Thicker Than Water - DK5 (33 page)

Kerry covered her eyes with one hand. “You blackmailed the US government?”

Did I?
Dar rubbed her chin. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

Green eyes peeked out from between slim fingers. “Paladar Katherine Roberts, what am I going to do with you?”

Dar smiled wistfully. “I don’t know. It was nicer having you think I just chucked it all because I wouldn’t leave you,” she reflected in a quiet voice. “Just a moment of altruistic heroism I didn’t actually have.”

Kerry studied Dar for a moment, then cupped her cheek with one hand but didn’t say anything. They looked at each other for a moment, then Kerry put the Lexus in gear and resumed driving.

Concentrating on the traffic gave her a chance to think about what Dar had told her and how she felt about it.

Was she mad at Dar for not telling her? Kerry nibbled the inside of her lip.
Yeah, a little.
It meant a huge workload for her, and dozens of things would have had to be taken into account.

But, on the other hand—given what had been going on at home at the time—had she really wanted to deal with that, too?

No,
Kerry admitted. She’d have had no desire whatsoever to add to the stress load she’d been suffering under. So, Dar had probably done her a favor in keeping the arrangement quiet until now. She did wonder, though, about what Dar had said about how she felt.

A quick glance showed her a somber profile.
Dar thinks I’m
disappointed,
Kerry realized.
Am I?

It had been flattering, of course—for her to realize Dar had just chucked everything to be at her side. But…but it had also hurt to know she had caused Dar to relinquish something she knew was so important to her partner: honor, her integrity. Regardless of what ILS had gotten out of the deal, it didn’t change the fact that Dar had traded off doing what she knew was the right thing, just to be the rock Kerry had so desperately needed right then.

That was some tradeoff.
Kerry felt humbled by it. “Thanks. But the company gaining doesn’t matter, because you’d have done it anyway.”

Dar’s lips curved into a reluctant smile. “So much for my reputation.”

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Kerry chuckled softly. “I warned you, didn’t I?”

“You did.” Dar closed her eyes and remembered that moment, there on that airplane coming back from Orlando which she’d almost wished wouldn’t land. “Ker?”

“Mm?”

“Thanks.”

KERRY STEERED THE big SUV down the slight ramp into their parking area and pulled into the spot with Dar’s name on it.

She turned off the ignition and rested her arms against the wheel, looking out at the townhouse as Dar started to open the passenger side door.

“Glad we’re home.” Dar sighed. “Feels like it’s been a month.”

Home. Kerry took in the lines of the front porch, the Mediter-ranean stucco of it now warmly familiar to her. She got out of the car and stepped between it and her own, the shiny dark blue reflecting her image as she lightly kicked the parking bumper with her own name stenciled neatly on it.

With a quiet smile, she followed Dar up the steps and stood by as her partner keyed in the lock code and unlocked the door.

She remembered the first time she’d stood in just this place, waiting on just that same thing, but this time she tucked her fingers into the back of Dar’s waistband and kissed her on the middle of her back as they shuffled inside.

Chino galloped towards them, whining in delight, and Colleen appeared from the kitchen, wiping her hands as she called out a greeting.

Home. Kerry rested her head against Dar’s back as Chino jumped up to greet the taller woman. “Hey, Col,” she returned, as a wave of exhaustion threatened to swamp her. “We’re home.”

“And a big welcome to it,” Colleen said. “Glad to see you guys. How was the flight?”

“Wasn’t awake for a minute of it.” Kerry tossed her jacket on the back of the couch. “I’m just glad it’s over.” She knelt to pet Chino. “Hey, Cheebles. You glad we’re back?”

The Labrador licked her face all over and managed to get fur over every square inch of Kerry that she touched. Kerry loved it all and sat on the floor and gathered the delighted dog into her arms.

Home.

“Coffee, Ker?”

“Absolutely.” Kerry exhaled happily. “Absolutely.”

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Melissa Good
EYES CLOSED, DAR mentally traced the path her briefcase had taken that day. She’d had it in the green room, taken it with her on the way to the airport, locked it in the car while she was in Dairy Queen. It had gone through x-ray, then been put in the overhead bin for the flight. Taken out again when they landed, it had sat in the back of the car all the way home.

So…when the hell had someone put the papers in it? Dar went over the steps one more time. The only two places that were even remote possibilities were at the Stuart house and in the car while they were getting ice cream, taking into account that someone would have had to get the rental opened and then locked it up again. No one had known they were going for ice cream, so that left the house.

Who had put it there? Cynthia? Kerry’s sibs? None of them would have known the importance.
Ah well.
She exhaled.
Probably
doesn’t matter now anyway.
At least in her own mind, she had them back and some squid wasn’t running around with them in Washington.

Dar stifled a yawn and relaxed on the leather sofa in their living room. It was, aside from the low buzz of voices in the kitchen, blessedly quiet in the condo, and Dar dropped her head against the plushy stuffed arm of the sofa, welcoming the rich scent of the leather and the warmth of the long stripe of sunlight that was coming in the front window and painting a golden swath across her body.

She could, she acknowledged dutifully, go into her study and find out what was in her mailbox waiting to pounce on her. She could—Dar wriggled into a more comfortable position and closed her eyes—but she wasn’t going to. Tomorrow would come soon enough, and if there was anything of a truly disastrous nature, she’d have been paged before now, right?
Hm.
She pulled her cell phone out and made sure it was on.
Nope; no pages, no calls. Good.

A cold nose investigated her arm, and she opened her eyes.

“Hey, Chino. Did you give up on getting cookies from mommy Kerry?”

Sad brown eyes regarded her, then Chino climbed up onto the wide couch, settled down with a grunt, and licked all of Dar’s exposed skin within her reach.

“Aw.” Dar stroked the Labrador’s soft, thick fur. “I missed you too, baby.” She quickly looked around to make sure no one had heard her, then ruffled the dog’s ears. “You’re such a sweetie, aren’t you?”

Chino put her muzzle down on Dar’s chest and exhaled happily.

Dar exhaled too. It was over. Damn, she was glad it was over.

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Now they could settle down and get on with their life together and concentrate on happier things. Like Christmas, for instance.

Dar wiggled her toes in mild glee as she considered the boxes she had hidden in the crawl space. Presents for Kerry, of course, and Chino, but also for her parents, something she hadn’t done for many years, and for the assorted friends Kerry had invited over for the Christmas party.

“Christmas party,” Dar had firmly insisted. “Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, not birthday.”

But Kerry had snickered, which meant she’d at least have to suffer through a cake and a chorus.
Hm.
Dar mentally made a note to ask, in a circumspect way of course, if the cake was to be Kerry’s double chocolate mousse, killer cake. That was worth a round of Happy Birthday to You, if nothing else was.

Yeah.
Dar grinned and licked her lips at the thought.

“HOLY COW, KERRY,” Colleen rubbed her friend’s arm sym-pathetically, “what a nightmare.”

“Yeah.” Kerry was sprawled on one of the two stools in the kitchen. “You can say that again. Thanks a bunch for staying over here.”

“No problem,” Colleen said. “I was glad to do it. Chinie’s a sweetie, and Dar’s folks are great people.”

“They sure are.” Kerry smiled. “You have no idea how glad I was to see them when they showed up. Oh, my God, Col, I was literally standing in a pit full of vipers, with that bastard Kyle coming right at me when BAM! Talk about the cavalry coming over the hill.”

Colleen grinned. “Dar’s father is so hooked on you. It’s so sweet. You should have heard them when they showed the television report and we spotted you, just before they left. Man, the two of them went off.”

Kerry sighed. “That so sucked.” She rested her head on her hand and leaned an elbow on the counter. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a lousier couple of days, I can tell you that. After we got back to the hotel, Angie called and told me the staff thought it would be better if I didn’t come over to the house, because of Dar.”

“To hell with them.” Colleen snorted.

“Well, I didn’t go,” Kerry said. “And it was because of Dar, not for their benefit. She was hurting.” She paused. “God knows, I was hurting, too. We needed some space.” She thought about that night. “I don’t know what I would have done if Dar hadn’t been there, Col. I just don’t.” She could hear a faint tremor in her own voice. “That first night…Jesus. I was so sick. I got a migraine, and 198
Melissa Good
I passed out in the bathroom…”

“Wow.” Colleen gave her a concerned look. “What happened?”

“Just too much stress, I guess.” Kerry felt irrational tears rising. “But then, Dar happened. She wasn’t supposed to come up until the next day, but she just dropped everything and came that night. I don’t know what I would have done if she hadn’t.”

Colleen put a hand on her arm and squeezed.

“I think that was the worst I’ve ever felt,” Kerry whispered.

“But Dar held me and made that all go away. It was incredible.”

She let out a long, shaky breath. “She saved my sanity.”

“Hey.” Colleen gently put both arms around her and gave her a hug. “You poor kid.” She patted Kerry’s back, then rubbed it.

“I’m glad tall, dark, and daunting was there to make things right, Ker. I know I didn’t start off being a fan of hers, but I’m glad this time I was so damn, dead wrong.”

“Mm.” Kerry returned the hug. “Tall, dark, and doofy sometimes. That’s how she hurt her arm again. The dork picked me up and carried me to the bed in the hotel. I was too sick to realize what she was doing.”

Colleen laughed a bit. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah.” Kerry got up off her stool, went to the refrigerator, and took out a pitcher of juice and swirled it. “Want some?”

“Sure.”

“Hey, Dar?” Kerry called into the living room. “Want some juice?”

“Does it have chocolate in it?” the droll answer came back.

“Ew. Orange juice and chocolate?” Kerry made a face. “No, honey. I’ll get you some milk.”

“Mmmmmilk,” Dar drawled in response as she appeared in the doorway, looking appealingly tousled in her T-shirt, cutoff shorts and white socks. Chino came trotting in behind her, yawn-ing. “Chino wants some milk, too.”

Colleen chuckled. “Like owner, like puppy.”

Dar paused and put a hand on her hip. She lifted one eyebrow in mock menace. “You saying I look like that dog?”

“No.” Kerry handed her a glass and leaned up to give her a kiss. “You just act like her—adorably loyal and cute to a fault.”

She watched Dar’s eyes go round in startlement, then glance at Colleen and back to her. “Oh, don’t go all formal on me now, Dar.

You were the one who was just mooing for milk.”

Dar scowled, then her face relaxed into a sheepish grin as she chuckled and accepted the glass.

Colleen put down her own glass and stood up. “Well, I’ll be getting meself back to the southern reaches of Kendall. You two
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take it easy, eh? See you Wednesday?”

“I’ll be there, absolutely,” Kerry said. “Dar? Well, let’s see what the doctor says.” She looked at her lover, who merely lifted a brow at her. “Right? You’re not going to try teaching us flips until your shoulder gets better, are you?”

“No,” Dar replied obediently, referring to the martial arts class they were supposed to resume that week. “I’ll just make you all do the work, and I’ll watch.” She chuckled at their wry faces.

“Besides, I can use the pool a little.”

“Ah, sure.” Colleen shouldered her bag. “She floats while we sweat. Nice.” She waved a goodbye. “Later, folks.”

Kerry walked her to the door and closed it behind her, then turned and regarded Dar. She crossed the living room and sat down with Dar on the couch, and put her feet up on the coffee table at almost the same time Dar did. Then she rested her head against Dar’s shoulder and sighed.

“Nice to be here, huh?” Dar obligingly draped an arm over her shoulders and pulled her closer.

Kerry wrapped her arms around Dar’s body and snuggled up as close as she could without actually crawling into Dar’s lap. She craved the warmth of her lover’s body and the feeling of utter security that her embrace provided. Dar didn’t disappoint her.

She felt Dar’s body shift a little, and she squirmed into a cradle made from long arms and legs that wrapped around her and brought her home in a way that touched her battered soul in just the spot she needed it to.

“Tell you what,” Dar murmured as she stroked Kerry’s hair,

“I vote for a night of shameless hedonism and indulgence. You up for that?”

“Uh huh,” Kerry murmured. “But I’d be happy just to have you near me all night.”

Dar gave her a worried look. “Well, sure. Where else would I be?” She kissed the top of Kerry’s head. “Ker?”

Kerry lifted her head, revealing a tear-streaked face. She wiped the back of her hand across her eyes and sniffled. “Sorry. I don’t know what the hell’s wrong with me.”

Dar didn’t know either. It left her at somewhat of a loss to be presented with a problem she had no experience or knowledge to deal with. So she did what she could do, which was wipe the tears from Kerry’s face and kiss her gently. ”Go ahead and cry if it makes you feel better. Talk to me about it if you want to. But if all you need from me is love, you’ve got all of that I have, and it’s yours for the taking.”