Page 112 of Date With Danger

Matthias looks back at me. “She’s feisty. I like it.”

I grip the handle of my gun. “She is going to kill you if you say one more thing like that.”

“Looks like I’m coming with you.”

We lead Matthias back to the vehicle. I check my phone. No calls from Amelia. I call her at the hotel, but she doesn’t answer. She must have fallen asleep.

I want to leave Matthias in Serena’s hands and run back to Amelia’s side to protect her. But I have to figure out why Justin was being paid to date her.

I double-check the GPS chip I tucked into her purse after the phone/toilet fiasco and see her location is still at the hotel. The front desk confirmed she was in her room an hour ago when the food I sent was delivered, but I still feel anxious being away from her.

I call up Agent Fischer who answers on the first ring. “Hello?”

“Hey, how’s Amelia?”

There’s a muffled yell in the background and he grunts. “I think she’s dancing in there.”

“That sounds like her.” I chuckle. “I’ll be back soon.” I hang up, feeling less anxious.

I need to find Liam. And then this will all be over.

Chapter 45

Amelia

Not having a phone sucks. Why? Because I have zero directional abilities and ended up getting lost on the way to my own apartment for my car. It took me two failed bus attempts and then a regretful Uber ride with a man who hasn’t showered since the ninth grade. Only when I was about to pay him did I realize I grabbed the wrong purse. The one with my car keys but not my wallet. I barely managed to scrape enough cash out of each zipped-up pocket to pay him the twenty bucks I owed him.

And I’m soaked because of this rainstorm. But I made it.

I pull my car into the salon parking lot.

The lights are off in Curl Up and Dye. As hairdressers, we can come and go as we please, but there’s usually always someone here even during holidays. Especially at 2:10 on a Friday. Leah must be here somewhere. Surely she waited for me.

I unlock the door, cringing when the loud ding of the bell slices through the thick silence. I reach for the light switch. “Leah?”

The salon remains dark. I hit the light switch again. When nothing happens this time I grab the landline, but there’s no buzzing in my ear awaiting the numbers I’ll punch in. The power is out because of the storm. That’s why everyone is gone. Not because I walked into a trap. That would be ridiculous. Right?

After finding my ex-fiancé stabbed to death with a knitting needle, nothing seems too far-fetched anymore. I peek outside but no lights greet me down the familiar street, only pounding rain and ominous clouds. The power must be out down the whole block.

“Leah?” I call again. Why did she tell me to meet her here if she wasn’t going to be here?

Lightning cracks, casting the salon and its skeletons in a frightening glow. A shiver runs down my body. That’s it. I’m facing imminent death; the deafening silence is a testament to that.

I’m tired of being ignorant Shawn. I want to be scaredy cat Gus and run away as fast as possible, screaming all the way.

I reach for the door but hesitate. I’m being a coward. Leah probably called to tell me the power was out and her message is waiting for me back on my hotel phone. That’s what happened. I pull the door open, but I’m only one foot outside of the salon when I remember the jewelry box. It’s back in my locker. Less than thirty feet away. If I grab it now I can bring it to Caleb. Knowing Caleb, he’s probably on his way here right now.

Decision made, I walk back inside, grab my key and unlock the breakroom, then slam the door behind me and lock it. Look at me learning things, Caleb.

My body relaxes until I remember the power is out and the only light is coming through a tiny window in the corner of the room. I shake off the nerves and approach my locker. It takes me three tries to get the key into the lock, and another solid minute of manhandling the thing, but I finally get my locker open.

It’s too dark to see inside the small square, so I stick my hand in, breathing a sigh of relief when my fingers hit the jewelry box.

I’ve got it. Now I have to get out of here and back to Caleb and everything will be alri—

Ding.

My heart stops beating. My lungs seize up. I’m stuck in one of those dreams where I can’t move, can’t scream. Only this isn’t a dream.

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