Chapter 20
Issa waited in the darkness for the men to come back. She’d watched Eagle head toward the pens. When would those assholes give up? Would they ever? She was putting them all in danger by staying here. But where would she go? And if she was truthful, she’d admit she didn’t want to leave Eagle.
After all she’d laid on him today, she’d probably shocked him. The kiss most of all. He was the kind of guy who would like to be in control. And she hadn’t given him an option. But she figured, if she didn’t show him how she felt soon, then he would never make a move. She slipped to her bedroom and wondered at the sensibility of packing up and walking out. Would Eagle come after her? Yes. Would the assholes? Yes.
So he and she would remain in danger regardless.
Plus she didn’t have anything to carry her new belongings in. Then the fact that she couldn’t walk very far. Plus Eagle had his land peppered with booby traps. She wasn’t likely to get off the property at this rate. She sat on the side of the bed and rubbed her head. Her temples were pounding. The window was open, letting the birds move in and out.
Fragments of images slammed into her head once again. Bits and pieces. She could hear voices outside, but there appeared to be voices inside too. The pain was killing her. There was just no stopping it. The bird cries and the voices, memories from her childhood. She didn’t dare turn on a light until she was told it was okay. The last thing she wanted to do was bring attention to herself. That would cause Eagle more complications. But, as she stared down at the boxes, she realized she really needed to spend more time here.
“You okay?”
She lifted her gaze to see Eagle standing in the doorway. She nodded. “My head is hurting. Maybe if I just lie down.” She waved at the bed. “Unless there is something I can do?”
He shook his head. “No, it’s all taken care. We didn’t see anyone.”
She frowned. “You’re covered in blood, so obviously you’re lying to me. Is he dead?”
He shook his head. “No. We called an ambulance.”
“Did your security system get him?”
He snorted. “No, but yours did.” And he turned. “I’m going to clean Panther’s wound. It’s not bad, but he needs a clean bandage. If you feel like it, come join us. But, if you aren’t feeling well, stay where you are.”
“I was thinking about leaving,” she called out. “Do you have an old duffel bag or anything I could pack my clothing in?”
Silence.
She frowned. Had he not heard her?
He turned back, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her with a rage. Like he was angry that he wanted her. Angry she’d come into his life. Or maybe just angry she was talking about leaving. When he lifted his head, she murmured at the loss of his touch.
He lowered his head again, and this time his lips were gentle, soothing as they lightly stroked her ravaged mouth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so rough.”
“It’s okay,” she whispered.
“No, it’s not okay. But I want you. I want you so damn bad. It makes me angry to hear you talk about walking out. You aren’t going anywhere.” He laid her down on the bed, turned, and left her room. “So stop acting or talking like you’re going to. Not gonna happen.”
*
He stormed from the room, more pissed than he could remember being in a long time. And hurt that she’d even think about leaving him. Didn’t she realize she belonged here with him and his birds and his dogs?
Tiger stepped inside and studied him. “You didn’t mention how badly she’s got you tied up in knots.”
“Nothing to mention,” he snapped.
In the darkness behind Tiger, Panther’s grin flashed white. Eagle glared at his friends, but they just gave him fat smiles in return.
“Are you going to stand there all night?” he growled. “Or help me figure this out?”
“We’re here, aren’t we?”
He went to the kitchen and pulled out his first aid kit. “Panther, let’s clean that up.”
“Nope, all good.”
But his drawl had deepened, with just enough stillness to his tone that Eagle knew Panther was lying. “I’m just about in the right mood to fight you over this, so why don’t you do both of us a favor and sit.”
Tiger pulled out a chair, flipped it around, and pointed.
Panther glared. Eagle stared silently back. Like hell he’d give in. He was up for the fight if Panther wanted one. In fact, Eagle would welcome it.
Anger and outrage warred inside. Somehow she was planning to leave. Almost escape. How was he supposed to feel about that?
“We aren’t trying to interfere,” Tiger said quietly. “But it was pretty obvious she was looking to leave.”
Eagle turned his glare to Tiger. Warning his friend not to go there.
But they’d been buddies for years. Inasmuch as Tiger was right, Eagle shouldn’t take it out on him. Tiger grinned, flashing white teeth that lit the room on fire. It had always been like that. He’d flash a smile, and things cooled instantly. Eagle wished he was more like that. The truth of the matter was, he burned a little slower and rose a little higher and took a little longer to cool down afterward. And, just like that, his temper eased back.
He gave a clipped nod. “She doesn’t know how dangerous it is. But it still is irritating.” He ran his fingers through his hair.
“Will she stay in there now, or will she escape through the back door?”
Eagle gave Tiger a startled look, turned, and bolted toward the bedroom. She was curled up in bed, her secondhand clothes stuffed in a plastic bag on the floor beside her. Leaving would be suicide right now. Surely she had enough sense to know that.
“I won’t leave,” she said, her small voice coming from the bed.
He heard the tears clogging her throat. He bowed his head, feeling like a heel. He sat down beside her, but she wouldn’t have it. Her face was buried in the pillow, her hair covering her gentle features. Swearing softly, he stood, pulled the blankets off her, and tugged her into his arms. He didn’t know why he kept doing this. But he could no longer stop.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t need to be so harsh. You’ve had a lot of rough treatment from those men. I don’t want to add to that.”
She sniffled, a hand wiping her face like a child.
He smiled and brushed her hair back off her forehead. His eyes automatically noted the colorful rings on her cheeks, under her eyelids. “You’re doing better but not that good yet.”
She nodded. “I know. But I was hoping my anger might get me out the door, out to the gate. I’m not sure how far I could go from there,” she admitted.
He chuckled. “I need to dress Panther’s injury. I am counting on you to stay here.”
She tilted her head back, her gaze curious. “On one condition.”
He frowned. “I don’t like bargaining.”
She gave him a glimmer of a smile. “Can you give me another kiss?”
His jaw dropped. The face of the woman who sounded like a lost child now bloomed into a big wide grin. “Okay, it’s a bargain.” And so very gently he leaned down, tilted her chin up, and kissed her. Her lips were so damn sweet. Almost fragile and yet not. Nobody who survived what she had would be considered fragile.
Just as he pulled away, she reached around his neck and tugged him down toward her. This time she was kissing him. And suddenly he was ravaging her mouth. His body shook. They weren’t there yet. But they would be. When she healed. And that reminder was enough to cool his ardor.
He broke them apart, breathing hard, and whispered, “This is so not the time or place, and you’re not healthy enough for that yet,” he said with regret.
A grin flashed across her face, and he swore he saw a dimple. Where the hell had that come from?
She slipped off his lap, back under the blankets, and whispered, “Good night. And sweet dreams.”
He snorted. “You might have sweet dreams. Not me. Mine will be damn hot.” He got up and walked out. As he headed to the kitchen, he thought he heard a light chuckle from Tiger. Eagle was grinning like a madman when he got to Panther.
Panther said, “I don’t know what kind of magic that girl has, but she’s working it on you so very easily.”
“It has just been a little too long,” Eagle muttered. He slammed the first-aid stuff back on the table. “Let’s take care of that.”
With Panther sitting quietly, Eagle cleaned and washed the wound. “You need a couple stitches.”
Panther shrugged his massive shoulders. “Don’t bother.”
“You know as well as I do that wounds heal faster when pinched together.”
While he worked, the two men talked. “What’s next?”
“I need to track down the lock that key fits.”
“Don’t forget my dad’s a locksmith. If there’s something to learn about that key, he’d be the one to ask,” Panther said.
“Shit, I forgot about that.” Eagle finished, cleaning up the mess.
“Let’s take a picture of it and send it to him.”
He stopped, turned, and looked at Panther. “Pop knows how to use a computer?”
“Does he ever,” Panther said proudly. “He’s learned to do all kinds of stuff. Scary actually.”
Tiger snorted. “You’re not kidding. He’s always wanting at my computer so he can overclock my stuff.” He shook his head. “I don’t let him go anywhere close to my electronics.”
“However, some of that shit he did was pretty cool. He hooked his TV up to some kind of satellite box, then ran the wires to his computer, and he tapped into some archaic VCR system.”
Eagle laughed. “He was always good at inventing things, wasn’t he?” He retrieved the key, putting it on the table. “You guys recognize this?”
The two men studied the key, picked it up, felt the weight of it, and shrugged. “Could be for a safe-deposit box, but it would have to be an old one.”
“It might be a safe-deposit strongbox,” Panther said. “I’ve spent a lifetime around keys.” He took a picture and sent it to his father. “The old man might take a while though.”
But he was wrong. Less than two minutes later, Panther’s phone rang. He looked down in surprise. “Pop, what are you still doing up?”
“Cleaning up your ma’s laptop. Damn thing’s a pain in the ass because it’s not meant to be upgraded. She gave me some trouble, but I got her done.”
Horrified, Panther stared down at the phone he held out in front of him so everyone could hear the conversation. “Pop, does Mom know what you did?”
“Not yet. Getting it back together again before she gets up in the morning. Don’t you tell her, son.”
They all knew Pop, as they had learned to call him years ago. He was getting in and out of trouble on a daily basis. They were pretty damn sure that Mom, as they called her, was fully prepared for every new mess he created.
“The key you asked me about? You know what that is?”
“Safe-deposit box or strongbox? Right?”
“Yes. That deposit key is from a foreign bank.”
“Can we tell what bank?” Eagle stepped into the conversation.
“Eagle? Is that you? You in trouble again, young boy?”
Eagle winced. “What do you mean, again? It isn’t me that’s in trouble.” He looked over at Issa lying helplessly in the bed in his spare room. It wasn’t exactly something he wanted to explain to anyone, particularly not over the phone.
“You’re in trouble though. Do you have a way to track down what country?”
Eagle nodded. “Ireland.”
“So what did you bother me for? It’s a pretty damn old key. Doesn’t mean anybody still has the box. You know that, right?”
“So it could be a strongbox then too?”
“I reckon.” After that Pop rang off.
The three men stared at each other, frowning.
Eagle turned his gaze toward the bedroom again to check on Issa’s position. No sign she’d moved since he had walked out. “We have the two boxes retrieved from her place. I didn’t see anything in them referencing a key. We scanned it all as fast as we could, just in case they were stolen. But we still have the paper copies.”
“Then bring them out. With the three of us, we’ll get through them faster.”
Trying not to disturb Issa, he quietly brought out the box with all the paperwork and then the keepsake box.
Panther suggested, “Let’s take a thorough look, then pack and seal it, so we don’t need to go through it again.”
Eagle opened the keepsake box obediently, sorry it showed wear from sheer age plus from their unpacking of its contents. The lid was slightly damaged and part of the inside tray fell apart, displaying a piece of paper.
“Damn. I feel like she should be the one to look at this.”
“Hell no. She’s sleeping.” Tiger shook his head. “We’re watching over her. The sooner we find out what the hell’s going on, the better. We could wait hours for Sleeping Beauty to wake up.”
Eagle admitted they had a point. He pulled it out and took a look. “It’s a letter from her mother. It talks about bank accounts and, yes, a safe-deposit box,” he said quietly. “Let me scan this in the computer.”
The note started with an apology.
I’m sorry, Issa. I never did right by you. I’ve tried to in the end, but you were so very different than the rest of my children. Maybe because you had a different side. Every time I saw you, it was a reminder of the life I’d never have. I loved Angus. But I was married to your da. And he would never have let me go. Angus wanted me to leave with him. And, to this day, I don’t know if Angus had something to do with your da’s death, as I suspect. It all happened so fast. I don’t think the truth will ever be known. Your da didn’t know about me and Angus for a long time. Until he caught us. That’s why he beat Angus, almost killing him. And we stopped for a while.
What you don’t know is that there’s money for you … and a few other things that are very special. After all, there is no one else left in the family to receive it. I didn’t dare touch it. It’s blood money. Some from Da. Some from Angus. I loved both men and lost them both. There is no forgiveness for that. For the longest time I figured there was no forgiveness for you either. That there must be something evil in your spirit because the birds would talk to you. When we came to America, you were still so shocked, still in such pain, and couldn’t talk. I realized you were really what you’ve always been—just an innocent child—but I couldn’t change how I felt. And for that I know you must hate me too. Still maybe the money will help make up for it. It’s in Ireland. I don’t dare go back and retrieve it. There could be men waiting for me—and now you. I don’t know how many years it’ll take before this will blow over. I left as soon as I could. After all, there was nothing to keep me there. Even now I don’t know the truth of what happened that night. Maybe it’s for the best.
The key for the safe-deposit box is in here too. It’s for the bank where your da kept everything. There are account numbers and the safe-deposit box number written on the back of this letter. And then there is an old keepsake box I left at your favorite place—a duplicate of the one I had at home. The address is on the back too. Once you open up the box, you will open up so much more than you really want to know. Part of me wants you to walk away and leave it. Just like I did. You’re strong. You’re educated. You’re capable. You don’t need the pain that will come by going back. But the other part of me says you have as much right to it as anyone. Maybe it’s time for the truth to come out anyway. What we know of the truth anyway. Know that I love you, even though I never showed you.
Your mother