Orchid Beach (Holly Barker 1)

Then her heart stopped. In order to get the desk through the front door of the building, the two men had turned the desk on its side. There, in plain view, was the bug she had planted. The security officer at the desk came to the door to help get the desk through, and as they wrestled it through the door, his face was within a foot of the bug. Finally they disappeared inside, and she could no longer see the desk.

“Let’s get back to work,” Rita said to Carla. For the first time, Rita began to think about how she might get out of Palmetto Gardens, if she had to. She thought about it as they cleaned the next shop, and she came up with absolutely nothing. There was nothing to do but finish the day’s work and hope no one had seen the bug on the desk.

At three o’clock, Rita and Carla got back on the bus. It was not until that moment that it occurred to Rita that, at the service gate, she would be searched again. And she still had three bugs. She couldn’t leave them in the carryall, because somebody else might get it the next day and discover the bugs.

“You got any Kleenex?” Rita asked Carla as they reached the back gate and started to get off the bus.

Carla rummaged in her carryall and found a box of tissues.

Rita got the three bugs from under the rag and concealed them in her hand, grabbing a couple of tissues from the box. They lined up to be searched, and while one guard took the carryalls and set them aside, another body-searched each of the women. Rita hung back as the searches continued, and when her turn came, she managed a large sneeze. She blew her nose loudly into the tissues, then wadded them up around the three bugs. “Excuse me,” she said to the guard, wiping her nose again with the tissues. He showed no interest in inspecting the damp mess in her hand. Rita walked across the parking lot to where she had left her car. All the other women were driving away. She had her hand on the door handle when someone’s heavy hand landed on her shoulder and spun her around.

The man who had been sitting at the radio in the security office now had her by the throat. He began dragging her toward the guard shack.

Rita thought fast. Her FBI ID, her gun and her cell phone were hidden under the spare tire in the trunk of her car. As she struggled, she let the Kleenex in her hand fall to the ground, she hoped unnoticed.

Mosely cuffed her across the face and, stunned, she was dragged into a waiting Range Rover.

CHAPTER

53

H arry Crisp looked at his wristwatch, then at the group around him at the table. “Rita should be here by now,” he said. “She got off at three.”

Holly spoke up. “Did we get anything from any of the bugs she took in there?” She turned and looked at the front door as it opened. Bill walked in. “Hey, everybody,” he said. “Where’s Rita?”

“She’s not here yet,” Harry replied. “Did any of the bugs go live?”

“They were all live when she took them in,” Bill said. “I got a few words on one of them, then it seemed to go dead. We’ve picked up some car noise on at least one of the others, but no voice.”

“What words did you get on one of them?”

“Two men talking, then they stopped, went quiet.”

“They found the bug, then?”

“Could be.”

“Bill, get on the radio and get somebody to check the parking lot at the service gate at Palmetto Gardens,” Harry said. “I want to know if her car is still there.”

“Right away.”

Harry turned back to the group. “If the bugs don’t work, then we’re going to need another excuse for a search warrant.”

Ham raised a finger. “Maybe I can help.”

Everybody turned and looked at him.

“How?” Holly said, looking at him narrowly.

“Well, I was in there last night, and I saw a few things.”

“What?” Holly said.

Harry spoke up. “Tell me what you’re talking about, Ham.”

“I just thought I’d take a look around,” Ham said.

“Ham…” Holly began, but Harry held up a hand to quiet her.