Blood Orchid (Holly Barker 3)

“Yes, but you leave a paper trail that someday might be discovered.”

“Maybe.”

“So, suppose the drug dealers in this country ship their money to a predetermined spot in the United States, where it’s counted and stored in a safe place. Then somebody makes a call to Saint Marks, and an identical amount of money, less a healthy handling fee, of course, is then transferred to someplace else in the world, an account of the drug dealers’ choice.”

“I believe I get the picture.”

“It’s what you’ve been working on, isn’t it?”

“I will neither confirm nor deny that.”

“I think what I saw today was boxes of cash being unloaded and very probably taken to a facility that was built for the purpose back when Blood Orchid was Palmetto Gardens. It’s a building with underground vaults, just like a bank.”

“Possibly.”

“You know that’s what’s happening, don’t you, Grant? It’s what you’ve been working on all this time.”

Grant said nothing.

“Then why haven’t you rolled up the operation? Not enough evidence yet?”

Grant still did not speak.

“All right, then, just answer me one question, just one. Will you do that?”

“If I can,” Grant replied.

“Who is Ed Shine?”

55

Grant looked at her. “Ed Shine is Ed Shine,” he said. “

He has no criminal record; he has a history in New York as a property developer; he’s even in Who’s Who, for God’s sake. The Bureau checked him out thoroughly; he is who he says he is. What is it that worries you about Shine?”

“Everything I’ve just told you,” Holly replied. “If my theory is correct, he has to be a part of it. And it bothers me that our airplane was shot at by someone on the Blood Orchid property.”

“How do you know that? The fire might have come from the river, or the beach, or a road somewhere around Blood Orchid.”

“The angles were right,” Holly said.

“Angles of fire can be deceiving,” Grant said, “especially when you’re the one being shot at. Anyway, you’ve been staying at Blood Orchid for two days, haven’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Well, if Shine wanted you dead, why didn’t he just drop by and pump a few bullets into you?”

“Good point,” Holly admitted. “He certainly had ample opportunity. But that guy from the airplane that unloaded the boxes was staring at me, and he made a call. Shortly after that, we were fired on.”

“I stare at you all the time,” Grant said. “Any red-blooded male would. And people make cellphone calls all the time, too. You’re making a connection where there isn’t one.”

Holly sighed. “Maybe you’re right.”

“From what you’ve told me about Ed Shine, he’s been nothing but nice to you. There are things that don’t add up in this case, but Shine isn’t one of them.”

“All right, but let’s go back to my theory about the exchange of money between criminal elements.”

“Run your theory by me again.”