Page 5 of Smoldering Nights
"How do you have that footage?"
"It's from the hotel owners.I texted them on the way home."
"Oh, right."
She took a shaky breath, her fingers twisting together."I should’ve told you more before.Things were going wrong for a while."
Mitch finally turned to face her, his gaze steady."Like what?"
"It started a couple of months ago.Some orchids disappeared from the front porch.I thought it was teenagers messing around.Then a supplier swore he shipped me a dozen peonies, but they never showed.The tires on my delivery van went flat twice in three weeks.I thought maybe I just needed to be more organized."
Mitch straightened with a wince and grabbed a pen and notepad from the edge of the table."You should have said something."
"I didn’t want to seem paranoid.I’m already the girl with the flower shop on the edge of town, living in her dad’s shadow and trying to make it work with lace and dreams."
"Izzy..."
She cut him off, voice trembling."And now someone’s trying to destroy what little I have left."
Mitch’s face softened.He didn’t speak, just handed her the pen.She blinked, then took it and began listing each incident while he added notes.
Seeing the events written down, one after another, made her stomach churn."It wasn’t just random, was it?"
Mitch tapped the paper."Looks like sabotage.Whoever it is, they’ve been escalating."
Izzy nodded slowly, her throat dry."But who would want to ruin a flower shop?"
He looked back at her, eyes sharp."That’s the question.And I plan to get the answer."
Chapter3
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.”
