This is it. I’m going to die.My eyes widen and my entire body freezes. I know I should fight back, try to run out of this room, onto the street where there are people, but I can’t move. Fear has me trapped.
“You’re going to deliver a message to your boyfriend for me.”
This is about August? Why?
“What do you want with him?” I manage to ask.
“He stole something. I want it back. Tell him he’s got two days to give it back before I take everything he has, including his life.”
The thought of this asshole killing August has me reacting. I shove against the guy’s chest. “Fuck you, you won’t touch him!” I scream.
“Fucking bitch.” A hand connects with the side of my face.
I stumble backwards, hitting the shelves. That’s when the guy lunges for me. The knife in his hand going into my stomach. I look down at my shaky, blood-covered hands before my masked attacker opens the door and runs out of the shop.
My knees collapse, and I fall to the floor. I reach into my pocket for my phone and hit Jade’s number, close my eyes, and wait for her to answer.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Icheck the location of Hayley’s air tag. She’s still at her salon. She’s not answering her phone and neither is Andre. Something isn’t sitting well in my gut.
“I gotta go,” I tell Colton.
“What’s up?” he asks.
“Something’s wrong. I can’t get ahold of Andre or Hayley.” I’m already walking out of the club and over to my car. We’ve spent all morning interrogating low-runners on the street, trying to get intel on who the fuck is targeting me. It took us going through twenty guys until we got one who would actually fucking talk.
Colton jumps in the passenger seat of my car. That’s the thing about my best friend. As fucking annoying as he is, he is the first one there when shit goes down. Always having my back without me asking him to.
“I’m sure she’s just busy doing whatever it is hairdressers do,” he says.
“You ever get your hair done by a hairdresser?” I quirk a brow at him.
“I go to the same barber you do,” Colton tells me.
“Hayley washed my hair last night. I’m never going to a barber again.” I laugh.
“I’ll have to book an appointment with her,” Colton says.
“Over my dead body,” I grunt. I know what he’s doing. He’s distracting me from the fact that I know something’s wrong.
I don’t know how many road rules I break to get to Hayley’s salon. The entire time, Colton tries to reach Andre without success.
As soon as we pull up out front, I spot Andre’s car. He appears to be asleep.
“I’m going to fucking kill him…” I grumble under my breath as I jump out of the driver’s seat. But when I get to the window, I see the blood splattered across the glass. Andre’s head is slumped against the steering wheel. More blood is darkening his legs.
My head snaps up to the shop, and I run.
“No!” I yell, pushing through the door. “Hayley?” There’s a dark red trail on the floor. I follow it to the back of the shop and shove the storage room open. “No, no, no!” My knees hit the ground as I fall next to Hayley’s lifeless body. “Hayley, wake up, baby. Wake up.” My fingers feel around her neck, and I thank God when they find a pulse.
“Fuck.” Colton stands in the doorway. “I’ve called the ambulance. They’re on the way,” he says. He reaches above me, grabbing something off the shelf, and then lowers himself to the ground. “We need to stabilize this,” he says, wrapping a towel around the knife handle.
His voice snaps me out of my fog. My first instinct is to yank it out. But we both been stabbed enough times to know better. Instead, I scoop Hayley into my arms, stand, and walk out into the main area of the salon.
“What the hell happened? Hayley?” Jade comes barreling through the door.
“Contain that,” I tell Colton.
