Almost Dead (Lizzy Gardner #5)(51)

“Just a moment.”

A little charade, pretending Lizzy was in any condition to take the call. Maybe they were trying to trace it. Let them try. Jenny brushed her fingers over her list. Impatient, she scribbled Lizzy’s name on the bottom and prepared to draw a line through it.

“This is Lizzy Gardner. How can I help you?”

It couldn’t be.

“Who is this?”

Silence.

“I sent one of the cookies to the lab,” Lizzy said. “I should have the results in a few weeks.”

“How did you know?”

“Just a hunch.”

“Very shrewd of you.”

“It’s obvious you have a knack for toxicology.”

“Obvious? How so?”

“People from your high school are suddenly dying from heart attacks at a young age and punji sticks dipped in a toxic substance.”

“I don’t believe that has been substantiated.”

“Maybe not, but that’s the reason I didn’t think it was a good idea to eat homemade cookies baked by a stranger and delivered by a neighbor nobody has met before.”

“Somebody must have eaten a cookie. They were delicious.”

“I’m sure they were divine, but we try to stay away from food that has been contaminated,” Lizzy said. “Oh, and I’m sorry I had to leave you hanging on the phone the other day. This dark shadow of a man has been watching me, and I felt the urge to give chase.”

“Is that so?”

“Sadly, it’s the truth.”

“You didn’t catch him?”

“Not yet.”

“You are popular with the more malevolent crowd, aren’t you?”

“So it seems.”

“What’s so special about you, I wonder?”

“Hmm, I don’t know if special would be the word I would use,” Lizzy said. “Luckless maybe? Unfortunate perhaps?”

“You’re an interesting individual.”

Lizzy didn’t respond. For a few seconds neither said a word, and Jenny sensed that they were both perfectly comfortable in the shared silence.

“There are four more people on your list,” Lizzy finally said.

“You have done your homework.”

“I think you should turn yourself in.”

“I did nothing wrong,” Jenny answered, feeling a tight pull in her chest. “I was abused every day for four years. All I wanted was to be left alone. I did everything I could to be invisible to those people, but nothing I did mattered. They had it out for me. I was pushed and shoved, pinched and pulled. I was blindfolded, taken for a ride, and left alone, miles away from my home, in the dead of night. And that was just the beginning. I was also raped and then held down for his friends. I was humiliated, battered, insulted in every way possible. Each and every one of those animals deserves the death penalty.”

“There is a criminal justice system in place to impose penalties for those who break the law.”

“Don’t make me laugh. You know as well as I do that sometimes people need to take the law into their own hands if they want any justice in this world. I went to the principal. I talked to my teachers. They did nothing. Nobody cared.”

“So why now?”

“Why not?”

“After all these years,” Lizzy said, “something must have triggered your deep-seated resentment.”

“Oh, listen to you,” Jenny said. “Well, I know some things, too. Like that you’ve been seeing a therapist for years. Sounds like she’s rubbed off on you.”

“Want me to give you her phone number? I’m sure she could help you.”

“No, thanks,” Jenny said. “The trigger, as you called it, was a man—the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.”

“Is he still alive?”

“I have no idea,” she lied. “He was a pig. Who cares?”

“I’m going to warn the four people still left on your list that they’re in danger.”

“I wish you wouldn’t.”

“I don’t have a choice.”

“We all have choices.”

“And that includes you,” Lizzy said.

“I’ve made mine.”

“Are you talking to me from your home phone?”

“Afraid not,” Jenny answered. “I purchased some of those throwaways. Convenient, really.”

“I would say so. I guess I won’t be able to call you when I need someone to talk to?”

Jenny laughed. “I’ll call you again, but it looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me now that I have a deadline.”

“Who’s next on your list?” Lizzy asked.

“You sound suddenly anxious. Does it bother you to know that you might have just shortened their lives by a few days?”

“Don’t do this. I know they were wrong in what they did to you. But what you’re doing isn’t right.”

“I’m glad we had this talk, Lizzy.”

“Please don’t hurt anyone—”

You never should have called her. She’s not going to give up. Lizzy Gardner always gets her man.

Yeah, that’s the problem. She’s dealing with a woman this time. Not just any woman, either. You’re forgetting who I am—I’m Jenny Pickett.