Orchid Beach (Holly Barker 1)

“You did the right thing,” Holly said. She sat down. “Tell me about this Westover.”

“He’s a power, locally—owns a car dealership, a printing company, a fast-food franchise and a funeral home, among other things.”

“What’s he like?”

“Professionally jovial,” Jane said. “He’s a car salesman at heart, I think. Wants everybody to like him. Takes the council seriously, though. He’s said to have a real good grasp of the city’s finances, and he manages them well. The city is well run, and property taxes are under control, so he keeps getting elected.”

“Who’s the mayor?”

“John is, for all practical purposes. There’s no mayor, just a city manager, Ted Michaels, and he jumps when John Westover hollers.”

“What about the rest of the council?”

“There’s only five, and they’re elected at large, not from districts. Charlie Peterson is the only one with any gumption. The others vote yes when John Westover clears his throat.”

“I think I get the picture,” Holly said. She went back to her office.

At ten o’clock, she went up to the city council chambers and was asked by a receptionist to take a seat in a waiting room. She leafed through a magazine for a few minutes, then the door to the chambers opened and a large, pink-faced man with a crew cut smiled at her and shook her hand.

“I’m John Westover,” he said. “Sorry to keep you waiting. We had some business to get out of the way. Come on in.”

Everybody stood up.

“I guess you already know Charlie Peterson. The others are, left to right, Frank Hessian, Howard Goldman, and Irma Taggert.”

Holly shook all their hands and took an offered seat at their conference table.

“First, let me welcome you to Orchid Beach,” Westover said.

“Thank you,” Holly replied.

“We’re a little in the dark about your hiring, so I wonder if you’d just tell us how it came about?”

“I’d be glad to,” Holly said. She explained her military background briefly. “Chief Marley and my father, Hamilton Barker, are old friends from the army. The chief came up to see us and offered me the deputy chief’s job.”

“What did he know about your background?” Westover asked.

“Everything there was to know,” Holly replied. “The chief is a careful man; he did his homework.”

“I’m sure he did. Now, I’ve read your contract, and I’d like to know how much negotiation was involved.”

“There was none,” Holly said.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Chief Marley made me an offer and I accepted it. He sent me a contract, I read it and signed it without any changes.”

“You’re a very trusting person, Miss Barker,” the woman councillor, Irma Taggert, said.

“It was a good offer and a well-drawn contract,” Holly replied. “From what I’ve learned about Chief Marley’s work habits, it was typical of the way he does things.”

“God knows, the chief does things his own way,” Frank Goldman said.

“I think the organization and training of his department speak for themselves,” Holly said.

“Perhaps you could tell us something about your background in the military and law enforcement.”

“I’d be glad to. I joined the army out of high school and after basic training was assigned to the military police. I earned a degree in criminology from the University of Maryland, was accepted into Officer Candidate School, commissioned and assigned as a platoon leader in an MP company. Over the years I was promoted regularly and rose to the rank of major, in command of an MP company with a complement of a hundred or so men and women, a job that I held at retirement.”