Page 10 of Unlocking Hope

Zoey’s eyes went to him, asking what he was talking about. He would tell her about Bella later. First, he needed Brock to start working on Zoey’s issue. “Bella and Ian are fine and off in a cabin, celebrating their engagement.”

“They deserve happiness after what they went through. I’m glad you called, but I have a feeling y’all didn’t call to talk.”

Cole spent the next five minutes telling Brock about the house he’d bought and how he’d found Zoey. She hadn’t said a word since hi. Cole hoped she would tell Brock something so they could get the people off her back.

“Zoey, you need to let Cole take you to the shooting range.”

He didn’t wait for Zoey to reply. “Already planning on it tomorrow and then to the gun store.”

“From the sounds of it, you have some bad people after you, Zoey. Do you know what they want?”

“Yes.”

He waited for her to elaborate. “We need more than a yes.”

“I witnessed my boss kill someone.”

Brock let out a whistle. “Let’s start with your boss’s name.”

“Clyde Walker.”

Of all the names he’d expected to come out of her mouth, Clyde’s was not one of them. That made things much trickier.

“You’re telling me you watched Clyde kill someone?” Cole asked.

“Yes.”

Brock cleared his throat on the other side. “Cole, I have to ask if you want me to take care of this. Don’t get me wrong—I’ve wanted to take him down for years.”

Zoey gave Cole a strange look, and he rubbed his hand down his face. “Yes, find out as much information on my uncle as possible. It’s time I take down my family.”

5

ZOEY

Zoey pushed her roller through the light-gray paint before running it down the wall in the master bedroom of Cole’s flip. She’d spent the last week helping him work on the house, and in return, she had food and a place to stay until they figured out what to do about Clyde, Cole’s uncle. When he’d first told her his last name, she hadn’t thought much about it. Walker was a common last name. She hadn’t expected her arch enemy to be related to Cole.

The day after, they spent most of the day downtown at the station, talking to Officer Anders. Even though he didn’t flat out say Clyde had people on his payroll, he hinted at it, and he was working to see what he could do. Officer Anders wanted to stop the corruption at the police department.

He had ordered her enough clothes off Amazon to last her three months without changing. Each day when they arrived back at the house, another package sat on the doorstep. He promised no more, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t stop. They argued about the amount he bought, but he refused to return them. Zoey planned to donate some clothes once she got back on her feet.

“You want to take a break and come with me to the hardware store?” Cole asked as he crossed his arms.

“No, I’m almost done with this room,” Zoey replied as she dipped her roller in paint.

“The wall will be here when we get back,” Cole joked.

“I know.” Ian had called Cole the night before. He and Bella were coming back tomorrow, and Zoey wanted them to be excited with how much was done on the house. She looked around the master bedroom, the same room where she’d crouched and hidden, and smiled. The house had changed so much in a short time. While Cole waited for the flooring for the bedroom to come in, he worked on gutting the bathroom. He’d shown her his mock-up of what he planned to do. She couldn’t wait to see the finished project. The first day, they’d cleared out the garbage lying around the house and scrubbed the walls with warm soap to remove the poop. They couldn’t save all the walls; some of the area in the main living room needed to be ripped out. Zoey’s arms ached from the physical labor. Typing on her computer for years hadn’t built any arm muscles. “I want to finish this wall.”

Cole grabbed the other roller on the floor and dipped it in the paint. “I’ll help you finish. The hardware store wasn’t the only place I wanted to stop.”

He started on the opposite corner of the wall. His biceps stretched his black T-shirt as he rolled the paint. Zoey had to close her mouth because she was sure she was drooling. He’d taken his shirt off the other day while they were working on cleaning up the yard. She almost fainted, and it wasn’t from the heat. Over the past week, she had learned his routine: six-o’clock workout followed by healthy breakfast, read the paper, then wake her up.

“Where else are we going?” Zoey eyed him carefully.

Cole liked to give her things or take her to expensive places. They had been tiptoeing around their attraction. Each night, it got harder as they would lay on the couch and watch TV. Last night, he’d run his hand along her leg, and she’d almost jumped him. Zoey didn’t know how much longer she would last without touching him.

“It’s a surprise.”

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