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Sky nodded. The hawk’s eyes were brown, sharp and missing nothing. Her long, yellow claws were dug deeply into the falconer’s glove, and she saw why they were padded in order to protect a person’s arm. “She’s huge.”
“She is a Buteo hawk, Daughter. If you have ever seen a Red Tail hawk? They are near the same size to one another. She weighs around 2.7 pounds and she prefers reptiles, is a lethal snake killer, and will indulge upon small mammals, also. If she could not find any other food, she would dine relentlessly on insects found in the woodlands where she ranges.” Yerik grinned. “I like to fly her against snakes. She is phenomenally skilled at killing them. It is quite a spectacle in and of itself. Reminds me of the gladiatorial fights in Rome’s famous arena.” He held out his glove and the falconer placed his nearby. The White Hawk hopped over to Yerik’s glove.
Sky saw the hawk had soft leather jesses around her stout, strong looking yellow legs. Yerik casually wrapped the jesses around two fingers of his glove and proudly turned, smiling toward her.
“Now, my dear, I will transfer Casca to your glove. It’s important that you give her an unmoving perch so she can relax and not have to be flapping around, trying to always get her balance. Rest your elbow against your hip. It will steady your forearm and will not tire you out as quickly. Once I make the transfer, just quietly and slowly reach up for her jesses and unwind them from around my fingers. That way, if she begins to flap or try to fly away during the transfer, I still have a hold of her jesses and she cannot escape.”
Sky felt sorry for the beautiful, huge hawk. She too was a captive of Yerik’s. The transfer went without incident. After wrapping the jesses around three of her fingers, Yerik nodded, pride in his eyes.
“This was one thing I could never share with Vlad. I had him put into foster care at a very young age to protect his life against my enemy factions who would have loved to have kidnapped and killed him.” Yerik sighed. “By giving up my son, though it was to keep him hidden from other Russians who were fighting me for supremacy in our mafia, I gave up much.” His eyes twinkled. “But at least I get to share this passion of mine with you, daughter. Vlad would be happy that you are here, learning how to work with hawks and falcons.”
Her stomach turned, but Sky only nodded. She hated that he called her daughter or daughter-in-law. The man was insane. Did Yerik think she was falling for that manipulation? That she was a part of his evil, sadistic family? Sky smiled slightly. She’d ruthlessly observed Yerik, and it was something she was good at because she’d developed the ability early on as a child. It kept her from getting abused by her drugged-out father. Later, it kept her safe from Vlad’s repeated, constant attempts to touch her, try to kiss her or catch her in a closet where she couldn’t escape from him. “I didn’t know Vlad had an interest in falconry.”
“No, you wouldn’t. He loved you, but there were many secrets he carried. I would send him photos and videos to his cell phone when I would fly a hawk or falcon from one of my mews. He got to enjoy it secondarily.” Yerik’s voice dropped and he smiled softly at her. “You have NO idea how much this day means to me, Sky. To see you standing there…,” and he turned away, quickly wiping his eyes.
She wanted to vomit. Sky tried so hard to not allow her reaction to show. When Yerik turned around to look at her once more, he shrugged.
“I can see you are touched by this, also, Sky.”
“I am,” she forced out, trying to sound properly emotional. “I hope Vlad is watching us. Seeing this day unfold, I’m sure he’s happy about it.” Sky saw Yerik’s face grow grief-stricken. More tears glimmered in his eyes, threatening to fall.
“You have no idea what your words, spoken from your heart, mean to me,” and Yerik started to reach out, but stopped himself. Allowing his hand to fall to his side, he rallied. “Come, I want you to fly Casca. I will walk to the other end of the flight oval. Juan will stay with you, teach you how to launch her and how to stand to allow her to fly back to your gauntlet.”
Her stomach rolled with nausea. Sky was relieved when Yerik turned and walked quickly to the other end of the quarter mile oval carved out of the jungle that surrounded them. She vaguely touched her belly, feeling the nausea finally subside, blaming it on her careening nerves tearing through her. She hated Alexandrov. And worse, he’d almost reached out to touch her in his moment of emotional weakness. She NEVER wanted him to touch her! Not EVER!
When Sky arrivedat the villa an hour later, she saw a petite woman with black hair piled up on her head waiting for them in the den. She wore a white lab coat over a conservative blue pant suit. She didn’t recognize her, but Yerik seemed pleased to see her as he walked into the den.
“Ah, Dr. Allegra Zapato! Welcome, welcome. Thank you for taking the time from your busy practice to come for a visit. Come, I want to introduce you to a very dear friend of mine, Sky Lambert. Sky, this is Dr. Zapato.”
Sky moved forward and shook the doctor’s hand. The woman was in her mid-forties, attractive, with light brown eyes. She was petite and shorter than Sky. Allegra’s hands were long and thin. “Hello, Dr. Zapato.”
“Now,” Yerik said, smiling at them, “she is a very, very famous doctor from San Jose, where she has a huge practice. I’ve persuaded Allegra to allow me to fly her by helicopter up to the villa to come and give you a physical, my dear.”
Blinking, Sky frowned. “Why?” She looked at the doctor, who seemed tense. Her golden face was neutral, however, her full lips somewhat compressed.
“My dear child,” Yerik murmured, “you’ve been throwing up and you are saying you are tired nearly every afternoon. I am concerned for you, of course. I have brought you the best woman physician in Central America to take a few blood tests, a urine sample, and perform a quick physical exam to ensure you are all right.” He gave her a pleading look. “Sky, I have just found you. Your health is important to me for many reasons. Please? Will you go with the doctor? I am told this won’t take long. And you will make me very, very happy.”
Sky frowned. She was vomiting because her nerves were raw and on edge. She was exhausted by midday because she couldn’t sleep at night knowing a man was watching her on a video. But she couldn’t say any of that. “Well… all right.” Maybe, just maybe, the doctor would give her information she could use.
“Oh,” Yerik said, sliding his hand around Allegra’s elbow, “I must be forthcoming and tell you, doctor, that the examination room has cameras and audio. In all fairness to you, I always have such sessions taped. It stops assumptions and I can view the video at my leisure. That way, we are on the same page. Yes?”
Sky saw the doctor frown slightly.
“Of course, Don Tobar. I don’t normally allow such a thing, but if you insist…”
Yerik led her toward the stairs where the butler stood. “You must understand, Doctor, that Sky is very, very important to me. We had spoken earlier of what I wanted done for her. You do remember our conversation?”
“Yes, of course I do,” Allegra said, pulling her elbow away from his hand and taking the stairs in her sensible white sandals. “I will do as you directed.”
“Wonderful,” Yerik murmured. He smiled as Sky took the steps, following the butler and doctor.
Sky dressed in a pink, knee length gown in the bathroom next to the examination room. She hadn’t known until right now that this medical room had existed. It seemed to her as if this place was a small city that had exactly what it needed to exist without outside help. Even the electricity was created by massive generators, quiet and far away from the main house. In the exam room, there was another woman, Galena Vidales, an RN, who was there to assist Allegra. Sky thought it strange, and she was wary. Were these two women working for Alexandrov? The placed was bugged and cameras were rolling. She couldn’t just speak openly and directly question either of them. Nurse Vidales gestured for her to come sit on the end of the massive examination table. Sky did so. She had peed in the bottle while changing, and handed it to the nurse, who thanked her. Several vials of blood were drawn from her.
The women were efficient but said little. She felt the tension in the room. No one liked being videotaped. Allegra gave her a slight smile as she listened to her heart, to her lungs, and pronounced her healthy and normal.
“Please lie down,” the doctor instructed. She pulled out metal stirrups from the end of the examination table.
Sky knew what they were going to do. “No.”
