Almost Dead (Lizzy Gardner #5)(5)

Hayley sped up, almost caught up to him when he took a sharp left.

More screeching of tires. She yanked hard on the wheel. Her Chevy felt as if it might topple. The road took her straight up a ridiculously steep hill. On both sides of her the landscape was open fields dotted with trees and shrubs and covered in waist-high grass after the recent rains. She knew this area. Although she’d never come this way, at the top of the small mountain was what the kids called Makeout Hill.

Her Chevy puttered a bit on the incline, and she lost sight of his taillights. She leaned forward, as though that might give the old car a little help.

As she continued up, she caught sight of a dark shadow heading downward through the middle of the hill to her left where there was no road to speak of, just a foot trail. His lights were off. That son of a bitch!

An old, dilapidated wood fence was the only thing stopping Hayley from being able to do a little off-road driving and follow him. To hell with it. She turned off her headlights, then turned toward the fence, surprised when she was able to plow right through. The terrain was bumpy, but if she was careful not to hit any trees or rocks, she might be able to catch up to the *.

There he was. She caught a glint of chrome in the night and then could see the shadowy silhouette of his Mercedes hiding in the blackness beneath an oak tree with wild, gangly branches that shot out in every direction. Her lights still off, she banked sharply and shot toward him through the tall grass. She didn’t let up on the gas. Her body felt like a broken piston as she was joggled over the uneven ground; she could only hope nothing big enough to stop her was hidden in the grass. If he saw her coming, he certainly didn’t do anything about it. She ground her teeth together right before she rammed into the driver’s side of the Mercedes.

In the last instant before impact, it occurred to her that Kitally was in the car. She hit the brakes. Then the crash. And then silence and a bit of steam curling out from under the hood of her Chevy. Its engine stayed on, though. The thing was a tank. She threw it into park, grabbed her baton, and leaped from the car.

The air bag had not deployed, and she could see Dow behind the wheel. She tried to open the driver’s door, but it was locked. The window had cracked upon impact, and she only needed a little help from her baton to shatter glass.

Dow appeared dazed. A trickle of blood oozed down the side of his face, either from the Chevy’s impact or the flying glass from the shattered driver’s window.

She reached through the window, unlocked, and then yanked open the door. She grabbed a fistful of shirt and heaved him out onto the ground. For a few seconds, he remained facedown, eating dirt. He pushed the upper half of his body upward, seemed to gather his wits enough to feign outrage. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

It was all she could do not to permanently crease his head.

Instead, she pulled his keys out of the ignition and tossed them into the high grass. Then she opened the back door and saw Kitally crumpled on the floor.

Hayley touched her shoulder. “Kitally, are you all right?”

Kitally moaned.

She was alive. A spurt of relief was quickly replaced with raging hot fury.

Mr. Dow had managed to get to his feet.

“You sick f*ck,” she said as she extended her baton and whipped him across the cheek. More blood. She didn’t care.

He held up both hands.

She smacked him across the wrist.

He was back on the ground, screaming in pain.

She raised the stick high in the air. “What did you give her?”

“Nothing, I swear.”

“Bullshit. Was it Rohypnol? Tell me what you gave her or I swear I’ll break both your legs.” She sighted down the baton at one of his knees, then raised the stick high again, ready to strike.

“Gamma 10. I didn’t give her much.”

Leaving him alone, she returned to Kitally, hooked the strap of her bag over her shoulder, and then pulled her outside into the fresh air. With one arm around Kitally’s waist, she led her, stumbling, through the high grass to the Chevy’s passenger door.

Once she had Kitally inside and the seatbelt latched, she got behind the wheel, turned on the headlights, backed away from the Mercedes, and drove slowly away, following the trail of flattened grass until she found the spot where she’d knocked over the fence.

Back on the road, she stopped to take a breath.

Kitally opened her eyes and groaned. “Did we get him?”

“Yeah,” Hayley said before driving off. “We got him good.”





CHAPTER 4

Jolted awake, Lizzy sat up in bed and looked at the clock on the nightstand. It was almost eight in the morning. She hadn’t fallen asleep until well after three.

She could hear shouting downstairs. Cathy and Richard were fighting again.

Her eyelids felt heavy from lack of sleep. She couldn’t take any more of their crazy fights. Her sister’s ex-husband, Richard, was a bona fide dick. Her sister, Cathy, had zero confidence and couldn’t stand not having a man, so she’d allowed the two-timing son of a bitch back into her life. It was hard to conjure up much sympathy for her sister, though. No wonder her niece spent most weekends at her friend’s house.

Lizzy slid out of bed, went to the door, and opened it so she could hear what they were fighting about this time.

“I’m not going to tell you again,” Richard shouted. “You’re not going anywhere!”