Almost Dead (Lizzy Gardner #5)(33)

“I don’t have much time, Dean. The muscle relaxant I gave you only works for so long. In case you didn’t know what was going on, you’re paralyzed. If you could speak, I wonder what you would say right now. Maybe one more apology?”

Jenny laughed. “Nah, just kidding. I don’t care one iota about what you’re thinking. I just hope you’re feeling even a tiny bit of what I was feeling when you held me down, naked and cold out on the muddy field, while your friends had their way with me. I hope now you might really understand what you did to me.”

She took a breath, even found herself enjoying the view of the murky canal—Dean’s watery grave. “How does it feel to have zero control, Dean? It’s not fun, is it? In case you were wondering, it never took much to trigger memories of that day. Every time I see a football game, I have flashbacks. Certain smells bring me right back to the night that you and your friends raped me. I wish your pals were here now so I could watch them do to you what they did to me after you were finished. Two guys at once. A dirty shirt stuffed so far into my mouth I thought for sure I would suffocate. Your big, strong hands are what kept me from being able to scratch their eyes out. You do realize that, right? Your fingers were clamped so tightly around my wrists, I had bruises for a month. Did you know that I had nothing to look at but you while your friends poked and prodded? I bet you didn’t realize that your breathing quickened in excitement as the minutes ticked by. Did you know that not one time during that incident did you have the nerve to look me in the eye?”

Another finger twitched.

“What were you thinking would happen tonight, Dean? Did you really think you could ruin my life and then just expect me to forgive you? Are you kidding me? You just decided one day that it was time to come clean? You thought you would just travel through the city, knocking on every one of your victims’ doors and say you’re sorry? I don’t know about everyone else you messed with, but I, personally, don’t care if you’ve changed or even if you spent the last ten years drinking yourself into oblivion. You did what you did because you’re heartless and cruel and now you’re finally going to pay for your actions.”

Jenny sucked in a breath as she worked to get her anger in check. “I better get the show on the road. I don’t want you waking up too soon. Once you drive your car into the water, it should only take a few minutes for you to drown.”

He’d fallen over against the driver’s door. She did her best to haul him upright and clamp his fingers around the steering wheel. She made sure every window was open, too. “Everyone’s going to think you started drinking again. You couldn’t live with yourself, so you drove into the canal.”

Jenny sat back so she could survey her work. Everything was in place. She leaned over and turned the engine on. Then she examined the passenger window, hoping she would have enough time to jump out before they hit the water. She really didn’t feel like getting wet.

After tossing her bag out the window and making sure there was nothing else left in the car that might incriminate her, she used both hands to pick up his right leg and plunk his foot hard on the gas pedal. The SUV’s engine roared.

“Easy, now,” she said, pulling on his leg so he wasn’t flooring it. This might be trickier than she’d thought. If she just had him drift down into the water, the vehicle might stop before he went under. She pushed down on his leg again, then slipped the SUV into gear.

The surge of power caught her off guard. Jenny fell back against the leather seat and was sent soaring into the frigid water right along with Dean Newman.





CHAPTER 23

“I think I found Pam Middleton’s long-lost daughter,” Hayley told Kitally. “If this is the right woman, the girl’s name is now Christina Bradley.”

Kitally headed across the room and hovered over her. “How the heck did you find her? I’ve called every child-care service provider in Sacramento. Most of them wouldn’t give out any information unless I was a parent or an attorney. The few people who didn’t care about rules and regulations had no one in their records by the name of Debra Blatt.”

“I decided to use the hospital where she was born and her birth date instead of her name,” Hayley said. “Then I followed a paper trail of foster homes and sent out a dozen emails. I just received a response from a woman who said all the information I gave her matched a girl she roomed with named Debra Blatt. She said that when Debra turned eighteen, she had her name legally changed to Christina Bradley.”

“Lizzy is going to be happy about this. You might have just saved a young girl’s life.”

“Don’t get too high and don’t get too low,” Hayley said. “Even if we find Christina Bradley, we don’t know if she’ll be a match.”

Hayley continued to clack away at the keyboard. A Facebook page for Christina Bradley popped up on her screen.

“Looks like she put herself through college,” Kitally said.

Hayley nodded. “Look at all the congratulations. She’s engaged to be married.”

“Considering how rough her life started out, she looks like she’s gotten it together.”

Hayley shrugged. “Everybody’s life looks shiny and happy on Facebook.” She scrolled down. “She runs a day care center in Citrus Heights.”

“I have to run another surveillance on Mr. Chalkor,” Kitally said. “Do you want me to stop by the day care on my way? See if she’s there?”