Orchid Blues

"You get all that?" Harry asked Doug, who was taking notes.

"Yep."

"Get somebody at the FAA out of his backyard pool and check out the ownership of that airplane, then check out the local phone number and the name John Wills. We're on the move."

"Hang on," Doug said, "the event isn't scheduled until Monday, and we don't know if Ham is going to be on that airplane."

"We'll find that out from a stakeout at Opa-Locka," Harry said. "We'll be following them wherever they go." He got on the phone to his office and his deputy. "Mark, I want you to get the loan of one of the DEA's tracking helicopters. I want the pilot to follow, but not interfere with, a light aircraft, a PA forty-six, whatever that is. I believe it's going to take off from a grass strip west of Vero Beach, heading for Opa-Locka, Miami, and the pilot will probably pick up an IFR clearance in the air. Tell him to listen in on Miami Center and get the squawk code that the Center assigns the airplane; that will make it easier to track. Set up a radio link with the chopper, so that we're in constant touch, and warn the pilot to be ready for the aircraft to suddenly change airports and go somewhere else. Above all, he is not to lose that airplane!"

"Got it," Mark replied.

"Next, I want you to set up a multiple-vehicle surveillance team to meet that aircraft at Opa-Locka and follow the occupants wherever they go. There should be four aboard. They're departing around seven o'clock local and should be landing in Opa-Locka an hour later, but you be ready two hours before that, and be prepared for a later landing."

"You got any idea of their destination?"

"A hotel near the beach. That's all we know."

"Anything else?"

"Yes, access the military service record of one Hamilton Barker, retired army chief master sergeant, get his photograph and try to determine if he's one of the four men aboard. I want you to photograph all four men when they land, and I'll want to see those shots the minute you take them."

"Where are you going to be?"

"I want our airplane to meet me at the Vero Beach Airport at six o'clock. I want to land ahead of the PA forty-six, and I want you to have a car there so I can run the car surveillance."

"I'll have him there."

Harry gave him the scrambled cell phone number. "Use that number when I'm on the ground. You can call me on the sat phone in the airplane. Now get going!"

"Oh, Harry, I almost forgot. You got a call from Chip Beckham from the Secret Service?"

"Yeah? Does he want me to call him back?"

"He said that wouldn't be necessary, and anyway, he'll be traveling. He said he was going to be in Miami tonight, and he's calling in your debt. He said you'd know what he meant. He gave me a cell phone number for you to get him on in Miami."

Harry jotted down the number. "Thanks, Mark." A second after he hung up, he realized what Chip's phone call meant. "Holy shit!" he yelled.

"What?" Eddie asked.

"Check the White House website and get the president's published schedule for today and tomorrow."

"Just take a sec," Eddie said, tapping some computer keys. "Here we are. Nothing for today or tomorrow."

Then what was Chip going to be doing in Miami?

The young man brought Ham lunch and di

Ham checked his watch. He had just enough time to eat and dress, but no opportunity to get at his cell phone, which was still taped under the dash of the jeep, unless someone had found it.

He was worried. He had expected to leave the compound on Monday morning and to have plenty of time to call Harry or Holly. He didn't like this at all.

He finished his di

He heard a vehicle stop outside, and Peck came to the door. "You ready?" he asked.

"Yep." He grabbed his bag and walked out the door. John was waiting in the jeep.

"You look great, Ham," John said.

"Thanks. I'll drive, if you like." He had to get near that cell phone.

"Nah, I'll drive," Peck replied.

Ham wanted to hit him.

55

Holly, with Daisy, arrived breathlessly at the airport and found Harry waiting for her in the Sun Jet Aviation lounge. "I couldn't get anybody to stay with Daisy on such short notice. What's up?" she asked. "Where are we going?"

Harry took her suitcase and gave Daisy a pat. "They're on the move," he said, "and I think Ham is with them." He headed out of the building and across the ramp toward a King Air.

"But it wasn't supposed to go down until Monday."

"As far as we know, it still might. John has a hotel reservation until Tuesday morning, under the name Owen, but that's the only name we've got."

"What hotel?"

"We don't know. We just picked this up on the smoke detector bug." He stowed her luggage on the airplane, and they got in and buckled up. Doug was already aboard. Daisy settled into the seat next to Holly as if she flew every day.

"So do we have any idea of who the target is yet?"

"No, we don't. John has filed a flight plan for Opa-Locka airport.

We're going to beat him there and keep him under surveillance until we know what's happening. I thought you'd like to be there."

"You're right," she replied. "Thanks. Is somebody listening in on the bug?"

"Eddie's still at the house, and the NSA is recording everything."

The pilot started the engines and, after a couple of minutes, taxied to the runway. A moment later, they were in the air, flying down the coast.

"Has Ham used the scrambled cell phone again?" Holly asked.

"No, not a word from him."

"Harry, why did you tell me to bring my sexiest dress?"

"There's someone I want you to meet. It's a surprise."

"Harry, I'm not interested in matchmaking. It's too soon."

"It's not that, Holly, it's work. I'll explain later."

Peck drove the jeep out to the landing strip, where John's airplane had already been towed out of the hangar. They began loading luggage aboard, and Ham tried to work his way into a position where he could grab the cell phone from under the dash.

"The Barrett's rifle is in the large suitcase," John said. "We've broken it down."

"Good," Ham said.

"Climb aboard. I want you in the copilot's seat, next to me."

Ham moved toward the airplane. When everyone was well away from the jeep, he stopped and felt his pockets. "I think I dropped my pen in the jeep," he said. "I'll just be a minute."

"Take your time," John replied. "I've got to do a preflight, anyway." He removed a fuel cap from the airplane and began walking around the fuselage.

Ham walked quickly toward the jeep, pretending to look for the pen. He looked back at the airplane: Peck was already on board, and John was on the opposite side. Quickly, he leaned into the driver's-side footwell, yanked the duct tape off and, with his back to the airplane, got the phone and the three batteries into a pocket. He wadded and dropped the tape, retrieved a pen from his inside pocket and walked back to the airplane, the pen in his hand.

"Find it?" Peck asked as he got aboard.

Ham held up the pen for him to see. He made his way forward, slipped into the copilot's seat and buckled in.

John slid in beside him. "Everything's in good order," he said. "You and I will talk when we're in the air and I've gotten my clearance."