2. Cole
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 dampness in 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, we both wanted 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.”
Ian and Bella said bye before he swiped the end button on his phone and dropped it into the console.
When she ran past an elderly woman watering the lawn, the woman narrowed her eyes and shook her head. Cole wanted to keep his distance, so he slowed to a stop and continued to watch her run down the street. She hadn’t turned her head once to see if he was following her. When she rounded another corner down a side street, Cole found a parking spot a few feet away from the alley. He put the Range Rover in park and looked around him. He was in the crime-ridden area in downtown known for drugs and prostitution. A dim-lit alleyway was not the best place for Kate or any woman. Cole leaned over his center console, opened his glove box, and grabbed his Glock.
People walked up and down the sidewalks, not paying attention to anything around them, including the woman who turned down the alleyway. Nobody took the time to stop Kate and ask if she needed help. Instead, they walked by her and continued with their day, not giving her an ounce of their attention.
A man dressed in suit pants and a white button-down shirt turned down the side street, flanked by two taller men with short dark hair. Cole’s jaw clenched as he saw the outlines of guns under the taller men’s shirts. He could no longer see the two men and knew Kate was still down the side street. Cole wondered if these men were the ones she was worried about.
Not knowing what he was about to head into, he quickly dialed Officer Ander’s number. It rang a couple times before his long-time friend answered.
“Hey, Cole.”
“Where are you?” Cole grabbed the door handle and pushed open the door.
“I’m working a homicide downtown.”
Cole let out a little sigh. “How quick can you get someone to the corner of Sixth and Fourth Street?”
“I’m finishing up my report now. I can meet you over there in twenty.”
“Can you send someone?” Cole gripped his gun. “I think a woman might be in trouble and not sure I can take on three men at the same time.”
Max spoke to someone in the background. “I’m radioing dispatch to send the closest unit. Don’t go down there until you have backup. It will take me at least ten minutes to get to your location.”
A scream echoed from Kate’s location. “I need backup now.” He swiped to end the call and placed the phone in his pocket. Cole ran down the sidewalk and turned the corner to see the woman on the ground, clutching her side. Kate was on her knees twenty feet away, her eyes shut tight. The man in dress pants had a gun pointed at her head.
Cole raised his Glock and aimed for the man’s leg. He squeezed the trigger. The bullet whizzed out of the gun and hit the target perfectly. The man screamed and dropped to the ground, clutching his leg. Blood seeped out of the man’s wound. His two men fell to the ground next to their boss and tried to help stop the bleeding. Kate slowly opened her eyes; she looked from the man on the ground holding his calf to Cole. She eyed him for a couple seconds before jumping up and running toward the back of the alleyway, and Cole cursed under his breath.
The man on the ground yelled for his men to kill Cole. Cole never took his gun off the three men. One man favored his right leg and limped when he took a step toward Cole. Neither of them had picked up the gun from the ground.
“Leave,” the one without a limp shouted.
“How about you guys go, and we forget what happened? I’ve already radioed the cops, and they will be here any second.”
The man on the floor grunted, “Fuck,” as he gripped his hand around his bleeding leg.
“None of this is your concern,” the man in the suit shirt shouted.
Cole slowly took another step to the side. He wanted to get to the woman in the back of the alley, hunched over a few cardboard boxes. He needed to get her attention so he could wave for her to leave.
“Here is what is going to happen: the police will be here in a few minutes, and you can explain why I found you with a gun to a woman’s head.” Cole’s eyes never left the three men threatening his and Kate’s life. In the distance, he could hear the faint sound of a cop car.
Hearing the sirens, the two men looked at each other then rushed back to their boss and helped him stand.
The man wearing the gray suit pants glared at Cole. “The cops won’t do a thing.”
Max had told Ian and him about how the police department had a few corrupt cops, and they’ve been working to clean up the department. “Well, the cop coming isn’t on your payroll. He’s a friend of mine.” Cole smirked and motioned with his gun for them to leave.
The two bodyguards hunched down and helped their boss stand. “Don’t think this is over. I will find you and make you wish we’d never met.”
Cole never took his eyes off the three men until they turned the corner. Once they were gone, Cole rushed down the dirty alleyway to Kate’s side. She had her hands pressed to the side of a man lying on the ground. The metallic smell of blood overpowered the scent of body odor and old food. He breathed out of his mouth to keep from gagging.
Years of medical training kicked in, Cole pressed his fingers to the man’s wrist, he could faintly feel his pulse. Two cop cars came to a screeching halt at the entrance of the alleyway, Kate stiffened next to him as Max ran toward them.
“We need to get him to an ambulance.”
“Please don’t let him die,” Kate begged.