Orchid Blues (Holly Barker 2)

"I have no idea. They didn't seem to mess with my cell phone, though. Would a tap on the phone let them hear anything in the house?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to get somebody out there to go over your place, so we'll know exactly what we're dealing with."

"Tell us about your evening," Holly said.

"We had a drink and chitchatted, then we had a good dinner. After that, the other men and I went into Rawlings's den and had a brandy and talked."

"What did you talk about?" Harry asked.

"They were looking into my politics; I pretty much told them I'm to the right of George Wallace, and they seemed to like that."

"What else?"

"They were interested in my weapons experience. Rawlings had a copy of my service record, can you believe that?"

"I can," Harry said.

"Harry should know," Holly said. "He has your service record, too."

Ham laughed. "Everybody's all over me. Does that mean they've got somebody in records at the Pentagon?"

"Nah," Harry said. "All it means is they've got somebody who can hack his way into a Pentagon computer and print out your record. Mind you, it would take a pretty smart hacker."

"There was a computer in Rawlings's den," Ham said.

"What else did you talk about?"

"There was some talk of how my weapons experience might do some good for their cause, whatever that is, then it got cut short. The phone rang, it was answered in another room, then one of the wives came in and said everything was okay. Next thing I knew, I was being politely shown the door."

"The call was from whoever bugged your phone," Harry said, "reporting that the coast was clear. Why do you think they might have bugged Holly's place?"

"I don't know that, I was just being careful."

"I'll have somebody here before the day is out to go over both places."

"Oh, they followed me all the way home, too. There was a car behind me with no headlights."

"I guess they wanted to know if you were reporting to somebody when you left," Harry said. "Did anybody follow you over here today?"

"I didn't spot anybody, and believe me, I looked. These folks have a way of making me paranoid."

"Just play it straight ahead; lead your life the way you usually do, and ignore them. Sounds to me like they're interested enough in you that they'll be in touch."

"Tell me about the town and the house," Holly said.

"Looks like something that Walt Disney might have designed. A general store and a couple of other little businesses on Main Street. The house is ordinary-looking, fairly new, middle-of-the-road furniture. Rawlings has the biggest collection of guns I've ever seen off a military base, and believe me, I've seen some collections."

"What kind of guns?"

"Everything from antiques to handguns to military automatic stuff."

"Where does he keep it?"

"In plain sight, on the walls of his den."

"Be interesting to plow through it and see how much of it is illegal."

"Is it legal to own a Barrett's rifle?"