to bother them, and only the threat of a curious crab to disturb them and Kerry was glad of the isolation and the opportunity to spend some time with her family without interruption.
She stretched her arms out and her fingertips brushed Chino’s damp fur, feeling the twitching of the sleeping animals dreams as she looked up at the stars and thought about the past little while.
What had Ceci called it? A cycle of change. Kerry pondered for a moment whether the change had now ended for a while, or would continue on.
But only for a moment before the sound of something emerging from the waves made her lift her head and peer past the fire, smiling a little as the moonlight revealed the outline of Dar’s tall form as she trudged up out of the surf, crossing from shadow into the firelight as the ruddy gold mixed for a moment with silver. She had a shortie wetsuit on, and a tank, and she turned and sat down on one of the picnic benches to take them both off, dropping her fins and mask on the table’s surface.
“Ah, the primordial huntress returns.” Kerry commented.
Dar gave her a droll look, then held up her catch bag. “I have critters for you.”
Kerry amiably got up and brushed herself off, then walked over and took the bag, handing Dar a towel in return. “It feels like there’s a lobster in here.”
“Dos.” Dar roughly toweled her head dry, walking over to the folding table and donning the dive coat laying across it. “Nice under there. You can see the moon almost to the bottom.” She draped her towel over a hook under the umbrella covering the table and ran her fingers through her hair.
Kerry hung the bag on another hook, then turned and shifted a big pot of water onto the fire’s sturdy grate, stepping back as the flames bathed the bottom of it and it hissed gently.
The heat of the fire toasted her, a counterpoint to the cool breeze coming off the water and through the rough underbrush of the little island that had once been Dar’s hideaway and still had no real name.
Dar fished a bottle of ginger ale from the cooler under the table and opened it, then settled into a hanging rope chair with a satisfied sigh. “Nice.” She rested her hand on one knee and took a swallow of the cold soda, rinsing it around inside her mouth before swallowing. “What a beautiful night.”
Kerry looked up from taking out covered side dishes that had come with them on the Dixie and grinned. “Glad you thought of coming out here.” She kept an eye on the pot, waiting for it to boil, and got out the plates and cups they’d likewise brought.
“C’mere, little man.” Dar picked up Mocha and set him on her lap, where the sleepy puppy yawned and plopped down, idly chewing on her fingers. “I saw an octopus.”
“Did you? Damn. Now I’m sorry I didn’t tag along.” Kerry observed the water starting to bubble and took the catch bag off the hook, positioning it over the pot and turning the lever that let it latch on to the edges. “Wish I’d remembered my ear plugs.”
Dar chuckled as she swiveled a little and watched Kerry grimace in reflex as she unlocked the bottom of the catch bag, dumping it’s contents into the pot. The glow from the fire outlined her beautifully, catching highlights in her hair as she cautiously removed the bag.
There were no sounds save the hiss of the water droplets hitting the fire, and after a moment, and a grunt of satisfaction, Kerry popped the lid onto the pot and went back to fixing their plates up.
“No screams?” Dar asked.
“Pfft.” Kerry came over with a plate of cut fruit and offered her some. “One more week, and we’re off to river rafting. Dar, I can’t wait. Even if we end up sleeping on rocks I don’t care.”
“I care.” Dar selected a piece of watermelon and bit into it. “These are supposed to be high class campsites. We better the hell get air mattresses at the least.”
“Sissy.”
“Hey, shortie. I’ve camped rough. Have you?”