by Susan Stoker
His excitement over what was coming was too much to think about, and Brett exploded all over his hand.
“Donald?” he heard his mother call out from upstairs.
He scowled in disgust. Donald was his father, who’d been dead for over two decades. He hated that his mother was so pathetic. But he couldn’t kill her. One, it would bring him no satisfaction; she wouldn’t even understand what was happening. And two, he needed her social security and disability checks.
He’d keep the old bitch alive for as long as possible, and in the meantime, he’d take his enjoyment where he could get it.
After zipping up his pants, Brett wiped his hand on the cot and then stood, liking the thought of his Taylor lying on his come. With a satisfied grin on his face, Brett headed up the stairs to deal with his mother. He’d give her some drugs to knock her out, then he could come back downstairs and fantasize about seeing Taylor again.
Chapter Eight
Taylor could barely open her eyes the next morning. They were swollen from crying all night. She’d only slept in snippets; nightmares kept waking her up.
She leaned over and picked up her phone and reread Eagle’s text . . . and knew that she’d overreacted. Yes, his words had upset her, but instead of admitting it, and talking with Eagle like an adult, she’d said things she hadn’t meant, then run away like she was ten years old.
She’d also refused to text him back and let him know she’d made it home all right. But now in the light of day, instead of feeling as if she’d somehow “won,” she just felt like shit. Guilty that maybe he’d worried about her all night, and ashamed that she’d reacted like she had rather than explaining how much he’d hurt her feelings.
Her head ached, and Taylor knew she wasn’t going to get much work finished until she’d done what she could to make things right with Eagle. She pulled herself out of bed and headed for her shower. She could text him back, but she wanted to talk to him face to face. Wanted to tell him in person how much his words had cut her, but also let him know that she forgave him.
She needed Eagle in her life. She’d give him a second chance because she truly believed he was sorry for what he’d said.
After her shower, Taylor felt a little better. She put on a pair of jeans and an old comfortable sweatshirt. She brushed her hair and ignored the way her curls seemed to be more out of control than ever.
She headed for the kitchen, scooping up her phone along the way. Her plan was to eat breakfast, then haul her ass over to Eagle’s apartment. If he wasn’t there, she’d go to Silverstone to find him.
She’d just opened her refrigerator when there was a knock on her door.
Frozen in place and barely daring to breathe, she couldn’t help but think about Eagle’s words from the night before. Was this the guy who called himself Thanatos, come to hurt her like Eagle had said? It was an absurd thought, but now that the seed had been planted, and she could admit how stupidly she had acted yesterday, Taylor couldn’t move.
It was too early for anyone to be at her door. Six thirty in the morning wasn’t a time most normal people showed up at someone’s apartment.
Staring at the door across the room as if it would somehow magically disappear and she’d come face to face with an ax-wielding murderer, Taylor jerked when the phone she still had in her hand vibrated.
She quickly looked down, ready to silence it, fearing that whoever was on the other side of the door would inexplicably be able to hear the vibrations.
Instead, she blinked in surprise at the text that had just arrived.
Eagle: It’s me, Flower. I’m at your door. Are you awake? Let me in. Please?
What was Eagle doing there so early in the morning? Shit, was something wrong? Was he about to leave on a mission? Taylor would never forgive herself if that was the case and she childishly refused to see him. She’d already decided to find and talk to him anyway.
Closing the fridge, she hurried over to her front door and peered through the peephole. It was a stupid habit—of course she wouldn’t recognize anyone standing there. But the man wasn’t carrying a bloody ax, and he kept running his hand through his hair exactly the way Eagle did.
She kept the chain on the door and cracked it open. “Eagle?”
“Yeah, Flower, it’s me. Can we talk?”
Without a word, she closed the door, took off the chain, and reopened it, gesturing for Eagle to come inside.
His shoulders were slumped, and he looked as tired as she felt.
The second the door was shut, Taylor said, “I’m sorry.”
He said the same thing at the exact same time.
They looked at each other for a heartbeat, then, as if they’d planned it in advance, they stepped closer and wrapped their arms around each other.
Being in Eagle’s arms felt so right, especially because she was so conscious of the fact that she’d almost lost him.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated against her hair. “I was an ass, and you had every right to call me on it.”
Taylor shook her head, but didn’t move out of his embrace. He felt too good against her. “No, I should’ve stayed and talked to you. Not acted like a spoiled child by calling you names and stomping away.”
It was Eagle who pulled back first. “No, you were right. Don’t you ever take shit like that from me again. Call me an asshole, walk away, do what you have to, but don’t stand there and let me hurt you with my words again.”
After swallowing hard, Taylor admitted, “You did hurt me.”
“I know,” Eagle said without hesitation. “And that’s why I haven’t slept at all. I kept replaying my words and the look on your face. I might as well have punched you. I’ll never forgive myself for it.”
“Well, you’re going to have to,” Taylor said firmly. “Because you were right. I was stupid. I gave that guy my home address, didn’t get his last name, his license plate number, or anything else about him. That’s asinine for a normal woman, but for me, it’s doubly so.”
“You are a normal woman,” Eagle insisted.
Taylor shook her head. “I’m not. And that’s okay. I’m different, and it’s taken me a long time to come to terms with that, but it is what it is. My brain isn’t magically going to fix itself. I’m not going to wake up one day and recognize you or anyone else. I went through a lot of therapy when I was little, and none of it ever worked. I need to be more aware of my surroundings. Not everyone is as nice as you and your friends. I’m going to try to do better.”
Eagle stared at her for so long, Taylor began to get nervous. “Eagle?”
He simply shook his head. “I’m just trying to understand how you can be so forgiving,” he said. “I fully expected to have to grovel for hours just to get you to open the door.”
“You hurt me,” Taylor said, “but we’re moving on. It’s what friends do, right?”
He frowned slightly, there and gone. “Right,” he said in a tone Taylor couldn’t read.
“I don’t want to lose you,” she admitted. “I like having you in my life. I like talking to you and beating you at pinball. I like your friends, and I admire what you do. If I turned my back on everyone who ever hurt me, I’d be even more alone than I am now. I need to start forgiving and stop holding grudges.”
“When you didn’t respond to my text, I drove over here last night,” Eagle admitted. “I had to make sure you’d gotten home safely. I saw your car in the lot and a light on in your apartment. Only then did I think I could get to sleep, but instead, I kept seeing your face, and knowing how much I hurt you kept me awake.”
“You drove all the way over here?” Taylor asked incredulously.
“I did.”
“Wow, okay, that’s probably one of the nicest things anyone’s ever done for me.”
He huffed out a breath. “If that’s the nicest, then I need to work harder.”
They smiled at each other, and Taylor felt as if a ten-pound weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
“How do y
ou feel this morning?” he asked. “Besides being tired and having a headache?”
“How do you know I have a headache?”
“Because you’re wincing at the light from the kitchen. And your eyes are swollen, so it’s obvious I made you cry last night.”
It was amazing how he could read her. “I took some over-the-counter meds,” she told him. “I’ll be okay.”
“Your neck sore?”
“Not as much as I thought it might be,” Taylor said honestly. “I’m starving, though. I didn’t eat dinner last night.”
“Me either. Which is why I stopped by the Dancing Donut on my way over here.”
Taylor smiled happily. “You did? I love that place!”
“I know,” Eagle said. “Give me two minutes to run down to my car and grab the box. I’ll be right back.”
And before she could offer to go with him, Eagle was gone.
Sighing happily, and more relieved than she could put into words, Taylor went into the kitchen and grabbed two glasses. She poured them both some orange juice and got the coffee started. By the time she was done, Eagle was back.
He had not only one box, but two, and Taylor’s eyes bugged out as he set them down. “Jeez, Eagle, how many doughnuts did you get?”
“Two dozen. I figured if you didn’t like any of them, I could bring them to Silverstone later.”
“Oh no. I get to keep them all,” Taylor said. She loved doughnuts. She tried to stay away from them because she literally couldn’t control herself. And the Dancing Donut was her absolute favorite pastry shop.
Eagle chuckled and took a step back from the boxes with his hands up in surrender. “Far be it from me to get between a woman and her doughnuts.”
“And don’t you forget it,” Taylor teased, pointing a finger at him.
Eagle reached out and pulled her close once more. He wrapped one arm around her waist, and the other speared into the hair at the nape of her neck. She looked up at him.
“Thank you for forgiving me,” Eagle said seriously. “I treasure your friendship, and I was sick that I’d said such horrible things to you.”
Taylor licked her lips, and she saw his gaze flick to the movement before returning to her eyes. She wanted him to kiss her so badly, but she also didn’t want to do anything that might hurt their truce. “You’re not an asshole,” she told him.
“I am, but I’m glad you think I’m not,” he retorted.
“Do you . . . do you want to hang out here for a while?” she asked tentatively. “I think now that things between us are okay, I could get some work done. I was going to spend the morning tracking you down to apologize and to make things right. But now I can get something done, and maybe we can go and play some pinball later if you don’t have to work?” She was aware that she was babbling, but she couldn’t help it. Being in his arms made her nervous she was going to say or do something that would let him know how much she wanted to be more than a friend.
“You were going to track me down?” he asked.
Taylor nodded.
“I’d love to stay,” he said. “I can take a nap on your couch while you work, if that’s all right.”
“It’s more than all right,” she told him.
“Are you going to the Dementia Senior Care Center this weekend?” Eagle asked out of the blue.
Taylor blinked. He hadn’t let her go, so she couldn’t hide her confusion. “I’d planned on it—why?”
“I thought maybe I could go with you.”
Taylor frowned, and her stomach rolled with nerves. “Um . . . I’m not sure. It’s . . . it’s really personal, Eagle.” She hated telling him no, but for some reason, she wasn’t ready to let down her guard with him like that. The men and women she visited were so much like her, and that made her feel vulnerable.
“It’s okay,” he said, making her feel even worse because he was being so understanding.
“I just . . . I’m not saying never, but . . .” Her voice trailed off. She wasn’t sure why she was so reluctant to have him accompany her this weekend.
“I understand. I made you doubt me last night. I’m going to make up for what I said, Flower. I swear. I’ll make you trust me again if it’s the last thing I do.”
Then he leaned forward, kissed her forehead gently, and let her go. He lifted the lid of the top box of doughnuts, grabbed one, took a big bite, and headed for the couch.
Taylor took a deep breath. She wouldn’t dwell on things. Eagle was here, they’d forgiven each other, they were moving on. And she had doughnuts. And a day that started with doughnuts was always a good day.
She brought the glass of orange juice and a mug of coffee over to Eagle, and he accepted both with a smile. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“If me being here bothers you, just let me know.”
“No! It doesn’t,” Taylor said immediately. “I like having you here. When you knocked this morning, I scared myself by imagining a man with a huge ax was on the other side of the door.”
Eagle winced. “I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t apologize. You were right,” Taylor said firmly. “Giving that man my home address was ridiculously stupid. I’m going to have to be extra careful for a while as a result. It was right of you to point it out . . . and we’re moving on. I’m glad you’re here, Eagle. I swear.”
“Okay. I’m just going to close my eyes. You do your thing, and when you want me out, just let me know.”
“I don’t want you out,” she told him, sure he’d be able to read the longing in her tone, but he simply nodded and put the last bite of doughnut in his mouth and scooted down on the sofa, resting his head on the back cushion.
Feeling good that Eagle was there, Taylor went to her dining room table and opened the American history textbook. She was nearing the end. A good thing, since she’d received her next project, a three-hundred-page manuscript someone was trying to get published.
She was smiling like a fool but couldn’t make herself stop. She’d woken up feeling so crappy, but now she felt on top of the world. She and Eagle were good—everything else felt insignificant.
Later that afternoon, Eagle brought Taylor over to Silverstone Towing. Archer had made meatloaf for everyone to eat over the weekend, so they’d had an amazing late lunch and were playing pinball when Bull, Smoke, and Gramps appeared.
“We need to talk,” Bull said in a tone of voice Eagle knew meant that shit had hit the fan.
He turned to Taylor, but she was already waving him toward the safe room. “Go. I’ll be fine.”
“You sure?”
“Eagle, yes. I’m good. I’ll go upstairs and see who’s still here and hang out. If everyone’s out working, I’ll watch TV or something. Hell, maybe I’ll take a nap, since I didn’t sleep well last night. The point is, you don’t have to entertain me twenty-four seven. You guys have work to do, so go do it.”
Eagle couldn’t stop himself from putting his arm around her shoulders and hugging her to him for a beat. “Thanks for understanding, Tay.”
“Hey, I’ll never get in the way of you superheroes saving the world. Go do your thing.”
And with that, Eagle nodded and stepped toward his friends. When the safe room door had shut, he asked, “What’s up?”
Bull grabbed a chair and sat, pulling a sheaf of papers over to him. “You know the situation in Timor-Leste that we’ve been monitoring?”
“Yeah, what about it?” Eagle asked as he and the others all took seats around the table.
“It’s time to move on that,” Gramps answered.
“The leader of the rebels who started that coup last year has been a thorn in the Timor-Leste government’s side for months,” Bull said. “Everyone thought after most of the rebels had been caught, killed, or had given up, the resistance would die off. But there’s a faction that hasn’t given up. And they’ve changed their tactics in the capital city. Now, instead of harassing the government officials, they’re targeting civilians.”
“What do you mean, targeting?” Eagle asked. “They were always harassing them, right?”
“Yeah, but remember that American woman they were holding hostage and forcing to fight for them? The peace corps volunteer?” Gramps asked.
“Yeah. One day, she just reappeared in Southern California, and speculation about how she got away from the rebels was rampant. We all assumed some Special Forces group went in and got her out,” Eagle said.
“Right. Because she never explained publicly. In the interview she gave the FBI—which Willis got us copies of—she explained exactly what they made her do, and what was done to her. But it was a relatively small group, and we all thought the rebels would eventually give up and fade back into the countryside. Apparently they’re trying to rebuild their army. They’re slaughtering families and forcing wives and children to fight. The stories coming out of the area are horrifying,” Bull explained.
“And Willis wants us to go in and cut the head off the snake,” Eagle concluded.
His three friends nodded. “The leader is in Dili, the capital city. We’ve got intel about where they’re holing up. Willis believes if we take him out, his supporters will lose the will to fight. I agree,” Smoke said.
“We all agree,” Gramps said with a nod.
“When do we leave?” Eagle asked, anger coursing through his body at the thought of all the innocent men, women, and children caught up in a power struggle that the rebels were always bound to lose.
“We just wanted to make sure you agreed that we should go in,” Smoke said. “We need to do a bit more studying of the layout of the city, and nail down the logistics of getting in and out of the country, but I’m guessing we can leave in two days.”
Sunday. It was just as well Taylor hadn’t wanted him to go with her to the Dementia Senior Care Center. Eagle had to admit . . . it stung to know she didn’t want him with her, but he understood. Now, he was glad she hadn’t agreed, since he wouldn’t have to go back on his word and disappoint her by saying he couldn’t go after all.
