It felt strange not to be working. It felt even stranger not to be sure that the decision she’d made had been a good one, and not just a half assed one based on a knee jerk reaction.
“I should have beaten the crap out of him myself.” Dar tilted her head back and regarded the sky. “Bet the little bastard wouldn’t have said a word about it.”
She took another sip of wine and swallowed it, then glanced up as her cell phone rang. ”Ah, I wonder who that is, Chino.” She picked up the phone and flipped it open. ”Yes?”
”Hi.”
Dar felt a gentle wave of relief pass over her. ”Hi.” Kerry’s voice was quiet and lacking the angry snap it had earlier. ”Sorry I took off without talking to you.”
”Mm, yeah, that was kinda disappointing,” Kerry told her gently.
Dar didn’t know what to say to that, so she kept silent.
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”You at home?” Kerry asked.
”Yeah.”
”You’re not answering the phone there.”
”I know. I’m outside on the porch with Chino,” Dar replied. ”So, they give you my office yet?”
A soft laugh answered her. ”Well, since I just got out of a meeting where I told two senior VP's to kiss my ass, that’s probably not in my cards today.”
”Mm.” Obscurely, that pleased Dar. ”Which two?”
”José and Eleanor, Mariana went home,” Kerry replied. ”And I’m out of here too. Since the entire division is on strike, there’s no real need for me to be here.”
”Mm, that’s nice. Wait.” Dar sat up. ”What?”
”Must have been something in the cafeteria. Fifty two people in operations, coincidentally, all got sick and had to go home,” Kerry told her, blithely.
Dar sighed. ”Kerry, it’s a nice gesture, but that’s just going to get everyone in trouble,” she informed her lover.
”Dar, I didn’t ask them to do that,” Kerry’s voice came back. ”I don’t think you quite realize just how much these people respect you.
Maria tendered her resignation, there are ten more of those pending including Mark’s, and Personnel’s been bombarded with official letters of censure against Fabricini alluding to everything from pick pocketing to attempted rape.”
”Oh,” Dar murmured.
”And his car got keyed.”
”Oh,” A different emphasis.
”And his tires got slashed.”
”Ah, Kerry…”
”And his electricity, phones, gas, and water got turned off.”
”Kerry.” Alarm now.
”And his credit cards got canceled.”
”Hey!”
”His auto deposit got rerouted into the Women’s and Children’s fund.”
”Kerry!”
”Just kidding about that one.” Kerry chuckled. “Though I thought about it.”
”Come on now, you’re going to get yourself in a lot of trouble,” Dar told her, in an aggravated tone.
”Yes, and I’m perfectly capable of getting myself in and out of that, Dar. I don’t need you throwing yourself in front of situations for me,”
Kerry responded, just as seriously. ”I’m really pissed off that you quit because of me, you know that?”
She had no answer for that.
”Dar?”
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”Yeah,” Dar replied quietly. ”I’m sorry. I guess I managed to screw this up pretty badly.” She regarded the gull glumly. ”Maybe I should have just stayed home today.”
”Dar?”
”Yeah?”
”I love you.”
A faint smile twitched at Dar’s lips. ”I love you too.” She paused.
”Sorry if I overreacted.”
”Apology accepted, if you forgive me in advance for trying to get you to change your mind.”
Dar smiled a little sadly. ”I don’t think it’s my choice now, love.”
Kerry chuckled.
”What was that for?” Dar inquired, curiously.
”I’ll see you in a few minutes,” her lover replied. ”Bye.”
Dar regarded the phone. ”Now, what’s she up to?” she asked a sleepy Chino, who wagged her tail.
Chapter
Eleven
KERRY SLID HER laptop into her bag and closed her desk drawer, locking it and the laptop inside it away securely. She paused to shake a few aspirin from a bottle on her desk and washed them down with a swig of cold tea as the sounds of the day wound down around her.
“Crappy day.” She set the cup down and shouldered her bag, then she headed for the elevator hoping she’d have a lonely ride down.
She didn’t want to make small talk or suffer the fourteen story ride in uncomfortable silence, everyone’s eyes watching her and knowing all the gossip that had traveled through the building all day long.
They all knew Dar had quit. She punched the down button, and was surprised when the doors slid open almost immediately. They all knew why Dar had quit. Not because Dar had told everyone, but because Fabracini had, boasting of his victory to anyone who would listen.
She stepped inside and paused. “Well, screw it.” She removed her badge and held it to the reader inside, then keyed emergency service.
The device bleeped obediently at her, and she punched the ground floor. “Had to use that at least once, didn’t I?”
In solitary splendor, the car descended without pause to the ground and opened as she swallowed to clear her ears. She emerged and was happy to find herself almost alone in the lobby, the rays of sunset coming in through the glass panes as the cleaning staff was moving towards the elevators, getting ready to start work for the night.
Kerry walked quietly across the marble floor and approached the doors, giving the guard a small wave. He waved back, and their eyes met, then he edged over closer to her as she was about to exit. “Ms.
Kerry?”
Kerry paused and waited for him to come over. “Yes, John?”
“Is it true, Ms. Roberts is leaving?” the man asked. “I’d hate to see that. She’s good people.”
Kerry felt a smile tugging at her tired face. “Not if I can help it, John,” she said. “Thanks for the thought.” She patted his arm and walked through the doors into the cool dusk air, seeing a few people around in her peripheral vision.
Not unusual. There was a bus stop nearby, after all. She passed a small group of men and headed towards her car, tucked on one side of 128
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the lot near the street.
The streetlights were just starting to come on as she unlocked her doors, moving her seat forward to toss her laptop bag into the back seat, and turning back around to get in only to find a dark, menacing figure on the other side of the door.
Her heart nearly came out of her chest and she inhaled sharply, her eyes flicking to the front doors of the building as she got ready to yell for help.
The dark figure held both hands up, palms out. “Easy thar.”
Kerry was close to panic. The man was much taller than she was and even the words didn’t really reassure her. “What do you want?”
She asked after a second.
“I ain’t gonna hurtcha,” the man said. “Just want to ask you all a question, is all.”
There was something about his voice. Kerry relaxed the grip she had on her keys, the edge of them biting into her palm. He had a Southern accent, and there was something about the timber that seemed just a little familiar to her. “Okay. Go ahead.”
He lowered his hands and stayed where he was, the setting sun to his back. He had a hooded sweatshirt on and the hood was up, obscuring his features in the shadows. “Got a friend you know, just want to make sure all’s right with them.” He said. “Name’s Paladar.”
Kerry felt a jolt of surprise. “What about her?” she asked, wondering who this was who knew her partner’s real name. “Who are you?”