The Black Feather Read Online Free Page B

determined to help. She eased herself up onto the seat keeping her body bent low, as she faced Thad. “Please at least let me shove this under your shirt.”
    “No. We’ll be in the clear soon now.”
    “I’m happy to hear it. But in the meantime I want to try and plug up your leak.”
    “Forget about that, but you can drive as long as you insist on being up here.”
    “What!?”
    “You heard me. I’m getting tired of being used as target practice. Grab the wheel while I do something about that. Lucky for us they’re lousy shots.” 
    Suzanne grappled with the wheel sending the Jeep wobbling over the trail like a malfunctioning pendulum. “Lousy? That’s not exactly tomato juice on your shirt.”
    Her mouth gaped open when Thad reached beneath the driver’s seat, pulled out a gun, twisted around, and took aim. The sound of it firing so close to her head made her ears ring.
    “One down, one to go,” he said with a steely calm Suzanne couldn’t help envying.
    “I think you just broke my eardrum, and I’m not sure how much longer I can control the Jeep at this speed,” she yelled gripping the wheel so hard her knuckles ached.
    “You’re doing fine,” Thad said, as more bullets flew back and forth.
    “Great, because I’m . . . ow!” she yelled while struggling to retain control of the wheel.
    White-hot pain ripped into her shoulder tearing a jagged line through the thin material of her blouse, burning the smooth flesh beneath. Suzanne stared, while blood crept over peach silk spreading across the fabric in a vivid red pattern.
    “Suzanne!” Thad shouted her name. “Oh, Jesus!”
    She shifted her eyes from her driving to his startled expression.
    “I . . . I think I’ve been shot.”
    Shock, fear, and the sight of her own blood made the inside of her head spin with dizziness. She blinked a few times struggling to focus her eyes while dots danced across her vision. Red became a gray mist, Gray began to fade, growing darker, taking with it all the surrounding light.
    Suzanne thought she heard Thad calling to her again, but she couldn’t be sure. Her body felt heavy and her hands slid away from the steering wheel. She was falling, tumbling helplessly into empty space. The jungle swirled around her and the ground rushed up to meet her seconds before a sudden sharp pain burst inside her head.
    Everything turned to black.
    Silent and black.
    Engulfed by deepening shadows, she closed her eyes and slid into the void.
    Her last coherent thought was how the bullet hole and bloodstain had probably ruined her new blouse.
     

 
     
     
     
    Three
     
    “ Come on Suzanne, open those pretty green eyes and let me know you hear me.”
    A man’s voice penetrated her fogged brain. James? No, it sounded too deep to belong to her ex-fiancé. She struggled to answer, but couldn’t get the words out. The voice persisted.
    “Come on, sweetheart.”
    She was a child again. She’d fallen off her bike while visiting her father and bruised her shoulder. It hurt so much she couldn’t help crying. He’d comforted her. Had she fallen again?
    “Daddy?” she muttered.
    “No, but I’ll be your daddy if you’ll open your eyes and talk to me.”
    It took a lot of effort, but Suzanne finally managed to drag her eyelids open. She groaned when she realized it was Thad leaning over her.
    “Ugh, it’s you.”
    “Oh good, you recognize me.”
    She turned her head, so she wouldn’t have to look at him.
    “Go away, and let me die in peace.”
    “You’re not dying. How’s the shoulder feel?”
    “Like a huge gorilla took a bite out of it. He’s also pounding on my head.”
    “I’m pretty sure there aren’t any gorillas living around here.”
    “Oh shut up.”
    She looked at Thad again and touched her temple.
    “I know why my shoulder hurts, but why do I have a bandage on my head?”
    “You fell out of the Jeep and hit your head on an exposed tree root before I could grab you.”
    “Well, that was clumsy of