3. Tate

THREE

TATE

It took all my control not to slam the front door as I went inside, leaving my mower in the yard. I stomped back and forth across the living room. Every few paces, I glanced out the window at the house across the street. What the fuck was happening? This was absolutely crazy. Batshit crazy, to be exact.

I went to the kitchen and yanked a beer out of the fridge, downing it in three fast gulps before I grabbed a second and flopped down on the couch. All I wanted was to get my mind off it, but that wasn't possible. I actually had to think harder on it, especially considering the information Miles had given us about the missing shifters. Was this woman involved? Was she a hunter? That sounded crazy, but maybe. Could she have marked me as a target in New York? Followed me all the way here? But what about the kids? They were too young to be hunters.

Sipping at the beer, I pulled my phone from my pocket. Maybe Miles had been able to dig up that info on her. I dialed and took another drink as it rang.

"Tate?" Miles answered.

"Yeah, hey… did you get a chance to look into my new neighbor?" I didn't go into the fact that I'd fucked her seven or eight weeks before. No need to muddy the waters.

"Actually, I did. I've been compiling all the information into a file. I can email it over in five or ten minutes."

"That would be great." Unable to control myself, I added, "Did… anything seem weird?"

A pause, then he replied, "Not really. Pretty standard stuff. I'll send it as soon as I get all the files into one folder."

"Okay, cool. Thanks, man."

"No problem."

Five minutes later, my laptop chirped with an email notification. Almost spilling my beer in my haste, I yanked it across the coffee table and pulled up the message. Eagerly scanning the information, the first thing I noticed was her name. Harley King, maiden name Stone.

I leaned back and groaned, putting my face in my hands. A married woman? That was not cool. I cringed at the idea of some poor guy sitting at home wondering where his wife was while I was banging her brains out. My moral code when it came to sex was no clients and no married or taken women. It was a simple but fucking iron-clad rule. I'd broken that rule once or twice, but by complete accident—women who had lied about being in relationships. I'd always felt like absolute shit when it happened, so I tried everything I could to prevent it.

I leaned forward, shaking my head. It was done, and there was nothing I could do to fix it. Scanning the document, I saw that I actually had no reason to be upset. Harley was a widow. That surprised me. She was awfully young to be widowed. Something tragic must have caused that. I found a couple of news articles as well as an obituary for a Samuel King. He'd been an officer with the NYPD and had been killed in the line of duty three years ago.

"That fucking sucks," I whispered to myself.

I didn't want the lady living next door, but I wasn't a total asshole. It was tough to imagine raising two young kids after your husband was killed. I could empathize with that. The kids were Mariah King, aged sixteen, and Jordyn King, aged fourteen. There were scanned pictures from a yearbook. I didn't know how Miles had acquired those. Thankfully, their pictures matched the girls next door. No stolen identities here.

Miles had been beyond thorough. There was a copy of Harley's marriage certificate, scans of the girls' report cards, even a few hyperlinks to websites Harley had designed. I'd casually clicked them and was impressed with the job she'd done. She was good. It was also a job she could do remotely, which gave her the means to get out of the city and still remain employed. That's what I wanted to figure out next. Why the hell was she here?

A possible reason appeared in one of the last files I opened. There was a copy of a restraining order she'd filed against a Luis Ortiz a couple of weeks before she moved to Lilly Valley. A black-and-white scan of a driver's license picture popped up. He was a good-looking dude, but something about his picture put me on edge––like there was something under the surface ready to snap. I didn't like him.

The order stated that he'd begun stalking and threatening Harley and her daughters. There were a few examples, and they weren't the worst things I'd ever seen or heard about, but it had the scent of escalation. Had she not gotten out, things would probably have continued to get more and more out of hand. I had to admit, it was probably a good plan to move away from the city.

Miles had done a little digging on the Luis guy after finding the restraining order. He didn't really have any work history, but his tax returns showed he was claiming a ton of money. Weird. Several known associates were fairly high up in one of the New York crime families. There was no explicit proof, but every bit of circumstantial evidence pointed to him being connected to the mob in some way, shape, or form. This guy was dangerous on a different level. Lots of guys were pieces of shit who liked to slap around or intimidate women. Not many had the connections to make someone they didn't like disappear. If this guy was really that nuts, and dangerous, then he might try to follow her to Lilly Valley. That type of trouble was something the guys and I could do without. I was less than thrilled about the possibility.

I needed to talk to the guys. If I didn't, I'd go freaking crazy. I changed out of my mowing clothes as fast as I could and, making sure to get into my car and away before the new neighbors came out and saw me, I drove to the office. A quick call on the way let me know that Miles, Steffen, and Blayne were all at the office. Good, I wouldn't have to wait for them to get there. Fifteen minutes later, we were crammed back into Miles's tiny office, like the other day.

"Okay, man, what's this about?" Steff asked.

Miles raised an eyebrow. "Is this about your neighbor? Is that it?"

I sighed and leaned back in my seat, rubbing my temples. "Okay, so, you guys remember the last travel job I had, right?"

Blayne nodded. "The pop star? Nineteen-year-old chick who tried to suck your cock every night?"

"Yeah, right. Anyway, a few weeks before that tour was over, she did a two-night event in New York. On the second night, after she passed out drunk as shit on her tour bus, I decided to go out on the town. Have some drinks since I'd gotten off early for once."

"Does this story have a point?" Steff laughed.

I glared at him. "While I was out, there was a gorgeous woman sitting across the bar. I introduced myself, we drank and flirted, and one thing led to another and… well… you know."

"You… played Jenga?" Blayne said.

"You made sand castles," Steff said, nodding and snapping his fingers.

"You obviously watched a marathon of Downton Abbey ," Miles said.

I snarled. "Oh, for fuck's sake. We had sex, all right? Fucked, screwed, made the beast of two backs, did the nasty. Stop being assholes."

The guys chuckled but nodded for me to go on.

"So, we do the thing, and it's fucking amazing, Maybe the best night of my entire life. I had a flight out at like five in the morning, so I bounce before she ever wakes up. I flew out to meet the singer chick in Los Angeles for the next leg of her tour, and I have a great memory of the lady in New York. Fast forward a few weeks, and I'm back home. Miles tells us shifters are disappearing and going missing. Be on the lookout for anything strange?"

"Well, two freaking hours ago, I'm mowing my yard. Not a care in the world. I turn the mower around, and look up. My new neighbors are across the street, staring at me. Two teenage girls and a mom. Guess, if you can, who the fucking mom was?"

They all stared at me for several seconds. All three of them had confused looks. I would have, too, if I'd been them. Even after talking about the lady in New York, it was hard for them to fathom how she could possibly be my neighbor. It was literally so unlikely that I'd made it as obvious as possible, but their minds refused to make the connection.

Blayne was the first one to get it. His eyes went wide. "No… fucking… way."

I nodded. Steffen and Miles looked confused. Blayne smiled and said, "His one-night stand chick. She's the new goddamned neighbor."

Steffen's jaw dropped, and he said, "Wait, what? How is that possible?"

"Right…" Miles said, "…the odds of that are like, a billion to one. You'd have a better chance of finding a dollar on the street, buying a lottery ticket, and winning the lottery than for this lady to somehow wind up being your neighbor in itty bitty, middle-of-nowhere Lilly Valley."

"This is what I'm saying."

The other three looked at each other and laughed.

"What's so funny?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"The thought that you have to wave at this lady every morning when you get your newspaper is pretty funny," Steff said.

Blayne raised his hand, pretending to wave. "Hey, Miss. It was really nice rubbing my genitals on yours that one time. Welp, see you tomorrow."

I hissed a breath out my nose. "Would you guys quit?"

"Okay, okay, all done," Miles said, though he was smiling with the rest of them. "I'll have to dig more into it. Though, I sent you pretty much everything there is to know."

I rubbed my head. "Miles, man, this can't be a coincidence, there's just no way. I—" I stopped to think about how I reacted to her and winced inwardly. "I was kind of a dick to her. Not kind of, I guess I was a total asshole to her. I was freaked out by her showing up there, and the whole story about the shifters going missing. I guess it wasn't a great introduction."

Steffen looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "You mean you weren't your usual double-oh seven? Usually, you have ladies eating out of your hand."

I shrugged. "Like I said, I was suspicious and on edge. If she's on the up-and-up, I'll go over and apologize or something."

Miles glanced down at my hands. "Are you sure you're good?"

Confused, I glanced down. I'd been twisting my fingers, popping my knuckles, and rubbing my fingers together. I was fidgeting like crazy, and I hadn't even realized it.

"All right, listen, I know you aren't used to being in one spot for very long. This whole neighbor lady thing is making you antsy as all hell. We need you here, but I don't want you going stir crazy." He pulled a manila envelope from his desk and handed it to me. "Here's a new job that came in this morning. Some tech billionaire needs a bodyguard for some R&D trip in Europe. His usual team will be with his wife and kids on a trip to Jamaica. It should get you away for a couple of weeks. Let you get some distance and some perspective. Sound good?"

I let out a deep sigh. I really hadn't understood how stressed I was, or how caged in I felt until he gave me the out. I was grateful. I couldn't wait to get home and pack. I took the envelope and left, barely saying bye to the guys as I went.

Not wasting any time, I started packing as soon as I was home. I was zipping up my garment bag of suits when the doorbell rang. Glancing over my shoulder, my eyes narrowed as I looked down the hallway to the front door. I had a sneaking suspicion who was at the door.

A few strides later, I yanked open the door. My suspicions were confirmed by the new neighbor standing on my porch. Her name is Harley, I reminded myself. She looked nervous as hell.

Before I could say anything, she started speaking. "Listen, I know this is weird, but I wanted to clear the air. This is not what I'd imagined when we moved out here. We sort of… left some things unsaid earlier. I want you to know that I am, in no way, a stalker or whatever you think. This wasn't a plan, or a plot, or whatever, Mr…"

I blinked, realizing I now knew her name, but she didn't know mine. "Sorry, yeah. I'm Tate, Tate Mills."

Harley nodded and flashed me a tight smile. "Mr. Mills. My late husband's partner offered the house to me out of the blue because…" She paused, and I could see her mind racing. She must have been running from the Ortiz guy, but she didn't have a clue that I knew that.

She gathered her thoughts and finished. "Because we needed a change of pace. An adventure, maybe."

I grinned and nodded. My suspicions were fading. This lady did not seem like she was hiding anything, or being shady. Could it really be some mind-boggling improbable accident? As hard as it was to believe, it was looking more and more like it was a possibility.

"So, I want you to know that my daughters and I won't cause you any problems, we'll stay out of your way."

The tension that had been building in me since the moment I'd looked up and saw her standing on her lawn had almost totally faded. "It's fine, really. Sorry I was such a dick earlier. We're all good."

She visibly relaxed and smiled. "Great. Nice to meet you, uh, again."

"Right. Listen, I've got a business trip to pack for and a flight to catch."

She held up her hands and turned toward the steps. "Got it. Well, we'll see you when you get back. Have a safe trip."

"Thanks," I said and watched her go down my steps.

My heart suddenly sped up. In an instant, it felt like I had just gotten done sprinting a mile. Dizzy, I stepped back inside and closed the door. I leaned against it and gasped for breath. I pressed a hand against my chest as sweat ran down my forehead. What the hell? I slid down to the ground and took several deep breaths. It took a few minutes, but the feeling slowly faded.

I stood and went back to packing my bag. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before. It made me even more determined to get the hell out of this town for a few weeks. After zipping up my big suitcase, I packed the backpack I usually took along, then threw it all in the back of the car. I pulled away and forced myself not to look at Harley's house as I left for my assignment.