Rocky probably stepped out front.
“Anyone here?” she asked, scanning the racks. She didn’t see anyone and the blinds were still closed out front. If Rocky had stepped out he’d be impossible to see from this vantage point. She’d feel better if she locked the door.
Maybe she could get his attention, ask him to come back in. Lauren glanced around for the keys. She remembered them being on the counter.
Lauren moved to the cash register and looked around, but they weren’t there. She searched the area, the counter and the floor. She located them between the register and the wall.
As she turned toward the door, she saw a figure move behind a rack. Lauren froze. Her heart stuttered. A little gasp escaped her before she could swallow it. Where was Rocky?
Someone was there, messing with her. Impossible as it was, her heart wanted it to be Jaden. “Who is it? Who’s there?”
There was no answer. Her stomach knotted because she feared something bad had happened to Rocky. Jaden’s words came back to her. Whenever in danger use anything from her surroundings to defend herself.
Sticking near the front of the shop was her best opportunity to escape. With her back to the door, she fisted the key ring, allowing the jagged edges of the keys to poke through her balled fingers. It wasn’t much, but they were the only weapons she had.
Fear and panic welled in her throat. She stifled a cough. The room was quiet. Tense. It was a stalemate.
Lauren heard the squeak of a dressing room door opening. She ventured a few steps toward the door. If she could get to the front of her shop maybe she could get to the street.
From seemingly nowhere she felt a blow to the back of her head, and something heavy smacked against her back. She stumbled a few steps forward, blurry-eyed, but managed to stay on her feet. A rope pulled tightly against her neck, and a white cloth covered her mouth.
There was something on the rag. A strong odor. It wasn’t a scent she could identify, but it was screaming at her. She held her breath and fought against the nausea burning her throat. She jabbed her arm backward.
The person behind her was smaller in stature. A strong elbow to the ribs might give Lauren the break she needed. She jammed her elbow into the woman behind her. The grip loosened.
Lauren took advantage of the change in momentum. She spun around and then pushed off the woman. It was a woman. A blond woman. Helena.
The door chimed as a punch landed on Lauren’s solar plexus. Air flew from her lungs with an audible whoosh. The voice she thought she’d never hear again cut through the ringing sound in her ears.
“I’m the one you want. Leave her alone, Helena,” said Jaden, his voice angrier than she’d ever heard it before.
The next blow dropped Lauren to her knees. Before she could scream, a strong hand guided her upright again and Helena took a couple of steps back. The barrel of her shiny gun trained on Lauren’s chest.
“You came back for this one. Just as I knew you would. I saw the way you looked at her in Antigua. Did you think I would not hunt you?” the newly-blonde Helena said, her honey-coated Latin accent couldn’t hide the bite in her words, the venom on her tongue.
“She has nothing to do with this,” Jaden said, bitterness deepening his tone as he stood between Lauren and Helena.
The blonde’s eyes twinkled, and her lips turned up in a sarcastic grin. “You like this one. Is Jaden Dean, excuse me, is Jaden Orchard finally in love? Then you’re about to know what it’s like for the one person you love to die.”
“You don’t need her to make your point. You found me. I promise you won’t kill me.”
Helena’s cat eyes stayed intent on Jaden. “Don’t be so sure.”
Jaden’s grip tightened on his gun. “It won’t bring him back.”
She let out a pained screech.
“You keep slipping out of sight, you sonofabitch. You won’t do it this time,” Helena said before disappearing behind a rack filled with pots.
“I mourn his loss too. Your head’s not on straight. We can get help for you, Helena. It doesn’t have to be this way.”
“Don’t pretend to be my friend. You killed him. You’re in charge. You’re the guy who decides where we go and when,” her tone more desperate than before.
“I’m responsible for Tim. I’ll take that blame. I would’ve gone myself if I’d known what was going to happen.”
“You sent him to his death.” Her voice was a screech.
“Sent him? I didn’t have to. He begged me to go,” Jaden said.
“Liar!”
“You didn’t know? He wouldn’t take no for an answer. Said he wanted to earn extra time off.”
“We were supposed to be married.” Her pitch rose in anger.
Jaden spun around to the sound of her every move, protective of Lauren, who he’d tucked behind him. “Where’s Gabriel?”
A bullet pinged off the metal clothing rack next to her head. In one swoop, Jaden had her on the floor, using his body to cover her.
“Gone.”
Damn it. He encouraged Lauren to inch forward as he scanned the floor for Helena’s feet. She was most likely using the cash register station for cover. He squeezed the handle of his Glock. Waited. The last thing he wanted to do was use it on her.
A creak from the wood floor sounded by the door. Jaden tracked the noise with the barrel of his gun. He glanced at the wall of mirrors and caught sight of Helena coming up from behind.
He spun around as she moved into his line of fire. He hesitated.
The barrel of her gun pointed directly at Lauren. He quickly adjusted so that Lauren was behind him and he had Helena in sight.
One shot. One kill.
Jaden’s finger twitched
