The Good Die Twice

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 24

Padre grabbed a flashlight from his car and made his way on foot down a dirt path to the maintenance shed. He kept thinking of the story Dagger told him about the witness. Padre had a hard time swallowing that story. From Padre's perspective after surveying the townhouse yesterday, there was no way anyone could have seen the murder through the patio windows unless he were standing right on the deck or hanging from a mast in Lake Michigan. But, as in the past, Dagger would let him know only as much as he wanted him to know.

Padre followed the flashlight beam to the maintenance shed. Broken pottery, bricks, and logs cluttered the area. He shone the flashlight through a dingy windowpane and could barely make out the outline of two snowplows. The boy had been right. He had seen snowplows in the summer.

He fumbled his way to a barn-type door. A large, rusting padlock held the door shut. After knocking it a few times, the rusting padlock snapped open.

"Gee, someone left the door open," Padre laughed.

Gravel littered the floor. The smell of gasoline hung in the air mingled with a musty odor. The warehouse was crammed with maintenance equipment strewn about without any sense of order.

He followed footprints which dotted the dust and grime in a path from the door to a side room. A large cabinet hung on the wall with a sign saying SNOW SHOVELS.

He opened the cabinet and found more than snow shovels. He found a rolled up carpet. Laying the flashlight on a shelf, Padre dragged the rug from its hiding place and dropped it on the floor. Starting at one end, he kicked at the rug and it started to unroll. Grabbing the flashlight, he shined it on the white rug, which was stained with what looked like blood. Bending down, he pulled at some of the stained fibers and held them in front of the beam.

"Damn." He flipped open his phone and called Dagger.

"I don't know why the hell we have to do all the drudge work while Luke sits back at the hotel making phone calls." Mince pulled onto the gravel road leading to the maintenance shed. He pressed a hand to his right shoulder and winced. "Goddamn flesh wound hurts worse than if the damn bullet went through me. It should be Luke out here lifting up this heavy rug."

"He said we left the loose ends so we have to get rid of them," Joey reminded him. "And the rug is one big loose end."

"Any idea what we're supposed to do with it? We can't burn it."

"Bury it. I brought shovels and there are a lot of woods south of here. We don't need to dig a trench too deep."

Mince jammed the brake pedal. "Hey, did you see that?"

"What?"

"I thought I saw a light on in the shed."

Mince turned the headlights off and killed the engine. Quietly, they exited the truck and made their way down the path.

"TELEPHONE, TELEPHONE, AWWWKK." Einstein poked his beak between the bars of the grated door.

"You are just dying to answer it, too, aren't you, Einstein?" Sara located the portable phone. It was Padre.

"Dagger went to the marina," Sara told Padre.

"I think I found the rug."

"You did?"

"Well, it's A rug, and it's blood-stained, so I'm assuming it's THE rug."

"Do you have Dagger's cell number?"

"Wait a minute," Padre whispered. "I hear something."

"Padre?" Sara thought she heard a moan and then a thud. The phone was disconnected. "Padre?" Sara hung up the phone, her heart pounding. The Dunes Resort was an hour's drive away. She dialed information for the Michigan City Police Department while she ran up the stairs to her bedroom. Stripping out of her clothes, she explained to the dispatcher that a Cedar Point police officer might be in danger and gave them the name of the resort. She didn't have time to call Dagger. It would be easier and quicker to communicate with him telepathically.