Orchid Beach

CHAPTER

62

The evening was growing cool. Holly and Jackson sat on the beach, warmed by a driftwood fire. Daisy lay between them, her head in Holly’s lap, having her ears stroked. Eight months had passed since the Palmetto Gardens Bust, as it had become known across the country. Barney Noble was due to go on trial the following month; more than a hundred other people had taken plea bargains or been convicted of various federal and state crimes. Harry Crisp had netted eight major drug lords and more than a hundred of their underlings. Various federal law-enforcement agencies had been using Palmetto Gardens for training and recreational purposes, and a huge auction of the property would take place in another few months.

Harry Crisp was now the agent in charge of the Miami office of the Bureau, and there was talk in the papers of his being promoted to deputy director of the FBI, in a reshuffle at the Bureau. He and Holly had both been decorated by the director.

Jackson stroked Holly’s cheek. “You think you might have everything under control, now?”

“Just about,” Holly said. “But it won’t be over for me until Barney Noble has been convicted.”

“I can understand that,” Jackson said. “I was just wondering if you might be able to take two or three weeks off between now and the trial.”

“I’ve got the vacation time coming,” she said. “What did you have in mind?”

“I don’t know, where would you like to go on your honeymoon?”

Holly held his hand still. “Am I getting married?”

“Yep.”

“Anybody I know?”

“Yep.”

“When?”

“The sooner, the better. I know a judge who will perform the ceremony on short notice.”

“Wow,” Holly said.

“Wow, what?”

“I never really thought I’d get married.”

“Life is full surprises,” he said, kissing her. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“You didn’t really ask me, did you?”

“I asked you where you’d like to go on your honeymoon.”

“Oh, that,” Holly said.

“Hawaii? Europe? The Caribbean?”

Holly hugged Daisy and smiled at her fiancé. “Anyplace that takes bitches,” she said.

“I figured,” Jackson replied.