“Holy crap!” Taylor gasped again.
“Yeah. He tried to pretend he wasn’t Mullah, but I knew who he was the second I laid eyes on him.”
“Because you’d seen his name and face before.”
Eagle couldn’t read her tone, but he nodded anyway. “Yes. I always study the FBI Most Wanted lists before every mission, just in case.”
Taylor hadn’t moved her hand from his arm, and she squeezed it gently. “That’s amazing,” she told him softly. “I mean, what an asset for your team and country.”
She looked a little sad, and that wasn’t what Eagle wanted. Not at all. “I’m not telling you this to make you feel bad,” he told her.
“I know you aren’t, and I’m okay,” she reassured him. “There are times, however, it’s really brought home to me how much of a disadvantage I have.”
“There’s more to life than being able to recognize terrorists,” Eagle told her.
“I know. But you obviously have the ability you do for a reason. A very good one.”
Eagle pressed his lips together for a moment. He’d always taken what he could do for granted. Had never really thought about it much . . . until he’d met Taylor and understood there were people who were exactly the opposite. He should’ve realized it way before now, but it just hadn’t occurred to him. He cleared his throat and continued.
“Anyway, we killed Mullah too. There was no way we could’ve left him there. The Mujahideen would’ve promoted him, and I honestly believe he was worse than Khatun. There was just something in his eyes that made it clear he hated everything about the Western world and wouldn’t be happy until he’d killed as many people as possible.”
“I do vaguely remember reading about all that,” Taylor said. “I mean, I’m not much of a news watcher, and I was in my early twenties, so it wasn’t exactly on my radar, but there was some sort of big kerfuffle about them both being killed, wasn’t there?”
Eagle snorted. “Yeah, there was a kerfuffle, all right,” he told her. “The bottom line was that the Army wasn’t happy with us for killing Mullah. Our only mission was to take out Khatun. We obviously weren’t supposed to be in Pakistan in the first place.”
“If you tell me you got in trouble for that, I’m gonna get mad,” Taylor said fiercely.
Eagle felt a warmth move over him. He was used to people thanking him for his service in the military, but hearing Taylor defending him and his team without hesitation felt good. He put his hand over hers on his arm and squeezed. “We were reprimanded. Our Delta team was disbanded, and we were going to be separated, sent to bases all over the States. Then, when our reenlistment dates came around, we were going to be barred from being in the Army any longer.”
“That’s bullshit!” Taylor blurted. “Seriously, they should’ve given you guys medals, commendations. To kick you out of the Army is ridiculous! I mean, that’s like telling the fastest runner in the world he’s not allowed to compete anymore, that even though he could win the Olympics, he won’t be allowed. Or . . . telling a world-renowned brain surgeon that he can no longer do the complicated surgeries that would save people’s lives, that he could only open a family practice and treat people with the sniffles. Gah, I’m so pissed for you, Eagle!”
Eagle couldn’t help but smile. He loved how passionate Taylor was.
“Tell me you protested and they changed their minds,” she demanded.
Eagle shook his head. “We did, and they didn’t,” he said. But before she could break into another tirade, he went on. “The night we learned our fate, we were drowning our sorrows at a local bar, and a guy came in. Picture it—we were in a dive bar filled with dangerous-looking men, and in comes a Fed wearing a crisp white shirt and slacks, complete with spit-shined black shoes. But no one harassed the dude. He knew all about what had happened on our mission in Pakistan—and about the hearing we’d just had that day. And to know about both those things meant he had some serious connections.
“I’d never seen him before, which irritated me. I knew who a lot of the big players in the FBI were. I’d made a point to know. He said he worked for the FBI and Homeland Security and told us that he could get us out of our obligation to the Army the next day.”
“What was the catch?” Taylor asked, interrupting him.
Eagle snort-laughed again. He hadn’t thought he’d be laughing while telling this story. Not a chance. But Taylor had surprised him . . . in a good way. “That’s exactly what I asked,” he told her. “The guy somehow knew Smoke had inherited this garage from his uncle, along with a shit ton of money. He suggested we come here to Indianapolis and make a go of Silverstone . . . while still doing what we do best, with the help of the FBI and Homeland Security.”
When Taylor’s facial expression didn’t change, he went on. “We talked about it and knew we’d never be able to make an actual garage work, as none of us knew anything about cars. Smoke suggested we make it a towing operation. So we did. Silverstone Towing opened, and we got to stay together as a team. We work with the FBI and Homeland Security—unofficially, of course. We get to decide who to go after and when.”
There. He’d gotten it out. Taylor hadn’t gotten up and stormed out of the room. He was counting that as a good thing.
“And?” she asked.
“And what?” Eagle asked.
“That’s what you wanted to tell me?”
Eagle was confused. “Yeah.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” he asked.
“Yes.” Taylor shrugged.
“I don’t think you understand,” Eagle said. “My team and I use this room to research terrorists and drug dealers—the guys at the head of the organizations—serial killers and sex traffickers. We decide who we want to take out, and plan missions to do so. We’re assassins,” he said bluntly. None of them liked that term, but he needed to be absolutely clear with Taylor.
She leaned forward and met his gaze without flinching. “Good,” she stated. “Someone has to, and it’s obvious that you and your friends are very good at what you do. If you think I’m going to be upset that you’re ridding the world of horrible, awful people, you’re wrong. I know I’m not exactly worldly, but I remember reading after the fact about all the atrocities Khatun and Mullah had committed. They’d had no remorse for it, didn’t care that the people they’d killed had families who loved them and were devastated. As far as I’m concerned, they deserved to be assassinated. I’ve always been thankful for our military men and women, but I’m even more so now.”
Eagle closed his eyes and bowed his head. Every time he’d imagined telling Taylor what he did, he’d never thought this would be how she’d react. He’d thought she might be confused, worried, even disgusted, but immediately accepting? No.
“It’s dangerous, isn’t it?” she asked softly.
Eagle opened his eyes and looked at her. He nodded. He wouldn’t lie about it.
“Yeah, of course it is,” she muttered.
“I trust Bull, Smoke, and Gramps with my life,” he tried to reassure her.