Dar could feel Kerry's gentle breathing under her hand, and she was reassured by the easy rhythm of it. She could sense a feeling of relief in the people around her, both the natives and the visitors, and even a few smiles from the New York staff as they joined their teammates in the pizza and drinks.
She wished she could go to sleep along with Kerry. The thought of going through the hassle at the airport and then the flight home was absolutely exhausting.
"Hey, Maestro."
Dar looked up at Hamilton. "Mm?"
"Good job." The lawyer toasted her with his soda.
"Thanks," Dar answered. "Was it worth it?" She indicated the television screen in the background that had CNN on. "Market's dropped how many hundred points?"
Hamilton shrugged. "My daddy, who I will tell you thought I was coming down in the world when I went to law school, advised anyone who would listen that only fools lost money in the stock market. Everyone else just recognized a fabulous buy opportunity when they saw it."
"Our stock's up," Alastair remarked dryly.
"Airlines are dropping," Hamilton added. "That's why I want to get my Louisiana lily white ass out of here before they go bankrupt and stop putting fuel in the tanks before they take off."
"Think they will?" Alastair asked. "People won't stop flying."
"Won't they?" Hamilton asked. "Who's to say it won't happen again. People don't like dying. It ruins their day, Al."
They all went quiet for a moment. "Well." Alastair half shrugged. "I'm not walking back to Houston so I guess I'll risk it. Bad enough I almost ended up having to swim from the Bahamas or get sailed in by Captain Roberts, here."
"What?" Hamilton stared at him.
"Oh, didn't tell you about that part, did I." Alastair rested his head on his fist. "So damned much has happened I'm losing track." He pondered that. "I need a vacation."
"C'mon down by us." Dar offered. "I'll teach you to scuba dive."
Hamilton chuckled. "I'd love to see that." He leaned back in his seat. "See some octopus chasing your ass around the ocean.
Alastair rolled his eyes. Then his cell phone rang and he set his pizza down to answer it. "Now what?" He opened the phone. "Hello?" He paused, listening. "Well, hello, Governor."
"Even if I had grits, I wouldn't let that cheap excuse for a catfish kiss them." Hamilton indicated the phone. "He's got nothing but everyone's worst interests in mind."
"Well, thanks, but we--No, I don't really think we've got the--ah,sure, but--" Alastair removed the phone from his ear and stared at it. "Well, good bye to you too." He studied the instrument, and then folded it and returned it to his pocket.
"And?" Dar asked.
"The governor has a list of things he wants us to do," Alastair said. "He's on his way over here with a group of something or other and intends on staging a press conference and setting up a task force center."
"Guess he figured out which side we were on," Dar mused.
"Guess he wants everything for free," Hamilton added dryly.
"Guess he can kiss my ass." Alastair stood up and put his hands in his pockets. "Ladies and gents, please listen up."
The room got quiet quickly and everyone turned to face him.
"I'd like to thank you all for everything you've done in the past week. We've done a hell of a job here, despite a lot of personal struggle and tragedy, and believe me when I tell you I personally appreciate that more than I can say."
Tentative smiles appeared. "It's been good having you here, sir,"one of the New York staff said. "We really appreciate all the support we've gotten. Everyone's been so wonderful."
"Thanks."Alastair smiled at them. "But right now, what I'd like you all to do is get your things, and pack everything up, and leave the office, quickly as you can."
Everyone stared at him in some surprise.
"Sir?" the man asked. "Is there something wrong?"
"Not a thing," Alastair assured him. "There are some folks coming down here to try and ask us for something I don't want to be around for. So let's get moving, please. Those of us who are visiting are about to head for the airport anyway."
Everyone stirred and started to leave the room, still obviously puzzled. "Paid time off, of course," Alastair added. "Chop chop."
Hamilton had his head tilted back to watch the CEO. "You're becoming an ornery old bastard, Al," he commented. "How's that going to look if the governor shows up here, and no one's home?"
"No one's here, he can't ask anyone, can he," Alastair retorted. "Get a move on, Ham. Get us a car ready and let's scoot. Move it."
Hamilton got up and bowed, then headed off toward the door, chuckling under his breath. Alastair turned to Dar, his brows hiking "You ready to go home, lady?"
"More than," Dar said. "Dad just got back with our bags, so we're ready to go soon as I wake Ker up." She glanced down at her partner. "You sure you want to piss this guy off again?"
"Bastards were threatening to have us all picked up as terrorists and held without counsel, Dar. You want to spend any more time here?"
"Would they have really done it though?" Dar started to gently scratch Kerry's stomach, to get her to wake up. "Or was it just a bluff?"
"I had federal agents on either side of me with handcuffs in that Exchange," he said. "They were all set to announce to the press that they'd uncovered a terrorist plot to overthrow the government by co opting its information technology."
Dar stared at him. "You're serious?"
"As a heart attack," Alastair said, with commendable calm. "So wake up your sleeping beauty, and let's get outta here. I only hope they don't give us a hassle at the airport." He turned and watched the room empty, except for Andrew who was perched nearby on a chair arm, the bags on the seat next to him. "Ready to move out, commander?"
"Surely, genr'l," Andrew responded. "Sooner we get out of this place, better for us."
"You got that right." Alastair headed for the door. "Move it people! Move it!"
"ALL RIGHT, LET'S GO." Alastair got into the limo and settled across from Dar. "Feeling any better, Kerry?"
"Eh." Kerry was wedged in the corner of her seat, her hands tucked inside the pocket of her hoodie. "My ribs are killing me, but my head feels a lot clearer. The nap helped."
The limo started moving with the bus right behind it where the rest the team was riding. Kerry and Dar were alone with Alastair and Hamilton, and Kerry almost wished she wasn't. She had a feeling she was going to be hearing things she wasn't going to like.
Dar was seated next to her stifling a yawn. She had her briefcase next to her and a bottle of water in one hand, and she looked both tired and distracted. "You think they'll--what do you think they'll do when they get here and the office is closed?" she asked.
"Beats me." Alastair put his hands behind his head. "I'm sure he'll call me, and I'm sure I'll think of some lie to tell him. Maybe I took the office out to Central Park for buggy rides."
"Al." Hamilton tsked.
"Sorry Ham, I just don't care. I'm not spending one more minute here getting beaten to hell by these bastards. I'll exit the contracts, all of them."
Even Dar blinked.
"I figured," Alastair cleared his throat, "I figured they'd pin me, when I told them we weren't doing the work for them. I figured we'd get bad press, and I'd be pretty embarrassed on television, but hell.How bad could it really be, right?"
"But that wasn't going to happen," Kerry spoke up, her voice still slightly husky. "Was it? I heard the technicians in the Exchange talking about the FBI."
"Found out when I got there that it was a lot worse," Alastair said. "They figured they'd out us as plotting against the government, the company, that is. Had it all laid out. The fact we snuck into the country, all the exceptions we asked for, the guard fracas down by the river, you name it. They had so much detail on so many things they could twist to make us look like the bad guys--hell."