Stormy Waters: Book 10 in The Dar & Kerry Series (4 page)

He started off by extending his hand across to her. "First of all, I don't think we actually met. I'm Derren Eschew."

Dar warily took his hand and shook it. "People say 'bless you' a lot to you don't they?"

Derren chuckled good naturedly. "Oh yeah." He agreed. "Bless you, gesundheit, want a tissue, have a cough drop...you name it I've heard it six million times since first grade." He leaned back in his seat once they'd released their grasps. "You have a pretty unusual name too, don't you?"

"Roberts?" Dar lifted a brow slightly. "In Miami, sure."

"Hehheh. I meant your first name." Derren clarified. "Is it short for something?"

"I've never been short for anything. No. It's just Dar."

The man opened a small notepad and studied its contents. "You characterized yourself as the bad guy." He looked up at her. "Why?"

Dar paused a bit before she answered, considering her words. "You're framing Telegenics as the good guys," she said. "So that makes me the bad guy."

"Because, they're a little, struggling company and you're the IT giants? David and Goliath kinda thing? They have worked incredibly hard to get an inroad into a very tough business that you seem to own. Isn't that right?"

Dar propped her chin up against her fist. "No." She replied. "That's not right. We only own the contracts we've won, and despite Telegenics opinion to the contrary, we won those contracts by being the best choice for the companies who signed them."

"But they're going out and changing that." Derren flipped a page and made a note.

"Are they?"

The man stopped writing and looked up. "You don't think they are?"

Watchful blue eyes focused on him. "I think it's a tight economy, and they're taking advantage of companies looking to cut expenses to tempt people with short term savings." She stated quietly. "Whether it was the best choice for them remains to be seen."

The man scribbled another note. "Naturally, you don't think so." he said.

"Naturally." Dar agreed, with a flash of neat white teeth. She let her eyes drop to the table, then turned her head sideways as she sensed Kerry approaching. Her partner was carrying a glass and a plate, and as their eyes met, Kerry broke into a warm smile.

"Your company does a lot of work for the government. Isn't that right? Military work?"

Dar nodded.

"Bet you're glad the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy doesn't extend to contractors, huh?"

The question caught Dar by surprise, and she let potential answers percolate for a second or two while Kerry set the plate and glass down, and took a seat next to her. "Why?" She cocked her head. "Despite what you've been told, corporations, even big ones like mine, are sexless."

Kerry came in right on the sexless. Her head jerked a little in as she gave her partner a bemused look. "I leave to get you a drink, and I come back and you're talking sex? I thought this was for the Travel Channel?"

Derren leaned on his elbow. "So working with a bunch of GI's who would be glad to give you the boot doesn't bother you?"

Kerry leaned toward him. "Does it bother you?" She asked. "Did you tell when asked or something?"

A guarded look crossed the man's face, and he straightened up and moved back from the table. "Nah, I just wondered. Politics and contracts make strange bedfellows, I guess." He got up and closed his notepad. "Nice talking to you, Ms. Roberts. Hope we get to do it again." He held out a hand, and clasped Dar's briefly. "Night."

He walked off trailing the cameraman behind him.

Dar studied her glass. "You got me milk." She commented.

"And cookies." Kerry nudged the plate closer. "Have some."

"Wonder what that last part was about." Dar commented, breaking a cookie in half and nibbling it. "Looking for a racy angle?"

Kerry shook her head. "After all, they're gay too." She pointed at Michelle, who had rejoined Shari near the dessert table. "Or maybe that's the angle?"

Dar grunted, focusing on her treat.

Kerry sighed. "Are we having a good night here?"

"Damned if I know." Dar took a sip of the milk. "Damned if I know, Kerry. There's something just not clicking in this whole thing. I'm missing something."

She drummed her fingers on the table. "Something."

KERRY TURNED THE page of the book she was reading, enjoying the cool breeze off the water as she swung idly back and forth in the swing chair. It was just past six and they'd left work early after a long, long week.

Fortunately after the party Quest had left them all alone, and neither she nor Dar had heard anything more about the project all week long which had turned out to be a damn good thing.

Disasters tended to come in spurts. This week she'd had to deal with six of them, one for each day and two on Monday that had almost resulted in her being on an airplane to someplace boring and unpleasant.

But she'd worked it out in the end, and now she was blissfully enjoying the quiet decompression of sitting on the deck watching the sun's light slowly fade.

Behind her, the glass door slid open releasing a puff of chilled, garlic scented air along with Dar's tanned and mostly bare body. "Hey." Kerry lazily rolled her head to one side as Dar joined her on the swing chair, dressed in only a pair of soft cotton shorts and a colorful scarlet sports bra. "What are you up to?"

"About six and a quarter." Dar put her feet up on the stone porch balustrade, flexing her toes against the warm surface. "Busy week."

"Uh huh." Kerry laid her book down and let her head rest against Dar's shoulder. "I'm glad it's over. Between my fubars and your hackers, I wanted to call Florida Power and Light and have them take the power out again." She leaned closer and sniffed Dar's skin curiously. "Why do you smell like bubble gum?"

"I was playing ball with Chino and her new toy." Dar displayed a clump of cream colored hair dusting her shorts. "It's a giggle ball, and it smells weird."

"A giggle ball?"

"Uh huh." Dar said. "Like you." She reached over and tickled her partner who obliged her by giggling and smacking her hand.

"Dar!" Kerry tried to tickle her back, but found her hands caught and gently held. "You punk."

Dar released her, as she chuckled. "Yeah, I've been a punk all week. I'm driving the Ops crew nuts. I think they wish I'd go back to yelling at people in meetings."

"That's not true. They love it," Kerry said. "I heard them in the break room. You were the entire subject of conversation the last six times I went through there." She added, "At least until they spotted me. Then it switched to soccer."

"Soccer?" Dar sounded pleased nonetheless. "Yeah, I've been giving them some pointers as long as I'm taking over the console." She wiggled her toes contentedly. "Been sort of fun."

"They're in awe of you, you know that, right?" Kerry smiled, rocking them both a little. "Hey, I've got an idea--you up for a night dive tonight?"

"Oo." Dar's eyes lit up. "Yeah!"

Ah. Kerry felt the stress of the week slip away from her. Warm air, warm water, and the stars. "You'll protect me from cuttlefish, right?"

"With my life." Dar promised.

"I'll grab dinner, you grab the towels. Let's go get deep."

"C'MON, CHINO." Kerry herded their pet onto the back of the boat watching her frisk about, and busy herself smelling every square inch of it. After watching the dog for an indulgent minute, Kerry continued on into the boat's cabin and put down her armful of supplies.

She set the full pot of spaghetti and meatballs on the small stove, putting the locking arm in place to keep the contents from becoming interior decoration when Dar started the boat moving. The wine she put in the small fridge to chill, along with the dessert, a six pack of yogurt, and some baby chocolate milk chugs.

The boat rocked lightly, announcing Dar's presence and a second later she joined her in the cabin. She dropped a mesh bag containing Kerry's gear on the deck and tossed her own nearby. "We're outta here."

"Go go Gadget." Kerry went to stow the diving gear. "I'll get us loose."

Dar ducked outside and headed up to the controls while Kerry dodged the curious Chino and hopped onto the dock to untie the lines. The sun had just gone down, and the breeze had picked up, tossing her hair back as she jumped back on board. "Okay!"

The low rumble of the diesels starting up vibrated the deck beneath her feet. Chino barked in surprise, and backed up as the water churned behind them. Normally, Kerry would go up and join her partner as they motored out, but she knew if she did their pet would stand at the bottom of the ladder and bark, so she parked herself in one of the wood and fabric deck chairs instead. She was barefoot and wearing a sleeveless muscle t-shirt. She completed her outfit by snagging one of Dar's baseball caps and putting it on backwards to keep her hair out of her eyes once the wind came up.

Chino went over to stand near the edge of the deck as they backed into the quiet marina waterway, her tail wagging idly as she watched the other boats go past.

Kerry stretched her legs out and leaned back as the island slowly receded, the lingering bands of sunset still painting the sky to the west.

It was warm, but with the breeze, very comfortable. Kerry allowed herself a few more lazy moments until they reached the buoy and Dar kicked the engines into higher gear. Then she pushed herself to her feet and got to work preparing their gear for the dive.

"Hey, Dar?"

"Yeap?"

"Did you wash these wetsuits?"

"Yeap." Dar answered promptly. "Found some new stuff in the dive shop last time I went. You like the smell?"

Kerry sniffed cautiously. "Smells like tangerines!" She yelled up. "I like it!" She set the neoprene suits down with a grunt of satisfaction. Then she went to the built in lockers and removed their BC's and regulators, laying them out on the counter and going over them with a careful eye.

They were only doing a reef, and a somewhat shallow one at that, but Kerry had never bought into taking chances with their favorite sport.

Satisfied, she opened the bottom cabinet and removed two tanks, lifting them with some effort onto the low bench on the side and bungee tying them in place as the boat shifted in the waves.

Tanks falling on your toes sucked. Kerry had two formerly broken ones to attest to that. She picked up Dar's BC first and untied one tank, slipping the rig over the top and sliding it down by wiggling the straps against the snug fit. She re-looped the bungee while she positioned the rig, tightening the tank clasp with a firm hand.

The boat shifted and rocked, making Chino bark in surprise. The dog scrambled back next to Kerry and pressed against her legs, eyeing the spray coming over the bow with dubious eyes.

"It's okay, Cheebles." Kerry patted her on the head. "Mommy Dar just wants to get us where we're going fast." She reached over and picked up Dar's regulator, then went back to her task.

So far, so good. Kerry secured Dar's instrument console to the D-clip on the right hand side and prepared to repeat the entire process with her own gear.

Once finished, she took their masks and sat down with a tube of no fog, applying it as Chino curled up at her feet on the deck. It was a comforting and familiar task, and the smell of the sweet, salt air and the feel of the spray against her put her heart at ease as they headed into their own private world.

DAR POPPED UP out of the water, reaching for the steps with one hand as she cleared the surface. She removed her regulator and gave Kerry a nod. "Okay, we're tied off," she said, licking her lips. "Nice down there, no current."

Kerry was standing by in her gear, or more to the point, sitting by, since she was on the back deck with her flippers resting on the wooden diving platform next to the ladder. Chino was standing up on the inside of the wall, peering over at Dar as she wagged her tail.

"Cool." Kerry prepared to stand up, readying her balance as she lifted herself plus forty pounds of assorted gear onto her fins. She put her regulator in her mouth and took a breath, then put her hand over her mask and stepped out into the sea.

The water was pleasantly cool, and it quickly penetrated her short wetsuit and reduced some of the heat built up inside it. Kerry got her equilibrium and looked around spotting Dar immediately nearby.

This was her favorite kind of night dive when they descended while it was still a little light out. She could see shadows under her, and the outline of the reef more comforting than going down in total darkness.

Dar pointed downward. Kerry nodded and let the air out of her vest, feeling her body settle deeper in the water as she changed from vertical to horizontal and headed down to the bottom.

Dar had picked one of their favorite reefs with lots of undercuts and coral for critters to hide in. Kerry settled on her knees in the sand just clear of the coral and got her camera gear arranged watching as ghostly schools of fish whisked around her and started to dissipate.

A big sea bass appeared swimming idly through the reef pretending not to notice all the potential dinner candidates heading away from him. He swam closer to Kerry and she simply kept still and waited, her camera raised so she could look through the offset crosshair.

The bass seemed as curious about her as she was about him. He finned closer, tiny bits of iridescence reflecting the last of the light from the surface as he came within her easy reach.

Kerry cautiously closed the shutter button, wincing right along with the fish as the strobe went off and sent a brief silver flash of light everywhere. The bass gave her an insulted look and swam off, flicking his tail at her as he disappeared into the gloom.

Kerry felt pleased with the shot however, and she turned to find something else to take a picture of. As though in total cooperation with her effort, Dar swam into view a little above Kerry's head outlined against the pale surface of the water.

Another flash of silver secured the portrait.

Kerry pushed up off the bottom and finned toward the reef. It was getting darker, and now if she peeked under the coral ledges she could see the beginnings of the eerie phosphorescence the night brings.

It was like a magic world that hid itself from the night. Kerry decided to just experience the change. So she settled carefully down on the bottom again, folding her fins under her and getting herself cross legged somehow.

She focused the lens on the darkness of the overhang aware, from the corners of her eyes, of Dar's nearby floating presence.

In the shadows, several little bioluminescent fish suddenly appeared nibbling at the pale scarlet polyps. Kerry captured it, then nearly lost her mind as the occupant of the dark hole, a green moray eel, came rushing out to confront her with open jaws.

Seated as she was, there was no way for her to get out of the way in time. However, just as she had started to unwind her body, she felt herself lifted up and away by a powerful yank on her gear. The next thing she knew she was twenty feet away over another part of the reef.

In the gloom, she saw the eel retreat, but not without giving her a vicious glare.

She let out her breath in a stream of bubbles and looked over her shoulder into Dar's watching eyes. Kerry wiped the back of her hand over her mask, and nodded as her partner gave her a pat on the butt.

Dar held up two fingers, then indicated her own eyes, then indicated Kerry's. She shook one of the fingers at her in semi-mock remonstrance.

Yeah, she was right. Kerry nodded at her, accepting the scold. I'm in the ocean, not in an aquarium. These are wild animals. She got her composure back, and floated for a moment. She spotted more glowing coral and started toward it, more cautiously this time.

"OOOHGH." Dar finished putting their gear up and dropped down into a deck chair. "Nice dive."

A perfect canopy of stars now covered the sky over them, obscured only in spots by drifting clouds. Kerry continued out from the cabin and put two plates down, taking her seat across from Dar with an equally contented grunt. "Killer."

Dar leaned over and got hold of a strand of spaghetti between her teeth, slurping it in until it broke and left her with a smattering of sauce across her nose. "Whoops."

Kerry lifted a glass of chilled wine and took a sip of it, swirling its tangy sweetness around in her mouth to cleanse it of the last of the saltiness. "Thanks again for saving me from Captain Eel, Dardar. Man, that scared the poop out of me."

Dar chuckled, picking up her plate and propping it against her knees. "Me too." She attacked the pasta with a fork, swirling a big mouthful and consuming it, her body demanding something to replenish the energy she'd just expended.

Kerry took another sip of wine instead, gazing out over the dark waves she'd recently been beneath. Looking at it from above, like this, it seemed almost insane to think about diving into it. It represented, in a way, the totality of the unknown. She now felt a connection to the sea she'd never had before she'd met Dar.

Far off, near the horizon, she spotted a darker shadow against the clouds. She watched it idly, then squinted a little as it seemed to elongate. "Hey, sweetie? What is that?" She pointed.

Dar looked up from biting a meatball in half. "Uh?" Her eyes focused on where her partner was pointing. "Um..." She swallowed hastily and put her plate down, getting up and walking to the back of the boat. "Hah."

"What's funny?"

"What do you suppose the odds are of you and I being out on our boat the very same time as Quest's ships are making the turn for the cut?" Dar asked.

"Is that what they are?" Kerry joined her at the back of the boat, peering out into the darkness. "Really?"

"Four big ships being pulled by eight little ones." Dar confirmed. "I don't think it can be anything else."

Kerry turned and regarded the opening to the cut, which was just to their south. "We're going to get a good look at them, that's for sure."

Dar returned to the table, only just barely saving her spaghetti from a Labrador tongue. "Yep, we sure are." She settled back down and put her feet up. "Front row seats."

The line of ships crept slowly closer, their superstructures only sparsely lit, rolling slightly in the almost calm seas.

DAR KEPT THE Dixie idling just past the turnoff into the port's pier area, getting as close to the last ship as she could without incurring the wrath of the circling pilot boats. There was a customs fast boat cruising around too, but Dar figured she'd be pegged as a bored rich boater with nothing better to do than sightsee, rather than a potential threat or smuggler. "Which one, Ker?"