Hothouse Orchid (Holly Barker 6)

Jimmy returned to his cubicle and sat, thinking about the tire and Bruno’s reaction to it. His phone rang. “Detective Weathers,” he said.

“Hi, it’s Lauren.”

“Hi, Lauren.”

“Bruno had the tire changed before we could get to it and take a cast,” she said.

“Yeah, he just told me. He noticed the cut and was afraid he’d have a blowout at speed. Now he thinks vandals are persecuting him. He made me turn the back door surveillance camera toward his car, so he can watch it.”

“Who does he think the vandals are?” she asked.

“You.”

“Me? He thinks I cut his tire?”

“He mentioned it, but I’m not sure he really believes that. He’s just getting paranoid.”

“That’s going to make it harder for us to nail him,” Lauren said.

“Yeah, I guess it will make him more careful, but if he’s the guy, he’s already being real careful; we still don’t have anything on him.”

“No, we don’t. But he’s going to make a mistake eventually,” Lauren said. “I just hope nobody else dies before he does.”

“So do I,” Jimmy replied. He took a deep breath. “Hey, uh, Lauren, would you like to… have dinner sometime?”

“Thanks, Jimmy,” she said, “but I’m seeing somebody, and he’s taking all my time.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks anyway.”

“Call me if you get any more ideas,” Lauren said. “See you.” She hung up. Oh, God, she thought, how’s he going to take that?

39

Lauren was about to leave for the day when her phone rang. “Lauren Cade.”

“Hi, it’s Holly Barker.”

“Hi, Holly.”

“How’d your search for Bruno’s tire go?”

“Not well,” Lauren replied. She told Holly about the search at the tire recycling plant.

“That’s a shame,” Holly said. “Maybe if I’d gone with you we would have had a better chance to find the tire before it got sucked into that machine.”

“Don’t beat yourself up, Holly; it just didn’t work out.”

“Have you got anything else on Bruno?”

“Not a thing, nor on anyone else, either.”

“Lauren, you remember the printout of those clippings and the juvenile record on Bruno I gave you?”

“Sure, I’ve still got them.”

“Please shred them. They came from an Agency computer, and I don’t want anyone else to see them. It’s not like they’re evidence; they’re just background for you and Hurd.”

“Sure, I’ll do that right away.”