“Why?”
“Because of the bugging in the cottage. I don’t want the listeners to hear the satphone ringing or my end of the conversation. What time shall I call you?”
“Around ten o’clock; I’ll know at least something by then. And remember, Holly, the last time Sir Winston got an American woman in his jail, he tried to hang her.”
“Thanks for reminding me,” Holly said drily. “Will you call Ham and find out how Daisy is doing?”
“Holly, the Central Intelligence Agency doesn’t do dog checks.”
“Can I call him on the satphone?”
“Oh, all right.”
“Talk to you tomorrow.” She hung up and called her father in Orchid Beach, Florida.
“This is Barker,” he drawled.
“Hey, Ham.”
“Hey, girl; how’s it going?”
“Pretty well, I guess; tell Ginny I’m enjoying being her. I lost fifteen pounds for the job.”
“That couldn’t hurt.”
“Watch it, Ham. How’s Daisy?”
“Happy as a clam; she goes fishing with me every day and helps by lying down on the foredeck and falling asleep.”
“She’s eating well?”
“You ever know her to turn down a meal?”
“Well, you know, I miss her.”
“By the way, somebody was sniffing around the flight school, asking questions about Ginny.”
“Oh, God, I hope Ginny wasn’t there.”
“She was giving a flying lesson at the time. It was a black guy in a suit and tie, with some sort of accent, and being that dressed up is pretty rare around here.”
“Who’d he talk to?”
“The secretary/bookkeeper in the office. She told him Ginny was out of the country on vacation, like she was supposed to.”
“That’s a relief to hear. We found out our cottage was bugged, and it’s interesting to know that somebody’s checking on us.”
“Well, you watch your ass, girl; I don’t want to have to come down there and bring your corpse home.”
“Relax, Ham; nothing like that going on. I gotta go. You give Daisy a big, wet kiss for me.”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll give Ginny one, instead.”
“Bye.” She hung up and went back out to the beach.
“What’s the word?”
“I’ll call Lance tomorrow at ten for the results of the background check. There’s something else, though.”