True Bliss (29 page)

Wednesday - “Stopping to kiss you in the middle of the sidewalk made it the best first date ever. Every date since-the restaurant, the park, the shopping trips, the salon, our bedroom-everything is better when it's done with you. I love you.”

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 fucking money, and I'll leave your pretty face untouched. Give me my fucking 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 fuck 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 fuck 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 fucking 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 fucking pick.”

“We're going. Stay calm, Roberts.”

“Stay fucking calm? It's an armed fucking 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.

I fall to my knees next to Kate, wrapping my arms around her shoulders and pulling her into my lap.

“Roberts, don't move her. You don't know what kind of injuries she has,” Sam yells from behind me, but I barely hear her. My sole focus is Kate lying unconscious in my arms.

“I didn't mean to hurt her,” the robber says, repeating himself over and over as he starts wigging out.

“Sam, get him out of here before I shut him up myself.”

I grab a towel from the trolley behind us and hold it against her head, turning to catch my partner as she walks the guy out the salon door. “We need an ambulance, possible head injury. She's bleeding from a huge gash on the side of her head,” I say, squeezing Kate's hand to try and get reaction or a sign, or anything to let me know she's okay.

“C'mon, baby girl, I'm here now. You can't get away from me this easily. Come back to me, baby,” I murmur into her ear as I scoop her into my arms, standing up and carrying her over to the couch in the waiting area.

I see another man standing near the back room with his hands in the air as he just stares at Kate. His whole body is shaking, and he looks as if he's been crying.

“Who are you?” I ask, my voice low and amazingly steady.

“I'm Nathan. I work here.”

“Nathan, I'm Zander. You can put your arms down, my partner has the perp handcuffed outside. I need your help, though. Is there a blanket, or a jacket, or something warm around here? She's getting cold.”

Nathan comes running toward us from out the back, putting a woolen blanket over Kate's body. He's still shaking as he rubs her arm, muttering prayers under his breath.

“She was so brave. She was out here by herself. That dirty bastard threatened her, but she just took it. I heard the whole thing. When she came back to get her keys, she made me stay out of sight and call 911.” He's speaking a million times an hour; not what I need right now.

“Nathan, I need you to take a breath and calm down. We'll take your statement once we get Kate looked after, but I need to know how long she's been out for. Do you know?”

“I heard a thud, and then I couldn't hear Kate's voice anymore. The 911 operator told me to stay where I was, and then you guys arrived five minutes later.” He starts sobbing uncontrollably and takes a seat beside us as he tries to compose himself.

The dirty bastard threatened her. I ball my fists, trying to quell the anger building inside of me. What's the use of being a cop if I can't even stop the woman I love from being attacked and hurt by some lunatic? If that fucker touched her, I'll fucking kill him.

Career be damned.

Sam walks back in. “Ambulance is two minutes away according to dispatch.” She looks at my face and her brows furrow. “Roberts, you've gotta push it back. We've got him, and he'll be going inside for a long time after this. Kate needs you right now. Not the cop, but the man.”

“Right,” I reply, my voice hoarse.

I feel Kate stir in my lap. Looking down, I let out a huge sigh of relief when I see two beautiful, barely open, blue eyes staring back up at me.

“Zander,” she says with a smile. Quickly followed by an, “Owww, fuck that hurts!” as she reaches a hand up to the towel I'm holding firmly against her head wound. “You're here. You came.”

“Will always be here for you, babe. The ambulance is almost here. We're taking you to get checked out. You've got a nasty cut to your head, and you were knocked out.”

“I l….l…love you...” Her voice fades away as she closes her eyes again, but fuck if it doesn't feel fucking good to hear those words from her again.

KATE

 I have the biggest headache in the history of headaches. This beats the worst hangover. Even that one from when I was fifteen, and Mac and I stole some moonshine from Mr. Johnson's shed, then went to the park and drank half a bottle each.

I wake up in a horrible hospital gown. I can just imagine the view the doctors and nurses got in the ER when I was brought in. I was so out of it, I barely remember the ambulance ride to the hospital. I remember being wheeled in for a CAT scan to eliminate the possibility of a brain bleed, or hematoma, or something.

I also remember being asked if I wanted my parents called, and shaking my head profusely which just made the stabbing pain intensify, making me pass out yet again.

When I woke up the last time, Zander was holding my hand, his beautiful face marred with a huge frown. I remember him pulling at his hair as he ran his fingers through it, his eyes surrounded by dark circles as he continually refused to leave my bedside. I remember closing my eyes when the nurse came in asking him to leave, saying it was family only.

I open my eyes and slowly turn my head to look at him. “You said you were my fiancé.”

His eyes shine as a slow smile creeps up his face. “Babe, they said I couldn't be here. I would've called the JP to marry us now if I had to.”

“Oh,” I whisper, my throat parched.

Zander stands and holds a styrofoam cup to my mouth, putting the straw against my lips as I slowly drink the cool fluid.

“Thank you.”

“Anything for you, babe.”

“How about I just have you. Can I have you?”

“You never lost me.”

“I thought I was going to. When that man had me against the wall...when he pointed his gun at me...I thought I'd never see you again.” My eyes well up with tears as the enormity of what happened hits me.

Zander leans over me and wraps his arms around my shoulders, careful not to jostle my head around. I bury my face into his chest and cling to him as I let the tears flow.

“Nobody will ever hurt you again, me included,” he murmurs in my ear. “I love you too damn much to risk losing you again.”

I pull back and look up at him, struck by the sincerity in his eyes. In that moment, I don't care what's happened in the past; I just care about the here and now. Too much can happen in an instant. You can overreact without waiting for an explanation, you can get knocked out by a messed up junkie, desperate for his next fix.

I don't want to miss another moment of being with this man.

“I want go home.”

“I want to make a home with you.”

“Can we do both?” I say with a wry smile.

“Abso-fucking-lutely.”