Page 45 of Any Kind of Life
Chapter 16
Paige practically jogged through the city, desperate to see Juliet. So what if she’d told Paige to stay at home? She needed to be here. She just knew the bar was going to look out of this world amazing. Anything Juliet put her hand to often ended up that way, anyway. And if Paige could get Cara out of the place soon enough, she would be christening the new furnishings very soon.
She reached the road The Hideout was on, taking her keys from her jacket pocket. Maybe they could have the first cocktails in the new bar; maybe they’d just end up back at the apartment in record timing. Paige didn’t know, and today she didn’t care. So long as every minute from this point on was with Juliet, she would work a double shift if it was required.
Paige unlocked the main heavy bolted lock, then twisted another key in the smaller, automatic one. “Babe, I’m here!” Wanting to enjoy the moment, Paige took the stairs slowly. She could smell the fresh paint, the odour mixed in with ground coffee beans. Huh. A coffee was something Paige would certainly enjoy right about now.
Or an espresso martini, she grinned.
“Babe? Can I come in? Did you want to do some grand unveiling?”
Nothing.
Well, that was an anti-climax!
“Fine. Don’t hand me champagne as I walk through the door.” Paige reached the bottom of the stairs, her eyes closed as she turned and took a couple of steps into the bar. She wanted to open them, but she also wanted to build the anticipation. “Last chance, Juliet!”
Still nothing.
Paige opened her eyes, her world slowing around her. Juliet was lying on the floor. “Babe?” She rushed to her side and dropped to her knees, landing in a pool of blood as she did so. “Oh, shit. No, no, no.” Shaking, she took off her jacket and her shirt and pressed them to the wound on the right side of Juliet’s stomach. “Babe, I need you to wake up for me. Please, please wake up.” She reached for Juliet’s phone, throwing it against the wall when she realised it was dead, the screen destroyed.
Okay, calm down and think. Paige kept pressure on the wound, fishing for her phone in her jeans pocket. She called Henry’s number, sobbing when it connected.
“Hey, Paige. How’s it going? You back in Liverpool now?”
“Where the fuck are you? Get to the bar NOW!”
“Paige, calm down. What’s going on?”
“It’s Juliet.” Paige sobbed harder, holding her phone between her ear and her shoulder. “Someone got to her. I have to go. I need to call an ambulance.”
She ended the call and dialled 999.
When the operator asked which service she required, they connected her to the ambulance. “Ambulance. Is the patient breathing?”
“I… Yes, I think so.” Paige checked for a pulse. It was faint, but it was there. She was sure it was. “S-she has a pulse…barely. I think s-she’s been stabbed. In her stomach.” Paige held back the urge to vomit at those words. “Address is The Hideout. It’s a hidden bar on Fowler Lane in the city centre. Tell the crew to look for the old green Victorian lamp above the door.”
“We have a crew on its way to you. I just need to take some details. It won’t delay their arrival, don’t worry.”
Paige put her phone on loudspeaker and lowered it to a nearby chair. Then she lifted Juliet’s upper body into her lap. Making sure she held the pressure, she cradled Juliet, kissing her nose. “Babe, please.”
“May I take your name?” The operator asked.
“Paige. It’s my partner. I’ve just come to the bar, and she’s on the floor bleeding out. Juliet Saunders. Fifty. No health problems that I’m aware of.”
“Okay, Paige. That’s great. Do you have pressure on the wound?”
“Yes.” Paige stroked Juliet’s face, a tear landing on her cheek. “Babe, you have to wake up because we have so many plans to make. Please, Juliet.”
“Are you safe, Paige? Do you believe the attacker is still in the vicinity?”
“They better not be. Because if I fucking find them, you’ll have to send a private ambulance for their body!”
“Paige, it’s important that you keep calm right now, love.”
The main door slammed shut, startling Paige. She heard heavy footsteps, so she protected Juliet with her body, hoping they’d go for Paige rather than take another shot at Juliet. If Juliet didn’t pull through this, Paige was as good as dead anyway.
“Paige, it’s Henry. What’s going on?”