Page 54 of Any Kind of Life
She took the stairs slowly; that usual sense of pride for this bar now marred. Would it ever feel like their business again? Would it always feel alien walking in here? Paige really hoped they could keep this place. How dare Cara come in here and destroy what they’d built! How dare she even breathe the same space as Juliet! God, Paige needed the police to find her soon. Because if they didn’t, Paige would, and she wouldn’t stop until Cara was gone. She wasn’t violent, far from it, actually, but Cara had brought out a rage in her that she didn’t know she possessed.
As she stepped into the main bar area and flicked the lights on, Juliet’s blood was stained on the floor. The new floor Juliet had spent six weeks deciding on. The new floor Paige hadn’t even had the chance to admire. And she couldn’t possibly do that now. Not with her fiancée’s blood covering it.
She inhaled a shaky breath, her mind cast back to last night when she’d held Juliet in her arms, begging her not to die. Praying that, by some miracle…they’d still be together. She didn’t know who had been looking over them yesterday, but Paige was beginning to believe that there may just be some higher power for moments like this.
Her phone started to ring as she took another step inside the room. She lifted it and looked at the screen, smiling when Henry’s name was displayed. “Hi, Henry.”
“How is it? Are you sure you want to be alone in there?”
How was it? Paige hated it, in all honesty. “I, uh…yeah, could you come in please?” Paige had done the hard part. She’d walked in here, and not turned around to leave. But having Henry around would make this easier. She had cleaning up to take care of. “I can’t believe they just leave it in this mess.”
“Yeah, it’s not ideal. Especially when you’re the victim of the crime.”
Paige swallowed. She was tired of being the victim in things. Why couldn’t they just have a normal life? “I don’t know how much more bad news I can take. I’m only human, H.”
“I know, love. I’ll be in now.”
“Thanks.” She ended the call, eyeing the piano that remained in the same spot it had been in since day one. Juliet had wanted to keep that as the main focus, but the thought of Paige ever sitting at it again almost made her hurl. Everything had been destroyed here. And if Paige hadn’t been away on tour…
The main door opened, and the familiar sound of Henry’s heavy boots settled Paige. He stepped into the room, puffed out his cheeks, and waited for further instruction.
“You okay, H?”
“Yeah.” He forced a smile, but Paige saw through it. “You’d think this wouldn’t faze me, wouldn’t you? I’ve seen all kinds in my time, but Juliet means a lot to me.”
“I know she does.” Paige stepped towards Henry and squeezed his shoulder. “And before we know it, she’ll be home. Where she belongs.”
“They still haven’t found Cara.” Henry rubbed a hand down his face, tiredness evidently pulling his shoulders low. “They need to find her before I do.”
“Did you find anything? She has to have something to do with the threat. The whole reason you’re even here.”
“It’s looking like she is Big Ron’s niece.”
“Tell me more about this guy.”
“Ronnie went down about two years ago. Juliet represented him but failed to keep him out of prison. Nobody was surprised by that except for Ronnie. The evidence against him was overwhelming. He didn’t have a leg to stand on.” Henry pulled out a seat and motioned for Paige to join him. “He’s the lowest of the low. At one point, they had footage of him distributing drugs to kids as young as twelve. He handed out burner phones and bikes for them to use, and they’d take the drugs to his dealers. To be honest, I’m surprised Juliet ever took the case on. She surely knew from day one that it wasn’t going to end well for him.”
“Why did she take on the case?” Paige couldn’t understand Juliet’s choice to help people like that.
“She was likely threatened into doing it. That’s usually what happens with these people. Juliet wasn’t just defending the petty criminals, Paige. At one time, most of the criminal underworld had her on speed dial. Hence why she has this place instead.”
Paige lowered her head to her hands, wishing Juliet had never found herself involved with these people. “They’re not going to stop until she’s dead, are they?”
Henry lay a land on Paige’s shoulder. “If my contact confirms this, I’ll make sure it stops. Don’t worry about that.”
“H-how?” Paige couldn’t imagine Henry being violent towards anyone else. She still struggled with the knowledge he had been willing to beat up James. But if it meant Juliet was safe, Paige wouldn’t stop him.
“The less you know, the better.”
Yeah, the less she knew, the better. Without a doubt. She already hadn’t slept last night. If she knew Henry was up to something, her instinct would be to stop him whether she wanted to or not. “Yeah. Don’t say anything else.”
Henry took Paige’s hand and held it. “They will get Cara, Paige.”
God, I hope so.
She smiled, tears threatening once again. “I know. Now, I guess I should get this place cleaned up.” Paige eyed the dried blood and took a deep breath. “This should be fun.”
Henry stood and took his jacket off. “I’ll get some buckets and soapy water. Let’s see what we can do with that floor.”