Blood Orchid (Holly Barker 3)

“With Colombian ownership, maybe?”

“Maybe, but we haven’t been able to nail that down. Their company incorporation procedures are different from ours, and the ownership is harder to track.”

“I’ll bet you it’s some of the same drug money that owned the place before, trying to get it back.”

“Could very well be. You ever thought of becoming an FBI agent?”

Holly laughed. “I don’t think you could beat my current job, Harry.”

“Maybe I could. You go to the academy, and I’ll get you assigned to me. Life would be interesting.”

“Too interesting. I want to stay home with my dog and my daddy and have fun.”

“You having fun, Holly?” Harry asked.

That brought her up short. “Not yet,” she said.

“It’s been what, a year?”

“You sound like Ham.”

“Ham’s a smart guy.”

“It’s not that it’s too soon, it’s just that I haven’t felt like it.”

“Felt like what?”

“Having fun, Harry. Now leave me alone.”

“Okay, sweetheart. Let me know if you find out anything else that might be helpful.”

“I don’t suppose there’s any point in saying the same to you, Harry.”

“I do what I can, Holly. The Bureau frowns on excessive info sharing with local law enforcement.”

“Except when there’s something in it for the Bureau?”

“Something like that.”

“That’s what I thought. You ought to talk to them about that, Harry; you might get more local cooperation.”

“I get all I need, kiddo.”

“Bye, Harry.” She hung up. The Bureau annoyed her with its close-to-the-vest way of treating locals like her. She’d talked to some other small-town chiefs who felt the same way.

Hurd Wallace knocked on her door and took a seat.

“What’s up?”

“I’m at a dead end on who took a shot at Ed Shine,” he said. “There just isn’t anything else. I want to put the file into the inactive drawer.”

“Okay. If something else comes up, you can always take it out again. You have any personal theories?”

“Theories unsupported by any actual evidence?”

“Okay.”

Hurd shrugged. “What we know is that somebody took a shot at at least two, maybe three property developers, all of whom were bidding or intended to bid on Palmetto Gardens.”