"I know." Her mother came back with two glasses, and two small bottles of Perrier. "I remember how terribly upset you were when your little pet passed on. I felt terrible for you even though as I say, I am not fond of them myself."

Kerry gazed at her slowly forming screen then looked up over it at her mother as she seated herself. "Did you know Kyle had her put down?"

Caught right in the act of sitting down, Cynthia stopped, half standing, one hand on the desk and the other on the bottle of water. She stared back at Kerry.

She didn't Kerry felt an odd wash of relief as her skill at reading body language detected the honest shock in her mother's posture. "He paid off an intern at the hospital," she added quietly. "He ended up working for us and came in and confessed to me two or three months ago. Said it haunted him."

Kerry paused, blinking a few times. Then she shook her head and concentrated on her laptop, calling up her photo albums as she pushed aside the memories. "Haunted me too."

The sound of a body hitting a leather seat was loud in the room as she clicked. "My god," Cynthia finally said. "No, I did not know that--what a b--" she stopped. "Certainly, your father didn't know."

Kerry looked up at her, one brow lifting.

"We spoke of it." Her mother seemed to sense the skepticism. "He wanted to get you another one." She watched Kerry's face. "I'm afraid I talked him out of it. But if I'd known--ugh!" She got up, visibly agitated. "I look back and wonder how we could have been so unaware."

She turned back around. "Kerrison, are you sure? This is true?"

Kerry nodded. "I'm sure," she said. "Hell, Mother, he killed my fish when he broke into my apartment in Miami and searched it. The man was a psychopath."

Cynthia's jaw dropped slightly. 'W--what?"

"You knew he visited me there." Kerry felt an odd mixture of regret, relief, and curiosity. "Father sent him. Don't tell me now he was acting all on his own. I won't believe it."

Her mother blinked. "Yes," she said. "Your father sent him. He sent him to find out how you really were doing. He thought you were perhaps not doing well, but too proud to tell us," she murmured. "Kyle said nothing about a fish, or breaking into anyplace, he just--he told us he felt you were hiding something from us."

"Well," Kerry exhaled. "I was."

"But he said he spoke with you." Cynthia sat down. "Didn't he?"

"He did. He came back the next day," Kerry said. "He started to threaten me but Dar was there." She shook her head. "Anyway." She got up and turned her laptop around, coming to kneel next to her mother's chair. "Here's Cappuccino."

With a visible effort, Cynthia focused on the screen. "Oh," she murmured. "She is quite large." She studied the profile on the screen. "But quite attractive, as well. Lovely color, almost white, isn't it?"

"Cream," Kerry agreed, calling up a second picture. "This is our cabin."

Relieved as the subject changed, her mother leaned forward. "Charming," she said. "Is that stained glass? How lovely with the sun coming in."

"That's our bedroom." Kerry's lips twitched a little. "Here's the kitchen, and that's the view out the bay window in the living room."

"Stunning."

"That's our motorcycle."

"Oh my."

"Stay with me, Mom." Kerry had to fight to stifle a laugh. "It's a Honda." She heard the sound of footsteps, and looked up, as the inner door opened. "Ah."

Cynthia also looked up. "Hello Alan," she said. "I didn't realize you were still here. It's late."

Markhaus entered, pausing when he spotted Kerry behind the desk. "I was hoping to discuss some matters with you in private." He removed half glasses from his eyes and gave Kerry a disapproving look. "We have a serious situation here."

Cynthia merely gazed back at him. "I'm afraid my family is quite the most serious matter in my life at the moment. Whatever it is, Alan, can wait until tomorrow. "

"It can't," he said.

"Then feel free to discuss it in front of my daughter," Cynthia replied. "I believe she's cleared for this sort of thing, Aren't you, Kerrison?"

"Yes," Kerry confirmed briefly. "But I'll be glad to step out, Mother. I wouldn't want to add any of our confidential information into the mix."

Markhaus openly glared at her.

"Certainly not," her mother said. "Alan, please be brief. Kerrison has been kind enough to provide a meal for our guards since no one else seems to have remembered them. We are merely waiting for that to arrive then we are going home for the evening."

"Cynthia, are you not aware of what's going on here?" Markhaus came closer to the desk. "This country's been attacked. We are effectively at war. I realize you have no experience in any international matters, but at least pretend to give a damn."

Kerry slowly stood up.

"I do." Her mother folded her hands on her desk. "I just seem to have the sense to know that all of us sitting here burning the midnight oil, so to speak, and talking about it is simply pointless. We do not have any information. All we have is speculation, and rumor. Or has the White House responded to your questions?"

"They were trying to kill the President."

"At least he's a valid target," Kerry said quietly.

"What?" The man looked at her. "What kind of nonsense talk is that? These people are insane!" He waved his free hand. "We have to have plans. We have to find out how this happened. We have to put together a strategy to get back at them, and make sure this never happens again."

"Do you know why they did it?" Kerry countered.

"It doesn't matter!" Markhaus shot back. "I don't care why they did it."

"Then you won't ever keep them from doing it again." Kerry folded her arms over her chest. "What are you going to do, send bombers over there and blow them up?"

"That's an option," Markhaus said. "If it were up to me, I'd have them send a nuke over there and just sterilize the whole damn region."

"Alan!" Cynthia stood up. "What are you saying?"

"No bleeding hearts here," he said. "Or pansies."

He looked directly at Kerry. "That's what the problem is. We don't have enough right thinking people. Just perverts and peaceniks."

"Are you calling me a pervert?" Kerry asked, sharply. "Hold on a minute, mister. Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Now, hold on." Cynthia stood up. "This is ridiculous. Please!"

"Ridiculous?" Markhaus pointed at Kerry. "How do we know you didn't help them, since you had all that information? How do we know you didn't sell us out?"

"Alan!"

"Oh yeah sure," Kerry shot back. "I sold out to a fundamentalist organization that probably prefers to have gay people euthanized. Yeah. I'm into that. "She put her hands on her hips. "If anyone sold this country out it's you. It's this damn government."

"Kerrison!"

"That's the kind of patriot you raised." Markhaus pointed at Cynthia. "That's what the biggest problem this country has. Sick minds!" He turned and left. Cynthia chased after him in furious silence, leaving Kerry to stand bristling in the middle of the room with no place for her anger to go but inside.

"Shit." Abruptly she sat down, her temples threatening to explode. She could hear her heart hammering in her chest, and the throbbing was making red streaks against the inside of her eyes as she sat there with them closed.

It was too much. She wanted to throw up, every inch of her body twitching with unreleased anger. It was hard to think.

Hard to breathe.

Then a hand gripped her knee, warm and sure, a casual familiarity in the touch that made her eyes blink open. "Uh?"

"Hey beautiful," Dar's voice tickled her ears. "Can I buy you a drink?"

She felt a moment of tingling shock then the anger and frustration evaporated as she took in the twinkle in those blue eyes and felt a smile replacing the grimace on her face.

Heaven.

Kerry exhaled audibly, slumping sideways against the tall figure kneeling at her side, her head coming to rest on Dar's shoulder as she felt Dar's hand come up and cradle the side of her face, the warmth against her skin intoxicating in its own right. "Oh thank God!"

"Thank Gerry, a couple of Air Force pilots, and six big hungry Marines," her partner said. "We're your volunteers."

"Ungh." Kerry captured Dar's hand and kissed it relentlessly. "Mark is dead for not telling me you were there. You're dead for not telling me you were there. I was a nervous wreck wondering where you were."

"Sorry." Dar kissed her on the forehead. "I idiotically left my cell and PDA in my briefcase that is sitting back in Miami. I figured another ten minutes wouldn't matter after that and I wanted to surprise you."

"You did."

"Didn't mean to stress you."

"Don't care." Kerry closed her eyes, absorbing her partner's scent, and the sound of her voice and the gentle touch stroking her hair. "All better now."

The inner door closed. Kerry heard footsteps and the sound of a chair squeaking nearby. She opened one eye to see her mother looking back at her, her expression distressed. "Sorry."

"Don't be," Cynthia said. "The man is an ass."

Kerry felt Dar's body jerk with silent laughter. She smiled in reaction, feeling a physical sense of relief it was hard to quantify or describe. "Dar's here."

"Yes, I did notice that," Cynthia said. "I'm glad."

"My Dad's outside talking to the Marines," Dar said. "Alastair went on to New York."

"Awesome," Kerry mumbled. "Can I have that drink now?"

Dar stroked her hair. "Sure." She glanced over at Kerry's mother. "Want a drink too?"

"Absolutely," Cynthia Stuart said. "I think we should get out of here at once."

"Best idea I've heard all day." Kerry managed to stand as Dar rose to her feet, wrapped her arms around her partner and hugged her as hard as she could. "Unnngh."

Dar returned the hug fully. "Damn I missed you," she said, in an undertone. "Damn, damn, damn."

"Damn, damn, damn," Kerry repeated, rocking them both back and forth. "You got that right."


Chapter Twenty

"YOU MUST BE exhausted." Kerry nevertheless was content to sprawl half across Dar's lap in the back of the SUV, her head resting on her partner's thigh as Dar's hands worked the kinks out of her neck. "Do you even know what time it is?"

"Do you even think I care?" Dar glanced at the driver's seats, where her father was ensconced at the wheel with Kerry's mother directing him. It gave her a Twilight Zone feeling and she quickly returned her attention to Kerry.

"Probly not."

"You're probly right." Dar was tired, but not sleepy. In truth, given all the travel, she really had no sense of what time her body thought it was, but regardless, she was looking forward to a dark hotel room and a nice soft bed with her partner in it. "Mark made some good progress over there."

"I know," Kerry said. "I really wanted to get out of there because I was more in their way than anything once I'd gotten the brass on the same page as us."

Dar chuckled. "Our technology bus has become the social center onsite. If the PR department were here they'd be pissing in their pants at all the good press they didn't arrange or pay for."

Kerry smiled, her fingertips tracing the seam line of Dar's jeans. Then her smile faded. "It's awful about Bob."

"Yeah," Dar exhaled. "Alastair's pretty shaken up over it. I think he really wanted to be here with us, but his family is old friends of Bob's." She kneaded Kerry's shoulders, feeling the tension in the tight muscles there. "I think the rest of the staff there will be glad to see him though."

"Ungh."

"How's your headache?"

"Better," Kerry murmured. "Just having you here makes me feel better. Why is that? You always do that to me."

Dar gazed quietly down at her. "I don't know," she said, after a pause. "I know I feel better just being here. You think we're nuts?"

"Probably," Kerry acknowledged. "Do you care?"

"Nope."

"Me either."

"I need to call Gerry in the morning," Dar said. "I'm sure he tried to call me tonight but the only place I have his private number is in my cell." She sighed. "I'll have to have Maria get it for me."

"I can't believe you forgot your briefcase," Kerry mumbled. "Jesus, Dar. That has your laptop in it."

"Also had my wallet in it," her partner informed her. "Luckily for me I did remember to bring my father."