Hurricane Watch - DK2 Read Online Free PDF Page A

against one employee?”
    Dar lifted her hands and let them fall on the desk. ”What did I do?”
    she asked. “Now?”
    ”Oh, let's see…” A rustle of paper. ”Being rude, obstructionist, uncooperative, detrimental to the progress of business…”
    ”She really wasn’t, Mari.” Kerry spoke over her boss’s shoulder. ”I was here. She was really polite, as a matter of fact.”
    Mariana sighed. ”What did he want?”
    ”Me.” Kerry replied. ”He wanted me, and another staff member assigned to him personally for two months, while he, as he put it,
    ‘straightened us out.’”
    A soft curse in a fluid language followed. ”And you told him no, I take it?”
    ”I told him I didn’t have the time or the staff to go on wild goose chases and that if he wanted dog’s bodies to hunt stuff down, to go see you,” Dar replied. ”I’m not assigning one of the cleaning staff much less Kerry to that horse’s ass.”
    ”Mm. I see.” The Personnel VP sighed. ”Well, he kicked a copy of this up to Alastair, along with a bunch of statistics. It looks pretty nasty, Dar. I’ll forward you a copy.”
    Dar drummed her fingers on her desk. ”Did he copy José?”
    A moment’s silence. ”Um, now that you mention it, no,” Mariana replied.
    Dar smiled. ”Okay. Thanks. I’ll handle Alastair if he decides to get 16
    Melissa Good
    involved.” She pulled a folder over to her. ”Meet you in the conference room?”
    ”You got it,” Mariana agreed, and hung up.
    ”He sounds like he really means to make a case out of this, Dar,”
    Kerry stated quietly, her brow creasing in concern. ”Would it be easier if we just went along with it? I mean, it’s not like he’s going to actually find anything if he investigates our area.”
    The pale blue eyes thoughtfully roamed the room, settling on Kerry’s face with quiet intentness. ”Yes, it would be easier,” she stated flatly. ”But I’m not gonna do it.” The ferocity in her voice surprised Kerry. ”He wants a fight? He’ll get one.”

Chapter
Two
    DAR GLANCED AT her watch as she entered her office. It was a few minutes to seven and she lifted her cell phone, dialing a number without looking. Three rings, then four, then a breathless voice answered. ”Hey.”
    ”Oh.” Kerry paused to breathe. ”Hey, what’s up?”
    ”Where are you?” Dar inquired, hearing the panting.
    ”Halfway up the climbing wall, holding on by one hand,” Kerry replied. ”So as much as I love talking to you, could you kinda—”
    ”Sorry,” Dar apologized. ”I just got back from the briefing. I’ll be over in about ten minutes.”
    ”Right. I’ll let everyone know,” Kerry responded. ”Ooof…oh...wait, okay,” She sighed. ”That’s better. I was sort of upside down, and trying to hold myself up, my arm was giving out.”
    Dar chuckled softly. ”Okay, well, get both hands back on those holds, okay? I’ll see you in a bit,” She cleared her throat audibly. ”Take care.””Okay, see ya.” Kerry hung up, and managed to clip her cell phone to the back of her workout shorts. ”Glad I got the lightweight model,”
    she commented to the rough wall before her eyes. ”Well, time to go down.”
    She worked her way slowly across the wall, moving from handhold to handhold, and finally let go of the last one, landing lightly on the floor. She straightened up slowly, then leaned against the wall and caught her breath. Her shoulders and thighs ached,
    ”Whoo.” She shook her arms out and flexed her hands, then paced back out of the climbing room and paused, searching the crowded gym.
    ”Ah.” She spotted Ken standing next to his small office, and she headed in his direction.
    He looked up as she approached, and a smile creased his friendly face. ”Hey there.”
    ”Hey Ken,” Kerry wiped her brow with the towel she had tucked in her waistband. ”Dar’s on her way over. She had a late meeting.”
    Ken rubbed his neck. ”I’m still sore from last night,” he complained