Chapter 45
Not having a phone sucks. Why? Because I have zero directional abilities and ended up getting lost on the way to my own apartment for my car. It took me two failed bus attempts and then a regretful Uber ride with a man who hasn’t showered since the ninth grade. Only when I was about to pay him did I realize I grabbed the wrong purse. The one with my car keys but not my wallet. I barely managed to scrape enough cash out of each zipped-up pocket to pay him the twenty bucks I owed him.
And I’m soaked because of this rainstorm. But I made it.
I pull my car into the salon parking lot.
The lights are off in Curl Up and Dye. As hairdressers, we can come and go as we please, but there’s usually always someone here even during holidays. Especially at 2:10 on a Friday. Leah must be here somewhere. Surely she waited for me.
I unlock the door, cringing when the loud ding of the bell slices through the thick silence. I reach for the light switch. “Leah?”
The salon remains dark. I hit the light switch again. When nothing happens this time I grab the landline, but there’s no buzzing in my ear awaiting the numbers I’ll punch in. The power is out because of the storm. That’s why everyone is gone. Not because I walked into a trap. That would be ridiculous. Right?
After finding my ex-fiancé stabbed to death with a knitting needle, nothing seems too far-fetched anymore. I peek outside but no lights greet me down the familiar street, only pounding rain and ominous clouds. The power must be out down the whole block.
“Leah?” I call again. Why did she tell me to meet her here if she wasn’t going to be here?
Lightning cracks, casting the salon and its skeletons in a frightening glow. A shiver runs down my body. That’s it. I’m facing imminent death; the deafening silence is a testament to that.
I’m tired of being ignorant Shawn. I want to be scaredy cat Gus and run away as fast as possible, screaming all the way.
I reach for the door but hesitate. I’m being a coward. Leah probably called to tell me the power was out and her message is waiting for me back on my hotel phone. That’s what happened. I pull the door open, but I’m only one foot outside of the salon when I remember the jewelry box. It’s back in my locker. Less than thirty feet away. If I grab it now I can bring it to Caleb. Knowing Caleb, he’s probably on his way here right now.
Decision made, I walk back inside, grab my key and unlock the breakroom, then slam the door behind me and lock it. Look at me learning things, Caleb.
My body relaxes until I remember the power is out and the only light is coming through a tiny window in the corner of the room. I shake off the nerves and approach my locker. It takes me three tries to get the key into the lock, and another solid minute of manhandling the thing, but I finally get my locker open.
It’s too dark to see inside the small square, so I stick my hand in, breathing a sigh of relief when my fingers hit the jewelry box.
I’ve got it. Now I have to get out of here and back to Caleb and everything will be alri—
Ding.
My heart stops beating. My lungs seize up. I’m stuck in one of those dreams where I can’t move, can’t scream. Only this isn’t a dream.
There’s the distinct sound of the front door shutting, jingling the bell again as it does. And then the lock slides into place.
When will I learn?
My heart starts up again, but it’s beating so loud in my ears I have to strain to hear what’s going on outside that door.
Footsteps. Slow, steady, and heavy. Not Leah.
Maybe it’s Caleb. He got my message and came to meet me.
But no matter how hard I try to convince myself of this, I can’t make my body move to find out.
My legs feel like jelly and I grab the counter to keep myself upright, dragging in a quiet breath before I pass out.
What do I do? This is why Caleb told me to stay in my hotel room. But stupid me thinks she can do anything she wants and not die at the hands of a British maniac. Curse him and his beguiling accent.
“Amelia?” The voice is muffled but without a doubt Liam. Not Caleb.
My stomach sinks and I go still. If I don’t breathe, don’t move, he won’t find me. It’s like playing hide and seek. Be one with my surroundings.
Except there’s nothing big enough to hide in. I glance desperately at the window. It’s too small, I might make it through. But I also might get stuck half in and half out. Either way, I’m a sitting duck on this deserted street.
All part of the plan. I hear his voice in my head.
And to think I trusted him. I should have listened to Caleb.
Caleb. He’s never going to find me in time. I have to save myself.
“Amelia.” The voice is closer, much too close.
I glance around the room, searching for weapons in the dim light. Shampoos, conditioner, dyes, bleach, aerosol.
I lock the jewelry box back in my locker and shut it as quietly as I can. But every little sound echoes through the room like a thunderclap.
Wait, that was a thunderclap. Perfect timing, Mother Nature. I’m sorry for ever doubting you.
I tuck the can of aerosol down my shirt. It’s a terrible hiding place but the best I have. I stick the tweezers between my fingers like claws and glance around once more.
A hairdryer? Will he confuse that as a gun in the dark? Only one way to find out.
I hold up the hair dryer and aim it at the door, just as it bursts open. Splintered pieces of the lock and door clatter to the ground.
“I thought I might find you here.”