The Black Feather

by Olivia Claire High

  He knew by his position that he was lying on a hillside. He inhaled and smelled earth and plants, reminding him of the night he and Suzanne had crawled around the backyard of her childhood home.

  He listened for sounds hoping to get some idea about his location. A bee buzzed near his head momentarily investigating his hair for any sign of a scent before abandoning him for more promising fare. A dog barked in the distance, as it competed with the sound of a lawnmower’s relentless droning. He had no idea how long he’d been out, but the sun’s warmth meant it was still around midday.

  A sudden breeze carried a brief whiff of the sea. Thad decided there was a good possibility he’d been left on the hill behind the Harold’s condo. He could only hope he hadn’t been carried someplace further away. Should he try to wiggle upward going by instinct and the angle of his body hoping to end up somewhere near their house? Or would he be risking another assault from his attacker?

  But reason told him getting away would be their priority. Whoever had done this to him was most likely long gone and on their way to handing those phones over to the Montanes. Bitterness filled him at the thought of the notorious brothers evading retribution once again. The resentment he felt wasn’t so much for himself, as it was for so many others who had suffered from their cruelty over the years.

  There wasn’t anything he could do until he got out of his present situation, which meant it was time to start moving. Thad hoped he wouldn’t end up going way out of his way considering he was without a clue as to how far he was from the house, or even if he was still near the condo.

  He began to move and felt an instant burst of nausea as pain squeezed his head like an ancient instrument of torture. This was going to be a lot harder than he thought. But every journey had to begin with the first step. Or in his case, the first twisting of his body.

  Thad forced air in through his nostrils and steeled himself to endure what he knew was probably going to turn out to be a very unpleasant trip. He began to inch forward. Sweat bathed his body and dampened his shirt within seconds. Rocks, clods of dirt, and heavy plants scraped against his skin making him wince, while fear for Suzanne made him push onward.

  The woman rewarded Suzanne for her help by allowing her to keep the golf cart parked on her property. Suzanne jogged the rest of the way to her godmother’s condo. She spotted Thad’s cart parked in front, but no others. Was David already gone? She snuck along the side of the house going directly to the colonel’s cart, but stopped when she spotted her ruined Pegasus on the ground. Suzanne bent and picked up the torn toy. She knew even before she pulled the material apart that the phones weren’t inside.

  Disappointment turned to shock and she almost dropped the toy when she saw the black feather tucked inside. Had David done this one last theatrical gesture to thumb his nose at them all? She looked around. Were her mother and Thad safe? The thought of any possible violence she might find in the house made a mockery of the peaceful outdoor setting.

  Her godmother’s flowerbeds bloomed with color while birds trilled and bees buzzed nearby. But Suzanne knew in the midst of all this beauty something ugly had happened here. The feather was proof of that. She looked down at the damaged Pegasus still clutched in her hands. This had once been a symbol of beauty for her, too. She set the toy back onto the cart.

  She had to find Thad to let him know why she’d been delayed and to assure herself that he was all right. Menacing thoughts taunted her with visions of things she didn’t want to think about, as she walked slowly toward the patio. She peeked around the corner of the sliding glass doors, looked inside, and saw that the living room was empty of people.

  Momentary relief flowed through her as soon as she realized everything was as it should be. She couldn’t detect any signs of struggle, no evidence of blood, and best of all there were not any bodies lying on the floor. Dare she go inside and investigate the rest of the house?

  Something that sounded like a muffled groan made her spin around and stare behind her. She didn’t notice anything unusual, but the sense that someone was there made her duck behind a huge flowerpot. She squatted there watching and listening until she caught the unmistakable sound of labored breathing.

  She reached out a shaky hand, snatched up a pair of small pruning shears lying on the edge of the pot, and cautiously worked her way toward the edge of the patio. Suzanne heard what she thought might be something being dragged over the ground. A body? She shivered and clutched the shears tighter, ready to use them as a weapon to defend herself if necessary. Rustling movements off to the right made her look in that direction. She squinted into the sunlight and nearly shrieked at the sight of Thad laboriously inching his way up the hill.

  “Oh God, oh God, oh God!”

  She flung the shears aside and ran over to him.

  “Are you all right? What happened? Who did this to you?”

  She fired questions at him while her hands poked and prodded his body. His garbled grunts made her realize he couldn’t answer her because of the tape covering his mouth. All the anxiety she felt simply took over, and she tore the offending tape away without a thought to how it would feel.

  Thad breathed out a gasp of pain.

  “Ouch! Jesus! Take it easy. Are my lips still attached to my face?”

  “Oh Thad, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Let me get the tape away from your eyes. I’ll be more careful,” she assured him.

  “I’d rather do it myself to be sure my eyeballs still stay in their sockets, if you don’t mind. Can you find something to free my hands and ankles?”

  Suzanne looked frantically around and spotted the shears. She scurried over to pick them up and hurried back to Thad. “I have some garden shears that should do the trick.”

  “Okay, but go easy, honey. I’m trusting you to be careful. I don’t have a lot of feeling left and I wouldn’t want to lose any digits that might come in handy later.”

  She had to admire his sense of humor knowing how uncomfortable he must be. Suzanne knelt there, carefully snipping, feeling the first rush of relief fill her as the tape fell away and Thad began to slowly work his muscles free. She saw him grit his teeth against the discomfort of the blood beginning to flow back into his limbs. She sat back on her heels and waited until he began to ease the tape away from his eyes himself. They both winced when several strands of his hair came away. He was covered in dirt and grimy with sweat, but thankfully she didn’t see any sign of blood.

  “Did David do this to you?”

  “I doubt it. I sent him along with your mother to the docks to look for you, so I could go for the phones. I knew something had to be wrong when you didn’t call me. I went to Liam’s golf cart the minute they left.”

  “So you have the phones. Thank the lord.”

  Thad shook his head.

  “Save your prayers. I had them for a few seconds, but that was before someone hit me from behind. The next thing I became aware of was being in the state you just found me. Only I happened to be further down the hill before you got here. I take it you don’t have the phones, either.”

  “No. Can you walk? I think it might be a good idea to get you in the house. I’m sure you’d like some water and a shower.”

  “Water in any form sounds pretty good right now,” he agreed, and dragged himself to his feet.

  They’d just walked inside when the front door flung open carrying with it enough anger to fill the room. David and Bobbett were so busy verbally swiping at each other they didn’t seem to realize they weren’t the only two people in the house.

  “I swear to God that is the last time I’m going on another wild-goose chase with you!” she yelled.

  “Fine by me! Turns out your daughter is about as reliable as you are,” he shouted in return.

  “Don’t you dare compare me to her. She probably got herself lost somewhere. I’m not that stupid.”

  Suzanne stepped forward.

  “Nice to see you, too, Mother.”

  Bobbett yelped
, and staggered back a couple of steps.

  David looked at Suzanne and scowled.

  “It’s about time you showed up.” He frowned at Thad. “Why are your clothes so dirty?”

  “I had company right after you left. Caught me from behind. Bound me up and tossed me down the hill like yesterday’s garbage. Suzanne arrived a little bit ago and helped me get free.”

  David turned to her.

  “I’m assuming you’re here because your father told you where to find the phones. Do you have them?”

  “No. They were in the colonel’s golf cart. Whoever clobbered Thad must have taken them.”

  “In the golf cart? Is that so? Why should I believe you?”

  She blinked.

  “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. How do I know you’re not lying?”

  She saw the subtle movement of his hand to where she knew he kept his sidearm. But knowing David was playing his dual role made Suzanne throw caution aside. She walked over to where he stood and glared up at him, her eyes sparkling with fury.

  “You can believe me because I wouldn’t lie about something that could make the difference between life and death.”

  She poked him in the chest with her finger.

  “Can you say the same thing about yourself?”

  Twenty-five

  Suzanne might have gone on chastising David if Thad hadn’t coughed and cleared his throat loud enough to make her realize she needed to shut up.

  “I could use a glass of water, Suzanne.”

  Tension in the room had everyone’s eyes flicking back and forth between each other. Suzanne’s teeth clamped down on her bottom lip while she watched to see how David was going to react to her outburst. He finally appeared to understand his error in challenging her and lowered his hand to his side. She knew what this effort at controlling himself must have cost him considering his predicament.

  “Hey, take it easy. We’re all a little on edge here. No need to get on the defensive. I was just asking. You were supposed to tell me about the phones after you talked to your dad, remember?”

  “I know, but I thought it would be better to leave you at the clinic to protect my mother and Muriel.”

  Did she say, ‘protect’? Suzanne almost choked on the word knowing what he really planned to do to them.

  “If I’d known Thad was coming back I would have had you come here with me.”

  Amazing how the lies just kept flowing like streams of water over smooth rocks. So much for claiming she didn’t lie, but she reminded herself she lied to protect, unlike David who lied to do harm.

  “Okay, I get that, but I’d like to know what kept you so long in coming here. You left the clinic way before any of us did.”

  “I’ll tell you, but first I want to get Thad some water and then he needs to go clean up.”

  “I’ll take the water, but I’d be interested in hearing where you’ve been all this time before I shower.”

  She nodded and walked quickly to the kitchen, filled the biggest glass she could find with water, and brought it back to him. He drained it immediately and shook his head when she offered to get more.

  Suzanne knew she couldn’t stall any longer with everyone watching and waiting for her explanation.

  She went over the part for David’s benefit about her leaving the clinic in the laundry van, spending the night at the pier, and taking the early morning ferry to the island.

  “That still doesn’t explain why you weren’t in this house when your mother and I got here.”

  Suzanne gave him an impatient look.

  “I’m getting to that. I was only a few houses away driving a golf cart when I happened to look over just as an elderly woman fell coming out of her house. I stopped to help her. She had a badly sprained ankle and needed assistance getting back inside. Once I got her to a chair she told me her husband was bedridden with cancer. I could see that the ankle was swelling and causing her pain. I stayed to make an icepack and see that she was settled before I came here.”

  “And discovered the phones had been taken.”

  “Yes.”

  “You should have come here first,” David insisted. “If you had, the phones might have still been in the golf cart. Now we have nothing, damn it!”

  “The woman couldn’t get up on her own, David. I couldn’t very well leave her like that.”

  “You could have gone back to her after you had the phones.”

  “She did what she thought was best at the time,” Thad said.

  “That’s easy for you to say.”

  “That’s right,” Bobbett said, pouting at Suzanne. “Davy was going to take me to Hawaii when he got his bonus money. Now you’ve probably blown it for us because you decided to play nursemaid to some old woman you don’t even know.”

  Thad frowned at her.

  “You mentioned something about that money before. Am I missing something?”

  “No. She’s a little confused,”

  David hastened to answer.

  Bobbett rounded on him.

  “What do you mean by that? Are you, or are you not going to take me to Hawaii, David Hamilton?”

  “While you two are discussing that, why don’t you go take your shower, Thad?” Suzanne suggested.

  “I’ll follow you and you can give me your clothes, so I can run them through the washer and dryer.”

  He nodded, and they started upstairs with the sound of Bobbett accusing David of being a welsher ringing in their ears. Suzanne slumped against the closed door as soon as she entered the bedroom.

  “Jeez, it’s a wonder those two haven’t killed each other the way they keep going at it.”

  Thad’s mouth curved into a ghost of a smile.

  “Not exactly a match made in heaven.”

  “I thought David was actually going to draw his weapon there for a moment.”

  “I think he was tempted. He’s scared now because he knows the Montanes will be running out of patience, and when they do they’ll come after him. He can’t afford to reveal his true intentions until he still thinks he has a chance to get the phones.”

  Thad began to strip off his soiled clothes.

  “The phones, the phones,” Suzanne muttered. “I’m getting to the point where I’m going to start putting my hands over my ears like Quasimodo did when he heard the bells, the bells.”

  “You kind of worried me when you started to go off on David.”

  “That was really dumb. He just makes me so mad I feel like wringing his neck, especially when . . .”

  Suzanne stopped in midsentence as the last article of Thad’s clothing dropped to the floor. All thoughts of phones and anything else flew right out of her head at the sight of him standing there naked.

  “A woman who looks at a man like you’re doing is asking to be kissed.”

  “Be my guest.”

  “I’m filthy.”

  Suzanne raised on her toes and put her hands on his shoulders. “I don’t care.”

  Thad pulled her to him and dipped his head to her mouth. She reminded herself to be careful knowing his lips were probably still tender from the tape. They kissed, drawing strength and warmth, enjoying the pleasure of these precious few moments alone. She moved back with reluctance and by the state of his body, Suzanne knew Thad was ready for more than just a few kisses.

  “Come and shower with me.”

  Raised voices drifted upstairs followed by the sound of breaking glass.

  “That’s a lovely suggestion and there’s nothing I’d like more, but I think I’d better get back downstairs before those two do some serious damage to Nanadoo’s things.”

  Thad gave her a playful slap on her backside when she bent to scoop his dirty clothes off the floor.

  “Come back if you don’t have to take too long playing referee.”

  “I just might do that,” she said and left the room wondering how much longer she was going to have to tolerate the two combatants awaiting her.

  “Wh
at do you suggest we do now?” David demanded to know, as soon as Thad joined them again.

  Bobbett’s mouth gaped open at the sight of him clad only in a bath towel. Suzanne couldn’t very well blame her mom remembering how her own tongue had practically flopped out of her mouth the first time she saw him like that. Thad leaned his hip against the back of the couch and crossed his arms over his bare chest.

  “Suzanne, who else besides the Harolds and yourself might have a key here?”

  “I’m not sure. Maybe the neighbors. My godmother kept a spare on the patio, but I moved it.”

  “Do you think it’s possible anyone might know where the key was before you took it?”

  “I don’t know. I’d have to ask Nanadoo if she mentioned it to any of her friends.”

  “How about delivery people? Would they have permission to leave something inside the door if your godmother and the colonel knew they wouldn’t be home?”

  “That’s ridiculous. No one gives access to their house key to delivery people,” David argued.

  “They might if they trusted them perhaps after having them come here on a regular basis over a long period of time. And speaking of the key – how is it that you were able to get in here?”

  David’s eyes moved toward Suzanne.

  “Don’t get all ticked off, but I took it out of your purse when we were here before and had a copy made. I thought it’d be a good idea to have it in case you weren’t around. Turns out I was right when you didn’t show up. What’s the big deal about the key anyway?”

  “The big deal, as you call it, is the fact that there are no signs of forced entry. Yet someone is coming and going in this house when no one is supposed to be home, which leads me to believe they’ve been in the area all along watching the place. Suzanne, I’d like you to question the neighbors and find out if they’ve noticed anyone hanging about.”