Orchid Blues

24

Holly was getting ready for bed when the phone rang. "Hello?

"Hey."

"Hey, Ham. What's up?"

"I just got a dinner invitation."

"Do we have to talk about your sex life again?"

"Sex wasn't mentioned, but I'm keeping an open mind about it."

"Ham, I'm tired. What are you talking about?"

"I've been invited to the Peck Rawlings home for a fried chicken dinner."

Holly's heart leapt. "That's great! When?"

"Tomorrow night."

"God, what a relief! I've been feeling lousy for most of the day because I thought we were at a dead end."

"Not yet, apparently."

"What, exactly, did Rawlings say?"

"He said, 'Ham, why don't you come out here tomorrow night for a fried chicken dinner?'"

"What else?"

"Then I said, 'Peck, I think I'd enjoy that.'"

"I mean, what else did Rawlings say?"

"He said, 'Come out here about six. You turn right just as you enter Main Street, and we're the first house on the left.' Then he hung up."

"I've got to call Harry right now. I'll get back to you."

"Okay."

She hung up and dug out Harry Crisp's home number.

"Hello?"

"Harry, it's Holly. We're back in business."

"How?"

"Rawlings has invited Ham to dinner."

"That's great. It means they're still interested in him, in spite of his daughter being in law enforcement."

"Isn't it great?"

"Maybe. Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"Well, they're not inviting him out there to shoot him."

Harry said nothing.

"Are they?"

"I shouldn't think so. But listen, Holly, it's important that he not do anything to arouse their suspicions on this visit. I mean, don't hang a wire on him or anything."

"I'll admit, I had been thinking about doing that."

"Just tell him to play it loose.".

"That's what Ham does best."

"Thanks for letting me know about this right away," Harry said. "Now, let's both get some sleep. Call me back when Ham reports in."

"Okay, Harry, good night." Holly hung up and called Ham back.

"Hey."

"Harry's excited, too."

"What do you want me to do out there?"

"Eat fried chicken and listen a lot, nothing more."

"You don't want me to burn down the place or anything?"

"Nope. Just be Ham, or a reasonable facsimile who's also a bigot and a crypto-Nazi."

"I guess I can handle that, as long as they don't give me a lie detector test."

"They're still feeling you out, Ham. I don't think these people recruit all that readily; they're very careful."

"That's what ol' Peck told me at our first meeting: careful and quiet."

"Ham, how do you feel about doing this?"

"Funny, but I'm kind of looking forward to it. I mean, you can do only so much fishing and play so much golf before you start getting a little fuzzy around the edges. You want me to take along a tape recorder or something like that?"

"Harry says no, and he's right. Just go as you are, and play it very cool. These are suspicious people-paranoid, even-and we don't want to do anything to worry them."

"I get the picture."

"Don't swear any blood oaths just yet, either. Play a little hard to get; make them work to get you."

"Hard to get, huh? Are we back to my sex life?"

"Come on, Ham, you were never hard to get in your life. This'll be a new experience for you."

Ham laughed. "It sure will be that, and I have to tell you, I'm starting to look forward to it. I've always loved fried chicken."

"Okay, Ham, if you think of anything else, call me tomorrow at the station. Otherwise, just call me as soon as you're safely out of there. I want to hear all about it."

"Oh, you'll be the first to know everything," Ham said.

"Ham, just a thought: Take along a gun."

"You want me to go armed?"

"Not exactly. Just put your nine-millimeter in the glove compartment and don't lock it. If they get curious, it would be nice for them to find it"

"Whatever you say, darlin'. You sleep well, now."

"Believe me, I'm going to."