by Stuart Woods
Ed stopped the cart and looked at her. “Tell me about it.”
“This is only a theory,” she said, “and I won’t know more about it for a few days, but on the day of the evening you were shot at, two Miami property developers were murdered.”
“I read about that in the papers,” Ed said. “Why does that have anything to do with me?”
“The FBI tells me both those guys were going to bid on Palmetto Gardens.”
“Blood Orchid, please,” Ed said, holding up a hand.
“Okay, Blood Orchid. Tell me, Ed, who knew you were going to bid on the property?”
“Wait a minute.” Ed shook his head. “When you bid on a property the General Services Administration is selling, nobody knows who’s bidding or how much they’re bidding; that’s all very secret. You make your judgment of the value of the property, enter your bid, and hope for the best. Property development is a pretty cutthroat business,” he said. “I could tell you some stories. But two murders?”
“Three,” Holly said, “but for the grace of God.”
Ed laughed and shook his head again. “Nah, couldn’t happen. No piece of property is worth that, especially this piece.”
“This piece of property looks pretty good to me,” Holly said.
“Not from a developer’s point of view. Orchid Beach is out of the way, not like Boca or Palm Beach—not even like Vero. This land in Boca or Palm Beach, with three golf courses already constructed and fifty houses built, would cost, what, two hundred million? Maybe more.”
“If it’s not so hot, why are you so hot on it?”
Ed held up some fingers: “One, because I live here; two, because the price was right; and three, because I had the money from the sale of my business. With me, it’s almost a hobby; I don’t have any overhead to speak of, though I’ve opened an office and am hiring a couple of salesmen. Also, since the place already has the important elements in place, it won’t take me twenty years to develop it.” He smiled. “At my age, twenty years would be too long. Nope, in five years, I’ll have this place roaring, and I’ll have my own little kingdom to rule. That’s how I’ll spend the rest of my life.”
“Hey!” Ham called from his cart across the course. “Golf, anyone?”
Back at her office, Holly couldn’t stand it anymore. She called the Miami detective.
“Hi, this is Chief Holly Barker, in Orchid Beach.”
“Afternoon, Chief.”
“Did you get my cartridge casing?”
“Yep.”
“Was it a match for yours?”
“Yep.”
Her theory suddenly held a lot of water. “What’s your next step?”
“I don’t have one,” Connor said.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I’m off the case, as of half an hour ago.”
“Why?”
“Because the FBI went to the chief of detectives and took it away from me. You want any more, call Harry Crisp, over at their Miami office.”
“I’ll do that, Jim,” Holly said, and hung up. She immediately called Harry.
“Hello, Holly,” Harry Crisp said. “I was expecting to hear from you.”
“I guess Connor told you about my matching cartridge case, before you snatched the file from him.”
“Yes, he did, and I had every right to do that. The case now has federal ramifications, since it was the federal government that was selling Palmetto Gardens.”
“Blood Orchid,” Holly said.
“What?”
“That’s what it’s called now. I just played golf out there with the new owner, Ed Shine.”
“Oh, yeah. We ran a check on him, came up with no arrests, no convictions. He’s clean.”
“I’m glad to hear it because he’s a nice guy.”
“He’s a lucky guy, is what he is. Clearly, whoever was behind this meant to take him out as well as Jimenez and Steinberg.”
“I guess you’re checking on the other bidders.”
“We are.”
“Will you let me know what you find out?”
“Holly, this is a federal investigation now. I can’t share information with you.”
“Harry, after all we’ve meant to each other?”
“Holly, I consider you my friend, but I just can’t do it.”
“Remember where Blood Orchid is located, Harry? It’s on my turf. You’re going to need me before this is over, so you’d better keep me sweet.”
“Holly, Holly,” Crisp said, “how could you be any sweeter?” Then he hung up.
“Shit,” Holly said.
6
Holly arrived at work the following morning to find all the phones dead.
“They’re working on it,” Hurd Wallace told her. “We’ve been down for about half an hour, and they were here in about two minutes; I didn’t even have to call them, they were already in the neighborhood.”
“That’s good service,” Holly said. She worked on personnel efficiency reports for a while, deciding how her small budget increase could be distributed in pay raises. It was tough, and she hated doing it. Then she saw a light flash on her phone. She picked it up, got a dial tone, and called Harry Crisp at the FBI office in Miami.
“Good morning, Holly,” Harry said cheerfully.
“Morning, Harry. I have a little more for you on Blood Orchid Estates.”
“Shoot.”
“I confirmed that he paid sixty million for the place.”
“Did you find out why?”
“He says it will be a hobby for his old age. He can live there, run it, and maybe even make a buck.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
“Harry, were there any other bids besides Ed’s and the two dead guys’ actually received?”
“Two, both inadequate.”
“Wouldn’t those two companies be a good place to look, since they were obviously trying to buy the property on the cheap?”
“We’ve already run that down,” Harry said.
“And you found out what?”
“They’re both South American, one registered in Brazil, one in Bolivia.”
“With Colombian ownership, maybe?”
“Maybe, but we haven’t been able to nail that down. Their company incorporation procedures are different from ours, and the ownership is harder to track.”
“I’ll bet you it’s some of the same drug money that owned the place before, trying to get it back.”
“Could very well be. You ever thought of becoming an FBI agent?”
Holly laughed. “I don’t think you could beat my current job, Harry.”
“Maybe I could. You go to the academy, and I’ll get you assigned to me. Life would be interesting.”
“Too interesting. I want to stay home with my dog and my daddy and have fun.”
“You having fun, Holly?” Harry asked.
That brought her up short. “Not yet,” she said.
“It’s been what, a year?”
“You sound like Ham.”
“Ham’s a smart guy.”
“It’s not that it’s too soon, it’s just that I haven’t felt like it.”
“Felt like what?”
“Having fun, Harry. Now leave me alone.”
“Okay, sweetheart. Let me know if you find out anything else that might be helpful.”
“I don’t suppose there’s any point in saying the same to you, Harry.”
“I do what I can, Holly. The Bureau frowns on excessive info sharing with local law enforcement.”
“Except when there’s something in it for the Bureau?”
“Something like that.”
“That’s what I thought. You ought to talk to them about that, Harry; you might get more local cooperation.”
“I get all I need, kiddo.”
“Bye, Harry.” She hung up. The Bureau annoyed her with its close-to-the-vest way of treating locals like her. She’d talked to some other small-town chiefs who felt the same way.
Hurd Wallace knocked on her door and took a seat.
“What’s up?”
“I’m at a dead end on who took a shot at Ed Shine,” he said. “There just isn’t anything else. I want to put the file into the inactive drawer.”
“Okay. If something else comes up, you can always take it out again. You have any personal theories?”
“Theories unsupported by any actual evidence?”
“Okay.”
Hurd shrugged. “What we know is that somebody took a shot at at least two, maybe three property developers, all of whom were bidding or intended to bid on Palmetto Gardens.”
“Blood Orchid Estates, now,” Holly reminded him.
“Right. That’s all we’ve got. No physical evidence, except for two cartridge cases, nothing else.”
“Harry Crisp says that two other companies bid on the property, both of them South American.”
Hurd’s eyebrows went up. “That kind of rings some bells, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, but only for the Feds. We don’t have the means or the budget to track down that kind of stuff, and they do.”
“I’ll bet it’s drug money.”
“You wouldn’t get odds from me,” Holly replied.
“I’ll bet it’s some of the same money that owned it before.”
“That’s what I just said to Harry, but what can we do? It’s Harry’s ball game; let him do the pitching and the fielding.”
Hurd stood up. “Right, it’s in the inactive drawer.” He went back to his office.
Holly found herself thinking of Jackson, something she used to do about once a minute and now did more like once a day. She wondered, as she sometimes did, what she would be doing now if Jackson were alive. Probably the same thing she was doing right this minute, she thought.
It wasn’t as though they would have pulled up stakes and moved to Paris the minute they were married; after all, Jackson had a law practice in Orchid Beach, and she had a good job. No, they’d probably be doing the same things until they got old.
She thought about the money. Jackson had left her the house, an insurance policy, and some investments. She was worth more than two million dollars now, and she had her salary and her pension from the Army. She could do whatever she wanted, she knew, but apparently what she wanted was just to do her job. It hurt less than anything else.
7
Holly let herself into her house, one arm filled with groceries, and closed the door behind her. She set the grocery bag on the kitchen counter, turned the air-conditioning down a few degrees, and answered Daisy’s call for supper.
Then, as Daisy dug into her meal, Holly noticed something odd: There was something different about the kitchen telephone. That morning, hurrying to get out, she had answered the phone and had had to stand very close to the set because the twelve-foot cord to the receiver had been hopelessly tangled. This was true of all the phones Holly used, and she only unwound the cords when she had to. She hadn’t done it that morning, but somebody had.
She stood in the kitchen and looked around, then over the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room. Everything looked normal, but too neat. Holly was a neat person, but not obsessively so. But someone was.
On the living room coffee table, a group of magazines, previously tossed onto the table, was now neatly stacked and aligned with the corner of the table. Things on the kitchen counter, too, were neater than she had left them, and she was beginning to get a really creepy feeling. She unsnapped the keep on her holster and lifted the Sig Sauer 9mm that Ham had given her, flipping off the safety.
Daisy looked up at the sound, then went back to her dinner. Holly held the pistol at her side and walked around the counter into the living room, listening. The only sound was the rattle of Daisy’s collar against her bowl. The Doberman finished her dinner, drank some water, then looked up at Holly, who was starting up the stairs in her stocking feet, walking on the outside of the treads to avoid squeaking.
She stuck her head into her bedroom momentarily, then withdrew it. She heard the click of Daisy’s claws on the stairs. Daisy came and nuzzled her hand; she had not had dessert, and she wanted her cookie now.
Holly looked around the rest of the house carefully, here and there noting a spot of unaccustomed neatness. Her gun safe was closed and locked, and so was the safe in her dressing room, where she kept what jewelry she had. Finally, she walked back down the stairs, went to the cookie jar, and gave Daisy her dessert. Daisy walked to the back door and waited. After another look around the living room, Holly let her out onto the beach, and Daisy ran into the dunes for her evening ablutions.
Satisfied that no one was in the house, Holly went upstairs, undressed, showered, and slipped into a long T-shirt that she often wore around the house; then she went down to the kitchen to make her own dinner.
There was nothing missing, she mused, but someone had definitely been in the house between the time she’d left that morning and the time she’d returned. But why? Certainly it wasn’t a burglar; the TV and stereo were still in their usual places. Had someone come simply to sniff her underwear or shoes, then tidied up before leaving? Her underwear drawer looked the same, and her shoes were as she had left them in her dressing room. It didn’t make any sense.
Holly looked at the liquor cabinet and thought of pouring herself a bourbon, but she decided she wanted to remain alert to think about this. She took her salad and pasta on a tray into the living room and turned on the TV, looking for the evening news.
The hell with it, she thought. Why stay sober? She went back to the kitchen, opened a bottle of white wine, grabbed a glass, and returned to her dinner.
“The investigation of the murders of real estate moguls Steven Steinberg and Manuel Jimenez on the same day seems to have come to a complete stop,” a reporter was saying. He was standing on a golf course and pointing to the middle of the fairway. “That is the spot where Steinberg was shot as he played golf with a business associate. Miami homicide detectives say they have turned over the investigation to the FBI, but they won’t say what the federal connection to the case is, and neither will the FBI. Both the Steinberg and Jimenez families have demanded answers from the police, but they aren’t getting any. Marilyn Steinberg spoke to us earlier today.”
The scene changed to the country club deck overlooking the course, where a carefully coiffed and made-up woman in a flowered dress stood facing the reporter, a view of the golf course behind her. “We just don’t understand,” she said. “Steven had no enemies; he wasn’t involved in anything illegal; he never even met a mobster. Who would do this thing, and why won’t the Miami police department or the FBI tell us anything? They just say that their investigation is ongoing, and they’ll let us know when they have something.”
The reporter on the golf course was back. “So, that’s where we leave it—in the hands of the Feds, who have been uncommunicative. Back to the studio.”
Holly knew just how Marilyn Steinberg felt, she thought. The FBI wasn’t telling her anything either. One thing about police work: without evidence, you were nowhere; and she was nowhere. So was Harry Crisp, apparently, and the homicide detective she had talked to had seemed almost somnolent. The phone rang, and she picked up the receiver on the table beside her. “Hello?”
She heard some odd noises, then the line went dead—no dial tone, nothing. She put the receiver down and picked it up again. This time, she got a dial tone. She put down the receiver and pressed the button that brought up the caller ID log. The word “unavailable” presented itself for the last caller. The one before that was her office, the one before that was Ham. Maybe somebody had called from a cellphone and the call hadn’t quite gone through. Maybe he’d call back. She waited, but the phone didn’t ring again.
She finished her dinner, switched off the TV, and walked out the back door, across the patio, and onto the beach. She saw Daisy dart in and out of the dunes, amusing herself. The sun was going down, casting shadows across the sand down to the
water.
She walked across the beach and let the little waves wash over her feet. It was a beautiful evening, and she wished she had someone to share it with. She and Jackson had liked this time of day on the beach, had taken long walks, returning to the cottage only after dark. Daisy bounded across the beach and joined her, frolicking in the shallow water. Down the beach, toward Orchid, lights were coming on, families were sitting down to dinner, lovers were making love.
Holly was alone, and that hurt, but she still felt she’d rather be alone than with someone other than Jackson. There wouldn’t be another Jackson in her life, she knew that, but she hoped there’d be somebody down the line. When he turned up, she hoped she’d want him.
She turned and, with Daisy at her heels, trudged back to the house. It waited for her, warm, inviting, and empty.
8
The following morning Holly phoned the station and asked for Hurd Wallace.
“Deputy Chief Wallace,” he said.
“Hurd, Holly. Do you know a really good locksmith?”
“Yeah, sure; Phil Sweat; he does locks, alarms, electronics, the works. I’ll give you the number.”
Holly wrote it down, then hung up and called the man.
Two hours later, Phil Sweat arrived in a van emblazoned with the name NO SWEAT LOCKSMITHS, Your Security Is Our Only Business. Sweat was short, skinny, and shrewd-looking. He reminded Holly of a ferret.
“Morning, Chief,” Sweat said. “What can I do you for?”
“I want new locks on all the exterior doors; excellent locks.”
“You had some kind of problem?”
“Somebody came into my house yesterday while I was at work. Nothing was stolen, but I could tell somebody had been here.”
“Rearranged things, did he?”
“In tiny ways that only I would notice.”
“There are people like that,” Sweat said, raising his baseball cap and scratching his head. “They break into people’s houses just to experience their lives. Sometimes they steal, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they shit on the floor.”