She remembered the time he carried her out of the woods when she twisted her ankle. The Christmas card he wrote to her when he was eight and she was seven, telling her how much he loved her and would always protect her. Everyone said that time would help heal the grief of her brother's death, but right now, she didn't want healing, just revenge. Pain had brought her this far and would easily carry her through the next two days.

Elise wasn't a master falconer like Annette or Jules. She had never been able to put in the time, running the family electronics company. But her fascination with the birds, especially these birds, was there nonetheless. So she watched as the two birds paid close attention to Annette.

The giant raptors might not understand what she was doing, but from a hundred feet away, their eyes could see the etched writing on the dime-size battery in Annette's hand better than Annette could at arm's length. After replacing the final battery with a new one, Annette collected both of the tiny transmitter collars off her makeshift plywood table and started briskly toward her curious pupils. They would not want to be kept waiting.

Long, fat drops of water were falling from the high domed ceiling of the indoor tennis court. Several small puddles were forming on the cracked clay surface. Over the last few months, she and Annette had become accustomed to the dingy, peeling white paint, pitted electrical conduits, spider webs, rodent droppings, and dank air.

The milky skylights were always loud when it rained, but they still allowed adequate light in…more than enough for the eagles. "Easy now, my loves," Annette said, as her experienced hands slipped the newly-energized collars around each one of the golden eagle's soft necks. The dark collars all but vanished beneath the shadows of their deep auburn feathers. "Just a few more minutes," she said caringly.

The giant raptors each stood strapped to heavy wood perches, busily hitching their heads and stretching their wings. Magnificent animals. The best she had ever trained.