Melissa Good - Thicker Than Water

“Yeah, it is.” Kerry felt lightheaded. She took some deep breaths and the shakiness subsided as her racing pulse slowed and steadied.

Dar noted the pale tinge to Kerry’s normally golden complex-ion. “You all right?”

144 Melissa Good

“Yeah.” Kerry nodded, relaxing a bit. “It was so good to see Mom and Dad.” She smiled at Dar. “When we heard they’d left Miami, I should have guessed they’d be coming here.” She turned her head and spotted a nearby bench. “Sit for a minute?”

Dar took a seat next to her, and they let out simultaneous sighs. “Here.” Dar handed Kerry back her water and watched her take a swallow. “Tough crowd.”

Kerry rolled her eyes.

“They make my family look like the Waltons,” Dar continued.

“On Thanksgiving.”

Kerry snickered, almost spitting out some of her water.

“If one more of them had made one more snippy comment about your weight, I was getting ready to spill a glass of that disgusting dry champagne down their backs,” Dar went on. “Especially since the last time most of them saw a gym was high school.” Another snicker from Kerry encouraged Dar to add,

“And even then, they probably just danced in it.”

Kerry cleared her throat. “Very true. They’re not much into the physical fitness scene; that was one subject that never really came up. It was fine and accepted to starve yourself into rapier thinness, but to actually consider…ugh...sweating, forget it.”

“I think you’re very cute when you sweat.” Dar crossed her ankles and swallowed some water.

“Let’s not go overboard,” Kerry replied, giving Dar a wry look. Then she sighed. “Okay, I’ve had my Dar break, I’d better get back out there. I think my other cousins just got here.” She stood up and twitched her dress straight. “Want to come meet them?”

Dar put her glass down and joined Kerry near the doorway.

They paused and looked over the gathering, spotting Andy and Ceci near a cluster of older guests. As they were about to step forward, Dar felt Kerry hesitate, and she glanced around to see what the problem was. Kyle was watching them from near the elegant bar, his arms crossed as he spoke in a low voice to two men in dark suits. “I don’t like the looks of that.”

“Me either. C’mon.” Kerry deliberately turned and walked in the other direction, towards two younger women looking self conscious and trying to be casual in black lace dresses neither did any justice to.

THE STUDY WAS very quiet, almost somber. Kyle ignored the ghosts watching from the corners and strode across the rich carpet, swung behind the desk, and sat in the leather chair with stolid arrogance.

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For a moment, he hesitated and laid his hands on the surface, then he shook his head and opened the center drawer. There were a few papers on top, and these he pulled out, impatiently flicked his eyes over them, and then tossed them on the desk, one after the other. “Nothing there.”

He put the papers back into the drawer and closed it, then went to the first file drawer on the right hand side. Inside, a series of hanging files were lined up in a typically neat row, labeled with the senator’s projects.

Most were empty. Kyle frowned, thumbing through them. “I know these weren’t finished. Don’t tell me someone’s come in to get them already. I’ll have them skinned.”

He shoved the files towards the back, then hesitated as he felt resistance. Pulling the folders forward, he craned his neck to see what was blocking them in the back of the drawer. “Maybe they fell down in there…Eh, what’s this?”

He tugged out a manila envelope, its edges frayed and par-tially split. It was fairly thick, and he put it down on the desk, opened it, and looked inside.

The scent of paper and laser ink hit him. Curious, he removed the first few pages and tilted them towards the light on the desk to see better. “Ah hah,” he whispered and chuckled softly under his breath. “Now here’s something I can use.”

He read further, a look of consternation appearing on his face. “Where in the hell did he get this?” he wondered aloud, then his eyes narrowed. “And why didn’t he tell me about it?”

He drummed his fingers on the desk, then picked up the envelope and tucked it under his arm as he got up to leave.

“Maybe that’s why he put a stop to my plan of stripping those contracts.” He chuckled as he headed for the door. “Now I can kill two jackasses with one grenade.”

MUCH LATER IN the evening, Dar found a moment to pause and lean against the wall, hoping the ordeal was almost over. It had been a very long night, with a lot of stress, and her shoulder had gotten so painful, it was hard for her to move her arm without screaming.

But now, people were leaving. That was good.

Good riddance. Dar felt very little empathy for the wool suited, hostile eyed people who surrounded her beloved partner with appraising stares and veiled comments. Family, yes, but almost all of them either resented Kerry for what she’d done to her late father, or for her current lifestyle. Or for her choice of life partners.

146 Melissa Good Fuck them. Dar mentally enunciated the words with grim satisfaction. She then looked up as she felt someone approaching. Ah.

“Hi, Dad.”

Andrew Roberts found a spot on the wall next to her and claimed it. “Hey there, Dardar,” he rumbled softly. “You don’t look so hot.”

Dar sighed inwardly. She’d never had much luck in fooling her father about when she wasn’t feeling well. “No, you’re right.

I’m tired and grumpy, and my shoulder’s killing me.” She saw Kerry walking across the room towards her with a forceful and determined stride. “Uh oh.”

Andrew chuckled. “Hey, Dar?” He eased closer and motioned with his jaw to the reception room doorway where Kyle was standing, just watching Kerry. “Who is that feller?”

“An asshole who deserves to be run over by a Mack truck,”

Dar replied without thinking. “A total bastard who made Ker’s life a living hell for a long time.”

“Yeah?” Andrew’s voice was gentle.

“Yeah,” Dar answered, before she greeted Kerry. “Hi. Bet you have a headache.”

Kerry had opened her mouth to speak, and this statement derailed her a little. “Um...yes, I do, as a matter of fact. How did you know?”

“Same way you know it’s time for me to go get more drugs,”

Dar replied with a faint smile. “Unless you’re ready to retire for the evening.”

With her back turned to the room, Kerry looked up at Dar, and for a moment her determinedly cordial mask slipped, revealing a rawly anguished expression. Her voice, however, remained quiet. “I think I’ve had about enough for the night, yeah. If I have to hear one more person come up with one more euphemism for you and me being lovers, I may have to kill someone.”

There was an awkward silence. Kerry glanced up to see Andrew scratching his jaw. “Sorry, Dad. I figured you already knew.” She peeked at Dar, almost smiling at the faint blush. “I mean, you are a sailor and a man of the world and all of that stuff.”

Andrew chuckled. “I surely did know, kumquat. I just usually call you two sweethearts, is all.”

That coaxed a smile from Kerry. “Did my mother invite you two to stay over?”

”Yes.” Ceci appeared on Kerry’s other side. “Now that I’ve spent the evening bludgeoning your relatives with highbrow art talk. Good goddess, Kerry—you have a more annoying family than I do, and Andy will tell you that’s quite the radical state-Thicker Than Water 147

ment.”

Kerry sighed. “Thanks.” She looked around. “I hope you insulted the hell out of them. They deserve it.”