Chapter 21
She woke when she heard the voices talking about the keepsake box and something about a letter. When she heard the letter being read out loud, tears came to her eyes. She threw back the blankets, sat up, and walked softly into the kitchen. She wrapped her arms around her chest and whispered, “Do you think she loved me at all?”
The men turned to see her, guilt written on their faces.
She waved a hand dismissively. “You were right to read it. I could’ve slept for hours.” She reached for the letter. Eagle gave it to her and went back to inspecting the box. She knew he would dismantle it panel by panel. She studied the bank information. “None of this means anything to me.”
“It doesn’t matter. All the information is there.” He glanced at her. “Do you have a passport?”
She frowned. “It’s in my own safe-deposit box at the bank. I had no security at my cabin. I didn’t know where else to keep things like that.”
“How do you feel about a road trip?”
She dropped down on the closest kitchen chair. “Are you talking about going to Ireland?”
Eagle nodded. “We have to get to the bottom of this.”
“Even though she wanted me to leave it alone?”
He crossed his arms. “Good point. It is your decision, not mine.”
Panther said, “Some things are meant to be left alone.”
“But all of it would’ve been twenty years ago, and how much more pain could there be now? I already know my father was a criminal and that he might not even be my father.” She took a deep breath. “The biggest problem with not going is always wondering …”
The men waited and nodded.
She looked from one to the other. “All of us?”
Panther shook his head. “Nope. We’d stay here and look after the place, take care of the birds. We’ve done it lots of times in the past. You and Eagle need to go. And you need to go fast.”
“Unless you don’t feel like you’re capable physically. I suspect that what you were being tortured for was the information in these boxes.”
Startled, she glanced down at the letter. “Do you think so?”
“They were looking for something at your cabin, remember?” Eagle said quietly.
“Yes, they were. And they were talking about my childhood.” She frowned. “But I don’t think I want to get the Irish authorities involved …”
“I have friends over there.” Eagle turned to look at Panther and Tiger. “Do we still have a couple men in Ireland?”
“Jonah is in Ireland,” Panther said. “You know he would be more than happy to help.”
“Can he look into this for me?” Issa asked. “Then I wouldn’t have to go.”
The men turned long thoughtful stares at her.
She flushed. “I guess I’m scared,” she whispered. “I don’t want to be caught again, and I don’t have a clue what to do with this stuff.”
“It’s always better to face these things head-on,” Eagle said.
She shuddered, realizing that really was the best way. She gave a quick nod. “How long do we need? How quickly can we leave? I don’t want to be away from my friends. I’m still trying to heal and help Roash and Humbug. Then there are the men here causing trouble.”
“We can be there by noon tomorrow,” Eagle said. “At least in England, then on to Ireland. It depends on how far away this place is. So it’s possible we can be home in three days.”
Her gaze widened. “And Humbug?”
He stared at her gently, and she knew what he was thinking. He had no proof Humbug was even alive. That she was able to help him. “Can you tell me exactly where Humbug is?”
“No.” She shook her head. “You go.”
“Without you?”
She stared at him steadily. “I’m not well enough to fly. You know that. I need to be here for Humbug, and I trust you. You can bring back whatever is in the safe-deposit box and in the house. That’s the best answer.” She got up and hobbled her way to bed. “I’m going back to sleep.”
In her room she clutched the letter from her mother in her hand. She sat down on the bed and tucked under the blankets. She folded the letter and put it on the night table. Closing her eyes, she fell asleep.
When she woke up the next morning, the sun shone into her room. She sat up, listening to the silence of the empty house, and slipped out to the bathroom. She didn’t want to leave here. Not to go home and not to go to Ireland. But this was Eagle’s home. Had he left for Ireland already? She closed her eyes and searched for him mentally.
And found him. She frowned, walked out the back door, stood on the little deck, and stared. He was across the yard at the pens. He raised a hand in greeting and carried on. She smiled as the birds came to greet her. Some were on the roof above; some flew in the sky.
So many were lined up on the railing beside her. This was why she couldn’t leave. She knew they didn’t need her—she needed them. She stroked the beautiful feathers of the few closest to her.
Eagle asked, “How do you feel?”
“Good,” she said in a determined voice, afraid he would try to persuade her to go to Ireland. “I don’t want to go to Ireland,” she said in a firm voice. “My decision is final.”
He gave a clipped nod and said, “Good. Panther and Tiger went for us instead.”
“They what?” she exclaimed in both horror and relief.
He shrugged. “I trust them with my life. I have many times. They’ve already left to catch the plane.” He glanced down at his watch. “When they hit Ireland, I’ll let you know. And then it’s a quick hop to the bank and to the address we have.” He gave her a smile. “If you want to, you can put on some coffee. I found an old carafe that fits.” With that he turned and headed back toward the birds.
Leaving her standing, staring after him.
*
He could feel her gaze following him every step he took away from her. He knew he’d startled her. But he also knew she was relieved. So was he. It was one thing to take her when she was healthy and fit. It was another thing entirely when she was still recovering. And he had meant it when he’d said he trusted Panther and Tiger with his life—he had done so many times. They’d gone on many missions together for years. They had a network of men throughout the world to call on if they needed to.
He went back to the incubators and checked on the timing of the different units. Recording his notes on the big clipboard to the side, he shuffled feedbags and opened up the freezers. He was due to get more fish in soon. He hoped he had enough to get through this nightmare. The fisheries often dropped off crates of frozen fish for him—usually an illegal catch that had been confiscated.
He opened up a bundle of fish, took up his ax, and chopped up several chunks on the big board he kept on the ground. He’d leave them to thaw while he carried on feeding the others.
By the time he came back, the fish had thawed nicely in a pool of juices. He divvied up portions and carried them out to the eagles. After they were fed, he grabbed his big heavy metal rake and cleaned up the base of the pens. With that done, he dumped the load, set the rake in the wheelbarrow, and parked both beside the pens.
He stopped for a moment, staring at the long driveway, then headed back inside. When he stepped through the door, Issa was curled up on the couch, a cup in her hand, studying him.
He stopped and stared, feeling a sense of rightness he hadn’t known before. A woman had never lived here with him. This house had missed a woman’s touch. And it was funny just how much that touch happened on a natural basis.
The kitchen table he usually covered with discarded newspapers had been cleaned off, the sugar and cream bowls at the center. Underneath them was some kind of checkered cloth. He didn’t know where she’d gotten it. She studied him for a long moment. He smiled and carried on to the coffeepot. “Did you leave me any?”
“Of course,” she answered smoothly. “How often do you go into town?”
He poured his cup, turned to look at her, and said, “What do you need?”
“I don’t need anything.” She shook her head. “Roash and Humbug. I can sense them. But I don’t know where they are.”
“Can you call them?”
She shrugged. “I have been. It’s as if something’s between them and me.”
“What does that mean?”
“Don’t you think if I knew, I would have found a way to get past it?” she said in frustration.
“Call Stefan?”
Her jaw dropped. “Make a long-distance call to a stranger?”
“Unless you have another way?”
He eyed her over the rim of his cup as he took a sip of the hot brew, loving the fact she’d very quickly picked up on how he liked his coffee. It was stronger than most people could stomach, but it was about the only way he could handle it. Otherwise it just tasted like dishwater to him. “I wouldn’t mind talking to him myself.”
Instantly the phone rang.
Eagle stared at it, like a bomb ready to go off. It sat nearby on the kitchen table. “That’s going to be him, right?”
She snorted. “You’re asking me?”
He strode forward, snatched the phone off the table, and answered, “Hello.”
“Yes, it’s me,” Stefan said. “It would be a lot easier if I could talk to you in other ways. Put the phone on Speaker please.”
There was just enough of an order in his words to get Eagle’s back up. But still, the man had either heard the conversation or heard something. And, if he could help Issa, Eagle didn’t want to antagonize him.
“Very smart,” Stefan murmured. “Know this. I have no intention of hurting her or any of the birds on the property or those on their way to her.”
“I hope a lot more aren’t coming this way. I don’t have enough feed for too many more.”
“Let’s hope you have room for these two,” Stefan said, fatigue pulling in his voice. Now with the phone on Speaker, his voice filled the room, his tone harsher as it echoed off the walls.
“Stefan?” Issa asked in disbelief.
“Yes, it’s me. I don’t normally listen in on conversations,” he said. “But you’ve got a bloody highway between you and the birds. So when I hear you say there’s like cotton batten between you and them, it’s a little irritating. Because it’s not by their choice. When you were a child, there was nothing between you and Hadrid. Communication was clear, concise, and you were in control. But you were in control naturally and followed what you needed to do, knowing you were in the right, and knowing you could do it. There was never any question. But now that you’re an adult, and you’ve missed all those years in between, you’re questioning everything. You keep searching for the same connection, but you’re searching in all the wrong places.” His voice was full of exasperation. “Because the only place you should look for something like this is inside yourself.”
Dumbfounded, Issa could only stare at Eagle.
In the meantime, Eagle said, “While you’re on the line, can I ask you something? She does this one thing that’s really freaky. I don’t know, otherworldly. It’s like she’s in a trance. I’ve seen it twice now, and it just freaks the hell out of me.”
Stefan’s tone was sharp when he snapped, “Please explain.”
Issa said, “Yes, explain. You never mentioned that to me before.”
Eagle took a moment, gathering his thoughts. “Twice I came upon her, once in the bed and once on the couch. I thought she was asleep, except her eyes were wide open. When I checked to see if she was okay, it was like she was in a trance, and, when I looked deep into her eyes, I didn’t see her eyes anymore.”
“What do you mean, you don’t see her eyes anymore?” Stefan asked curiously. “That’s a fascinating observation.”
“It’s as if her eyes, the iris itself, had become like a galaxy. I don’t see planets obviously, but I see light dots of colors. Yet there is no pupil, no iris, and no longer any white of her eyes.” He heard Issa’s shocked gasp. “More than that, it’s almost like I can see images outside of her eyes.” He fumbled to a stop. “Forget that. That just sounds too stupid.”
“Actually it sounds very logical. You need to tell me more.”
“Logical? How the hell does that work?” He tried again. “Think about a megaphone. Where the small end is against her mouth and the large end is a foot or two away. At the large end, it’s like there are images—colors—something showing. As I was watching, I could see bits and pieces moving in the air. When I tried to look from the same position she was in, it was clearer. I could see part of the sky, lakes, fields. When I moved back, it was like a disturbance in the air, but …” He stopped, stumped for words.
“Did you see the same thing when she was on the couch as when she was in the bed?”
“Sort of. Her face was almost trancelike but with a sense of animation or life that set it apart from her being unconscious. Something was going on—but I couldn’t understand what. There was also a kind of buzz in the air. The first time I wondered if it was from the electrical lines outside. Sometimes in cold weather you can hear a buzz off them.” Eagle shook his head. “I’m just not sure how to describe it. When she was on the couch, there were a lot of noises outside, and I couldn’t really hear any buzz that time.”
“The noise makes sense too,” Stefan said. “That’s the energy crackling. She’s connecting on a feral level to something else. The thing is, what else is she connecting to?”
“Hey, I’m here too, you guys—remember?”
It was Eagle’s turn to snort. “Oh, and here I just thought you were struck dumb,” he said.
She glared at him and stared at the phone. “Stefan, what does any of that mean?”
“It goes back to the same issue. What you did as a child was normal and natural. But it was taken away from you when you were so young, and you grew up with all that distrust, disbelief, and told yourself everything was not true, that it was just a childish memory. If that makes any sense,” he said humorously. “A lot of this work is trust-based. You have to have faith. And, as we grow older, we’re sucked into mainstream thinking. Which is why it makes sense that this is happening when you’re in a deep subconscious state. Because, inside your soul, your subconscious knows what is true, and it’s probably been doing this all along. Or something has triggered this reaction, and it’s happening now, whereas it wasn’t before.”
Eagle frowned. “She’s had nothing but traumatic events. First off her mother died unexpectedly. Less than a week later she was kidnapped and systematically tortured for weeks. I found her outside my inner yard, broken and bleeding and sporting a bullet hole.”
They both heard Stefan suck in his breath, something changing in the atmosphere. Eagle looked as Issa, who sat staring at the phone oddly.
As Stefan spoke, his voice changed, becoming deeper, almost disembodied. “Yes. This is your childhood once again. You need to think about what happened when you connected with Hadrid,” he said. “I don’t know if it has anything to do with Ireland and the trip somebody is taking on your behalf. You need to understand why the kidnappers were putting you under the stressors they were.”
His voice returned to normal, and he said, “I have to leave now. Keep calling for Humbug.” And he hung up.
It took a long moment to break the trance from his call. Issa settled back on the couch and said, “Stressors?”
“Meaning some form of stress applied to get a result or a desired outcome,” Eagle said quietly. He walked around the couch, filled his cup with more warm brew, and returned to her side. He studied her for a long moment. “I’m afraid I might have an idea what he was talking about.”
She frowned. “Glad you do, because I sure as hell don’t.”
“Think back to when you were a child and you first met Hadrid. The relief that something, someone appeared to care.”
She started to shake her head. “I can’t remember that long ago.”
Eagle stared in shock as she moved from a wakefulness to a trancelike state, as her eyes once again glowed with an otherworldly light. He grabbed his phone and took a picture, though he didn’t think there was anything large enough for anyone to see. He took several and then realized he was wasting his time trying to get proof of this happening.
He spoke quietly. “Look back into your history. Remember when you were a child stuck in a crevice, and Hadrid came to rescue you. See what the stressors were at that time. See what the outcome was at that time. Bring back all those memories to the present day.”
He kept repeating the same thing over and over again. He had no idea if she heard him, would respond to his positive suggestions or not, but, if Stefan had said something in her childhood related to her kidnapping, then they needed to find out more. That Stefan had even called and understood the conversations or knew that somebody had gone to Ireland on her behalf was all just a little too much to take in. But Eagle was nothing if not adaptable. As he’d proven since she’d arrived.
Suddenly she grasped his hand. “Call them. They’re in trouble. Now.”
He stared at her. She blinked and suddenly it was her again.
She leaned forward urgently and said, “Call Panther and Tiger. They are walking into trouble. You have to warn them.”
He stood back up, pulled up Tiger’s number, and called him. Tiger answered after several rings. “What’s up, man? We just arrived.”
“Yeah. I don’t know that there is any point in me calling you, but, according to Issa, you’re walking into some kind of trouble. She insisted I call and warn you.”
“What? Did you just tell her that we left?” He chuckled.
“No. That was hours ago. She just went into a weird trancelike state, snapped out of it, saying I had to warn you and fast.”
He heard Tiger take a long deep breath. “Jesus, she’s weird.”
“Yes, but no doubt something is going on. So watch your back.”
“I’m watching my back and my front.”
Eagle could hear the laughter in his voice.
But then he sobered and said, “You know we’re always careful, right? Thanks for the heads-up.” He hung up.
Eagle glanced at her and said, “I’ve done all I can.”
She gave him the saddest smile he’d ever seen, then she said, “I don’t think it’ll be enough.”
*
Stefan carried his mug of tea onto the deck and sat down. He was grateful for something. There was one chair not covered in bird droppings. He stared at his deck and shook his head. “The unexpected negatives of having birds around,” he muttered.
Celina came around from behind him, holding her own mug of tea, and said, “I see a good night’s rest didn’t help.”
“How can anything help? I’m completely sidetracked by an owl,” he said in disgust. “Serial killers out there don’t have half the connecting power of this thing.”
“Did you ever figure out why the connection to the owl is so strong?”
Stefan shook his head. “No,” he said shortly and sighed. “I didn’t mean to snap. Lack of sleep and now nine canvases have an owl on them.”
She grinned, then started to laugh. He opened his arms, and she sat down in his lap. “Maybe there’s a market for owl paintings?” she asked with a note of humor.
Stefan shrugged. “No way to know. I’m just not sure how many more canvases I’m willing to sacrifice to the cause.”
“Is it moving you any closer to an answer?”
“No. I’m still feeling Humbug. He’s still moving cross-country but isn’t going very far or very fast. Roash is with him, and that’s all I know.”
“It’s a few hundred miles, is it not?”
He nodded.
“Any way for you to …” She stopped and frowned. “I don’t know, maybe teleport him physically?”
Stefan stared at her, and his jaw dropped. He started to laugh. “You mean, actually move them through energy to where he needs to be?”
She gave him a sheepish smile. “I know it sounds foolish, but it just occurred to me that, if it was possible, then this would be over a lot faster. Obviously he’s heading to where Issa is. He’s only going a mile or two or three a day, so can you do anything to speed this up?”
“Yesterday he managed four,” Stefan said grudgingly. “He’s almost halfway now.”
He leaned his head back and smiled as she gently stroked his cheek. “So what you’re trying to do is give him enough energy so he can do this on his own?” Her eyes smiled in comprehension.
He felt his heart melting as he realized once again how lucky he was. Would anybody else understand him the way she did? When her lips gently stroked his forehead, he crushed her to him. Be damned with the tea. He’d give up a world of half-lived lifetimes for this moment of completeness.
“Did I ever tell you,” she whispered, “how much I love your heart?”
He tilted his head back and looked up at her. “Just my heart?” he teased.
She stroked his nose. “All of you. But of all the people I know in this world, you’re the only one who is driven by his heart.”
He shook his head. “There are lots of us. Maddy’s another one for sure.”
She nodded. “But I don’t know them like I know you. I don’t see the purity, the strength, the compassion in their hearts, the same as I do in yours. I know they have the same elements as you. But I love you,” she said with a smile.
He went to answer her, but a pain struck behind his eyes. Gasping, he straightened his arms, automatically wrapping around to hold her so she didn’t fall off.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “What just happened?”
“It’s Humbug,” he groaned. “He made a crappy landing. Now he is hurting again.”
She smiled gently. “Then you know what you need to do.”
He opened his gaze and glared at her. “How many women tell their men to take a moment and help an owl? Especially one that’s too stupid to land on its own?”
The words were hardly out of his mouth when her fingers stroked across his lips, and she whispered, “Not too stupid. Too tired. Undefeated. So determined to reunite with Issa that he’ll do anything he can to get there. And with your help.”
“And Tabitha’s,” Stefan added. “We can’t forget she’s doing the same thing I am, every day, every night.”
Celina nodded her head. “And with Tabitha’s help.” She leaned over and wrapped her arms around him. “And I love you all the more for it.”
Stefan hugged her tight. He was a fool. But it was the only way he knew how to be.
*
Dylan raced into the front yard. The truck doors slammed behind him as the others got out. The time was tight. Whatever the hell was going on was going on fast. And he had a rough idea what it was.
The boss’s head jerked to the side as soon as Dylan burst through the doors. “What’s changed?”
“The two men left. Went to the airport. With their IDs, we tracked them. They’re flying into Dublin.”
The boss’s face lit up. “Finally,” he said. He started to move his fingers—snapping—as his mind worked his way through the logistics of his next step.
Dylan watched. He’d seen it happen many times before. The boss’d be quiet for a while, and then, all of a sudden, he’d come up with a plan. Generally it was a good plan. Lately it was more violent.
Dylan waited quietly, the others coming in behind him. He put his arm up to stop them from bursting into the room and held his finger to his lips. He kept trying to teach the new guys, but they were too slow getting a message. But then they didn’t have twenty-plus years of loyalty behind them. And the new guys were getting stupider by the day. He couldn’t believe one had been attacked by the birds. He’d told the boss what had happened to the kid but not the other men, in case they spooked.
He needed them to the ugly finish line. And couldn’t afford to lose any more men.
Finally the boss turned and said, “Get ahold of Ronnie and Gorham. Have them track the two men from the airport. See where they’re headed. And tell the network they’re coming. The only reason for these two men to go there is if she said something. We need to know what it is they are going after.”
“Or who.” Dylan nodded.
The boss frowned and continued snapping his fingers harder. Again and again and again. He stopped, turned, and stared at Dylan. “I’m not comfortable if one of us isn’t there.”
Dylan inclined his head. And waited.
The boss resumed his snapping, then stopped abruptly. “Is there anyone else we could call on over there?” He turned and glared at Dylan. “I mean, someone we can trust.”
That’s where the clincher was. Loyalty was down. People they could trust were thin on the ground. Dylan considered everybody they’d sent in the past. “I’m not sure. It’s a risk.”
The boss’s frown deepened. “The owner and the girl—are they are still at the house?”
“Yes.” Dylan nodded.
The boss turned.
That same creepy smile washed over his face, and Dylan knew things were about to get violent.
“Then find a way to force those two to go to Ireland as well.” The boss frowned, resumed his snapping but at a much slower pace. “Why wouldn’t they have gone in the first place? They should’ve been the ones who left. How is it that these men are so trustworthy they would send them on something like this?”
“We don’t know exactly what they know.”
The boss nodded. He stared off in the distance. “It has to be connected. There is no such thing as coincidence.” He started snapping again. Faster. “No, we have to make sure they go. Nothing else will work. She might try to get out of it. That’s not going to happen.”
Dylan took a deep breath. “She might not be well enough to travel.”
The boss stopped, turned, and glared at him. Dylan refused to back down. They’d shot her, cut her, burned her, and beaten the shit out of her. Even Wonder Woman would need a week or two to recover. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t capable of getting on a plane. He knew that the man, Eagle, would make sure she was safe. So whatever they did to force the two to make the trip would have to be enough to shake him.
So it would have to be big—and nasty.