Hothouse Orchid

51

Holly walked into the Ocean Grill in Vero Beach, stood just inside the door and looked for Lauren Cade.

“I’m right behind you,” Lauren said.

“Hi,” Holly said. “Let’s get a table.”

When they were settled in and iced tea had been served, Holly looked closely at Lauren. “What is going on?” she asked. “You look funny. Is something wrong?”

“No. Well, not yet. I want to run something by you.”

“Go ahead.”

Lauren told her about the plan she had considered.

“Did you propose this to Hurd?” Holly asked.

“Yes.”

“I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.”

“Hurd turned down the idea. In fact, he ordered me not to do it.”

“Of course.”

“In fact, he said he would fire me on the spot, unless I agreed not to.”

“Good for Hurd. What you proposed is not good judgment.”

“Holly, what would you do in the circumstances?”

Holly thought about that.

“That’s what I thought,” Lauren said.

“I was thinking, not deciding to do something stupid.”

“So you’re against it?”

“In every possible way,” Holly said.

“I had another thought, which I proposed to Hurd.”

“Let’s hear that one.”

“We bug Jimmy’s cruiser with a microphone and GPS.”

“This is sounding better already.”

“We follow him at a distance of, say, a quarter of a mile, just out of sight.”

“Good,” Holly said. “And you rush in as soon as he makes a wrong move?”

“Right.”

“I like it, but I’ll tell you how I would like it even better.”

“Please do,” Lauren said.

“You install multiple audio and video cameras, along with the GPS. It’s too easy for something to go wrong with the equipment; you’ve got to have backup. And you’re going to need the video for the trial.”

“You’re right.”

“The problem is, you may have to tail Jimmy for days or even weeks before he makes his move. I mean, right now he’s home free, and he knows that if he commits another murder the whole Bruno-as-killer thing will be blown.”

“I think he would change his MO, make it seem that there’s a different murderer out there,” Lauren said.

“You may be right,” Holly agreed, “but you’re still going to have to wait for the pressure to build inside Jimmy, and that could take a while.”

“It won’t take a while,” Lauren said.

“How can you make it happen sooner?” Holly asked.

“By being the victim.”

“Lauren, I thought we agreed that was a stupid idea.”

“Listen to me, Holly. If I don’t do this we have only one other alternative: we wait for Jimmy to grab another woman. We’d be using an innocent person as bait, and who knows what could happen?”

“You have a point,” Holly said.

“But if his intended victim is me, we have two advantages: we choose the time, and we have him on video and audio. All I need to do is use a code word, and backup is all over us. They have the location, and they’re close.”

Holly shrugged. “Again, you have a point.”

“Cops do this sort of thing all the time,” Lauren pointed out. “It’s just like an undercover drug bust, and the state police have the equipment to make it work. They have surveillance vans that can track his car in real time, pinpoint it, and they have real-time viewing of what’s happening in the car. Hurd can make that happen.”

“Lauren,” Holly said, “do you know what transference is?”

“I think so,” Lauren replied. “It’s like when you transfer your feeling about someone, like your wicked stepfather, onto someone else, like your boyfriend.”

“Right. And do you see any transference going on here?”

“Yeah, I’m transferring my feelings about Bruno to Jimmy. That’s a perfectly valid conclusion, and I think I have perfectly valid reasons for doing it. I hate rapists.”

Holly thought about that for a few seconds. “I think you should have a helicopter, too,” she said. “There’s going to be a very short time between when Jimmy makes his move and you’re in real trouble. Remember, all the other victims, including me, were unconscious immediately.”

“We’ve got the vaccination gun,” Lauren said.

“You can buy those things at a medical supply store,” Holly said, “or shoplift one.”

“I think Jimmy would want me conscious,” Lauren said. “I think he would want a real sexual experience, at least at first.”

“The problem is, Lauren, if you give him a real sexual experience, a consensual one, you’ve got no case against him; it’s just two people fucking.”

“No, no. I make him think it’s real, then I say no.”

“In that case, you’d have to fight him off,” Holly pointed out.

“Not for long; I’d yell the code word, and help would be there.”

“He could kill you in seconds.”

“I’d be armed.”

“If you’re unconscious, that won’t help. And you can’t just shoot him without provocation, Lauren; you’ll be on camera the whole time.”

“How I handle it will have to be left to me,” Lauren said.

“There’s something else,” Holly said. “How are you going to get hold of Jimmy’s car long enough to do all this installation work on it?”

“That’s why I came to you,” Lauren said. “You know Jane Grey, the station secretary, well, don’t you?”

“Sure, Jane was my secretary when I was chief.”

“Will you call her? Hurd doesn’t want to do it for some reason.”

“And tell her what?”

“Tell her to tell Jimmy that his car is scheduled for service, and she’ll give him another. Then we can take the car into a shop and get the work done. If she gets his keys the night before and returns it two mornings later, we’ll have plenty of time.”

“Sure, I’ll do that. Do you know when you want the car?”

“I’ll let you know when everything’s set.”

“Okay, I’ll wait for your call. One other thing, though.”

“What?”

“I don’t think you should carry a weapon; he’s liable to notice. I think it should be concealed in the car. In fact, I think there should be two weapons concealed, say, one under the dash and one under the seat, and you ought to be there when they’re planted, so you’ll know exactly where they are.”

“Good idea,” Lauren said. “Anything else?”

Holly thought about it. “No, but I’ll probably think of something. I’ll call you when I do. And Lauren?”

“Yes?”

“I want to be in a chase car,” Holly said. “Clear it with Hurd.”

“I will.”

“And, Lauren, does your boyfriend know about this?”

“No, Holly, and I’m not going to tell him until it’s over.”