Page 3 of Unlocking Hope

The people on the sidewalk watched as the men threw her back and her head hit the ground. One of the hired thugs kicked her in the side. She felt her rib crack. She had to blink a few times to get the edge of darkness to go away. No one stopped.

The pain was all she could feel. Eric hobbled back to where she lay on the ground. He had one arm around one of his henchmen and a gun pointed at her. Her eyes were trained on his finger as he slowly squeezed the trigger.

2

COLE

She fucking shot at him. Cole watched the wildcat race around him and run for the exit of the house. She was skin and bones, and her clothes hung off her body. It was the worry in her steely-gray eyes that made him want to help, though. She’d said her name was Kate, but he knew it was a lie the second the words left her mouth. Everyone lied. At a young age, Cole had honed his ability to tell when someone was fibbing by watching every move his father made.

Kate needed help. She looked like someone on the run, not someone squatting in a house because she was homeless. If he had to guess, someone was after her, and that didn’t sit well with him. Not wanting to make her more skittish, Cole gave her a head start as he slowly worked his way down the hallway, taking in every room of his next flip. The sound of the door slamming brought a smile to Cole’s face. She could run, but he would catch her.

When she ran past him, he could’ve used his experience as a Navy SEAL to remove the gun from her hands. Taking the only item that made her feel safe would push her away, and Cole wanted to know everything about her—not only what she is running from, but also what she liked to eat. The dampnessin her eyes made him want to kill the person who made her feel scared. Pure fear was what he saw when she rushed by him.

Cole grasped the front door handle, pulled open the door, and welcomed the hot, humid air. It was refreshing compared to the smell in the house. Not wanting another squatter, Cole closed the door and locked the deadbolt. It would hold until tomorrow. He’d planned to change the house locks and make a list of the projects he needed to start, but his instinct told him Kate needed his help. Many missions as a Navy SEAL had taught him to trust his gut, and he didn’t plan to stop today. Cole lowered his sunglasses as he walked toward his SUV.

When he reached for the handle, his phone vibrated in his front pocket. He opened the door to his Range Rover and jumped in before pulling out his phone. The name of his business partner and longtime friend, Ian, flashed across the screen. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Ian and his fiancée, Bella, were supposed to be on vacation for a few days after battling with people trying to kill Bella. She had bought her first flip, a Victorian home, and from the first day, someone kept trying to scare her away by vandalizing the property. When she didn’t stop working on the house or sell the project, he attacked her one night. Once the police arrived and questioned the man, who had also vandalized the fireplace, he admitted to burying his sister in the fireplace, along with a million dollars. Bella and Ian thought she was no longer in danger, but then Bella’s ex-boss’s two kids kidnapped her and took her across the country. Ian and Cole called on the help of friends to save her. Now they were both supposed to be relaxing, not worrying about the house they’d bought.

Cole kept his eyes on Kate while he swiped his finger across the phone to answer the call. “What happened to you being on vacation and not worrying about work?”

Ian chuckled on the other side. “Bella wanted to know if we got the ho—“ Ian grunted. “Don’t hit me… Okay, webothwanted to know if we got the house. It wasn’t only Bella.”

Bella spit out her questions before Cole could even answer. “Can we salvage the house, or are we going to have to gut everything? I think this will be a good one.”

Cole chuckled as he reversed his Range Rover to follow Kate. “To answer Ian’s question—yes, we got the house. The house… had lots of surprises.”

“Come on, Cole. I need more than that,” Bella whined.

His wildcat turned down Conner Street, heading toward downtown San Antonio. “Well, it had squatters in it for a while—poop covered the walls and trash littered the floors. Don’t get me going on the smell of fermented vomit.” Talking about the smells made his stomach roll. He would need to buy masks before he reentered the house.

Ian sighed. “The house sat empty for well over a year, so I’m not surprised a few people squatted in the home.”

Before deciding to bid on the house, he had pulled the liens to see if any were outstanding. Over the past year, the city had issued a few to this property for not keeping the lawn up and for trash lying in the yard. In the next few days, Cole would petition the city to get the outstanding balance down. Their friend Officer Max Anders had told them a few of their officers had been called to the house over the past year for noise and smell complaints. Cole was happy he’d found only one person in the house. Squatters weren’t the easiest to deal with. Over the years, they had purchased a few homes with squatters and had to call the police to get the people out. Kate, on the other hand, had bolted. Cole knew he should turn around and head back to the house, but something about the woman pulled him toward her.

“Yeah, poop on the walls and a mess are what I expected, not a woman shooting at me.”

“Are you okay?” Bella asked.

“Did you shoot back?” Ian asked at the same time.

He had left his gun in the glove box, but he wasn’t sure he would’ve pulled his gun on the woman, anyway. He could tell by the way her hands shook as she’d held the gun that she wouldn’t be a good shot. With a little luck, she might’ve hit him.

Cole gripped the steering wheel. “No, I didn’t shoot back, and no, she didn’t hit me.” He let out a long sigh. “I think she needs help.”

“Is she still in the house?” Ian asked.

“Nope, she ran out, and now I’m following her down the street.” Cole turned down a side street. He wondered where she was headed, because the homeless shelter was the other way. As she ran down the street, she gripped her dirty, loose jeans with one hand and pumped her other arm.

“Have you called Max yet?”

“No, I haven’t had a chance. You called the second I walked out the door.” Cole couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have to sleep on the floor of someone’s house and not know if they would come home. He’d spent a lot of his military career sleeping on the floor or ground, but he knew he had a bed to go back to, unlike the wildcat.

“Call him. Don’t go after her alone.” Ian’s voice held concern.

“Don’t worry about me. I got this. Her aim is way off, and when she ran by me, she gave me her back. I don’t think she’s been homeless for long. I think she’s on the run.”

“Call us tonight and let us know if you need us to come back early.”

“Enjoy your time in the cabin. Don’t worry about me. Now I’m going to let you go so I can figure out where she headed.”

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