The Black Feather (20 page)

“Exactly my point. That’s why I want to go back to Cabo. Suzanne doesn’t need us, Davy. She can dig around for those stupid phones and turn them into the cops all by herself.”

“You’re forgetting that part of my job now includes protecting your daughter.”

“You knew me first,” she reminded him with a proprietorial air.

“That’s right, which means I’ll still be watching out for you as well.”

She shook her head.

“I’ll wait here and twiddle my thumbs until you get back. This place has security guards. If you ask me you’re taking a chance by leaving. Why don’t you get someone else to go in your place?”

“Because part of my assignment is to locate those phones. I can’t afford to pass up any opportunity or overlook any clue that might lead me to them. I’m not supposed to let you out of my sight if you’ll remember; which is why you’ll be going with us.”

“Oh, all right. But I don’t appreciate the fact that you’re making those phones more important than I am. You’d better take me back to Cabo pretty damn soon if you expect to have me continue our vacation together.”

“I won’t be going to Mexico, or anywhere else if I lose my job.”

“So? I’m sure you could find another one.”

“I happen to like what I do.”

“Why? Because you get a kick out of playing at being a cop? I’ll buy you a toy gun and a tin badge.”

His body visibly tensed.

“I’m not playing at anything. This may be a game to you, but not to me.”

“Have you forgotten what a good time we were having together until we had to come here?”

“Life isn’t made up of just good times.”

“It can be if you work it right. We were happy in Cabo. You can’t want to give that up.”

Suzanne didn’t want to spoil her mother’s fantasy, but once David had turned the phones over to the authorities, he wouldn’t be on this assignment any longer. If he went back to Mexico it was going to have to be on his own time and at his own expense. She wondered if he cared enough about her mother to be willing to do that.

She couldn’t help noticing he wasn’t looking quite as lover-like as he had when they first arrived, now that her mother was revealing how she could be when she didn’t get her own way. No big surprise there. Suzanne was used to it. Bobbett expected the world to revolve around her. She had a way of filling herself up while draining the life out of every relationship she’d ever had, including her role as a parent.

Suzanne gave herself a mental shake. Who was she kidding? Her mother had never been a parent.

They were blood relatives, but that was their only real connection. Bobbett Conway may have given birth to her, but she had never been maternal by any stretch of the imagination.

She looked at her father. He may not be voted Father of the Year, but at least he’d admitted to loving her; and sometimes he did do nice things for her when she was growing up. Maybe when this difficult situation they found themselves in was over they could actually begin building a solid father/daughter relationship. He’d trusted her enough to tell her where the phones were even after thinking she had betrayed him. She wasn’t about to abuse that trust, no matter how much her mother complained.

She took her phone out of her pocket.

“I’m going to call my godmother now. I think we should go out into the hallway and let my dad rest,” she told David. “I’ll let you know what happens, Muriel.”

“Thank you. I’ll stay here with your father.”

David motioned to Bobbett to follow them from the room.

“I’ll want us to leave here as soon as possible if your godmother says the Pegasus is at her house.”

Suzanne nodded while her mother pressed a hand to David’s arm.

“I just remembered I got seasick on the ferry ride going to the island. I don’t want to go through that again. You can swing by here and pick me up when you get back.”

“We’ll be taking a helicopter.”

“A helicopter? I have a feeling that’ll be even worse. Count me out.”

“I’m not giving you a choice, so make no mistake, you will be going.”

Suzanne’s brows rose at the sound of the determination in his voice. She watched, waiting for her mother’s reaction. Bobbett’s eyes narrowed at him seconds before her cheeks flamed an angry red.

“You can’t tell me what to do!”

“Yes I can when it comes to doing my job. You may think what I do is frivolous, but I take my work very seriously. I’m one of the people being paid to solve this case and protect you while I’m at it. We’ve had some good times together as you said. Let’s not spoil that by fighting now.”

“Your attitude just ended any chance of repeating those good times.”

She flipped a strand of hair over her shoulder in a gesture of angry defiance, while she continued to scowl at him. “I’ll go with you to the island, but once you have those phones, you can forget about us. We’ll be history.”

Suzanne thought she saw a hint of relief on David’s face. Trying to keep her mother happy was a fulltime and usually thankless job. If Thad thought she was difficult to guard how would he have managed to get along with her mother? Beneath all that silicone and skillfully applied makeup beat the heart of a truly self-absorbed woman.

Suzanne made her call. Nesta assured her she and the colonel were doing fine soaking up the sun and spiritual atmosphere in Sedona, Arizona. That and the fact that she hadn’t thrown away the stuffed Pegasus was good news. The bad news was she couldn’t remember where she’d put the toy. She gave some possible locations when Suzanne told her it was urgent that she find it. They said their goodbyes with Nesta’s apologizing for being so forgetful.

David put his hands on his hips and stared at Suzanne. “Well?”

“She’s not quite sure where she put my Pegasus.”

“What’d you expect?” Bobbett pointed a finger at her head. “She’s half senile.”

Suzanne glowered at her.

“She is not!”

She looked at David. “She did give me some ideas where to look. The condo isn’t that big. I’m sure it’ll turn up with three of us searching.”

“Why do I have to help? This isn’t my fiasco. I just want to go back to my normal life.”

Suzanne wanted to tell her mother she’d been dodging bullets while Bobbett was lying by a pool sunning herself. Not to mention that she couldn’t go back to her own house, and she may not have a job if they didn’t find those phones soon. But none of that would probably make a difference to a woman whose sole mission in life centered on bending people to her will.

The truth of that had been difficult to accept when she was growing up. Now with so many others hurting, her mother’s lack of concern for their welfare made Suzanne feel like she’d swallowed a stone that refused to be digested. But why would she expect her mother to care about anyone else when she didn’t even care about her own daughter? Suzanne had always known she’d been born to a woman who thought of her as an inconvenience. Just once she wished her mother would look at her and see a daughter, instead of a burden.

David’s voice broke into her troubled thoughts.

“I said you’re going.”

Bobbett tilted her chin toward him.

“Fine! What are you waiting for? Go ahead and make your super-secret spy arrangements. Just don’t blame me if I end up puking all over your precious helicopter.”

He stared at her for a moment and shook his head before taking his phone out of a pocket.

It was too late to leave by the time all the details were finalized. Plans were made to go in the morning, which meant they would stay at the clinic that night. Suzanne ended up having to share a room with her mother and listen to her constant complaining. The bed was too small and too hard. The sheets smelled like bleach and the room reeked of disinfectant.

She was sure David was probably having a much better night’s sleep without his nagging bedmate.

“Trade me pillows,” Bobbett demanded. “Mine’s too soft.”

Suzanne barely managed to stifle a groan. She’d just as soon pass, if this was supposed to be an example of mother/daughter bonding.

Twenty

Suzanne had a splitting headache from lack of sleep and tension trying to cope with her mother, when morning finally came. She opened the door to David’s knock. He didn’t look as fatigued as she felt, although she thought he seemed a little on edge. Maybe he missed sleeping with her mother after all. Or perhaps he was merely anxious to get started looking for the coveted phones. She knew she certainly was.

“Ready?” he asked. “The car is waiting.”

“Yes.” Suzanne turned to her mother. “Mom?”

Bobbett swept through the doorway, stubbornly ignoring them. David rolled his eyes at Suzanne and led them outside. His arrangements included a chauffeur driven limousine complete with good coffee and an assortment of breakfast rolls, all of which helped to mollify Bobbett for the time being.

The helicopter ride made Suzanne recall the one she’d taken when Thad brought her to the island. It seemed like a lifetime ago. So much had happened since then, and so much still needed to happen. She glanced at her mother and couldn’t help feeling a pang of sympathy.

Bobbett hadn’t been kidding about her problem with motion sickness. Her face was tinged with a sickly pallor. She kept her eyes closed and her fingers fisted in her lap during the flight. Thankfully, she didn’t throw up, much to everyone’s relief.

David hired a cab to take them to Nanadoo’s. Suzanne couldn’t contain her little start of surprise when she realized the driver turned out to be Dewey. But he acted as if he didn’t know her, although her own greeting was warm and friendly. Perhaps he thought she had betrayed her father, too. She sat in the back with her mother and made no further attempt to talk to him, but her insides churned with the need to defend herself.

She found the spare house key in a flowerpot on the patio and almost smiled when she thought of what Thad would have said to Nanadoo about her hiding place. David barely gave them time to get inside before he insisted they start looking for the toy Pegasus.

Suzanne thought it was odd that he didn’t ask about the layout of the house or offer to go check inside first like Thad always did before he entered an unfamiliar place. She also instinctively knew he wouldn’t have used a limo as their transportation because it brought too much attention to them.

But Thad was gone. The responsibility for her protection now lay in David’s hands. She knew she would never get over Thad if she kept thinking about him so much. Her time with him had ended. She would have to learn to put the past behind her and move on like he was most likely doing.

Maybe it would help if she could keep remembering her mother’s words to David last night about them being history. But it was easier for her mother, because she was the one who walked away from a relationship. Suzanne knew she’d personally had more experience at being the one who got left behind.

They searched in all the places Nesta mentioned without any luck. David became increasingly uptight, flinging things aside, and muttering. Suzanne didn’t miss the fact that he wasn’t as sweet natured as she’d taken him for when they’d first met. She supposed she couldn’t fault him for that. He’d been on the case from the very beginning and probably catering to her mother’s every whim. That alone would be enough to make any sane person’s patience begin to wear thin.

Suzanne suggested they take a break and resume looking after lunch. David agreed, but refused to have them leave the house to eat out. She ended up rummaging in the freezer and found a packaged noodle and chicken dish along with some bread rolls. She emptied the chicken mixture into a frying pan, buttered the bread to be toasted in the oven, and poured a jar of pickled mixed beans from the cupboard into a bowl to complete the meal.

Her mother’s contribution, after some prodding was setting the table while David sat there, scanning his phone. Once again Suzanne couldn’t help comparing him to Thad who had cooked an entire gourmet meal, while David sat there complaining that he preferred red meat and potatoes to chicken and pasta.

“You must have misunderstood your father,” David said when he finished eating. “Call the clinic. Ask them to put him on the phone. Maybe you can get some more information out of him.”

Suzanne did as he requested and wasn’t surprised when Muriel said Wendell was asleep and hadn’t revealed anything new. She hung up and shook her head at David.

“No luck. Dad’s asleep and the doctor left orders not to disturb him. Muriel couldn’t add anything.”

David scraped back his chair and got up to pace. Suzanne watched as he walked back and forth repeatedly slapping the flat of a hand against one thigh, until he stopped and faced her again.

“Are you sure you remembered correctly about the horse? Maybe he was talking about another toy.”

“No. It was the Pegasus.”

“How can you be so positive?” he insisted.

“Because it’s one of the few happy memories from my childhood.”

Bobbett’s head snapped up.

“What’s that supposed to mean? I used to take you shopping.”

Her mother had taken her shopping on rare outings, but most everything she bought was usually for herself. God only knows what she would have ended up wearing, Suzanne thought, if it hadn’t been for Nanadoo’s timely arrival when she’d needed clothes for each new school year.

And thank heavens for birthdays and Christmas when that good lady consistently provided her with toys and other gifts. It wasn’t as if her parents never bought her anything, if she was fair. It just never occurred to them that children liked to receive presents from their parents on special occasions. But she’d learned to take what she could get whenever they chose to think of her.

“We’re going to have to go back to the clinic, so you can question your father in person again,” David said cutting short her reminiscing. “I still think you must have missed something.”

“You heard him mention the Pegasus and nothing else. It’s got to be here.”

“Well, we’ve looked everywhere your godmother said it could be. Not that she’s been any help. That’s the trouble with old people. They forget. She probably got rid of it and didn’t bother to tell you.”

“I told you she wouldn’t do that. I can continue looking if you’ll load the dishwasher, Mom.”

“Since when am I your servant?”

David rounded on her.

“Just do it for God’s sake, so we can get the hell out of here.”

“There’s nothing I’d like better. You’ve turned into a real drag, Davy.”

“That makes us even,” he retorted. “I’m going to make arrangements for our return trip.”

“It’s about time,” Bobbett shouted as he turned his back to her.

They reminded Suzanne of two arguing children. She fled upstairs to her old bedroom to avoid having to listen to them. She sat down on the bed thinking about where to continue her search. The Pegasus had to be here somewhere on the premises. Surely her father wouldn’t have lied about that.

Now that she thought about it, he hadn’t actually said the horse was at Nanadoo’s house. He just said the phones were inside the stuffed animal. But it had always been here. Her godmother admitted to being forgetful, but Suzanne knew in her heart she wouldn’t have thrown the treasured toy away.

Nanadoo knew how to gather and keep precious memories, saving them for the times when you needed to have something good to hold onto. Times when you sprinkled your happy thoughts out before you like tiny gems too valuable to put a price on them.

Suzanne stirred and moved her hand on the bedspread. She felt her fingers touch something sharp. Her hand jerked back in surprise while she stared at the tip of something sticking out from beneath one of the small throw pillows on the bed. She snatched the pillow away and barely stopped herself from letting out a cry of alarm when she saw the single black feather.

She stared at the offensive symbol. How did it get there? It had to come after Nanadoo and the colonel left. Suzanne didn’t like the idea of someone being in the house when they were away. On the other hand, it’d be even worse if that someone came while they were here.

Should she tell David? She hadn’t told Thad. She wished she had. But she hated the idea of giving into the Montanes theatrical way of adding more stress to an already stressful situation. She wondered if Thad’s agency knew about the connection between the feathers and the Montanes. Probably. They seemed to have an endless supply of information.

She sat concentrating so hard on the feather that her heart jumped when David called to her, scattering her thoughts like tufts of downy dandelions shedding their globular heads of seeds.

“Did you find anything?”

“No,” she called back quickly, not wanting him to come up here.

“You may as well come down.”

“Okay.”

She wrapped the feather in some tissues and shoved it in her pocket. She would put it in her purse later until she decided what to do with it. She hurried down the stairs.

“Are you sure you didn’t find anything?” David asked, watching her closely.

“Nothing.”

“I see. Well, you took long enough. I thought you might be taking a little nap.”

“Actually, that sounds tempting. I didn’t sleep very well last night,” she said staring at Bobbett.

He looked over at her mother sitting on the sofa filing her nails.

“Now that I can understand.”

“Funny, but I never heard you complaining about your lack of sleep when we were in Cabo, Davy darling,” she said in a sarcastic voice.

“Works both ways, Bobbie darling,” he mocked in return.

Suzanne touched his sleeve drawing his attention to her again hoping to head off a full blown argument between them.

“Did you say we’ll be leaving soon?”

“Yes. The cab will be here in fifteen minutes. I’ve been thinking we didn’t find the Pegasus where your godmother thought it might be because your father probably hid it somewhere else around here.”

“I’m sure you’re right. I hope he hasn’t forgotten where he put it considering all the delirium he’s suffered from being so ill.”

“Let’s not go there. This is the first really good lead we’ve had.”

“I know. I’ll call my godmother and tell her what’s happened.”

Nesta answered on the first ring. “I’ve been waiting to hear from you. Did you find the horse?”

“No.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Do you want us to come home and help you look?”

“No, you stay where you are. David wants us to go back to the clinic now and talk to Dad again. I think he may have moved the Pegasus when he was here.”

“Perhaps. Are you all right? You sound down. You’re not missing that ugly bird James, are you?”

“Heavens, no. By the way, I didn’t know you thought he was an ugly bird.”

“Dumpling, I bet he could stab pickles out of a jar with that nose of his. It’s a wonder he didn’t poke you in the eyes when he kissed you.”

Suzanne managed a brief laugh. “You make me feel good.”

“But not good enough right now. It sounds like a few rose petals have fallen,” Nesta said referring to their old code. “Should I come for you?”

“No. I’ll be fine. I’m just frustrated.”

“Also a little depressed I’m thinking. Are you upset because Thad left? I don’t understand why his agency assigned this David to take over when Thad already invested so much time in looking after you.”

Suzanne forced away the pain of her godmother’s words.

“He asked to leave.”

“He did? I find that difficult to believe after seeing the way he looked at you.”

“I’m not sure what that look conveyed to you, but it couldn’t have had anything to do with affection if that’s what you’re thinking. He told me himself he didn’t want to be around me anymore.”

“Did he now? Well, hmm. Something’s amiss here.”

“I don’t think so. Thad made his feelings quite clear.” Suzanne heard the sound of tears in her voice and knew she had to hang up before she ended up blubbering.

“I have to go now. Our taxi is on its way.”

“All right. Good luck finding the Pegasus. Be sure to let me know what happens.”

“I will. I love you.”

“I love you too, darling.”

Bobbett stood up.

“Ugh, what mush. I’m going to the bathroom to freshen up before we leave.”

“Don’t take too long. The cab will be here soon. Remember we’ve got another helicopter to catch,” David called to her retreating back.

“Don’t worry. I can’t wait to get off this rock and be around people other than you two sour pusses.”

He waited until she closed the door before turning to Suzanne.

“Has she always been like this?”

“Pretty much.”

“Had I known, I may have asked to be assigned to you instead of letting Novak be the lucky one.”

“I doubt if he feels he was all that lucky.”

“I don’t know what happened between you two to make him ask to be reassigned to another case.”

Rosy color brightened her face.