Eye of the Falcon (Psychic Visions #12)(33)

“Where do you live?”

“Denver,” she said. “Just south of the city.”

“That’s a good start because I live outside Denver too, but to the north.”

She frowned in confusion.

“You’re at my home, which means somebody transported you to a place within traveling distance from here.”

She stared at him. “I don’t know how many days I was on the road. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. I’m not really sure where I am now.”

“I highly doubt you came from more than one day’s walk away from here.”

She mentally thought about the distance she’d walked and said, “I traveled for several nights. Just not very fast.”

“Drink your coffee, and get some food down you, and, if you think you’re up for the drive, and you know how to get to your place, we’ll take a trip.”

She brightened. “Can we go now?”

He shook his head. “Food first.”

He brought out some homemade bread as black as the ace of spades and chock-full of seeds.

“That looks fantastic,” she said in delight.

“Good because it’s the only kind of bread I eat around here.” He placed the butter in front her, big slabs, and gave her a knife.

With him at her side, she worked her way through the first slice of bread and halfway through the second one. She put it down and shook her head. “Sorry. My eyes are bigger than my stomach.”

He looked at her for a long moment and nodded. “That’s fine. I thought you might be overdoing it.” He took the remainder of bread, broke it in pieces, and gave the rest to the two dogs lying quietly by the door.

She watched the pair enjoy the treat. Both were a decent size. One had more a sheepdog with a pinch of Rottweiler look to him, giving him a guard-dog air. The other one could have been a mix of dozens of breeds and appeared to be an overgrown pup. “I don’t remember seeing the dogs.”

“That’s because I kept them away, afraid they would hurt you just by their sheer size. I haven’t let them in your room. This is Gunner and Hatter.”

She smiled. “Will you let them come see me now?”

“Yes.”

At his command, both dogs approached her. The larger one laid his head in her lap and looked up at her with a sorrowful look that said he had wanted to come to her for days. The second dog nudged her hand, looking for his fair share of love too. She fell in love. She crooned to them gently as she said hi to both dogs. “Can they come with us?”

He shook his head. “They stay here with the birds.”

She didn’t say anything to that. “It would be great if I could go home.”

“Let’s just be clear about one thing,” he said as he grabbed his keys, shoving them in his pocket, and putting on a holster with a sidearm. “I will take you home to get the paperwork, but no way in hell are you staying there.”

She frowned. “Are you saying I’m a prisoner?”

He shook his head, his gaze clear and direct. “You’re here until this is over. You’re not leaving my side. Got it?”

She studied him for a long moment and found there was none of the anger and terror rippling through her that she’d had from the other men. This man wanted to protect her. The others wanted to harm her. This man was honorable; the others were full of hate. Eagle stood casually, confident in his decision. He wasn’t looking to terrorize her. Neither was he looking to comfort. But his statement was a fact. She could take it or leave it.

For the moment, she took it. She’d make up her mind about the rest later.

*

Outside there was a sense of urgency to the morning. The birds knew it. They’d never been wrong yet. He just didn’t know in what form the trouble would arrive. Before it did, he wanted to get her the hell away from here. Preferably where he could get answers. And, if she had answers back at her place, then that was where they were going.

She looked like a tiny waif in his extra-large clothing. He grabbed an old afghan, brightly colored, as if someone had used yarn ends, indiscriminate of one color palate. With that spread out over the truck passenger seat, he came back and scooped her up, ignoring her protests that she could walk on her own, and stepped outside on the front porch. He set the alarm and carried her out to the truck. He buckled her in and closed the door, walking around to the driver’s side. He drove to the gate, opened it, drove a bit farther, then closed and locked the gate behind them, leaving the dogs to guard his property.

He turned onto the highway. “You okay?”

“I’m fine, just surprised at how fast we ended up pulling out.”

“We need answers. Too much shit is going on.”

She nodded. “I’m not arguing. I’m just surprised. When I woke up this morning, I was thinking it was the day I needed to start living again.”

“What you need is to be back in bed. Hopefully we can pack you some clothes and get you back home again.”

She didn’t say anything for a long moment. And he realized the term home was probably what she was stuck on.

“You need looking after until the kidnappers are caught and until you’re back to a hundred percent.”

“Thank you very much for looking after me,” she said in a formal tone.