Orchid Blues (Holly Barker 2)

"I've got a couple hundred in my pocket, I guess," Ham said, digging out some money. He handed Peck four fifties.

Peck went to a safe in the corner, opened it and returned with twenty ten-dollar bills. "Use it to shop at the gun show this weekend."

"Right," Ham said. He walked out to the range, his head spinning.

38

Ham let himself into the beach cottage through the sliding doors. They were all at dinner again. "My God," he said, "don't you people ever eat anything but Chinese food and pizza?"

"You got a Mexican restaurant in this town?" Harry asked. "We'd go for that."

Ham rolled his eyes and pulled up a chair.

"What have you got?" Harry asked.

"Fellas, it's a whole new ball game every day." He pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket, unfolded it and handed it to Harry.

"What's this?"

"It's an application to open an account at a warehouse bank."

"Uh-oh," Harry said.

"What's a warehouse bank?" Holly asked.

"The biggest tax dodge you ever heard of," Ham said. He explained it to the group as it had been explained to him.

Holly and the three FBI agents sat, rapt, listening to him.

"Holy cow," Holly said, when he was finished. "Harry, you're going to have to get the IRS into this."

"It can't be that big a deal," Harry said.

"Would you believe a quarter of a billion dollars?" Ham asked.

"That's billion with a B?"

"Correct. That's how much they claim to have cost the IRS over the past ten years."

Harry stared at him blankly. "How many people are we talking about here?"

"I have no idea," Ham replied. "John did say that, recently, someone had become their first member to avoid a million dollars in taxes." He pulled the group's paper money from his pocket and placed it on the table. "They also print this for themselves."

Harry picked up a note. "Jefferson Davis? I don't believe it."

Eddie was holding a bill up to a bare lightbulb. "This is first-class work," he said, "and with Jeff Davis on it, it could never be considered counterfeit currency, legally, unless it was counterfeit Confederate currency."

"How do they use this?" Harry asked.

"They buy and sell among themselves at these gun shows."

"Shit," Harry said, tossing the note onto the table. "We're going to end up with every law enforcement agency in the federal government in on this. There'll be nothing left for us."

"You're forgetting the bank robbery," Holly said. "And there's the murder for me."

"Oh, right."

"Harry, I think you've got to start making some calls to other agencies."