Orchid Beach (Holly Barker 1)

“That’s asking a lot of an FBI man,” Jackson said.

“I’ll do my best,” Crisp said. “Okay, I give up. What could be under there?”

“Ham is ex-army. He says maybe antiaircraft guns or even ground-to-air missiles.”

“Whoa,” Crisp said. “Let’s try to keep both feet on the ground, here.”

“Harry,” Jackson said, “everything about this place defies the imagination.”

“Yeah,” Holly said. “State licensing records show that a hundred and two employees, including a security force of fifteen, have licenses to carry weapons.”

“That’s a lot,” Crisp said.

“Jackson recognized five of the names on the security force as having criminal records, but when we checked the state computer, they were all showing as clean.”

“Everybody makes mistakes,” Crisp said.

“There’s more,” Holly said. “Today, I ran all one hundred and two gun-toters through the state computer, and they all came up clean. Then I ran the same names through your national computer, and seventy-one of them turned up with convictions ranging over most of the spectrum of criminal activity.” She placed the files on the table.

Crisp looked at a few of them, then looked up at Holly. “That’s unbelievable,” he said. “You’ve got a very serious problem at the state level. Have you reported this to Tallahassee?”

“No, only the three of us know about what we’ve told you.”

“Thank God for that,” Crisp said. “For Christ’s sake, don’t tell anybody else.”

“Don’t worry,” Holly replied.

“Is there anything else you want to tell me?”

“Ham knew the Palmetto Gardens head of security in the army. His name is Barney Noble.”

“I know that name. Doesn’t he have a security company in Miami?”

“Right,” Jackson replied, “Craig and Noble. I think all the security guards have come out of there.”

“And they’re armed to the teeth,” Holly said. “I’ve seen assault rifles, and a lot of the regular support staff—waiters, groundskeepers and the like—are packing.”

“I’m going to have to talk to some of my people about this,” Crisp said. “Can I call you at your office, Holly?”

“Not on the regular departmental line,” Holly replied. She wrote down her private number. “On this line.”

“Are you worried about somebody in your department?”

“Yes. My predecessor, Chet Marley, thought somebody was dealing with somebody outside, but I never found out who or what. He was shot the night I arrived in town, along with a friend of his that he might have told about this. They’re both dead.”

“And you think this is connected to Palmetto Gardens?”

“I can’t prove it. What do you think is going on here, Harry?”

“Well, it’s highly suspicious, of course, to have what amounts to a private army to protect two hundred houses and a golf course, but that’s probably not criminal.”

“Altering the state’s criminal records is,” Jackson said.

“It’s certainly probable cause for me to get involved,” Harry replied. “It was a very smart move, Holly, to run those records and compare them with the national computer. If you hadn’t done that, I’d probably have to tell you to call me when somebody at Palmetto Gardens commits a crime.”

“What can you do with what we’ve got, Harry?”

“If I bring half a dozen people up here, is there somewhere we can all meet without attracting attention?”