Stuart Woods: Blood Orchid

“I don’t know him, exactly; he came to see me after we shut down Blood Orchid.”

“Why?”

“He had a lot of questions about how the whole thing came off. He wanted to know everything, right from the beginning.”

“And what did you tell him?”

Holly shrugged. “Everything.”

“Holly, are you telling me that you blew Harry Crisp out of the water?”

“Nope, all I did was to tell that nice Mr. Barron everything I knew. I didn’t cast any aspersions; he drew his own conclusions.”

“When does Harry go?”

“I believe he’s already gone.”

“And what was that you said about my work not being my work?”

“Come Monday, you’re going to have a new job,” she said.

Grant sat up straighter. “How do you know this?”

“Because I have a little handwritten note from Mr. Barron in my bag; it was delivered this morning.”

Grant grabbed at her bag, but she snatched it away and put it where he couldn’t reach it.

“Holly, you’re killing me.”

“Well, I certainly don’t want to kill you. Not now, anyway; maybe later.”

“Do you know what my new assignment is?”

“Yes. That was the purpose of Mr. Barron’s little note. He thought you might like to hear it from me, while the Bureau is doing whatever they have to do to produce an official letter.”

“What? Where?”

“Agent in charge. Miami office.”

He grabbed her and pulled her up to his face. “This is not some sadistic joke on your part?”

Holly reached in her bag and produced the note. Grant read it and handed it back, then he waved at a waiter. “Two more rum and tonics,” he said.

“So, how do you feel?”

Grant lay back on the chaise. “Lighter than air,” he said. “There’s only one problem.”

“What’s that?”

“Now Ihave to arrest you for stealing that money.”

“What money?” she asked.

I want to express my thanks to all the people at Putnam who have worked so hard to achieve success for this and past books, particularly my editor, David Highfill, who has been wonderful.

I am always grateful to my literary agents, Morton Janklow and Anne Sibbald, and their superb support group at Janklow amp; Nesbit, for their continuing management of my career over the past twenty-two years. It is important for a writer to know he is in good hands, and I have always appreciated the hands in which I rest.

I am happy to hear from readers, but you should know that if you write to me in care of my publisher, three to six months will pass before I receive your letter, and when it finally arrives it will be one among many, and I will not be able to reply.

However, if you have access to the Internet, you may visit my website at www.stuartwoods.com, where there is a button for sending me e-mail. So far, I have been able to reply to all of my e-mail, and I will continue to try to do so.

If you send me an e-mail and do not receive a reply, it is because you are among an alarming number of people who have entered their e-mail address incorrectly in their mail software. I have many of my replies returned as undeliverable.

Remember: e-mail, reply; snail mail, no reply.

When you e-mail, please do not send attachments, as Inever open these. They can take twenty minutes to download, and they often contain viruses.

Please do not place me on your mailing lists for funny stories, prayers, political causes, charitable fund-raising, petitions, or sentimental claptrap. I get enough of that from people I already know. Generally speaking, when I get e-mail addressed to a large number of people, I immediately delete it without reading it.

Please do not send me your ideas for a book, as I have a policy of writing only what I myself invent. If you send me story ideas, I will immediately delete them without reading them. If you have a good idea for a book, write it yourself, but I will not be able to advise you on how to get it published. Buy a copy ofWriter’s Market at any bookstore; that will tell you how.

Anyone with a request concerning events or appearances may e-mail it to me or send it to: Publicity Department, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014.

Those ambitious folk who wish to buy film, dramatic, or television rights to my books should contact Matthew Snyder, Creative Artists Agency, 9830 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90212-1825.

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If you want to know if I will be signing books in your city, please visit my website,www.stuartwoods.com, where the tour schedule will be published a month or so in advance. If you wish me to do a book signing in your locality, ask your favorite bookseller to contact his Putnam representative or the G. P. Putnam’s Sons Publicity Department with the request.

If you find typographical or editorial errors in my book and feel an irresistible urge to tell someone, please write to David Highfill at Putnam, address above. Do not e-mail your discoveries to me, as I will already have learned about them from others.

A list of all my published works appears in the front of this book. All the novels are still in print in paperback and can be found at or ordered from any bookstore. If you wish to obtain hardcover copies of earlier novels or of the two nonfiction books, a good used-book store or one of the on-line bookstores can help you find them. Otherwise, you will have to go to a great many garage sales.