Unexpected. Pleasant, but unexpected.
"It was very good," he answered in German. "Only too long. I am surprised to hear you speak my language, I thought no one on this side of the Atlantic spoke anything but English." One hand extended over the table toward Dar. "And I am especially glad because I have heard so much about you, though I think we will not agree on very much regarding this problem."
Dar took his hand and shook it, pleasantly surprised again by his forthrightness. "Well, you never know," she said. "Why don't we start at the beginning, and see what we can make out of this mess."
Hans inclined his head in agreement. "Yes, yes. But I think we should start with some coffee, since it is almost beer time for me right now. Is there somewhere here we can go?"
Well, this was starting out much better than she'd anticipated. Given the hostility she'd had from Meyer, the pleasant courtesy from Hans was duly appreciated, and she figured taking him out of the office to get some breakfast probably wasn't a bad idea. If she could get his active cooperation, then maybe getting this resolved wouldn't be as much of an uphill battle as she'd been afraid it would be. "Sure." She stood up. "There's a shop across the street. Let's go over there, and you can start by telling me all about this little program of yours."
"With my greatest pleasure." Hans indicated that she precede him. "It is a project that I am very proud of, and never tire talking about, especially talking about it to a very respected colleague who has much to be proud of as well."
Isn't he charming. Dar noted wryly. This might turn out all right. "Ah." She reached the outer door and opened it, stepping back to let him through. "Let's hope we can get both of these perfect products to work together."
Hans chuckled as they walked to the elevator. "I did not claim my software was perfect, however."
"Well, my network is." Dar issued a faintly teasing challenge. "But I'm sure we'll work something out." She watched his profile intently, but he only smiled easily and laughed. Yeah. This might turn out all right after all.
They entered the elevator and waited for the door to shut. Dar managed to catch a glimpse of Meyer as he walked by, his eyes flicking over them, and his face twisting into a scowl as he passed.
"So." She eyed Hans. "How long have you known they've had a problem?"
Hans checked his watch. "They have contacted me, yes, twenty-four hours ago."
"Interesting."
"HOW'S THE TRUCK going?" Kerry paused in the act of making herself some tea, as Mark entered the break room. "Everything seems to be holding for now."
"So far so good," Mark agreed, going over to the soda machine and popping some coins in. "Did you end up getting home last night?"
"I did." Kerry leaned back and sipped her tea. "Pretty late, but Dar's folks gave me a ride over and back again this morning. I spent the night in our boat."
Mark stopped in the middle of opening his coke bottle. "Huh?"
"Air conditioning," Kerry clarified. "It's got batteries, and the tanks were full of diesel to keep them charged."
"Oh, right." Mark nodded. "We had the windows open, but man it sucked. I was glad as hell to get to work this morning and cool off." He perched on the edge of one of the tables. "Did we get any fallout over all that stuff from last night? I didn't see anything on the news."
"Tell you in a few minutes. I have that guy from Tech TV showing up here." Kerry lifted her mug in Mark's direction and headed toward the door. "And a message on my voice mail from CNN."
"Ugh." Mark shook his head as she exited. "You couldn't pay me to do that job."
Kerry got into her seat just as the intercom buzzed. "Yes, Mayte?"
"Miss Kerry, I have Mr. Argos here? He said you were expecting him?"
Kerry's eyes narrowed. She paused a moment and took a breath, then pressed the intercom button. "I wasn't expecting him, Mayte. Please ask security to remove him from the building."
"Si." Mayte bravely stepped up to the plate, and clicked off.
Kerry dialed security, just in case. She waited until someone answered, then cleared her throat. "This is Kerry Stuart. There's an intruder here on the fourteenth floor in my outer office."
"Ma'am, this is Celeste, we just sent two officers up there. Do you want us to call the police?"
It was tempting. Kerry rested her weight on her elbows and bit the inside of her lip, thinking hard. "If he causes a problem, then yes. If he just goes quietly, then no," she decided.
"All right ma'am. We'll take care of it."
Kerry could hear male voices outside, strong and insistent. She got up and circled her desk, heading for the door and reaching it as the sound hit its crescendo. She opened the door, to find two of their security guards braced in front of her, facing off against Argos, while Mayte watched with wide eyes.
She pulled her cell phone off her waistband and dialed security. "Celeste?" She spoke into the phone. "Call the police."
Argos stopped yelling, realizing she was there. "Okay, so now we get somewhere."
"The police are on the way," Kerry said, briefly. "Since you can't cooperate with my security, I'm sure you'll cooperate with them. I would if I were you. I hear the Dade County Jail isn't for the timid."
"You can't call the police," Argos said. "Come on, Ms. Stuart. Give it up and talk to me."
"I've called the police," Kerry responded. "You're trespassing on private property."
"I'm the mainstream press. You can't treat me like that," he argued. "Do you want to make yourself and this company look worse than it already does?"
"Mr. Argos," Kerry addressed him quietly. "If I showed up in the Atlanta headquarters of CNN, and lied to get in, then stormed your secretary's desk, what would you do?"
He paused, and looked at her warily. "I'm only trying to get a story."
"And I'm only trying to run a company." Kerry glanced past him as Celeste and four other security guards showed up, crowding the antechamber. "Thanks Celeste. I'm going to go back to cleaning up after yesterday."
"Ma'am, we've got this." Celeste glared severely at Argos. "Sir, you are going to come with us downstairs. The police are waiting."
Argos ignored her. "You're really not going to talk to me?" he addressed Kerry. "It's in your interests, you know that."
"I know," Kerry agreed. "But I'm not going to give you what you want since you chose to pursue it the way you did. Blame my upbringing. Celeste, please escort him out."
"Son of a bitch."
"Daughter of a bastard, actually." She turned and went back in her office, closing the door with what she hoped was a sound of finality.
"Sir?" Celeste stepped close. "Please come with us."
Argos stuck his hands in his pockets. "You know, I don't really get my bluff called that often. Are the police really downstairs?"
"Yes."
The reporter nodded. "Okay." He meekly took up a place between Celeste and one of the other officers as they turned and made a crowded way out of Mayte's space heading back toward the elevator. "I don't suppose any of you are interested in talking to the press about what it's like to work here?"
Celeste just looked at him.
"All righty then."
KERRY HAD HER hiking boots propped up on her desk, and a Styrofoam plate of Chinese food in her lap as the first rumble of thunder sounded in the distance. She turned her head and observed the gathering clouds, glad she was inside and cool and relatively comfortable.
With a sigh, she went back to her lunch, deftly picking up a mouthful of the spicy, nutty chicken with her chopsticks and getting it into her mouth without dropping saucy bits of rice over the front of her aqua blue polo shirt.