Chapter 4 - BELL & BLOOM
Bell & Bloom looked exactly like the sort of place no one wanted associated with a frightened child.
White brick.
Huge windows.
Muted gold lettering.
A wall of luxury hair products.
Fresh eucalyptus in the bathroom.
Janice had built the business with another stylist, Amber Fields, seven years earlier. By most accounts, it was successful.
Weddings.
Extensions.
Color correction.
High-end custom hairpieces.
Rachel—sorry, Megan—had been there only twice.
Once for Eric and Janice’s courthouse wedding styling.
Once when Alison was four and Janice asked permission to give her a tiny trim.
Permission.
That word now seemed grotesque.
Megan did not go to the salon herself the next morning.
Her attorney told her not to.
After the porch confrontation, Megan called family-law attorney Rebecca Hale, who advised immediate pediatric documentation, a child interview through appropriate channels if warranted, and preservation of the hair bag.
No social media.
No public accusations.
No marching into a business screaming.
“Your instinct is going to be to investigate this yourself,” Rebecca said.
“Yes.”
“Don’t.”
“I hate you.”
“That’s why you pay me.”
Eric cooperated more quickly than Megan expected.
He took Alison’s account seriously.
He emailed Janice that she was not to be alone with Alison pending clarification.
Then called Bell & Bloom’s co-owner.
Amber.
That call changed everything.
Amber went silent after Eric mentioned Sophie Wells.
Then asked:
“Where did you see that name?”
Eric put her on speaker with Megan and Rebecca’s permission.
“The tag was attached to Alison’s cut hair.”
Another silence.
Then Amber said:
“Eric, don’t confront Janice again until you talk to somebody.”
Megan felt cold.
“Why?”
Amber took a breath.
Sophie Wells was real.
Seven years old.
Daughter of a former Bell & Bloom receptionist named Courtney Wells.
Six months earlier, Courtney accused Janice of cutting Sophie’s hair far shorter than agreed during a supposed charity donation event. Courtney insisted Sophie cried and said Janice pressured her after the child changed her mind.
Janice denied it.
No criminal case.
No lawsuit.
Courtney quit.
Amber believed the entire thing was a dramatic misunderstanding.
Until now.
“Was her hair kept?” Megan asked.
Amber said, “Yes.”
“What happened to it?”
“We were supposed to send donation bundles in one shipment.”
“Did you?”
“I thought Janice did.”
Rebecca spoke for the first time.
“Thought?”
Amber lowered her voice.
“There’s something else. We stopped doing official donation collections four months ago.”
Megan looked at Eric.
“Why?”
“Because the nonprofit we used changed their minimum length. Janice said she was handling private referrals instead.”
“What private referrals?”
“I don’t know.”
That afternoon, with legal advice, Amber reviewed Bell & Bloom inventory and client records.
She found no formal charity shipments under Janice’s name for months.
She did find an unusual number of custom hairpiece invoices.
High-value ones.
Some paid in cash.
Some labeled only with initials.
And in a locked back-room cabinet, she found nine clear bags containing human hair.
Several were labeled with children’s first names.
Amber photographed them without removing anything.
One tag read:
SOPHIE WELLS — AGE 7
But the bag was empty.
Meaning the tag attached to Alison’s curls was not random.
Someone had removed Sophie’s original hair.
Then reused her label.
Megan’s stomach turned.
“What was Janice doing with the hair?”
They found out when Amber opened the custom-order spreadsheet.
One entry matched the date of Alison’s haircut.
CLIENT: JH
CUSTOM BLONDE UNIT
NATURAL CHILD VIRGIN HAIR
PRIORITY
SOURCE LENGTH REQUIRED: 14+
JH.
Janice Holloway.
Her own initials.
Eric stared at the screen.
“What is a custom unit?”
May you like
Amber’s voice was barely audible.
“A wig.”
