Page 12 of Under Your Scars

Stay safe,angel.

I scoff at the note in a slight panic and crumple it before shoving it into my trash can. Then, I pull my old phone out of the rice bag and pray with everything in me that it still works. I press the power button and hold, and hold, and hold, waiting for the screen to turn on, but it doesn’t.

I take a deep breath and lean over to hit my forehead against my countertop several times in frustration. Maybe I don’t have the best street smarts in the world, but the Silencer clearly broke into my apartment, and I’ll be damned if I turn on this replacement phone and start using it. What if he’s got some sort of spy software installed on it? He’s already given me enough red flags as it is. I really don’t want to give him another outlet to stalk me. I’m going to end up as one of his victims if I’m not careful.

I throw the box in my nightstand and try to forget about it. I get paid on Friday. If I can just make it to Friday, I’ll go to the store and buy a new phone on my lunch break. I make a mental note to email my mom and dad to let them know my phone is broken so that they don’t worry if they call or text and I don’t answer.

If I buy a new phone, I’m going to be way behind on my rent and my landlord is not exactly an understanding guy.

I need a second job, badly, if I want to avoid getting evicted, and I am way too stubborn to ask my parents for help. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of jobs floating around this city. An idea pops into my head and I search around my kitchen until I find that business card that I got in the mail. I take note of the address on the back. It’s on the other side of the city, in a secluded corner near the shoreline.

I throw on a coat, shoes, and a bit of eyeshadow to look a little sultry, grab my purse, and make the long trek there.

I have to walk the entire way, so it’s nearly eight PM when I make it. I can hear loud bass behind a large steel door. I take one deep breath and knock.

It takes a minute, but a man opens the door and gives me a once-over. He meets my eyes and smirks. “How can I help you, pretty girl?”

I gulp and get a feeling at the base of my spine that this is a terrible idea. That I should just walk away right now. But then I remember my rent, and I push the feeling to the back of my mind. I hold up the business card. “I’m here about the bartending position.”

The bouncer wordlessly beckons me inside before leading me further into the club.

Idefinitelyshould have backed out when I had the chance.

I’m not one to judge people for the way they live their lives, but this is not the place for girls like me. It’s a Monday night and the patrons are so drunk they’re falling over themselves. Exotic dancers in lingerie line the walls on light-up platforms in neon colors. The music is so loud it makes my ears hurt. Some of the patrons follow me with their eyes like they’re a predator and I’m the prey.

The bouncer leads me to a glass room overlooking the dance floor, where I can see men on the floor below grinding against drunk women with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths and their skirts hiked up revealing their underwear.

“Mr. Valenti, I’ve got one for you,” the bouncer says to a thin man sitting on a plush couch with two passed out women next to him. He looks up from the stack of money in his hands that he was counting, does a double-take, and gives me the most awful smile I’ve ever seen.

“Hey beautiful,” the man greets in a thick Jersey accent as he licks his lips, his eyes trailing over my body. “You’re a pretty little thing, ain’t ya?”

I don’t acknowledge that. “I’m here for the bartending job.” I look anywhere but his eyes when I speak. “I have experience. I did it in college.”

“How soon can you start, gorgeous?” His gaze leaves me as he takes a drink of his whiskey. I can smell the high proof alcohol from across the small room.

“As soon as possible. But don’t you need–”

“Be here tomorrow night when the sun goes down, ask for Kate. She’ll show you around.”

I realize this establishment is probably not legal, considering there’s no paperwork and he hired me without even knowing my name. The man who brought me up here puts his hand on my lower back to push me out of the room.

“Congrats on the new job, baby,” he says, notably staring at the curve of my ass in my tight slacks. “Make sure you wear something…a little juicier. Better tips.”

CHAPTER 4

THE ANGEL

My next shift at Reeves Enterprises is thankfully, uneventful. I’m not sure I can handle any more drama in my life. Between the Silencer stalking me and whatever the hell that was yesterday between Christian Reeves and Neil Hayden, it’s all way too much for me right now.

I leave promptly at five again, having already packed something ‘juicier’ to wear for my shift at the Hellfire Lounge, and I make the long trek across the city to the club.

When I get there, the same bouncer from last night lets me in and leads me to the locker room, where women scantily dressed sit at vanity mirrors while they do their makeup and hair. They must not all be bartenders like me, because a few of them are in matching showgirl costumes. Topless.

“Hey Kate!”

A curvy strawberry blonde woman whips her head around to us. She frowns when she looks at me, and the bouncer roughly pushes me further into the room.

“Show the new girl around, will ya?”