Almost Dead (Lizzy Gardner #5)(64)

She concentrated on Dwayne. He was wearing dark slacks, a white shirt, and a skinny black tie. His long hair was tied back, but if he let it loose, he would look as if he belonged on stage with a guitar instead of in a research lab.

“I saw your car in the parking lot. You got here early today.”

She nodded. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“I wanted to tell you what a great time I had the other night.”

“Really.”

“Is something wrong?”

Tell him to f*ck off and leave you alone.

“The truth is I was disappointed that you left me at the door without a kiss. And then when you didn’t call the next day, I figured I must have imagined the connection I thought we had because—”

He kissed her right then and there, a quick peck on the lips, but still a kiss.

They were standing in the hallway. He looked both ways.

This guy is not the one for you. He wouldn’t kill a spider if it were biting him on the ass. Milquetoast, that’s what he is.

Her adrenaline soared. She smiled up at Dwayne, which prompted him to kiss her again—a little longer, a little better this time. His lips felt soft against hers. His woodsy cologne smelled nice.

He straightened, blushing. “Yesterday I had to go to a family reunion. I thought I told you that at dinner.”

She was losing herself in those blue eyes of his, falling under his spell.

“I’m sorry I didn’t have time to call. My family is crazy. Do you have any idea how much chaos there is when you round up sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews and toss them into one room?”

“No,” she said. “I’m an only child.”

“Really? An only child . . . must have been nice.”

“It was fine,” she said. Another lie, since she had always wanted a sibling. But so what? He didn’t need to know everything about her after only one date.

“I would love for you to meet my family.”

She said nothing. Not because she didn’t want to meet his family, but because she had no idea how to wrap her brain around what he’d just said. He wanted her to meet his family?

He blushed again. “Too soon, right?”

“Not at all,” she blurted. “Not too soon.”

He smiled, the genuine kind of smile that told her he truly enjoyed being around her.

Now that she thought about it, he had mentioned something about having a family reunion to attend. She’d been too preoccupied with taking dainty bites and chewing with her mouth closed to pay attention to what he was saying. She felt like such an idiot. She’d lost sleep over nothing.

He gestured down the hallway. “I’m grabbing a quick cup of coffee from the lunchroom. Want to join me?”

She stared at him. Another awkward moment ensued, and that was putting it mildly. She was a big dork when it came to communicating with another person, especially someone she was falling for. “I’d love to,” she managed.

They walked to the lunchroom together, laughing and talking. A group of three more people was drawn into their conversation about the movie they had just seen. Jenny had never in her life experienced the sort of camaraderie she felt at that very moment.

It felt good. Better than good.

She had always been the loner in the cafeteria, secretly wishing someone, anyone, would sit next to her and strike up a conversation.

For the first time in her life, she felt like somebody.





CHAPTER 45

Not only had Kitally switched cars with her mom; she’d invested in a crazy-ass pair of military binoculars with 160X magnification and high-quality optics. Hell, even parked much farther away, she could see the details of the moth’s wings on Mr. Chalkor’s front window. An easy-to-use sliding lever made it possible for her to switch from 30X to 160X in an instant. With the touch of a finger, she could sharpen the focus.

Just as she was beginning to get the hang of using her new toy, the Chalkors’ garage door opened and a car pulled out. Mr. Chalkor was in the driver’s seat. Nobody else was in the car with him.

Frustrated with how much time she was putting into this case, she was determined to get plenty of supersharp, incriminating pictures of him using his supposedly injured arm, and get them today. She put the binoculars to the side, turned on the engine, and followed him, careful to stay far enough back so he wouldn’t spot her.

He merged onto the freeway. She stayed with him. It was three thirty in the afternoon, and she was scheduled to meet with Lizzy and Hayley in thirty minutes. She decided to follow him for ten minutes. If he didn’t exit the highway by then, she would have to try again on another day.

As she drove along, her thoughts drifted to the firestorm at Lizzy’s wedding that had nearly killed her and had killed three people and left Jared in a coma. Kitally hadn’t known Jared Shayne well, but she knew that Hayley had respected him and Lizzy had loved him.

Life could be so sad. Kitally knew that firsthand. She’d had a little brother once. They were inseparable. Her family used to travel all over the world, so often that they were more than brother and sister—so seldom knowing anyone else, they’d had to be each other’s best friend wherever they went, too.

It was on one particular trip that all of their lives changed forever. They were traveling through Buenaventura, the main port of Colombia in the Pacific Ocean. Her father was usually doing business when they traveled, but on this fateful day, their family of four had decided to get out and enjoy the sights, get outside with the people.