Stuart Woods - Iron Orchid

“Thank you.” Irene rode up in the elevator and was met by an attractive, fortyish woman.

“Ms. Foster? I’m Holly Barker,” the woman said. “Please come with me to Lance’s office.”

So this was the girl Teddy was so interested in, Irene thought, following her down the hallway. She was more attractive than she had imagined, and she felt a pang of jealousy.

Lance stood up to greet her as she came into his office. “Irene, it’s good to see you somewhere other than on a teleconference,” he said, shaking her hand. “You’ve met my assistant, Holly Barker?”

“Yes, but I didn’t even know you had an assistant,” Irene replied.

“I wanted to give her a chance at some supervisory work,” Lance said. “How’s Hugh English?”

“Oh, about the same, I think. He asked me to look in on you and see how things were going in the hunt for Teddy Fay.”

Lance sighed. “I’m afraid I don’t have much to report,” he said. “We keep trying new things, but so far, he’s been very slippery.”

“That’s not going to sound very good to Hugh, Lance, or to the director.”

“Irene, you can tell Hugh for me-and the director, too-that if anybody at Langley thinks they can do a better job up here, I’ll step aside in a flash. Quite frankly, I’m getting tired of being Langley’s cop, and as nice a guy as Kerry Smith is, I’m tired of having to deal with the FBI on everything I do.”

“Now, Lance,” Irene said placatingly, “everybody at Langley, including the director, knows how good you are, and we all know we don’t have anybody better. You just keep plugging away at this, and, eventually, you’ll get a break and capitalize on it.”

“I hope to God you’re right,” Lance said.

“I read your report on the extra surveillance you’re putting on likely targets; I think that’s a very good idea.”

“Well, we were a little late coming up with it,” Lance said. “You’ll recall we lost the first name on the list before we could act.”

“It happens,” she said. “Don’t be discouraged. By the way, you got my e-mail about Ali ben Saud, I hope.”

“Yes, but I don’t understand why we’ve had to pull surveillance on him. I should think he’d be a prime target for Teddy.”

“Things are pretty tense with the Saudis right now,” Irene said, “and Hugh felt it could hurt the political situation with them if ben Saud or his people made your people.”

“I understand,” Lance said. “Is this something the president has asked for?”

“No, it was Hugh’s decision, on his own authority.”

“How are Hugh and the director getting along these days?”

“As well as can be expected.”

“Is he ever going to retire?”

“Not until he has to.” She paused. “I’m thinking of putting in for it myself, though.”

“Really? I thought you’d outlast Hugh.”

“Even if I did, I’d never get his job, and I’m a little weary, Lance. I think I’d like to live in a sunnier climate, bake my bones a bit.”

“Have you said anything to Hugh about this?”

“Not yet, but I’ve pretty much decided to go and see him on Monday morning.”

“You don’t want to see the Teddy Fay thing through?”

“Look, it’s just another operation; there’ve been hundreds before it, and there’ll be hundreds after it. Anyway, I feel helpless on this one. You’re at the pointed end of this effort; all I’m doing is shuffling papers.”

“Well, I’ll be sorry to see you go Irene. Where’d you have to mind?”

“I don’t know, someplace in the islands, I guess. Have you spent any time down there?”

“Ten years ago I was acting station chief, working out of St Thomas.”

“Did you like it there?”

“It was all right; I liked the islands farther south-St. Kitts, St. Barts-better. Those were really nice.”

“I’ve read good things about St. Barts,” she said. “Maybe I'll get on the Internet and have a closer look at it, check out the property prices.” This was working out well, getting a recommendation from Lance.

“What else can I do for you while you’re here?” Lance asked.

“I’d love to take a look at your facility,” Irene replied. “Could Holly show me around?”

“Sure.” He buzzed Holly and instructed her.

THEIR TOUR FINISHED, Holly escorted Irene back to the front lobby.

“Thank you so much, Holly,” Irene said, taking her hand. “It was very kind of you to take the time to show me the building.”

Holly shook her hand. “I was very pleased to do so.”

“By the way,” Irene said, “we hear good things about you from time to time. Keep up the good work.”

“I’ll do my best,” Holly said.

Irene went out into the cold streets, the jealousy burning in her breast. She needed to get Teddy out of New York fast. She knew him well enough to know that he wasn’t going to leave Holly Barker alone.

FIFTY

TEDDY WALKED SLOWLY DOWN Fifth Avenue, wearing what appeared to be a broken nose, a brown Vandyke beard and a reversible topcoat with the tweed side out. He wore a soft felt hat and carried a shopping bag with a few wrapped empty boxes peeking out, and he could still see Holly, who had obligingly worn a bright red woolen tarn. The tall, thin man, whom Teddy had now identified as her father, Hamilton Barker, from has military records, was with her. He didn’t know, yet, who the redhead on his arm was, and he suspected that she was an Agency or Bureau colleague of Holly’s.

The three of them passed St. Patrick’s Cathedral, paused in front of Saks Fifth Avenue and gazed at the giant Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. Then they crossed the street and walked into the arcade that led to the skating rink.

Teddy dallied in front of Saks for a minute or two, since he didn’t have to worry about losing the three while they looked at the skaters and the tree. He used the pause to try and identify Holly’s tailing team.

There would be four of them, he knew, and they would dress against type, as he had. He had his doubts about a woman pushing a baby carriage, who was ignoring the Saks windows and looking at the crowd instead. Chances were, a doll occupied the carriage. He liked a man, too, wearing a fat down jacket and a lumberjack’s cap with earflaps. The man should have been smart enough not to wear suit trousers and wingtips with that outfit. The other two team members, he reckoned, would be working closer to Holly.

He crossed the street when the pedestrian stoplight changed, and he had just reached the other side and was entering the arcade when he heard three gunshots. A.45, he thought immediately, and the sound came from near the skating rink.

Suddenly, the thick crowd in the arcade became a tidal wave of people, all running away from the gunfire. Teddy flattened himself against a shop front and his hand closed on the little Keltec.380 in his coat pocket. He looked back toward Saks and saw that the mother with the baby carriage had abandoned her young and was crossing Fifth Avenue as best she could through the traffic and against the running crowd. So much for the safety of her “child.”

As the crowd quickly drained from the arcade, Teddy looked toward the skating rink and saw a man carrying a semiautomatic pistol in each hand, spinning like a dervish and firing random shots at people and through shop windows. Two shoppers were down, and there was broken glass everywhere. Then Teddy saw the man with Holly, one hand behind his back, walking quickly toward the shooter. Teddy began edging up the arcade toward Fifth Avenue, keeping his back to the buildings and his hand on the gun.

Then, for no apparent reason, the shooter stopped spinning and started walking backward, directly toward Teddy. His attention seemed occupied with something further down the arcade, and Teddy saw that it must be Ham Barker, who was walking calmly toward the man. He knew that Barker held a gun behind him, and that, as soon as he was a little closer to the shooter, he was going to start firing himself. Teddy was behind the shooter, in a direct line. If a slug from Barker missed or overpenetrated the shooter, Teddy was in line to catch it, and he didn’t want that.