Orchid Blues

27

Ham arrived at Holly's house shortly after noon, and there was a car outside he didn't recognize. He let himself in through the front door and found Holly and Harry Crisp waiting for him. Holding a finger to his lips, he indicated that they could come outside through the beach door.

When they were outside Harry shook Ham's hand. "What's up?"

"I guess Holly told you I went to this little dinner party last night."

"Yes, that's why I'm here. What did you find out?"

"I found out they kept me there just long enough to tap my phone."

"No kidding?" Holly asked.

"I kid you not, kiddo."

"What kind of tap?" Harry asked.

"They soldered something inside the talking end of the receiver."

Harry nodded. "Was that the only one?"

"I have no idea. They didn't seem to mess with my cell phone, though. Would a tap on the phone let them hear anything in the house?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to get somebody out there to go over your place, so we'll know exactly what we're dealing with."

"Tell us about your evening," Holly said.

"We had a drink and chitchatted, then we had a good dinner. After that, the other men and I went into Rawlings's den and had a brandy and talked."

"What did you talk about?" Harry asked.

"They were looking into my politics; I pretty much told them I'm to the right of George Wallace, and they seemed to like that."

"What else?"

"They were interested in my weapons experience. Rawlings had a copy of my service record, can you believe that?"

"I can," Harry said.

"Harry should know," Holly said. "He has your service record, too."

Ham laughed. "Everybody's all over me. Does that mean they've got somebody in records at the Pentagon?"

"Nah," Harry said. "All it means is they've got somebody who can hack his way into a Pentagon computer and print out your record. Mind you, it would take a pretty smart hacker."

"There was a computer in Rawlings's den," Ham said.

"What else did you talk about?"

"There was some talk of how my weapons experience might do some good for their cause, whatever that is, then it got cut short. The phone rang, it was answered in another room, then one of the wives came in and said everything was okay. Next thing I knew, I was being politely shown the door."

"The call was from whoever bugged your phone," Harry said, "reporting that the coast was clear. Why do you think they might have bugged Holly's place?"

"I don't know that, I was just being careful."

"I'll have somebody here before the day is out to go over both places."

"Oh, they followed me all the way home, too. There was a car behind me with no headlights."

"I guess they wanted to know if you were reporting to somebody when you left," Harry said. "Did anybody follow you over here today?"

"I didn't spot anybody, and believe me, I looked. These folks have a way of making me paranoid."

"Just play it straight ahead; lead your life the way you usually do, and ignore them. Sounds to me like they're interested enough in you that they'll be in touch."

"Tell me about the town and the house," Holly said.

"Looks like something that Walt Disney might have designed. A general store and a couple of other little businesses on Main Street. The house is ordinary-looking, fairly new, middle-of-the-road furniture. Rawlings has the biggest collection of guns I've ever seen off a military base, and believe me, I've seen some collections."

"What kind of guns?"

"Everything from antiques to handguns to military automatic stuff."

"Where does he keep it?"

"In plain sight, on the walls of his den."

"Be interesting to plow through it and see how much of it is illegal."

"Is it legal to own a Barrett's rifle?"

"What's a Barrett's rifle?"

"It's a fifty-caliber sniper's piece that can take out an armored personnel carrier."

"I've never heard of it, but I'll check it out."

"We saw it fired the first time we were out there," Holly said. "It was scary."

"Anything else they talked about?" Harry asked.

"They sort of implied that somebody with my shooting skills could make a difference in the world."

"You think they want you to shoot somebody?"

"The first thing they asked me was what I thought of the president."

"And you said?"

"I just held my nose and expressed my preference for George Wallace. I thought Adolf Hitler might be going a little too far."

"Ham, did you come away thinking that they wanted you to shoot the president?"

"It's hard to say, Harry. Asking about the president might just have been their way of asking about my politics. Still, they were awful interested in how well I shoot."

"And how well is that?"

Holly spoke up. "As well as it can be done," she said. "And with anything."

"I don't like the reference to the president," Harry said.

"Harry," Holly said, "do you think we ought to bring the Secret Service into this?"

"Not yet," Harry said quickly. "They'd be all over it, going in there with a search warrant, and we'd lose any hope of penetrating this group."

"That sounds a little like interservice rivalry to me," Ham said.

"Well, I guess it is, but it's my call on when to bring them in. Don't worry, I'm not going to let the president be put in jeopardy."

"Or Ham, either," Holly said.

"Of course not," Harry said quickly. "I wouldn't be using Ham at all, if I didn't think it was the only way into this group."

"Actually," Ham said, "I'm kind of enjoying this. I've taken a real dislike to these people, and it would tickle me to blow them out of the water, whatever they're doing."

"Any other impressions of last evening?"

"Well, I got the idea that they weren't hurting for money."

"Of course not," Holly said, "they just robbed a bank."

"I guess they could be making good money from this gun show of theirs," Harry said.

"You'd have to move a lot of weapons," Ham replied. "But I bet they could move a lot of weapons, if they felt the need. I bet if you wanted a couple hundred assault rifles or fifty Uzis, they could find them for you in a hurry."

"Anything else about last night?"

Ham thought for a minute. "Something they said," he replied.

"What?"

"It was when the brandy was poured, kind of a toast."

"What was the toast?"

"They all said, 'On the day.'"