“How does a red Explorer just vanish?”
“Holly, let it go, will you? I’ll talk to you later.” He hung up.
Holly had the distinct feeling that the two-way information highway was running in only one direction again.
46
Holly arrived back at Grant’s house to find Grant and Marina having a drink in the living room. Marina was wearing her new clothes, but she still seemed very subdued.
“You look very nice,” Holly said, pouring herself a bourbon and sitting down.
“It’s a very nice mall-big discounts,” Marina said. “Holly, what am I going to do about burying my mother and my aunt?”
“There are certain procedures the Sarasota police will have to go through before the bodies can be released,” Holly said. “It will probably be a few days. Do you know of a funeral home in Lauderdale?”
“Yes, the one that buried Carlos,” Marina replied. “They were all right.”
“You might want to call them and put them in touch with the Sarasota police, so that they can bring the bodies home.”
“All right, I’ll call them tomorrow morning.”
“Remember not to tell them where you are.”
“I’ll give them my cellphone number,” Marina said. She set down her drink. “If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to go and have a nap before dinner.” She rose and went upstairs.
“So, how was your day?” Holly asked Grant.
“Okay,” he replied. “And yours?”
“Less than okay. I’m getting the distinct impression that Harry is holding out on me again.”
Grant looked uncomfortable but didn’t say anything.
“He and I supposedly had an agreement to share information,” she said, “and it’s not happening. I tried to talk to him about the background check on Pio Pellegrino, and he cut me off and hung up.”
Grant stared at the ceiling and sighed.
“What?”
“I’m trying to think of a way you could have found this out, other than from me.”
“Find what out?”
“You’re going to have to keep this to yourself, Holly; if Harry should find out…”
“Grant, what are you talking about?”
“Pio Pellegrino’s real name is Pietro Falcone; his father kept his old name, Ignacio. He was known in New York as Iggy the Finger.”
“Iggy the Finger? That’s colorful. What does it mean?”
“If Iggy wanted a guy taken out, he would point his finger at him and wiggle his thumb, like the hammer on a gun. He always smiled when he did it, but the guy who got the finger got dead.”
“Why did they change their names?”
“Iggy was high up in the New York mob, one of three or four top guys. He got off on a murder rap about four years ago and just faded into the wallpaper. We finally stopped tapping his phones, it got so boring. Then he just dropped off the map.”
“What about Pio?”
“His daddy’s boy. He had a clean sheet, but he was a main go-between for the old man. They disappeared together. A year or so later, Pietro opens the restaurant in Miami, and he has a success. Nobody made him and the old man for a while, and when we did, we figured they were retired.”
“And how long has Harry known about this?”
“From the beginning.”
Holly felt as if someone had kicked her in the stomach. “You mean, he knew who Pio and the old man were before I told him about them?”
“Yes.”
“That miserable son of a bitch. Why wouldn’t he tell me?”
“I guess it’s just Harry’s natural reticence,” Grant said.
“Well, it’s obvious from the connection with Trini Rodriguez and the hiring of Carlos Alvarez that they’re both intosomething,” she said.
“Well, yeah.”
“Does Harry know what it is?”
“Not really.”
“Do you?”
“I have my suspicions, but I can’t talk about that.”
“Why not?”
“Because it pertains to what I’m working on in Orchid Beach, and you know I can’t tell you about that.”
“Grant…”
“Listen, Holly, I’m trying to help you out here, but I can’t tell you more than that.”
“Grant…”
“All right, one more thing: Trini is a registered FBI informant; has been for a couple of years.”
“You mean, he’s working for Harry?” Holly asked, astonished.
“It’s not like that; he’s not an undercover agent. He’s just a guy on the street who gets paid for information.”
“Well, I’m relieved to hear it. Do you think that his status as a snitch has kept Harry from busting him?”
“Maybe, when all this started. Right now, Harry wants him off the street as bad as anybody.”
“I don’t believe this. I’m busting my ass trying to figure out stuff that Harry already knows but won’t tell me?”
“It’s the nature of the beast, Holly. I told you before that the Bureau likes to know more than everybody else, and it doesn’t like sharing.”
“You know,” Holly said, “I would really like to just bow out of this whole thing, except that I can’t, because Trini Rodriguez is trying to kill me and that poor girl upstairs.”
“Believe me, I know how you feel, but whatever you do, don’t let Harry find out that you know what you know, or I’ll be an undercover seal on an ice floe in Alaska by this time next week.”
“All right, Grant, but you will try and help me not to get killed because of something Harry didn’t tell me?”
“I’m not going to let you get killed,” he said, kissing her on the cheek.
“Okay, but you’re answering the doorbell from now on, while I hide under something.”
“Okay, deal.”
“And try and do a better job than you did with the pizza guy.”
She went and poured herself another drink. Sobriety was not in the cards for this evening.
“First time I’ve seen you have more than one drink before dinner,” Grant said.
“First time I’ve needed more than one,” Holly replied.
47
The following day, Holly worked listlessly, hungover and depressed, a bad combination. Just before lunchtime, she got a phone call.
“Hey, Holly, it’s Ed Shine,” he said.
“Oh, Ed, it’s good to hear from you.”
“How about dinner tonight?”
“Thank you, Ed, but I’m tied up.”
“Sounds like I’ve got competition.”
“Well, maybe.”
“How about lunch; you free?”
“Sure.”
“Come on out to Blood Orchid; meet me at the clubhouse, and I’ll show you what my new chef can do. Then we’ll play some golf.”
“Oh, I don’t think I can take the time for golf, but I’d love lunch.”
“Half an hour?”
“See you then.”
“I’ll leave your name at the gate.”
“Bye.”
Holly freshened up and put on civilian clothes, then drove out to Blood Orchid. The guard waved her through the gate, and she drove to the clubhouse. As she got out of her car, she looked over toward the practice range and saw a very peculiar sight: Hurd Wallace taking a golf lesson! She went inside.
Ed was waiting for her at a table overlooking the golf course; he was the only other person in the dining room. She gave him a kiss and sat down.
“Drink?”
“Maybe a glass of wine with lunch,” she said.
“I’ve already ordered for us,” Ed said. “Trust me?”
Holly smiled. “Anytime. How’s it going with Blood Orchid?”
“I’ll tell you, this is going to turn out to be a better investment than I thought. I’ve sold six houses and three building lots; we’ve already got construction started on two houses.”
“How so fast?”
“The corporation already had the building permits, and the buyers liked the plans.”
“That’s great, Ed.”
A waiter arrived with soup: lobster bisque.
“This is wonderful,” Holly said, tasting it.
“This new chef is a wonder, that’s why.”
“Where’d you find him?”