“I’m only supposed to call him at midday on the satphone, so I can’t communicate.”
“Hang on, let me think.”
“Okay.” Holly waited through three or four minutes of silence.
Lance came back on. “Bill has probably already left the office for the day. And I tried his home; no answer.”
“But if he didn’t have the photos, he could have e-mailed me to let me know.”
“I know, and it doesn’t sound right. I’ve had a look at Bill’s file, and he has a sister in Miami named Doris Pepper. She’s forty-six years old, five-six, a hundred and forty pounds, blonde and pretty. She teaches sixth grade at a public school in Miami. Tomorrow morning, after nine, call Bill’s office, but not on the satphone.” He gave her the number. “When he comes on the line tell him you’re a friend of his sister, and you promised her you’d call him for her. She’s fine, et cetera, et cetera.”
“And what is my purpose for the call?”
“To find out if he’s okay. Don’t talk long, and before you hang up, tell him his sister said to drop her an e-mail sometime. I want to know exactly what his response is. Call me on the satphone as soon as you hang up.”
“Okay. Do you think something is wrong?”
“I always think something is wrong when an agent doesn’t do what he says he’ll do.” Lance hung up.
30
Holly and her party went directly to their table at the inn, but Irene was late and without Harry.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, “and Harry’s even later. He had some business he had to take care of at the marina.” She sat down and accepted a rum punch from the pitcher on the table.
“So Harry’s sticking around for a while?” Stone asked.
She smiled. “I must admit, I’m getting used to having him here. He’s good around the house, and a lot of things I was letting go are getting taken care of.”
“Good around the house,” Genevieve said, leering. “I’ll bet he is.”
“Well, that, too,” Irene admitted. “It’s been so long since I lived with a man, I’d forgotten what it was like.”
Holly felt the same way, but she didn’t say so. “What are your long-term plans, Irene? Are you going to make this your permanent home?”
“I guess it already is,” she replied, sipping her drink. “I’ve settled in very well, which wasn’t the case in St. Barts. I’m too old to start learning a language, and everybody here speaks English, and the government is stable-no bands of rebels in the hills. I think St. Marks may be heaven for me.”
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“Does Harry feel the same way?”
“Well, he hasn’t been here long enough for that to happen, but he likes it, and he’s comfortable here. He may also get on his boat and sail away; we’ll see how it goes.”
“That’s a good attitude when dealing with men,” Genevieve said. “Just see how it goes.” She gave Dino a sidelong glance.
“On the other hand,” Dino said, “that attitude doesn’t work so well with women.”
“Why not?” Holly asked.
“Well, you go along for a while, seeing how it goes, and you think you’ve got it all figured out, then they change everything.”
Stone spoke up. “Well, if we’re going to listen to Dino’s theories about women, this is going to be a very long and boring evening.”
“Oh, here’s Harry,” Irene said, waving him over.
Harry bustled in, greeted everybody, took a seat and poured himself a glass of rum punch. A waiter appeared with a fresh pitcher and took the nearly empty one away. “Man, that’s good!” he enthused, taking a long draft of his drink.
“Did you get your work done at the marina?” Irene asked.