The Billionaire's Secrets (14 page)

“Okay,”
Sophia
said,
her voice little above a whisper. They stood watching as the bird tumbled the last few feet, landing with a dull, painful thud. As Chloe and
Sophia
cautiously approached, the bird tried to stumble to its feet. Chloe could see blood streaking its side and one wing extended awkwardly from its body. It watched their approach warily, its
black
eyes under the white hood of feathers fixed on them with suspicion. “It’s okay,”
Sophia
cooed softly. “We’re going to help you.”

Sophia
’s voice seemed to calm the bird, and it stopped struggling. Instead it drew its wings against its heaving sides, rolled onto its side, and looked at them as if to say
I trust you
. But despite this seeming show of trust, Chloe approached the bird with caution, afraid the bird might lash out at her with its large curved beak or sharp talons.

“I’m going to wrap my coat around it and carry it back to the house. We'll have to take it to a veterinarian immediately.”

“Will it live?”
Sophia
asked in a hushed tone.

“I don’t know,” Chloe answered gently as she removed her coat, the cold wind instantly penetrating her sweater in icy gusts. “I hope so.” Carefully she placed her coat over the bird’s back and neck. It didn’t move. Very slowly, Chloe lifted it and finished wrapping her coat around its sharp claws. She held it against her, finding it to be more awkward than heavy. The bird stayed quiet, the only movement its laboured breathing. Chloe knew the bird was in critical condition. “Go tell Windy what happened, and tell her to get
a
car ready
. We have to get it to the vet
quick!”

“But Windy doesn’t drive,”
Sophia
protested.

Chloe hesitated,
Gaelan’s
words echoing in her mind.
I do not wish to be bothered…
But she had no choice. “Ask Windy to get
Gaelan
then,” she said firmly.

Sophia
looked like she had a moment’s hesitation as well, but a glance at the bird seemed to give her courage and she took off in a run toward the house.

* * *

Unable to concentrate,
Gaelan
put down his pen and went to the window. Windy had brought his lunch in on a tray, but except for the coffee it sat cold and untouched. He scanned the cliffs
,
but Chloe and
Sophia
were nowhere in sight. Windy told him they were going out for a walk when she brought him his lunch. He had made the necessary calls
,
and they supported
Choe's
story. He wondered now if he could start trusting her and let himself explore his feelings for her.

Just then he saw
Sophia
come tearing along the cliff, her hair flying out behind he
r. She stumbled and almost fell
but did not moderate her breakneck pace.
Gaelan
could see this was not a game. She was not running for fun. Something was wrong.  He scanned the cliffs. There was no sign of Chloe, and
Gaelan
felt
a
cold clutch of fear at his heart. Had she been hurt? Where was she?

Without getting his coat, he ran out of the house using the door that faced the cliffs. He rushed out to meet
Sophia
,
and she came straight into his arms. In the unfamiliar gesture he held the girl and, looking into her terrified eyes, demanded to know what happened. “Where’s Chloe?”

Sophia
was so winded and frightened she could hardly speak and, wrenching herself away from
Gaelan
, pointed down the fence line in the direction she had just arrived from.

“Is Chloe hurt?” he demanded. Where the hell was she? He imagined her at the foot of the cliffs, her body smashed against the rocks.

“Get the car!”
Sophia
finally gasped. “We
gotta
get the car!”

Gaelan
tried to interpret
Sophia
’s
word’s
. Did Chloe need the car to get to the hospital?

“Show me where she is,
Sophia
!” he barked and started to run along the cliff as
Sophia
struggled to keep up. Just as he was about to scoop her into his arms, he saw Chloe emerge from a hollow in the headland. He stopped and watched her, a sense of relief flooding through him.

He soon noticed she was coatless and carrying a large bundle in front of her. He stopped and watched her approach, relief very quickly giving way to anger. He was angry with himself for jumping to conclusions so quickly, and he was angry that this woman whom he had know
n
for
a couple of
days
could have such an effect on him.

“What’s that Chloe’s carrying?” he asked
Sophia
.

“It’s a
bald
eagle,” she said, finally regaining her breath. “A man shot it.”

Now
Gaelan
was angry for another reason.
Really angry.
“Christ,” he swore, not caring that
Sophia
heard him.

“We have to get the car. It has to go to the vet!”

Leaving
Sophia
behind,
Gaelan
strode across the headland, and without saying a thing to Chloe, took the bird out of her arms. He laid it on the ground and
unwrapped
the coat.

The bird had been shot alright
,
and looking at it, so close to death,
Gaelan
felt almost blinded by fury. How could anyone possibly justify killing a bald eagle? Not only was it a magnificent animal, the entire species had only recently made it back from the brink of extinction.
             
             

“Take
Sophia
back to the house,” he ordered Chloe, wrapping up the bird again and lifting its near-still body in his arms. “I’m goi
ng to take the bird to the vet
."

“I want to come to!”
Sophia
cried, clearly close to tears.

“No,
Sophia
,” he said sternly. “Go with Chloe.”

As he hurried to the garage for his car, he saw Chloe lean down and comfort the girl. He swore again. He could have done that! It wouldn’t have hurt just to say a few reassuring words to the poor child, so obviously upset. But as usual, he seemed incapable of expressing anything other than impatience with her. It was just that he was
incensed
over the bird as well. And then of course there was the scare he had when he thought it was Chloe
who
was hurt. Funny, he had been so afraid she’d been
injuried
, and yet when he found out she was fine, he didn't say a single word to her.

Once in the car, the bird lying still on the seat beside him, he phoned directory assistance
on his cell
and got the number of the veterinarian in Puffin’s Cove. The vet expressed his dismay and said he would be ready when he arrived.
Gaelan
then phoned the police and the game warden and told them to call his house and ask for Chloe. He did not know whether Chloe had seen the killer or not, but he hoped she’d seen something that would help catch the bastard.

When
Gaelan
finally arrived with the bird, the vet was not hopeful about its chances, but still he told
Gaelan
, as he hooked up an intravenous, that he would do what he could. He would remove the bullet and stop the bleeding and hope for the best. He suggested
Gaelan
call back in a few hours to see how it was doing.

Gaelan
decided to wait in town, preferring not to deal with an upset
Sophia
. He would let Chloe do that, since she was already much better at it than he ever was. He did call Windy on his cell to give her the news before going into the Stinky Cod Pub, a bar that smelled not of codfish but beer. The owner was a burly American named John who had fallen in love with Newfoundland after a vacation to the province
twenty
years earlier. He’d bought the bar when it was a bankrupt fish market and never tired of telling tourists how when he bought it, it did indeed stink of fish.

It was too early in the season for t
ourists, and the few patrons
were locals. They greeted
Gaelan
by name. "Looks like we're going to have some weather," they said. The pub was decorated to appeal to the tourists
,
and the walls were hung with fishing nets, lobster traps, mounted fish, and old advertising signs. But despite the kitschy décor, it was still a favourite of the locals, and the same people were likely to be sitting in
it
on any given day.