Chapter One
Eagle sighed in frustration. He really hated grocery shopping. It was a task assigned to Shawn Archer, Silverstone Towing’s newly hired cook, but he’d been given the week off with pay to spend with his daughter. Both of them needed it after what they’d been through. It would be a very long time before the man was comfortable letting Sandra out of his sight again.
Eagle couldn’t blame him. If his child had been kidnapped, he’d have a hard time letting her do anything without him. It had been a very close call with Ricketts. The man had almost taken the most important thing in Shawn’s life.
But the time off for their new employee meant that Eagle was back to doing the grocery shopping for the week. He could ask one of his friends to do it, and they would without issue, but since he’d always shopped for Silverstone Towing, he felt an obligation to continue.
He turned down the street where the grocery store was located and pulled into the lot.
The moment he parked, the lot suddenly filled with police cars.
Clearly something had happened, and Eagle sighed again. Of course he couldn’t go to the store without there being some incident or another.
He got out of his Jeep Wrangler, glad that he’d parked in one of the farthest spaces from the store and wasn’t in the thick of whatever was happening, and waited a few minutes before slowly walking toward the chaos, letting the officers do their thing. Eagle and the rest of his teammates knew a lot of the officers who worked for the Indianapolis Police Department. They didn’t work side by side with them, but Silverstone had offered its services a time or two.
As Eagle headed for the two closest officers, he noticed a woman standing by herself nearby with her arms around her stomach. She was biting her lip . . . and the expression on her face hit him like a punch to the gut. It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen nervous or scared women before. He had, both in his job at Silverstone Towing and when he had been in the military. But this woman seemed to be holding herself. She was uncomfortable, but he could also see resignation in her body language. As if she expected everyone in the vicinity to turn on her at any second.
It bothered Eagle deep down. He didn’t like to see anyone look so . . . alone.
He’d never seen her before. Eagle would know if he had. He remembered every single person he’d ever met. His brain was wired differently from most people’s, and he had a photographic memory when it came to names and faces. It was one of the reasons he was so invaluable to his team at Silverstone. He’d spent hours studying most-wanted lists, and if they ever came across someone on the lists, Eagle would know it.
The woman was average height, probably around five-seven or five-eight. She had on a pair of well-worn jeans, scuffed Converse sneakers, and a long-sleeve T-shirt. Her brown hair was curly and held back by a hairband, but even that couldn’t seem to contain the curls.
Eagle had the insane urge to touch it, to see if his fingers got tangled in the wild strands.
She glanced up for a split second and caught his eye, and Eagle barely contained a gasp. The resignation was even stronger in her eyes. As if she expected him to judge her. Her eyes were dark brown—from this distance almost black. Even as he stared, he saw her bite her lip again, uncertainly.
And oddly, he hated that too. Hated that she was nervous, especially after seeing him. She didn’t know it, of course, but he was as dangerous to her as a rock. He didn’t hurt women . . . well, not those who weren’t criminals. And Eagle’s gut was telling him that this woman had lived a tough life and that she was no threat to him or anyone else.
“Hey, Eagle!” one of the officers called. Eagle recognized him as Emmanuel Brown, an officer he’d worked with in the past. The greeting snapped him out of his inspection of the woman. He had no idea who she was or why she was standing there . . . but he was going to find out.
He turned toward the policeman and gave him a small head jerk. “Hey. What’s going on?”
“Altercation in the parking lot. Apparently two people wanted the same parking spot, and when one guy pulled into the space, the other guy took exception. He claimed he’d been waiting for it. They started fighting. One guy pulled a knife, and they both ended up bleeding. After they go to the hospital, they’re both getting charged.”
Eagle whistled. “Sounds messy.” He really wanted to ask about the woman, but bit his tongue.
“It was. Crazy thing was that there was an empty space just two cars down. I’ll never understand people,” Officer Brown said with a shake of his head.
“Luckily there were lots of witnesses,” another officer added. His badge said Nelson. Eagle hadn’t worked with him before.
“Yeah?” Eagle murmured, encouraging the man to keep talking.
“Yup. Got statements from five bystanders, and it seems clear the man who was pissed he didn’t get the spot started the whole thing.”
He couldn’t stand it anymore. Eagle motioned to the woman who’d caught his eye. “She a witness?”
Both officers looked over at the woman, then back to him.
Officer Nelson nodded. “Yeah.”
“What’s she waiting for?” Eagle asked. “I don’t see any other witnesses around.”
“Most have already left. We got their contact information if need be. But we’re waiting for the approval of the captain to let that one go. She was right there from the second everything started, so she’s the best witness, but there’s an issue.”
Officer Brown snorted. “That’s an understatement. She’s claiming she’s got some disability—I don’t remember what she called it—where she can’t recognize faces. I guess it’s some kind of 50 First Dates kind of thing . . . remember that movie? With Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore? It’s hilarious. Anyway, sucks that she’ll be no use as a witness. She won’t be able to pick out the two perps in a lineup or if this shit goes to court. So we’re trying to figure out if we should officially turn in her statement or just go with what we’ve already got.”
Eagle couldn’t help the surge of curiosity at hearing the officer’s explanation. She couldn’t recognize faces? God, there were times he wished he didn’t immediately recognize people. “How long has she been standing there?”
Both officers shrugged.
Irritated on behalf of the woman, he made sure his facial expression showed nothing of what he was feeling. “Any problem if I go talk to her?”
“Nope. We expect to hear from the captain any minute now, and I’m guessing she’ll be off the hook. No lawyer’s gonna want to bring her in as a witness. She’d be torn apart by the defending attorney.”
“What’s her name?” Eagle asked.
“Taylor Cardin.”
Eagle hadn’t heard the woman’s name before, but because of his unique ability, he knew he’d never forget it. “Thanks. Stay safe out there,” he told the two men before turning and heading for the woman.
Taylor had been watching him talk to the officers and kept her eyes on him as he approached. She didn’t wait for him to get to her before she spoke.
“I’ve already told the officers everything I saw.”
“I know,” Eagle told her. He held out his hand once he was in front of her. “I’m Eagle. Well, my real name is Kellan, but no one calls me that.”