The Good Die Twice

by Lee Driver

  “I’m fine. You have to follow them, Sara. Find out where they are staying.”

  “But you should see a doctor.”

  “Go now,” Dagger ordered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

  “AWK, GETTING AWAY, GETTING AWAY.” Einstein squawked.

  With rapid wing beats, the gray hawk kept pace with the car carrying the three men. This part of town was void of streetlights but it wasn’t too dark for the hawk to see.

  They are heading in the direction of downtown, Sara reported.

  Startled, Dagger practically fell off the couch. Jezzus, Sara, can you give me a little warning? It sounded as if you were right behind me.

  I’m sorry. It’s not like I can ring a doorbell.

  Neon lights bathed the street below in psychedelic colors. The car had entered Interstate 65 and was headed north. The hawk focused on the car and tried not to be distracted by the lit billboards.

  They are making a phone call. I can hear the dialing.

  “Yeah, I’m here,” she heard a deep voice say.

  It sounds like the man who was beating on you. He isn’t saying whom he’s talking to. He’s only reporting that he has the earring.

  When are they going to hand it over?

  All he mentioned was meeting someone tomorrow.

  Traffic came to a halt as blinking construction road signs reduced the expressway to one lane.

  Uh, oh.

  What is it, Sara?

  Construction. The car is at a standstill. There’s a long line of trucks.

  Come on home, Sara.

  Don’t you want me to try to get the earring back?

  No. They don’t have the real one. I planted a fake.

  Sara dabbed antiseptic onto the wound in the back of Dagger’s head and on his face. “Follow my finger.” She moved her index finger left to right and watched his eyes. His temples pulsed, jaws clenched. “I think you have a concussion.”

  “No. I’ve had a concussion before. Believe me, this is just a bump on the head.”

  “How did they get through the locked gate?”

  “Probably jammed the code. I’ll have to reprogram it. They must have parked their car behind the garage because I didn’t see it when I drove up.” He winced as he stretched his arm. “Listen, the night of Tyler’s party, did you notice how many of the Tyler men were smoking cigars?”

  Sara thought for a moment. “All three of them, I think. I didn’t go in the smoking room but I’m sure I saw them go in. What are you getting at?”

  “You have to look at everyone as a suspect.”

  “You don’t think Nick had anything to do with Rachel, do you? It was his brother who had the affair with her.”

  “Just keep your eyes and ears open when you are in the Tyler house.” Dagger looked at the empty bookshelves and the books cluttering the floor. “I’ll clean this up tomorrow.” He turned his attention to the landing outside of Sara’s bedroom and the steep jump. “How the hell did you jump down from there without breaking a leg?”

  “I guess the same way I was able to shoot the rope from your hands.”

  “Shit, I thought you were going to shoot my hand off.” Dagger tried to touch his sore chin but Sara slapped his hand away.

  “I saw the rope as if it were only a foot from me, magnified, the eyesight of the hawk.”

  “And I suppose the jump over the railing was more than human skill.” Dagger smiled. “There’s no end to your talents.”

  Einstein flew into the aviary and returned a few seconds later, landing on the couch between Sara and Dagger. The macaw dropped a cheese curl in Dagger’s lap.

  “Oh, he’s so sweet.” Sara cuddled the bird. “Are you mad at Einstein for spouting off?”

  “You are supposed to be asleep.” Dagger took a bite of the cheese curl and fed the rest to Einstein. “I knew he’d repeat everything which is why I put the fake earring in the box.”

  Sara leaned back against the cushion and thought about Robert Tyler. “He must be in on it. How else would those guys know about the earring?”

  Dagger shrugged out of his bloodstained shirt and tossed it on the floor. He ran his fingers through his head and winced. Now he understood what it meant when people say their hair hurts. He could feel every hair in his head. Turning he propped a pillow under his head and stretched out on the couch.

  “Actually, we just proved that Robert Tyler has nothing to do with the killers. Someone at the party heard that we had an earring. When Tyler was here this morning, he saw where we kept the earring. But those goons didn’t go right for the box. Instead, they started to tear the shit out of this place looking for it.”

  Sara saw a videotape sitting on the coffee table. “What is that?”

  “That’s from our surveillance camera at the gate. Skizzy should be able to get some pretty good pictures of those three guys off this tape, better likeness than those composites I gave him.”

  CHAPTER 21

  The next morning found Dagger nursing his headache with several aspirin and an ice compress. “No one saw anything?” Dagger stirred his coffee with deliberation as he spoke with Padre on the phone.

  “This is a pretty spiffy resort. I’m sure glad my employer is paying for my room.”

  Dagger laughed. “Just keep the room service down to a minimum.”

  “Seriously, Dagger. Did you give any thought to the possibility that they placed Rachel’s body on a boat and wrapped an anchor around her feet?”

  “My witness didn’t see any boats.”

  “But it was dark out. Maybe the running lights on the boat were turned off.”

  “No. On a clear night with that moonlight shining, it would be hard for anyone to miss a boat.”

  Dagger opened the hand towel and emptied the unmelted ice into the sink. He groaned and pressed a hand to his ribs.

  “Are you going to get those ribs taped up?” Padre asked.

  “They’re just bruised. I’ll be fine.”

  “I’m going to make another walk around, talk to a few people, maybe check to see where the hotel stores excess furniture. Maybe with luck I’ll turn up a bloodstained white rug.”

  Robert Tyler followed Dagger into the kitchen and placed a box on the table. “I thought this might help. There were quite a few things of Rachel’s I just couldn’t bring myself to discard. There are some photo albums and even her high school yearbook.” He eyed Dagger’s bruised and battered face. “Are you okay?”

  Dagger told him about the three men who had paid him a visit last night. Then he showed him the composite pictures. “The night of Nick’s birthday party, do you recall any of these men being on the premises?”

  Robert shook his head slowly, his frown creating tiny lines around his mouth. “These men had something to do with Rachel’s murder? And you think they were in my house?”

  “Don’t jump to any conclusions. We think they are involved somehow and might be looking for something in your house. I didn’t say they know any of your relatives and I definitely don’t want you going home and accusing anyone. I just want you to be aware of any suspicious characters.”

  Robert studied the pictures again, then set them on the counter.

  “What about your pre-nuptial agreement?”

  Robert pulled papers from his inside suit pocket. “Basically, Rachel would receive a lump sum of twenty million dollars if we divorced before our third anniversary. Then it increases to one hundred million if we divorced after our tenth anniversary.”

  “It increased the longer you stayed married?”

  “Yes.”

  “So it would have been to Rachel’s advantage to stick around.”

  “Except Rachel was never after money,” Robert said emphatically. He walked over to the screened door. Sara was outside watching Einstein fly around the yard, the bright feathers painting the sky. “You never clipped his wings?”

  Dagger joined him at the door. “I couldn’t do that to him. I used to take him to the forest preserve
to get some fresh air. But this place is more wide open. We still have to keep an eye on him. Hunters sometimes trespass. I have found nets and animal traps out there.” Dagger watched for a moment and then rushed past Tyler and out the door. He stood on the porch and let out a long, piercing whistle. Einstein had flown out of range, out of eyesight. Something he knew he shouldn’t do. The moment the shrill whistle cut through the air, Einstein came charging out of the trees and landed obediently next to Sara.

  “Sara,” Dagger called out. “Don’t let him get too far.” Dagger walked back inside. “Sara’s training him to answer to the whistle she has hanging around her neck. Then she can take him out when I’m not home.”

  “That bird is almost like having a kid.” The circles under Robert’s eyes made him look haggard. His chin seemed to sag from the weight of his frown and his shoulders slumped like those of a man beaten and down for the count. He helped himself to coffee and sat down.

  “You don’t know the half of it,” Dagger huffed. Gingerly, he sat his battered body down and pressed a hand to his ribs.

  After a minute of silence, Robert clasped his hands in front of him and asked, “Where has Rachel been for five years?”

  Dagger opened a notebook and started writing. “What do you remember about the last day you saw Rachel? According to the original police report, she had lunch with you at the yacht club, then went shopping alone. You were to meet her at the boat for a night cruise but you had a meeting.”

  “Right. I told all that to the police. Rachel was a little upset with me so she went by herself.”

  Carefully, Dagger touched his face. Propping one hand under his chin, he felt the coarse stubble and wondered how painful it would be to shave today. The noise alone would probably sound like scraping a knife on a blackboard. He touched his swollen cheek, ran his tongue over his teeth to check if any of them loosened during the night.

  “I don’t mean to have you rehash everything you said previously, Mr. Tyler. I’m looking for what wasn’t said. How was Rachel mentally that day? Preoccupied? Agitated? Was her anger toward you unlike her? Maybe something had happened and she was taking it out on you.”

  “I guess you could say she was agitated but I assumed it was at me, but now that I think about it, she was agitated before I even told her my meeting would take longer than expected. I offered to take her sailing the following night but that didn’t appease her. I had to cancel dinners and even vacations before and she’d always taken it in stride.”

  Dagger checked the police report and jotted down notes. “Your daughter-in-law and Eric returned that day from a trip. Did you see them?”

  “No. Eric called me at the office to tell me they had returned from our Ty-Island Resort in the Cayman Islands. Eric and Edie had purchased some oceanfront property to build a home. They were meeting with the builder and also checking with our resort manager at Ty-Island. Eric usually makes the trips to our resorts to check things out. I’m getting too old for all that traveling.”

  “And they both said they hadn’t seen Rachel.”

  “Right.”

  Dagger placed his pen down and pressed his fingertips to his eyelids. It was a relief not to have the sunlight glaring in his face. His head was pounding and he knew the pain reflected in his eyes probably made him look as haggard as Robert.

  The grieving widower was looking for answers. Dagger knew from past clients that loved ones go into a grieving limbo, living life just going through the motions. And that was what Robert was doing now—just going through the motions.

  CHAPTER 22

  “I have to make an appointment to see my own father?” Sheila threw the pieces of the check on her father’s desk. “Daddy! How could you? You paid Dagger to string me along? I thought you loved me.” Her green eyes flashed and angry tears welled. She sank into the chair in front of Leyton’s desk.

  Leyton pieced the check together and pursed his lips. “He told you.”

  “Of course. And he loved every minute of it.”

  “Naturally. A gentleman would never have hurt you that way.” Leyton pulled a cigar from his humidor, leaned back, and lit the cigar in celebration.

  “I thought my own father would never treat me like some bargaining tool. Dagger was my whole life. And you paid him to drag his feet, to never commit.”

  Leyton sat forward, surprise masking his face. “That’s what that ingrate told you? That’s bullshit. I paid that idiot to NOT stand you up. I had to pay him to MARRY YOU.”

  Sheila stood in the living room of Sara’s house and gazed up at the steel catwalk, the high ceilings and skylights. “What a grotesque building,” she whispered. Curious, she walked over to the doorway into the aviary.

  “AWWWKK. WICKED WITCH.” Einstein let out a long, loud scream that sounded as if he were being attacked. He fluffed his feathers as though his entire body were shaking in fright.

  “Shut up, you ball of fur. I’m certainly not thrilled to see you, either.”

  “That’s feathers.” Sara stepped around Sheila and peeked in on Einstein.

  “What?”

  “Ball of feathers, not fur. Dagger should be home any minute.” Sara gathered her hair, lifting it off her back briefly. Its thickness felt as heavy as a rug.

  “No problem.” Sheila strolled around the living room surveying its contents, mentally examining the decor.

  Sara walked over to Dagger’s bedroom door and closed it before Sheila had a chance to extend her browsing. She wondered how Sheila managed to find pink shoes, blouse, suit, jewelry, all in the same color.

  Sheila looked from the closed bedroom door to Sara and recognized the shirt Sara wore as being one of Dagger’s. Sheila’s gaze drifted up to the second floor. She peeled off her suit jacket and tossed it on the couch.

  “Would you like something to drink?”

  “No. I’ll wait. You go do your planting, baking, or opening mail, whatever it is you do.” Sheila dismissed her with a wave of her hand. She made her way over to Dagger’s desk and peered not too discreetly at the notes and papers.

  Sara knew there wasn’t anything important left on the desk. It was when Sheila placed one foot on the bottom stair leading up to Sara’s bedroom that Sara lost her cool.

  “If you don’t mind, the rest of the house is off limits.”

  Sheila’s well-shaped eyebrows arched in surprise, and then a self-satisfied smile played at the corners of her mouth. “Well, well. Seems the sugar-and-spice persona was an act after all.”

  Sara folded her arms and leaned against Dagger’s desk. “Sorry if I get territorial.” Sara could see Sheila’s eyes light up, knew she thought Sara was referring to Dagger. “But this is MY house. I only buzzed you in at the gate because you are Dagger’s...” Sara chose her words carefully... “friend. If you want to wait for him, you can do so on the couch. If not, I suggest you wait in your car.”

  Sheila’s back straightened, causing her to imitate her father’s patented stare down his nose at an insubordinate. “I believe this is also Dagger’s place of business and he has an open door policy.”

  A voice bellowed from the kitchen. “My business is by appointment only. Clients rarely know where I live.” Dagger stood in the doorway. “What are you doing here, Sheila?” He tossed his car keys in the basket on the oak-paneled bar.

  “HELP ME, HELP ME, AWK,” Einstein yelled when he heard Dagger’s voice.

  Sheila turned, her face flushed, but she recovered quickly. “Dagger, Darling.” She rushed to him but he walked past her to the aviary and let out a soft whistle. Einstein flew over and clamped onto Dagger’s arm. Einstein opened his beak and spread his wings in a threatening stance. Sheila kept her distance.

  “I need to talk to you.” She looked back at Sara and added, “Alone.”

  Sara took Einstein from Dagger. “We’ll go outside.”

  Once they left, Dagger glared at her. “Don’t ever come here without calling first and don’t EVER unleash your condescending tone on Sara again.”<
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  “I have to call your beeper number to talk to you? I’m treated better than that by my maid. I have to have you followed just to find out where you live.” She slammed her purse on his desk but then noticed his face. “Dagger, Sweetie, what happened?” She reached over to touch his bruised cheekbone.

  Dagger pulled away and sat down at his desk. “What the hell is so important that you had to disrupt everything and everyone in this house?”

  Sheila slid one hip onto the corner of his desk. “Nice try, Chase Dagger. You know damn well why I’m here. Daddy said that check was to pay you to marry me. And I want to know if that’s true.”

  Dagger leaned back in his chair and stared at her. He didn’t know what he ever saw in Sheila. Yes, she was nice to look at, but so was a ‘57 Chevy.

  “Sure, whatever he said.” Dagger checked the phone messages on his desk.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “I’m sure your father has never lied to you before.”

  Sheila was silent for awhile. Then, in a hurt voice she asked, “Have you?” She placed a hand on his arm. “Ever lied to me? Did you mean it when you told me you loved me?”

  Dagger’s head started to pound. He looked up and wondered what it was going to take to get through to her. “If you remember correctly, Sheila, I never told you that I loved you. YOU have said that I love you. YOU have made comments like how nice that WE love each other so much. YOU proposed to me. YOU set a wedding date without even consulting me.”

  She smiled seductively, batting her eyelashes. “But you never once protested, Sweetheart.” Sheila looked from the huge aviary to the cathedral ceiling high above the catwalk. “That aviary is big enough that Einstein and I won’t get in each other’s way. We can be happy here, Dagger. Let me make an offer to Sara and I’ll buy the house from her as my wedding gift to you.”

  “Oh, god.” Dagger rocked back in his seat and leveled a look of disgust at her. “You are unbelievable. This is reservation land. You don’t just BUY it. You think money is the answer to everything?”