Hothouse Orchid (Holly Barker 6)

Holly found her cell phone and pressed a speed dial button.

“This better be good,” Ham’s voice said. “You woke me up.”

“Ham,” she said, “my car is on the Indian River Trail, a couple of miles south of the bridge. Will you bring it to the hospital? I don’t have the keys, so they must still be in the car.”

“Are you all right?”

“Somebody hit me over the head. Just come to the ER.”

“Twenty minutes,” Ham said, then hung up.

Holly closed the phone and looked up. A stocky young man in a police uniform was standing there.

“Holly? You all right?” he asked.

“Jimmy!” she said, glad to see him. Jimmy Weathers had been a rookie in her department.

“A couple found you out on Indian River Trail, lying in the road. You got any idea how you got that way?”

“None at all,” she said. “I had dinner at Ham’s, and the last thing I remember was driving away from his house.”

“The kids who found you said there was a car parked behind yours with a flashing blue light. Almost as soon as they saw it, it drove away, and they nearly ran over you.”

“I’m sorry, Jimmy,” she said, “but that means nothing to me. I mean, I remember some people taking care of me, but I must have passed out. Ham’s going to be here in a few minutes. Will you stay until he comes? Somebody besides me needs to tell him I’m all right.”

“I’ll help with that,” the doctor said, and she looked at him for the first time. He was fiftyish, athletic looking, with thick salt-and-pepper hair. “You’re going to stay with us overnight; you may have a concussion.”

“Whatever you say,” Holly replied, suddenly exhausted.

6

Holly woke up in a hospital room, and Ham was sitting beside her bed. Ginny came into the room holding two paper cups of coffee.

“Hey, Ham,” Holly said sleepily. “Hey, Ginny.”

Ham pressed the call button beside her bed. “How you feeling, baby?”

“Headache,” Holly said, groping for the bed control that would sit her up.

A nurse came into the room. “Will you tell Dr. Harmon she’s awake?” Ham asked. “He wanted to know.”

“I’ll call him,” the nurse said, then left.

“What happened?” Ham asked.

“I wish I knew,” Holly said.

“You have any idea who did this?”

“No, none at all.”

Ham held up her lizard boots. “These were in your car,” he said. “I thought you might need them when you walk out of here. There are socks inside.”

The doctor walked into the room. “You’re alive!” he said, in mock amazement. “Do you remember me?”

“The ham-handed stitcher-upper,” Holly said. “How could I forget?”

“We X-rayed you after you drifted off; you’ll be glad to know you don’t have a fractured skull, just a mild concussion. We’ve sent a blood sample out to see if there was anything odd in your bloodstream.”