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hiking boots on the very edge of the bridge. ”Well, hold on,” she murmured, taking a step forward and letting the rope take her weight.

”Dar.” Kerry’s voice objected instinctively.

”Hey, crazy woman, get the hell back here!” José yelped.

”Ah, my friend,” Duks went to the edge of the bridge, ”you don’t need to go over there.”

”Shit,” Mark cursed.

”Shh.” Dar turned her head and glared at them. ”Just, let me check the situation out, all right?”

”You’re going to end up with your ass in that creek and I’m going to laugh my head off,” Steven sniped.

Dar ignored him and continued slowly moving forward, holding the two ropes on either side of her as she approached the snake. She felt the rope bridge sway under her movement and the wind. The creek chuckled by below her and she could hear the ominous creaking of the hemp fibers, which seemed impossibly loud to her.

A bird called out overhead, almost making her jump, and she glared up at it before she continued forward a few more steps. She was almost to where the snake was now, and she could feel her heart starting to pound and her knees shake under the strain of keeping level.

”Nice snaky,” she murmured, ”easy now.”

Snakes were deaf. She knew that, but it made her feel better to say it anyway. Ten feet away and she could see the soft, glistening surface of the animal as it rested contentedly in the sun, its large, square head spread out on the top rope.

Dar took another step forward, then held on as a breeze made the entire bridge sway, causing the snake to shift a little. Dar ducked her head forward, then took two more steps which brought her even with the large creature’s head.

She reached out, hearing a collective gasp from the other shore and picked the head up, examining it curiously. With an utterly cool expression, she turned her head and regarded her co workers.

They stared at her in awe.

”Made in China.” Dar held the head up. ”It’s rubber.”

A moment of shock, then everyone started moving again. ”Son of a bitch!” Mark breathed, shaking his head. ”These people are effing nuts!”

Dar set the rubber head back down and patted the snake, then she regarded the rest of the bridge. ”I’m going on across. It’s not that hard, just take it slow, and hold on,” she advised the group as she continued on her way. She placed her feet carefully one after the other until she reached the other side and hopped down. There was a small machine that looked like a timecard stamper there. She pulled out her little card and stuck it in the slot.

It made a very satisfying clunking noise and stamped a tiny cobra on her card in the number one slot. She put the card away and glanced 78

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back across the creek, not surprised to see Kerry making her way across the bridge, a determined look of concentration on the smaller woman’s face.Steven was standing impatiently on the edge, waiting his turn.

Everyone else was trying to convince Eleanor to give it a go and Dar was exceedingly glad she was on this side of the bridge and not the other.Part of her felt quite satisfied, having removed an obstacle from the group’s path, but the other part was still annoyed that they were doing this at all. She watched Kerry stop at the snake and look at it, examining the head thoughtfully before she edged past, gripping the ropes tightly on either side.

Kerry looked a little uneasy, Dar thought, and she put her own hands casually on the guide ropes as Kerry paused, taking a deep breath, then swallowing, before she continued on. The wind came through, swaying the bridge and Dar saw her lover’s face tense up and her knuckles whiten on the ropes. ”You okay?” she called out, a little concerned.

Kerry waited for the swaying to stop then she risked prying her eyes open, to see Dar’s blue ones fastened on her. “C’mon, Kerry. You can get past this.” She forced a foot forward, keeping her gaze fixed on Dar instead of looking down. Six steps, seven, and she was close enough to see the faint wrinkle in Dar’s forehead.

Then she was stepping on the last bit, where a wooden plank anchored the bridge and Dar’s hands were reaching for her, only at the last minute holding off and ending up back on the ropes instead.

”Thanks.” She closed her eyes and appreciated the solid ground under her feet as Dar stepped aside and let her past. ”I’m not really thrilled about heights,” Kerry explained, apologetically. ”That climbing wall is okay, because it’s so close to the ground, and all, but that...” She shook her head and pushed a faintly shaking hand through her hair.

”Whoo, haven’t had a reaction like that in a while.”

It took all of Dar’s willpower not to hug her, even with everyone over there watching them. Instead, she put a hand on Kerry’s shoulder and patted it. ”Take it easy. Why don’t you sit down on that bench over there? You’re kind of pale.”

”In a minute,” Kerry stated, tugging her card out of her pack with grim determination. ”I want my stamp.” She watched the machine impact the heavy cardboard. ”Dar, that was amazing.

Everyone

thought you’d lost your mind.” She looked up at her boss. ”Mariana was freaking.”

A shrug. ”Nah, it’s cold out.” She held up a hand in the cool breeze.

”Snake’d be sleepy, they’re cold blooded,” she reminded her lover. ”I just wanted to see if it was sleepy enough for us to squeeze by. I didn’t expect it to be fake.” She glanced back to where Steven was clambering rapidly across. ”It was pretty cool though, huh?” A rakish grin edged
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her face.

Kerry laughed gently. ”Yeah.” She walked over and sat down on the bench, willing her legs to stop shaking. She watched as Steven brushed by Dar without a word and stalked to the stamper, then wandered off down the path a little.

Duks was headed across next and Kerry could see that Mariana had convinced Eleanor to cross ahead of her. She wondered briefly what argument the Personnel chief had used, then she contented herself with just watching Dar, who was standing by the exit to the bridge, one hand resting on the rope.

Oh, boy, had that ever rocked.
She grinned to herself.
The guys got
their macho egos kicked right in the balls with that one.
She’d been so proud of Dar she could hardly stop herself from cheering as the taller woman made her way fearlessly towards the ominously coiled snake.

She watched Duks get across, exchanging a few words with Dar and giving her a light slap on the side, which got him a modest shrug and a chuckle. Dar was pleased with herself though, Kerry could tell, and she grinned at her as they both walked back to where Kerry was sitting.

”Well, well.” Duks took a seat next to her after getting his card stamped. ”That was a first. I wonder what the rest will be like?”

Dar put a boot up on the edge of the bench and leaned against her knee. ”They can’t get too bad. I mean, after all, this isn’t a military course.

They have to gear it for us soft, lazy executives,” she commented. ”So I doubt we’ll be facing staked pits or anything like that.”“Have you?” Duks asked. “Been the military course?”

“Yes.” Dar plucked at the denim fabric on her thigh. “But that was a long time ago.”

”Ah, I see,” Duks murmured, peeking past Dar and observing as Eleanor squeaked across, with Mark going just in front of her coaxing, and Mariana bringing up the rear. The ropes creaked at the triple weight, but seemed to be holding all right. ”I still haven’t forgiven you for causing me to be awakened like that this morning, Dar. That was not a nice thing to do to a poor, inoffensive, sleeping man.”

”Wasn’t my fault,” Dar responded. ”You guys looked pretty damn funny standing there in your boxers, though, I’ll give you that.”

”Mm. I am going to pretend you didn’t say that, just to preserve my tattered dignity,” Duks replied. ”And, by the way, Mr. ‘I have a Hoover stuck up my rear over there’ suspects you two are more than friends,”

he warned softly. ”He was making some very crude, but completely in character comments after breakfast.”

Dar and Kerry exchanged glances. ”That’s been said before.” Dar shrugged. ”Most everyone’s over that, I think.”

”True, true, but disappearing from the group on the walk was probably not a good idea,” Duks remarked as the three travelers 80

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reached their side of the creek. ”And Kerry, my young friend, do not take any offense, but your eyes give you quite the bit away.” He gave Kerry a wry grin as she crossed her arms and glanced at the dirt trail.

”It’s quite becoming, but you would do as well to watch the birdies or something else, hmm?”

Kerry sighed. ”Sorry.”

”Don’t apologize,” Dar said, suddenly as the other three came up.

”To hell with them. Let them think whatever the hell they want.” She shook herself, then she walked back to the bridge and leaned on the railing, staring intently at the water below.

Kerry gave Duks a wry look, then she glanced up at the newcomers.

”Hey, that was fun, right?”

”Disgusting.” Eleanor was carefully wiping off her hands, muddy from the rope. ”Just disgusting.” She stole a glance at the brooding Dar and then turned her attention back to them. ”I can’t believe they expected us to go past that horrible thing. You can be sure I’m lodging an official complaint as soon as we get back to Miami.”

”That was pretty wild,” Mark agreed, dusting his hands off. ”Good thing we had Dar along. Man, she’d give Tarzan a run for the money for guts, you gotta say that.” He walked over and got a drink of water from the coral fountain that had been tucked into an alcove and got his card stamped. ”This is kinda cool, though.”

Eleanor snorted. ”I didn’t think you’d enjoy anything that didn’t have a computer attached to it,” she sniped. ”What’s your hobby, by the way, Internet surfing?”

”No, that’s my job.” Mark laughed. ”My hobby’s restoring bikes, that one I came in on is my favorite.”

Kerry smiled at him.” Can I get a ride later?” she inquired teasingly. ”I always wanted to say I’d gotten to ride on a Hog.”

He grinned back. ”Absofriggenlutely,” he agreed, ”so long as someone takes a picture for me, or nobody’d believe it.”

Everyone else made it across with no further incident and they moved up along the trail, though this time Kerry was careful to separate herself from Dar who remained at the back. She strolled along with Mark instead, listening as he described what he’d done for the Hong Kong problem. Steven was forging on ahead, searching for the next obstacle, and the rest were strung out in a reluctant string.

Duks fell back to where Dar was pacing along in silence. ”Didn’t mean to get you angry, my friend,” he commented quietly.

”I know,” Dar replied tersely.

”Just a friendly warning. You know what kind of trouble that crap can lead to,” the Finance VP went on. ”And you don’t need any more crap to deal with than what we already throw on you.”

Dar’s jaw bunched, then she reached out and broke off a dead branch as they passed it, whipping the shards off into the underbrush.

”To be honest, I’m not sure I care anymore,” she admitted. ”It’s all so
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stupid. I feel like saying to hell with it, and just...” She stopped, and exhaled.

”That puts Mari in a very tough place,” Duks remarked quietly.

”You know that. Come now, Dar, surely you know the consequences.”

She gazed off into the trees. ”Of course I know. It’s just— This is much more than I ever expected it to be, Duks. It might be more than I can handle.” Her eyes flicked to his. ”And if I have to choose, the company’s not going to even be in the running.”

Duks blew out a breath. ”Ah.” His lips pursed. ”I see. All right.

What if we moved Kerry to another division?” he reasoned. ”Then it wouldn’t matter. It’s just the direct reporting that causes the issue.”

”I’d thought about that,” Dar told him quietly. ”But this is what she does, Duks. I’m not tossing her somewhere else in the company for everyone to make cracks about.” She raked her dark hair back. ”No, maybe this whole thing with Steven’s just putting me on edge. I’ll get over it.” She brushed the subject off. ”Sorry about that, I think I need some chocolate.”

Duks gave her a look, then chuckled in relief. ”You and your chocolate.” He watched Dar dig in her belt pack and tug out a few silver wrapped items. ”If you tell me you are carrying around little chocolate kisses, I’m going to have to lose my very meager breakfast over there by the wayside, Dar.”

She stopped and glanced at her open hand, then grinned a touch sheepishly. ”Want one?” she offered weakly. ”I um...” She waved ahead of them. ”I think Kerry stuck them in there.”

”Oh disgusting,” Duks clucked. ”I am getting slimed by all this mushdom.” He did take a kiss though. ”I never, ever thought you had it in you.”

Dar sucked happily on her kiss, rolling it around so the chocolate flavor got equally distributed. ”Yeah well, wonders never cease,” she commented as a shout from the front of the group indicated the next obstacle had been encountered. ”Let’s go see what they found this time.”

IT LOOKED LIKE the next problem was a maze. At least, that’s what Kerry thought it was, seeing the multitude of wooden paths that wound among each other. The paths were about six inches wide and reminded her of balance beams, which had always been a bane of hers.

”Now what?” She glanced at the paths, puzzled.

”We have to get there.” Steven pointed to a low platform about a hundred yards away. ”Just a matter of picking the right path.” He studied the choices. ”I think this is the right one.”

”Why?” José disagreed, kicking the one nearest him with a toe.

”Why not this one?”

”Or this one?” Duks was investigating one that went around the perimeter.

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”Look, this one goes directly across to there. It’s closer,” Steven argued. ”That one there goes all the way over to that side and zig zags, and the other one goes around the edges.”

”Well, but wouldn’t they tend to not make the right one the most direct?” Mariana asked, reasonably. ”What would be the challenge, otherwise?” She watched Mary Lou approach yet another path. ”Not that it’s... I mean, we can just try each one until we find the right one, I suppose.”