Orchid Beach (Holly Barker 1)

“No.”

“I’ll follow you.” He bent down and kissed her.

She kissed him back, and she liked it. “Whatever you say, counselor,” she whispered.

CHAPTER

19

H olly slept alone, though Jackson Oxenhandler had made it clear he would have preferred it otherwise, and she wasn’t so sure that she wouldn’t have preferred it, too. It had been a long time, she reflected. As soon as word had gotten out on the base about her intention to charge Colonel James Bruno, half the men on the base had stopped speaking to her, except when absolutely necessary, and those she found attractive among the other half had stopped asking her out.

She had just woken up when the phone rang. “Hello?”

“It’s Dr. Green. I’m sorry to call you so early, but I thought you’d want to know right away.”

“Know what?”

“The supervisor in intensive care called me a minute ago. Chester Marley is back in a coma.”

“But I thought he was doing so well.”

“So did I, but they were unable to wake him this morning. I can’t offer you any sort of prognosis; we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

“Thank you for letting me know, Doctor,” she said, then hung up. This was depressing news. Even if Chet had been unable to remember the shooting, he could have filled her in on his earlier suspicions. The phone rang again. “Hello?”

“It’s Jackson. Did you sleep well?”

“Like a stone.”

“I’m sorry to hear it.”

She laughed. “Bad news,” she said. “The doctor just called, and Chet is back in a coma.”

“I hear that happens sometimes.”

“It’s depressing.”

“I can see how it might be. Dinner tonight?”

“Can I call you later? I don’t know what the day holds.”

“Sure.” He gave her his office and home numbers.

“Talk to you later.” She hung up and started her day.

She was in the office by eight-thirty, and at nine Charlie Peterson, of the City Council, knocked on her door. “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” she said, remembering that she had been supposed to call him. “I’m sorry I haven’t gotten back to you, but it’s been extremely busy around here.”

“Yeah, I heard. We’ve got a council meeting at ten; I think you should come up and meet everybody.”

“Sure, I’ll be glad to.”

“It’s room 404.”

“See you at ten.” She walked next door to Jane Grey’s office. “Jane, will you make a copy of my contract, please? I think the city council might like to see it.”

“I expect they already have,” she said. “The council chairman, John Westover, asked for a copy yesterday. I couldn’t think of any reason not to give it to him.”