Page 30 of Creed

“It’s a community, and its that driveway over there.” I pointed across the road to the long lane that led to the gates.

“This all looks very nice. You must have put a lot of hard work into it.”

I opened the showroom door and held it open for her. “If you mean hiring contractors, it wasn’t so bad.”

She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. You must have worked really hard to build your business and your compound.”

“It’s a community, not a compound.” I corrected her again.

“Why is everyone a veteran that lives and works here?” She asked.

I stopped and looked down at her. Those fucking gorgeous eyes met mine and I swallowed hard. How are those eyes even possible? “Not everyone that works here are veterans.”

Garrison started approaching us. “Creed.” Garrison gave me a nod then looked at Morgan and he realized who she was, and his eyes grew.

“Morgan, this is David Garrison, one of our salesmen.”

He stuck his hand out and she shook it. “Morgan Rossi, it’s nice to meet you. Did you serve with Creed?”

I chuckled. “Yeah right.” That was when I heard Victor in the back make seal noises and clapped his hands. “Garrison here wasn’t quite made for our kind of missions.”

Garrison laughed. “Fuck off, Creed.” He looked at Morgan. “I was a Seal.”

Victor made the seal noises again. “Once a seal, always a seal.”

Garrison rolled his eyes. “I’ll show you a fucking seal, Victor!”

Victor appeared and Morgan’s eyes landed on him. She tilted her head in confusion as he approached with a shop towel in his hand. “He doesn’t look like military.” She whispered.

Victor was a hippy. His long brown hair sat in a ponytail and his beard was long and unkept. He was wearing a Grateful Dead t-shirt and a pair of jeans with holes in them. If I had told him once or a million times, he never listened and went by any dress code. He stopped next to me and looked at Morgan. “I would shake your hand, but…” He looked down at his greasy ones. “I don’t think you want dirty hands. I’m Victor, the resident artist and forever dead head.”

“Oh, do you also live in the compound?” Morgan asked.

He shook his head. “Hell no, I have a small patch of land and a nice mobile home just outside of town.”

Yeah, so he could smoke his weed and spread his love to all the hippy chicks in southern Indiana.

Morgan’s eyes lit up. “That sounds perfect. I hope to purchase a little land myself someday. There’s nothing like a quiet and peaceful life away from the city.”

Victor nodded toward her. “You grew up here, right?”

Morgan nodded. “Sure did, it’s the best place on earth.” She looked at me. “So, do I get a tour of the compound or not?”

I shook my head. “Nope, and its not a compound.”

She rolled her eyes. “A secret community is a compound.”

“Its not a secret and it’s a community. We don’t allow strangers inside for a reason.” I looked at Garrison. “Did the rental company drop off her car yet?”

He shook his head. “Not yet.”

I took out my phone to look at the time. “Damn, I’m needed…I have a meeting here soon.”

“You don’t have time to show me your shop?” Morgan asked.

“Sure, but I don’t have long.” Company D was to ship out the next day for a recon trip to Mexico. The CIA got word there was a slave farm in the deep south the cartel ran. We were to put eyes on it to see if any Americans were being held down there. We weren’t looking for one specific person, just to see if it was true and report back with what we found. Unfortunately, when young people take the wrong path, they may find themselves owing money to some big time dealers. If the dealers can’t pay the cartel with money they pay with slaves. Instead of killing the kids that owe money, they kidnap them and send them to those slave farms. They work off their debt or die in the process. If we were given the opportunity to take out a high valued member of the cartel, we took it, despite it not being a part of the mission. That would be where we made enemies of powerful people. If there was a bounty, we had no problem claiming it.

I guided Morgan toward the bikes on our showroom floor, but of course her curiosity prevailed.

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