Chapter 3
Mitch rested his elbows on the table, biting back another wave of pain.
The cracked rib was screaming, but he had more important things to worry about.
He glanced toward Izzy, who was now pacing the kitchen like a caged animal.
She was rattled. Rightfully so. The attack hadn’t just torched a flower shop; it had shattered her sense of safety.
“Do you still have the notes?” he asked, nodding toward the list she’d started.
Izzy brought them over, her hands shaking slightly as she handed them off. He skimmed the list. Someone had been messing with her for weeks, maybe longer. This wasn’t a random act of vandalism.
“This is deliberate,” he said aloud, circling the tire slashing and missing deliveries. “Coordinated.”
Izzy sank into the chair across from him. “But why? I don’t have enemies. I sell tulips and sympathy bouquets.”
“You also have a storefront on a busy street. Maybe someone wanted it gone. Or maybe it’s personal.”
She looked at him, eyes wide. “You think someone’s targeting me specifically?”
He didn’t want to say yes, but she needed honesty more than comfort. “It’s possible.”
Izzy’s gaze dropped to the table. “I can’t stay there tonight.”
“You’re not going back there, period. Not until I figure this out.”
“I can stay with my friend Sadie, she and her boyfriend just moved into a house out on First Street. It’s nothing fancy, but it should be safe.”
Mitch didn’t love the idea of her being anywhere without security. But short of chaining her to the chair, he knew better than to argue. “You call her and make sure. I’ll follow you over and check the place out myself.”
Izzy hesitated. “I don’t want you hurting yourself more because of me.”
He met her eyes. “I’ve had worse. And this? This is what I do.”
That silenced her. But he saw the slight frown on her pretty face. Even frowning, she was a beauty.
She nodded and pulled her phone from the back pocket of her jeans.
While she stepped away to make the call, Mitch turned back to the video feed and rewound it again.
The figure in the alley moved with intention.
He or she paused for several seconds behind the dumpster, just out of camera range, then slipped off.
That pause bothered him.
Who waits around before setting a fire?
His phone buzzed. A message from Jayson:
The hotel owner pulled all camera footage from the past week. Uploading it to a shared drive now. Sending you the link.
Mitch waited for the link, then as soon as it landed in his inbox, he clicked the link and started the download. The sooner he had the full picture, the better.
Izzy returned a few minutes later, stuffing her phone into her bag. “Sadie says yes. Her boyfriend, Trent, is working third shift tonight, so I’ll have the guest room.”
“I’ll need you to drive me to Petal Pushers to retrieve my truck,” he said, carefully rising from his seat. He stiffly sauntered to the sofa and, trying to reach behind it, he groaned as stabbing pain ripped through his body.
Izzy rushed to his side. "Let me do that."
"I need my go bag."
"What's in it?"
"Essentials."
He moved to the fireplace in the corner and touched the side of it where a fingerprint portal was hidden.
Slowly, the bottom of the mantle lowered, revealing a few of his many firearms. He picked up his favorite, a Springfield DXM.
He also nabbed a couple of loaded magazines and slowly tucked them into his pockets.
Izzy caught sight of the weapons and blinked. “That's an impressive mantle.”
He didn’t answer at first. Just met her gaze with quiet resolve. “Thanks. It was the first thing I did. I have hidden storage spaces all over this place. I'd rather have my weapons close and not need them than need them and not have them available.”
Her throat bobbed in a swallow. “Right.”
They rode in silence to her shop. He saw her throat constrict as they neared. Seeing her shop again would be difficult.
"It's special to you, I know." Mitch began. "But it can be rebuilt. Whatever needs to be done can be done."
She nodded and sniffed.
He stared straight ahead and watched the landscape as they neared Petal Pushers. The police crime tape swayed in the breeze.
"Stop here and let me out. I want to walk behind the building to see the path the arsonist took."
"It has police tape around it."
"I'm aware. I'll contact Trey Fielding, Chief of Blossom Springs PD. I work with the police all the time."
He carefully hefted himself from her van. She shut it off and got out of the driver's side. "You need to stay back, Izzy. We don't want to damage any evidence."
"But you might need assistance."
"Stay back, honey."
His heart thumped when 'honey' rolled off his tongue without thought.
He shook his head and carefully stepped to the back of the building to investigate the area.
The grass had been cut within the past two days, which helped him to see where footprints still showed on the bent grass.
He also found a rusty metal cap from an old gas can.
He slowly pulled his phone from his pocket, careful not to put too much pressure on his sore ribs.
He snapped photos of the cap and texted them to Trey.
Found this behind Petal Pushers. I have the video footage from the hotel showing someone back here early this morning.
He didn't wait for a response. The sound of a female crying caught his attention, and he turned toward the front of the building.
His heart dropped when he saw a pathetic Izzy Payton standing alone in the debris strewn around her parking lot, staring at the front of her store.
The front windows were broken, burnt flowers were wilted into the broken glass, and the sign on the front porch had the name of her shop burnt off, the engraving the only thing telling anyone what the sign once brightly boasted.
He hobbled to her side and took her hand in his. He stood there silently staring at the carnage as Izzy composed herself and took a deep breath. "There, I got that out. Now I can move forward."
His fingers squeezed hers. "That's great. Nice job getting yourself there."
She took a deep breath and turned her head to face him. "Can I go in and see what I can salvage?"
"No. Not until the police remove the tape. They may need to come in and check things out as they uncover evidence. I just sent Trey a picture of a gas can cap that was lying in the back. They'll come back and look further into that."
She blew out a deep breath. "Okay."
He nodded to his truck, which thankfully sat outside of the police tape. "I'll follow you."
"Okay."
He reluctantly let go of her hand and stiffly moved toward his truck.
His heart felt weird. Soft or something, and not at all what he was used to.
But this pretty little woman, with her own business and a perky demeanor, suffered a huge blow today, and she was handling it like a trooper.
And that just had him feeling all soft and mushy.
That's all that was. Hopefully, it would be gone tomorrow.
The two-car caravan wound through the quiet backroads of Blossom Springs. Streetlights cast golden glows over the sleepy town. Mitch couldn’t shake the feeling that something bigger was brewing.
Izzy pulled into a narrow gravel driveway behind a blue two-story house with flower beds freshly planted. He parked behind her, climbed out slowly, and scanned the property. Dim porch light. One car in the driveway. Curtains drawn. Quiet. Clean.
Sadie greeted them at the door in pajama pants and a baggy college sweatshirt, her arms already open. “Oh my god, Iz, I’ve been watching the news all day. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Izzy replied, though her voice wavered.
Sadie hugged her hard, then glanced at Mitch. “You must be the guy who saved her.”
Mitch gave a small nod. “Just doing what needed to be done.”
Sadie grinned. “Come in. I got the guest room ready.”
He stepped inside behind Sadie and Izzy, and while the women disappeared down the hall, Mitch checked the locks on both doors, peeked out the back window, and mentally mapped the exits.
Once he'd checked everything in the front of the house, he moved to the back where the ladies were chatting. He made sure Izzy’s room had a window that opened, just in case.
He turned to the women watching him. "This should be good."
She looked more relaxed. “Thanks. For everything.”
“I’ll be in touch tomorrow,” he said. “Don’t open the door unless it’s someone you know, and text me if anything feels off. Lock the doors after I leave and make sure you listen for anything out of place.”
“I will.”
Their eyes met again in the quiet of the porch light. Something unspoken passed between them. Worry. Tension. Something else. He shook his head and mentally told himself to get a grip.
Mitch cleared his throat. “We’re going to figure this out.”
Izzy nodded. “I believe you.”
He nodded toward the door and waited until she was safely inside before heading back to his condo. Once there, he downed two pain pills, sank into the couch with his laptop, and started combing through the footage the hotel had sent.
By midnight, he froze the screen on a still image:
A man’s silhouette leaning over something behind Petal Pushers.
He zoomed in.
No clear face.
But the bastard had left a clue. Maybe more than the gas can cap. He texted Trey again and asked to meet him there tomorrow.
He was going to find whatever it was.