Chasing Ghosts (11 page)

“
You think the security guard was
casing the place out for some secret Vatican jewels and he and his
partner had a falling out?”

“
Good theory but the cardinal’s
assistant hasn’t reported anything of value missing.” They reached
the parking lot where Padre stopped to gaze longingly at the
Jag.

“
Doting Thomas…” Sheila laughed at the
look on Padre’s face. “I’m sorry. It’s Father Donald Thomas but he
dotes so much on the cardinal that I just had to peg the guy with a
nickname. He moves like he mainlines caffeine with a little
obsessive- compulsive thrown in for good measure.” Sheila shook her
platinum hair and straightened her back as though she were a windup
doll. “I have to iron his shirts twice, lay out fresh socks at
noon, he likes two creams, one sugar, and it has to be the real
stuff, no fake sugar. His bath is drawn at nine o’clock sharp.”
Sheila moved her arms robotically as she mimicked Father Thomas.
“Give me a break.”

“
The man is serious about his
duties.”

“
Whatever.” Sheila flicked her wrist as
though shooing him away. “Anyway, I asked him about any threats on
the cardinal’s life in the way of phone calls and threatening
letters. Doting Thomas either didn’t know or wasn’t
saying.”

Padre ran a hand over the hood of the
Jag.

“
You’re drooling, Padre.”

“
A man can dream, can’t he?”

“
I’m supposed to give Dagger an update.
Anything you want me to share with him to steer him in the wrong
direction?”

“
He’s asking about this
case?”

“
I can tell when something piques
Dagger’s interest. He wasn’t just innocently strolling through the
parking lot where the man took a dive. He was genuinely curious.
Just haven’t figured out why yet and you certainly can’t convince
me you didn’t get the same impression,” she added with a sly
smile.

The throaty sound of a powerful engine echoed
down the drive. Sunlight danced off the windshield of a blue Jaguar
XKR 100. The convertible screeched to a stop in front of them.

Sheila smiled at the handsome man who leaped
over the driver’s side door. His sun bleached hair and tanned skin
spelled surf and sun. He pulled off aviator sunglasses and smiled
at Sheila.

“
Like your taste in cars.” Nick Tyler
wrapped Sheila in a bear hug. “Hi, sis.” Sheila wasn’t any
relation. She was closer in age to Nick’s brother, Eric. But the
Tylers and Monroes were inseparable when they were growing up.
There were few multi- millionaire families in Cedar Point and they
all traveled in the same circles.

“
Doesn’t anyone own a Prius these
days?” Padre asked. “You know, good mileage, help the environment,
go green.”

“
When the Cedar Point police department
starts giving all their cops Priuses to drive, then I’ll buy one,”
Nick replied. He had a handshake for Padre, then plopped down on
the hood of Sheila’s Jag.

“
Just get back into town?” Sheila
asked.

“
This morning. There’s only so much of
nude beaches a guy can take.”

“
I thought you majored in business
management?” Padre quipped.

“
I was managing business.” Nick
grinned, revealing one deep dimple. “Thought I’d check out the
Tyler resort in Martinique. Dad’s trying to win me over by sending
me to the island resorts.”

Padre’s phone rang. He checked the screen,
then flipped the phone open. “Martinez.” His face slowly showed
shock, then anger. “I’m on my way in.” He snapped the phone closed
saying, “Well, some of us have to work for a living.”

“
Anything I should know about?” Sheila
had watched his face with curiosity. She could read just about
everyone’s face… sometimes.

“
Nope.” With a wave to Sheila, Padre
said, “Adios,” turned and walked to his car.

Nick watched the detective climb into the
battered car and drive away. “So what’s happened that has the
police on Dad’s doorstep?”

Sheila filled him in on the cardinal’s visit
and the deaths at the hotel.

“
The cardinal is staying here?” Nick
looked up at the house as though expecting to see the cardinal
watching them from a window.

Sheila followed his gaze. “Nice guy for a
clergyman.” She returned her gaze to the fading taillights. “Wish I
could find a way to get on his good side.”

“
The cop or the clergy?” That one
dimple showed itself as Nick climbed off the hood and carefully
wiped the tail of his shirt across the spot where he had sat. “Good
as new.”

Sheila’s lacquered nails drummed on the purse
she clutched to her chest. “Are you going to be in town for a
while?”

Nick knew Sheila well enough to know when she
was hatching a plan. “Why?”

“
I thought you could be my eyes and
ears around the cardinal, maybe pick up a few words here and there.
I’m thinking he is playing down any death threats he’s received so
as to quell any negative publicity. Maybe he did know the guy who
pitched himself out of his hotel window. Maybe not. But he or his
handler may slip up.”

“
Then you can do something for me.”
Nick walked back to his car, reached into the glove box, and pulled
out a small white box.

“
For me?” Sheila said.

Nick laughed. “No, but I’d like a woman’s
opinion.”

Sheila set her purse on the car hood and
stared at the box with the excitement of a four-year-old on
Christmas morning. She carefully opened the lid and gasped. “Oh my
gawd!” A dazzling pink diamond perched in a marquise setting
sparkled in the sunlight. “Can I try it on?”

“
No! It’s supposed to be bad
luck.”

“
Luck, schmuck.” Sheila slipped it onto
her ring finger and gasped again. “This has to be at least four
carats.” She held out her hand and admired the gem. Then the
realization hit her as to the identity of the lucky girl and it was
all she could do to contain her feelings of pity. Nick would be an
excellent catch for any woman but the woman he was after loved
someone else.

“
I know what you’re
thinking.”

Sheila realized her face must have read like
a neon sign. “What’s that, sweetie?” She pulled the ring off and
placed it back in the box.

“
I have more to offer Sara than Dagger
ever could. Dad said he’d give me the resort in Martinique to run.
What woman wouldn’t love to live in an island paradise? I’d buy her
a palace fit for a queen. Her own private plane. Shopping trips to
Paris. A second home in France.”

Sheila handed him the box, her mind turning
over scenarios. With Sara out of the picture, she might have a
chance to get Dagger back. Nick was so young and naïve and she
hated to see him get hurt. Dagger could claim that he and Sara are
just business partners but she had seen the way Dagger protects
her, had seen the two of them together. If there isn’t something
there now, it’s just a matter of time.

“
You said yourself,” Nick reminded her,
“that Dagger and Sara are just business partners. I think she may
be a little infatuated with him, with his exciting life. But that’s
all there is to it.”

“
Nick, players like you can have a
different woman every night. But when it comes to marriage, you are
always looking for the saintly virgin. And lord knows, Sara is
probably the last one in town. Why don’t you just sleep with her
and nip your curiosity in the bud?”

“
How do you know we already
haven’t?”

Sheila opened her car door and turned toward
him. “A big sister knows such things. I can see it in the way you
talk about her. The only thing missing is the word love.”

“
God, she’s beautiful, smart. Of course
I love her. What man wouldn’t? She’s never jealous. Understands how
my schedule and social status puts me in contact with a lot of
other women but she doesn’t mind.”

“
And why is that, Nicholas?” Ever since
Nick’s mother passed away, Sheila had always felt that Nick was
missing some sound, motherly advice. Robert was too busy to offer
any and Nick was too proud to display any weakness to his father.
Eric wasn’t an expert on women seeing how his deceased wife tried
to sell the family down the river. “Could it be she doesn’t mind
because she doesn’t care?” She could see in his face that her words
stung and she had to rein in her criticism. A plan was already
formulating in her mind.

“
She has yet to turn down a date, even
when it’s last minute notice. When I call her from Europe she is
ecstatic to hear my voice. We have been to so many places and done
so many things since we’ve met.”

“
Oh, sweetie.” Sheila walked back over
and wrapped her arms around him. “Sara has been so sheltered from
the outside world that she wants to see what’s out there. Dagger
likes to stay below the radar, believe me. He wouldn’t be caught
dead going to museum fundraisers, the theatre, or art shows. But
Sara wouldn’t feel comfortable going alone.”

“
So you’re saying she’s using me?” The
thought had obviously never occurred to him. He was used to using
women, not the other way around.

“
I just want you to be prepared for her
response. It may not be a direct ‘no,’ but she may say she needs
time.” She climbed into her car and started the engine. “In the
meantime, I might be able to give you a little help.”

She left him pondering that comment as
she sped down the driveway. The Lifestyles Editor at the
Daily Herald
was Gabby Goldstein.
Gabriella’s phone number was on Sheila’s speed dial and Gabby was
going to love this hot piece of gossip that was going to be dropped
into her lap. Gabby may not have a current picture of Sara and Nick
but the Daily Herald had some stock photos from one of the numerous
out-and-about photo layouts that could be pieced together. Sheila
couldn’t help but smile at her good fortune.

CHAPTER 14

He opened the suitcase and checked all the
compartments, the nun zipped the outside compartments, jamming his
hands deep, his fingers probing at the crevices. Next he dumped the
contents from the briefcase out onto the bed and pawed through the
papers and file folders.

“
Damn!” He moved to the bathroom and
checked the toiletry bag again, spilling the contents onto the
bathroom counter. Nothing. It had to still be in the suite but he
couldn’t get back into the hotel yet. There wasn’t anything he
could do now. At least he had already loaded the contents of the
flash drive into the laptop. All he needed now was to decrypt the
information.

The police weren’t sure who the intruder had
been or what he had been looking for. The safe hadn’t been touched.
Had he followed them to Cedar Point to retrieve the flash drive? No
one knew where they were headed. It had been a chance encounter at
the airport. Or had it?

“
Are you sure?” Chief Wozniak rocked
back in his plush leather chair, the crime scene investigator’s
report between thick fingers. Baby fine tufts of red hair sprouted
from the tops of his hands, a softer red than what was on his head.
Beady eyes squinted at the fine print.

Padre sat across the desk from the chief of
detectives, wanting desperately to loan him a pair of bifocals but
he knew John Wozniak’s ego wouldn’t permit anyone to see granny-
type glasses perched on the tip of his bulbous nose. Their
friendship dated back to seminary school before John chalked up two
marriages with the third hanging by an apron string, and Padre
began finding more satisfaction in saving the public from criminals
than in saving souls.

“
As sure as I am that Dagger knows more
than he’s letting on.” The report Padre had shared with the chief
confirmed that the truck the alleged suicide victim fell on was
Dagger’s. “The truck’s serial number confirms that it’s his even
though the license plate was destroyed in the fire.” Padre slid
another report across the desk.

“
What’s this?”

Padre just sighed and motioned for Wozniak to
read. Any other chief would have hauled Padre and Luther in for
dereliction of duty. Since Wozniak was also involved in the Friday
the Thirteenth case, he would be more open to the details of this
case than the average cop. While Wozniak read, Padre studied the
walls cluttered with photos, certificates, awards, keys to the
city, photos of fishing trips. On the credenza behind Wozniak were
pictures of the current wife and his son, Aaron, photos from scout
outings where the chief was a scout leader. Padre fingered the gold
cross under his shirt collar as he watched Wozniak’s eyebrows crawl
up his forehead like furry red caterpillars. His eyes flicked to
Padre.

“
Let me get this straight. A guy is
blown to smithereens in the quarry and the same guy or a twin leaps
out of the twelfth floor of the Ritz Hotel landing on Dagger’s
truck.”

“
Don’t forget the part where we have
records showing Lee Connors had called a cab to take him to
Dagger’s place.”

“
Oh, I read that part where Connors
visits Dagger yet he had already been dead for two days, in the
trunk of his own car no doubt. But how do you tie Dagger to the guy
in the quarry?”

Padre told him how Dagger had jokingly told
him, “The guy threatened me, I killed him and had Skizzy dump the
body in the limestone quarry, but not before some bomb planted in
the guy’s neck blew his head off.”