There hadn’t been much traffic on 37, and as they approached the interstate that would take them into Bloomington, Eagle asked, “You want to take the scenic route?”
Taylor bit her lip. “Is that dangerous?”
“I don’t think so. I’ve been monitoring the vehicles behind us and haven’t seen anything suspicious,” he said.
“In that case, I’d love to,” Taylor said eagerly. “This part of Indiana is so beautiful. Anytime I can take the back road instead of the interstate, I’m all for it.”
“Great. We’ll get off at Martinsville. There’s a road called Low Gap that I’ve driven before. It goes right through the Morgan-Monroe State Forest. It’s beautiful. We’ll be a little later arriving at the hotel, but I think it’s worth it.”
Taylor sighed in contentment. “If I forget to tell you later, I had a great time this weekend.”
He grinned. “Ditto.”
They drove for a bit, then Taylor asked, “Can I ask you some stuff about Silverstone?”
Eagle immediately nodded. “Yes, but there might be some things I can’t tell you.”
“I know, I’m just curious about how you decide where to go and what missions to take on.”
“Sometimes it’s a simple matter of listening to the news. Other times we consult with our FBI contact. We look at the most-wanted lists, both national and international. We also have contacts around the country who might call and ask us to consider taking something on.”
“Like a referral?” Taylor asked.
“Sort of. Because of our time in the military, we have some Special Forces contacts. For instance, there’s one guy who lives in Pennsylvania—he’s an expert at digital sleuthing,” Eagle told her.
“What does that mean?”
“His computer is his weapon. There’s literally nothing he can’t do with his keyboard. He can find people no matter where they are and track down the smallest bits of information. He’s a miracle worker, and my team and I were grateful for his help when we were on active duty. He’s asked us for a few favors since we formed Silverstone, and we haven’t hesitated to grant them.”
“He sounds impressive,” Taylor said.
“He is. He’s helped us gather intel before missions a time or two, and been spot on with his info every time. There’s another guy out in Colorado who specializes in finding missing women and children. His own wife was kidnapped when they were on vacation in Las Vegas over a decade ago. He was frustrated with the lack of information generated by the authorities, so he formed his own team to rescue people who’ve been kidnapped into the sex trade.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, the best part is that he did eventually find his wife—alive. It took ten years, but they’re now living happily ever after in Colorado.”
Taylor’s eyes filled with tears. She had no idea why she was so emotional over a couple she’d never met, but she was. “That’s . . . I don’t know what to say.” They’d turned onto the scenic road now, and it was as pretty as Eagle had promised. The densely packed trees on either side of them lent an additional aura of intimacy to their conversation, as did the frequent gentle curves in the road.
Eagle squeezed her hand. “Silverstone had never said yes so fast when he called and asked us to go down to Peru to take care of the leader of the sex trafficking ring that had taken his wife.”
“Really?” Taylor whispered. “You killed him?”
Eagle nodded once.
At that, she started crying harder.
“Tay?” Eagle asked with concern. “I’m sorry! I never would’ve said anything if I knew you’d get so emotional.”
“I’m just so proud of you,” she choked out. “You probably saved so many people.”
Eagle shrugged. “Unfortunately, someone will step in to replace him. They always do.”
“I know, but that man and his wife have to be so relieved, knowing her tormentor won’t ever come after her again.”
“They are,” Eagle said with confidence.
“I love you,” Taylor told him. “I know I’m probably supposed to be appalled and think that what you do is morally wrong . . . but I can’t. I was never abused sexually when I was growing up—which was a miracle, considering how many foster homes I lived in—but I knew other kids who had been. I’ll never understand how adults can think that’s okay. Never. But knowing there are people like you and your team, and like the man who lives out in Colorado, who are fighting for the less fortunate . . . it makes me feel good.”
“I’m glad.”
“I talked to Skylar about Silverstone when you were on your last mission, and she told me a bit about her kidnapping. But what intrigued me most was the rating scale.”
“The one-to-ten thing?” Eagle asked.
“Yeah.”
“Bull told us about that.”
“It makes more sense now that you told me about the sex trafficking guy. Anyone who would keep a woman hostage for a decade is most definitely a ten,” Taylor said with feeling, wiping the last of her tears off her face.
“All of us have different definitions of that scale,” Eagle said.
“You do?”
“Yeah. Of course terrorists like Khatun and Mullah are tens. Their entire goal was to kill as many Westerners as possible. And that piece-of-shit sex trafficker was up there too. But while Bull might consider Ricketts, the pedophile who kidnapped Skylar, a three . . . I don’t.”
“What would you rank him?”
Eagle sighed. “Are you sure you want to talk about this?”
Taylor nodded.
“Okay. I would’ve classified him as an eight and a half—and I wouldn’t have had any problem taking him out. He wasn’t a serial killer, but he was a serial child molester. And in almost every case, men like him don’t just grow out of that. The more they do it, the more they like it. If he’d have gotten away with Sandra, he wouldn’t have let her go. He would’ve abused her until she got too old for him, then he would’ve found someone else. And the cycle would have continued.
“I’m babbling a little, but basically, taking the future away from just one child could have a ripple effect on everyone he or she might’ve touched in their future. That’s why I wouldn’t have hesitated to put a bullet in his head.”
Taylor listened in fascination. She hadn’t really thought about it that way before.
“Did I scare you?” Eagle asked. “You’re being quiet.”
“No. I just hadn’t thought about it in that light.”
“And I’ll tell you something else,” Eagle added.
When he didn’t immediately speak, Taylor squeezed his hand. “Yeah?”
“Anyone who dares fuck with you is an automatic ten to me.”
Taylor’s eyes got big, and she stared at him. Eagle’s attention was on the road in front of him, but she saw a muscle in his jaw clench. She wasn’t sure what to say, but she didn’t have to say anything, because he went on.
“I don’t mean someone who merely says crap to you, because it’s not like I’m gonna kill anyone for that. But I’ll defend you, and I will make sure they know if they ever disrespect you again, they’ll regret it. I’m talking about physical violence against you. If someone thinks they can rob you, or break into our home, or in any way cause physical hurt to you . . . I’ll end them.”