The Black Feather by Olivia Claire High

cover to escape him after she seemed so upset about having her other friends involved in this chase to find her father. His hands clenched on his knees, as the taxi slowed to a halt.
    “This is where I dropped her off,” the cab driver said, breaking into Thad’s thoughts.
    “At this house?”
    “ No. She walked down that way,” the man pointed. “Looks like someone’s having a party down there. I figured she was either crashing the shindig, or maybe trying to surprise someone.”
    “Sounds like it.” Thad handed him the fare, with a generous tip.
    “Thanks. You want me to wait? This extra just bought you more time on the meter.”
    “No. I’ll take it from here.”
    The driver shrugged.
    “Your call, Ace,” he said, holding up the money. “Thanks for the extra dough.”
     
    Thad stepped out of the taxi and started jogging in the direction the driver had indicated. He kept to the shadows and stopped when he came to the party house. Once his sources had located the cabbie and this area, they’d also discovered she actually lived in this neighborhood at one time during her childhood.
    Thad checked the number on the house in front of him. It didn’t match the address he was looking for. Next door would if the numbers were running in the correct sequence.
    He walked there, careful to stay out of the glare of the streetlights, and verified what he already knew to be true. This was her old place, but it looked deserted. Who had Suzanne phoned that she didn’t want him to know about – someone at the party house? His gut told him otherwise.
    He had a feeling she came to her old house to meet someone, and that person was most likely her father. Had she been lying when she said she didn’t know how to get a hold of him? Was she waiting, knowing her dad would be contacting her? If he was right about that then Suzanne was a better actor than she’d accused him of being.
    Her father had probably been manipulating Suzanne and twisting her emotions to his advantage since she was a kid. It looked like she was just another pawn to a man who used people for his own benefit. The idea disgusted him and made him feel sorry for her. But she was an adult now, and it was time she broke free from whatever hold her parent had on her. That’d be up to her. He had more important things on his mind than playing counselor to Suzanne’s dysfunctional family.
    He ducked around large bushes and headed along the edge of the lawn before he vaulted over the railing and landed on the porch. Thad wasn’t surprised to find the door locked and a quick check in the front windows showed nothing but dark rooms behind the grimy panes.
    Suzanne hadn’t gone in this way unless she had somehow obtained a key. She’d either used a side window or one in back to gain her entry, if she actually went inside. He jumped down off the porch and slid around back checking the perimeter of the house as he went. His search didn’t turn up a single clue that anyone had been here. The yard at both sides of the house needed trimming; but the back was a virtual forest of plants literally gone wild without the hand of man to cut them back.
    Thad moved slowly keeping his senses alert, as he eluded the lights streaming over the fence from the neighbor’s house. He’d find Suzanne if she was still here and demand an explanation. He knew she would give him some flak and that was just too damn bad. He wasn’t going to back down until she told him everything. No more Mr. Nice Guy. He had let his emotions cloud his judgment, and allowed himself to have faith in her. His mistake caused him to let down his guard and forget this was a job, not a courtship.
    How many times was he going to have to keep telling Suzanne it would make things a lot easier for them both if she would realize he only wanted to keep her safe and help find her father? Thad supposed this was what people meant by that old saying about blood being thicker than water. She insisted on putting him in