Blood Orchid

37

Holly found a parking spot a few doors from the locksmith’s shop, then she took the notebook out of her bag. The dead body on the living room floor of Marina’s house kept intruding into her thoughts, but she would think about that later. Right now, she wanted to see the notebook before she spoke to Pedro.

She took it from her handbag and opened it, turning the pages slowly. It was in the crudest kind of code; Carlos hadn’t been all that smart. There were a series of three-digit numbers, followed by letters. Clearly, the numbers were dates, and the letters were initials. Apparently, Carlos had kept a record of the dates and people he dealt with from the time he got involved in his second job. Three of the dates corresponded to the shootings of the two Miami property dealers and the attempt on Ed Shine’s life. TR was surely Trini Rodriguez, and PP Pio Pellegrino; PA was Pedro Alvarez, and he had been involved from the beginning. This was still not enough for arrests, not just yet. She changed her mind about speaking to Pedro and started her car. She was about to back out of her parking place when a car pulled into a spot in front of the locksmith’s shop, and Trini Rodriguez got out and went inside. He looked angry. Holly switched off her engine.

Trini was in the shop no more than three minutes, and when he came out, he was in a hurry. Holly started her car again and followed him, keeping well back. She hoped he wouldn’t notice the aerial on her car. As she followed Trini, driving west, the surroundings became less prosperous. Once past I-95, they became downright seedy. There was less traffic now, and she dropped back farther. Finally, Trini pulled off the road and stopped in front of a bar called Tricky’s.

Holly drove straight past. A quarter of a mile down the road, she made a U-turn and stopped, still able to see the bar and Trini’s car. She got out her cellphone and called Harry Crisp.

“What is it, Holly? I’m pretty busy.”

“I’m pretty busy myself, Harry. I shot Trini Rodriguez’s brother, or maybe cousin, earlier this afternoon, and now I’m tailing Trini. He’s at a bar called Tricky’s.” She gave him the address.

“Did you say you shot somebody?”

“Shot him dead. I’ve already dealt with Lauderdale homicide. Carlos Alvarez left a notebook containing some incriminating information with his girlfriend, and Trini’s brother went to try and beat it out of her. I got there in time.”

“What do you mean ‘incriminating information’?”

“He used a childish code, but it’s apparently a record of his meetings with Trini, Pio Pellegrino, and Pedro Alvarez, plus the dates of the two murders and one attempt.”

“That’s plenty to bring them all in for questioning,” Harry said.

“Not yet, Harry. This has got to lead somewhere, and I want to know where, don’t you?”

“I can tell you where it’s going to lead, Holly. It’s going to lead to Central or South America, where the corporations are located that were bidding on the Palmetto Gardens property. Whoever is running this is out of the country, and we’re never going to lay hands on them, so we’d better settle for who we can grab and convict.”

“We don’t have enough yet to convict anybody but Carlos Alvarez, and he’s dead. What have you heard on the background check on Pio Pellegrino and his father? Any news on identifying their photographs?”

“Not yet; the lab is pretty busy.”

“What I’d like you to do, Harry, is to get a team out to Tricky’s and pick up the tail on Trini. I’m in a vehicle that is an obvious unmarked police car, and if I continue to follow him, he’s going to make me, eventually.”

“It’s going to take me at least an hour, maybe two, to round up enough people and vehicles.”

“He may be gone by then.”

“Will you stay on him until we can relieve you?”

“I’ll try, Harry, but it would help if you could get even one car out here, so we can swap positions from time to time.”

“I’ll do my best. You on your cellphone?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll get back to you.” He hung up.

Holly sat, staring down the road at Tricky’s, wondering whether Trini had business there or if he had just stopped in for a beer. It had to be business, she reckoned. Nobody would come out here for just a drink. She watched Trini’s red Ford Explorer until, suddenly, it moved. She hadn’t seen him come out of the bar. The car headed back in the direction they had come, and Holly followed, trying to keep a car or two between them.

Her phone rang. “Holly Barker.”

“It’s Harry. I’ve got two cars on the way up I-95. You still at Tricky’s?”

“Nope, Trini is on the move. We’re just coming up on I-95 now.” She gave him the exit number. “Tell your guys to get off and follow me east. I’m in a tan Jeep Grand Cherokee with a big antenna on the back. I’ll watch for them.”

“I’ll stay on the line until they’ve caught up,” Harry said. “I’m in radio contact.”

“I’ve got a radio, but I don’t know if we’re on the same frequencies.”

“You’re not,” Harry said.

“Uh-oh, Trini just hung a right.” She followed and gave Harry the street name.

“My guys are getting off the interstate now, headed east.”

“Then they’re probably a mile or so behind me. Tell them to step on it; they can slow down when they see me.”

“Okay.”

“Trini’s turning left.” She gave him the street name.

“One car thinks he has you in sight,” Harry said.

“Tell him to pass me,” Holly replied. “Hang on, Trini is stopping. Stand by.” Holly drove slowly past Trini’s Explorer and saw him go into a shooting range, a different one from where she had seen him before. She gave the name to Harry.

“Okay, we’ve got it. You get out of there,” Harry said.

“Will do.”

“Now, you and I have to meet; I want to see that notebook. You go back to I-95 and head south; I’ll head north. There’s a Burger King about twenty miles down the interstate.” He gave her the exit number. “I’ll meet you there in, oh hell, I don’t know, half an hour, an hour?”

“I’ll have a burger,” Holly said. She hung up, made a couple of turns, and headed back toward I-95.