AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I guess that’s what we’ll do,” Annie said. The radio on her belt squawked, and she answered the call. “I’d better get going,” she said. “One of my shift has arrested two men on a drug charge after a traffic stop, and I need to cover that.”
“You go ahead,” Holly said, “and feel free to call me if you need to talk.”
Annie got back into her patrol car and headed back up the driveway.
Holly was glad to have talked to her. She wished she had had somebody to talk to when she was dealing with Bruno.
She cleaned up the kitchen, polishing the copper risotto pan she’d used the night before, then realized that, in spite of her shopping trip for dinner, she had little else to eat in the house. She made a list and drove into Orchid Beach to the market.
Holly had been in the store for a minute when she heard a woman’s voice behind her.
“Major Barker?”
She turned and saw a young woman with short, blond hair, wearing the Florida State Patrol uniform with sergeant’s stripes. “Yes?”
“You don’t recognize me, do you?”
Suddenly, the penny dropped. She was the lieutenant James Bruno had raped-Lauren Cade. “Lauren!” Holly said. “I’m sorry, the uniform and the haircut threw me off, and nobody has called me major for a long time.” They shook hands.
“I’d heard you were chief in Orchid Beach after you retired,” Lauren said, “but I thought you had left town.”
“That’s true,” Holly replied. “I’m working in Virginia now; I’m just back for a little while on vacation. I still have a house here.”
“I left the army a year after you did,” Lauren said. “I
came to Florida for the weather, had a couple of nothing jobs to pay the rent, then I applied to the State Patrol and was accepted. I made sergeant a few months ago.”
“Congratulations,” Holly said.
“I just came in here to get a sandwich for lunch.”
“Why don’t we have lunch together, if you have the time?” Holly said.
“Thanks. I’d like that.”
They went to a deli a couple of doors down from the market, found a table and ordered sandwiches.
“Is Orchid Beach a regular part of your patrol duty?” Holly asked.
“Yes, I’m through here every day.”
“Lauren, have you heard the latest about Jim Bruno?”
Her face hardened. “Do I want to?”
“I think you’d better hear this; he’s the new chief in Orchid, my old job.”
Her face fell. “No, I hadn’t heard that.”
“I thought it best to tell you before you ran into him.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it. I’m sorry to hear he’s in the state, let alone on my beat.”
“I’d hate to see you have to transfer somewhere else just to avoid him,” Holly said.
“Not likely,” Lauren replied. “I just bought a house; I’m dug in here. I’ve applied to a new investigative unit that’s going to be based in Vero Beach. Haven’t heard anything yet.”
“The one that Hurd Wallace is running?”
