Iron Orchid

FORTY-EIGHT

TEDDY GOT INTO THE CAR, carrying a briefcase, drove over to the West Side and headed north on the West Side Highway, which turned into the Henry Hudson Parkway, which turned into the Saw Mill River Parkway. Near the end he got off at the exit for Katonah and began driving around, looking for a very private spot.

After a few minutes he stopped on a small bridge. A stream passed under him, and on one bank he saw a well-worn footpath. Not likely anyone would be in the woods today, he thought. He pulled past the bridge onto the wide shoulder and got out of the car, carrying his briefcase. He half-walked, half-slid down the embankment to the footpath and began walking quickly upstream, away from the bridge. After a couple of minutes, there was a bend in the stream, and Teddy could no longer see the bridge.

It was cold and silent in the winter-stripped woods, and he walked for another quarter of a mile before he found a fork in the path, away from the stream. He stopped and spotted an oak tree with a knot in its trunk around eight inches in diameter on the other side of the stream. He estimated the distance to the tree to be twenty yards.

He walked up the right fork in the path, pacing off another eighty yards, then stopped and looked around. He seemed completely alone in the woods, and the only sound he could hear was the rush of the stream. Looking back, he could see the oak tree with the knot clearly.

Teddy sat down on a large rock and, after checking both ways on the path for company, opened the briefcase and began assembling his new Walther PPK-S rifle. That done, he disassembled it and went through the process another three times, getting faster. After the third time, he was down to thirty-five seconds, and he reckoned that was about as fast as he would get.

Teddy knelt behind the rock and rested the barrel of the silenced rifle on it. He took careful aim at the knot in the oak tree, adjusting the zoom scope, then he squeezed off a round. The rifle was pleasingly silent, emitting only a whispery pjffttt! The bullet struck a foot below the knot and barely grazed the trunk on the right side. Part of that must be trigger pull, he thought. He fired one more round, and it stayed a foot low, but was only six inches right.

He adjusted the scope for elevation and turned the knurled knob two clicks to bring it into horizontal alignment. He fired another shot, and the bullet struck the tree at the bottom of the knot and a little left. He adjusted twice more, until he squeezed off a round that struck the knot dead center, then just to be sure, he fired two more rounds, both of which were nearly in the original bullet hole. That’s it, he thought. I’m sighted in for a hundred yards.

He got up, walked around a bit, then shoved in another magazine, stood and fired another six rounds from an unbraced standing position. He started wide but gradually brought his fire on target. The center of the knot was now a crater, and he was putting every round into it.

Satisfied, he quickly disassembled the rifle, packed it into the fitted briefcase and began walking back to the car. A few minutes later, he was back on the Saw Mill, heading south for the city, enjoying the drive.

____________________

THE PHONE RANG in Holly’s apartment.

“Hello?”

“It’s your old man.”

“You’re in already?”

“Five minutes ago.”

“How’s the Lowell?”

“Very nice; better than I’m used to. Can I buy you lunch?”

“No, but I’ll take you, Pick you up in fifteen minutes?”

“We’ll meet you in the lobby.”

Holly phoned La Goulue, a restaurant at 65th and Madison she passed every day while walking Daisy, and made a reservation. She walked Daisy, played with her for a bit, gave her a cookie and told her to be a good girl, then she went to meet Ham.

THE RESTAURANT was warm and cozy, and they were given a nice corner table. Ginny, Ham’s girlfriend, was a good-looking woman with bright red hair who had taught Holly to fly the year before, and this was her first time in New York.

They ordered, then Ham spoke up. “So, how’s the work going?”

“Not so hot,” Holly said.

“Can’t you find Teddy?”

Holly’s eyebrows went up.

“It wasn’t so hard to figure out,” Ham said. “There’ve been three or four murders around the U.N. the past few weeks, and I don’t believe the Agency is committing them. I always thought he might have gotten out of that airplane.”

“He did,” Holly said. “Ginny, you can’t hear this, and if you do, you have to keep it to yourself.”

“Don’t worry, Holly, my lips are sealed,” Ginny replied.

“She knows how to zip up,” Ham said. “Now, why haven’t you found this guy?”

“Because he’s very, very smart,” Holly said. “I figured he might be using the Lexington Avenue subway to get up and downtown, so we staked it out and photographed every likely candidate, but I swear to God, I think he spotted me and got out of there, instead of onto the train.”

“You? Why would he know you?”

“Because I met him at the opera, and he invited me to use a spare ticket. He was beautifully disguised, though, and I never tumbled to him until I saw him later, ignoring what he said was a bad hip or knee or something and running like a jackrabbit for a cab.”

“Isn’t there some way to lure him out from his cover?” Ham asked.

“Maybe me. I think he lives in my neighborhood, so we’ve had a team following me, in case I see him.”

“That would explain the guy across the street who keeps changing places with a woman,” Ham said, nodding toward the window.

“Damn,” Holly said, looking out the window, “he’s one of ours, all right. I asked Lance to pull off the team while you’re here, but I guess he didn’t.”

“Why do you think Teddy would be interested in you?” Ham said.

“I don’t know that he would, but he’s obviously figured out that I’m Agency or Bureau, and he has the advantage of recognizing me when I can’t recognize him.”

Ham sat quietly for a moment.

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m trying to think of a way to make you better bait.”

“Thanks a lot, Ham. Should I go naked in the street?”

“That might do it, but you’d freeze to death in these temperatures.”

ACROSS THE RESTAURANT, Teddy sat with Irene. He was against the wall, while her back was to the room, so he could see Holly clearly. He was wearing his nose and mustache disguise, and Irene was good cover, too. They wouldn’t expect him to be with a woman.

“I’m nervous about being in a restaurant with you, Teddy,” Irene whispered.

“Just don’t use my name; call me Carl,” he whispered back.

“Who is it you’re looking at across the room?” she asked.

“One of yours,” he said “Holly Barker.”

“She’s right here in the restaurant?”

“Yep. We followed her here.”

Irene sat up straight, so she could see the reflection of the room in the mirror behind their banquette. “Where?”

“She’s sitting next to a redhead, and there’s a man with them with his back to us. He looks ex-military to me; could be her father.”

“You’ve got more guts than is good for you,” Irene said.

“You’re probably right. Have you thought of retiring from the Agency?”

“I would, if I had something to do with myself,” she said.

“How much have you got in savings?”

“About three hundred thousand in stock accounts, and I’d have my pension, of course.”

“How’d you like to live in the islands?”

“Which islands?”

“Caribbean.”

“Now that would make an attractive alternative to working.”

“It’s about time for me to get out of here,” Teddy said. “I just want this one more good score, then I want to disappear for good. You want to disappear with me?”

She smiled. “I think I’d like that.”

“We’d have to do this carefully,” Teddy said.

“Tell me how, and I’ll do it.”

“I think St. Barts would be nice; I was there for a weekend about fifteen years ago, and I was impressed.”

“I’ve heard good things about it.”

“You retire, go down there and look for a house. Use your savings for a down payment; I’ll give you a bank name in the Caymans, and you’ll apply for a mortgage there. The payments will be made from my funds, and in time, when we’re sure they’re not interested in you anymore, I’ll replenish your savings. It’s important that the Agency can see that you’re doing this on your own hook, with no help.”

“That’s true. You’re sure this is what you want to do, uh, Carl?”

“I’m sure; how about you?”

“I’m in.”

“When you get back, go see Hugh English and tell him you want to retire in, say, a month. Tell him you’re thinking about a place in the sun somewhere and ask him for recommendations, then put your place on the market. Is it paid for?”

“Yes, and it’s probably worth three-fifty, three-seventy-five.”

“Good. With that, an Agency investigator would see that you can afford the place in the islands.”

“This is exciting,” she said, putting her hand on his.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Teddy replied. “I just want to tie up some loose ends here.” He looked across the room at Holly again. He would be sorry to say goodbye to her.