True Bliss (Bliss #2)(53)
Author: B.J. Harvey

Thursday – “Nightdancer23 was always me. I should have been upfront from the beginning, but I knew that you thought I’d rejected you and that you might not have given me the time of day. I wanted to know you, wanted to get close to you. I wanted my chance with you, and that was the only way how. I love you.

Friday – “If you’re getting this card it means I need to up my game. I love you enough to stay away. I love you enough to fight for you until you tell me there is no hope, then I’ll fight harder. You are the only woman I want to be with, to laugh with, to live with, to make love to. I’m living a life of darkness without you. I need you in my life. I need my firebird.”

Now it’s Friday night. Two weeks since I’ve seen Zander. Two weeks of surviving on no sleep, takeaways, chocolate bars, and chick flicks that make me cry. I miss him even more.

Nathan and I are working late, and are out the back cleaning up when I hear the front door chime. I swear under my breath because I’ve been so preoccupied today that I forgot to lock the front door when we closed up.

“Sorry, we’re closed. If you call tomorrow, we can book you an appointment.” I don’t get a reply, but I hear footsteps on the cold vinyl floor. I walk out to the front of the salon and see a figure all in black wearing a ski mask and pointing a gun at me.

“Open the register.”

“Ah…I…um…please don’t hurt me.” I freeze, my body unwilling to move.

“Bitch, you better move. I’m not afraid to use this.” He shakes the gun back and forth in front of me. I immediately notice that the guy is agitated and is making very jerky movements. I should just do whatever he says, give him whatever he wants, and let him go on his way. You can replace money, but you can’t replace your life, right?

“O…Okay. I just need my keys from the back to get the money.”

“Fuck that, you’re just gonna call the cops. Open it now, bitch! I want the f**king money, and I’ll leave your pretty face untouched. Give me my f**king money!”

I hold my hands up in surrender. “I…I’m sorry, I just need my keys to get the money.” I talk very slowly, trying hard to hide the paralyzing fear seeping through my entire body. I’m terrified. I don’t want to die. Especially on a dirty salon floor.

“Well, let’s go then.” He grabs my arm and starts walking toward the back.

I freak out, knowing that Nathan is still back there. “Ah, it’s a really small room. I’ll just go by myself and come straight back, okay?”

“Hurry the f**k up then! Go get your keys and get your ass back out here. Grab your handbag too. Never know what shit you might have in there.”

I still can’t move. My chin trembles as I try to hold back my tears. I bite my lip and swallow hard, trying to find the courage to do what he says without breaking down. Then I remember Nathan and how I couldn’t stand it if he got hurt.

“C’mon. I don’t have all night.” He starts pacing back and forth, like he can’t stand still.

“Okay,” I reply shakily. My legs finally tighten, and I shuffle backwards, not willing to turn my back on the gun. I get into the backroom and see a pale-faced Nathan.

“What do I do?” he asks, his face telling me he’s terrified.

“Call 911,” I mouth to him, grabbing my keys and my handbag. “I love you. If anything happens, you run. And tell Zander I love him.”

I walk back out the front, and the gunman immediately grabs my arm. He pulls my handbag away from me and drags me toward the reception desk.

“Hurry the f**k up or I’ll hurt you! Bet your pretty ass doesn’t want that, now does it?” He runs his hand through my hair and my whole body shudders in disgust. My hands are shaking as I try to put the key into the register to override it.

“Give it here. Stupid woman. Maybe I should shoot you to teach you a f**king lesson.” He snatches the keys out of my hand and jams them into the register, wrenching the cash drawer open and pulling out the day’s takings. He stuffs the bills into his pockets until he can’t fit anymore.

Turning around, he stalks me, backing me up against the wall. My breaths burst in and out, my body shaking with fear. My only hope is that Nathan’s call to the cops went through.

He leans in and sniffs me. I see his eyes are wide and glassy. He reaches up and runs the steel end of the gun down my cheek. I start sobbing as I realize that I’m helpless. I can’t do anything but close my eyes tight and hope that help comes soon.

I hear sirens in the distance, and I breathe out a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, I open my eyes just in time to see his fist come flying through the air, clocking the side of my head and knocking me sideways. I hit something else on the way down, so when I reach the floor, I’m knocked out immediately, the darkness swallowing me whole.

My last thought is Zander.

Zander

It’s halfway through my shift. We’ve parked up near the lakefront to wait for the next call out. Around 9 p.m. the radio operator calls code 3 – lights and sirens for any units near the Glamazon Hair Salon to attend an armed robbery in progress.

Time stands still when I realize that Kate will still be at work.

“Sam, that’s Kate. If you’re not going, I’m running. Take your f**king pick.”

“We’re going. Stay calm, Roberts.”

“Stay f**king calm? It’s an armed f**king robbery still in progress.”

“If you don’t get your shit sorted, I’ll stand you down. I’m your senior, remember? You do what I say.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Take a few deep breaths. You’re no help to her if you’re distracted. You need to be on your game, Zander.” I look over at her. It’s the first time she’s referred to me as Zander, and in doing that, she has successfully snapped me out of my haze.

We stop across the street from the salon. As I go to jump out, Sam puts her hand on my forearm to stop me. “Cool and calm, Roberts.”

We get out, both drawing our guns from our hips as we try to clear the area of pedestrians. The guns pointed at the door of the salon seem to be a big deterrent, but there are still rubberneckers who can’t wait to see what happens, whether they get shot at or not. Fucking idiots!

“POLICE! Come out with your hands up!” Sam calls out in her biggest, loudest cop voice.

When we get no response, we know we can’t wait for backup. I push past Sam and bust through the salon door, finding a pale, emaciated man leaning over Kate’s lifeless body, and a silver 9mm handgun lying on the floor beside them. My training kicks in, and I rush over and grab the assailant-kicking the gun away and holding his hands behind his back. Sam comes up and takes over, slapping cuffs on his wrists as I pat him down. Sam reads out his Miranda rights and nods to me. I bite my tongue, trying to quell the rage coursing through me.