“Depends.” Kerry answered as they walked down the path to the parking lot. “Do we in source a NOC and support desk, or outsource it? How many accounts do we need to have to need that to make it economical to keep it in house?” She pondered. “I know you don't like outsourcing.”
“Never did.” Dar admitted. “No one cares as much about your business as you do.”
“And yet, we were the outsource for so many support areas.”
Dar smiled. “I was arrogant enough to tell customers that we did care more about their business than they did.” She confirmed. “And in some cases, that was true.”
“We were different.”
“That's what I told myself.” Dar said. “And you know, if you're not a technology company, there's a point to paying a technology company to do your technology for you.”
“True.” Kerry opened the back door to her car and put her case inside. “But we are a technology company so... c'mon, Chi, up you go.”
“So it probably behooves us to watch our own stuff.” Dar concluded, sliding into the passenger seat and setting Mocha on her lap. “But not just yet. Let's wait till we deliver some product first.” She settled back and glanced out the front windshield of the Lexus. “Ah.”
Kerry was just closing her door, and she looked up, following Dar's gaze. “Ah.” She echoed, seeing the group of huddled figures near the street lamp. “Well at least they aren't fighting.” She started the engine and flicked the lights on. “Nasty night to be out, huh?”
“Mm.” Dar studied the ragged looking group. Two of them turned and looked at the car, then turned back around and put their back to the light. After a moment, they all turned and walked down the path between their building and the next, quickly disappearing past the hedges, the man in the wheelchair going last. “Did you tell me you saw a break in the leaves around back there?”
Kerry nodded, resting her hands on the steering wheel. “You think they're hiding in the trees back by that other building?”
“Maybe.” Dar said. “There's enough space there for a shelter, sort of.”
Kerry drummed her fingers. “What do we do about that?”
“Hm.” Her partner grunted softly. “They're not hurting anything being back there, are they?” She asked, as Kerry shifted the SUV into gear.
“Maybe we can talk to our security vendor about it once we have one.” Kerry suggested. “Changing your mind about having guards in the building?”
“Mm.” Dar grunted again, propping her elbow against the window and resting her head against her fist. “I don't know, Ker. I can secure the data – that's not a problem.”
Kerry left of the questioning and concentrated on driving instead. She wasn't really in the mood to start a disagreement with her spouse, and she sensed they were on sort of different sides on the question. “We'll work it out.” She said, after a brief silence.
“I”m sure we will.” Dar wriggled into a more comfortable position. “Feel like Italian tonight?”
Did she? Kerry pondered the idea as she headed east along the causeway towards the ferry base. “Yeah.” She agreed. “Seafood pasta maybe, and a salad. It's kinda late to start cooking.”
“Mmmeatballs.” Dar rumbled, going nose to nose with Mocha. “You want mmmeatballs, Mmmmocha?”
“Yap!”
“Growf.” Chino poked her head between the seats, as they pulled onto the ferry.
“See what you started?” Kerry put the car in park and relaxed. “Now you have to cough up the meatballs, darling.”
“We can order them some.”
“Spoiled dogs.”
“Along with ice cream for me.” Dar chortled.
“Spoiled human.”
Two days later Kerry was pulling into the parking lot early, after letting Dar off at the airport. She got her laptop case and closed the door behind her, having left the two dogs in the condo since she lacked enough hands to wrangle them without Dar's help.
It was very quiet. She unlocked the door then slipped quickly inside to turn off the alarm, kicking the front door closed behind her as she went past. The receptionist wasn't due in for another half hour, and she hesitated, then left the alarm off as she went up the steps to her office.
It felt strange, to be in the place all alone. Kerry shrugged off her sometimes admittedly overactive imagination, and dropped off her laptop bag, then went to the little kitchen on the second floor to put some water on to heat.
She was aware of the silence around her, and now she wished she'd brought at least Chino along to keep her company. The Labrador was not really a watch dog, but she was big and had a loud bark. “Am I getting paranoid?” She asked aloud, putting a teabag in her cup and pouring the hot water over it. “I hope not.”
She carried the cup back to her office and put it down, pausing the start up her PC before she sat down. She took a sip of the tea, then paused, as she heard the door downstairs open and close.
Her heartbeat picked up. She got up and pulled her cell phone from her pocket, walking out of her office and through Mayte's to the top of the stairs before calling out. “Hello?”
No answer. Kerry cursed silently at herself for leaving the door open and paused, trying to decide what to do. She retreated back into Mayte's space and quickly texted Dar a message, then she went into her own office, locked the connecting door between her space and Dar's, and then went back into the outer room and stood in the entrance, giving her a view of the upper corridor and the stairs.
Her throat felt dry, and she could feel her heart beating in her chest, as she strained her ears to see if she could hear someone moving around below. Her device buzzed gently in her hand and she glanced down, thumbing open a message from Dar that said “Called the cops. Lock yourself in your office I'm getting a cab.”
“Oh, Dar no.” Kerry started to dial, then stopped, when she heard a creak on the stairs. She hesitated, caught between wanting to see who it was who was and being afraid it was someone she didn't really want to see.
Macha overrode common sense, and she abruptly walked forward and went to the top of the stairs, bracing her legs at shoulder length apart and looking down. “Hey!”
The figure walking up stopped and stared at her. He was a man of medium height, with a muscular body and short, almost crewcutted brown hair. He was dressed in old, faded camouflage pants and a black shirt, and there was an expression she could only describe as insolent on his face.
Okay, so now she was glad Dar had called the cops. “You're trespassing.” She stated.
He spread his arms out to either banister. “You the bitch who told that fag to tell my friends to stay away from this place?” He had a deep, husky voice. “Are ya?”
Kerry kept her voice even with a good deal of effort. “Yes.” She said. “I told our landlord we don't want people fighting out side the door.”
He started climbing up towards her again. “I don't appreciate that.”
“I don't actually care.” Kerry shot back. “You're not above the law any more than the rest of your friends are.”
He stopped again about three steps down from her. “You call the cops?”
“Yes.” Kerry said.
“I didn't hear anyone call the cops.” He stepped up one more step towards her. “Bitch.”
“That's not my problem, asshole.” Kerry wasn't entirely sure where all the faux courage was coming from, but at least her voice wasn't shaking, and her knees were holding her up so far. “You've got no business being in this building, you're trespassing, and the cops are on the way to haul your ugly ass out of here.”
He stared her in the eye. Kerry stared right back, hoping like hell her legs would both continue to hold her up and obey her if she had to do something crazy like defend herself.