Blood Orchid (Holly Barker 3)

The sergeant looked closely at her ID. “Orchid Beach? Where the hell is that?”

“Out of town,” Holly said.

He looked at her handbag. “Is there a weapon in there?”

“Yes,” she replied. “I’ll give it to you.” She reached into the bag, ran a finger through the trigger guard, and held out the weapon to him.

He took it from her the same way she was holding it and dropped it into an evidence bag. “Is that your only weapon?”

“Yes. There’s another on the living room floor that belonged to the perp. He was about to shoot me when I shot him.”

The sergeant started for the screen door. “Not yet,” Holly said. “Daisy,” she called out. “Sit, stay. It’s all right.”

The sergeant looked at her.

“Who’s Daisy?”

“The only witness,” Holly said. “You can go inside now.”

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The sergeant opened the screen door and walked in. “Jesus!” he said. “Nice doggy.”

“Her name is Daisy. Say ‘Hello, Daisy.’ ”

“Hello, Daisy,” the sergeant said. “Can I touch the guy without him eating me?”

“It’s a she, and you’re friends now.”

The sergeant gingerly patted Daisy on the head. “Nice Daisy.”

“Yes, she is.”

He went and felt the wounded man’s throat. “He’s dead,” he said.

“Let’s wait for the EMTs to determine that,” Holly said, as they heard a siren coming down the street. “Daisy, come here.” The dog padded over, and Holly picked up the leash again. “Good girl, good dog.” Daisy nuzzled her leg.

“Now,” the sergeant said, “you want to tell me what went down here?”

“Why don’t we wait for homicide, so I won’t have to do it twice?”

The sergeant produced a portab

le radio and asked that homicide detectives be sent to the address.

Holly led Marina out to the front porch to wait. When the sergeant went to look around the house, Holly said, “Where is the notebook?”

“In the freezer,” Marina replied.

“Let’s leave it there.”

The homicide detectives secured the scene and called for a crime-scene tech, then they came back outside. “Can I see your ID?” one of them asked Holly. He examined it carefully. “And where is Orchid Beach?”

“Up the coast a couple of hours.”

“And what brings you to our jurisdiction, Chief?”

“I came to see Ms. Santos. When I arrived, the perp was threatening her.”