Twenty-four

Harlow

There was no amount of deep breathing that would work to calm my nerves.

My mind was racing, my belly was trembling, and I could feel my palms instantly beginning to sweat.

Without her saying another word to me, I knew who this woman was.

Granted, I didn’t know exactly who she was, but I knew enough to know she was the woman Blaze and his team had been trying to locate for weeks now. Or, well, she was one of the people they were looking for.

My phone rang again, and for the first time since Laura had indicated she was there to kill me, I tore my attention away from her to glance down at the phone.

It was Blaze.

God, I hoped he knew something was wrong and was desperate to reach me.

Just as I thought I’d reach for the phone, Laura spoke. “Don’t touch it.”

Normally, I’d never allow someone else to tell me what I could and couldn’t do, but considering Laura was now pointing a gun at me, I thought it was wise to heed her warning.

I swallowed hard, the pain from the boulder lodged in my throat unbearable.

“Please,” I begged, my voice strained.

I hated that I was begging this woman for anything, but I didn’t know what else to do. Maybe, just maybe, if I could keep her talking long enough, I’d be able to buy myself enough time.

I knew Blaze.

There wasn’t a chance he wouldn’t be heading here immediately if he believed I was in trouble. And considering the agreement we’d work out regarding me answering if he called, I prayed he knew I needed his help.

Laura shot me a questioning look. “What are you begging me for?”

“I don’t… I… please don’t shoot me.”

“This isn’t personal,” she declared.

I wondered if she believed that was supposed to make me feel better. Considering I was the one with the gun pointed at me, I couldn’t take this any other way than personally.

“You’re the one responsible for what’s been happening all over Steel Ridge, aren’t you? Why are you doing this?” I asked her.

Laura’s chilling laughter filled the air. “Oh, it’s not been happening everywhere. Only where it was necessary. Only where I needed it to happen, so they could understand.”

I wasn’t entirely convinced at this point that I’d make it out of this alive, but on the off chance that I did, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to get all the information I could, so I could pass it along to Blaze and his team.

“So, they were right then? This was about the guys at Harper Security,” I stated.

She nodded. “Absolutely.”

“What did they do? And if you’re so upset with them, why are you taking it out on innocent people like me and the others you’ve terrorized?” I pressed.

The corners of Laura’s mouth tipped up in a grin as a look of pride washed over her face. It was obvious she didn’t see a single thing wrong with what she was doing. If I had to guess, I’d say she was enjoying it.

“Because they need to understand what it feels like,” she explained.

My brows knit together. Maybe if I was sympathetic to whatever injustice she felt she suffered, perhaps it would give me enough time. Maybe it would give Blaze the time he needed to get here. “I’m not going to pretend you haven’t been watching me for some period of time to know I’m dating someone from Harper Security,” I started. “But I imagine you know that’s only been recent. What did they do to hurt you?”

A look of despair washed over her, tears filling her eyes. Her hand shook as she continued to point her gun at me. My phone rang a third time, and that seemed to set her off. “Out from behind the counter,” she ordered, stepping back a bit.

I did as she demanded and tried to remain focused. My voice trembled as I pushed for answers. “Why are you doing this, Laura?”

“I want them all to know how it feels to lose someone they love,” she croaked. “While they’re all living in fear right now, it’ll be your guy who learns what it’s like first. He’s going to feel that pit of despair that I’ve been living in.”

“What did they do? Who did they take from you?” I questioned her, feeling less and less confident about my chances of survival. She was becoming unraveled.

“My father.”

“They killed him?”

“He’s in prison because they stuck their noses into something they didn’t need to,” she explained.

I wanted to tell her that if her father was in prison because of something they’d investigated, then it was likely the man deserved to be there. But I didn’t think adding insult to injury was a wise move at this juncture. “I’m so sorry, Laura. Was he wrongfully imprisoned? Who is he?”

Laura’s throat moved with her deep swallow. “Mikael Atlantico. It was just over three years ago when they did what they did. All because of that stupid woman at the doughnut shop and the guy she wound up marrying. My dad was merely providing a life for his family, and they took it all away. We were left with nothing. And now, I’m back for revenge.”

This had to be about something that happened at The Early Bird. While I never wanted to see any harm come to Tarryn or anyone else as a result of this situation, I didn’t understand how this woman could stand here, wanting to punish everyone else for something that they hadn’t been a part of.

Tears had filled her eyes. Her hands were trembling, and she couldn’t seem to stand still, continuing to shift back and forth on her feet. God, it felt like she was teetering on the edge of reason.

“Laura, please,” I begged again, fully aware I didn’t have much time left. “I wasn’t even around when any of this happened.”

She shook her head. “That’s not my problem. I wasn’t involved in my father’s business, but there I was, having to suffer the consequences of what happened. You made a choice to get involved with that guy, and now you’ll suffer the consequences. It’s just the way it is. You’re the unfortunate one who gets to be the first fatality.”

I wondered if I could run.

Could I get away? Could I make it to the back room and barricade myself in before she had the chance to pull the trigger?

Before I could make that determination, it happened.

The sound of gunfire rang in my ears as pain seared through my leg. I screamed, feeling like I was moving in slow motion as another shot rang out. I’d already been moving down into a crouched position to cradle my leg as it gave out when the side of my head began exploding with pain.

I collapsed completely on the floor, and barely five seconds later, Laura was gone as the blood poured out of my body.

Blaze

There was nothing quite like the feeling of utter helplessness. As I raced out of the Harper Security Ops office, to my truck, and through the streets of Steel Ridge toward Harlow’s salon, I only felt an overwhelming sense of powerlessness.

I had no choice but to sit with it and pray that my instincts were wrong.

I knew they wouldn’t be, though.

What I should have been doing was praying that it wouldn’t be too bad, that I’d get there in time to save her. I should have been preparing myself for whatever horror I would see when I arrived at Harlow’s salon.

Because after I attempted a third call to Harlow, once I got into my truck and started driving there, I finally allowed the reality to settle in.

This wasn’t going to be good.

The words on that note continued to replay in my mind—one will be gone before the day is done—and without even confirming my worst instincts first, it took everything in me not to get sick.

Despite how fast I’d been driving, it seemed to take longer than usual to get to Harlow’s salon. Forrest, Huck, and Greyson all pulled up behind me, prepared to enter this situation with me, regardless of what we’d find.

The fact there wasn’t any sign of forced entry at the salon should have been enough to allow me to breathe a sigh of relief, but it wasn’t. Because I could see from my vantage point that the lights were still on in her salon, and she normally would have had everything closed by now.

What if someone came in and had taken her? Where would I find her? Would I be able to get to her on time?

I barely turned off my truck before getting out and racing toward the front door of the salon. The second I swung the door open and took in the scene, I came to a grinding halt.

This couldn’t be right.

This couldn’t be how it ended.

“No,” I croaked, feeling the bile rise in my throat.

I felt Forrest’s presence behind me, as I heard him clip, “Fuck.”

That was it.

The next thing I knew, I flew across the room to where Harlow was slumped on the ground, her back resting against the counter.

Blood was everywhere, and she was unconscious.

“Harlow,” I called out as I made it over to her. “Harlow, baby, please wake up. Talk to me.”

“It looks like her leg and her head,” Forrest declared.

Her head.

She had a bullet wound in her head.

I had to ignore it. I had to ignore the undeniable rage threatening to spill out of me. I had to focus on what I could do for Harlow.

Placing my fingers on her throat, I said, “Her pulse is weak. It’s there, but barely. Grab me towels from the back. Did someone call for an ambulance?”

“We called them on the way,” Huck informed me.

As Forrest and I shifted Harlow’s body, Greyson returned with a bunch of towels.

I heard the sirens in the distance as Forrest took some towels and worked on applying pressure to the wound on her leg. My focus was on staunching the blood pouring from the side of her head.

“Harlow, can you hear me?” I asked. “Open your eyes for me, baby.”

She didn’t.

Not immediately, anyway.

But by some miracle, there’d been another hint of life beyond that weak pulse. She moaned.

“Harlow,” I called again.

Her eyes barely fluttered open.

“You’re going to be okay, baby. We’ve got the ambulance on the way. You just have to hang on,” I pleaded with her.

Harlow’s lips parted. “A woman,” she whispered.

My body froze. “A woman did this to you?”

“Laura,” she rasped, fighting to get out that single word. As her eyes drifted shut again, she got out one final word. “Atlantico.”

My head snapped up, my eyes going to Forrest.

He heard what she said, looked up at Huck and Greyson and said, “Did you get that?”

“No. What did she say?”

“Laura Atlantico,” he informed them.

My eyes darted around, taking Harlow in once more to make sure we hadn’t missed any gunshot wounds, and I felt something inside me snap.

I went numb.

There was so much blood. Harlow’s blood.

Just as the paramedics pulled up outside the salon, I ordered, “Call Royce. He knows this case inside and out. Tell him what Harlow said. And tell him that if he doesn’t find this woman and whoever is working for her by the time I know Harlow’s status at the hospital, I’m going to find her and kill her myself.”

The next thing I knew, Forrest was rattling information off about Harlow’s injuries to the paramedics. I was in a state of shock, filled with despair.

All I could do was look down at my beautiful girl, the woman who’d changed my life. Fear consumed me, and I felt as though I was in a daze.

If she didn’t make it, I’d never survive this. I’d never be the same.

Forrest had to eventually pull me away from Harlow, so the paramedics could do what they needed to do for her and get her ready to be transported to the hospital. I looked on in horror.

And the moment they began wheeling her out on the stretcher, Forrest urged me forward and placed a phone in my hand.

“What’s this for?”

“It’s hers,” he said. “The doctors are only going to give information to her family. You need to call them.”

Fuck.

If I thought her family liked me for her before, I wasn’t so sure how they’d feel about me now.

I took the phone from Forrest and moved toward the exit. Then I followed behind the ambulance all the way to the hospital, feeling nothing but a mix of rage, fear, and that continued helplessness.

I’d alternated between sitting in a chair and pacing the length of the room from the moment I’d entered the waiting room while Forrest looked on from a chair.

Nothing worked.

Nothing made any of this better.

Harlow was somewhere in this hospital, fighting for her life, and I felt like I was coming out of my skin.

There was a part of me that felt the need to leave, only to find the woman responsible for doing this to Harlow.

But I couldn’t go.

I couldn’t walk out of here without knowing her fate.

Plus, I knew Forrest wouldn’t let me walk out of here, even if I’d been stupid enough to make that decision.

So, I stayed.

And though it felt like time just kept passing me by, I tried to look on the bright side. If a doctor hadn’t come out yet, that meant there was still a reason to hope.

That’s when the door opened, and my body ground to a halt.

Harlow’s family had arrived, their faces looking as horrified as I imagined my own did. Slowly, apprehensively, they moved in my direction. I stood still, waiting for them to close that distance.

“What happened?” her father, Gary, asked.

I swallowed hard.

When I’d called them on the way here, I told them Harlow was in an ambulance and for them to meet me at the hospital. I didn’t give them any additional details then.

They needed to know the truth, but I hated knowing what this was going to do to them. “Harlow was shot tonight in her salon.” Her mom, Kim, gasped, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. I continued, “From what I could tell, there were two gunshot wounds. One to her leg, the other…”

“Where?” her brother, Kevin, pressed.

My eyes cut to his. Following a beat of silence, I revealed, “Her head.”

Kim’s knees buckled, and Gary’s arms went around her. Harlow’s other brother, Austin, turned around and started to pace.

I couldn’t say I didn’t understand exactly what he was going through. I gave them all some time to digest that information, and when Gary had gotten Kim in a chair with Austin sitting down beside her, Kevin asked, “Why would someone do this to her?”

This was the part I was dreading the most. Would I even be able to tell them the truth and have them not want to kick me out before I knew if Harlow survived?

Regardless of how they’d react, I couldn’t keep the truth from them.

So, I revealed, “She was an innocent bystander, caught in the crossfire.”

“Of what?” Austin questioned me.

I inhaled deeply, attempting to buy myself some time, but it didn’t help much. “Someone had decided to seek revenge against Harper Security Ops. I’ve been working on this case with a couple of the guys I work with for nearly the entire time I’ve known Harlow. When I realized what was happening, I should have walked away to keep her safe. It’s my fault she might not survive.”

“Do you believe that?” Kim asked.

“What?”

“Do you believe she won’t survive?”

I looked down at the ground, the images from Harlow’s salon flashing before my eyes. When I returned my attention to her mom, I admitted, “I don’t know. The thought that she won’t survive is far too much to bear, so I want to believe she’ll make it. But she lost a lot of blood. It seems impossible.”

“Do you know who did this to her?” Gary questioned me.

I dipped my chin. “We do now, and my team is working on locating that individual as we speak.”

With that news, silence fell over the room.

And as more time passed, nobody said a word.

Eventually, I joined Harlow’s family by taking a seat across the room from them. I dropped my head into my hands, feeling like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders.

A few minutes later, I felt someone’s hand on my shoulder.

Lifting my head, I saw her brother standing there. He sat down beside me and said, “My sister is strong. She’s going to fight, and she’s going to come back to us.”

I desperately wanted to believe him.

I didn’t doubt just how strong Harlow was. I just wasn’t sure how much she could have been expected to endure.

“I hope you’re right.”

“I am. I have to be. None of us will survive without her. And from what I’m seeing, that especially includes you.”

A rush of air left my lungs as I sighed. Then I gave him a nod of appreciation.

And we all returned to the silence as the minutes ticked by until, finally, the door opened, and the doctor walked in.