Tropical Storm - DK1 by Melissa Good Read Free Book Online

themselves, the beeps sounding startlingly loud in the quiet of the early morning.
    It was just as quiet inside. Dar dropped her briefcase in her office and trudged into her bedroom, the cool blue of the walls blissfully soothing to her tired eyes. She put her jacket back onto its hanger and kicked off her shoes, then unzipped her skirt and stepped out of the garment. As she unbuttoned and removed her shirt, she could feel the tension of the day between her shoulder blades, and she took a moment to lean against the wall and let the cool surface leech some of the residual warmth from her skin.
    Hell of a day. Dar pushed away from the wall and went into the bathroom, reaching in to start the water running in the large, circular glass shower. The scent of the chlorinated water was comfortingly familiar, and she slipped out of her underwear and under the warm spray with a heartfelt sigh.
    A kaleidoscope of images flickered through her mind’s eye as she stood under the shower, turning up the heat a little as the stiff muscles in her neck grudgingly began to relax under the pounding. She could taste the faint hint of tea on the back of her tongue, and a remembered scent of apricot tickled her senses as she thought about her long night and the unexpected challenges of the day.
    After her shower, she was exhausted but not sleepy, so she threw on a pair of old cotton shorts and a T-shirt, and trudged into the kitchen. Its counters were bare, but she ignored them and retrieved a large mug from the cabinet, filling it with milk and adding a spoonful of honey before she put it in the microwave to heat. The machine hummed, and she sat down on the stool nearby to wait, hooking her feet into the rungs and propping her head up on her hand as she leaned against the counter.
    The air conditioning cycled on, loud in the otherwise silent condo. Then a soft chime sounded. Dar gave the computer on the counter a glance, and her brow furrowed as she saw the blinking box in the corner. “Thought I cleaned my inbox out before I left the office. Mail?”
    “Mail, Dar Roberts, one,” the terminal answered, connected via its ISDN
    link directly to the office.
    “Read.” Dar crossed her arms and leaned against the counter, waiting for the microwave bell to ring.
    Sent by: Kerry Stuart, Time: 1:20 AM
    “Well, well.” Dar muttered softly to herself. “What do you know?” She saw the length. “Don’t read.”
    The bell went off, but Dar remained near the screen, reading the long, detailed message with interest. It started off with “I need some details 22 Melissa Good clarified.” And ended with “Please forward this information as soon as possible due to the deadline you imposed.”
    “Well, I’ll be damned.” Instead of being upset, Dar smiled. The questions were literate, and though a touch on the naïve side, intelligent and thoughtful.
    Just like that kid is, I guess . She pulled her stool up next to the computer, retrieving her warm milk and sipping on it as she composed a detailed reply.
    “That’ll have to do her…at least for now,” the tall woman commented, as she paused with her mouse over the Send button. She studied the message, then added a single line to the bottom, and her initials. A click, and it was gone. She took her milk and wandered into the living room, dropping down onto the soft leather couch that faced the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Her view was of the Atlantic at night, black waters bisected by a silver lance of moonlight, and the tiny, colored lights of the sea buoys. On the horizon, a cruise ship was gliding silently past, a patch of sparkle against the darkness, and briefly, Dar wished she was on it.
    KERRY STIFLED A yawn as she checked her front door lock, a habit before going to bed. Her apartment looked like a paper mill had attacked her.
    Stacks of white sheets lay everywhere, but she was moderately satisfied with her first night’s work. Not that she’d gotten anywhere, but at least she knew