Eye of the Falcon (Psychic Visions #12)(52)

“You and I both know that underneath the surface of our pretty lifestyle that there is a much tougher element. People go missing all the time. It’s all about power, money, and, by no fault of her own, Issa’s caught up in the middle of it.”

“Does this have anything to do with her childhood?”

“I said it did,” Stefan said testily.

“She brought home two boxes from her mother’s place. Issa’s place had been trashed, but the intruders missed these because she’d tucked them in a hidden root cellar,” Eagle said quietly. “There’s a lot of information about her family.”

“You need to go over it. All of it. A lot more is going on than you can see from the surface.”

“I can’t see anything on the surface. Seems like everything is going on in the bloody atmosphere around me.”

There was a space of silence yet again, and then Stefan chuckled. A warm approving chuckle. He said, “Now that is very true. If you have one job in this life, it’s to keep her safe. She can keep many others safe, but she has no one to help her.”

“What do you mean, she can keep others safe?”

Click.

He stared down at the damn phone and wanted to rage. He hit Redial, and the phone went to voice mail. “I don’t know what the hell’s going on,” he said to the room, “but this is beyond me.”

No, it’s not, Stefan whispered in Eagle’s mind. Then he disappeared leaving a void of truth.

It didn’t matter what was going on. Eagle couldn’t just up and leave this special woman unprotected. He couldn’t let anyone hurt her ever again. As he turned to stare at the frail woman on his couch, he realized he was already in too deep. Even after his best efforts to keep his heart free and clear, she’d walked in and somehow walked out with a chunk of it. He’d gotten attached to this waif with her mythical skills. What the hell could he do to keep her safe?

*

“Dylan, how badly hurt is the new guy?” the boss asked.

Dylan hunched his shoulders, then knelt closer. He stared down at the kid who was barely old enough to shave and said, “Bad enough he’ll probably need surgery.”

Dylan knew what would come next. And he couldn’t do a damn thing about it. He sat back on his heels and waited. Sure enough, there was a shot, and the back of the kid’s head splattered red across the blanket. He stood and shoved his fists deep into his pockets. He knew his life sucked when they were putting kids like this one out of their misery instead of giving them medical care, even though doing the job given them.

The kid had done everything right. But nobody had expected a security system like that. Even now Dylan wasn’t sure what they’d run into. Was it bullets? He’d taken some bullets, but these were almost like darts, and one of them had hit a vital spot, and he bled really badly. But not any longer.

“Same place as last one?” he asked.

“You even need to ask?” the boss said. “What the hell is wrong with everyone? Is everybody over here incompetent?”

Dylan kept his mouth shut. He knew it was frustration causing the boss to boil. But he was dangerous right now. In fact, Dylan had never seen the boss more dangerous. Every day that this nightmare went on, things just got worse and worse. He was pretty damn sure the girl was there, and that was just making the job that much harder.

Dylan yanked the edge of the blanket, rolled up the kid as best he could, and then grabbed the last corner of the blanket, dragging the body to the front porch. It seemed like all Dylan did now was bury people. Young men who deserved a full chance at life. When had he had a change of heart? Or had he? Was it just a slow shift in time? Or too many men dead? Too many burials? Too many mothers who would never know the fates of their sons?

It wore on him.

Maybe it was just that slow weakening of his spirit, telling him that something was badly wrong in his world. And not only in his world but in everyone’s.

Would the boss hire anybody else? He’d killed the last several. Dylan just knew that the next guy would get a bullet one way or another too. Likely before this was all over, Dylan would see one with his name on it as well. He didn’t have a whole lot he was proud of in his life. But he hadn’t been ashamed of anything—until these last few months.

He put his thoughts behind him and dragged the kid out to the front, then went for the tractor. But, in the back of his mind, he wondered what the hell he would do. Was there anything he could do? Or was he just going to wait until that last bullet found him?





Chapter 17





Issa opened her eyes, her mind swirling with images and thoughts and feelings. But at the center of all of it was a chill. She held up her hand and saw her white skin and blue veins. She could hardly feel her feet.

Almost instantly Eagle bent down, picked her up, swore at how cold she was to the touch, and whispered, “I don’t know what you keep doing to yourself, but, whatever it is, it seems to suck the warmth right out of your bones.”

Her teeth chattered. She agreed but couldn’t quite get the words out.

“Don’t talk,” he whispered. He carried her back into the bedroom and tucked her under the covers. “I’ll make you a hot cup of tea. Try to warm up.”

He raced into the kitchen, leaving her where she lay. The chattering of her teeth got worse. But she didn’t understand why she was so cold. She had just been sitting on the couch. He’d been the one outside, and she hadn’t even asked him if he had found anything. Vaguely she remembered the screams in her head.