Orchid Blues (Holly Barker 2)

"He'll remember," Holly said. "He's got a memory like a bear trap, better than mine."

"I hope it's better than mine," Harry said.

"Hey, listen up," Eddie said, pointing at the radio. "Ham's on the air."

Holly heard a jumble of voices, then a door close.

"Ham, I hear you're working wonders with the Barrett's rifle," a voice said.

"Damn right he is," another man chipped in.

"It seems to be going well," Ham said.

"Could you be ready to shoot by, say, Monday?" the first voice asked.

"John, I'm ready now," Ham replied.

Harry spoke up. "Eddie, is the tape recorder on?"

"Yes," Eddie replied.

"Monday will be soon enough," John said.

"You ready to tell me what I'll be shooting at?" Ham asked.

"Two, maybe three men in the back seat of a limo," John replied. "And that's all you need to know for now."

"I think we ought to start watching the weather," Ham said. "You get the Weather Channel out here?"

"Yes, on satellite," the third man said.

"Peck, that's not going to get you a local forecast."

"Why are you worried about the weather?" John asked.

"I'm worried about the wind," Ham said. "If there's more than a slight breeze, windage could be a real problem, depending on the distance. Is this limo likely to be moving through a crowd?"

"Maybe," John said.

"I don't think we want to shoot near a crowd, if there's any wind. You don't want to kill a lot of citizens, do you?"

"Not unless it's absolutely necessary," John replied.

"Well, if you have an option-I mean, if there's a route for this limo, and you could choose where to shoot, you might want to look for a spot with trees on either side of the road, and the taller, the better."

"That would help you with the wind?"

"It would, if the wind wasn't too strong."

"I can get an aviation forecast that would give me winds at the local airport twenty-four hours ahead of time."

"That would be a big help," Ham said. "The winds ought to be the same on the street."

"Well, let's go to dinner," John said, and the three men left the room.

"Well, whatever it is, it's Monday," Holly said.

"Eddie," Harry said, "I want you to get on the Internet and visit every Florida site you can find. Look for a list of events on Monday. Doug, I want you to call the FAA and tell them I want to know-in fact, I want tapes-of anybody who calls from Saturday onward asking for a forecast of local winds, not a whole briefing for a flight and not a winds-aloft forecast, just a forecast of local winds at any airport in the state."