Flying in Shadows (The Black Creek Series, Book 2) (35 page)

As he pulled back to wind up another punch, he heard a rip from the back of the house—the
screen door. Miguel took the opportunity and twisted, spinning sloppily, and staggered
to his feet. Running past the screaming Grace, he stopped abruptly at the front door
and turned, squinting deeply.

Andy checked on Rose and saw her look to her mother, to Miguel, then back again. Andy
knew what she was contemplating. Torn between the same two ideas, he watched as he
saw Rose's expression change to astonishment. She stared at her biological father
as she lifted her hand to cover her mouth.

Miguel stood at the door and smiled through blood and a missing tooth. "Mi hija,"
he said. Then, he turned and ran from Charcoal as the dog took off after him.

* * *

Rose sat in one of the rough, padded chairs of the ER waiting room. Andy paced in
front of her as images of her mother flashed through her mind. Hurt, bleeding, exposed.
She tucked her legs up on the seat and placed her hands over the ice pack on her swollen
temple and her ears as if that would make the sound of her mother's whimpers stop
running through her mind.

Andy paused and sat next to her. "She amazing, don't you think? Refusing pain meds?"

She nodded. "Dave will stay with her and make sure the nurses don't make a mistake.
She keeps saying, 'He knows.'"

"They said concussion."

She closed her eyes at the feel of his warm hand on her cheek. "Yes." Rose nodded.
"Slight. She's sleeping now."

Grace and Wes walked to the two of them. Grace wrapped her arms around Rose's neck.
"We'll stop back in the morning."

She hugged her back. "Yes, hopefully it will just be for overnight observation. We're
leaving soon, too."

Rose pulled Grace back and took a deep breath as she grabbed her shoulders. Looking
deep into her dark brown eyes, she asked what she didn't want to know. "What does
it mean? What did he say?"

Grace nodded in understanding. She placed a hand on the side of Rose's face and said
plainly, "It means, 'my daughter.'"

* * *

The sun began its descent in the overcast sky as Andy pulled out of the hospital parking
lot with Rose next to him. She was staring out the window of his SUV. He reached to
twine her limp fingers with his. It was a small gesture of support, for someone so
lost in her thoughts. "She's not alone this time, Rose."

"Hmm?" She shook her head a few times quickly.

"Your mother. She's not facing it alone this time or ever again."

"True." She nodded. "Yes, that's true."

"She'll be okay for the night. I imagine she's still working the nurses and Dave to
let her out of overnight observation—"

"I want him dead."

"Rose." He had to work to make his voice sound sincere, especially since he felt the
same.

"I want him dead and I want to do it with my own hands," she continued flatly.

He didn't respond. Instead, he gave her some time and space and decided to remain
as a presence for her. He would serve as a getaway. A distraction.

"Where are we going?" She looked around, then turned her body to face him.

"I want to check and see how far the excavators and cement crews got on Duncan's house
while we were gone. It's peaceful there." He brushed the backs of his fingers along
her cheek and watched her eyes drop closed. "Come with me."

She took his hand and pressed his palm to her warm cheek. "I never could say no to
those three words from you."

As they bumped along the gravel road, he noted the tell-tale construction signs of
deep ruts from heavy trucks, slabs of spilled concrete scattered on the drive and
large hunks of mud left from the wheels of the earth movers. At the end of the half-mile
road, they simply stopped in the center.

"What a muddy mess," she commented as they climbed out of the SUV together.

He walked around and pulled out his tape measure, checking dimensions. "What do you
think?" he asked.

"I think I bet it's just what it's supposed to be for now."

"You think right. He wants three stories. The top floor will be small. Slanted ceilings.
For his painting. Skylights. He has some good ideas."

He stepped to her and took her hands. "Tell me."

She took a deep breath. "I like it. He'll love it."

As he shook his head in two short movements, he said, "Mmm mmm, there's something
you're keeping inside." He tapped the middle of her chest.

She covered her face with her hands. "It's the eyes," she said and pressed her fingertips
over her own. "I've seen pictures of them, but..." She set her forehead on his chest.
"I have his eyes. I looked into the eyes of that bastard and I saw me."

He laced his fingers through the short pieces of hair on the back of her head. Then,
slid them down and took her hand. "Come, I want to show you something."

They climbed back into the SUV and drove farther into the woods until they came to
a clearing. He'd measured it as ten acres in diameter. The smell was a mixture of
running water, earth, wildflowers, and endless trees.

"The creek is far enough away to keep us safe from flood damage. It would take well
water since we're a ways from the city lines, but I could rig up a nice purifier.
The view this way is the best, I think." He motioned to the east with the sun at his
back. "That would make the kitchen face north, which would be nice so that you, I
mean we, could look out the window while doing dishes without the sun blinding us,
plus that way my office can be over here." He gestured largely. "Yours over... here
with windows to keep an eye on the aviary and dog run. Hell, I can put in a damned
chicken coop if you want."

He turned to her just as a tear spilled on her round cheek.

"I should have brought our plans. I didn't think to bring them. Damn it. I'm going
to marry a woman who carries a Swiss damned Army knife around like some carry lipstick
and I'm the builder with no damned plans." Closing the distance between them, he lifted
her hand. He kissed the ring on her chilled third finger, then pulled her into him.
"This is part of Duncan's lot. I haven't signed anything with him yet. We can pick
another spot closer to home if you—"

"It's perfect." She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her cheek to his chest.

Carefully, he lifted her chin to him, then brushed his lips over her swollen temple.
"When I look in your eyes, what I see is someone who brings out the best in everything
she touches. I see the best of me."

* * *

Near a small tent, he and Rose lay on a thick blanket looking at the millions of stars
erupting in the country twilight.

"When did you get camping gear?"

"While you were questioned at the scene... after." He snuggled her next to him and
even though they shared a pillow, she laid her head on his arm. "And I don't know
if I call a tent, blanket and a pillow actual gear. Brie came to see what the sirens
were for and gave me the idea. She's one of the smartest people I know."

"And we'll be able to get home—"

"Before your mother is awake and released. I made sure of it. We have our cell phones.
It's a twenty minute drive, tops."

She rolled completely on top of him and surprised him with a long deep kiss. Like
a meeting of mouths and minds. "Take me away."

She didn't need to ask for him to know what she wanted, but the sound of it rolling
off her tongue was enough to make him determined to do just that.

He drew out the kiss, tilting his head slowly, softly sinking into her as his hands
ran up her waist, brushing his thumbs along the sides of her along the way. Running
his hands up her shirt, he thoughtfully worked at a mixture of arousal and soothing.

Rotating, he tucked her beneath him just enough to be able to rest on his side and
still have his hands on her, all over her, moving gently, carefully. They caressed
and stroked as the last of the birds announced their evening departure and the bullfrogs
their nighttime territory.

He watched as her eyes rolled back and felt her body slowly unwind.

Each kiss along her throat, her neck was smoother than the last. Her skin was warm
and little tremors erupted every so often as he let his hands move over her. He cupped
her and found his favorite spot with his lips just under her ear.

Along her collarbone, down to the hollow at the base of her neck, he let his warm
lips glide like velvet.

Rose was dizzy in love and felt like an isolated cloud of need. She could get through
anything with Andy. He was hers, now from then on. A growing strength and need raced
through her. Yet, he continued like a rock, steady and painfully slow. Each button
released was followed by warm lips on her skin. Down, down to her waist.

When he spread her shirt open, his awe flattered and aroused her. He paused and dropped
his head to her chest. The warm air from the evening blew over her skin, cooling her
sheen of sweat. He created, stirred, eased. She lifted just enough, offering. He took
her blouse the rest of the way off.

Holding her possessively, he circled. "You're beautiful." He kissed the swell that
lifted just over the satin. "You're mine."

She took her turn lifting his shirt off, lightly nipping his shoulder as he held her
against him. His hands ran up her back and released the clasp. Pulling the straps
from her shoulders, he slipped it off between the bare skin of their bodies. She melted
into the feel of her pressed against his chest. The floating feel of flesh on flesh.

They each took their time exploring under the moon and the stars. Andy pulled her
legs around him as he sat in front of her. He lifted one over his shoulder, as he
preferred to do, then turned his lips and pressed them against the inside of her knee.
He held onto her, possessively grabbing with both hands as he traveled from her knee
to her thigh. She was there for him and he took her carefully. Watching her completely
let go, he let her ride the first easy hill slowly.

He wasn't sure how long they took turns taking each other where no one else ever could,
moving together in careful love. When they united, he was just as slow, as long and
as careful. Rose expelled a heavy breath as he covered her everywhere, all over and
inside her. Hanging onto his back, he could feel the crescent marks she was leaving
in his flesh. The intensity of her next peak was followed by tiny tears that dripped
down her temples before they went over together.

Spent, they collapsed and lay completely still, twined together inside and out on
the blanket in the clearing. They nearly fell asleep before Rose tapped him. "My legs.
Can't move my legs." He rolled next to her, then pulled the blanket over them.

"Rose."

"Hmm?"

"We're sleeping in our master bedroom."

Chapter 29

The air was warm but not as hot as it should be for a late July morning in upstate
New York. A swift breeze wafted the scents of Sycamores and Tulip Poplars across the
field where Rose stood with the recovered, mature bald eagle. Her temple was completely
healed and her mother's had faded to a jaundice yellow. Miguel was leaving a sloppy
trail. Rose felt better.

She tried sneaking around the back of the main building at the research and action
center but she knew Gracie could sense her and the male.

Although the male ran into some complications and took longer to heal from the lead
poisoning than she'd expected, he was fully recovered and ready to be free once again.
She drove him out to the spot she'd chosen in a crate on the back of one of the center's
four-wheelers. A wild bald eagle would never perch on a human's arm. She rubbed the
puncture wound on her hip serving as a reminder of how hard it was to teach even an
adolescent eagle to do just that. Five hundred pounds of pressure went through flesh
and muscle like butter.

Gracie was learning the hard lesson that if you bite the hand that feeds you, you
don't get fed. Eagles weren't pets, and Rose knew getting Gracie to simply tolerate
her would take time and work. The sound of her call was heartbreaking. How did animals
sense these things? Silently, she said her apologies to Gracie as she parked the four-wheeler.