Hothouse Orchid (Holly Barker 6)

“Well, I’m renting this guesthouse,” Teddy said, “but it’s getting small fast.”

“Especially with me around,” Lauren said.

“That is a factor,” Teddy said, laughing.

“You wouldn’t want to live in Holly’s house,” Josh said. “It’s like an armored hothouse, with all the improvements her employer has made.”

Teddy knew about the improvements made for higher-ups in the Agency, but he pretended not to. “Improvements? What kind?”

“I don’t think we need go into that,” Holly said.

“It’s top secret, huh?” Teddy asked.

“No, just not talked about outside the Agency. You’ll have to remember that, Josh.”

Josh threw up his hands. “I’m sorry. I’m unaccustomed to keeping state secrets.”

“Don’t make too big a thing of it,” she said.

“I can see why they would be protective of their people,” Teddy said. “After all, there are terrorists out there who would love to lob a few sticks of dynamite into an American intelligence officer’s bedroom.”

“Now, that’s a disturbing thought,” Josh said.

Holly elbowed him in the ribs. “Unless you change the subject, you’re not going to have to worry about the safety of my bedroom.”

“How ’bout them Gators!” Josh said.

“That’s too big a change of subject for me,” Teddy said. “The only sport I follow is Tiger Woods, and he’s out for the season.”

Jimmy Weathers was getting ready for bed when his phone rang. “Hello?”

“Jimmy, it’s Irma Taggert,” said the chairwoman of the city council.

Jimmy’s heart sank. She was going to tell him he didn’t get the job. “Good evening, Irma.”

“I’m sorry to call so late, but we just got out of a very long council meeting about a lot of subjects.”

“That’s all right, Irma.”

“I just wanted to be the first to congratulate you; you’re the new Orchid Beach chief of police.”

Jimmy was stunned. “They voted?”

“We did, and we voted for you. It was… well, nearly unanimous.”

“I don’t want to know who voted against me,” he said.

“Then I won’t tell you,” she said.

“Irma, I really appreciate your confidence, and I hope you’ll pass that along to the others, first chance you get.”

“I’ll do that, and you’ll get a confirmation in writing tomorrow morning. We’ll have to negotiate a contract, of course, but I can tell you it will be very close to what Bruno got. You’d better hire a lawyer to represent you.”

“I’ll do that, Irma, and thank you again for letting me know so quickly. I’m not sure I’ll get much sleep tonight, but I’m very, very happy about this.”

“So am I, Jimmy. Good night.”

Jimmy hung up the phone and got into bed. He stared at the ceiling, thinking about himself wearing the chief’s badge and sitting in his office with his own secretary. And best of all, he had now made himself completely safe, since he could control any further investigation into the series of rapes and murders.