Orchid Blues

They drove back to the main house, got into line for food and sat at a picnic table with John.

"Peck told you we're locked down?" John asked.

"Yes."

"That okay with you? You got any loose ends that need tidying?"

Ham shook his head. "I'm ready to go when you are."

"I know you are, Ham. I think I'm begi

"Sounds good to me," Ham replied. "Excuse me, I've got to take a leak." He took his tray back, then walked toward the house, thinking furiously, trying to work out a plan. He entered the house, and on the way to the john, looked into Peck's office. A group of men was in the middle of some sort of discussion. He used the toilet, then slowly washed his hands, taking as much time as he reasonably could.

He left the john and walked back down the hall. Just ahead of him, the group from Peck's study were filing out of the room, no doubt headed for lunch. He made a show of looking at some flyers on a bulletin board, advertising right-wing literature for sale by mail order, then, when the last of the group was out of the house, he ducked into Peck's study.

He stopped directly under the smoke detector. "This is Ham," he said. "Listen up. They're pla

He hurried back to the picnic table and joined John and Peck.

"You were a long time," John said.

Ham patted his stomach. "I was a little late this morning; usually my bowels go like clockwork."

John nodded. "Peck tells me you're ready with the Barrett's rifle," he said. "I didn't expect it to happen so quickly."

"Given the circumstances, what I've got to do is practice sighting in the rifle with one shot," Ham said.

"I want to work on a moving target, too," Peck added. "Just in case."

"Good idea," John said. "You never know what might happen, the target could be rolling."

"Can you slow it down?" Ham asked.

"Probably."

"Then it shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"You see?" John said to Peck. "I told you he was a can-do guy."

46

Holly left her house with Daisy at sunset, ran through the dunes with her for a while, then went next door to Harry's rental. To her surprise, she smelled cooking.

"You guys get tired of Chinese and pizza?" she asked, letting herself in through the beach door.

"I got a steak here for you," Harry replied. "How do you like it?"

"Medium rare. Did you get any wine?"

"I bought a mixed case," Harry said, nodding toward the carton. "I figured we'd be here long enough, and I was getting tired of beer." Harry flipped a steak over.

"Eddie, what did you get from the compound today?"

"Zip," Eddie said. "I don't even know whether it's working."

"Don't you think you'd better find out?"

"Harry, you'd better call somebody," Eddie said.

"I'll call my contact at home after we eat," Harry replied. "I'm not too exercised about this. It's early days in this surveillance."

"I don't want to miss a thing," Holly said. "You know, I thought Ham would be here by now."

"Maybe he went home to change or something," Doug said.

"Maybe, but he's been here by sunset just about every night."

They dug into their steaks and baked potatoes. "The wine's nice," Holly said.

"Australian," Harry replied. "Black Opal."

"I'll try to remember that." She suddenly remembered that she hadn't opened a bottle of wine since Jackson's death.

"The scrambler phones came," Harry said. "I got one for you, too, so we can talk between the houses without having to worry about ears."

"Good," Holly said. She looked at her watch again. "I'd like to call Ham. He shouldn't be this late."

"No good, Holly. The bug is still on his phone."

"Oh, yeah," she said, and resumed eating.

They were scraping the plates when Holly stood up. "I'm going out to Ham's," she said. "Something's wrong."

"Doug, go with her," Harry said. "Meantime I'll make that call."

Holly and Doug walked next door with Daisy to pick up Holly's car, and shortly, they were driving north on AlA.

"I've never seen Ham's place," Doug said. "I hear it's nice."

"It sure is. My former boss left it to him." She took a left and drove over the North Bridge, then turned left onto the little dirt road that led to Ham's island.

"Don't park too close to the house," Doug said. "That bug's still in place, and I don't want them to hear car doors slamming."

Holly parked well away, then led Doug to the house, opening the door with her key. She used a flashlight instead of turning on the lights, walking softly around the place. Everything seemed to be in order, except that Ham was not there. She motioned Doug outside.

"You think he hasn't been back here tonight?" Doug asked.

"That's what I think."

"Maybe they asked him to stay for di

"I hope that's what happened," Holly said. "Come on, let's get back to your place. Maybe he's turned up."

They arrived back at the house to find Harry and Eddie sitting beside the radio.

"NSA has just downloaded today's transmissions," Harry said.

"What are they saying?"

"Pretty dull stuff-a Bible class, kind of twisted, and a discussion group about race."

The men on the recording were making wrapping-up sounds, moving away from the bug. There was a moment's silence, then, suddenly, Ham's voice came through.

They sat, transfixed, listening to his short report.

"Holy shit," Harry said. "We could have missed it. I'm going to get word to NSA that we want everything in real time from now on."

"I'm going to take him the phone," Holly said.

"No, Doug will do it," Harry replied. "I don't want you at risk."

"Fuck the risk," Holly said. "Ham needs a way to communicate, and I'm taking him the phone. Now, do you have a large-scale map of the place?"

"Yes," Harry said, spreading it out on the table.

"What about aerial photographs."

"Eddie, get the sat shots."

Eddie came back with some surprisingly detailed photographs.

"Why haven't I seen these before?" Holly asked.

"They arrived today, with the phones."

"Okay, there's a dock on the lakeshore here, about what, two or three miles from the compound."

"Looks like that. Where are we going to get a boat this time of night?"

"Ham's got an aluminum dinghy," Holly said, "and one of those little trolling motors that runs on a car battery."

"Where is it?"

Doug spoke up. "It's lying next to Ham's house," he said. "I saw it when we were out there."

"You've got a pickup, Doug," Harry said. "Go get it and bring it back here, and don't forget the motor and some oars."

"Be back shortly," Doug said, then left.

"Ham's battery will be on a trickle charger, but I want a spare, just in case," Holly said. "We'll ca

"Okay with me," Harry replied.

Holly looked at the sat shots again. "This must be the barracks," she said. "It's the only thing that fits the description. Eddie, show me the phone."

Eddie left and came back with half a dozen tiny phones in a cardboard box. "They're Motorola V-phones," he said, "that have been modified to scramble." He showed her how the phone worked, while Holly began composing a note to Ham.