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Taylor looked out the peephole. “It’s that woman from work.”
“Watch out.” Julie wedged herself in front of him. “Oh, it’s Corinne. There’s nothing to worry about. She’s the office’s secretary.”
Julie went to open the door but Taylor stopped her. He unlocked it and slowly cracked it open. The sound that exploded throughout the room was deafening. Weight flew into her and Julie felt herself falling back. Bells were ringing in her ears, and sound was barely getting in.
Taylor’s body next to her threw Julie in action. Blood was covering his chest and Julie scrambled to make sense of what was happening. “Shit, Taylor, hold on.” Julie grabbed the bottom of her dress and pushed it down onto his bare chest.
“You want a job done, you got to do it yourself.” Corinne stepped over the threshold and pointed the gun at her. “Stupid wannabe killer thought he could do the job until he came face to face with you. I can’t believe that pussy backed out on me. I killed the cop, bitch. Handed him the name tag. Told him all he had to do was point the gun at you and pull the fucking trigger. Did he? No. He just left my package. I trusted him and he failed me. But that’s okay. I took care of him.” A smile came to her face. “I guess it doesn’t matter. It’s sweeter this way. Do you know how long I’ve wanted to do this?”
No words would come out of Julie’s mouth. All she could do was stare at the blonde secretary, bewildered.
“Well, let me answer that. For a long, long time. Every day in Mexico I would dream of this very thing. Now that I see you so helpless, losing the person you love like I did, it’s well worth the wait.”
Lights flashed three times and the popping sound came back. Fire raced throughout Julie’s chest and stomach. Her whole body was ablaze. What had she done? Why hadn’t she listened to Aston and not opened the door?
Green eyes glared down at her and suddenly the barrel was pointed directly over her face. Julie was already having a hard time breathing. Now she was going to be dead for sure.
“Good-bye, Jules. Tell my mother I said hello.”
Just when Julie thought her life was over, Corinne was gone. Black spots covered her vision, but she could have sworn Channing was standing over her. He’d appeared out of nowhere. Blackness was taking over, and as much as Julie tried to fight it, she couldn’t.
* * * *
Aston looked down at the ringing and picked up the phone to show Londyn. “See, it’s Ayden. I told you he would call. Maybe he’s heard something.” Londyn’s face was pale white, and it gave Aston pause. Suddenly he could feel it. There was a weight at the bottom of his stomach that was growing by the second. Aston answered his phone and began to rush for the entrance of the store. Londyn was right behind him.
“What happened?” Aston nearly plowed over a couple as he rushed out of the double doors.
“Get to Julie’s now. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but Channing called me. He’s there. Taylor and Julie have both been shot. Melissa heard it over the phone. Her scream alerted Channing and he appeared at Julie’s to check things out. It doesn’t look good. You get your asses there as fast as possible. I’m on my way.”
Aston hung up the phone and threw open his door to his car. He and Londyn were out of the parking lot in record time.
“What the hell happened, Aston? I know it’s not good. I can feel it.”
He glanced at Londyn. “They’ve both been shot. Ayden said it doesn’t look good.”
“What! Oh, fuck. Fuck.” Londyn placed his hands on the dash and put down his head. His breathing was so deep and fast that Aston feared his wolf would come out any moment.
“I knew we shouldn’t have left. I knew it!” Aston whipped around the corner and accelerated to eighty within seconds.
“Two more blocks.” Londyn was rocking in his chair and Aston could tell he wasn’t doing well in the head. Not only was their mate shot, but also a wolf with a direct link to him.
Aston made the last block in seconds. He turned into the parking lot and threw the car in park. He and Londyn ran forward as fast as they could.
The apartment door was closed and Aston almost tore it off its hinges trying to get inside. What he saw had him falling to his knees. Channing was kneeling next to Julie. Blood was soaked in the carpet behind her. The same was with Taylor, who was only a few feet away. Both appeared dead.
“It was a woman. Blonde hair. She saw me appear and fled.”
Londyn put himself between Julie and Taylor. “A woman? Are you sure? I thought we were looking for a man?” Londyn felt Taylor’s pulse and looked over at them. “He’s alive, but his pulse is weak. I’ll apply pressure, but we need Ayden here stat.”
Channing kept his hand on Julie’s chest. “I’ve already had him call Devon and he’s on his way. He’s a great doctor and a wolf. We were lucky he was at the hospital tonight.” Channing leaned his face toward Julie and shook his head. “Guys, I need your complete attention. I’m going to be blunt, and I need you to listen to me. Do you see my hand?”
Aston watched the blood ooze out between Channing’s fingers. “Yes.”
“The bullet pierced the heart, and she’s losing too much blood. It’s amazing to me that she’s alive at all right now.”
Londyn grabbed Julie’s hand. “Are you sure? How do you know that?”
Channing glared at him. “Because I can hear her heart. I’m telling you, Julie can go at any moment. I need you both to make a decision.”
