Eye of the Falcon (Psychic Visions #12)(47)
She said it so starkly that Eagle didn’t have a problem believing her. He sank back in his chair. “Well …”
She chuckled. “Yes. We were a little rough around the edges. But the reason why I stayed safe was because of Hadrid. As long as he worked with me to keep the men safe, they understood his value. But, if he were to fail, then his existence would have been snuffed out instantly.”
“Did he ever fail?”
She stared at him. Great big wells darkened her gaze as she turned inward. “My mother said he did. I don’t see how he could have. But that night was dark and stormy. He was out flying, as always, searching, looking far below to see who was coming and who was not. I had directed him up the coastline and then back again, around the roads close to home. And he found nothing. He never did. I told my father that. And all went as planned. And then I don’t know what happened. Somehow somebody found out what my dad was doing.” Her voice was bleak and dry. “I could hear the gunfire, the shouting. And then there was nothing. Just silence.” She took a deep breath. “And Hadrid never called me again.”
“What did your mother do?”
Issa frowned. “I don’t remember exactly. She was with Angus, a family friend, one of my dad’s men. I was surprised to find him there, so I hid. I was scared, calling out, searching for Hadrid everywhere.”
“Searching? Were you running from window to window to look for him?”
She snorted. “In my mind I was reaching out in every direction I had sent him, calling, beseeching him to come home. I couldn’t live without him.”
“And?”
She shook her head. “I never felt him again. I kept trying, unable to believe the truth. But the house filled with men. My mother snatched me up a few days later. We rushed away in the night to never return.” She stared at Eagle. “The kidnappers knew me. They knew me from way back when. Most of the kidnappers were young, but one was way older. Although I never saw the boss, so I don’t know about him.”
“Maybe they were the same ages as your brothers back then?”
She shrugged. “How would I know? I barely remember my brothers as it is. Too many years were between us, and I was an oddity. I had a huge falcon as my guardian. That gave me almost a mythical supernatural presence. My brothers both hated Hadrid and were afraid of him. But my family received a certain reverence from everyone else, and they basked in the attention. But dare I fail …” She got up, shifted her position, and sat down again. She looked to the coffeepot. “Could you get me another cup?”
He bounced to his feet, shaking his mind free of what she’d told him. He couldn’t imagine how odd that would’ve been, or why the falcon would’ve latched himself onto her. That she could send him out and keep watch was surely just a coincidence. The men had been damn lucky to have operated under the eyes of the law for so long. At some point, of course, their luck was bound to run out. Then they would’ve blamed her and the bird. He shook his head, wondering about men, such as those in her family, as he picked up the coffeepot and brought it back. As he raised it to pour the liquid into her cup, there was a single gunshot, and the coffeepot exploded in his hand.
Chapter 16
Issa found herself flat on the floor, covered in glass shards and … Eagle. Her mind tried to process what had happened, when she realized Eagle was already up, at the window with a rifle in hand, studying the darkness outside. She could see the hole in the window by the shutter. The hot coffee had splattered over the table and the floor.
She quickly removed the paperwork from the dark liquid that even now spread across the surface. Shuffling her way to the stove, she grabbed several paper towels and quickly sopped up the wet mass.
Using more paper towels, she collected as much of the glass as she could, being careful to brush off both seats, the table, and all around where they’d been sitting.
She remained on the floor. She had no doubt who was outside. The trouble was, she still hadn’t had a chance to go through the paperwork to know if it held the answers the kidnappers were looking for. She moved the bigger box underneath the table and put the envelopes she’d gone through back in it. While she kept a wary eye on Eagle at the window, she grabbed another envelope. It was on her father. She flipped through it quickly. But nothing worth killing over was revealed inside.
In the second-to-last large envelope were pages on her mother. Issa smiled, grateful to have at least that much information. One small envelope remained beside her. She opened it and pulled out pictures. They were all of her and Hadrid. There was a bill of sale and a name of the seller: Angus. He had sold Hadrid to her father. The pictures and envelope she tucked into her pocket. She’d do a lot to keep them. But she had yet to go through one big envelope.
She didn’t even bother to ask questions as Eagle moved from window to window, checking outside. She was too intent on sorting the remnants of her life.
She remembered the security photo she’d seen on Eagle’s computer. Had the shooter missed on purpose with his latest shot? Or did the bullet coming through the window glass deflect his aim? She almost felt the hair rise on her head as the bullet had passed so close that it could’ve killed her. Now under the table, half around the side of the couch, she didn’t think she was in the line of fire.
But who was to say the shooter was alone? A half-dozen men could be ready to storm the house. She’d never held a gun in her life. She didn’t even know the first thing about them.