Eye of the Falcon (Psychic Visions #12)(35)

She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember all of it,” she said in a small voice. “The whole drive I kept hoping it would just magically come to me.”

“Are there any routes you took all the time that you would know by routine?”

“The university to my mother’s. University to home. My mother’s to home.”

“That’s easy then,” he announced. “I’ll take you to the university, and we’ll start from there.”

She settled back with a bewildered smile. “I know it sounds silly, but how can anybody forget pieces of their life?”

“You were grazed by a bullet, shot in the shoulder, knocked unconscious, tortured, and terrorized for weeks. I’m sure you would like to forget lots of things as well. The mind is a funny thing. It’s got the capacity to forget what’s painful, and it’s also got the capacity to shut down anything that will slow your healing. The head injury could also have caused a temporary memory loss.”

“Oh.” After that she sank into the blanket, pulling it around her shoulders.

“Are you cold? Do you want me to turn on the heat?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m fine.”

But he could see from the tight way she clenched her fingers that she wasn’t fine. He pulled onto the off-ramp and into the parking area of a busy franchise coffee shop. He entered the drive-through, ordered two cups of coffee and several muffins. Once he paid for and collected his order, he pulled back out onto the road. “One of those is for you.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Not right now, but you might be later.” He lifted the small pop-up lid on the coffee cup and took a sip. He liked his coffee dead black. This one was perfect. He put it into his cup holder and made his way through the town. He knew where the university was, but he hadn’t been there for a long time. “I think we’re about fifteen minutes out from the university.”

She nodded but never said a word. As he glanced over at her again, he could see the blanket pulled tighter around her shoulders, up around her head. Was she hiding from anybody considering the truck or hiding from what was coming? He didn’t know. “Where are we likely to find Humbug?”

“I have no idea,” she said quietly. “I’m hoping he’s close to home, but I’m afraid he’s trying to find me or trying to follow me. He probably started in one direction and got himself thoroughly lost.”

“Are you sure you never heard of Stefan or this Tabitha person before?”

She shook her head. “No,” she exclaimed. “Not that I can remember.” She turned to look at him. “What about you?”

“Not until they called me,” he said cheerfully. “I’m not exactly sure what a sensitive is, in terms of animals either.”

“It generally means they can see, feel, hear, and sense an animal, either in the present or their spirit form.” She laughed at the surprise on his face. “I’m from Ireland, remember? So I’m more accustomed to some of that than you are over here.”

“Well, as you pointed out, I only believed in what I saw, touched, and felt, but, since you arrived, I have to admit the boundaries have been pushed.”

“And they’ll get pushed a lot more most likely,” she said quietly.

He pointed up ahead to the turnoff. “I’m heading out university way. Tell me when you start to recognize your surroundings.”

“At that big intersection up there is a roundabout. Take a left.”

Soon enough he was on the road heading back out again into the city when she said, “Stop. Turn right here.”

He swore and quickly shifted lanes. “I know you are probably struggling to remember, but a little more warning would help.”

“My mother’s place is just around the corner.”

Following her instructions, he turned into a large apartment building. He glanced at it and then at her. “Do you want something here?”

She stared at the building. “I don’t know. When I left, there were boxes Goodwill was supposed to pick up. I had everything else in my car. The place should be empty.”

“You stay here. I’ll go talk to the manager.”

She nodded.

He hopped out, locked the truck, and walked over to the small office. The manager was in. Eagle mentioned Issa’s mother and told the manager he was a friend. “I’m just checking to make sure all the boxes were picked up and the apartment is fine.”

The manager nodded. “It’s all good.”

They shook hands, and the manager gave him the deposit owing on the apartment. Eagle signed Issa’s name to the bottom of the receipt, handed it over, and returned to the truck. He searched his surroundings for anything that appeared suspicious, but he couldn’t see anything. Back in the truck he gave Issa the envelope and said, “Here is the deposit on your mother’s apartment. I assume she was renting it.”

Issa stared at Eagle in surprise. “Yes, I forgot about that,” she exclaimed. “I gather the things were picked up.”

“Picked up and checked off. So there’s absolutely no purpose in coming here again.”

Issa sat back quietly. He glanced at her and realized how difficult it must be. “I know it’s hard to see your mother’s place up for rent so soon, but we can’t stay here. Where would you have turned to get out of here?”