Thicker Than Water - DK5 (32 page)

“Yeah.” Then she chuckled, wet one fingertip, and rubbed a spot on Dar’s cheek. “Can’t take you anywhere, Paladar. Look at you with chocolate all over your face.”

“Shh.” Dar glanced at the row behind them, where her parents were settled. “Not so loud. You’ll get treated to an hour of stories about what I used to do with my food.”

“Oh really?” Kerry asked, in a much louder voice.

Blue eyes narrowed. “Kerrison.”

Kerry chuckled. “Ah. Why does that sound so different when you say it?” She exhaled and rested her head on the leather again, but half turned to keep Dar in view. “Boy, I’m glad we’re going home.”

“Yeah?” Dar gazed quietly at her. “Me, too.”

Kerry could see the strain around the edges of Dar’s eyes.

“You look tired.”

Dar sighed. “Those damn drugs.” She wearily rubbed her eyes. “Between that and what I’m taking them for, I just want to crawl into my damn waterbed and stay there for a day or so.”

“I can arrange for that,” Kerry said. “In fact, I can arrange for a nice hot water bottle for you to wrap around, too.” She was looking forward to seeing their home, and Chino, and settling down on the couch next to Dar with a cup of hot tea, leaving her family and Michigan and all that stood for behind her.

Kerry curled her fingers around Dar’s as their arms rested together on the center console. The touch was warm, and it felt good around her chilled hands. Dar gently rubbed her skin with her thumb, and Kerry felt a quiet lethargy steal over her.

Maybe she could doze off until they taxied.

Thicker Than Water
189

KERRY OPENED HER eyes, blinking them in confusion as she tried to reconcile her memories of the last few moments with what she was seeing. “Uh?”

“We’re about to land, hon.” Dar smiled, tucking the soft, blue blanket around her.

“Land?” Kerry asked, bewildered. “Did I...?” She glanced outside, seeing the distinctive skyline of Miami through the window. “Son of a… I slept the whole time?”

“Mmhm.” Dar stretched her body out then relaxed. She stifled a yawn, glad beyond reason to feel the tightening in her ear-drums as the large plane descended. After a few moments, the tires hit, the engines reversed, and they rolled to a halt on the long expanse of runway.

Home.

Dar’s entire body relaxed, and she unbuckled her seat belt, quite against the repeated injunctions of the cabin crew. Yes, she realized they were on an active taxiway. Yes, she realized the captain would turn off the seat belt sign when they were safely parked at the gate. Yes, she knew enough to open the overheads carefully because the stuff in them sure enough did tend to shift in flight.

Which was why flying in coach was so scary sometimes. Dar had watched in bemusement on more than one occasion while passengers shoved items no sane person would consider bringing onto an airplane into those aforementioned bins.

She smiled as she remembered a flight where an entire floral arrangement with large blown glass ornaments, being taken to a birthday party, had imploded in flight due to the pressure change.

They’d almost had to turn around and land before the rattled flight attendants had identified the sounds. And then the woman had threatened to sue the airline for destroying her centerpiece.

Dar shook her head. People were weird. She glanced out the window as flashing lights caught her attention and saw another plane surrounded by emergency vehicles. “Wonder what that’s all about?” She nudged Kerry, who was obediently gathering her personal belongings.

Kerry turned, leaned on the armrest, and peered out of the small window. “Hm. Mostly police, no fire rescue, could be anything. Maybe a hijack attempt?” She watched over her shoulder.

“Drugs. See the dogs?”

“Ah, we must be home.” Kerry smiled. “This is the only airport I’ve ever seen that on a regular basis.”

“Mm,” Dar acknowledged. “Guess we’ll read about it in tomorrow’s Herald.”

“Okay.” Kerry settled back as the plane turned to enter its 190
Melissa Good
assigned gate area. “But you have to read me the comics first.”

She grinned as Dar gave her a look. They’d developed what was, to Kerry, a charming habit of diving through the morning paper for the cartoons, finding Dilbert first, of course, then sharing the others, and their respective horoscopes. That was after their run and shared shower, while the coffee was brewing for the drive to work.

Work.
Kerry gazed pensively at the overhead. Would that schedule be changing? From what Dar said, it probably would.

But… She glanced at Dar. They’d figure out something. In the meantime, they’d get a cup of coffee, shed their jackets, and watch the palm trees wave as they drove home.

Kerry sighed happily. She was so looking forward to that. She fairly ached for the normality of it. The plane bumped to a halt, she released her seat belt, and stood up alongside Dar who ducked to clear the overhead. “Sometimes it pays to be short.”

“I agree.” Ceci chuckled from behind her as they watched Andrew move into the aisle to avoid cracking his head. “And no offense to your home state, Kerry, but I’m glad I’m no longer in it.”

Kerry snorted. “Like I wasn’t counting the minutes?” She took a deep breath as the cabin door opened and a gust of moderately warm, moderately moist air blew in, tinged with aviation fuel but welcome nonetheless. She shouldered her laptop, edged out in front of Dar, and gave the flight attendant a smile as she exited the plane onto the jetway.

“Ah. Air conditioning in December. I must be home,” Dar remarked as they walked up the sloping path. Already, they could hear the clamor of the airport loudspeaker, a combination of English and Spanish that matched the conversations going on around them.

“Oh yeah,” Kerry agreed as they walked out of the gate and into the flow of terminal traffic. “I remember my very first experience getting off a plane here. I walked ten feet, put my bag down, stared, and wondered what in the world I’d gotten myself into.”

It had been more than culture shock, that was for sure. It had been an exotic, intimidating new world. Now, it was just home, and she welcomed the bustling activity and the riot of color that surrounded them. “You up for a café con leche? It’ll take them twenty minutes to bring the car up anyway. You did valet it, right?”

“You bet your…” Dar’s eyes wandered. “Yes, I did.” She grinned, mindful of her father’s inquisitive presence. “You parked or what, Dad?”

“Ah am about to go get me that truck,” Andrew said. “Fig-Thicker Than Water 191

gered we’d talk to you two later on.” He gave Dar a pat on the back and accepted a hug from Kerry, then ambled off with a wav-ing Ceci in tow.

“Bye.” Kerry waggled her fingers back. “They’re so cute.”

Dar arched a brow at her. “I’ll go turn in my valet ticket. Did you say something about coffee a minute ago?” She bumped Kerry towards the coffee bar with her hip. “Get me a cheese pastalito, too.”

Mm.
Kerry obediently trotted over to the coffee bar and leaned against its polished surface as the attendant came over.

“
Dos café con leche, dos queso pastilitos, por favor
.”

The boy grinned at her. “
Si, Senorita
.” He turned towards the espresso machine. Kerry slid onto the stool and idly watched him, enjoying the sharp, distinctive scent of the brewing coffee as she listened to the conversations around her. Football and soccer mostly, with a spattering of stock market, and one very excited discussion about deep sea fishing. She turned around as her coffee and pastries were delivered, paid for them, and received another smile from the server as she left a tip.

She picked up her goodies, shouldered her bag, and headed for the automatic doors leading outside.

Dar was leaning against a support pole, her sunglasses now firmly settled on the bridge of her nose.

“Rats. I forgot.” Kerry handed Dar the bag and dug inside her briefcase pocket for her own glasses, a nifty wraparound pair Dar had gotten her not long before. She put her bag between her feet as she straightened and accepted the cup of steaming liquid from Dar. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“Ma’am?” Dar laughed and took a sip.

Kerry leaned against her and sucked happily at her drink, enjoying the rich, sweet flavor. The air was cool and equally sweet, and she felt a sense of pure, animal well-being as she watched the confusion of traffic trying to get to the curbside. Soon enough, she spotted Dar’s Lexus making its way toward them, and she actually almost felt like hugging it. “Want me to drive?

Give your arm a break?”

Dar’s face went still for a moment, then she exhaled. “Okay.”

She accepted her keys from the valet and put her bag in the back seat before Kerry took them from her fingers and circled the car.

They settled into the leather seats and Kerry took a moment to adjust the driver’s seat forward.

“I should keep a booster seat in here for you,” Dar remarked dryly.

“Hah hah.” Kerry put the big SUV in gear and edged cautiously into the traffic stream. “How about next time you just put 192
Melissa Good
me in your lap?”

“Mm.” Dar chuckled softly, sparing a moment to imagine driving with her arms wrapped around Kerry. “Yeah, okay…Hey, pull over.”

“Hedonist.”

“It was your idea!”

Kerry dodged a speeding Mercedes and settled down to the relatively short drive home. “Hey, Dar?”

Dar had her head tipped back and her eyes closed. “Yeeess?”

Kerry thought a moment of how to phrase her question, then she just shrugged. “Is this really it, at work?”

Dar was quiet, then she shrugged. “Yeah.”

“No reprieves? No time off for good behavior?”

A soft chuckle rose from the passenger’s seat. “Hon, I’ve never behaved good in my entire tenure there. Trust me, if I had to come up with a reason to leave, you were the best reason on Earth.” She reached carefully behind her with her good arm and tugged her briefcase over and onto her lap. “Want to help me write my resignation letter later?”

Kerry sighed. “Dar, it’s not funny.”

“I know, I know. I j...” Dar reached inside her briefcase, and her fingers touched a thick sheaf of paper she didn’t remember putting inside. She looked into the case. “What the heck is that?”

“What?”

Dar removed the papers and stared at them in utter disbelief.

“Dar?”

Dar looked at her. “Did you put this in here?”

Hearing the tension in Dar’s voice, Kerry pulled the car over.

“Me? Of course not. What is it? The only thing I put in your case this morning was your laptop, because you asked me to.”

Dar thumbed the sheaf, the soft rustle of paper sounding loud in the car. “It’s the data I gave your father.”

“What?” Kerry put the car in park, half turned, and reached for the stack. “How…Wait, are you sure? Maybe it’s a copy you put in there, Dar. You had one.”

“I’m sure.” Dar turned the first sheet over. “I printed this one on recycled; it was my check copy. The other one’s on water-mark.”

Kerry stared at the words on the back of the page—someone’s recipe for pot roast. That seemed so odd and so incongruous, she almost wondered if her father might have scribbled it down for the cooks to try at home. The world seemed strange around her.

She braced her elbow on the armrest between them and rested her head on one hand. “I don’t get it.”

“Me, neither.” Dar pulled out her cell and hit a speed dial
Thicker Than Water
193

button. She waited until it was answered, then cleared her throat.

“Hi, Alastair? It’s Dar.”

“Ah! Oh…uh, Dar, listen, can I call you right back?” Alastair sounded surprised to hear from her. “I’m, ah—”

“I don’t care if you’re on the john,” Dar said bluntly. “I just wanted you to know I have the papers.”

There was dead silence, then a splutter. “How did you know where…? Did you get that GPS thing working for cell phones?”

Dar merely waited.

“If you did, why the hell didn’t you say so? You know how much money we could make w—” Alastair fell silent. “Holy Jesus, did you say you had the papers?”

“Yes.”

Through the phone connection Dar could hear a ball game playing softly somewhere in the far background, but little else.

“Alastair?”

His sigh was audible. “Dar, I’m not sure it matters now.”

Dar shrugged. “Well, for what it’s worth, I have them. Anyway, talk to you later.”

More silence preceded his quiet, “I’ll call you, Dar.”

Alastair’s voice was now very serious. “Stay close.”

Dar closed her phone and looked at Kerry. “Let’s go home.”

Kerry was staring steadily at her. “It’s too late, isn’t it?”

“Eh.” Dar picked up her hand and kissed the knuckles. “I don’t care. C’mon. Let’s go. I want you, a soft bed, a warm glass of milk, and a bowl of pitted cherries.”

Kerry smiled wistfully at her. “In that order?”

“Any order I can get them in.”

Kerry gave in and put the car back into drive, then checked her rearview mirror and pulled into the traffic lane.

After a mile or so of companionable silence, she cleared her throat. “I keep forgetting to ask you, and you did mention it twice, so it’s not your fault. What was the deal you set up with the Navy in exchange for that information?”

Dar opened her eyes, and she regarded the fawn header on the Lexus. “Ah. That’s right. I guess I never did lay that out for you, did I?”

Kerry glanced at her, then back at the road. “Well, I mean, it doesn’t have to be right now, but I was curious—”

“No, now’s as good a time as any,” Dar remarked. “I should have just told you earlier.” Her expression turned pensive. “I agreed to destroy the information and forget what I’d seen, in return for the Navy outsourcing all of their IS to us.”

Kerry almost hit the car in front of her. She hurriedly applied her brakes, then turned her head and stared at Dar in utter disbe-194
Melissa Good
lief. “You what?” A horn honked, and she hastily pulled the Lexus over to the curb again and parked it.

“What?”

Pale blue eyes regarded her warily. “That was my price, if they wanted me to shut up. So they did. Gerry got them to agree to the outsourcing deal.” She watched Kerry’s face carefully, wondering what she was thinking.