by Linzi Baxter
Four days had passed since Ian had left Bella’s house. Deep down, he knew someone dangerous was after her. She seemed to not take her safety seriously. He found himself driving by her house a few times a day. Ian had become a stalker. He told himself it was to make sure she was okay, but he longed to see a glimpse of her.
Ian's new nightmares had replaced his old ones. They terrified him to the bone. For the last four nights, he’d dreamed he would find Bella’s dead body. Bella would cry out for him, and he wouldn’t get there in time. Each time he found her, blood oozed from the knife wounds in her abdomen. The dream felt so real that he would wake up with the copper taste of blood in his mouth.
Ian didn’t hear Cole walk up until he was right behind him. “Hey, man, you look like shit. Are the nightmares back?”
He hadn’t told his best friend about his impromptu stop at Bella’s house or the constant drive-bys. He didn’t know if Cole would be mad that he associated with her. Ian and Cole had never discussed Bella’s past up until a week earlier, when she’d become the competition. Technically, she still was his competition, but he wanted to work with her.
Cole had grown up extremely privileged. His dad was the governor of Texas. His family also owned a large oil field. When Cole turned eighteen, he joined the military instead of continuing with the family legacy like his two older brothers. In the Walker family, there were two options: work for Walker Oil or start a career in politics. Cole wanted to help his country, so instead, he’d joined the military, and his family had disowned him.
Over the years, Cole had opened up about how his dad was corrupt politician, taking money under the table in order to get bills passed. He also felt his family was laundering money through Walker Oil. There wasn’t enough evidence to prove his assumptions, but Cole had no tolerance for people who were corrupt or could be corrupted.
“Yes, and no,” Ian said. “I stopped by Bella’s flip the other day. I wanted to see the house. That place is a dream flip. When I arrived, someone was vandalizing the outside of the house. It wasn’t the first time she had issues since she bought the place. I no longer dream about North Korea—Bella's dead body plagues me at night.”
Cole was quiet for a few good seconds. “You like her.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Yes.”
Cole leaned against the new granite countertops. The two men stood in the kitchen of their latest flip. They would list it on Sunday. Cole and Ian had closed on a new property the previous day. Ian would start the new project on Monday.
“This house is practically done. You don’t need to micromanage the decorators. Go home.” Cole had a far-off look in his eyes.
Ian grabbed the white rag and wiped down the countertop. “If I go home and fall asleep, the dream comes back. If I stay here and work, it will take my mind off the dreams. And don’t you think we should talk about the elephant in the room?”
Cole peered around the room. “I don’t see an elephant.”
Ian let out a chuckle. “You know what the fuck I’m talking about: Bella. She’s a competitor, and there’s her past. I don’t want to upset you.”
Cole narrowed his eyes at Ian. “I have no issue with Bella. She is nothing like my family. If she makes you happy, go for it. You also know we have contacts you could use to help protect her. Why don’t you call Tex and see what he can dig up on why someone is after her?”
“We both know why someone is after her: she’s paying for her boss’s mistakes. You’re right—I should’ve called Tex when everything started.”
The Navy had used Tex when the two men were captured in North Korea. Cole and Ian owed him their lives. Ian had been hours away from dying when SEAL Team Six, led by Wolf, saved them. Tex was able to use his magical computer skills to feed Wolf and his team their exact location. Tex had been a Navy SEAL until an injury in the line of duty. He’d lost a leg. After that, he spent his days on the computer. Ian didn’t know how he did it, but Tex could find anyone with his computer. Ian could barely turn a computer on.
He’d heard that Tex had helped Wolf’s team out when his now-wife Caroline was kidnapped and almost killed, but Tex had already done so much for him. He’d saved Ian’s life, and now Ian was about to ask for another favor. What would happen if the vandalism turned out to be nothing, and he took Tex’s time away from his current mission?
“Call him,” Cole said. “I’ll check out a couple of listings hitting the market in the next few days. If any of them are good, I’ll send you pictures so you can let me know what you think.”
Ian didn’t take Cole’s advice to head home and take a nap. He knew if he left, he would drive past Bella’s house like the stalker he was. So instead, he worked in the master bedroom and hung a ceiling fan and touched up the paint on the wall. This house would land them a $200,000 profit. Ian did most of the work inside the house while Cole drove from neighborhood to neighborhood and looked for run-down houses and would make offers before the owners listed the houses on the open market. That was where they would make the best deals.
Everything in the colonial house Ian was working on was brand new, except the foundation. Ian and his team had stripped it down to the bare walls and rebuilt it. The view from the master bedroom would sell the house. The floor-to-ceiling windows he’d installed gave an uninterrupted view of the lake in the backyard. He could see his crew putting the last few boards on the boat ramp.
His phone vibrated in his pants pocket. Ian peeled his eyes from the dock to answer his phone. “Unknown caller” flashed across the screen. Ian swiped across the phone, hoping it wasn’t a salesperson. He didn’t want to go on vacation no matter how many times they said he’d won.
“Aqua.” Tex’s deep voice came through the phone. How had he known Ian was thinking about calling him?
“I don’t go by that anymore, Tex. It’s just Ian.” Ian felt he didn’t deserve his military nickname. He’d let down his team when they were captured because he’d led them into the ambush. The Purple Heart buried in the bottom drawer made him feel ashamed. He didn’t deserve the recognition when most of his team had died.
“You never lose your call name. If it weren’t for you, Cole would be dead, and the military wouldn’t have gotten the intel you stole. Do you understand that with that intel, Wolf’s team was able to save a hundred women from being sold on the black market?”
It didn’t matter how many people he saved. He’d sacrificed his team to get that information. He should have worked to find another way.
“I know you didn’t call to talk about past missions,” Ian said. “What’s going on?”
“Cole called a little while ago and said you needed help. He didn’t think you would call me.”
Ian wanted to kill his best friend for going behind his back. He still didn’t know if he wanted to bother Tex with Bella’s problem. Hell, he hadn’t wanted to call Tex because he was still ashamed of what had happened to his team. No matter how many times people said it wasn’t his fault, he couldn’t get past the screams of his teammates.
“Tex, I know you work for every branch of the military. I didn’t want to bother you with this. I can find a private investigator to help, or the local police can take care of this.”
“First of all, I’m never too busy to help you. You call me the second you ever need anything. I don’t care if you think it’s nothing. Secondly, I’ve hired someone to help me, and if I can’t get it done, she can. Beth is almost as good as I am—she thinks she’s better. So tell me what’s going on.” Tex’s voice had a sharp edge to it. Ian had upset him by not calling. Once again, Ian disappointed a person who meant a lot to him.
Tex was right that Ian needed information on who was after Bella. “I don’t know much about her besides her name, Isabella Harper. Her last employer, Mr. Ainsworth, stole millions, and she was his apprentice. The FBI cleared Bella of all wrongdoing, but individuals who were screwed over think she knew more.”
Tex whistled. “I watched part of the case. Isab
ella could have hundreds of people after her. I’ll pull the police records and start the dig. I recommend installing cameras on the house she’s flipping. Send me the IP address of the cameras, and I can help monitor them. And, Aqua, never hesitate to call me again.”
“I won’t.”
“Cole also mentioned you still had nightmares. Have you spoken to anyone? You need to talk to someone, or they’ll get worse.”
Now Ian really planned to kill his best friend. “After the next house, I’ll look into talking to someone. For right now, I don’t want to talk about it. Can you send me the info you get on Bella?”
The line was quiet for a few minutes. Ian didn’t know whether Tex would drop the issue of his nightmares or not. When Tex finally replied, Ian let out the breath he’d been holding. “I’ll send you what I can find. I’m also sending the information on a good group you can go to in the Fort Worth area.”
“Take care, Tex.”
Ian spent the next six hours with his team, finishing the last touches on the house. This was the thirtieth flip that Cole and Ian had completed. Ian didn’t need the money, so everything he made, he stuck in a savings account for the day when he would have a family to support.
He locked the front door on his way out and smiled at his accomplishment. Now they would have a long weekend off before starting the next house on Monday. His team was going to the bar to celebrate being done a day early and had invited Ian along. Most times, he had a beer with the team, but he needed to go home and sleep. The following day, he would get to see Bella.
Ian couldn’t stop himself—on his way home, he drove by Bella’s house. He could see her through the big bay window at the front of the house. Once he knew she was okay, he headed home. He hoped to get some sleep that night, with no nightmares.
When he hit the couch at home, his eyes were heavy. He fell asleep before he’d had a chance to change. The dream started. He was in Bella’s Victorian home. She kept calling his name. He ran from room to room. No matter where he went, her voice came from another direction. The last place he ran to was the master bedroom, where he found her on the floor with stab wounds in her abdomen. She called out his name one more time before she lost consciousness.
Ian sprang awake, his black T-shirt drenched in sweat. He needed to clean the nightmare off of himself. He headed for the bathroom and spent a long time in the shower. When he exited and grabbed a towel, he could hear his phone ringing in the living room. It was late. No one would call unless it was an emergency. Ian hurried to the phone to see Bella’s name flashing across the screen.
“Bella.”
“I need your help. Someone is inside my house.”
Chapter 5
Bella rolled off the blow-up mattress in the master bedroom of her flip. Her back ached from working in the house and sleeping on a mattress on the floor, but she wouldn’t let anyone else vandalize her house. Her iPhone screen had a message wishing her sweet dreams, which brought a smile to her face.
Whenever Ian’s name crossed her phone, her heart would flutter. That man gave her butterflies with each text message. The next night was their date, and she still needed to find an outfit. He hadn’t told her where he planned to take her.
She’d started demolishing the kitchen the previous day, so her coffeepot was next to her blow-up mattress along with a minifridge. Bella had never planned to live in one of her flips, but if she wanted to stay on budget and keep to her timeline, she didn’t have time for any more surprise expenses.
The sound of hammers downstairs made her get her butt in gear. That day she and her crew would be finishing the demo in the kitchen. She would move on to the bathroom while her hired hands, Tom and Ed, worked on the second bathroom. One piece of advice she learned from her mentor was to hire a contractor that charged per job and not by the hour. It worked wonderfully. The men she’d hired had shown up each day on time and worked their asses off. If they finished early, they would make more money.
When she rounded the corner into the kitchen, she was surprised by how far the hired hands had gotten. She must have slept through part of the demo.
“Hey, guys.”
Ed turned and gave her a nod. He was in his late forties, and like Tom, he’d worked for Bella’s old mentor. When Mr. Ainsworth had gone down for what he’d done, his construction crews had lost their jobs. Ed and Tom had struggled to find work. Both had done amazing work in the past, so they were the first people she’d reached out to when she had a flip.
Tom was in his early thirties. When he removed his shirt, he showed perfectly sculpted abs. The man was sexy as hell, but he didn’t make her heart flutter the way Ian did. He almost seemed like a brother to her. In past jobs, he’d gone into detail in explaining how to do certain jobs such as replacing a toilet.
Tom turned his gorgeous smile on her. “Good morning, Bella,” he said in his deep Texas drawl. He reached up and wiped the sweat off his brow. Ed continued to take down the old brown wall cabinet.
“Do you think we can finish the kitchen today?” Bella asked. The demo had been fun the first day, but Bella was over it. Her body hurt in parts she hadn’t known existed.
Tom surveyed the kitchen. “I think Ed and I can finish the kitchen today. You might want to run to the store and put up some cameras. We had to clean up the front of the house this morning. Someone threw eggs at it. I took pictures and texted them to Officer Anders.”
Bella had put motion floodlights on the front porch to help keep the vandals away at night. Cameras were another expense she didn’t have money for. Officer Anders wanted her to get them, and Ian asked every night if she’d had them installed.
“Who from Mr. Ainsworth’s past do you guys think would do this? I wasn’t the only one that worked for him.”
Ed didn’t speak very often, so when he answered instead of Tom, Bella was surprised. “Bella, I don’t think it’s someone from Mr. Ainsworth’s past. The people he screwed over had millions. They wouldn’t hire someone to throw eggs at your house—they’d hire someone to kill you. Maybe it was someone you outbid on the house. What’s that guy's name who overpays and takes all the houses? It could be him.”
Ian wouldn’t throw eggs at her house. They texted each other each night. Hell, he’d helped her clean up the last mess. Why would he paint the house then stay back and help her? But Ed was right: many of the people Mr. Ainsworth had screwed over were rich. Did she have to worry about having a hit on her head? She could dip into her emergency fund to purchase some cameras. If it saved her from further setbacks, it would be worth it.
“It’s not Ian,” Bella said. When Tom started to respond, she stopped him. “Ian chased off one of the vandals and made me call the cops. Afterward, he helped me clean up paint off the side of the house. We text every night.”
“Like I said, you need cameras. Ed and I got this. You go get cameras, and we’ll help you put them up when you get back.”
A half hour later, she stood in front of a display of cameras. The cheapest camera set was a thousand dollars. There was no way could she justify spending a thousand dollars on cameras.
When she turned to leave, a salesman stopped her. He was short—maybe an inch taller than her five-foot-two height. His black-framed glasses were too large for his skinny face. “Can I help you, ma’am?”
“I was looking for some cameras, but these are out of my price range.”
He told her to hold on while he ran to the back of the store. She knew the camera gods had worked in her favor today when the skinny geek came out with a box and produced a set of cameras for five hundred dollars.
When Bella left the shop, she noticed a Victoria’s Secret store next door. She put the cameras in the back of her trunk and spent the next hour shopping. She found a cute red-lace bra and matching panties. Bella didn’t plan to sleep with Ian after their date, but she wanted to feel sexy, and a new bra and panties would do that.
When she got back to her car, her phone vibrated in her pocket. Ava’s name fla
shed across the screen.
“Hey, girl,” Bella said.
“How’s the flip going? Are you ready for your date tomorrow?”
“Good, and I’m scared out of my mind. I still can’t believe he asked me out.”
In the background, Bella could hear Ava’s heels clicking across the floor. “Don’t forget to call me afterward. I want to hear all the delicious details.”
Bella switched the call to speakerphone and started her drive home. “I’ll call you as soon as the date is over. I’m headed back to the house right now. Ed and Tom are working on the kitchen demo. They plan to help me hang cameras before they head out for the day.”
Ava’s breath hitched on the other end. “Did something else happen?”
“Someone egged the house. These don’t seem like professionals, so I don’t think it has to do with Mr. Ainsworth.”
“Did you call the cops?”
“Ed sent a picture to Officer Anders, it was only eggs. I’ll hang cameras and turn the footage over to the cops if I have another incident.”
Ava and Bella talked the rest of the ride back to the house. Bella had shopped longer than she’d planned. The sun was starting to set behind the house. After pulling into the driveway, she sat and stared at the house. She still had to pinch herself each time she looked at it. She couldn’t believe she was doing her first big flip. This was the beginning of her new life.
Tom and Ed were sweeping the floor in the kitchen. They’d completed the demo. The flip was ahead of schedule. The earlier Bella finished, the sooner she could get the house listed and make more money, but she wouldn’t cut corners for a few extra pennies in her bank account.
“Did you get the cameras?” Tom asked.
Bella held up the box with the cameras inside. Tom nodded and set down his broom. The three of them worked to install the cameras. They took around two hours, and it was dark by the time Tom and Ed left. After a few tweaks, she could see five camera locations on her phone. They’d put all the cameras around the outside of the house. The perp hadn’t come inside yet.
