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still open, and they could hear the waves lapping at the beach.
    “Nice house,” he said.
    “I inherited it,” she replied, settling next to him on the sofa.
    “From whom?”
    “My late fiancé. He was a local lawyer. He went into a local bank the day before our wedding to get some cash for our honeymoon and wound up in the middle of a bank robbery. He got in the way of a shotgun.”
    “I’m sorry for your loss.”
    “So am I, but enough time has passed that it hurts less than it used to.”
    “Were you ever married?”
    “No. How about you?”
    “Once, twenty years ago, to a nurse. Lasted three years.”
    They sat quietly, sipping their coffee, listening to the sea.

9
    H olly felt his naked body slide down hers, until his head was in her lap, face down. His tongue did wonderful things, and then she climaxed.

    S he woke alone, with Daisy sitting beside the bed staring at her. Josh had given her a prim good-night kiss the night before and had left her randier than he knew. It was the first wet dream she had ever had.
    The phone rang, startling her. She grabbed at the sheet to cover herself, in case Lance was on the line, then she picked it up. “Hello?”
    “Holly?” A woman’s voice.
    “Yes.”
    “It’s Annie Ryan.”
    Annie was a female officer on the Orchid Beach force, one Holly remembered fondly. “Hello, Annie, how are you?”
    “I’m not sure,” Annie replied. “Would you mind if I stop by this morning and talk with you?”
    “Not at all,” Holly replied. “Any time after, say, ten?”
    “Ten fifteen?”
    “See you then.” Holly explained about the gate and hung up. She showered, dressed, fed Daisy and let her out, then made herself some breakfast. She was still on coffee when the phone rang, and Holly saw the gate button light come on. She buzzed Annie in and found another coffee mug.
    Annie Ryan was a petite redhead, maybe five-two, who looked very good in her tailored uniform. Holly poured her a cup of coffee and sat her down on a counter stool.
    “I see you made sergeant,” Holly said, gesturing at the stripes.
    “Yes, last year. I’m a supervisor on the day shift now.”
    “I’ll bet you’re a good one, too,” Holly said. “What did you want to see me about?”
    “It’s this Colonel James Bruno,” she said.
    “Ah, yes.”
    “Jimmy Weathers told me about your experience with him in the army.”
    “Good. I wanted all the female officers to know about him.”
    “Well, I guess we do, now,” Annie said. “It’s just that we’re not quite sure how to handle him. I mean, the guy is our chief, after all.”
    “My advice is, be pleasant but not friendly; keep him at arm’s length, and don’t ever get into a car with him alone. Always have a witness.”
    “Does he have a thing about cars?”
    “Apart from having a shot at me,” Holly said, “which I was able to fight off, he raped a young woman lieutenant, and he did it in a car.”
    Annie was quiet for a moment. “If we do like you say, will that be enough to keep him off us?”
    “I think it will, if you never give him an inch, if you never let him cross the line without calling him on it. I realize you’re walking a fine line here, but you have to give him the respect of his rank while seeing that he returns that respect. Believe me, he will take any display of friendship or warmth the wrong way.”
    “How did this guy manage to spend thirty years in the military while getting away with that?”
    “My guess is that his problem was sublimated for a long time. He had a nice wife, and after she died of breast cancer he started to get too friendly with female soldiers. He played on the sympathy he got from his wife’s death, used that to get friendly with women, then abused them.”
    “Okay, I’ll have a talk with the other women.”
    “You can protect each other,” Holly said.
    “I guess that’s what we’ll do,” Annie said. The radio on her belt squawked, and she answered the call. “I’d better get