Lee Driver - 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'simagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actualevents, locales or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. Anyslights of people, places, or organizations is purelyunintentional.

Copyright 1999 by Lee Driver

All rights reserved.

This book, or parts thereof, may not bereproduced

in any form without permission.

Library of Congress Catalog Number99-62925

ISBN 978-0-9820352-1-4

Smashwords Edition

CHAPTER 1

Nocturnal wildlife played a deadly game ofhide-and-seek a hundred feet below the gray hawk. Silently the hawkglided, silhouetted against the full moon, wings flat and graceful.It circled slowly, its underwing coverts trapping the rising aircurrents. Nature had no reason to fear the hawk, not at night. Thehawk was a diurnal predator, it preyed only by day. But even indaylight, the animal kingdom didnt have to fear this particulargray hawk. The only animals in danger both day and night weretwo-legged.

The hawk folded its forty-inch wing span andperched on top of a pole. The warm, westerly breeze off LakeMichigan rippled through its feathers. In the distance, a trainrumbled, its horn blasts echoing through the woods.

The hawk possesses the greatest eyesight inthe animal world. Its eyesight not only outdistances a humans, butits visual acuity is also eight times more powerful.

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

Angry voices made the hawk jerk its headaround. Swooping down for a closer look, it searched in thedirection of the sounds, near buildings with windows facing thelake.

The buildings were tucked on the north sideof a bluff where thick woods created a cozy backdrop. Clusters oftownhouses faced the lake, each having its own deck with stairsleading down to the beach.

The hawk settled on a deck railing and cockedits head. The voices were coming from the end unit. Three figurescould be seen beyond the French doors. Light filtered through theslices of vertical blinds revealing stark white end chairs and asofa.

Two men were struggling with a woman. Amuffled pop shuddered through the hawk. The odors werestronggunpowder and blood. A deadly combination. The womancrumpled to the floor. Her long, blonde hair flowed gracefullyaround her head. A stain seeped through her white dress and betweenher breasts. The woman lay motionless, blue eyes open in shock,lips parted slightly. The stain grew, spreading onto the whiterug.

A bright speck danced toward the fireplace.The hawk followed the object with curiosity. With unusualhuman-like intellect, it studied its surroundings as if looking forlandmarks. 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 withspiraling towers. It searched the balconies for a white scarf tiedto a door handle, located it, and disappeared through the openbalcony door.

CHAPTER 2

Dagger, wake up.

Hmmmm? The interruption sounded distant,part of his dream. Dagger lifted his head from the pillow andglared at the clock radio. Its only four oclock. Go back to yourroom, Sara.

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

Hurry, Sara ordered, flinging his blackshirt and slacks at him. A woman has been murdered. She droppedthe bombshell and retreated to her side of their hotel suite.

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

Whats taking you so long? She had her darkwaist-length hair pulled around to the side and was braiding it.Pinpoints of blue-green were encased in almond-shaped eyes. Hurry,hurry.

If shes dead, Dagger mumbled through theblack shirt he pulled over his head, I doubt shes goinganywhere.

Are you sure this is the place? Daggerparked his dark blue van at the end of the block and killed thelights.

I think so.

Think? Dagger raked his fingers through hisshoulder-length hair.

Theres only one way to find out.

The dark woods provided an excellent cover asthey approached the back of the townhouses. A layer of mist snakedout from the woods and creatures chattered in the branches. TheJuly air was humid, dewy, and blades of grass felt saturated andslippery under their shoes.

Dagger held a flashlight in one hand but itwas turned off. He stopped and listened. Birds were just startingto awaken and were filling the air with their incessantchirping.

Sara stopped and listened, too. She was ableto filter out all the wildlife noises. Shaking her head, sheproceeded up the asphalt drive to the side of the townhouse withDagger close behind. Glancing at nearby trees, then at the lakeahead, she announced, This is the one. She turned her attentionto the deck and started to climb over the railing.

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

Its an end unit.

As silent and agile as a cat, Sara climbedover the railing and stayed close to the building as she listenedfor sounds beyond the French doors. I dont hear anything.

The sky toward the east was turning a darkblue as daybreak was fast approaching. Sometimes, if you blinked,you could miss it entirely. Dagger crossed the patio and turned theflashlight on. Other than the patio doors, there werent any otherentrances on this side of the townhouse.

Come on, he whispered. They retraced theirsteps to the back of the townhouse. Dagger shined the flashlight onthe back door to check for evidence of a break-in. There wasntany. While Sara held the flashlight, Dagger maneuvered a lock pickand the tumblers gave with a click. With gloved hands, he carefullyturned the doorknob and they entered through what looked like autility room.

Piping was exposed where they assumed awasher and dryer would be installed. Moving cautiously, theylistened for any noise on the other side of the door. Sara shinedthe flashlight on the tiled floor looking for the usual evidence ofa crimedrops of blood, suspicious footprintsbut there werentany.

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

Sara quickly moved to the living room. Largeglobe lights extended from the ceiling fans. The white upholsteredfurniture and thick area rug were unstained. Puzzled, she said, Idont understand. I saw her. I saw the blood.

Dagger leaned against the island counterseparating the living room from the kitchen. He gathered hiscollar-length hair into a rubber band and tried analyzing thesituation. Sara was not one to let her imagination run wild. Yet,there wasnt a body. There wasnt even a hint of a crime. He openedthe vertical blinds and unlocked the French doors. After slidingback the screen, he stepped out onto the wooden deck. He motionedto Sara.

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