"It's not them," Dar repeated stubbornly. "I don't give a damn how much sense it makes. I'm telling you it's not them. Find another possibility." Part of her acknowledged that Mark was right--believing it was Shari and Michelle burned her guts. But another part of her, the instinctive part that understood people at a base level, was telling her that someone smarter than either of them was behind it.
Was it just wishful thinking? Dar got up and went to her desk, dropping into her chair and putting her booted feet up on the desk. She was dressed down, glad of the excuse of the pier visit to be wearing her broken in jeans and short topped hiking boots.
"Okay." Mark gave in gracefully and collected his techno bits. "I'll see what else I can find out." He started to back away toward the door. "Sorry about all the talk and crap."
"Not your fault." Dar picked up her keyboard and put it on her lap. "Just tell everyone from me they're full of shit."
"Will do, boss." Mark disappeared and closed the door behind him.
Dar pecked out a few words, and then paused. She half turned in her chair as the inner door slammed open and Kerry strode in, green eyes snapping, hands half clenched, and for all intents and purposes it seemed like a thunderstorm was on its way to happening. "Hi," she greeted Kerry apprehensively. "What's up?"
"Stupid, mother mphfing, sons of pooters," Kerry spat out. "Do you want to know what kind of horse manure I've had to listen to for the last twenty minutes?"
Kerry was adorable when she was mad, just so long as it wasn't Dar she was mad at. "Let me guess." Dar put her keyboard down. "I hit you. We're breaking up, you're moving out, and maybe...the sky is falling?"
"Augh." Kerry sat down on Dar's desk. "I am so pissed."
"I can see that."
"Aren't you?" Kerry frowned. "Dar, this is bullshit!"
Was she? Dar leaned an elbow on Kerry's leg, and wondered about that. "It's bullshit," she agreed. "And I know it's not true, so while I'm aggravated that people are wasting their time, I'm not going to waste mine by blowing my top."
"I know it's not true also." Kerry growled. "But I want to boot these people, Dar. They have no right to talk about us like that. It's insubordination."
True enough. "Do we know who it is?"
Kerry got up and paced around Dar's desk, still visibly upset. "No one. Everyone." She groused. "It's cowardly! No one has the guts to say something to my face, it's all damned whispers."
Dar rounded the desk and intercepted Kerry, laying her hands on her partner's shoulders. "Ker, take it easy.
"I'm not going to take it easy," Kerry shot back. "I'm sick and tired of people just...just..." She let the words trail off. "Heck!" She pulled a square of cardboard from her pocket and tossed it on Dar's desk. "See that? Some freaking real estate agent was just in my office, saying she heard I was looking for a place."
Dar's eyebrows lifted.
"Augh!"Kerry balled her fists up fully and shook both of them. "Dar, I am so pissed!"
"Shh." Dar put her arms around Kerry and hugged her. "Take it easy."
"Grrrr!!!
"We'll figure out what's going on."
Kerry allowed herself to collapse against Dar's warm body. Her entire insides were tensed in knots, and her anger really had no place to go. "Goddamn it." She felt the knots ease, as Dar's hands rubbed her back. "Someone's trying to get between us, Dar."
"Yes."
Kerry took in a breath. "And you're not upset?"
Dar heard the catch in her voice. "Of course I am."
"You're just not freaking out," Kerry exhaled, "like I am." She leaned against Dar and let her breathing settle. "Sorry." She felt the gentle pressure as Dar kissed the top of her head, and felt very tired as the anger drained away.
Jerks.
Just...Jerks.
KERRY WAS STILL unsettled as they walked across the parking lot toward the ship buildings. She'd considered putting out a scathing memo, but Dar had convinced her not to, reasoning with her that making a big deal out of the whole thing would just cause more talk.
She knew that was true, but she didn't have to like it. Kerry booted a small rock across the parking lot, glad of her heavily tinted sunglasses protecting her eyes against the glare. The late afternoon thunderstorms hadn't built up yet, and the sun was beating down on them as they walked, making even her light cotton shirt feel like it weighed a ton.
"You all right?" Dar asked.
"Yeah," Kerry replied. "Just thinking."
They both stepped over a parking bumper in unison, and then continued on. Dar looked between the buildings to where the ships were moored seeing a great deal of activity around them. Cranes had been set up as well, and men were working all over the place. She could hear rivet guns, and the sound of saws and sledge hammers beating away at the aged metal hulls.
There was a scent of ozone in the air from the welding torches being used, and as they moved closer, they could hear the rough voices of the workers calling out. Kerry resolutely pushed her lingering unsettledness back, and turned her attention to the project hoping their wiring team had been able to make some progress. "Looks like a mess."
"Mm." Dar stepped around a jagged pothole in the road and produced her identification as they approached the door to the pier building. The guard barely looked at it, and then just stepped to one side so they could walk inside.
"Warm and fuzzy," Kerry muttered.
"Right there with you," Dar agreed, taking off her sunglasses as they entered the gloomy building. She could hear raised voices from the back office, and headed in that direction with Kerry at her heels. They rounded the corner and saw two men at the door to the office facing off against their security guard and the office manager Kerry had assigned to the building. "What's going on here?" Dar asked crisply.
The two men turned, and the two ILS employees' faces brightened when they spotted Dar and Kerry. "Ma'am, I'm glad you're here," the guard addressed Dar. "These gentlemen are demanding we give them access to our switches in here."
Kerry removed her sunglasses and gave the men a direct stare. "This should be good. For what?"
The two men appeared caught slightly off-guard. "We had a report someone in this office was trying to hack in to the port's network," the man nearest Dar said. "We need to check it out."
Dar looked him up and down. "Buddy, if I was hacking into your network, you'd never know it," she said. "You don't get access to anything. You have a problem with that, have your boss call me." Digging in her wallet, she pulled out a business card and handed it to the man. "Now, excuse us."
The man looked at her card, and then gave Dar a dour look. "Lady, we don't need your permission to go anywhere on this port. I was just being nice. I'm going to stop being nice now."
"I'm going to call the police now," Dar replied, "since this space has been bought and paid for, and isn't part of the port for the time being."
Kerry removed her cell phone and dialed it, content to let her partner exercise her kickass gene. "Hello, yes. Can I speak to someone about intruders on my property?"
The man pointed Dar's card at her. "I'll go get our security and be right back. Don't go anywhere, lady." He brushed past Kerry and walked out, followed by his silent companion.
Kerry waited for him to turn the corner, and then she folded her phone shut. "Hmm."
Dar edged past the guard and headed into the office. "I'll check the damn thing. With my luck, it's in a loop and the bastards think it's trying to attack them." She headed for a nearby workstation, sitting down in front of it and keying in her own login.
"Hi, Cheryl." Kerry stuck her phone back on her belt. "So, other than the goon squad visiting, how are things going?"
Cheryl had perched on the corner of one of the gray laminate desks they'd stocked the office with. She was a good looking woman of perhaps forty, with ginger colored hair and gray eyes. Dressed in jeans and a neatly pressed, floral shirt, she appeared comfortable, if a bit harried. "Oh, well, actually, things are going pretty good, ma'am."