Chapter 15

Juliet forced the lid on the tin of paint she'd been using, pushing it out of the way and folding the dust sheet from beneath it. She couldn't believe the bar was finished, and she would see Paige this afternoon. She stood back and admired the work that had been carried out, impressed by how brilliant it looked. It wasn't a huge addition space-wise, but there would be another seven tables added to the bar. She wanted to keep it as small as possible whilst making it bigger.

"I have to say, it looks way better than it looked on the plans." Cara came from the back, drying her hands on some paper towel. "Are you happy with it?"

Juliet smiled. "I am. I'm very happy with it. I can't wait for Paige to see it."

"You two really do have it all, don't you?" Cara rested back against the bar counter, laughing. "She's on tour with bloody Soraya, and you've extended the bar… everything good just lands in your lap, doesn't it?"

"I mean, we make our own luck," Juliet said, shrugging as she pulled out a seat and rested for a few minutes. "You've excelled here, too. Don't forget that. There was a time when I was ready to manhandle you out the door, but I gave you another chance, and look what it's all turned into now." Cara had been a nightmare in the beginning, but she had really changed her attitude in the last six months or so.

"Mm. I suppose." Cara turned and moved behind the bar. "Glass of wine to celebrate?"

Juliet would usually wait for Paige, but a glass of wine was just what she needed right now. She'd worked hard; her day had started at seven this morning. "Go on. I'll have a glass of red. Thanks for your help today. I appreciate it."

"No problem." Cara busied herself, carefully removing two of the new wine glasses where they hung on the rack above the bar. Juliet watched her, genuinely happy about how everything had turned out here.

"Tell me what you prefer. Putting people behind bars or working behind a bar?"

"Oh, that's an easy one. While I loved my job back in the day, this is much more pleasant."

"Did you ever feel bad when the people you represented went down for whatever they'd done?"

Juliet frowned. What a strange conversation to have today. "It's difficult. Even though I was representing them, they were mostly terrible people. Still, everyone deserves representation, and I did what I could for them."

"And…did you ever have any that you thought you should have tried harder for?"

"Are you planning to go into law, or do you always strike up random conversations?"

Cara lifted a shoulder as she carried two glasses of wine towards Juliet. "I guess I'm just intrigued. You were one of the best, and then you suddenly retire and end up owning a bar with a guy who sits outside watching your every move."

"Mm. I'd prefer H to be watching my every move than the alternative."

Cara's brows drew together. "The alternative?"

Juliet didn't particularly want to have this conversation. Her past was the past for a reason. She also didn't go around telling people about the threat made against her just weeks before she decided on early retirement. Yet here she was…having the conversation. "There are people out there who aren't happy with the hand life dealt them or what they dealt themselves. People on the inside who have people on the outside. They blame me."

"You mean, they're looking for you? To harm you?"

Juliet twisted her glass of wine on the table, nodding slowly. She had always hoped that it was nothing more than a simple threat to frighten her, but the thought of it being real always stuck with her. She wouldn't have Henry watching her otherwise. There were times when she thought she was just being too paranoid, but it was better to be safe than sorry. "That's the rumour."

"You only have the guy sitting outside when it suits you, though."

"While I'm here, I'm safe. The place is locked up, so nobody can get to me. I have to grant access to anyone trying to get in. When I know I'm not leaving for a while, I tell Henry to have a few hours off. The same goes for when I'm at my place. If you're worried about your safety, don't be. Henry is one of the best, and he'll know if anything untoward is going on."

"Do you remember Ronnie Delehedy?"

Juliet froze at the mention of that name, her hand gripping her wine glass a little tighter. Ronnie and his friends were the very people who had put the threat out against Juliet. "I do. A well-known drug dealer who used to hire children to do his street dealing."

" Supposedly ," Cara said, her tone level.

"Well, no. The evidence was there. CCTV footage of him handing over packages to teenagers. Some as young as thirteen. Proof of the burner phones he'd purchased and handed out to them, too. Along with a lot of other evidence."

"His wife died, you know."

Juliet knocked back her wine and got to her feet. Cara knowing who Ronnie was made Juliet feel uneasy. Her stomach…didn't feel right. "Yes, I know. I was sorry to hear about it."

"Were you, though?" Cara turned in her seat, her legs crossed as she tapped her nails against the table. "You knew she was terminal when he went down."

"The CPS had a very good case against him. I could only work with what I had, and that was very little to prove that he wasn't guilty. I didn't make it a habit to lose cases, Cara. That's just the way it fell sometimes." Juliet moved behind the bar, inconspicuously taking her phone. She managed to unlock it and bring up Paige's messages. "Another drink?"

"No. Need to stay coherent for the rest of the day. But thanks."

Juliet's hand trembled as she looked down at her phone.

Hey. Are you almost back in Liverpool? I'm at the bar with Cara and I could do with you here as soon as possible.

Juliet poured another glass of wine, but she had no intentions of drinking it. She just wanted to keep a space between her and Cara. Though, if she was being honest, Cara didn't strike her as the silent but deadly type. "So, you know Ronnie then?"

"Mmhmm. My mum's brother."

"And you've been working with me for over a year but decided not to bring it up until now?"

Cara smiled a sarcastic smile. "Biding my time. You would have fired me if you knew who I was. But I feel like we're in a much better place now. We have a friendship, right?"

Okay, just play along with this . "I'd like to think we do. You're invaluable to my team."

"What time is Paige due back?"

Juliet eyed the clock on the wall, but her vision seemed a little bit off. She only wore her glasses when she was working in the office, did she need them now, too? "I'll just call her and find out."

Cara got to her feet, the chair legs scraping against the stone floor. "Don't. She'll get here when she gets here." Cara approached the bar, blocking Juliet from leaving the tiny space. "No rush."

"No rush for what?"

Come on. Keep it together . Juliet may have known that something terrible was going to happen here, but she didn't want Cara to know that she feared for her life.

"You'll see."

"Cara, if you have people heading over here to do whatever the hell they plan to do, then you should think about it before you consider letting them into this building." Juliet gripped her phone in one hand, her wine glass in the other. How the hell was she supposed to fight a group of men off with nothing available to her? Fuck!

"Oh, you think I'm just trying to keep you here? No. Nobody is coming."

Juliet settled at that a little.

"Feeling okay?"

Resting back against the nearest surface, Juliet swallowed. No, she wasn't feeling okay. She didn't feel right at all. Her stomach churned, she felt a little shaky, and every time Cara moved, she had double vision. "Sure. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Give it a minute. Maybe…have a seat."

Juliet stumbled out from behind the bar, holding her phone against her chest. If Paige called, she would answer it before it had the chance to make a sound. "Cara, is everything okay?"

"I think you know why I'm here. Now that you know who I am…"

"You've been here for over a year. Why now?" Juliet followed every move Cara made, but it was hard to stay focused. "If you're here to hurt me, why wait?"

"I had one instruction from Uncle Ronnie. And that was to wait until you were at your happiest. No time frame, no rush, I just had to wait."

Oh, no. This was where it ended for Juliet. Cara was here to make good on that threat. Fuck! Juliet's phone buzzed in her hand. It was Paige.

Hi, babe. I've just got off the train, so I'll be at the bar in about twenty minutes. Need to put my bags in and then I'll be with you. Can't wait to see you and the amazing transformation of the bar. See you soon! I love you! x

Juliet's heart ached as she read the message from Paige. If this was where it ended, she wouldn't allow her girlfriend to be a part of it. Still, she would try to spook Cara by telling a slight lie. "That's Paige. She should be here soon. About fifteen minutes. Now is your chance to let whatever you're thinking go."

"It doesn't really matter to me if Paige is here or not. Actually, it's probably best if she's not. I wouldn't want her to interfere."

Stay at home. I'll be back soon. I'm almost finished here. I love you, baby. Always. Forever x

Juliet swallowed down the lump in her throat, refusing to show her emotions. "I've told her to stay at home. This is between me and you. Not her."

Cara shrugged. "Whatever."

"What exactly do you have planned, Cara? And what makes you think that you're going to one , succeed, and two , get away with it?"

Cara turned her watch towards herself. "In a few minutes, you're going to struggle to stand upright. And as for getting away with it, I made my peace with the fact that I won't. But this is for the family. For Ronnie and Mandy. You took the chance to be with her away from him, and now I'm going to take the chance for you to be with Paige away. It's really that simple."

"Because I couldn't keep him out of prison." Juliet had never felt so deflated. How was she supposed to keep an already previously convicted drug dealer out of prison when they had all the evidence they needed? "You're willing to ruin your life just to see me suffer? That's not who I thought you were, Cara."

"You have no idea who I am." This had to be the calmest Juliet had ever seen Cara. There was no anger, no bitterness, just calm. Her voice, her demeanour.

Juliet felt her mouth dry, her body shaking much more than it was before. "Can I call Paige?"

"What for?" Cara laughed. "She's not going to help you. It's too late."

"To…say goodbye." God, those words hadn't been easy to say. But it was important that Paige knew how Juliet felt. She knows how you feel. You made sure of that in the short time you had with one another . "Please? I just need to hear her voice. At least allow me that."

"Oh, stop. Paige is about to become an extraordinary musician. I'm sure she'll be just fine without you."

Would she be? Fine without Juliet…

Of course she would.

"You're right." As Juliet's vision blurred further, she caught a glimmer at Cara's side. The glimmer of light bouncing off metal. "Cara, think about this. Please."

Cara stepped forward, holding up a blade. "I would have been happy walking in here and doing this last year, but he wanted me to wait. I never did like you, Juliet. Stuck up, poncey bitch. That's all you are. You walk around here thinking you have it all, but you don't. One thing you've never had is peace. Your job meant you were always watching your back. At least I'll feel at peace knowing Ronnie got justice for Mandy. Forty years of marriage, and you stopped him from holding her as she took her last breath."

"I tried, Cara. I couldn't do any more than I did."

Cara reached out and dragged Juliet to her feet. She wanted to fight back, to wrap her hands around Cara's neck, but Juliet couldn't lift her arms. It was becoming clear that Cara had drugged her.

"I would have been more impressed if you'd fought me one-on-one. But to drug me? That's pathetic."

"Is that so?" Cara smirked, pressing the tip of the blade to Juliet's stomach. Juliet's phone clattered to the floor, her hands unable to grip any longer, giving Cara the perfect opportunity to crush the screen with her foot. "Oops. Definitely no chance of that call to Paige now."

"Whatever you're going to do, just fucking do it." Juliet jutted her chin, her legs practically numb at this point. "Even if I know you don't have the balls to go through with thi?—"

A searing pain shot through Juliet, radiating and pulsing to every last inch of her body. She gasped when Cara pulled her arm back, and then she felt another blow. She slumped, holding her stomach as Cara grinned and took a calm step back. And then she turned and left as though she'd simply been calling in to say hello.

Juliet dropped to her knees, the pain lessening but the blood now dripping to the floor where she knelt. She ached to hear Paige's voice, to feel her arms around her, but she could only memorise that beautiful face until her body gave up.