Read Orchid Beach Online

Authors: Stuart Woods

Tags: #Thriller, #Mystery, #Suspense

Orchid Beach

Orchid Beach
Stuart Woods

Orchid Beach

Stuart Woods

This book is for
Carol Nelson and Harry de Polo

Contents

Chapter 1

Holly Barker, with the rest of the crowd, was called…

Chapter 2

Holly drove across the bridge over the sound at the…

Chapter 3

Holly found the municipal building half a block off the…

Chapter 4

Two minutes passed before Hurd Wallace made his entrance. Holly…

Chapter 5

Holly stopped by the station and took the trash bag…

Chapter 6

Holly waited a moment, then got down on her knees…

Chapter 7

Holly went through Hank Doherty’s safe and found three hundred…

Chapter 8

Holly went back to the station, taking Daisy with her.

Chapter 9

Holly lay in a deep sleep, dreaming of nothing in…

Chapter 10

Holly stood in front of the little airport terminal building…

Chapter 11

Holly picked up some groceries on the way home, avoiding…

Chapter 12

Holly was finishing a sandwich at her desk the following…

Chapter 13

Holly drove the chief’s car home after work. She stopped…

Chapter 14

Holly entered the courtroom and took a seat in the…

Chapter 15

Holly followed the two officers into her office and closed…

Chapter 16

Holly drove south on A1A and slowed at the spot…

Chapter 17

The car was a Toyota Camry, late eighties, before the…

Chapter 18

Holly started to change out of her uniform. “I’ve got…

Chapter 19

Holly slept alone, though Jackson Oxenhandler had made it clear…

Chapter 20

Back at her desk, Holly called in Hurd Wallace and…

Chapter 21

Holly drove north on A1A, with Daisy in the front…

Chapter 22

Holly worked seven days a week for her first two…

Chapter 23

Holly set down the drinks, got the Beretta from her…

Chapter 24

Holly heard the surf before she opened her eyes. Then…

Chapter 25

They showered together, then went for a walk on the…

Chapter 26

They drove north on A1A from the center of the…

Chapter 27

Holly nearly fell into the trailer, with Daisy snarling, trying…

Chapter 28

Holly woke up at nine forty-five and reached for Jackson,…

Chapter 29

Holly and Jackson led the way, followed by Ham and…

Chapter 30

Palmetto Gardens had only one listed phone number; apparently all…

Chapter 31

On Sunday afternoon Holly, Jackson and Ham took Chet Marley’s…

Chapter 32

Jackson used a card with a magnetic strip to open…

Chapter 33

Jackson set the little airplane down on the sand, cut…

Chapter 34

The middle of the following week, Holly had her job…

Chapter 35

Holly was sitting at her desk half an hour later…

Chapter 36

They were shown to a table overlooking the ocean and…

Chapter 37

Holly stood in the entrance hall of the municipal building,…

Chapter 38

Holly drove out A1A to Sebastian Inlet, and took a…

Chapter 39

Holly started the next day by asking Jane Grey to…

Chapter 40

Harry Crisp looked less like an FBI agent than Holly…

Chapter 41

Holly had begun going through the departmental personnel files, something…

Chapter 42

Holly didn’t have to wait long. When she got back…

Chapter 43

Holly worked late on the personnel files, then went home,…

Chapter 44

At eleven o’clock the phone on Holly’s desk rang. She…

Chapter 45

Holly sat and waited, staring at Mosely. Daisy made the…

Chapter 46

Holly went straight to Jackson’s house after work. One of…

Chapter 47

The next morning, Holly was back at her desk. She…

Chapter 48

After work, Holly drove out to Jackson’s house, with Hurd…

Chapter 49

Rita Morales showed up at the service gate to Palmetto…

Chapter 50

Holly sat at Jackson’s dining table and listened to Rita’s…

Chapter 51

Ham Barker got into bed and turned on the TV,…

Chapter 52

Rita turned up on time for work at Palmetto Gardens,…

Chapter 53

Harry Crisp looked at his wristwatch, then at the group…

Chapter 54

Holly was wakened from a deep sleep by the telephone.

Chapter 55

Holly went into the office like a good girl, but…

Chapter 56

Holly got changed and fed Daisy. She still had a…

Chapter 57

Holly, Daisy, Hurd, Jackson, and Ham all arrived at the…

Chapter 58

At two A.M., after nearly eight hours of briefings and…

Chapter 59

Harry Crisp jumped out of his seat. “There’s five!” he…

Chapter 60

Holly sat in the dining room of the Palmetto Gardens…

Chapter 61

Holly waited for Hurd Wallace to arrive and take over…

Chapter 62

The evening was growing cool. Holly and Jackson sat on…

 

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Praise

Other Books by Stuart Woods

Copyright

About the Publisher

CHAPTER
1

H
olly Barker, with the rest of the crowd, was called to her feet as the panel of officers filed into the courtroom. She was a spectator now, no longer a witness, but she wanted to be here for this.

Colonel James Bruno stood at the defense table, ramrod straight, and watched his judges with beady eyes. For the first time since his trial had begun, he was not smiling.

“Seats!” the clerk of the court called out, and all sat.

The brigadier general, who was president of the court, cleared his throat. “The following three verdicts have been reached unanimously,” the general said. “As to the first charge, sexual harassment, we have reached a verdict of not guilty.”

Holly’s stomach shrank into a knot. She locked her knees so that they would not buckle. She knew what could only come next.

“As to the second charge, attempted rape, we have
reached a verdict of not guilty,” the general said. “And as to the third charge, conduct unbecoming an officer, we have reached a verdict of not guilty.”

“Yes!” screamed a woman in the front row.

Holly recognized her as Colonel Bruno’s wife. It was the first time she had appeared in court.

“Colonel Bruno,” the general said, “you are restored to duty. This court is adjourned.”

Holly made her way slowly through the crowd, ignoring the reporters who were demanding her reaction to the verdict. On her way she came abreast of the young blond lieutenant who had been the other complainant in the case. Holly found her hand and squeezed. The woman was in tears.

The cold outside air struck like a slap, reviving her, and she saw her father’s car at the curb. She got in beside him.

“I’m sorry,” he said. He was dressed in his master sergeant’s uniform and wore the green beret of the special forces.

“You knew, didn’t you?” she asked.

Hamilton Barker nodded. “It was in the cards,” he said. “It was Bruno’s word against yours. He’s a West Pointer, and so were most of the court. They weren’t going to destroy his career.”

“They’ve destroyed mine,” Holly said. She could see the gold oak leaf on her left shoulder out of the corner of her eye.

“You can request a transfer, and they can’t deny it,” her father said.

“Come on, Ham. They’d never let me forget it. I’d end up in some unit commanded by a classmate of Bruno’s, and I’d be repeatedly passed over for promotion on some pretext or other.”

Her father said nothing.

“I could get a job on a police force somewhere,” she said.

“Funny you should mention that,” her father replied.

 

They sat in a steak house near the base, the ruins of their dinner before them. The talk had been of army, Vietnam and army, and Holly had done all the listening.

She liked Ham’s friend and old comrade-in-arms, Chet Marley; he was smaller and skinnier than Ham, but he had the same wiry toughness as her father, the same crow’s-feet around the eyes from squinting into the distance. And he seemed very smart.

“Okay, enough of this old-soldier stuff,” Marley said suddenly. “I’ve got a problem, Holly, and I think you might be the person to help me solve it.”

“Tell me, Chet,” Holly said.

“I’m chief of a twenty-four-man force in Orchid Beach, Florida, and there’s a gaping hole where the number-two man ought to be.”

“Don’t you believe in promoting from within?” Holly asked.

“I believe in the best man for the job,” Marley said. “Or woman,” he added.

“You short of good men?”

“I’m short of experienced men. Most of them are in their twenties. I’ve got one man who’s forty and has experience, but I don’t trust him.”

“Don’t trust him, how?” Holly asked.

“He’s a politician, and I don’t like politicians. He thinks he should have my job, which is okay, I guess, except he’d screw it up if he had it.”

“Why don’t you fire him?”

“He’s never given me any real cause, and he’s connected with some of the city council.”

“That’s bad, I guess,” Holly replied. “I’m no politician, but I can see how that could be difficult to deal with.”

“I’m going to retire next year, and I don’t want him to have my job,” Marley said. “My idea is to bring in an experienced…person, somebody who can take charge and be ready when I go.”

Holly nodded, but said nothing.

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