Phil spoke up. “I think we’d better go back in the house so I can give a negative report on finding bugs, for the benefit of whoever’s listening.”
“Good idea,” Ham said.
Ginny looked at her watch. “I’ve got to get going. I’ve got a student coming at one o’clock, and I’ve still got to…” She left that unsaid.
They went back into the house, Phil gave his report in an audible voice, and he, Holly, and Ginny went to their cars.
“I’ll see you Saturday morning at nine,” Holly said, waving to Ginny. “Do I need to bring anything?”
“Nope,” Ginny called back. “I’ll supply everything.”
“Good to meet you.”
“And you.” Ginny drove away.
Holly drove back to her office. When she arrived, there was a note on her desk to call Ed Shine.
12
Holly returned Ed Shine’s call, and a secretary answered.
“Mr. Shine’s office.”
“This is Holly Barker, returning Ed’s call.”
“Oh, yes; please hold.”
“Holly? How are you?”
“Very well, Ed. What have you been up to?”
“Working hard; we’ve sold two houses already.”
“That’s great.”
“You and Ham free for dinner on Saturday?”
“I am, and Ham probably is, although he has a girlfriend these days.”
“Invite them both.”
“I’ll do that and get back to you.”
“I’ll be here.”
Holly called Ham, made the date, and called Shine back.
“Good. My car will pick you up at seven o’clock. Where do you live?”
Holly gave him directions.
“Then you can direct the driver to Ham’s place. Then you’ll pick me up.”
“Where are we dining?”
“At the Yellow Dog Cafe, just south of Melbourne. It’s not a long drive.”
“I’ve heard good things about it. We’ll see you later.”
Holly hung up and went back to work on her personnel files, completing the job while having a sandwich at her desk. Then her phone rang.
“Holly Barker.”
“Hi, it’s Harry.”
“Hello, Harry. How are you?”
“Good. You free for dinner on Saturday night?”
“No, I’ve just made plans; Ham and I are dining with friends.”
“How about Sunday night?”
“Okay. What brings you up this way?”
“It’s not me; his name is Grant Early.”
“Harry, are you trying to fix me up?”
“Not exactly. He’s one of my people and he’s going to be spending some time in your area.”
“Doing what?”
“I think we need a presence around there-not exactly an agent in residence, more of a…”
“Harry, is he going to be undercover?”
“Well, yes. He’ll explain that to you. I’d appreciate it if you’d give him any help you can.”
“What could I possibly do for him that the FBI can’t?”
Harry paused to think about that. “He might need some on-the-ground assistance,” he said finally.
“Well, okay, Harry. Have him call me about Sunday.”
“He’s right here; I’ll put him on.”
“Hello?” a man’s deep voice said.
“Hello.”
“Holly Barker?”
“Yes.”
“This is Grant Early.”
“Sounds like a bourbon.”
“Usually people say scotch. I take it we’re on for dinner on Sunday?”
“All right.” Holly didn’t know why she was agreeing to this.
“Will you book us a table at some place you like a lot? I’ll pick you up at seven, if that’s all right.”
“All right.”
“Harry says he’ll give me directions to your place.”
“Okay.”
“How should I dress?”
“We’re pretty casual up here; a jacket but no tie should do.”
“See you then. Here’s Harry.”
“Holly, I appreciate this. Don’t blame Grant if he can’t tell you everything.”
“I’ll blame you.”
Harry laughed.
“Harry, have you been bugging my phones?”
“Huh?” His surprise sounded genuine.
“Somebody has; the FBI is good at that.”
“Who do you think it is?”
“My first guess was you.”
“Wrong. What’s your second guess?”
“I don’t have one.”
“You working on something exotic?”
“Nope.”
“You working on something unexotic that someone might want to know about?”
“Not that I can think of, and believe me, I’ve thought about it. Whoever it is, is bugging Ham, too, and since he has a new girlfriend, he’s not happy about it.”
“Why don’t you talk to Grant about this on Sunday night? Maybe he’ll have some ideas.”
“Okay.”
“And watch your back; I don’t like the sound of this.”
“Okay.” Holly hung up feeling uneasy. She didn’t like the sound of it, either, but she hadn’t thought about watching her back.
Her phone rang again.
“Holly Barker.”
“Chief, it’s Teddy Wright.” He sounded sheepish.
“How are you feeling, Teddy?”
“A lot better; I want to come back to work today.”
“No dice; you’re taking two sick days. I’ll see you the day after tomorrow.”
“But what am I going to do? I’ll go nuts sitting around here.”
“Watch soap operas; that shouldn’t put any strain on your newly concussed brain.”
“I hate soap operas.”
“So do I. Try reading.”
“I’m not much of a reader.”
“Teddy, you’re wasting my time. I’ll see you the day after tomorrow.”
“Okay, Chief.” Teddy hung up.
Once again, Holly felt motherly.
13
On Saturday morning Holly drove out to the Orchid Beach airport and found the Orchid Flight Academy. She had been there before, she realized.
The building was broken into a warren of small rooms with desks and computers, and most of them were busy. Ginny Heller was seated in a glassed-in office at the back of the small building.
“Good morning,” Holly said, rapping on her open door.
“Good morning,” Ginny replied. “What do you think of my place?”
“Used to be a flying club, didn’t it? I came out here once for a flight with a friend.”
“Right. I bought it from the couple who owned it for thirty years, and I’m expanding the operation. I’ve installed computers for ground school and hired a couple more instructors.”
“I didn’t realize you were the boss.”
Ginny waved her into a seat. “Yeah, I took my divorce settlement and put it to work here.”
“Have you been instructing for long?”
“About eight years. I took up flying because my marriage was boring me stiff, and then I started instructing. I’ve got more than three thousand hours now, and a bunch of ratings. It was the only thing I got out of the marriage, except the settlement.”
“Good for you.”
Ginny handed her a document. “These are our prices for aircraft rental and instructors’ fees. The first lesson is free.”
Holly read quickly through the price list. “Okay by me.”
Ginny picked up a canvas briefcase. “Shall we get started?”
“Sure.” Holly followed Ginny out to the ramp to a shiny Piper Warrior, and Ginny began to walk her through a preflight inspection of the airplane.
“We going to fly today?” Holly asked, surprised.
“We always fly on the first lesson; gets the student hooked.”
The preflight completed, they got into the airplane, Holly in the left seat.
“You ever flown an airplane before?”
“Yeah. Jackson was a pilot, and he would let me take the controls now and then.”
“Okay, let’s get started up. Here’s your checklist.”
Holly worked her way through the list of tasks to complete, and soon the engine was running.
“You steer with your feet; turning the yoke doesn’t help at all,” Ginny explained. “Tune the bottom radio to the ATIS frequency-that’s the automated weather report.”