The Good Die Twice (27 page)

“Where do you think you’re at, your country
club?” Dagger asked.

“Well,” Sheila kicked off her three-inch
heels, “she is your secretary. Doesn’t she do secretarial things?
My father’s secretary brings his coffee.”

“AWWK, GET OUT.” Einstein buried his head
under Sara’s arm, accepting the security of her gentle stroking and
whispers.

“Shhhhh.” Sara kissed the top of his
head.

“Well, how about a sandwich? I’m starving.”
Sheila looked at Sara again.

“AWWWKK.” Einstein flew up to the catwalk and
landed on the railing. Sara ran upstairs to calm him down.

Dagger slipped behind the bar. “All I can
offer you is a beer.”

“Champagne?” Sheila stood up and leaned over
the bar to check the contents on the shelf. She whispered, “Need
help?” Her two box-link gold chains slipped out from under her silk
blouse.

Dagger couldn’t help but notice she had more
buttons undone on her blouse than necessary.

Sheila smiled seductively, placing her hand
on top of his as he handed her a beer.

“I’m expecting company. Can you make it
quick?”

“We have never had a problem making it quick
when we needed to. Like two little rabbits.” Sheila glanced up
toward the catwalk and smiled.

Einstein eyed Sheila, opened his beak, and
made several hacking motions, his foot raised like a boxer.

“Come on, Einstein.” Sara coaxed him off the
rail. “Don’t get yourself all riled up over nothing.” Sara sat on
the catwalk with Einstein in her lap. She tried not to watch as
Sheila played with the gold chains around her neck, letting her
fingers trace her cleavage. As a way to keep Einstein quiet so she
could listen to Sheila and Dagger, Sara offered Einstein a Brazil
nut, but he refused it.

“What’s this about your father?” Dagger
asked.

Sheila told Dagger about the forged checks.
He quickly took a long pull on his beer to keep from smiling.

“Well, your father has pissed off a lot of
people with his radical viewpoints.” Dagger checked his watch.

“I want to hire you.”

“Me? For what?”

“To find out who’s responsible for this.”

“No, thanks. My golden rule: I don’t do
cheating spouses, missing dogs, deadbeat dads, or check forgers.
Besides, your father hates me.”

Sheila did that little thing with her finger
again, drawing imaginary circles on the top of his hand with the
tip of one lacquered nail. Dagger pulled his hand away before the
chills started making more than just the tiny hairs on his hand
stand up. A reprieve—the front gate alarm rang.

“COMPANY, COMPANY, AWWK.” Einstein flew
toward the monitor. Sara tore down the stairs after him.

“Hey,” Dagger yelled, diverting Einstein from
the monitor to the perch by the desk. “You’ve been told not to
press that buzzer.”

“SPREAD ‘UM. AWWWKK.” Einstein had seen
Padre’s face on the monitor.

“Dagger, it’s not good to yell. You’ll upset
him,” Sara warned.

“For crissake.” Sheila slid off the bar stool
and slipped on her shoes. “Next thing she’ll have him seeing a
parrot psychologist.”

Dagger let Padre in. Immediately, Einstein
pointed one toe at him. Padre made a mock gun with his fingers and
pointed it at Einstein.

“Let me out of here. This place is a zoo.”
Sheila tried to kiss Dagger but he turned to catch the kiss on his
cheek. “Think again about my offer, Sweetheart.”

“GOOD RIDDANCE, YUK,” Einstein screeched.

“Same to you, you overgrown crow.” Sheila
glanced at Sara but didn’t say anything.

She was out the door and in her car before
Padre said, “Sweetheart? I thought you broke things off?”

“It hasn’t sunk in with her yet.”

Sara tapped on the grated door to the aviary.
“Past your bedtime, Einstein.” Einstein flew up to his favorite
tree branch and Sara slid the grated door shut first, then the
soundproof Plexiglas door. She checked the humidity controls on the
panel near the door for the aviary.

“Sheila has called the precinct at least
three times to get an update on her father’s forged checks. They
keep telling her the chances of catching the guy are zilch.” Padre
accepted a beer from Dagger and they sat on the couch while Sara
retreated to the kitchen. Several moments later they heard the
dishwasher humming.

“Sheila tried to hire me to find the guilty
party. But I’m not getting involved.”

Sara returned with a cup of tea, said her
goodnights, and went upstairs to her room.

“Do you have the medical examiner’s
report?”

“She was definitely shot close range. We’ll
get Ballistics on it immediately.”

“You are sure these guys are being followed?”
Dagger heard the familiar sound of Sara’s patio door sliding
open.

“We know where they are staying. We’ll know
if they make a move.”

“All we need now is a plan.”

The gray wolf darted through the underbrush,
around trees, over deteriorating fences, and through creeks as it
made its way to the Tyler mansion. The night air was heavy and
damp, the remains of an earlier storm clinging to the foliage. The
sky was dark and thunder rumbled in the background.

The wolf stopped to listen. Streetlights
filtered through the branches; and traffic sounds, although a mile
away, sounded to the wolf as if cars were a few feet away.

With a giant push, the wolf leaped for a
branch twenty feet from the ground, shifting in mid-flight into the
gray hawk. It ruffled its feathers as it shifted its body, letting
its talons search for a better grip.

It could see lights in the distance from the
Tyler mansion. The hawk lifted off and in less than a minute was on
the patio railing outside the third floor library.

Edie paced in front of the patio doors, the
phone pressed to her ear, talking to Luke. She slid open the door
and welcomed the cool breeze which had followed the earlier
storm.

“Are you sure they have a clear plan?” She
opened the humidor but changed her mind. A headache was developing,
and the last thing she needed was a cigar.

“Yes. We went over it. Why are you so
jumpy?”

“I don’t know.” She rubbed a finger and thumb
across her forehead, trying to press away a tension headache.
“Can’t wait til this is over with. I keep seeing cars following me,
wondering if it’s the cops, or maybe even your two buddies.”
Stopping long enough to light a cigarette, she continued pacing.
“When are those two idiots taking care of the body? According to
the schedule, the resort staff will start to stock those pantries
and freezers soon.”

“That is their main priority after getting
the girl. Now, what about your husband? Is he going to be a
problem?”

“No. He hasn’t a clue. And I’d never let him
in on it anyway. This is my nest egg. He already gambled away as
much money as I care to entrust him with.”

“And your brother-in-law?”

“I think I’ve managed to convince him that it
wasn’t Rachel whom Dagger’s client saw murdered. And a body will
never be found. So…” Peering out the door, Edie saw two eyes
glowing from the railing and jumped back. “My god. What is with
these birds?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The bird…hawk…whatever was outside your
hotel window. It’s outside the library window. This is really
bizarre. It’s like it has been following me.” A cold chill ran up
Edie’s back as she stared at the bird.

“That’s ridiculous. You’re going to tell me
it’s the same hawk?”

Edie studied the bird’s coloring. “I know it
is. It’s the eyes. Hawks don’t have blue eyes, Luke, do they?”

CHAPTER 44

“DON’T TOUCH. AWWK.” Einstein gripped the
perch, spread his wings, and bobbed his head to look around Sara
who was seated at the computer monitor. Morning sunlight filtered
through the half-opened blinds embedded in the skylights.

“I can touch, but you can’t.” Sara turned and
handed Einstein a piece of orange. “Now, tell me again about the
kangaroo, Einstein.” Sara accessed the Internet and went to AOL Net
Search. She looked at Einstein, who was busy eating. “Kangaroo,
Einstein. What is kangaroo?” She thought back to the night Einstein
had blurted out the word. “What was it you said?”

Einstein pulled out the orange long enough to
say, “AWWWKK, KANGAROO PAW, KANGAROO PAW.”

“Good,” Sara smiled, “that’s what I wanted to
hear.” She typed kangaroo paw on the search line and waited. A few
seconds later 283 matches lit up the screen. “Mangles’ Kangaroo
Paw?” She read the description of the emblem of the State of
Western Australia. Clicking on the first entry, she waited for the
screen to fill. The image was familiar. “Oh my.” Turning from the
screen, Sara said, “Einstein, I know where the diamonds are!”

Sara drove Dagger’s truck toward the Tyler
residence. She had been unsuccessful at trying to reach Dagger on
his cellular phone. He had planned to meet Padre. There was always
the possibility Sara was wrong which is why she wanted to check
things out first.

The Cedar Point Police Department was a buzz
of activity. Tuesdays seemed to be the chosen day for every lawyer
in Cedar Point to pick up an arrest report. Men in power suits
nodded at Padre as they walked past. The women in power suits
smiled at Dagger. They stood outside a door marked Homicide.

“I don’t know what it is with you, Dagger,”
Padre pointed out as another woman in a thigh-high skirt and
carrying a briefcase cast one of those, I’m available smiles. “Must
be that long hair or I don’t have time to shave look. You’ve had a
stream of ladies here for the taking. Thank god I’m married. I
wouldn’t want to make the decision on which one.”

Dagger stood, arms crossed, leaning against
the wall. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as the next
woman rushed by. “You just give them what they want. Let your gaze
tell them they are looking good. Now they can go into court and
give the judge hell. By lunch time they won’t even remember
me.”

Padre nodded in agreement and chuckled.
“Right, until they go to bed. Look at me.” He gestured toward his
pinstriped suit. “I’ve got the power suit thing going, hair
trimmed, though slightly receding. But for reasons that escape me,
women with all that education and culture go ga-ga over guys with
grease under their nails, five-o-clock shadows…” he glanced at
Dagger’s head, “hair six months past a trim, and in desperate need
of a wardrobe.”

Dagger grinned. “Yeah, but I clean up
nice.”

Padre opened the door and led Dagger past
three sets of desks butted together in twos. Ceiling fans
circulated warm air and an air conditioning unit jammed in one of
the windows clattered and droned.

Padre’s desk was in a far corner of the room.
He sat down and motioned to a chair in front of his desk.

Dagger remained standing. He jammed his hands
in his pants pockets and paced, looking up whenever someone
entered. “I don’t like this,” Dagger said. “I’ve got a bad
feeling.”

“You always were edgy in a police
station.”

“Why couldn’t you just call me with the
information?”

Padre rose. “Come on.” He led him down an
aisle and into a conference room. When he closed the door, he said,
“Feel better?”

Dagger surveyed the twelve-foot-square room
with faded green walls. “It’s not your office. It’s not this room.
Hell, it isn’t even the building.” He paced, clasping his hands in
back of his head.

“You look like you’re going to jump out of
your skin.”

“Something doesn’t feel right.”

Padre pulled a notepad from his pocket.
“Maybe you have a premonition of what I’m about to tell you.”

Dagger stopped pacing and stared at Padre. He
unclasped his hands and took a seat across the marred table from
the sergeant.

Padre studied his notes, pursed his lips in
thought. Finally, he said, “I’ve had my people checking out these
three yokels. It seems Joey was a guest of the Boston Police
Department during the week Rachel was modeling the Williamsburg
Collection. Mince was in California. There are a string of hotel
receipts from him. And Luke was in New York, under surveillance by
the Justice Department.”

Dagger threaded his fingers through his hair.
“Damn, maybe Sara is onto something.”

“Sara? What did she find out?”

Dagger drove Padre to Sara’s house. The
answering machine had been left on but that didn’t mean Sara wasn’t
home. She could be outside in the garden or in the throes of
cleaning Einstein’s aviary and not want to be interrupted.

“Sara?” Dagger called out as he entered the
kitchen, Padre close behind.

“Maybe she left a note.” Padre checked the
kitchen counter, then walked to the phone on the desk. He could
barely see the desktop. “Damn, when are you going to get
organized?”

Dagger checked the aviary. The doors were
closed, Einstein was alone and napping. Next, he ran up the stairs
to Sara’s room where he located his laptop. This was where Sara had
disappeared during Worm’s visit. Something Worm had said about
moissanite had triggered her curiosity. Dagger brought the laptop
downstairs, set it on the coffee table and sat in front of it.

Turning it on, he accessed AOL. “Let’s see
what she was working on.”

“How can you tell?” Padre loosened his tie
and took a seat next to Dagger.

“She will usually save something in My
Favorite Places so she can return to it when she wants.” Dagger
clicked on My Favorite Places. “The last one listed is usually the
last one accessed.”

He ran the cursor down the list, clicked on
the item, and read the contents. “Interesting. Why was she looking
up the Mayfair Gallery in London? I’m going to check her Email, see
what messages she has sent.”

Padre peered at the screen and read along
with Dagger. “Sonofabitch,” the two men said in unison. The phone
rang but Dagger let the answering machine pick it up.