Page 2 of Unlocking Hope

His lips twitched as if he knew she’d lied about her name. “Okay, Kate, how about we get some food?” When she started to protest, he held up his hand. “You owe me that after shooting at me.”

“Why do you want to take me somewhere to eat?”

He shrugged. “It looks like luck hasn’t been on your side lately, and I’m hungry. So let’s grab some food, and if you feel you can trust me to help you, we’ll go from there.”

This all sounded too good to be true. Who would help someone after being shot at? It could be a trap. Zoey gripped the gun in her hand. He didn’t know she was out of bullets. Zoey pointed her weapon in his direction and grabbed her bags from the ground. “Move.”

The sexy man listened to her and moved away from the door. She slogged across the room and slipped past him. His cologne was the only nice thing she’d smelled in days. It looked like her time in his house was up anyway. Maybe Paul would know another place she could hide.

Once she cleared the door, she ran down the hall toward the front door. She didn’t hear the man’s footsteps behind her. The front door was still open, and she continued out the door. She stopped when she saw the Range Rover parked in the driveway. Nixson’s men all drove Mercedes-Benz G-Classes. Maybe the man wasn’t lying. She didn’t trust anyone, though. Everyone lied.

Zoey ran down the sidewalk as fast as her weak legs would take her. She was only a few blocks from the alleyway where Paul slept. The sun was setting, so Zoey hoped he was already there. The neighborhood she walked though was beautiful, and a woman watering her front yard gave Zoey a disgusted look. Zoey didn’t blame her.

Why did she have to take a job as a CFO for a corrupt man? She’d realized too late that the consulting firm was a front. If she’d done some checking instead of just looking at the dollar signs they offered after the first interview, she never would’ve moved from Dallas to San Antonio. Zoey had left her job working as a financial advisor at Nova Satellite Security, and she’d loved working for the Black brothers. The money at Walker Consulting was all too good, though. Her close friend had told her about the job. Well, Linda used to be her friend. She had no problem working for someone running drugs and extortion. Zoey thoughtthat type of people only existed in the movies; she’d never expected to run into them in real life.

She let out a sigh and looked back to make sure the sexy man wasn’t following her. Zoey reached into her pocket and patted the USB drive. It was her only copy of the information, she had made another, but they’d stolen it when she lost half her things at the homeless shelter.

Over the years, she had gone to the gym off and on, but not enough to keep her in shape for this run. Her stomach growled, reminding her she needed food. Her vision was blurry from the exercise and lack of carbs. She looked up at the street signs.8th Street. One more to go.

When she turned down the side street to where Paul normally slept, Zoey let out a breath, seeing him crouched near his corner. Paul had been on the streets long enough that most people respected him. Nobody took his corner. Newcomers sometimes tried but would end up beaten by the younger homeless guys. Paul was like everyone’s grandfather. If he liked someone, he helped.

As she got closer, she noticed something wasn’t right. “Paul?”

He didn’t move from his position. She rushed to his side. He was hunched over leaning against the wall. His face was pale, and his eyes were closed.No. No. No.When she gently shook him, he groaned and opened his eyes.

“You need to run.” His voice was hoarse.

“What happened?”

“They are watching—you need to run.”

Zoey knew that coming back to downtown San Antonio had been dangerous, but she couldn’t leave Paul. She could only imagine his current condition was because of her. Zoey tried hard to keep the tears at bay. She had cried more in the past few months than she had her entire life.

When she reached forward to grip Paul under his arm, her hand hit something wet. Her eyes burned with tears as she pulled her hand back.Blood.“Come on, Paul, we need to get you to the hospital.”

“You need to go.” His words came out so weak, she almost hadn’t heard what he said.

Zoey wouldn’t be able to get Paul to a hospital alone. After her first week on the streets, she’d realized Nixson could track her with her phone, so she’d ditched it.

Movement caught her eye to the side. She raced over to a box near the dumpster, where Paul’s friend Al usually stayed. Al had a prepaid phone, and Zoey hoped he was under the box. She screamed when a raccoon ran out. She took a couple deep breaths before she glanced inside. She found Al, with a knife sticking out of his chest. His eyes were still open, but the color was gone from his face. This was bad—really bad. There was nothing she could do to help Al. With one last glance, she left his side.

Zoey ran back to Paul. “Hold on, Paul. I’m going to get help.”

He started to shake his head. Without waiting for his answer, Zoey raced down the alley. When she was almost to the front, three thugs turned the corner. Zoey inwardly cussed at herself for leaving her gun next to Paul. It wouldn’t do much, anyway, since she didn’t have any bullets left.

“Zoey, the boss isn’t happy with you.” Eric, Nixson’s second in command, stepped forward. Tweedledee and Tweedledum, his two henchmen, followed close behind.

“I swear I have nothing.”

“Boss doesn’t care.”

Zoey took another step back. She was getting close to where Paul lay on the dirty ground. Glancing from side to side, she looked for something she could use to protect herself. Al had a bat near his makeshift cardboard home.

Eric caught where her eyes landed. “You should have heard the old man squeal as I plunged the knife into his chest. He will not help you. That one”—he pointed toward Paul—“will not last much longer, either. Time’s up.”

This is bad.But a quick death would be better than letting them take her back to Nixson. Shivers ran down her arms as she thought about the last person she’d seen him torture for talking out of turn. She needed to figure out something quick. If she didn’t, Paul might not make it. Zoey wouldn’t let the thugs take her without a fight. She dove for the bat. The dirty pavement scraped her arms as she slid toward the only thing that might help her.

She gripped the wooden bat and rolled to the side as she heard the gun go off. She sprang to her feet, and a loud siren echoed down the street. Eric and his thugs turned to see if they’d been spotted. She used the opportunity to swing the bat at him. With a good hit, Zoey took out his leg. She felt it crack as she made contact. His thugs reached to help him. Zoey ran. She pumped her arms, trying to get away. With a few feet to go before she exited, Zoey felt the grip on her hair.

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