by Stuart Woods
Holly got out of the van at the com center, and it drove away. Teams of agents were conducting a house-to-house search, armed with warrants, and the agents in her group went off to join them. She met Harry Crisp on his way out the door.
“How did it go?” she asked.
“Perfectly. But there’s a steel door in there that we’ve got to deal with before we can find out what’s downstairs. I’ve got two men on it, and I’ll have a report soon.”
“Where’s Ham?”
“He’s around here somewhere. He and his group did brilliantly. I don’t know what we’d have done without him.”
Jackson stepped up. “Did you arrest Barney Noble?”
Holly shook her head. “He got out, probably by way of the marina.”
“Shit,” Jackson said.
A man came out of the com center. “Harry,” he said, “the steel door is open. It was a piece of cake.”
Harry rushed back inside, followed closely by Holly and Jackson. The door was, indeed, open. A stairway led down from it.
“Let me clear the area, first, Harry,” a man called out. Two men with automatic weapons went down the well-lighted stairs. “Okay,” one of them called out, “all clear.”
Harry and his entourage walked down the stairs and emerged into a large room containing only a desk and a huge steel door.
Holly’s mouth dropped open. “Holy shit,” she said under her breath.
“What the hell is that?” Harry asked.
Jackson spoke up. “Looks like a bank vault, Harry.”
“I know that, but what the hell is it doing down here?”
“Looks like these people don’t want you to know what’s behind it,” Jackson said. “Looks like there’s a time lock, too,” he said, pointing, “set for nine A.M. Even with the combination, you wouldn’t get it open until then.”
“It’s a Friedrich,” an agent said. “German. I think they’ve got an office in New York. Maybe Miami, too.”
“Call them first thing in the morning and get an expert down here to open it,” Harry said. “Jesus, I hate waiting.”
Ham joined them and slipped an arm around Holly. “Wasn’t this fun?” he said.
CHAPTER
60
H olly sat in the dining room of the Palmetto Gardens Country Club at seven A.M. and finished a large breakfast. Harry had ordered the staff to work as usual, except the dining room was full of federal agents instead of members. The staff had cleaned up the mess from the ruined ceiling. Harry Crisp sat down beside her with a cup of coffee.
“So, who have we got here, Harry?”
Harry grinned. “It’s sort of an international Appalachin,” he said. “They’ve all got good passports, but in fake names, and nobody will say anything, but it looks like we’ve got the number two man in the Cali Cartel and the number one man in the Mexican organization. And that’s just for starters. We’re running prints now, and a courier is bringing mug books from Miami. I’d be willing to bet a year’s pay that we’ve got the biggest bust ever.”
“Except for Barney Noble,” she said.
“I’m sorry my guys were late to the party at the marina,” he said, “but Barney will turn up. He can run, but he can’t hide—not for long.”
“I hope you’re right,” Holly said. “I want him bad.”
Harry waved an arm at the view of the golf course out the window. “How do you like my country club?” he asked. “This is all mine, now, this and whatever’s in the vault at the com center. We’ll confiscate it all, nice and legal-like.”
“It looks good on you, Harry.”
“It’s a relief, I tell you,” Harry said. “My career was on the line here.”
“Mine, too,” Holly said. “I’ve just busted into the property of the biggest taxpayers in town. If it came to nothing, my plan was to blame the FBI.”
Harry laughed. “I was going to blame you.”
Holly looked at her watch. “Well, there’s nothing else for me to do here, so I think I’ll go home and grab a shower and a change of clothes and go to work. Keep me posted, will you? I’ll be anxious for news. Is this going to make morning television?”
Harry shook his head. “We’re keeping it locked down until we’ve got some more information. We should be able to delay any kind of statement until the end of the day.”
Holly got up and went to find a ride out of Palmetto Gardens. She found a car and driver and asked to be taken to the station; she wanted to know what was going on there.
She was dropped off in the parking lot and went inside. All was quiet. “Anything going on?” she asked the dispatcher.
“Not a thing,” the young man replied. “We haven’t had a call of any kind all night, except for your APB on Barney Noble.”
“Anything at all on that?”
“Not a peep.”
“Is Jane in yet?”
“No, she’s not due for another hour.”
Holly went back to her office to check her messages and found nothing of consequence. She looked into Jane Grey’s empty office, and that reminded her that she had something unpleasant to do, and she might as well get it over with.
She put Daisy in the chief’s car and, following a map, drove out to Jane’s house. It was an attractive, if modest place, in a good neighborhood. A lawn sprinkler system was at work, and the grass was green. Holly pulled into the driveway behind Jane’s station wagon, which was sitting there with its tailgate open, half filled with boxes and luggage. It looked as though Jane was planning to go somewhere. Holly got out of the car, went to the front door and rang the bell.
Jane came to the door, dressed, but looking frazzled. “Holly,” she said. “What are you doing here at this hour? Is anything wrong?”
“We have to talk, Jane. Can I come in?”
“Why, uh, yes, of course. Come in and sit down.” She showed Holly to a chair. “There’s some coffee on. Can I get you some?”
“No, thanks. Sit down, Jane.”
Jane perched on the edge of a chair facing Holly.
“Are you going somewhere?” Holly asked. “I see you’re loading your car.”
“Oh, ah, just a brief trip. My mother is ill. She lives in Miami. I was going to call you as soon as you got to the station.”
“Your mother is dead, Jane,” Holly said. “I read that in your personnel record, along with some other very interesting information about you.”
Jane looked at her oddly. “What information do you mean?”
“Your original employment application gave your name as Jane Grey Noble, divorced. You were married to Barney Noble, weren’t you?”
Jane flushed. “Yes, I was, for a little more than fifteen years.”
“So when you were divorced, you left Miami and came up here?”
“Yes, I read about the job in a police journal. I had had a clerical job with the Miami department.”
“And that’s when you met Barney?”
“In Miami, yes. He had a security firm.”
“And then Barney turned up here, in Orchid Beach, didn’t he?”
“So I heard.” Jane was increasingly nervous.
“And you began seeing him again.”
“Not really.”
“And when did you start giving him information about the Orchid Beach Police Department?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Jane said, flustered.
“Sure you do, Jane. You kept tabs on Chet Marley for Barney, didn’t you?”
Jane said nothing but looked at her feet.
“It was you who told Barney about Chet’s conversations with the accountant from Palmetto Gardens.”
Jane still said nothing.
“Chet confided in you, didn’t he? He told you everything, and you reported everything to Barney.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Jane said.
“You got Chet Marley killed, that’s all,” Holly said. “You’re an accessory to his murder.”
“I had nothing to do with hi
s murder,” Jane said.
“Sure you did, Jane. What you told Barney convinced him that Chet had to be killed. And after I arrived and went to work, you reported all my actions to Barney, didn’t you? At least, those you knew about.”
Jane shrugged. “All right, Barney and I are…close,” she said.
“Oh, really? Funny, I was at Barney’s house last night. There was a very beautiful young girl there, Jane.”
Jane looked horrified, but her gaze was not at Holly, but over her shoulder. Holly heard a door squeak. Daisy stood up and looked at the door.
“Good morning,” a male voice said.
Holly turned to find Barney Noble standing in the kitchen doorway, a gun in his hand. “Morning, Barney,” she replied.
“Looks like you’ve discovered our little love nest,” he said. “What have you two been talking about?”
“I was just telling Jane about the young woman I found in your house last night.”
“And exactly what were you doing at my house last night, Holly?” Barney asked.
“I was in the company of three hundred federal agents who went into Palmetto Gardens in the middle of the night and shut it down.”
Barney didn’t look very surprised. “I figured something was up when the lights went out and the backup generator failed, too.”
“So you went out through the marina and called Jane.”
“Something like that.”
“And that’s why you and Jane are packing, isn’t it?”
“Could be.”
“The feds are out there right now combing the computer files at the com center. The vault will be open soon, too.”
“Funny, I don’t even know what’s in the vault, or on the computers, either,” Barney said. “I just ran a security force, that’s all. The feds have got nothing on me.”
“It doesn’t really matter,” Holly said. “The feds aren’t all that interested in you, Barney. You’re mine now.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Barney asked.
“Well, let’s start with the state charges,” Holly replied. “There’s falsification of state records, perjured weapons applications, that sort of thing. But most of all there are two counts of murder in the first degree. Bob Hurst spilled everything, Barney, and I’ve got it all on tape.”
“Stand up,” Barney said, raising his gun.
Holly got slowly to her feet. “I hope you don’t think you’re going anywhere, Barney. There’s a local and statewide APB out on you already. You won’t get far.”
“I’ll use your police car,” Noble said, “and I’ll get as far as the Orchid Beach Airport. There’s a plane coming for me. I’ll be out of the country in two hours.”
“Barney, you didn’t say anything about a plane,” Jane said.
“I was just making the arrangements on the kitchen phone, honey,” Barney replied. Noble reached over and pulled Holly’s Beretta from her holster.
“Well, hadn’t we better get going, then?” Jane asked.
“Sure, honey, in just a minute.”
“You don’t get it, do you, Jane?” Holly said. “You’re not going anywhere; you never were. Barney was leaving here alone.”
“You shut up, damn you!” Jane spat.
Barney flipped off the safety on Holly’s pistol.
Holly knew that before another half a minute had passed, both she and Jane would be dead, and Barney would be on his way. “Think about it, Barney,” she said, and her heart was in her mouth.
“I already thought about it,” Barney replied, “but I didn’t know I was going to be lucky enough to get you, too, bitch.” He raised Holly’s weapon and fired two shots into Jane’s chest. She was thrown against the wall and collapsed on the floor.
As the second shot was being fired Holly moved. She ran at him and hit him low, driving her shoulder into a kidney and taking him down. Daisy got hold of an ankle.
Barney dropped one of the guns and used his free hand to take Holly by the hair, pulling her head back. But Holly had hold of his other wrist and was able to keep the gun pointed away from her.
Barney had size and strength on Holly, but she was younger and no weakling, and she had the advantage of desperation, not to mention Daisy’s help. His face was close to hers, and she managed to drive an elbow into his eye, hurting him enough that he let go of her hair. She tried to pin him to the floor, but he rolled over and dragged her to her feet, snaking an arm around her waist and taking her weight off the floor.
Daisy still clung to his ankle, resisting all attempts by Noble to kick her away. Holly jammed a thumb into his uninjured eye and twisted it, hanging on to his wrist for dear life. The gun went off once, then again, shattering a display of crockery with the first shot and putting the second dead center through the picture window. Holly could see a car in the street slow down for some rubbernecking.
Holly got some traction again and sank a punch into Barney’s solar plexus. Then, with all her strength, she drove him backward. The two smashed through the punctured picture window together, landing in the azaleas outside the window, taking Daisy with them, Holly on top. Barney was now virtually blind and very winded, and when Holly sank her teeth into his thumb he let go of the pistol. She rolled them both away from it and began punching him with both fists wherever she could—face, neck, belly. The sprinklers were soaking them both, and they were making the lawn muddy. Finally she got him turned over, facedown, with his wrist between his shoulder blades. She got that wrist cuffed and used the leverage to cause him enough pain that he stopped resisting. She cuffed both hands behind his back. “Release, Daisy,” she said to the dog, and Daisy backed off, still growling.
Holly got Barney up on his toes and marched him toward her police car. She shoved him into the backseat and slammed the door. He was as good as in a jail cell now, with the wire barrier between the front and rear seats, and rear doors that wouldn’t open from the inside. She went into the house and checked on Jane. She was dead. Then she went back to the car and grabbed the radio microphone.
“Base, this is the chief,” she said.
“This is base, Chief, go ahead.”
“Get an ambulance and a coroner out to Jane Grey’s address; she’s dead of a gunshot wound. Find Hurd Wallace and tell him to get out here, too, to secure the scene. I have Barney Noble in custody. I want a paramedic to treat him for superficial wounds at the station, when I get him there.”
“Roger, Chief,” the man said. “I’m on it.”
Holly put the microphone back in its cradle and turned to look at Barney Noble, who had struggled into a sitting position. One eye was already closed, and he was squinting at her with the other.
“Bitch,” he said.
“Barney,” she replied, “coming from you, that’s the highest praise I’ve ever had.”
CHAPTER
61
H olly waited for Hurd Wallace to arrive and take over the scene, then she drove Barney Noble to the station and booked him on three counts of homicide. Jane Grey was dead, and Holly was the eyewitness to her murder. She had never cared much for the death penalty, but now, in the case of Barney Noble, she had become enthusiastic.
When her work was done, she drove home, showered and tried to go to sleep. It couldn’t be done. She dressed in a fresh uniform and drove out to Palmetto Gardens. An FBI agent was manning the front gate.
“Where’s Harry Crisp?” she asked the man.
“At the com center, I think. I just let in some guy from the safe company.”
Holly drove into the compound and out to the com center. Federal agents, still in their black clothes and heavily armed, stood around the front door, looking bored.
“Harry inside?” she asked a man she knew.
“Yeah, Holly, go on in.”
Holly went into the building and downstairs to the vault room. Harry and a group of agents stood around watching a middle-aged man in a nerd outfit—polyester trousers, short-sleeved dress shirt, tie, pocket protector—open
a briefcase, take out a sheet of paper and start to turn the dial on the door of the vault. He turned a large wheel, and the door swung open a few inches.
“Jesus,” Harry said, “how’d you do that so fast?”
“It was easy,” the man replied. “I had the combination.”
“Oh.”
“We keep the combinations of all our safes, just in case.”
Harry stepped forward, took hold of the door and swung it slowly open. “Okay,” he said, “let’s see what we’ve got here.”
Holly followed him inside the vault room, which was, she reckoned, about eighteen by twenty-four feet. She stopped and stared. The room was filled with steel shelving and crisscrossed by aisles. On many of the shelves, stacked from floor to ceiling, were shrink-wrapped blocks of currency.
Harry took a block off a shelf and cut through the plastic wrapping. “Twenties, fifties and hundreds,” he said. He read a label. “There’s half a million dollars in this one package.”
There were some whistles, then silence, as the group toured the room.
“Bearer bonds,” Harry said, thumbing through a stack of certificates. “Hundreds, thousands of them.”
At the rear of the room were two steel cabinets with shallow drawers. Harry opened them to reveal trays of cut diamonds. In other drawers were rows of gold coins, mostly Krugerrands.
Holly finally managed to speak. “This is breathtaking,” she said. “Is there this much cash anywhere else in the world?”
“Maybe at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York,” Harry said. “Hardly anyplace else.”
“Why is it here?” she asked.
“I don’t know, but I expect the computer data will tell us.” He turned to his men. “All right, I want an inventory, and I want it fast. The currency will be easy, since the packages are labeled. Count the Krugerrands and the diamonds; estimate the weight of each stone. There are gold bars over there. I want this done pronto!”
Holly followed Harry out of the vault and upstairs.
“Let’s go up another floor and see how our guys are doing with the computers,” he said.
