Orchid Blues

21

Lunch at Ham's was always fish, freshly caught. He rolled a couple of plump sea trout in flour and dropped them in hot oil.

Holly didn't rush him. It was best not to rush Ham, he'd get around to it.

Halfway through lunch, Ham got around to it. "So, ol' Peck called me this morning."

"What'd he have to say?"

"I think Peck thinks I'm his kind of folks."

"Good."

"Good? I found it kind of insulting."

"Did you tell him that?"

"Nope."

"Good."

"Said he wants to bring me something to read."

"Bring? He's coming over here?"

"Around six, he said."

"You think he wants to recruit you?"

"Maybe."

"How do you feel about that?"

"How do you want me to feel?"

"I don't want you to get in over your head, Ham."

Ham snorted. "Over my head? I've spent more time in over my head than anyplace else."

"I guess you have. What I meant was, if these people are who I think they are, it could get dangerous."

Ham shot her a withering look. "More dangerous than 'Nam? I don't think so."

"All right, I had to say it."

"Sort of a disclaimer, huh?"

"Sort of. I just want you to go into this with your eyes wide open."

"What do you want me to get out of this guy?"

"Nothing, at first. Don't ask too many questions. Let him tell you."

"You want me to be sneaky, huh?"

Holly laughed. "Real sneaky."

"That's one of the things I do best."

"Okay, I want to know how many of them there are, where they came from, how they support themselves, and anything else you can find out."

"I guess I can find out most of that just by going out there again."

"I guess so."

"But if I start asking him where he's from, he'll get suspicious."

"Right."

"Something else he's going to be suspicious about, kiddo."

"What's that?"

"You."

"Me?"

"He's got to read the papers and watch TV. Pretty soon, he's going to figure out who you are and that the man they shot in the bank meant something to you."

"How are you going to handle that?"

"Well, I've got to tell him something. You want him to think you're a closet Nazi or something?"

"You might let him think that I'm not totally averse to his views."

"I guess I could do that. You think he'll buy it?"

"When he finds out I'm the chief of police, he's going to be cautious."

"I guess he might be."

"Maybe you better bring it up, so he won't find out from somebody else."

"Okay." Ham took a bite of fish. "I think it might be best if I let him know, somewhere along the line, that I didn't approve of Jackson much and that that was a sore spot with you."

"Good idea. I don't think he liked me too much when we met."

Ham chuckled. "Well, when you offered to make him shorter, that probably didn't go down all that well."

"He'll have me pegged as somebody he can never trust."

"I guess he will."

"So you've got to make out, one way or another, that you and I aren't as close as we could be."

"I guess I can do that."

"I wish there were some other way to do this, but I think Harry Crisp is right: it would take too long to put an FBI agent in there."

"Probably."

"Ham?"

"Yep?"

"See if you can find out if this outfit has a name. That could be a big help."

"You mean, if they call themselves the United White Brothers of the Klan, that could tell you something?"

Holly laughed. "No, I mean if they have a name, we can use it to find out more about them. There are people who track extreme organizations, keep files on them."

"Okay, I'll see what I can do."

Holly looked at her watch. "I've got to get back to work. Call me when he leaves, will you?"

"I will."

She gave him a big kiss on his forehead. "Don't piss him off, Ham; I wouldn't want to lose you."