Blood Orchid (Holly Barker 3)

“I wish I were out of it; these people have already tried to kill me.”

Ed’s eyebrows went up. “My God! Are you safe?”

“I work on it every day.”

“Listen, I’ve got a couple of guest cottages here; why don’t you move into one of them? They’re very comfortable, and this has to be the most secure place in Orchid Beach.”

“Thank you, Ed, that’s very sweet of you. I’m staying with a friend at the moment, but if that doesn’t work out, I might take you up on your invitation.”

“Is your friend anybody I know?”

“Maybe; his name is Grant Early. He looked at some property out here.”

“Oh, yes, I met him in our office; nice fellow. Some sort of dot.com millionaire, I believe.”

“Yes, he apparently got out just in time, before the crash in those stocks.”

“Some people are just lucky, I guess,” Ed said.

“Yes, and you’re one of them.”

“Keep me posted on your case, will you? It’s fascinating. I lead such a dull life compared to you.”

“Believe me, Ed, you’re better off with a dull life.”

48

Holly felt better after lunch, the wine having helped her hangover, but when she got back to Grant’s house after work, she was tired.

Marina was sitting in the living room alone, a drink in her hand.

“Hi,” Holly said.

“Hello,” Marina said disconsolately.

“Where’s Grant?”

“He went to the grocery store,” she replied. “I wanted to go with him, but he wouldn’t let me.”

“It’s best you stay in the house, until we know you’re safe,” Holly said.

Marina nodded listlessly. “I spoke to the undertaker this morning, and he called back this afternoon. They’re releasing my mother’s and my aunt’s bodies tomorrow, and the undertaker is taking them back to Fort Lauderdale. I want to go back tomorrow to make the funeral arrangements, but my car is still at the airport in Sarasota.”

Holly sat down next to her. “Marina, you can’t go back to Lauderdale while Trini is still on the loose. He’s looking for you.”

“I don’t care,” Marina said. “I have to bury my mother and my aunt; there’s nobody else to do it.”

“I understand, but you’re going to have to postpone the funeral until it’s safe.”

“While their bodies rot in a funeral home?”

“The undertaker will take care of them; they’ll be embalmed and kept in cold storage.”

“Yes, at a hundred and fifty dollars a day,” Marina said. “I’ve already missed a lot of work because of Carlos’s funeral, and now this. They’re not paying me for the time off, either, and I only have a little in savings. I’ll have to put all this on a credit card, and I just got

them paid off.”

“Marina, I know it’s expensive, but isn’t protecting your life worth a few hundred dollars?”