Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Easton

I stepped out of my truck and looked at the white ranch-style house. If I had to guess, the one-story home was built in the fifties but recently updated. Whoever the woman was who owned it, took great care of the place. The lawn was perfectly manicured. The flowers lining the front of the house appeared well taken care of and nothing about the place looked run down or neglected. It was exactly the type of property I had come to expect from the residents of Willow Creek.

Which made the knocked-over mailbox lying haphazardly across the sidewalk look even more out of place. As I walked up closer to it, I could see it wasn't just knocked over but someone had done a good job of smashing the thing before spray-painting a symbol on it. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and snapped a quick picture, first of the symbol and then the mailbox itself. My team would want as much documentation as possible.

Kati, the homeowner, had mentioned she knew who had destroyed it, so maybe she could shed some light on the symbol. I was new to the area, so it wasn't one I immediately recognized. Spending so much time overseas didn't help either, and my time stateside over the last thirty years had been limited. I wasn't up to date on major gangs operating, especially in Willow Creek.

A smashed mailbox didn't scream “huge security concern,” so my team decided I should handle the call alone, and based on what I learned, I could bring the others in. Without walking around the house, there was no way for me to know if anything else had happened. Based solely on the front yard, the mailbox was the only thing disturbed.

I looked around the neighborhood one more time. There was nothing more I could do on my own without looking like a creeper sneaking around a woman's house. I had the feeling that in a small town like this, something like that wouldn't go unnoticed. Walking up to the front door, I knocked and waited for Kati to answer. After a full minute with no response, I knocked again.

The parked car in the driveway suggested someone was home, so my second knock was slightly harder than the first.

"I'm coming!" a female voice from the other side of the door screamed. "Jesus Christ, can't a woman get a few hours of sleep!"

I wasn't prepared for what awaited me when the door swung open. Standing on the other side of the threshold was the sexiest woman I had ever seen. Her brown hair hung in a destroyed bun on the top of her head with little wisps of pieces that framed her tan face. Emerald-green eyes stared at me murderously, but it was the long tan legs barely covered by the oversized shirt that really captivated me. I was a sucker for long legs and curves.

Damn, this woman had both in spades.

"Can I help you, or do you plan to spend my precious sleeping time ogling me?"

I snapped my attention back to her thunderous face. "Easton Welch from Willow Creek Security, ma'am. We had an appointment scheduled."

"Oh, fuck." The door slammed in my face so fast it caught me off guard, which was saying something. Usually, I could anticipate a person's next move before they made it.

"Give me a minute, please." The plea filtered through the door and was a complete contradiction to the first attitude I got.

The brief background check I did on the homeowner stated she worked as a nurse for a local hospital. Maybe she worked night shift. That would explain the grumpy mood and sleeping during the day.

I looked around the yard again. My assumption was, based solely on the fact that she knew who I was after I said my name, that the woman who opened the door was Kati Whitlock, the woman I spoke to on the phone that morning. That posed a problem.

I couldn't be attracted to a potential client. Not only was that unprofessional, but it was completely inappropriate. She had called my company for a reason and that reason wasn't so I could get hard just from seeing her in a shirt.

That was a piss-poor pep talk if I’d ever heard one.

Walking back down the sidewalk, I tried again. I thought about every disgusting thing I could think of to get rid of the problem in my pants. I reminded myself why I was in Texas to begin with. It wasn't to start a relationship. It was to find myself again. Two years post-retirement and I was floundering, just like the rest of my team. So when Maverick called with a crazy idea to move to Texas to start a security team, I jumped at the chance to join him.

A throat clearing pulled me from my thoughts. I turned around to find Kati standing in the doorway. This time, instead of an oversized shirt, the woman donned a pair of jean shorts, which did nothing to hide her sexy legs, and a flowy tank top. I swear the tank top was meant to tempt a man with its lack of coverage. Both showed off the curves that I only got a hint of with the first outfit.

"Sorry about that,” she said quickly. “I worked a twelve-hour shift overnight and daytime is when I sleep. I meant to set an alarm, but we see how well that worked out for me. Would you like to come in, or we can meet out here since that's where the damage was done?"

Score one point for me. It was nice to know the grumpiness was because of her job and not how I handled myself. I'm not sure if rambling was normal for her, or if this was Kati's way of responding to what happened, but I found it endearing.

"Out here is fine." And a whole lot safer.

I kept that last part to myself. No need to explain that I didn't trust myself behind closed doors with her. Better yet, I didn't trust my dick not to betray me.

I forced myself to glance around the neighborhood and not watch Kati walk towards me. Her legs were meant to be wrapped around a man's waist. Just not mine.

"You mentioned on the phone you knew who was doing this?" I asked when she stopped a foot away from me.

"Yes," she answered immediately. "Well, sorta. The symbol spray-painted on it is the gang symbol for Los Cangris."

I knew that name. Everyone knew that name. I should've recognized the symbol, but as far as I knew, that particular gang didn't operate in this area, according to the Texas Rangers we consulted when setting up here.

"I wasn't aware Los Cangris had an affiliation in the area."

"They don't." Kati blew out an audible breath. "At least, they haven't for nearly fourteen years. They were trying to expand into the area when their leader was arrested and is serving life in prison. Only the established locations survived. This particular group is a bunch of juveniles trying to prove themselves."

That was a lot of knowledge from someone who was clean, based on the information we dug up. Kati Whitlock was a nurse at a local ER and had been for the last twelve years. She had been in her third year of college when she got pregnant with her son. No father was listed on the birth certificate. She managed to finish her degree one year after the rest of the students in her program and got her current job right after graduation. It said something about her character that she was employed at the same place for that long.

Nothing about her life screamed gang affiliation. She lived within her means. The house I was standing in front of was paid off and passed down to her after her parents passed away. The car in the driveway was nothing flashy.

I crossed my arms over my chest and asked the questions flying through my head with a deep rumble. "How do you know that much about Los Cangris?"

I didn't like intimidating potential clients, but I also wasn't a fan of being made a fool of. Los Cangris wasn't an organization that my team wanted to tangle with unless it was necessary.

"Because unfortunately, I've dealt with them before."

I raised my eyebrow and gave my best I need more than that look. If Kati thought for a second that was enough of an explanation, she was crazy.

She gave me another audible sigh. "Fifteen years ago, I attended an off-campus party where I met a man who was charming. At least, I thought so at first, but the more time I spent with him that evening, the more I realized it was all an act. I tried to leave the party, but before I knew it, I was drunk. Or so I assumed, but I'm pretty sure I had been drugged instead."

That didn't explain how she knew about Los Cangris, but I let her continue her story.

"Three weeks later, I found out I was pregnant. I had suspected more had happened that night, but because I never went to the hospital, there was no way to know for sure and I did my best to forget it. I hid my pregnancy from everyone but my best friend. I took a leave of absence from school when my son was born, and I never put the father on the birth certificate."

I knew most of that based on what we dug up. However, I didn't like where this conversation was going. But I had to ask. "Who was the guy you met that night?"

Kati didn't look like she wanted to admit it, but I knew even before the words left her mouth. "Alejandro Diaz. The leader of Los Cangris."

Son of a bitch. So much for thinking this wouldn't be a big security concern.