The Good Die Twice Read online

  THE GOOD DIE TWICE

  A Chase Dagger Mystery

  Lee Driver

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. Any slights of people, places, or organizations is purely unintentional.

  Copyright © 1999 by Lee Driver

  All rights reserved.

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced

  in any form without permission.

  Library of Congress Catalog Number 99-62925

  ISBN 978-0-9820352-1-4

  Smashwords Edition

  The Good Die Twice

  CHAPTER 1

  Nocturnal wildlife played a deadly game of hide-and-seek a hundred feet below the gray hawk. Silently the hawk glided, silhouetted against the full moon, wings flat and graceful. It circled slowly, its underwing coverts trapping the rising air currents. Nature had no reason to fear the hawk, not at night. The hawk was a diurnal predator, it preyed only by day. But even in daylight, the animal kingdom didn’t have to fear this particular gray hawk. The only animals in danger both day and night were two-legged.

  The hawk folded its forty-inch wing span and perched on top of a pole. The warm, westerly breeze off Lake Michigan rippled through its feathers. In the distance, a train rumbled, its horn blasts echoing through the woods.

  The hawk possesses the greatest eyesight in the animal world. Its eyesight not only outdistances a human’s, but its visual acuity is also eight times more powerful.

  The hawk can distinguish the various sounds prevalent during the day and those more common at night. It can distinguish between mating calls, distress and cries of pain. And it knows animal sounds from human.

  Angry voices made the hawk jerk its head around. Swooping down for a closer look, it searched in the direction of the sounds, near buildings with windows facing the lake.

  The buildings were tucked on the north side of a bluff where thick woods created a cozy backdrop. Clusters of townhouses faced the lake, each having its own deck with stairs leading down to the beach.

  The hawk settled on a deck railing and cocked its head. The voices were coming from the end unit. Three figures could be seen beyond the French doors. Light filtered through the slices of vertical blinds revealing stark white end chairs and a sofa.

  Two men were struggling with a woman. A muffled pop shuddered through the hawk. The odors were strong…gunpowder and blood. A deadly combination. The woman crumpled to the floor. Her long, blonde hair flowed gracefully around her head. A stain seeped through her white dress and between her breasts. The woman lay motionless, blue eyes open in shock, lips parted slightly. The stain grew, spreading onto the white rug.

  A bright speck danced toward the fireplace. The hawk followed the object with curiosity. With unusual human-like intellect, it studied its surroundings as if looking for landmarks. By the time it returned its gaze to the French doors, the blinds were drawn tight.

  With quick wing beats the hawk took flight, made a pass over the townhouses, and flew off. It climbed higher, over treetops, across a ravine toward a huge building with spiraling towers. It searched the balconies for a white scarf tied to a door handle, located it, and disappeared through the open balcony door.

  CHAPTER 2

  “Dagger, wake up.”

  “Hmmmm?” The interruption sounded distant, part of his dream. Dagger lifted his head from the pillow and glared at the clock radio. “It’s only four o’clock. Go back to your room, Sara.”

  Sara hit the wall switch, which turned on both bedside lamps. Shielding his eyes from the light, Dagger groaned. Through his splayed fingers he watched Sara pick through his pile of clothes on the floor. She was clad in black from neck to toes, colors she had been taught to wear on stakeouts.

  “Hurry,” Sara ordered, flinging his black shirt and slacks at him. “A woman has been murdered.” She dropped the bombshell and retreated to her side of their hotel suite.

  Dagger dragged his body to the edge of the bed and blinked the sleep from his eyes. He struggled with the pant legs as Sara breezed through the doorway again.

  “What’s taking you so long?” She had her dark waist-length hair pulled around to the side and was braiding it. Pinpoints of blue-green were encased in almond-shaped eyes. “Hurry, hurry.”

  “If she’s dead,” Dagger mumbled through the black shirt he pulled over his head, “I doubt she’s going anywhere.”

  “Are you sure this is the place?” Dagger parked his dark blue van at the end of the block and killed the lights.

  “I think so.”

  “Think?” Dagger raked his fingers through his shoulder-length hair.

  “There’s only one way to find out.”

  The dark woods provided an excellent cover as they approached the back of the townhouses. A layer of mist snaked out from the woods and creatures chattered in the branches. The July air was humid, dewy, and blades of grass felt saturated and slippery under their shoes.

  Dagger held a flashlight in one hand but it was turned off. He stopped and listened. Birds were just starting to awaken and were filling the air with their incessant chirping.

  Sara stopped and listened, too. She was able to filter out all the wildlife noises. Shaking her head, she proceeded up the asphalt drive to the side of the townhouse with Dagger close behind. Glancing at nearby trees, then at the lake ahead, she announced, “This is the one.” She turned her attention to the deck and started to climb over the railing.

  Dagger grabbed her arm. “Wait. How can you be so sure?” He looked down the lakefront at the row of townhouses. “It could be any one of them.”

  “It’s an end unit.”

  As silent and agile as a cat, Sara climbed over the railing and stayed close to the building as she listened for sounds beyond the French doors. “I don’t hear anything.”

  The sky toward the east was turning a dark blue as daybreak was fast approaching. Sometimes, if you blinked, you could miss it entirely. Dagger crossed the patio and turned the flashlight on. Other than the patio doors, there weren’t any other entrances on this side of the townhouse.

  “Come on,” he whispered. They retraced their steps to the back of the townhouse. Dagger shined the flashlight on the back door to check for evidence of a break-in. There wasn’t any. While Sara held the flashlight, Dagger maneuvered a lock pick and the tumblers gave with a click. With gloved hands, he carefully turned the doorknob and they entered through what looked like a utility room.

  Piping was exposed where they assumed a washer and dryer would be installed. Moving cautiously, they listened for any noise on the other side of the door. Sara shined the flashlight on the tiled floor looking for the usual evidence of a crime—drops of blood, suspicious footprints—but there weren’t any.

  Slowly, Dagger opened the door that led to the kitchen. The interior was damp, musty. Sara flashed a beam of light on a wall switch just as Dagger flipped on the lights.

  Sara quickly moved to the living room. Large globe lights extended from the ceiling fans. The white upholstered furniture and thick area rug were unstained. Puzzled, she said, “I don’t understand. I saw her. I saw the blood.”

  Dagger leaned against the island counter separating the living room from the kitchen. He gathered his collar-length hair into a rubber band and tried analyzing the situation. Sara was not one to let her imagination run wild. Yet, there wasn’t a body. There wasn’t even a hint of a crime. He opened the vertical blinds and unlocked the French doors. After sliding back the screen, he stepped out onto the wooden deck. He motioned to Sara.

  Reluctantly, Sara followed and walked out to the railin
g closest to the adjoining unit. Getting her bearings, she looked out at the lake, the navy blue sky now a lighter hue with hints of pink and yellow near the horizon. She faced the townhouse again and stared at the French doors.

  Dagger studied the intensity in her face as she started to chew on one of her knuckles. It was a nervous habit she had started after her grandmother, Ada Kills Bull, passed away. He had thought she would slowly give up the habit, but if anything, it had only gotten worse.

  “I don’t understand,” Sara said again. Frustrated, she went back inside and crouched down. She felt the carpeting. It was dry. She wiped her fingers across the solid oak floor. “It isn’t even dusty.”

  Dagger slid the screen shut. “The place has been closed up. It wouldn’t get dusty.”

  “It’s almost TOO clean.” Sara got down on all fours.

  She was tenacious, Dagger had to say that much for her. She looked up at him with those dazzling eyes pleading for him to help confirm her sanity.

  “If you want, Sara, I could have the police come over and coat the place with luminol. If there is any residue of blood...”

  Sara shook her head. “I can’t do that, Dagger. The police will want to know where I was when I saw the murder and why I didn’t do anything, and wonder how I escaped the killers.”

  “I’m sorry, Sara. You’re right.”

  Her eyes searched every crevice as if unseen magnifying lenses were attached to her irises. A slight smile crept across her face as she crawled toward the fireplace. Reaching under the fake logs, she retrieved a sparkling object.

  “I saw something fall off of the woman as she fell to the floor,” Sara explained.

  “It’s an earring, a black topaz or something. Sucker’s at least fifty carats.” He held it up to the light. “Sure is a strange color.” He folded the earring inside his hankie and slipped it in his pocket. “Now all we need is the body.”

  CHAPTER 3

  In the lobby of the Dunes Resort a bell captain and waitress were setting a long table for the continental breakfast. The colorful mosaic-tiled floor was dotted with thick Persian area rugs.

  Dagger tugged at the collar of his shirt. His stubble was itchy and the lobby was a bit too warm. He wanted a hot shower, some breakfast, and a fast ride home. This was not how his one-day surveillance was supposed to end. A client by the name of Hardaway had hired Dagger Investigations to follow Mrs. Hardaway and find out to whom she was giving away corporate secrets. Dagger had followed her to the Dunes Resort where she was spending the night with her husband’s business partner. Getting glossy eight-by-tens for pissed off husbands were not cases Dagger Investigations usually handled. But the amount of money Stu Hardaway was paying was enough incentive for Dagger to drag out his audio equipment.

  The Dunes Resort was an eighty-year-old hotel getaway near Michigan City, Indiana. During its lifetime it had gone through numerous renovations. The new owners had invested a huge sum of money in the latest updates including the building of the townhouses on the lakefront.

  The desk clerk returned. “Which unit did you say?” The red-haired woman rested the bifocals on the tip of her nose. She studied the pamphlet unfolded on the counter. Her lapel pin said MARIA.

  “This one.” Sara pointed to the corner unit in the photo.

  Dagger explained, “We saw it last night but it was occupied and we didn’t want to disturb them. If they are checking out today, we would like to take a look inside.”

  Maria bent her head to peer over her glasses at them. “That’s impossible. Those units won’t be available for rent until August. No one could have been in there last night.”

  “But they look finished,” Sara protested.

  “The last items to be installed are the washers and dryers, and that won’t be for another week.” Maria folded up the brochure and handed it to them. “Take this with you if you’d like. It’s easy to get turned around here, there’s so much property.” She handed Dagger a business card. “This is our Guest Services Department. I can have them call you when they have additional information if you’d like.”

  Dagger wrote his name and phone number on the back of the card and handed it to her. “I’m in Cedar Point, Indiana. Just on the Indiana/Illinois border, about an hour from here. They can reach me at this number.”

  CHAPTER 4

  “Did you miss us?” Sara slid open the grated door to the bird aviary. The forty-by-thirty-foot room housed a large climbing tree that reached to within a few feet of the cathedral ceiling. Large skylights provided natural sunlight and fluorescent bulbs set on timers dimmed the lights gradually in the evening.

  Feeding stations were strategically placed. One side of the room held a large birdbath with a showerhead operated by a chain. The tiled floor around the shower drained to a grating in the corner. Astro-turf under the tree made the room look more like a park than an oversized birdcage.

  On a branch high in the tree a colorful scarlet macaw eyed Sara suspiciously as she approached. It buried its head under one wing and refused to budge.

  “Look what I have for you.” Sara held out a handful of dandelions in one hand and sunflower seeds in the other. “Einstein, don’t be like that. We were only gone two days.”

  “Don’t baby him, Sara.” Dagger waited for the color printer to finish spitting out pictures. “Come take a look at these.”

  Dagger’s makeshift office was cordoned off in the corner of the living room by a forty-inch-high paneled wall. It was just outside the aviary so Einstein could see a familiar face and not feel anxious. It had taken Einstein almost a month to settle down in his new surroundings after being cooped up in a small apartment above a bar.

  Sara no sooner left the aviary, when the macaw spread its scarlet red, blue and gold wings, flew down and landed on a wooden perch by the doorway to his room.

  “AWWWKK, BABY ME, BABY ME,” Einstein blurted.

  Sara smiled at Einstein who bobbed his head up and down.

  “AWWWKK, BABY ME.” Einstein stabbed at the grating with his powerful beak.

  “What do you think?” Dagger placed the composite pictures on the desk. Using the computer and Sara’s recollection of the features of the two men, Dagger had the computer draw composites of the alleged killers.

  Sara studied the images. “His face is too full and this one had more of a receding hairline.”

  Dagger returned to the computer and made the alterations to the composites. “You know, we are spending a lot of time on a murder we can’t prove. We couldn’t find one sign of violence in any of the townhouses.” He shifted his gaze to the couch where the late edition of the morning paper was strewn. “You haven’t found any mention of anything in the paper either.”

  “You don’t believe me?”

  Dagger ran his hands through his hair and leaned back in his chair. He had worked enough cases to know a dead-end when he saw one. But it was difficult to stare into Sara’s innocent face and tell her his first inclination was that she imagined it all. Instead he pointed to the monitor and asked, “How’s this?”

  “Yes, that’s better.”

  Dagger sent the pictures to print.

  A heavy knock rattled the kitchen screen door. “Hey, anybody home? Have I got the right place?”

  Dagger yelled, “Come on in, Simon.”

  Simon made his way through the kitchen and into the living room. What might have once been a muscular chest had given way to gravity. A thick middle rested comfortably over Simon’s belt. His cherub face and twinkling eyes made him appear to be constantly smiling. Perspiration was already forming at the hairline of his short-cropped Afro. With the temperatures nearing eighty-five degrees, Simon wore his regulation uniform shorts. It was difficult to imagine that those spindly legs and bony knees could support such a massive torso.

  “MR. POSTMAN. PLEASE, MR. POSTMAN. AWWWKK.” Einstein fanned out his feathers and did a little dance on his perch.

  Simon’s laugh was deep, which brought the word jolly immediately to mi
nd. “Hello to you, too, Einstein.”

  “Coffee, Simon?” Sara offered.

  The visitor nodded and cocked his head slightly as Sara left the room, a vision of shapely legs in a pair of low-riding denim shorts. He set his mailbag on the quarry tile floor and looked around the expansive living room with its high ceiling, skylights, and polished steel-beam staircase. At the top of the staircase was a catwalk that dissected the width of the living room.

  Sara hadn’t owned much furniture, so Dagger had contributed his black leather sofa, love seat, and entertainment center. She did have a television set and VCR, but only after her grandmother had discovered educational tapes that her granddaughter could use. The earth-toned area rugs and Sara’s bed were the only items she had kept after her grandmother died.

  Simon did a slow three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turn as he surveyed the converted dealer showroom. “This sure beats that apartment and office of yours.”

  “You’ve got that right.” Dagger stood up and stretched his tall, lean body. His features were chiseled with dark eyes set deep and a continuous five o’clock shadow. He had muscular arms and workman’s hands, which were callused and rough. Dagger had already started work on the Florida room he was adding to Sara’s house.

  “Is that an electrified gate you got out front?”

  “Should be. But it’s just a monitored gate that we can open remotely. Too many people think this property is a nature walk open to the public.”

  Simon sauntered over to the doorway to Einstein’s room. “What a set-up. Ya like your new home, Einstein?” Einstein bobbed his head up and down and shrieked. “I guess you do. You’ve got a swing, climbing ropes.” He looked at the tall tree on one side of the room. “It looks like a goddamn rain forest in here.”