Blood Orchid (Holly Barker 3)

“You working on something unexotic that someone might want to know about?”

“Not that I can think of, and believe me, I’ve thought about it. Whoever it is, is bugging Ham, too, and since he has a new girlfriend, he’s not happy about it.”

“Why don’t you talk to Grant about this on Sunday night? Maybe he’ll have some ideas.”

“Okay.”

“And watch your back; I don’t like

the sound of this.”

“Okay.” Holly hung up feeling uneasy. She didn’t like the sound of it, either, but she hadn’t thought about watching her back.

Her phone rang again.

“Holly Barker.”

“Chief, it’s Teddy Wright.” He sounded sheepish.

“How are you feeling, Teddy?”

“A lot better; I want to come back to work today.”

“No dice; you’re taking two sick days. I’ll see you the day after tomorrow.”

“But what am I going to do? I’ll go nuts sitting around here.”

“Watch soap operas; that shouldn’t put any strain on your newly concussed brain.”

“I hate soap operas.”

“So do I. Try reading.”

“I’m not much of a reader.”

“Teddy, you’re wasting my time. I’ll see you the day after tomorrow.”

“Okay, Chief.” Teddy hung up.

Once again, Holly felt motherly.

13

On Saturday morning Holly drove out to the Orchid Beach airport and found the Orchid Flight Academy. She had been there before, she realized.

The building was broken into a warren of small rooms with desks and computers, and most of them were busy. Ginny Heller was seated in a glassed-in office at the back of the small building.

“Good morning,” Holly said, rapping on her open door.

“Good morning,” Ginny replied. “What do you think of my place?”

“Used to be a flying club, didn’t it? I came out here once for a flight with a friend.”

“Right. I bought it from the couple who owned it for thirty years, and I’m expanding the operation. I’ve installed computers for ground school and hired a couple more instructors.”

“I didn’t realize you were the boss.”

Ginny waved her into a seat. “Yeah, I took my divorce settlement and put it to work here.”