PART2 I Grabbed My Shotgun When HOA Patrol Trespassed — Then the Sheriff Revealed What They Were Really After
The Gate at 2:13 A.M.
At 2:13 in the morning, the alarm beside Ethan Walker's bed gave two short, hard tones.
Duke, his aging border collie, lifted his head from the floor before the second tone had finished.
He didn't bark.
That was what made Ethan sit up.
Duke knew the sounds of the mountain. He knew deer moving through the pasture, elk brushing against the fence, and coyotes wandering too close to the barn. When something belonged there, Duke usually made a sound.
Tonight, he only stared at the bedroom door.
Ethan crossed the cabin in his socks and opened the security feed on the monitor in the kitchen.
For several seconds, he simply watched.
Then his stomach tightened.
A white Ford Explorer was sitting inside his locked gate.
Two men in dark jackets and reflective vests were walking up his private mountain road. One carried a camera. The other pushed a measuring wheel over the gravel.
On the side of the vehicle was a magnetic sign.
PINE RIDGE HOA PATROL.
Ethan stared at it.