Melissa Good - Thicker Than Water

“WAIT, MS. STUART! Can we get a statement!”

“Hold, on—look, that’s the brother, there. Go on!”

“Ms. Stuart, look this way!”

Kerry just kept her head down and kept walking, almost slipping as her boots stepped off the swept sidewalk and onto the snow covered parking lot. “Jesus.” She kept her hands in her pockets, aware of her uncles herding everyone along and her mother huddled between her and Michael. “Fucking ghouls.”

Cynthia Stuart’s head jerked up. “Kerrison!” she whispered, shocked.

86 Melissa Good

“Well, they are,” Kerry replied, as they dodged between two parked television news trucks and escaped the glare of spotlights.

Behind them, she could hear a spokesman yelling in vain for attention, and she was glad when the noise faded back, leaving them to the labored sounds of their own breathing and the crunch of snow underfoot.

The family limo and its driver were waiting for them, and doors opened quickly, allowing a gust of leather and wax-tinged warm air out. Kerry helped her mother inside, then stepped back.

“We’ll follow you.”

“Kerry, there’s room,” Angie protested. “Come on.”

“You go.” Kerry gave her a gentle shove and took a backwards stride almost into Dar’s arms. “We’ll be right behind you, I promise.” She closed the door behind Angie, then turned and let out a huge sigh, until she saw two reporters running their way, one with a camera balanced on his shoulder. “Oh, pud.”

Dar turned, saw them coming, and made one of the instanta-neous decisions that marked her long career. She stooped and grabbed a double handful of snow, then wadded it, let it go side-arm, and nailed the man with the camera right in the face. He stumbled, fell sideways on the ice, and knocked his companion right over.

“Let’s go.” Dar grabbed Kerry’s arm and plowed towards the rental car. “I’ll drive.”

“Oh no.” Kerry wrestled for the keys as they half walked, half slid together. “Now c’mon. Dar.”

“Let me,” Dar said. “For crying out loud, Kerry, I have an engineering degree. I can figure out how to drive on snow.” With a stern glare, she keyed the door lock and pulled the passenger side door open. “In.”

Kerry was about to argue, but spotted more reporters heading their way and decided she could always wrest control of the car from Dar after they got clear of the parking lot. She slid inside, closed the door, and leaned over to open the opposite one. Dar dropped in next to her and slammed the door, sending a tiny puff of snow cascading down the front windshield.

Dar cranked the ignition and turned the lights on to combat the fast gathering twilight. Then she paused, looking at the frosted windows. She pointed. “What the hell are you supposed to do with that?”

An exhausted Kerry stared at the window. “With what?”

“That.” Dar pointed at the ice. “Wipers won’t take that off.”

Kerry stared at her. “You use the defroster, Dar.” She leaned over and turned the device on. “What on earth did you think it was there for?”

Thicker Than Water 87

Dar frowned. “Clearing out the humidity when it rains.” She peered through the clearing glass, glad to see the reporters were now chasing the limo as it made its stately way out of the drive. It was cold out and she was shivering, unused to the damp chill which ate through her sweater and made her already aching shoulder throb. Add the fact that she’d left her medication at the hotel room and they’d missed lunch, and it made for a truckload of misery.

And now they were headed for more of it. Dar cautiously put the car in drive and pulled out of the parking space, following the tail lights of the limo. She tested the brakes and felt the lack of control in the car, her muscles automatically compensating for that. All right, Dar decided. I can do this.

She didn’t see Kerry half turned sideways in her seat, watching her with gentle, tired eyes, the faintest of smiles on her face.

“They going to want you to stay overnight?” Dar asked.

“Probably,” Kerry said.

“We don’t have a change of clothes.”

“We can sleep naked,” came the reasonable answer. “We usually do.”

Dar fought the desire to turn her head and stare at Kerry.

“Not in your family’s house, we don’t.”

“Mm.” Kerry exhaled. “That’s true.” She blinked slowly. “I have clothes left there, but I bet none of them fit.” The thought seemed to please her. “Maybe some old sweatshirts, if they didn’t get tossed, but definitely nothing that’d fit you.” She watched their progress along the street and grudgingly admitted that Dar was doing pretty well with the ice. “Maybe we should detour past the hotel.”

“Just what I was thinking,” Dar said. She pulled carefully to a halt at a red light, as the limo ahead of them went on. “You doing okay?” She glanced at Kerry, whose drawn face was painfully evident even in the low light. Before Kerry could answer, Dar’s cell phone rang, startling both of them.

“That’s been quiet,” Kerry murmured.

Dar took it out and opened it. “Yeah?”

“Dar.”

Alastair’s voice sounded much, much calmer than it had earlier. That served to make Dar’s stomach tie up in knots, and she wondered if she was on the verge of being fired. She decided she really didn’t care. “Evening, Alastair,” she said, putting the car into motion as the light turned green. “Right, up ahead?” Kerry nodded. “What’s up?” she asked Alastair.

“Just saw the news,” Alastair said. “Tell Kerry I’m sorry; that’s a tough thing.”

88 Melissa Good Dar exhaled. “I will.”

There was a slight pause. “Easton took the deal. Didn’t think he would, but he did.”

“Good.” Dar felt a sense of relief. “Thanks for telling me.”

“Anytime, Dar.” Now, at last, Alastair’s voice gentled. “Take care, y’hear? Both of you.”

“We will,” Dar replied. “Talk to you tomorrow.” She hung up, folded the phone, and tucked it back into its cradle. “Alastair sends his condolences, and wants you to take it easy.”

Kerry watched her closely. She’d lived with Dar for over a year, and she’d learned through trial and error to be able to read almost every twitch of that very, very expressive face. “And?”

There was a glint of streetlamp off blue eyes as Dar glanced at her. “And?”

Kerry saw Dar’s hands flex and resettle on the steering wheel.

“And, what else is going on?” She waited through the obvious hesitation. “C’mon, Dar, you can bluff an entire roomful of stock analysts, but not me. What’s up?”

Dar inhaled, then squared her shoulders. “Things went south with the Navy.” She pulled into the hotel’s parking lot. “Easton called Alastair on the carpet and demanded he produce the information we found and turn it over, or face some pretty strong consequences.”

“What happened?” Kerry sat up straighter, perversely glad to have something else to focus on. “How’d he get out of it?”

Dar stopped the car in a parking spot and rested her hands on the wheel as she gazed thoughtfully out the window. “I agreed to a deal.” She turned to Kerry. “To turn over the data and not press forward with it.”

Kerry blinked at her with a look of utter shock.

“He had a deadline. I had to be there. I wasn’t going to be.”

Dar shrugged. “So, that’s what’s going on.” She shut off the car and opened the door. “Come on, I need to change into something warmer.” She got out into the still falling snow and closed the door, then trudged around the back of the car and peered in the passenger side window. Kerry was still sitting there with a stunned look on her face. It almost made Dar smile. She opened Kerry’s door and gave her an inquiring look. “Coming?”