“Arnie, I want you somewhere near the service gate out there. I want a description of every vehicle that comes and goes—food deliveries, plumbers, whatever.”
“Okay,” Arnie said.
“What can I do to help, Harry?” Holly asked.
“Well, you can’t put any of your people on this,” Harry said. “Not while you think you’ve got a mole in your department.”
“Good point. I’ve got complete freedom of movement myself, though.”
“First thing I want to know is does this Mosely guy show up with his licenses,” Harry said. “If he doesn’t, that’ll give you an excuse to go out there with a warrant. Then, if we want to get in there again, we could bust some more of Noble’s guys. How many of them showed up in the national computer?”
“All of them,” Holly said. “Barney’s security force is a regular rogue’s gallery.”
“That would rattle whoever controls the place,” Harry said. “If we bust their whole security force, that would get their attention.”
“I could have already done that,” Holly said, “but that’s not going to tell us what’s going on out there.”
“Could you check your local records for the names of the owners of the houses at Palmetto Gardens?” Harry asked.
“I can do that,” Holly replied
“That might give us a list of the members, then we could do background checks on them.”
“Good idea.”
“If Mosely comes in tomorrow, I’d like to get a good look at him. Can you arrange that?”
“Sure.”
“Without anyone knowing who I am?”
“Sure, I can handle that.”
“Suppose you question Mosely about something, anything, and I listen in. Maybe Mosely is a way into that place.”
“I’ve got an idea,” Holly said. “Let’s do it this way.” She outlined the idea that had just come to her. “It might not work, but it wouldn’t hurt to try.”
CHAPTER
44
A t eleven o’clock the phone on Holly’s desk rang. She let it ring a couple of times, then picked it up and said, “Holly Barker. Hold on a minute, will you?” Then she pressed the HOLD button. She knew it was Barney Noble, and she wanted him to sweat a little.
“Hello?” she said finally.
“It’s Barney.”
“Hi, Barney,” she said brightly. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“Mosely will be in your office at eleven-thirty with his licenses,” Barney said. “I want your assurance that you won’t charge him with anything.”
“Barney,” Holly said, “I’m not giving you any assurances about anything. I run this department, not you, and if you ever try to go over my head with the city council again, you’re going to find out just how hard I can make your life.”
“Don’t threaten me, Holly.”
“I’ll threaten you all I like,” she said. “How would you like me to have all your people’s gun licenses pulled and then come out there and confiscate all your firearms? I can do that, you know, and you can’t do a goddamned thing about it.”
Barney was suddenly placating. “Now, Holly, let’s not get into a pissing match here.”