Eye of the Falcon (Psychic Visions #12)(74)

“It’s Tiger and Panther that I’m worried about. I can’t go over there and leave her here. It’s her they want.”

“I’m with you on that,” Hawk said in a hard voice. “I have men I can call on. Two of them are in England. They’ll have no trouble getting over there. I’ll have to track a third one down. I’ll figure out if we need more. Any idea how many assholes we’re facing in Ireland?”

“I don’t know,” Eagle said. “The men who tortured her were here in Colorado. They snatched her on the other side of Denver.”

“Did she ever give you a location as to where she was held?”

“No, no idea.”

“Well, she had to come from somewhere,” Hawk said in exasperation. “You still living alone and away from everyone?”

“Well, I was,” he snapped. “You can see how well that worked.”

“Yeah, life’s like that.” Hawk’s laughter rolled free. “I’ll meet you at the airport.”

Like that, Hawk hung up.

Eagle’s mind raced as he tried to come up with a plan that would keep them all safe and find out whatever the hell was going on and get them back home again. He walked to the kitchen to find Issa sitting at the table, hugging a cup of tea.

He stopped and realized just how alone she really was. She didn’t have a network of soldiers to call on like he did. The men he knew were the best there ever were. If anybody would help save her life, it would be him and the guys. The thing was, he was okay with that. If there was one more battle, one more underdog that needed saving, he was up for it. Especially if he was saving her.

*

Dylan answered his phone and said, “They’ve taken the bait.”

The boss chuckled, his voice dark, deep. “Of course they did. Now to make sure we intercept them on the other end. No mistakes. This has been going on for too damn long. I want it finished now.”

“I’m on my way back. We should be able to catch a flight today.”

“I’ll be ready.”

Watching the cloud of dust disappear as Eagle and Issa drove away, Dylan moved steadily, retreating through the trees back to where he’d parked his vehicle off the road. He and the boss had to move fast now. He didn’t want to be on the same flight as Eagle and the girl. But Dylan couldn’t afford to be too much later behind them.

This was where things got dicey. He had to keep everybody happy—and keep himself alive.





Chapter 23





Issa would’ve enjoyed the flight if it had been for any other reason. She struggled to get comfortable in the narrow hard seat. Her body was still too lean and got sore from sitting for a long time. Eagle reached out, his palm open. She smiled and slid her hand into his.

To know she wasn’t alone, to know he was there for her, even if only for this trip, gave her immeasurable comfort. She knew he was worried about his friends. He wanted somebody to pound. To blame. So did she. She was terrified of not being in time to save them. She had no way to know what they would find. Part of her knew this could be the end of her young life. At the same time, she wondered how much of any of this her mother knew about. Were there more secrets Issa hadn’t found? Were there more answers her mother had deliberately withheld from her? Had her mother been more involved in either her father’s or her brothers’ deaths?

And why should any of it matter twenty years later? But she knew hatred never rested. It festered deep inside. Sometimes the only way for others to heal was for the truth to come out. She refused to be held accountable for any actions when she’d been a young child. She had struggled enough to heal and to move forward herself, which was a big deal for a six-year-old. She had no idea how her mother had accomplished that.

It had taken a long time for Issa and her mother to even have much of a relationship. Whether that had just been her mother’s reserved nature—or the fact that inside Issa blamed her mother for taking Issa away from everything—Issa didn’t know. It had improved. Not like any normal mother-daughter relationship she’d seen around her, but it had been okay. She leaned her head back and asked quietly, “Do you think my mother knew?”

“She knew more than she told you, but, whether what she knew played a critical role or not, there is no way to know yet.”

She stared out the window at the endless sky beside her. “I wonder if I’ll come for a holiday.”

“I doubt after this you will. Unless you need to come back to heal.”

She shook her head. “I need to heal at home. With the birds. Where my life is.”

“What are you planning on doing for a job when you are strong enough?”

“I’ll apply for grants to do research on endangered species in our area,” she said quietly. “All I’ve ever wanted was to help the birds.”

He squeezed her fingers gently.

“How did you get started with the raptor center?”

“The usual way,” he said. “Somebody brought me an injured bird they thought I could help.”

That startled a laugh out of her. “And, two hundred birds later, you’re still helping out?”

“Two hundred birds later, and now I know how to do it easily.” He cracked a smile.

Just then the pilot’s voice came on, saying they were landing.