Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

Durango

Samantha has watched Willow's ex have sex with one hundred women? I don't want to know why, but clearly, it's related to her ex and why they are here. I pour myself a cup of coffee and sit at the kitchen table. Their eyes are on me as I take a deep breath and ready myself.

"Okay, Samantha, can you explain why you saw her ex have sex with other women?"

Willow stares down at the table. "First, please don't get mad," Willow says.

I rub the scruff on my chin. "That's not a good start."

Willow wraps her hands around her tea mug. "As you know, I've been seeing a therapist."

Samantha leans back in her chair. "Wow, you're going with the long version. All right."

Willow glares at her friend. "The therapist said something that stuck with me. It's something you said, too. She said I likely wasn't his first victim, nor would I be his last. The more I thought about it, the more it bothered me that he might do this to someone else."

I really don't like where this is going.

"Samantha had some unexpected time off, and we decided to get evidence to try to stop Tyler from hurting anyone else."

I'm not going to like what they did; I can feel it. "What kind of evidence?"

She takes a sip of coffee. "One time, I saw Tyler had some videos on his computer. I only saw part of a couple of them, but he was having sex with women. I'm sure they didn't consent to being taped. Samantha helped me get a copy of those videos."

I jump up, causing my chair to fall backward, and Willow jerks in surprise. "You broke into his house and stole his computer?" I ask.

"No, nothing that dramatic," Samantha says. "We had a key, and we made copies of the videos. He still has his computer."

I turn to Willow. "You still had a key?"

"No," Samantha says. "I found it under a gnome."

"Jesus," I pinch my brow. I'm glad I didn't know what was going on when I was on assignment because there is no way I could have stayed focused. "What if he'd been inside when you went in?"

"We're not amateurs," Samantha says. "We watched and waited for him and his new girlfriend to leave."

Part of me is angry that Willow put herself in danger, but another part of me is impressed that she pulled off getting these videos.

"What do you plan to do with the files?" I ask.

"Samantha recognized one of the women, so she shared that file with someone," Willow says.

I turn to Samantha. "It's like a gossip site, but it doesn't matter because the woman denied it was her. So, then we went to Connecticut to meet with another woman. But she destroyed the file and refused to cooperate," Samantha explains.

"The files are destroyed?" I ask.

"No," I say. "Only her copy."

"We tried to go to the police, but they said we needed one of the women to come forward as a victim."

I pick up the chair I toppled and sit back down. "Okay, there's nothing more you can do. But you said Tyler found you. How?"

Willow drinks half of her cup of coffee and pushes it to the middle of the table. "It turns out he now has security cameras outside, and he saw me go into his house and leave. I'm not sure how he tracked me down or got my new phone number. But apparently, he's rich. I recently found out, so he probably paid someone to find me."

She recently found out he's rich? The asshole hid that from her?

"That was yesterday," Samantha says. "So, we came here. But, Willow, you're leaving out the important part."

My brows shoot up. "There's more?"

"Yeah, there's a video of Tyler and some drug dealer. It implicates Tyler, and he also states the names of the men he's working with. It appears he made the video in case he was killed. But if it leaks, he will likely be killed."

I take a deep breath and hope like hell they haven't done anything stupid here. "Did you leak that video to anyone?"

"No. We're not sure what to do," Willow says.

Well, first, I need to figure out exactly who this Tyler is and how dangerous he and his associates might be. "What's Tyler's full name?" I grab my phone and begin typing a message to Trip. He's our tech genius, and if anyone can find whatever is out there, it's Trip.

"Tyler Bentley, according to the woman in Connecticut. He always told me his name was Tyler Sampson."

I pause and glance up. "This is the man you were with for six years?"

She nods.

"And he lied the entire time about his real name?"

She nods. "He lied about his real name, having family, having money." She covers her face with her hands. "How could I have been so stupid to never figure that out?"

I move her hands away. "That's not what I'm thinking. No, I'm worried if a guy went to that much trouble to hide his identity, he has a reason. And that reason might make him very dangerous. Do you recall the names of the men he stated in his video?"

"Yes," Samantha says. She grabs her purse from the kitchen counter and digs into it. She retrieves a piece of paper and hands it to me. "Here."

I send both of Tyler's names and the two men in a text to Trip, along with a message.

"I'll see what I can find out. We are all staying here until I can determine who all might be looking for either of you. In the meantime, I need to see this video. Do you have it with you?"

Samantha smiles. "I do. I'll go grab it."

She leaves the room, and I rub my face. Despite a full night's sleep, I'm exhausted. It's beyond jet lag. It's worry over Willow and the situation she's gotten herself into.

"I'm sorry," she says.

I lean forward. "For what?"

"For going to Tyler's house and getting myself into such a mess."

I take her hand in mine. "While I don't like it, I get why you did it. And it sounds like this guy is involved in more than you may have anticipated. We'll figure this out. I won't let him get to you."

She nods. "Thank you."

Samantha returns with a laptop. She loads the video and turns the screen to me. As I watch this asshole and know what he did to Willow, I want to hurt him. But with what it appears he's got himself wrapped up in, someone else may take care of that for me. From what I can see, he's in deep, and I'm so thankful Willow got away.

After the video ends, another one pops up, and Samantha closes her laptop. I'm pretty sure it was going to involve sex, so I'm glad she shut it down.

"I'll have some food delivered. Hopefully, Trip finds information soon. Then we'll figure out what to do next."

"Thank you," Willow says.

"What is a Trip?" Samantha asks.

"Not what, who," I say. I explain who he is to us.

"Sounds like a great guy to have in your corner," Samantha says as she grabs her computer from the table. "Well, since it looks like I'll likely be fired, I think I'm going to look for new jobs. In the other room." She turns and walks toward the bedrooms.

"Fired? Did she not get time off approved to help you?" he asks.

"No, it's a long story involving an asshole at her job."

Durango yawns.

"Jetlag?" I ask.

He nods. "That and I didn't get much sleep the last couple of days. Hey, why don't we just relax and watch movies today?"

"Sounds good to me. Do you have to go to work?"

"Nope, I've been instructed to rest today."

I'm thankful she agreed to the movie plan because I fell asleep during the first movie and didn't wake up until lunch. That's when I realized I never had any food delivered, as I promised.

I stand and stretch. "I'm going to run to the deli down the street and grab us something to eat."

"Oh, that sounds good."

"Do you mind asking your friend what she wants for lunch?"

Willow jumps up. "Sure," she says as she's halfway down the hall.

By the time I have my shoes on, she returns. "She asked for a club sandwich."

That's easy, that's what I order. "And you?"

"I'll have the same."

I grin. "Easy order. I'll be right back."

I head out, locking the door behind me. I scan the area but don't see anything out of the ordinary.

The walk is pleasant because the sun is out and it's a warm summer day. But my mind is racing with everything I learned this morning.

Whatever she's doing with therapy seems to be working because the Willow I used to know is coming through. But I'm concerned about it, too, because, in the past, she was never reckless. Breaking into her ex's house and stealing those videos seems pretty damned reckless. I want to protect her, but I worry she'll do something else that will put her in even more danger. But maybe Samantha was the real instigator here. I haven't had enough of a chance to get to know her.

A lot can happen in ten years, and clearly, Willow has been through a lot. Maybe she's changed more than I realized. I'm thankful she opened up to me before I left on my last assignment. I hate this Tyler for what he put her through. And I want nothing more than to share his video with the police once I know who I'm dealing with.

The deli is busy, but the wait isn't too long. On the walk back to my house, Trip calls.

"Hey, what's up?" I answer.

"Ran a report on the guy you asked about. His record is clean. He's involved in his family business and has great credit." It's odd he'd call when nothing came up. "But his family, on the other hand, that's another story."

I stop walking since I'm only a block away from the house. "What do you mean?"

"Well, the family business is more of an enterprise with multiple companies comprising it. The only illegal activity I found involves his uncle. He's doing time for securities fraud, among many other charges."

"Anything violent?"

"No, all white-collar crimes. And Tyler's father has been accused of similar crimes but never charged."

As he talks, I stare at a pigeon pecking at crumbs on the ground.

"So, they don't run an ethical business. I'm not surprised," I say. "Did you find anything else?"

"I did. The uncle is doing time with a man named Edward Gagnon. He's a suspected leader in one of the Mexican drug cartels. He's doing time for attempted murder."

"Huh, I'm surprised he's in the same prison."

Trip laughs. "I was, too. But apparently, Mr. Gagnon had a great attorney. Part of his plea deal was serving his term in that prison. It's essentially a country club for white-collar criminals, from what I can tell. They have a tennis court and a lot of outdoor time."

"Is this where you tell me this Gagnon and Tyler's uncle are somehow connected?"

"Yep. According to the prison notes, the two men have become friends."

"There are prison notes on this?"

"Everyone has a file, and luckily for you, I can get access to them. Anyway, the warden expressed concern that Gagnon was going to use the uncle, and he requested the uncle be transferred to another prison."

"That's odd. Since when would a warden care about the interpersonal relationship of an inmate?"

"According to the notes, the warden had been contacted by another member of the family, expressing this concern. I suspect the uncle told someone in the family what was going on."

A group of people walk by, and the pigeons scatter.

"Any idea which family member?" I ask.

"No. The request was denied by the governor's office. I've found no connection between anyone in the governor's office and these two men, but I haven't been searching long."

The pigeons return.

"This could be behind how Tyler got roped into transporting drugs."

"Likely," Trip says.

I yawn loudly. "Sorry. I'm exhausted. Just got in from Belarus last night. Didn't sleep much before that."

"Yeah, I remember how that used to be."

Trip was a Navy SEAL, too, although he didn't serve with anyone from our office. He's known Stormy for a long time and now works with us and the Morgan Thompson Security guys out of the Seattle area. Since I've never met Trip, I have no idea how old he is.

"Hey, Trip, how old are you?"

He laughs. "Why? You thinking of asking me out or something?"

I laugh. "I guess that is personal. I was just thinking I don't know much about you, that's all."

He sighs. "Well, one of these days, I might come to the office for a visit."

"I heard you did once but only met Thunder and Lightning in the parking lot."

"Baby steps. Hey, I'll do some more searching and let you know if I find anything."

"Sounds good. Thanks."

I end the call and walk back to the house. Inside, Willow is asleep on the couch. I set the food down on the coffee table and watch her.

All these years, I've kept most people at arm's length except for Piper, Ozzie, Coff, and Axel. But the moment I saw Willow again a few months ago, I was ready to burn down all my walls for her. And now that she's finally ready, it makes me a very happy man. Now I just have to get her ex out of the picture once and for all.