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When I looked up, she aimed a bright smile at me, her mouse-like eyes crinkling. “You’re our newest resident, aren’t you? How are you liking our town, hon?”
I had to smile back. “Loving it. It’s a wonderful little place.”
“Oh, that’s lovely to hear.” The old woman’s expression got even sunnier. “We don’t get many young folks moving into Hobb Creek—mostly they’re off searching for their big adventures. Do you expect to stay very long?”
I caught a prying vibe in her comments but simply ignored it. I didn’t mind small-town nosiness as long as people weren’t pushy about it.
“I’ll have to see, but right now I feel like I’d be happy staying here forever,” I told her.
“Oh, perfect, perfect. You aren’t at all concerned, a young lady living on your own?”
Rafael had done such a good job of keeping a low profile she obviously hadn’t even noticed his presence.
My lips twitched with amusement at the thought of Hobb Creek being any kind of a danger to young ladies. “Yes, I like it that way.”
“Well, that’s good to hear. If you need anything, you ask around for Laurel, and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you, Laurel,” I said, restraining a laugh. She might have been both nosy and a little clueless, but she obviously meant well.
This was what a home was supposed to feel like: acceptance and support. Two things I’d never felt even within my own house back in Austin.
As my new friend ambled off, I paid my bill and headed out into the crisp but warm early autumn sunlight. I’d parked the Grand Marquis down the street so that I could swing by the grocery store and carry my haul back to the bungalow without straining my already sore arms.
My glow of happiness faded the second I set eyes on the car. It was parked exactlywhereI’d left it, but nothowI’d left it.
Something was lying at the base of the windshield. Something that’d left ruddy smears on the glass.
With a hitch of my pulse, I hustled over and then stopped when I made out what the things were.
Three dead pigeons lay on the hood of the car, their feathered bodies limp. Well,mostof them was lying there.
Their heads had been cut right off.
Nausea surged up from my stomach. I clamped my mouth shut against it and the string of curses I wanted to let out.
What the fuck did those assholes in the gang think they were playing at now?
With brisk steps, my heart thumping hard and fast, I yanked open the trunk, grabbed a plastic bag that’d been abandoned there, and used it to scoop the dead birds off the car. With a silent apology to the garbage man, I chucked the bag in the nearest public trash can.
The feathered corpses hadn’t been lying there long. A few squirts of the wiper fluid were enough to rinse off the blood. But I sat there in the driver’s seat for a few minutes after that, my thoughts and my stomach churning.
This latest threat wasn’t aimed just at me. There’d beenthreebirds.
They were telling me that they figured Jasper and Niko would be dead meat too.
My teeth set on edge. Those fuckers couldn’t get away with menacing my men as well as me.
I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I had to do something. Now.
They’d been bold enough to leave their sick little gift in broad daylight. Well, I could be plenty bold too.
I yanked the ski mask I’d used on past expeditions out of the glove compartment and shoved it into the back pocket of my jeans. Then I pushed myself out of the car.
Groceries could wait.
I stalked through the streets, my hands curled into fists, possible plans unfurling in my mind. I didn’t have to worry about Rafael interrupting my retaliation, because for once he’d decided I would be safe enough simply going to the café and the grocery store and agreed to take a break from bodyguard duties, but that also meant I was on my own again.
When I reached the last few houses before the edge of town, I veered into the shadows. From there, I studied the parking lot and storage building across the street.
