Orchid Beach (Holly Barker 1)

“Just stuff about the golf tournament,” Harry said. “‘Exciting news: Bobby Jones will be playing.’ That’s one. Here’s another. ‘Players will be glad to hear that the prize money has been increased.’” Harry looked around the table. “Any ideas? Anybody?”

“Let me get this straight,” Holly said. “All the microbursts are about more golfers signing up and the prize money being increased?”

“That’s it. None of it makes any sense.”

“Maybe the names are a kind of code, too,” Hurd Wallace said. “Maybe they’re just substitutions for real names. You can’t crack that kind of code, can you? When one name is simply substituted for another?”

“I guess not,” Harry said. “But why would they encode the names of players in a golf tournament?”

Holly’s eyebrows went up. “Appalachin!” she said.

“The mountains?” Harry asked.

“Maybe the FBI would like to forget Appalachin, New York,” Holly said, laughing. “After all, it was a New York state police bust.”

“Appalachin, New York?” Harry said. “Why does that sound familiar?”

“Because it was the biggest Mafia meeting of all time—back in the fifties. The commission—the heads of all the families—had a big meeting at a country house in Appalachin, New York, somewhere upstate. The New York state police got wind of it and raided the place. There were guys in silk suits running through the woods like deer, with state patrolmen chasing them. It was a huge embarrassment for the mafiosi and a major coup for the New York cops. I think J. Edgar Hoover was still denying there was a Mafia at the time.”

“Palmetto Gardens isn’t Mafia,” Harry said. “This is way too slick for those guys—too classy and too rich, as well. The Mafia could never muster the kind of money it took to build that place.”

“It’s got to be a meeting,” Holly said. “So, it’s not Mafia—it’s whoever is behind Palmetto Gardens. They’re getting together.”

Harry turned to one of his men. “Ed, call Miami Center and find out what flights have been coming into Palmetto Gardens, starting a week ago and going right up to now.”

The man disappeared to find a phone.

“Okay, Holly, we’ll check that out. Now, before I start spouting off, I’d like to hear from you, Ham. You’re the only one we’ve got who’s been inside with any kind of effect. I’ve read your military record, and I want you in on this. There are some U.S. marshals here, and they can deputize you. You game?”

“I’m game,” Ham replied. He turned to Holly. “And don’t you say a word.”

Holly looked at the ceiling.

“Okay, Ham,” Harry said, “here’s the situation: we’ve got a large, residential community spread over hundreds of acres, set down among lots of other residential communities, so we don’t want stray rounds flying around the barrier island. How would you take this place with the least fuss, the fewest casualties and the fewest rounds expended?”

Ham stood up, leaned over the table and pointed. “They’re vulnerable here, at the marsh north of the marina, where I went in; otherwise, I wouldn’t have gotten in. I think what we’ve got to do is first, put a team in through the marsh to knock out their backup electrical generator, then cut their outside power supply. There’s also a battery backup wired to the Jungle Trail back gate, and that should be taken out, because that would alert the security center if the back gate were opened. Once the power’s out, we hit the main and service gates, break down the Jungle Trail gate, and we’re in. Then, pretty much simultaneously, we’ve got to hit ten or eleven spots all at the same time. Those spots are: the security station, the com center, the airfield, the six camouflaged gun emplacements and the other two gates.” He pointed them out.

“Thanks, Ham,” Harry said. “That makes perfect sense to me. Will you lead the team in through the marsh?”

“Glad to.”

“How many men you want?”

Ham did some counting. “Two each for the generator, the back gate battery backup and the back gate; four men right here to lay down covering fire, if we’re detected. That’s ten, plus me, in three boats. You’ll want flat-bottomed boats, like Boston Whalers, either paddled the last half-mile or with trolling motors.”

“We can do that. I’ll pick some men, and you can brief them.”

“Good.”

“How many men to take the gun emplacements?” Harry asked.

“There was only one man in the one I checked out, but I think I’d count on two in each emplacement. However many feds you reckon it takes to deal with two men in each one.”

“I think two each will do it.”

“I wouldn’t send in any choppers until the gun emplacements are out.”

“Of course not.”