Hothouse Orchid (Holly Barker 6)

“I really am.”

“I guess you have a bigger ocean to cast your net.”

“Bigger than you can imagine. I wish I could tell you about it.”

Hurd held up a hand. “I didn’t mean to fish; I know you folks never talk about anything.”

“Thanks for understanding.”

They ordered iced tea and lunch, and soon Holly was enjoying tiny bay scallops in a lot of butter. “So, how’s police work these days?”

“Much the same, but we do more drug work now.”

“Yeah, I still get the local paper, and I read about that.”

“Most of the officers you knew are still with us; a few new ones.”

“I’ll stop by and say hello.”

“I’m retiring,” Hurd said without preamble. “Today’s my last day.”

Holly was shocked. “I thought you’d never do that,” she said.

“I’ve been offered a job with the state police as head of a new investigative unit. The money and the pension are better, and I don’t have to move to Tallahassee. I can work out of the department’s offices here in Vero.”

“Well, congratulations, Hurd. Who’s replacing you? Anybody I know?”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” Hurd said. “I expect you recall the circumstances under which you left the army.”

“Of course.” Holly and another female officer had brought charges against their commanding officer for sexual harassment, attempted rape and rape. Holly had managed to fight him off, but the other woman, a young lieutenant, had not. When the man was acquitted by a board of his fellow officers, Holly realized that she had no place to go in the army, so she retired. The chief at Orchid Beach, Chet Marley, an old army buddy of Ham’s, had offered her the job as his deputy. When he had been killed, Holly had replaced him. “Why do you bring that up?” she asked.

Hurd unbuttoned his shirt pocket and took out a sheet of paper. “I Googled you,” he said. He unfolded it and handed it to her. It was a newspaper account of the trial and her testimony. “I wish I had done it sooner.”

Holly scanned it. “It’s accurate,” she said.

“The city council has hired Colonel James Bruno as the new chief,” Hurd said.

Holly felt as though someone had struck her. Bruno had been her commanding officer.

Hurd saw the shock on her face. “It was a fait accompli before I found out who Bruno was; there was nothing I could do.”

Holly recovered her voice. “How did this happen?”

“Ironically, the council’s experience with you had been such a good one that they decided to look for another MP officer. Bruno looked good on paper, so they interviewed him. Apparently, your name didn’t come up at the time.”

“Does the council know now who he is?”

“I wrote a memo to the chairman, so that it would be on the record.”

“Is it still Charlie Peterson?”

Hurd shook his head. “Charlie died last month: heart attack, at his desk. I’m surprised you didn’t see it in the paper.”

“I guess I’m behind a few issues,” she said. “Who is his replacement?”

Hurd sighed. “Irma Taggert.”

During and after Holly’s first meeting with the Orchid Beach city council and during Holly’s entire tenure as chief, Irma Taggert had been a constant thorn in her side. “That horrible pain in the ass?”