Part 36 (1/2)
explained. ”Just...complicated.” She lifted her hands off the keyboard as Kerry crawled into bed next to her and pecked out a few commands.
”Uh huh,” Andrew grunted. ”Well, anyhow, you having a happy birthday?”
Dar examined the blonde sprawled in her lap. ”Yeah, it's great,” she replied. ”Kerry and I have been shopping and...um...relaxing all day.”
”Relaxing?” Kerry murmured. ”I certainly wasn't relaxed...
Yipe!” She squirmed as Dar pinched her. ”Stop that.” She ran a finger along the inside of Dar's very bare thigh, snickering when she heard Dar's voice break.
”N...no, Dad, honest. We're fine.” Dar cleared her throat. ”I've got everything under control.” She bit the inside of her lip as Kerry tickled her thigh again. ”Almost everything.”
”Wall, you be careful,” Andrew warned. ”Hang on.”
The phone rustled, then a lighter voice came on. ”Dar?”
”Hi, Mom,” Dar said.
”I'm not going to pretend I have a clue about what's going on, so I'm just going to wish you a happy birthday.”
Dar chuckled. ”Thanks.”
”And I hope you're having a good, annual, hyper- commercialized, forced exchange of personal resources, too.”
”Merry Christmas to you, too, Mom.”
”Merry Christmas, Mom!” Kerry leaned back and called out.
”Good Solstice.”
”Tell Kerry I said thanks, and thank her for the card,” Ceci said. ”You kids be careful, hear?”
Kerry finished her transmission, then scooted out of bed and ambled back over to the table, before Dar's close, bare proximity spurred her to further amorous adventures.
”We'll be fine, Mother,” Dar exhaled. ”How's Chino?”
”She's just fine,” Ceci a.s.sured her. ”The place is fine, the island hasn't sunk, your stock is up two dollars, and I do believe your father has just opened a bottle of champagne, so I'll just have to let you get on with your celebration.”
”Have a great night,” Dar told her. ”Call us if you need anything.”
”How about you call us if you need anything?” Ceci countered.
”G'night, Dar.”
”Night.”
Dar had just closed the phone when a knock came at the door.
”Ah. Bet that's our friend,” she commented. ”Let him in.”
Kerry turned, putting one hand on her hip. She gazed at Dar with both eyebrows lifted.
Dar stared back at her, then realized what she was looking at.*215 ”Oh.” She put the laptop aside and stood up, shedding her bed sheets and padding across the wooden floor. She opened her bag and pulled out a pair of shorts and a s.h.i.+rt.
Kerry went to the door and leaned on it. ”Just a second,” she called, peeking through the eyehole to make sure it was Bob and not something even skunkier.
”Okay.” Dar returned the bed and retrieved her laptop, then settled into an armchair.
Kerry opened the door. ”Hi.” She stepped back to allow Bob to enter. ”C'mon in.”
He was dressed in pressed chinos and a neatly ironed polo.
”Hi.” He gave Kerry an eager smile, his eyes flicking over her head to Dar and then back. ”Thanks for calling me. I was hoping I could find you guys again. I really need to talk to you.”
”Ah,” Dar murmured. ”That's good, because we need to talk to you.”
Bob hesitantly walked over and took the seat across from Dar.
”I'm sorry, I'm interrupting your dinner?”
Kerry had returned to the table. ”It's okay. We're used to eating during business meetings.” She examined Dar's plate, then walked over and handed it to her. ”Bob, you know, I'm really p.i.s.sed off at you.”
Dar set the plate on the arm of the chair and continued her work, letting Kerry do the talking as they'd planned.
”M...me?” Bob sounded very surprised. ”What did I do?”
”You left two friends of ours in a really bad place last night.”
Kerry gazed seriously at him. ”They got hurt.” She sat down on the edge of the window and rested her elbows on her knees. ”Why did you do that?”
For a moment, the only sound was the soft, rapid-fire rattling of Dar's laptop keys.
”I thought they'd be fine,” Bob finally muttered. ”I thought the thugs would come after me, not them.” He s.h.i.+fted uncomfortably.
”I didn't mean for them to get hurt.”
Well, Kerry considered, that was actually marginally logical.
”Why did you think they'd go after you?” she asked.
Bob got up and paced, visibly nervous. ”Why? I'm the one they're after. I'm the one who keeps trying to get down to that wreck. If we'd gotten anything, it'd have been on that boat. Sure, I thought they'd go after me.”
”But they didn't,” Kerry said.
”No, I...” Bob stared out the window. ”I thought I got lucky.”