Eye of the Falcon (Psychic Visions #12)(44)

*

Eagle stood on the front porch. He’d grabbed his single shot rifle as he went out the door. It wasn’t the most efficient but was deadly accurate. The dogs were beside him, both relaxed, neither one concerned about an intruder. He looked again and thought he heard the same screech. He walked around to the side of the house but found nothing there.

No birds were in the tall trees, and no signs of a large bird anywhere close could be seen. He thought he’d heard an eagle’s call. It had an odd tone to it. Then again, everything was odd these days. Sometimes he couldn’t trust what he thought he always knew. He walked around the house, making sure nothing was here. Then calling the dogs to heel, he went back inside.

He placed the rifle on the table and caught Issa’s raspy breath as she saw it. He gave her a flat stare. “We have a lot of four-legged predators around here too.”

She swallowed as her gaze lifted from the rifle. She put down the coffee cup and tucked deeper into the chair. “Did you see anything?”

He shook his head. He knew she was asking if he saw signs of anyone other than what he expected.

Gray stood. “I better be heading out now. I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay, young lady.”

“Thank you very much for looking in on me,” she said formally.

Eagle walked Gray back out to his truck. “Is she really doing okay?” Eagle knew she was, but it was reassuring to know a professional could put his stamp of approval on her progress.

Gray slapped him on the shoulder. “She’s doing better than I could possibly have imagined. I took a good solid look at that bullet hole, and it’s healing very nicely. Almost too nicely,” he muttered to himself as he got in his truck.

Eagle frowned. What the hell did that mean? But he didn’t dare ask. He opened the gate for Gray.

Still, he’d seen her strange progress for himself. And Gray was right; she was healing very quickly. It could be because she was getting food and warmth, and she was safe, or because her body had a remarkable capacity to heal. Maybe she was not as badly injured as they’d first thought. At least that was an easier concept than thinking something unnatural was going on.

He waited until Gray pulled out, then he locked the gate behind him again. The sun had lowered on the horizon, sending an orange glow across the land. He headed to the pens, handed out food, set up the new batch of eggs in the incubator, checked on the injured, and continued into the house. The dogs needed feeding next.

He filled their bowls, added some leftovers from the night before, and poured some of the gravy he had left in the fridge over it all. They didn’t always get something like that, but, when he could share, he did. He walked over and stood in front of Issa. “Gray has gone.”

He tried not to see it, but it was hard to miss the whisper of relief that crossed her face. That he could understand. “He isn’t one of the men who took you. I know that for sure.”

She nodded, then motioned to the laptop. “The man you captured on the security camera is one of the men who did kidnap me. And, if he’s found me here, you know he’ll come back a second time.”

Eagle stared at her for a long moment and then gave a clipped nod. “I’m counting on that.”

*

“Did you find her?” The order came cool, quiet, and deadly.

Dylan nodded. “We’re on it.” He turned to look at the other men.

The boss barked, “No. Go alone.”

Dylan looked at the boss, someone he’d come to regard as his son, and in a lower voice asked, “Why?”

“I don’t want any security tripped. We have to make sure nothing goes wrong this time.”

He shoved his hands in his jeans. “And if this rancher hobby farmer has brought in more men?”

The boss frowned and tilted his head. “Fine. Take one man. If the rancher has brought in more men than the two of you can handle, then come back and tell me. I’ll assess from there.”

Relieved, Dylan nodded. “On my way.”

He headed outside, one of the new guys in tow, and hopped into the decrepit truck that came with the cabin. He had to twist the wires together under the dashboard for it to start. Then he drove out of the property. It probably wasn’t a good thing his mind was looking for ways to escape the boss. It wouldn’t have been so bad, but then the boss had kidnapped the little girl. That didn’t sit right with Dylan. And what they’d done, … well, that was just plain bad.

In his mind Issa would always be a little girl. That she’d grown into a beautiful young woman—one he’d tortured—was not something he’d been able to face. Just because no mirrors were around didn’t mean he was capable of accepting what he’d done.

For some reason being in America had changed the boss. Dylan didn’t like that. He liked certainties. He liked things he could count on. He needed to know white was always white, and black was always black. Apparently it no longer was. But what he did know was, until he found Issa and could confirm where she was, the boss would never let Dylan off the hook.





Chapter 15





Issa stared at Eagle in horror. “You want them to attack?”

“An attack is always better than sitting and waiting. And better if they don’t know exactly what or who they’re attacking,” he said. “I don’t sit here and take bullets for anybody.”