Blood Orchid (6 page)
“Roger, Chief.”
Holly dragged over the chair and put Teddy’s feet in it; shock was a good possibility. She brushed the hair out of
his face, and for a moment she felt something she had rarely felt before—motherly. Teddy’s face was cherubic in repose, that of a small boy. A lot of her officers adopted macho attitudes in their work, something she had tried to discourage, but Teddy’s face showed none of that now.
She heard an ambulance in the distance, and she walked around the house to meet it. “Back there,” she said to the EMTs who spilled out of the vehicle. “You’ll need a stretcher.”
“What have we got?”
“Unconscious male police officer, apparent blow to the back of the head. Pulse feels weak to me.”
She followed them and watched as they went through their routine—placed a collar on the young man’s neck, took his blood pressure, started an IV. Minutes later, Teddy was in the back of the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
“I’ll follow in a few minutes,” Holly said to the driver as he drove past her.
The ambulance had hardly cleared the driveway when Hurd Wallace drove in. He got out of the car. “What’s going on?”
“Somebody hit Teddy over the head last night and left him unconscious in the grass. I’ve no idea how long he was like that before I found him.”
Hurd turned to the crime-scene tech. “Check it out—footprints, and anything else you can turn up. Let’s go in the house,” Hurd said.
“Okay,” Holly replied. “I want to go to the hospital and check on Teddy.” She led the way into the house. “Coffee’s on,” she said.
“Thanks.” Hurd pulled up a stool to the kitchen counter and accepted the cup. “What do you think is going on here, Holly?”
Holly peeled a banana, which was going to be breakfast. “I don’t have a clue, Hurd. What are we working on that might cause somebody to want to bug my phones?”
“It’s been pretty quiet,” Hurd replied. “I can’t think of a thing that would connect to this. Anything in your life that might have brought this on? Anything personal?”
Holly shook her head. “There isn’t anything personal in my life, except Ham.” It hurt to admit that, especially to her deputy chief. She tossed the banana peel and poured herself a cup of coffee.
“Maybe you ought to get Phil Sweat to sweep Ham’s place, too.”
“Why?”
Hurd shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt.”
The tech knocked on the back door, and Holly waved him in. “What have you got?”
“Nothing,” the tech replied. “It’s a grassy area, and there were no discernible footprints and no other physical evidence, either.”
She turned back to Hurd. “Finish your coffee, then please call Phil Sweat and get him back out here. I want to know if the bug is back on the phones, then ask him to go out to Ham’s. Call Ham for me, will you? I want to get to the hospital.”
Hurd nodded.
“I’ll see you back at the station.” Holly called Daisy and they hopped into the car and drove away.
The ER was quiet when Holly arrived at the hospital, and she spoke to the young resident who had treated Teddy.
“Blow to the head,” the doctor said, “no fracture, but he’s concussed, and he required eight stitches. He was showing signs of shock when he arrived.”
“Prognosis?”
“He’s going to have a hell of a headache, maybe some dizziness. We’ll keep him overnight to make sure he’s stable, then he ought to take a couple of days off until he feels well again.”
“Is he awake?”
“He’s been conscious, but he’s sleeping now. I don’t want him disturbed, unless it’s very urgent that you talk to him.”
“It’s not,” she said. “Tell him I was here and to phone me when he feels up to it. I do want to ask him some questions.”
A nurse approached. “Officer Wright is awake and asking for the chief,” she said.
“Go ahead,” the doctor said, “but keep it brief.”
Holly nodded and followed the nurse down the hall to a room in which the blinds had been closed. The nurse pressed a button and raised the head of the bed a little.
“How are you feeling, Teddy?” Holly asked, taking his hand.
“I’m sorry, Chief,” he said.
“Nothing to be sorry about. You need to just rest until tomorrow, then we’ll get you home for a couple of days of R and R.”
“It’s my fault,” Teddy said.
“No it’s not; somebody snuck up on you, that’s all.”
“No, it’s my fault.”
“Why do you think so?”
“It was my radio; I left it on.”
“What happened, do you remember?”
“There was a call on the radio, some traffic thing, and I thought, shit, I forgot to turn it off. Next thing I knew I was on the ground, and then I must have passed out.”
“It’s okay, Teddy. You’re not hurt badly, but you’ll be fine in a little while. You just get some rest now, and we’ll talk later.”
“I’m sorry, Chief,” he said again.
“It’s all right; don’t worry about it.” She gave his hand a pat and followed the nurse out of the room.
“Nice kid,” the nurse said. “Is he old enough to be a policeman?”
“Only just,” Holly replied. “Please see that he gets anything he needs and bill the department. When he’s ready to be released, let me know, and I’ll send a car to take him home.”
“You bet.”
Holly thanked the nurse and drove back to the station. She found Hurd Wallace. “What family does Teddy have?”
“Just a mother; he lives with her.” Hurd handed her a slip of paper. “I thought you’d want to call her.”
“Thanks, Hurd.” Holly made the call.
“Hello?” a woman’s voice said.
“Mrs. Wright?”
“Yes.”
“This is Chief Holly Barker, at the police station.”
“Has something happened to Teddy?” There was real alarm in her voice.
“Teddy’s fine, don’t worry. He was on a stakeout last night, and he got hit on the head. They want to keep him overnight at the hospital, but he’s going to be just fine, and I don’t want you to worry.”
“Can I see him?”
“Why don’t you wait until after lunch? He was up all night, and the doctor wants him to get some sleep.”
“Is he really all right?”
“Really, he is. He probably fell off his bike as a kid and got hurt worse.”
“He broke his arm, falling off his bike.”
“This isn’t nearly as bad. Just give him a few hours to rest, then go see him. Is there anything I can do for you? Do you need anything, maybe a ride to the hospital?”
“No, thank you, Chief; I have my car.”
“Please call me if there’s anything I can do. Teddy will be released tomorrow morning, and he’s going to be at home for a couple of days, resting. Don’t you let him come back to work until he feels well again.”
“Don’t you worry, Chief, I’ll take care of him. Thank you for calling.”
Holly hung up and found Hurd standing in her doorway.
“Ham doesn’t want his phones swept,” he said.
“I’ll deal with Ham,” Holly replied. “You just get Phil Sweat out there.”
H
olly drove out to Ham’s little island, off the North Bridge, and pulled up to his house. There was a strange car parked out front. Before Holly could make it to the front porch, Ham came out, pulling on a polo shirt.
“Morning, Ham.”
“What the hell are you doing here at this hour of the morning?”
“Ham, it’s a little past eleven. What happened to your early rising habit?”
“Well, there are times when I just don’t want to get out of bed.”
Finally, Holly got it. “Oops, my fault; I just wasn’t thinking.”
“You could say that. And what the hell does Hurd Wallace want to bug my house for?”
“He doesn’t want to bug it; he wants it checked for bugs. So do I.”
“And why the hell would anybody bug my house?”
“Calm down, Ham. I don’t know, and I don’t know why they’d want to bug my house, either, but they did.”
That stopped Ham in his tracks. “They did?”
“They did. A fellow named Phil Sweat found the bug, and when I disconnected it and put an officer out back to see if anybody would try to reconnect it, he got hit over the head.”
Ham absorbed this. “Come on in, I’ll make you some coffee.”
“I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
“Oh, what the hell, it’s time you met her anyway.”
Holly followed him into the house. “Met who?”
“Met me,” a woman’s voice said.
Holly turned and found a very good-looking redhead standing in the bedroom doorway, buckling the belt on a pair of jeans that fit her slim body perfectly. Her tight, ribbed sweater was a little short, revealing a small expanse of freckled midriff.
“I’m Ginny,” she said, offering her hand.
“Virginia Heller,” Ham said, “and she is.”
Holly shook her hand. “Glad to meet you, Ginny.”
“Ham’s told me a lot about you.”
Holly laughed. “Then you have me at a disadvantage, because he hasn’t told me a thing about you.”
“Bad Ham,” Ginny said, shooting him a glance.
“I just haven’t gotten around to it,” Ham said, pouring coffee for them all.
“Phil Sweat is going to be here in a few minutes,” Holly said, “just as soon as he finishes at my house.”
“Tell me about this,” Ham said.
Holly led them out onto the back porch, which overlooked the Indian River, and told them about her break-in and the resulting phone tap.
“You sure lead an interesting life,” Ginny said.
“This is more annoying than interesting,” Holly replied.
“I think it’s real interesting,” Ham said, “that
somebody thinks he needs to hear what you say on the phone. Who’s your best guess?”
“I don’t have a best guess; it doesn’t make any sense at all.”
“And who’s this Phil Sweat?” Ham asked.
“He runs a locksmith and security service; he seems to be very good at it, too.” She turned to Ginny. “You a local, Ginny?”
“For nearly a month,” she replied. “I’m a flight instructor out at the airport.”
“No kidding?” Holly asked. “I have an interest in getting my private pilot’s license.”
“That’s what I do. Come out real soon, and we’ll take an introductory flight.”
“How about this weekend?”
“Saturday morning, nine
A.M.
?”
“I’ll do it.”
“It’s called Orchid Flight Academy.”
“I’ve seen the building. What airplane do you teach in?”
“We’d start you in a Piper Warrior, which is pretty basic but nice, and when you feel like it, move you up to something more complex.”
“I’ll look forward to that.” She heard the crunch of gravel under tires. “That’ll be Phil,” she said. She walked to the front door and waved him inside. When the introductions had been made, he asked her to step outside.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“I checked the bug, as you asked, and it had not been reconnected.”
“I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”
“Turns out, it’s bad, and it gets worse.”
“How?”
“I thought it was suspicious that they’d go to the trouble to slug a cop, then do nothing, so I had a more extensive look around the house. I ended up in the crawl space underneath, and I found another bug, just like the first one.”
“Swell.”
“Yeah. What do you want me to do?”
Holly thought about that. She hated the loss of privacy. “Leave it intact,” she said. “Let them think I think I’m not being overheard. They can’t see into the house, can they?”
Phil shook his head. “Nothing like that. These aren’t Peeping Toms; they’re looking for information.”
Holly nodded. “Go ahead and check out Ham’s place.”
“Shouldn’t take long. If they’ve bugged it, they’d use the same equipment they’re using at your place.”
Holly left him to his work and went back inside. “Ham, from now on, when you call me or when you come to the house, be careful what you say. I’m bugged again, and I’m going to leave it that way.”
“I wouldn’t know what not to say,” Ham replied.
“Me either,” Holly admitted. They finished their coffee and made small talk.
Half an hour later, Phil Sweat came out to the back porch. “Same deal here,” he said quietly. “You want me to leave it in place?”
“Is it just a phone tap?” Ham asked.
“It’s more than that; it turns every phone in your house into a microphone.”
Ginny Heller spoke up. “Let me get this straight. You mean that somebody could listen to every sound in this house?”
“That’s about the size of it,” Phil said.
“Oh, shit,” she said. “Ham, you’re going to have to start coming to my place.”
“Ham,” Holly said, “I’d like to leave the bug in place; that all right with you? And Ginny?”
Ham and Ginny exchanged a long look. “I guess I’d better start coming to your place,” he said to her.
“This is
very
embarrassing,” Ginny muttered.
“Yeah, we’re probably all over some Internet porn site by now,” Ham said, deadpan.
“Ham!”
Ginny cried, blushing.
Holly tried not to laugh. “Don’t worry, there are no cameras. Are there, Phil?”
“Nope,” Phil replied, trying to keep a straight face.
“Thank God for that,” Ginny said under her breath.
Ham, looking amused, started to say something, but Holly cut him off. “Well, I guess I’d better get back to work,” she said.
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.
H
olly returned Ed Shine’s call, and a secretary answered.
“Mr. Shine’s office.”
