Deadly Gift (21 page)

He gave himself a shake.

Birds. They were just birds.

Yet it seemed as if they had spread their wings like an ominous blanket.

Unable to stop himself, he went back and checked on Bridey again.

He touched her face gently, and her eyes opened.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“I wasn’t sleeping. I was listening to the birds. They’re out there, aren’t they? I hear the wings. They come first, you know.”

“Bridey, what are you talking about?”

“The birds come first. They foretell the fate of those who are blessed or damned, so that a soul may make peace with God.”

She was rambling, and he was worried that she was feverish, but she didn’t feel warm.

“Bridey, you’re scaring me.”

“Ah, Zach, I’d not scare ye. Don’t be worried, and don’t be sad. Few know their place in heaven or hell, but I’m one of the lucky ones, for I do know mine.”

“Bridey—”

“It’s sorry I am to be muttering on and on. I’ve a mind to sleep now, though, and you should get on to bed, too. We need you here, you know. Rested and well.”

He kissed her forehead again and returned to his own room.

But he couldn’t escape the echo of the wind that rushed against his ears like the laments of the damned, or the shrieking cries of the crows.

And all the while his mind whispered…

Banshee
.

When she headed for bed that night, Kat was mad.

It was Amanda. Amanda was trying to kill her father, even though he didn’t believe it,
wouldn’t
believe it. The woman was nothing but a monster who was able to put on airs because of his money. Why he didn’t see right through her was a complete mystery. Were all men, including her father, unable to combat the call of their hormones?

At least the cops were in on things now, thanks to Zach’s insistence…She didn’t know whether to hope that the latest incident was a case of some psycho with a grudge engaging in product tampering, putting the whole community at risk—and, if so, how coincidental—or that there was a monster living in their midst. There was simply no good answer for that one.

She brushed her teeth, washed her face, slipped into a pair of her most comforting flannel pajamas and lay down to sleep. Grinning, she hugged one of her favorite stuffed toys, a very lifelike collie her dad had bought for her years before.

She closed her eyes.

The old house creaked and groaned.

And she started to listen. Nervously.

She couldn’t help it. She knew that her father and Zach had taken to making absolutely certain that the doors were locked and the alarm was on, but still, she couldn’t help listening to every sound and wondering what it meant.

She strained her ears and heard the sounds of an old house settling.

But there was more.
Wings.

A thick beating in the air, as if great dark wings were all around the house.

She lay there, telling herself to stop acting like a scared little kid. She lasted for a few minutes, and then it was suddenly too much.

She leaped up and stood still, listening.

She was scared, even terrified, but she had to know the truth. She felt ridiculous, as if she were a character in a horror movie, but this was her house and she was not going to let her fear control her. Besides, Zach was near, just a few doors down, and her father and Caer were downstairs.

No way was she going to count on Amanda for help, but Bridey was there, too.

Great. She could call on her ill great-aunt to come and be brave for her while she stood there, trembling, in her bare feet.

And what on earth was she afraid of, anyway?

The sound of wings in the night? Big deal.

She gave herself a mental shake and walked to her window, pulled open the drapes—and gasped.

Crows, or maybe ravens.

Scores of them.

They were perched on top of the cottage, on the garage, in the trees, everywhere around the house, and more were surging through the air like harbingers of evil. Birds. At night. In the dead of winter.

And that was all they were, she told herself. Birds. Just birds. What the hell did she care about birds?

She looked down at the ledge beneath her window and barely choked back a scream.

One of them was sitting on her ledge. Staring at her. With just one eye…. When it turned its head, she saw that it had lost the other.

So it stared at her, so close that it could have pecked at her if not for the glass between them.

She dropped the drape to shut out the sight of the bird, then found that her fear was not so easy to erase. She had a terrible picture of the bird suddenly slamming through the glass and attacking her, talons clawing at her face.

She thought about racing down the hall to Zach’s room. He was her friend. He would understand.

But she couldn’t do it. Zach had his own demons. Zach was falling for Caer.

Caer!

She could ask to spend the night in Caer’s room downstairs. She wouldn’t even have to admit that she was a coward; she could make some excuse about being worried about her father.

She stepped out into the hall with that plan in her mind, but then she saw Bridey’s door and found herself tiptoeing in that direction instead.

Bridey was sleeping, but she was such a tiny little thing that there was plenty of room for Kat to slide in right next to her.

She almost screamed when Bridey spoke.

“Hush, darling, it’s all right. Don’t be scared.”

Kat was too startled to wonder how Bridey knew why she was there and said only, “There are birds.”

“I know. But you mustn’t fear, child.”

“Have you seen them?”

“I hear them. They are the forerunner of darkness, Kat, but light remains in the world.”

Great. Bridey was going off into some kind of delusional fantasy.

“I’ll protect you, I promise,” Bridey went on.

Kat gave her a hug back and said, “I love you, Aunt Bridey. And I’ll protect
you
.”

And then, at last, Kat slept.

Cal was standing at the back of their house, where the sliding glass doors led out to the porch and a spectacular view of the sea.

“Are they still out there?” Marni asked him.

He nodded.

She came up to him and slipped her arms around him, shivering.

They had a great backyard, perfect for parties. Both were covered now, for winter, but in summer the barbecue was often lit and the in-ground pool was uncovered, and the lawn chairs were full of friends having a good time.

Not tonight.

Tonight the yard was filled with…

Birds.

“Damnedest thing I’ve ever seen,” Cal said, studying them. He didn’t seem afraid, just fascinated.

Marni, however, was unnerved.

“Shouldn’t they have flown south?” she whispered.

“Maybe it’s global warming.”

“Just make sure all the doors are locked and drapes are closed, and please, let’s go to bed and shut them out. They’re creepy.”

He nodded, but he didn’t move. Marni couldn’t stand looking at the birds anymore. She wanted to keep holding him, but she was afraid, so she let go and turned to walk away.

“I’m going to bed,” she told him over her shoulder.

“Sure. Be right there.” He sounded mesmerized.

“I could have died tonight, you know,” she reminded him.

He turned suddenly and pulled her into his arms. “I’m sorry, baby. I can’t believe I could have lost you.”

“Let’s go to bed,” she whispered.

“Just one more minute,” he said, looking back out to the yard.

She pulled away from him, hurt, and headed for the bedroom. “I’m pretty tired.” She yawned loudly. “I won’t be awake that long.” Maybe the fear of missing out on sex would get him, she thought.

He only nodded absently. Angry now, she went into the bedroom and shut the door loudly, then slipped into her side of the bed, upset that she could hear the sound of wings. She closed her eyes, though, and began to drift.

She suddenly sat bolt upright, shaking off the vision that had invaded her mind as she had started to fall asleep, a vision of a giant black bird, crashing right through the glass and sweeping Cal away.

She shivered, about to jump out of bed, then realized that she must have fallen more deeply asleep than she’d realized, because Cal was lying beside her, sleeping soundly.

He was even snoring.

She snuggled closer to him, and tried to fall asleep again, but she was suddenly angry. Zach was a frigging P.I., and with everything going on, he wanted to go boating.

Screw them all.

Caer was sitting with Sean in the breakfast room, reading a coffee-table book on New England and sipping coffee, while he read the paper. Clara was bustling about, straightening things that didn’t need straightening.

When the phone rang, it was as startling as if a bomb had gone off.

Caer must have jumped, because Sean glanced her way, amused. “Sorry, house phone. Pretty loud, huh?”

He rose and walked over to the little marble table where the old-fashioned telephone sat. “O’Riley,” he said as he picked up the receiver.

For a moment he frowned, and then a smile split his face. “Yes, serious, very serious. I’m sorry to hear that, but let’s hope that at least this will keep anyone from being hurt.”

He hung up, still smiling. “What is it?” Caer asked him.

Clara had frozen and was looking at him expectantly.

“That was Detective Morrissey,” he told them.

“And you’re smiling,” Caer noted.

“They found several jars of those blueberries that had been tampered with. There were three others with ground glass—all of them at the back of the shelf, where they were unlikely to be picked up anytime soon, interestingly. We’re actually lucky that Kat cut herself slicing the pie. Without that, someone could be dead.”

“So—so—” Clara stuttered.

“It means that no one in this house did anything to the blueberries or the pie. They’re investigating now, trying to find out how the jars got on the shelves.”

“I knew it!” Kat said triumphantly from the doorway. “Amanda was just being a troublemaking bitch.”

“Now, Kat,” Sean remonstrated.

“Sorry, Dad.”

“Thank you.”

Kat walked over to pour herself a cup of coffee, saying, “I’m sorry your wife is a troublemaking bitch, not that I said it,” she told him flatly.

“Oh dear,” Clara said, and fled toward the kitchen.

“She does speak her mind,” Sean said, winking at Caer.

“Where
is
your dear and devoted wife this morning?” Kat asked.

“Still sleeping, I believe.”

Kat sat down at the table. “Dad, come out with me for a bit today, will you? I’ve asked Tom—he can drive us around.”

Sean looked at her with a question in his eyes. “Are you just trying to keep me occupied?” he asked her.

“Yes.” She aimed a smile in Caer’s direction. “I want you to myself for a while. Is that such a bad thing?”

“No.” He reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “I’ll be happy to run around town with you.”

Zach breezed into the breakfast room then, his hair still damp from the shower, dressed in jeans and a thick sweater, a heavy Windbreaker over his arm.

“What’s up with you?” Sean asked him.

Zach set his jacket down and headed for the coffee. “I talked to Morrissey,” he said.

“Yeah, he just called,” Kat said. “Weird, huh? And scary.” She shivered. “I hope they catch whoever did it soon.”

“Morrissey and his crew are on it,” Zach said. “And I thought I’d do some boating today. I want to get out on the water, but I don’t want to mess with the sails, I just want to zip around.”

“And you don’t feel you need to look over the cops’ shoulders?” Kat said, grinning. “You must be mellowing.”

“There’s nothing I can do that they can’t—and plenty that they can do and
I
can’t,” Zach said. “They’ll be running prints, checking credit card bills…. They’re on it. Caer, are you ready? You can grab a waterproof parka at the office.”

Just as they got up to leave, Tom walked in with the mail.

“Bill, bill, bill, letter from an antique dealer for Sean, letter from Kat’s webmaster, Christmas card, Christmas card, Christmas card…letter for Caer.”

“What?” she said, startled.

He handed her an envelope. She saw Michael’s name on the return—just the first name—and the address of the hospital in Dublin.

What the hell did he want? she wondered. She would have to find out later, because she wasn’t about to read his letter in public.