Eye of the Falcon (Psychic Visions #12)(40)

She closed the door obediently. And sat there.

With the dogs on his heels, he checked the raptor pens and walked around the house and yard. He checked that the house security system was still on. Everything appeared normal. He gave her a thumbs-up, unlocked, and opened the door. Then he grabbed the boxes and carried them inside. On his second trip, he carried the clothes. He turned back to see her slowly making her way to the front door.

Inside, he dumped the three bags on her bed. “You might want to try on a few things.”

She walked into the bedroom and closed the door. He put on coffee and turned to look around. With her out of sight, he went to his computer and brought up the security cameras he had installed.

He had several on the property. The first showed nothing. Nobody drove up to the gates; nobody entered the front door. But, as he went to the last camera at the back of the house, directed to the back of the property, he watched as a shadow slowly walked the outside of his interior fence line.

So they’d found him. They just hadn’t figured out what to do yet.





Chapter 13





Inside her bedroom, Issa felt like a little kid again. She dumped out all the clothes on the bed, stripped down, kicking off the overlarge pants and sweatshirt, and started with the underwear. The panties were a little loose, but it was nice to have them regardless. The bra sagged slightly in the front, but it was also doable.

She pulled on a pair of leggings, thinking maybe that would be the best fit and stared in dismay as they looked more like pants than skintight leggings. But they’d have to do. She found a pair of socks, already feeling the chill from losing the heavy clothing, and pulled them on. They came up over the pants. There was one particularly heavy sweatshirt. She pulled it on, laughing as it dropped past her hips.

“Well, it’s better than what I was wearing but not by much.” She took off that sweatshirt, grabbed a smaller one, and pulled it on. That was better. There was also a sweater. She pulled it on and smiled. “Still a vagabond look,” she said to the empty room, “but it’s much better than before.”

Her feet ached. She took more painkillers and sat down on the bed, her feet propped up, and took off the labels and folded the clothing. She should go back out to the kitchen, but honestly her feet were killing her.

There was a hard knock on her door, then Eagle’s head poked around the corner. He studied the clothes she had on and smiled. “You look better.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” she said, grinning. “It’s a step in the right direction. Thanks again.”

He held up a cup of coffee. “Do you want this?”

“Yes, please. Do you mind if I stay in here?”

“I was going to suggest you stay in bed and get those feet up.”

“I hadn’t realized how much they were hurting. I took an extra painkiller before we left, but …” She shook her head.

“And you walked on them too much, so they’ll be puffy and sore.”

She nodded.

“Stay in bed, feet up, while I go deal with the animals.” He scooped up the tags she’d taken off the clothing. “I’ll get rid of these.” He pointed to the dresser on the side. “All your clothes can go in there but don’t worry about putting them away. When I come back, I’ll give you a hand. I want you to stay off those feet.”

Just like that he was gone.

She wasn’t used to being told what to do and when to do it. She’d spent most of her adult life independent and alone. And, although there’d been relationships, the other men weren’t like him. At least none she remembered. Maybe it was just that they all paled in comparison to Eagle. He was one of those big powerful all-encompassing kinds of personalities. When he was in a room, everyone else was dwarfed in size. And yet he had shown her nothing but kindness. And, of course, that capableness was what she loved about him. The sense of power inside and out was huge. It was also incredibly comforting.

Her nap on the ride home in the truck had helped, but she was still fatigued. She curled up in bed, thinking she’d just rest.

When she woke up again, it was in dismay, realizing long shadows had already appeared outside. Had she slept the entire afternoon away? She got up, used the bathroom, and then slowly made her way to the outside patio door. That was when she realized it was not only late but a storm had moved in. Moving carefully, knowing she shouldn’t be walking if she could help it, she walked out into the kitchen to see where Eagle was. There was no sign of him.

She frowned. His laptop was still up, as if he’d just stepped out. But where was he? How long had he been gone?

She sat down at the kitchen table and stared out the window, wondering how long he’d be. She turned her gaze to the laptop, wishing she could remember more of her life. She hadn’t been too concerned before—happy to be in her safe bubble. But now that she saw his laptop, it just pulled at her to do a search of her name and to see what popped up. She stared at the screen and realized it was frozen with a time stamp on the bottom. Like a security feed.

She wasn’t sure what she was looking at. There was a fence and a shadow. She bent forward, realizing a man was on the other side of this fence—and zoomed in for a better look. That profile was hard to mistake because she’d seen it before. It was one of the men who had kidnapped her.