She slipped off her skirt and hose and traded them for a pair of worn jeans from her bag, buttoning them and glancing at her reflection in the door’s full length mirror as she unfolded a cotton polo shirt to put on. “Hmph,” she grunted as she shook the shirt out. ”Starting to look like you can kick some ass again, Roberts. Been a while.” She pulled the polo over her head and tucked it into the waistband of the jeans, adding a leather belt and buckling it.

She heard Kerry returning as she brought her bag over to the couch and sat down to put her hiking boots on. A moment later, the door opened and her lover appeared, carrying her own bag and running her fingers through her pale hair. “Hey.”

”Dar, it’s cold out,” Kerry scolded. ”You need a sweater or something. You’re going to catch a chill.” She dug through her boss’s bag, and retrieved a soft, fleece sweatshirt. ”Put this on.”

”Yes, mother,” Dar chuckled, but did as she was told, slipping the fabric over her head and adjusting the waistband. ”Better?”

Kerry reviewed the rich, crimson color against Dar’s tanned skin and dark hair, and smiled. ”Oh, I like that. You look really good in Hurricane Watch

49

red.” She shouldered her bag and exhaled. ”Okay, let’s go.”

They went down the hall to the elevator and got in, riding it down in silence and exchanging one, last look before the door opened.

The rest of the group was there waiting, and Dar and Kerry collected several annoyed looks as they joined them. ”Sorry,” Dar addressed the woman sent to collect them. ”Just tying up loose ends.”

The woman, a perky blonde with an infectious smile, nodded.

”Well, that’s great, glad you could join us. ” She checked her clipboard.

”You would be Roberts and Stuart, right?”

Dar nodded. ”Yep.”

”Excellent. Well, okay. My name’s Skippy, and I’ll be your guide during the seminar.” She checked her list. ”What we’re going to do is get on board the bus and get started. The camp is about three and a half hours north of here. On the way we’ll have you fill out some questionnaires, and pass out a little snack in case anyone gets hungry, okay?”

”A snack?” José objected. ”Hey, come on now, most of us didn’t get lunch.” He glanced around, twitching his jacket closed. ”It’s almost six o'clock.” Several other people nodded with him.

”All right.” Skippy didn’t miss a beat. ”We also have some full dinners on board, so let’s get going, and I’ll explain more about the program when we’re on the way.” She checked them over as they boarded the huge, chartered bus. ”Now, no one has anything nasty, like a computer, or anything like that, right?” she reminded them. ”We’re trying to get your minds into a different space this weekend.”

”I wonder how many people have asked her if she has any peanut butter.” Duks commented in a low murmur, causing Dar to chuckle. ”I cannot believe I am doing this, my friend, or that you are, for that matter.”

Dar shrugged. ”What choice did we have? Hope everyone lives through it,” she replied laconically as she watched Kerry board, then stepped up after her, glad to leave the thick, diesel smell behind. The bus was plush, with two rows of seats going back on either side, spaced far enough apart to provide a decent amount of leg space.

There was really no excuse to squeeze in, so Dar reluctantly went past the row Kerry had settled in, and slid into the next row, pushing the arm between the two seats up and stretching out. If she leaned against the window, she could see Kerry’s head doing the same and as she watched, the blonde woman turned and peeked back through the opening at her.

Kerry stuck her tongue out and made Dar smile, but she quickly stopped as Steven settled in the seat across from her, his dark eyes regarding her coolly. Duks took the seat behind her, and Mariana took the one behind Steven, and she briefly kicked herself for not arranging to do the same with Kerry.

Great. Now she was stuck looking at Steven’s obnoxious puss for 50

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three hours. With an aggrieved sigh, Dar propped one knee up, and rested her arm against it as the bus pulled out of the parking lot into the fading twilight.

“HERE YOU GO,” Skippy smiled at Kerry as she handed her a clipboard with a sheaf of papers on it. ”Just fill everything out, and feel free to ask me if you have any questions.”

Kerry took the papers. ”Okay. What’s this all for?” She asked, glancing at the forms.

Skippy put a hand on the seat back next to her. ”Well, it’s so we know you better and can tailor the seminar more closely to your needs.”

”Ah, wouldn’t it have been more efficient to give us these earlier?”

Kerry asked curiously. ”I mean it’s not like you’ll have much time to do any tinkering.”

Skippy’s perky smile became a little fixed. ”Why, we’ll stay up all night if we have to, don’t you worry. Just fill out that information for us.” Kerry pulled the cap off her pen and studied the papers. ”If I didn't know better I’d say this was just to keep us busy on the trip,” she murmured with a shake of her head. ”Because I don’t know how much tailoring you’re going to get done with a list of my favorite library books.”

”Now, now, you just let us do our jobs. That information tells our analysts a lot about you,” Skippy informed her as she escaped down the row, handing Dar her clipboard and leaning over to give Steven his.

”There you go—any questions?”

”Yeah, do you have an assigned seat, or can you help me fill mine out?” Steven asked her, giving the young blonde a smile.

Skippy beamed at him ”Well, let me pass out the rest of these, and I’ll come back to give you a hand, okay?” She scuttled down the isle, making sure everyone had a clipboard. ”Yes sir?” She leaned over where Duks was seated. ”Did you need something? A pen?”

Duks held up one of his never-ending supply of mechanical pencils.

”No, thank you.”

”You must be an accountant.” She smiled at him. ”They always have those things.”

Duks nodded gravely at her. ”When you graduate from college with a financial degree, they give you a dozen cases of them,” he assured her. ”With your name on them.” He held his up. ”See?”

”Oh, yes.” Skippy edged away from him, and turned a bright smile on Dar, who was neatly printing in her name. ”And what are you?”

”Trouble,” Dar replied, peering at her from under dark lashes, and leaving a faint smile on her lips.

”Ah.” Skippy backed off. ”Well, how about some pop, huh? We’ve got cola, orange, and lime.”


Hurricane Watch

51

”Milk,” Dar replied, intent on sucking as much enjoyment out of the weekend as she could. That included tormenting little blonde girls who were far too perky for their own good.

”Milk, okay, I think we have some of that. Let me go look.” She escaped down the row towards the front of the bus, where Eleanor and her assistant were installed in regal splendor.

The Marketing VP, a colorful, warm woven throw tucked around her knees, and her assistant, a tall, thin man with nervously blinking eyes and thick glasses were hunched over their forms. Just about everyone else had chosen to wear jeans, except for José, who was in a pair of neatly pressed chinos and a guyabera.

Dar tucked her knees up and rested her clipboard against them, chewing on her pen top as she studied the forms. They were a collection of questions meant to probe her innermost psyche, she reasoned.

Otherwise, why ask if she liked chicken instead of fish, or if she picked an aisle seat or a window in an airplane?

She half believed Kerry was right. This stuff was just to keep them occupied for a while until they got there or until the boredom of the trip set in and they fell asleep.

Skippy came back and handed Dar a small carton of milk, then sat down next to Steven and started going over the questions with him.

”Psst.” A soft whisper caught her attention, and she glanced over at the back of the next seat. Kerry’s green eyes were peering at her.

”Yeah?” she asked softly.

”Do we get points if we can answer more than ten percent of the questions with ‘none of the above’?” Kerry inquired. ”I hate all those animals in question six.”

”Hey!” José’s voice rose. ”What do you mean here, relations with animals? What kind of people do you think we are?”

”Sir. That means pets.” Skippy smiled perkily at him. ”You know, like doggies and kitties. Do you have any loved pets?” Her smiled faded. ”Not do you, uh, love pets, not in that way...um, we really don’t...care to know about that.”

”What about my python?” Duks commented dryly from his dark corner. ”Do you consider the rats I feed her pets too?”

Dar covered her eyes and bit back a laugh.

”Um, well, no, because they’re kind of, um, transient, right? We mean permanent pets,” Skippy replied. ”Like those that are there all the time.”

”Like my Sweetie Pie,” Mariana mused, from her seat across from Dar. ”She’s the prettiest parrot.”

Skippy smiled at her. ”See? Yes, that’s what I meant.”

”Mm. I loved her so much. I had her stuffed when she died,” the Personnel VP added. ”Now she’s the most permanent thing in the house.”

Dar clamped her jaw muscles tightly.


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”You people are so disrespectful,” Steven said sharply. ”This woman is here to do a job, and you all think it’s a joke.” He glared at them, and Skippy beamed gratefully at him. ”The company takes this seriously, and you should too.” He sat down, smiling at the guide as she eased into the seat next to him.

Dar sighed, and went back to scribbling.

The droning of the bus’s tires finally changed, and Dar shifted, blinking her eyes and glancing out the window. It was pitch dark outside, only the very occasional lamp flicking by along with the rare, desultory billboard. She glanced to her left, between the seats, and spotted the gentle curve of Kerry’s cheek as the blonde woman dozed, her head resting against the chilly window.

Across from her, Steven and Skippy were conversing in low tones, and everyone else seemed to have fallen asleep. Dar straightened, and checked her watch, then stood and stretched the kink out of her back from the semi comfortable seat. ”Almost there?” she inquired quietly.

Skippy turned her head. ”Yes. We just turned off the expressway.

We’ve got a little bit to go yet.” She replied cheerfully. ”It’s way, way out there. We wanted to get to where you couldn’t hear the traffic at all.” Dar leaned against her seat back and peered out the window. A billboard went by. ”Aardvark Bail Bonds,” she commented, ”next right.” Her head turned. ”Guess you’re not the only ones who wanted some privacy.”

Skippy blinked at her. ”What do you mean?”

Dar peered out again. ”Bill’s Bail Haven,” she enunciated. ”No waiting, six lines.” Her blue eyes regarded her wryly. ”We’re out near Stark.”

”Stark?” Steven asked, obviously disgruntled at having his discussion interrupted. ”What are you talking about, Dar?”

”The federal penitentiary,” came the droll response. ”There’s also a state jail out near here if I’m not mistaken. No wonder it’s empty.”

”Oh, well, we’re not going there,” Skippy assured her. ”It’s a camp just west of here, really. We wouldn’t take you to a prison.”

”Oh, I don’t know,” Steven sniped. ”I’d like to see that, myself.”

Dar gazed at him. ”Steven, you’d have a lot more to worry about than I would,” she replied silkily.

He leaned back. ”Oh, I don’t think so. I think those women would knock that tough attitude of yours right off.”

Dar put her hands on her hips, and smiled at him. “They might try.

Idiots have been known to.”

Skippy had been watching them, her head bobbing between them like an errant, blonde ping-pong ball. ”Oh, do you two know each other well?” she asked brightly.

Steven studied Dar’s tall form speculatively. ”C’mon, Dar. Those days are long behind you. Cut the crap.” He laughed. ”When was the Hurricane Watch

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last time you even hit the mat?”

”Mat?” Skippy seemed to sense a fight, and dove into an attempt to divert it. ”What kind of mats are those? Are you into aerobics? I am.”

Dar decided to ignore them, and instead strolled off down the aisle, ending up in the back of the bus where there was a toilet and a small refrigerator. Dar opened the fridge, finding a can of Yoo-hoo to her muted delight. She also picked up a bag of pretzels and held on as the bus took a right turn and slowed drastically.