Page 93 of Cut Me Down

“Jacob’s breathing machine's battery is dying, and she can’t get it to switch over to the outlet power. She’s afraid to switch it over.” He looks sort of frantic. If his breathing machine is dying, they could have to take him to the hospital until they can get it fixed.

“Well go, I'll check him out and clean up.” I say, and his mouth immediately frowns.

“Are you sure? You're supposed to be off.”

“It’s just cleaning, Emmett. It’s fine go.” I shoo him away with my hands.

“You’re an angel. Have fun! I mean it!” He grabs his keys and runs out of the back door towards his car. Not even saying goodbye to his client, but everyone that goes to Emmett knows about his son. So, I’m sure he understands.

“Come on up front sir, and I'll get you checked out. Sorry Serena, hold on.” I pat her arm.

“You’re good, babe. I'm not going anywhere.” I walk the client to the front, convince him to buy a beard oil, check him out, and I turn to see Serena sweeping up the hair. I love that girl. She’s been my best friend almost my whole life. She may make my head spin sometimes, but I know I can trust her with how I feel for Damien. She may not agree, but she’ll be by my side regardless.

I say goodbye to the client and start grabbing all of the guards and barbicide containers to empty them. After that, I go about turning off the hot towels, folding the towels in the dryer, and collecting the trash. I walk it out to the dumpster and come back. Serena helps wipe down the shelves and sweep the floors as I get everything cleaned up.

“Okay, last thing. I'm just going to unplug Emmett’s stuff.” I bend underneath the station to unplug his equipment when I hear the bell ring. “Hi, I'm sorry, but we're…” I stand up to see two large men, dressed in black walk in the door. A cold wave washes over me, sending chills down my spine. “Closed…”

One of the men is bald and has a muscular build. He’s about six and a half feet tall at least. He looks as if he could be a pro wrestler or something. Dressed in all black, and other than his grass green eyes, there’s not much else to identify him. The other man is smaller and has more of a lean build. Tattoos cover his face and neck, or what I can see past his long, damaged hair.

“Ashia Carpenter?” The bald man asks as Serena moves close to me. They’re obviously giving off bad energy if she thinks something is wrong.

“Who’s asking?” As if it’s a response to my answer, he reaches behind him and pulls out a gun. Pointing it at me. A fresh, icy wave of fear crashes into my body, and I move in front of Serena out of instinct, shielding her from any line of fire. “What do you want?” I say, my voice starts to shake. The bald man picks up on it and sprouts an evil smirk.

“We’re going to ask you a few questions.” I slowly start walking back, leading Serena and I closer to the hall that leads to the back room and out to my car. Making sure to grab her hand as discreetly as possible.

“Go.” I say and turn with her, beginning to make our way to the back, only to see another man, about the same build, near the doorway, also holding a pistol and pointing it at us. I must have left the door unlocked after taking out the trash… We’re trapped…

“Now, that’s not very hospitable…” I turn back, and try to stay in front of Ser, but between the men. Keeping her between me and the nearby wall. “And to think I’ve heard such good things about this establishment.” The first man says. “So.” He quickly walks up to us, backing us into the wall beside Emmett’s cutting station. I still stand in front of Serena, bracing her between myself and the hard surface to protect her. I’ve had to deal with a gun to my face before with Cooper, but the poor thing hasn’t had to deal with anything bad from a man other than ED. “Where is Cooper?” The bald man asks.

My heart plummets to my feet. Cooper? That’s what this is about? If he’s looking for Cooper, then he must work for Dust. He hasn’t said anything about Damien, so I need to play this cool. Technically, I don’t know where Cooper is. I just need to make him believe it.

Play dumb, Ashia. Play dumb.

“Cooper who? I have a lot of clients.” He points the gun under my chin and pushes, lifting my gaze to meet him. The coldness of the metal sends ice shards through my skin.

“Don’t play stupid, bitch. Cooper Siezly. Your Ex.” I feel my hands begin to shake, so I gently, and nonchalantly, plant them to the wall on either side of Ser.

Don’t back down. Do not let him see how scared you are.

“I haven’t seen him in years, why the fuck would I know.” I force out, my words laced with defiance. Hoping and praying that he’ll believe me.

“Because he told the boss that he had something personal from his past to deal with before people knew he was back in town. We already went to his parents. Now the only thing left is you, and you have a lot more reasons to hurt Coop than his parents did.” He grabs me on the back of my head and fists my hair, yanking on it. “So, you better start talking.” He says, getting within an inch from my face. His horrid breath whipping past my nostrils.

“Fuck you!” I spit out. I’m not sure where that confidence came from, but I need to keep it up. These types of men love it when women are afraid of them, and I won’t give him the satisfaction. Damien will circle back around…he’ll see them in here… He moves the gun from my chin to my forehead in an attempt to shake me.

“I'm only going to ask you one more time, and then after that, we’ll have to start using other means…” He moves the gun down to my dress in front of my vagina. “…to get you to talk, or maybe your friend will know.” He nudges behind me toward Serena. “Where the fuck is Cooper!” He yells in my face, his spit spewing onto my skin.

“I’m not telling you a fucking thing!” I seethe. I won’t. I can take a beating, and I refuse to give Damien up. I’ll make sure they’re too preoccupied with my resistance so Ser can run. An evil, maniacal, smile spreads across the man’s face. Showcasing his yellow teeth.

“So, you do know something.” He says, barely audible, and my heart stops. “You’re much too small to have taken Cooper on yourself. Did you have help?” He cocks his head. “Did the city’s savior come for him?”

A loud thud comes from the back room, and it immediately draws our attention. The moment he looks away, I feel something cold hit my hand. It startles me, but I feel around the object. I can feel two small holes circled in metal, one of which has a small piece of metal curving and poking out. It only takes me a moment to realize that they’re cutting shears. Serena is sneaking them into my hand. Trying like hell to resist the urge to look down at them, I grasp them in my palm like I would a knife.

“Check it out.” He says to the other man. Nudging his head in the direction of the back room, but the moment he moves toward the sound, we hear a quiet click and watch as blood explodes from the side of his head, and a hand reaches out to grab the guy in front of us. I press Ser against the wall even harder to try and shield her.

In no time we see Damien and the man fall to the floor, fists flying. Damien clearly has the upper hand, and pulls out a knife to stab him, but is stopped by the man kneeing Damien in the ribcage. On the side he was already injured. It’s only a split second he’s fazed, but in that time, the man, much larger than any other man I’ve seen, kicks Damien off of him and reaches for his gun as two other men run in through the front door and grab him. Holding him up by his arms and one man has his forearm wrapped and pressed against his throat.

I hear my heart pounding in my ears. The large muscle beating against my chest frantically enough to make my stomach turn. My hand holding the shears is trembling. Shaking so much I can hear the metal handles clink together. He’s going to kill Damien…I don’t think. My body moves before my mind. Shoving me in their direction.

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