Blood Orchid (Holly Barker 3)

“What else do you want?”

“Everything possible—credit history, education, every piece of information that might connect him to any other person or organization.”

“That’s going to take manpower, and they’d want Harry’s approval for that.”

“You’ve already been through Harry; can’t you get it done without his knowing?”

Grant sighed. “I’ll have to call in every marker.”

“Isn’t it worth it?”

“I hope so.”

They reached the Blood Orchid gate and were passed through. As they drove in, Holly looked back at the gate and saw the guard making a phone call. They drove to the airfield, picked up Holly’s car, and returned to the guest house.

When they arrived at the house, Holly and Daisy jumped out. “Come on in for a minute,” she said. “I just thought of something.”

He took her arm and stopped her. “Has it occurred to you that the house might be bugged?”

“No,” she said.

“Behave as if it is.”

In the house, she went to the wet bar and opened the shutters that concealed it. The two glasses she and Ed had used for their drinks on her first day there sat on the marble counter, still unwashed. She sniffed the glasses. “That one was the scotch.” She got a Ziploc plastic bag from the kitchen, dropped the glass into it, and handed it to Grant. He held it up to the light, looked at it, and nodded.

Outside, she said, “Don’t you want to look for bugs?”

“Why bother?” he replied. “If we found one, we wouldn’t want to disable it; that would tip them off. Just don’t say anything in the house or on the phone that you wouldn’t want the bad guys to hear.”

“Okay. Run the prints against every available database.”

“Will do,” he said. He put an arm around her. “I don’t like leaving you here.”

“I’ve got my cellphone,” she said, patting her pocket. “I can use it outside the house to call you if I need you. If you call me, it may take a few rings for me to get outside, so don’t hang up.”

Grant gave Daisy a pat. “You take care of her, girl.”

56

Holly got a little sleep, and was awakened by the doorbell. She opened the door to find Ed Shine standing there.

“Hi,” Ed said. “I tried to call you for dinner last night and didn’t get an answer. You been off the reservation?”

“Come in, Ed,” Holly said, kissing him on the cheek. “I have a lot to tell you. I’ve got some cof

fee on; would you like some?”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Ed said, settling on the living room sofa.

Holly poured the coffee and brought milk and sugar.

“The gate guard said somebody brought you back here.”

“Yes, that was Grant Early, my neighbor. I’ve been seeing him.”

“Is it okay for him to know where you are? I’ve been worried.”

“It’s okay.”