Iron Orchid (Holly Barker 5)

“Really? I thought you’d outlast Hugh.”

“Even if I did, I’d never get his job, and I’m a little weary, Lance. I think I’d like to live in a sunnier climate, bake my bones a bit.”

“Have you said anything to Hugh about this?”

“Not yet, but I’ve pretty much decided to go and see him on Monday morning.”

“You don’t want to see the Teddy Fay thing through?”

“Look, it’s just another operation; there’ve been hundreds before it, and there’ll be hundreds after it. Anyway, I feel helpless on this o

ne. You’re at the pointed end of this effort; all I’m doing is shuffling papers.”

“Well, I’ll be sorry to see you go Irene. Where’d you have to mind?”

“I don’t know, someplace in the islands, I guess. Have you spent any time down there?”

“Ten years ago I was acting station chief, working out of St Thomas.”

“Did you like it there?”

“It was all right; I liked the islands farther south-St. Kitts, St. Barts-better. Those were really nice.”

“I’ve read good things about St. Barts,” she said. “Maybe I'll get on the Internet and have a closer look at it, check out the property prices.” This was working out well, getting a recommendation from Lance.

“What else can I do for you while you’re here?” Lance asked.

“I’d love to take a look at your facility,” Irene replied. “Could Holly show me around?”

“Sure.” He buzzed Holly and instructed her.

THEIR TOUR FINISHED, Holly escorted Irene back to the front lobby.

“Thank you so much, Holly,” Irene said, taking her hand. “It was very kind of you to take the time to show me the building.”

Holly shook her hand. “I was very pleased to do so.”

“By the way,” Irene said, “we hear good things about you from time to time. Keep up the good work.”

“I’ll do my best,” Holly said.

Irene went out into the cold streets, the jealousy burning in her breast. She needed to get Teddy out of New York fast. She knew him well enough to know that he wasn’t going to leave Holly Barker alone.

FIFTY

TEDDY WALKED SLOWLY DOWN Fifth Avenue, wearing what appeared to be a broken nose, a brown Vandyke beard and a reversible topcoat with the tweed side out. He wore a soft felt hat and carried a shopping bag with a few wrapped empty boxes peeking out, and he could still see Holly, who had obligingly worn a bright red woolen tarn. The tall, thin man, whom Teddy had now identified as her father, Hamilton Barker, from has military records, was with her. He didn’t know, yet, who the redhead on his arm was, and he suspected that she was an Agency or Bureau colleague of Holly’s.

The three of them passed St. Patrick’s Cathedral, paused in front of Saks Fifth Avenue and gazed at the giant Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. Then they crossed the street and walked into the arcade that led to the skating rink.

Teddy dallied in front of Saks for a minute or two, since he didn’t have to worry about losing the three while they looked at the skaters and the tree. He used the pause to try and identify Holly’s tailing team.

There would be four of them, he knew, and they would dress against type, as he had. He had his doubts about a woman pushing a baby carriage, who was ignoring the Saks windows and looking at the crowd instead. Chances were, a doll occupied the carriage. He liked a man, too, wearing a fat down jacket and a lumberjack’s cap with earflaps. The man should have been smart enough not to wear suit trousers and wingtips with that outfit. The other two team members, he reckoned, would be working closer to Holly.

He crossed the street when the pedestrian stoplight changed, and he had just reached the other side and was entering the arcade when he heard three gunshots. A.45, he thought immediately, and the sound came from near the skating rink.

Suddenly, the thick crowd in the arcade became a tidal wave of people, all running away from the gunfire. Teddy flattened himself against a shop front and his hand closed on the little Keltec.380 in his coat pocket. He looked back toward Saks and saw that the mother with the baby carriage had abandoned her young and was crossing Fifth Avenue as best she could through the traffic and against the running crowd. So much for the safety of her “child.”

As the crowd quickly drained from the arcade, Teddy looked toward the skating rink and saw a man carrying a semiautomatic pistol in each hand, spinning like a dervish and firing random shots at people and through shop windows. Two shoppers were down, and there was broken glass everywhere. Then Teddy saw the man with Holly, one hand behind his back, walking quickly toward the shooter. Teddy began edging up the arcade toward Fifth Avenue, keeping his back to the buildings and his hand on the gun.