Teddy walked back into the living room and viewed the first place setting. “Great!” he said. “You brought linen napkins, too.”
“Oh, yes. My mother would have turned over in her grave if I’d put out the good china and crystal and not put out the linens.”
Teddy picked up a wine goblet. “Baccarat,” he said. “My favorite.”
“What do we have for wine?” Lauren asked.
“Two bottles of Far Niente chardonnay in the fridge and two of Far Niente cabernet for the main course on the sideboard, one breathing. They’re delicious, and they have the advantage of the world’s most beautiful labels.” He set the open bottle on the table, between the silver candlesticks she had brought.
“There,” she said. “Just perfect. Now I’ve got to go change.” She ran into the bedroom with a garment bag.
Teddy went back to the kitchen, just in time to turn off the vegetables. As he did, he heard the driveway alarm chime, so he took off his apron and went to the door, running through his mind the differences between his Jack voice, which was mostly his own, and the last voice Holly had heard him speak.
He opened the door and went out onto the porch just as Holly and her friend were getting out of a Mercedes. “Good evening,” he said, “I’m Jack Smithson.”
“I’m Josh Harmon,” the man said, extending a hand.
Holly came from around the car. “Hi, I’m Holly Barker,” she said, offering her hand.
“And I’m Jack Smithson,” Teddy replied, shaking it. “Come on in and let’s get a drink. Lauren is still dressing, as you might imagine.” He led them into the house. “What can I get you?” he asked.
“Knob Creek on the rocks,” Holly said, “if you have it. Not everybody does.”
“I have it,” Teddy said, scooping up some ice and pouring the drink.
“Scotch for me,” Josh said.
“I have Johnnie Walker Black or Laphroaig, a single malt.”
“Oh, the Laphroaig, that’s a real treat.”
Teddy poured Josh’s drink, and then one each for Lauren and himself. He carried her drink into the bedroom, zipped up her dress for her and handed her the drink. “They seem very nice,” he said.
She took a quick sip of her Scotch. “Well, get back in there and charm the socks off them.”
Teddy returned to the living room, seated them on the sofa and settled into a chair. “So, Josh, you’re an ER doctor at the Indian River Hospital?”
“That I am.”
“Sounds exciting.”
“Sometimes exciting, sometimes a little too exciting,” Josh replied.
“And Holly, you’re with the CIA?”
“That’s right.”
“In what capacity?”
“I’ve recently been appointed assistant deputy director of operations.”
“Operations, is that the analysis part or the spy part?”
“It’s the spy part,” she said.
“Sounds very mysterious. I won’t ask you a lot of questions about it, because I’m sure you won’t answer them. I would like to know if you enjoy your work, though.”
“More than anything I’ve ever done,” Holly answered.
“What did you do before you went to work for the CIA?”
“I was the police chief in Orchid Beach, and before that I was a career army officer, serving in the military police.”
“That’s quite a background,” Teddy said.
“What do you do?”
“I’m retired, now. I was a machinist and a mechanical engineer.”
“Where did you go to college? MIT, perhaps?”
Teddy laughed. “Oh, no. I apprenticed as a machinist, and I’m completely self-taught as an engineer.”
“Did you work for an engineering firm?”
“No, I was self-employed. I invented things.”
“What sort of things?” she asked.
“Office equipment, small kitchen appliances and gadgets.”
“Did you sell them on late-night TV?”
“No, but some of the kitchen stuff was sold that way. I usually sold the ideas to a company that would manufacture and distribute the product and pay me a royalty.”
“Was that lucrative?”
“Surprisingly so,” Teddy said. “My wife was astonished; she always expected me to remain as poor as I was when we married.”
“Are you divorced?”
“No, widowed: four years ago, ovarian cancer.”
“I’m sorry,” Holly said.
“It’s often misdiagnosed,” Josh contributed.
“As it was in her case.”
“Teddy…” Holly began.
“It’s Jack.” He didn’t twitch.
“I have the feeling we’ve met someplace before.”
“Not that I recall,” Teddy replied. He smiled. “I think I would have remembered. Do I remind you of this Teddy? Who was he?”
“Just someone I knew a while back, and, yes, you remind me of him a little.”
“Well, I hope your memories of him are pleasant ones.”
“Not entirely.”
“Uh, oh,” Teddy said. “I’m going to get blamed for the old boyfriend. I can see it coming.” He laughed.
Holly was about to reply when Lauren walked into the room, looking smashing in a tight dress. “Is everybody drunk yet?”
“No,” Josh said, “but we’re working on it.”
“Dinner’s in twenty minutes,” Teddy said, looking at his watch, “so you’ve got time for a refill.” He got up and freshened the drinks.
Twenty minutes later, Teddy was slicing boeuf Wellington and serving vegetables. Holly had nailed him, or had she? Maybe she had only caught a whiff of his identity and had already dismissed it. In any case, she hadn’t taken a shot at him yet. He poured the wine and sat down to dinner.
46
They had finished dinner and were on brandy.
“Lauren,” Holly said, “you’re a lucky woman to have a man who cooks like that. It was the best dinner I’ve had in years. And beef Wellington! You don’t see that anymore.”
“Thank you,” Teddy said. “I like the old dishes best, the ones before cholesterol was invented.”
“My father died of things like beef Wellington and bacon cheese-burgers,” Josh said. “But he loved every minute of it.” He turned to Lauren. “By the way, I haven’t congratulated you on capturing your serial killer.”
“Well, thanks,” Lauren replied, “but I’m afraid he captured himself before we could. Fact is, we were getting nowhere fast.”
“I’m sure he would have tripped himself up soon,” Teddy said. “These criminals always do, don’t they?”
“Nearly always,” Holly said. “It’s tough when you have a police officer as a repeat criminal; he knows all the investigative techniques and how to avoid leaving trace evidence.”
“Well, in any case, good riddance,” Teddy said, raising his glass.
“Good riddance,” they all said, and drank.
“I have some other news,” Lauren said. “Jack and I are thinking of…”
Teddy held up a hand. “Stop,” he said, laughing, “that’s still a secret.”
“Does it have to be?” she asked.
“For the time being.”
“Oh, all right,” she said.
“Then your answer is yes?” he asked.
“That’s still a secret, too,” Lauren said.
“Holly,” Teddy said, changing the subject as fast as possible, since he didn’t want her to know his plans, “you’re on vacation?”
“Yes, but I’m having to start thinking about going back.”
“Have you enjoyed yourself here?”
“Very much.”
“Where are you staying?” he asked.
“Oh, I still have my house here, from the old days,” she said.
“Are you considering selling?”
“No. I think I’ll always want it to come back to,” Holly said. “Why? Are you thinking of buying?”
“Well, I’m renting this guesthouse,” Teddy said, “but it’s getting small fast.”
“Especially with me around,” Lauren said.
“That is a factor,” Teddy said, laughing.
“You wouldn’t want to live in Holly’s house,” Josh said. “It’s like an armored hothouse, with all the improvements her employer has made.”