Iron Orchid (Holly Barker 5)

THREE DAYS LATER, Teddy called Irene’s cell phone. “Yes?” she said, sounding businesslike.

“Bad time?”

“Two hours,” she said and hung up.

Teddy waited two and a half, then called her back. “Better?”

“Yes, it’s all right,” she said.

“Where are you?”

“At the Waldorf Towers.”

“Are you free for a while?”

“I have another meeting at five.”

Teddy checked his watch. Just past one. “Take a cab to Fifth Avenue and Sixty-fourth Street and enter Central Park there. Turn right at the bottom of the steps, go around the administration building, then turn right again and leave the zoo area. Keep to the path, then sit down on the fifth bench on your right. Take a newspaper, so you can read while you wait. When you’re sure nobody has followed you, take off your right shoe and rub your foot. If you think it may not be safe, take off your left shoe.”

“Got it.”

“Go in fifteen minutes.” Teddy hung up. He thought he would entertain Irene; she had always loved the cloak-and-dagger side of Agency work, but she had not been able to become a field agent. He left his workshop, walked down to 64th Street, crossed Park and went into the Plaza Athenee Hotel. At the registration desk he asked for a deluxe double room, paid with a credit card and asked for two keys.

“Where is your luggage, sir?” the woman asked.

“The airline lost it; I’m told it will be delivered this evening.”

“Do you require any personal items, toiletries?”

“Thank you, no.” Teddy went up to the room, checked it out, then bought a newspaper and walked toward Fifth Avenue. He walked around the corner, checking everyone on each side of the street, turned East on 65th, waited a moment, then walked back down Fifth to 63rd, checking again. Then he waited near the corner until he saw Irene get out of a taxi.

Since he knew where she was going, he didn’t need to follow her closely. He hung a block or so back, looking for suspicious vehicles or persons. He spent a couple of minutes being amused by the seals in the zoo, then walked north away from the zoo. He saw her from a hundred yards, reading a paperback book. When he was fifty yards away, she took off her right shoe and massaged her foot, then put her shoe back on. Teddy walked past her, then sat down on the next bench and opened his newspaper. He read quietly for five minutes, then took the Arts section, folded it to expose the crossword puzzle and began to work it. When he was sure there was no one near the bench, he spoke up.

“When I leave, pick up the newspaper and read for ten minutes. There’s a key card for room 710 at the Plaza Athenee Hotel, Sixty-fourth between Madison and Park. Meet me there.”

“Got it,” she said.

Teddy tucked the crossword under his arm and, leaving the rest of the paper on the bench, left, walking north.

____________________

TEDDY WAITED FOR HER in bed, looking forward to her arrival. She let herself into the room, leaving a trail of clothing behind her, then crawled into bed with him, snuggling close and throwing a leg over his. “Hi,” she said.

“Hi, yourself.”

They played with each other for an hour, exploring every crevice and orifice, then copulated at length. She came twice before they managed it together.

“WOW,” she said.

“Wow, indeed.”

“I should have joined you when you retired.”

“Then you’d be a fugitive. It would be easier to find two of us, instead of one. You wouldn’t like the life.”

“I like this,” she said, snuggling again.

“So do I. How has your visit to New York gone?”