Almost Dead (Lizzy Gardner #5)(6)

“Please keep your voice down,” Cathy said. “Lizzy’s been to hell and back, and she’s finally resting.”

“I don’t give a shit. She’s been trying to drive a wedge between us since the beginning of time. And if you really want to end this discussion, all you have to do is call your friend and tell her you’re not going.”

“I don’t understand what your problem is. Just because you had an affair doesn’t mean I would do the same thing. I’m going shopping with Stella. You’ve met her before. You have nothing to worry about.”

“Stella is a slut. The only thing she’s shopping for is a man.”

“So what if she is? She’s single.”

“My mind’s made up. You’re not going.”

With a shake of her head, Lizzy turned back to the room where she’d been living for the past three weeks. What was she doing here? She needed to get out of here, find a hotel—anything but this. She thought about the house she’d shared with Jared. She wasn’t ready to go back there yet. Her therapist might think she was in denial about everything that had happened, but that wasn’t the case. She wasn’t in denial. She just had zero desire to spend time in a house that would bring back nothing but memories of her time with Jared. Despite wanting to hold out hope like everyone else, she knew what the deal was—Jared was in a vegetative state and would most likely never awake from a coma. As soon as the doctors made that official, she would do what they’d each promised the other they would do if this situation arose: sign the necessary papers that would let him slip away. Until then, though, she just wasn’t ready to think about a future without him. Given the line of work they were both in, she and Jared had talked many times about the possibility of something bad happening to one or the other. But that didn’t mean she wanted to live in the house they’d once shared and have the memories thrown in her face every time she turned around. When she was ready to deal with those emotions, she would go back to the house. Until then, she would find somewhere else to stay.

She replaced her T-shirt with a fresh one and slipped on a pair of jeans. She retrieved her suitcase from the closet, then opened the dresser drawers one at a time, gathered her belongings and tossed them into the luggage. Once her toiletries were packed up, she was ready to go. If Cathy wanted to live with the douche bag, let him boss her around and tell her when she could take a pee or go to the store, that was her problem. Lizzy refused to stay another minute under the same roof with that man.

She went to the window and looked out.

The street was quiet.

He wasn’t there.

She had no idea who the dark figure was. She’d seen him watching her at Heather’s funeral and then at the hospital just the other day. All she knew about him so far was that he stood well over six feet, and that he was following her. Which gave her one more reason she needed to leave, since she didn’t want to put her sister or her niece in danger.

Lizzy snapped on her holster and gun, grabbed her suitcase, and headed down the stairs. She took quiet steps, figuring she wouldn’t bother saying goodbye since she didn’t want to get in the middle of their squabble. But the SMACK followed by glass shattering against the tile floor stopped her cold.

She set her suitcase at the bottom of the staircase and headed for the kitchen.

Richard had Cathy shoved against the refrigerator.

Red in the face, Cathy beat her fists against his chest, trying her best to get him off her.

A frenzy of emotion curled up inside Lizzy as she unlatched her gun from its holster.

“Lizzy, don’t.”

She shoved the barrel into the back of Richard’s head. “Get your hands off my sister or I’m going to blow your f*cking head off.”

Seemingly unafraid, he let go of Cathy and turned on Lizzy instead. “You’re a psycho freak. Get out of my house or I’m calling the police.”

“This is my house, too,” Cathy said. “She can stay as long as she wants.”

Lizzy kept the gun aimed at him, but then she saw a family picture, Brittany front and center, smiling, happy to be with both of her parents. She sucked in a long breath and counted to three, something she often did when she needed to regroup and focus. Feeling defeated, she put the gun away and went to the phone instead. “I’ll call the police for you.”

“Please don’t,” Cathy said, her voice a whisper.

“What are you doing?” Lizzy asked her sister. “Do you really want this man knocking you around and telling you how to live your life?”

“This right here,” Richard said, motioning between the two sisters, “is what’s really f*cked up.” He pulled his keys from his pants pocket. “I’m going for a ride so I can cool off. If you’re not here when I get back,” he told Cathy, “I’m having the locks changed.”

They watched him walk out the front door and slam it behind him.

Lizzy looked at her sister. “He’s hitting you now?”

“No, of course not.”

Lizzy shook her head. “Of course not. You have red indentations from his fingers on your neck after that little scene. And you don’t think I’ve noticed the fingerprints he leaves on your arms or the black-and-blue eyes beneath the dark sunglasses?”

Familiar silence fell between them.