Chasing Ghosts

by Lee Driver

  “If Nick had proposed and you had accepted, it would be exactly what Sheila would want…you out of Dagger’s life.”

  “She knows Dagger and I are just business associates.”

  “Hmmmm.” There was a twinkle in Eunie’s eyes as she lifted the cup to her mouth and took a sip.

  “One thing Nick doesn’t know, which I’m just going to have to tell him, is that I can’t have children.”

  “That would pose a problem for a Tyler. Robert Tyler can’t wait for more grandchildren.” Eunie studied Sara with an intensity that made Sara uncomfortable. “I had almost forgot about that case where you were injured. I’m surprised Dagger places you in such danger.”

  “Did Simon tell you about the killer?”

  “A little bit.”

  “I try not to think about it.” Sara would rather not explain the Friday the Thirteenth case. Sara’s wound had been self-inflicted in an effort to assure no other shapeshifters would be born, especially if one were as evil as Paul Addison. It had been a split second decision she would have to live with.

  “I don’t plan to ever marry anyway. And telling Nick I can’t have children will hurt less than to tell him I feel absolutely nothing when he kisses me.”

  “Not even when you are out dancing at those fancy clubs, a slow dance when he is whispering in your ear or nibbling your neck.”

  Sara smiled, surprised at Eunie’s playful depiction. “Not even then.” Sara grew pensive and frowned. For all the times she had been with Nick, she couldn’t remember one time when she could honestly say she responded to him. “Do you think there’s something wrong with me?”

  Eunie laughed, her eyes twinkling in much the same way Simon’s did whenever he was amused. “Not at all. It will happen. One day it will hit you. You are going to feel as though the loss of that one special person will literally pull your heart out, that you would rather die than let anything happen to him.”

  A familiar scent wafted through the air. Sara didn’t have to turn to know who had just walked into the diner. Her enhanced sense of smell and hearing knew he was approaching their table. Sara flashed a look of disappointment that Eunie had shared her problem.

  Eunie reached across and patted Sara’s hand. “Sorry, child, but I thought tonight of all nights is when you need the one person who knows you best.”

  Color rose to Sara’s cheeks. She slid out of the booth before Dagger could sit down. “I need to use the restroom.”

  They watched her hustle to the back of the restaurant.

  “Oh, dear. I believe she is upset with me.”

  “Not you, Eunie. She’s pissed at me because I didn’t forewarn her. That and the fact that I probably wear a perpetual I told you so smirk on my face. Nick is a player and Sara refused to see that side of him.”

  Eunie finished her tea and pushed the empty cup aside. After a quick look over her shoulder in the direction Sara had walked, Eunie leaned across the table and whispered, “I can tell you with firsthand knowledge that child don’t love young Tyler, no matter how rich or good looking he is. If she is feeling anything right now it’s guilt for using him.”

  “Using him?” Dagger’s concept of using was different than Eunie’s.

  “I don’t know why her grandmother kept her secluded for so long but I know she has some serious anxiety attacks—afraid of crowds, unfamiliar surroundings, almost afraid of her own shadow.”

  Dagger shrugged, knowing far more than Eunie knew but not offering much of an explanation. “Her parents died when she was five or six. Guess Ada might have sheltered her a little too much but she is getting better.” A waif of a waitress set a cup of black coffee in front of him and left. He wanted to bring the conversation back to the term using him before Sara returned. “Do you know if she and Nick were that…close?” He took a quick gulp of his coffee, burning the roof of his mouth.

  “Hmmm,” Eunie smiled, a similar grin to Simon’s whenever the subject of Sara came up. “I don’t ask such personal questions but if you want a woman’s intuition…”

  “Please.”

  “Men like the Tylers can play around all they want but when it comes to the women they marry, they want someone unblemished, if you get my drift. No matter what young lady Nicholas marries, if he ever marries, it won’t stop his roving eye and he needs someone to understand that. Nicholas is mistaking Sara’s aloofness to his roving eye. She doesn’t care what Nick does because she doesn’t love him.” She leaned in closer, training her motherly eyes on him. “Now what about you? Who do you love, Chase Dagger?”

  Sara was turning the corner and headed their way, her dress flowing around a set of shapely legs.

  “You know me, Eunie. I live the kind of life where I have to be free to leave at a moment’s notice. I’m sure you’ve known guys like that.”

  “Oh, yes.” Eunie slid out of the booth and grabbed her purse. She added with a chuckle, “I married one.” She patted his shoulder, gave Sara a hug, and walked out.

  “I didn’t chase her away did I?” Sara slid into the booth vacated by Eunie.

  Dagger pushed her cup of tea across the table. “She thought you were angry with her but I assured Eunie I will be the one on the receiving end of your wrath.”

  She stirred sugar into her tea, staring silently at the steam. The weight of her thick hair had straightened what little curl she had left. The humidity was causing Dagger’s hair to curl.

  “It could have been worse,” Dagger offered. “He could have invited you to a baseball game and had the proposal flashed on the large screen for the millions in the viewing audience to see.” He waited her out, wanting to ask more personal questions but not sure this was the time or the place.

  Sara just glared at Dagger, her anger building. “Why did you hide the newspaper article from me? The one that posted a rumor that Cedar Point’s most eligible bachelor had purchased a ring. Why didn’t you shove the paper in front of my face so I knew what to expect?”

  Dagger shrugged, his eyes dissecting her movements, assessing her mood. “I flipped a coin. I could have showed it to you and risked your accusation that I was just trying to diminish Nick in your eyes. Or I could have hidden it, which is what I did, and let things unfold naturally.”

  “And if I had accepted his proposal?”

  “You wouldn’t have.” Although Dagger didn’t smile, Sara could see the satisfaction in his eyes. It angered her that someone knew her so well.

  “Doesn’t it bother you that I hurt him deeply.”

  Dagger slid out of the booth. “Come on. I need to show you something.”

  They left their drinks and drove back to the lakeshore area. Dagger pulled into a parking space at the curb and pointed across the street. “Take a look at how hurt and upset Nick Tyler is.”

  The Point was an exclusive club at the marina which had an outlandish cover charge and where one would go to see the who’s who list of Cedar Point. Nick was sitting on a concrete bench outside the entrance, an arm around the women on either side of him. He was laughing and hugging the women closer.

  “I took the liberty of calling the jewelry store which I know had the only pink diamond in the Midwest. They told me Nick borrowed it. He didn’t buy it, leaving himself the option of returning it the next day.”

  Sara said nothing.

  “Robert Tyler is eager to give Nick the resort on the island of Martinique but Robert thinks it would look more professional if Nick gave the impression of settling down. Nick was more than happy to have you wear his ring for three or four years while he continued to sow his wild oats.”

  Sara still said nothing.

  “That is why I didn’t tell you anything earlier today. To go through my assertions would have had you denying everything I said. Nick is a nice enough guy but he is a playboy. I don’t think he will ever settle down.”

  Without saying anything, Sara exited the Navigator.

  The night air was humid but a welcome relief from the Navigator’s air conditioning. Sara cr
ossed the street and slowed her walk from an angry march to a slow stroll. She smiled as Nick turned his attention her way. At first he looked pleased, then embarrassed. Both arms dropped from around the two women’s shoulders as he stood. Sara couldn’t stay mad at Nick. He was like a little boy lost, an adventurer always looking for a new adventure.

  “Hey.” Nick’s smile was genuine. “Change your mind?”

  “Can we walk?”

  Dagger turned the lights off and slowly steered the Navigator onto the street. The couple moved too far away for him to hear anything. The Navigator crept along as Nick wrapped his arm around Sara’s shoulder. Dagger’s eyes scanned the area for reporters. He figured Robert Tyler’s long arm reached Leyton Monroe and an edict had been set down warning local reporters off of Nick Tyler. It didn’t stop the out-of-town rag sheet photographers from trying to snap a few photos, but that was why Nick stuck to members-only night spots.

  The couple stopped for an embrace. They kissed, a little too long. “Too much tongue action there, kid.” Dagger felt his hands wrap a vice grip on the steering wheel. They broke away with Sara raising her hand to stop Nick’s advances. And now she was doing a lot of talking. It didn’t appear Nick could get a word in edgewise. Now they were both smiling. “Oh, shit,” Dagger said to himself. “Looks like they might have made up.”

  Sara turned and walked away. A man in a suit and tie clutching a cell phone had to sidestep. He almost dropped the phone and lunged like a juggler to keep the phone from dropping. He yelled out his apologies as he caught the phone but managed to run his eyes over her frame with a look of approval. Sara’s smile faded. Dagger knew that look. There was something about the man that bothered her. She continued to stare at the man’s retreat while slowly making her way to the Navigator.

  As she climbed into the vehicle Dagger asked, “Did you know that guy?”

  Sara continued to stare in the direction the man had gone. “No, but something about him reminded me of something. Not sure what.”

  Dagger flipped the headlights on and gunned the Navigator away from the curb, subconsciously trying to distance Sara from Nick. “Are you and Nick okay?”

  “Sure.”

  That was it. Dagger was going to have to drag the information from her. He glanced at her left hand. She wasn’t wearing the ring. Sara caught him looking.

  “I told him I can’t have children to which he said we could adopt. I told him his father is looking forward to a Tyler clan to carry the family name. I told him he doesn’t love me, he only wants to keep me out of ‘circulation’…his words, not mine… until he is ready to settle down.”

  “Ouch.”

  “He said he would never find another woman who understands him so well, who gives him his freedom, who doesn’t get mad when tabloids show him with another woman to which I said that’s because I don’t care because I don’t love him.”

  “Double ouch.”

  “Well, truth hurts. That’s what you’ve always told me. He admitted the ring was on loan from the jewelry store and that it was Sheila’s idea to spring this proposal on me in front of a packed room so I wouldn’t back down. He apologized for putting me on the spot. I apologized for using him as a Dating 101 instructor. So we are going out tomorrow night.”

  “You’re going out?” Dagger almost missed the red light. He stomped on the brake pedal and quickly checked the rearview mirror to make sure any cars behind him also saw the red light.

  “As friends.”

  “Friends,” Dagger repeated. “You know he’s going to cling to that last thread of hope.”

  “CLING!” Sara clamped a hand around his forearm. “That’s what that guy was doing.”

  “What guy?” The traffic light changed and Dagger burned rubber.

  “The guy who bumped into me who was grasping for the cell phone. Now I remember. That’s what Demko Number Two was doing in the cardinal’s suite. He was grabbing for something…a pen. I thought it was funny for him to be so desperate not to forget his pen.”

  “That’s all it was? A pen?”

  “Yes. I’m positive, Dagger. When I pushed him out of the window he wrapped both hands around it as though it were the Holy Grail. I think that was why he was in the cardinal’s suite.”

  Dagger punched several buttons on the control console.

  “Do you know what time it is?” Skizzy’s voice blasted from the console.

  “You never sleep, Skizzy. Did you go through the cardinal’s travel itinerary?” Dagger steered the Navigator away from the marina and toward home.

  “Yeah, yeah. I’m still working on it.”

  “If I told you someone was desperate to steal someone’s pen, what would you think?”

  “Flash drive.”

  “A what?” Sara asked.

  “I’ve even got a couple here. It’s a real pen but pull it apart and it’s a flash drive. You never saw one?”

  “Shit.” Dagger disconnected the call.

  Sara said, “If the Demko clone was there to copy the cardinal’s hard drive, I didn’t see a laptop there. Only the opened briefcase.”

  “Obviously Demko lucked out.”

  “So why was he so desperate to protect the flash drive?”

  CHAPTER 19

  By midmorning the next day, Skizzy reported that he had results.

  “Did Skizzy tell you what he found?” Sara asked as she slammed out of the Navigator.

  Dagger stepped onto the curb. He felt something slide down his chest and hit his shoe. The black cord necklace lay at his feet, its clasp broken. Dagger froze. He hadn’t been without the necklace since Ada died. But why freeze? Was he expecting it to attack him?

  Sara reached down and picked it up. “I’m sure Skizzy can fix it.” Dagger’s eyes remained riveted on the necklace. “What’s wrong?” She slowly smiled and nudged him along. “You saved the wolf. That is what protects you. Not the necklace.”

  Dagger felt foolish as he followed Sara to the opened door where Skizzy was waving them in. But he did remember Ada’s warning to never take the necklace off.

  “Come on already. I ain’t got all day.” Skizzy closed the door behind them and slammed the seven locks home. “Hurry hurry.” He splayed open the blinds to check the sidewalk before leading them to the back room and down the stairs.

  Sara placed the necklace on one of the tables while Skizzy plopped in front of the display of computer monitors.

  “Found your bird at a number of locations over the past month but I think the one you might find the most interesting is from the Atlanta airport.”

  “Bird?” Sara questioned.

  “Cardinal.” Skizzy tapped several keys. He pulled a chair over and pointed. “Sit.”

  Dagger sat pressing a hand to his neck. He felt naked without the black cord necklace. Sara was unraveling some of the leather to expose broken wire.

  “Pay attention,” Skizzy barked. On screen the camera showed Cardinal Esrey and his assistant seated in an executive lounge. Two seats to Father Thomas’ left sat a man in a dark suit. A woman behind a counter motioned to the man in the suit. He abruptly rose and strode over to the desk. “Now watch.”

  “I’m watching.” Although Dagger still wasn’t sure what was so important. And then he saw it. After the man left his seat, Cardinal Esrey pointed toward the departure board and he and his assistant rose to leave. The cardinal reached down and grabbed a briefcase. The two briefcases had been within inches of each other and looked identical, both black with non-descriptive markings. “I don’t get it.”

  “Maybe he picked up the wrong briefcase. After all, he reached down without looking,” Skizzy explained.

  “That’s weak, even for you, Skizzy. Once the cardinal got on the plane and opened his briefcase, he would know he had the wrong one.”

  “Maybe that was his plan…to switch briefcases,” Skizzy argued.

  Dagger wasn’t convinced. “Zoom in on that guy again.” From a side view it was clear the man was wearing sunglasses. H
is hair was cut short, though not military short. The suit looked expensive but the man had been careful to appear casually dressed, withholding a tie and keeping the shirt open at the collar. “Does he have a scar?”

  “Nope. Already checked that.”

  Dagger looked for birthmarks, nervous ticks, but didn’t see anything that would help him remember the man should he run into him in the future. As the man walked back to his seat, Dagger noticed a slight limp.

  “Keep digging, Skizzy.”

  “Damn slave driver,” Skizzy mumbled.

  “Either way,” Dagger said, “something important must have been on that flash drive, enough to die for. Any of the cameras pick up the guy’s face?”

  “Not yet. I tried to see what flight he’s taking so I can zero in on those cameras.”

  “How about the camera over that woman’s shoulder? Maybe you can zoom in on the passenger list.”

  “Tried that.” Skizzy pounded on the keys. “His name is J. Smith. Fat chance it’s his real name. But he wasn’t taking a commercial carrier. He’s sailing on a private jet.”

  “Get a tail number,” Dagger said.

  Sara leaned back to get a look at the man on the screen. “He’s not the one who was in the cardinal’s hotel room. He’s too tall.”

  Skizzy’s eyebrow jerked up. “And how would girlie know that?”

  Dagger jumped in. “Camera from the cardinal’s room.”

  Skizzy’s other eyebrow narrowed giving his face a comical look. “Paper said there weren’t no cameras on the floor or in the room.”

  Dagger dragged a hand across his five o’clock shadow and winced when he touched his bruised cheek. “Martinez doesn’t tell the reporters everything.” He turned his attention back to the monitor in hopes of changing the subject. “Padre confirmed the guy at the hotel had the same DNA and prints as the guy you dumped in the quarry.”

  Skizzy’s hands hovered over the keyboard, then dropped to his lap. “Wait a minute.” His eyes widened, growing in size like two alien orbs. “I was right! He’s a clone. Didn’t I tell you?”