Chasing Ghosts (15 page)

“
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 crossed 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.”