Almost Dead (Lizzy Gardner #5)(67)

Hayley nodded.

“In other news,” Lizzy said, “Pam Middleton called today.”

Hayley sighed. “How’s her daughter doing?”

“Not well. And she’s not going to get any better unless a miracle happens and Christina Bradley decides to help her.”

“How’s Mrs. Middleton holding up?”

“As well as can be expected, I guess,” Lizzy said. “It’s tough to imagine what that might feel like—having a daughter so sick, and knowing there’s one person in the entire world who might be able to save her, but there’s nothing she can do to make it happen.”

“Maybe we should say screw it and give her Christina Bradley’s telephone number and place of work.”

Lizzy shook her head. “It would be unethical. And it wouldn’t guarantee a happy ending, in any case.”

“I have to say, I am surprised,” Hayley said. “I really thought Christina would step up to the plate and try to save her little sister. I guess I read her wrong.”

Lizzy knew what Hayley meant about reading people wrong. Lizzy had been off her game for a while now. It took her much too long to figure things out lately, even when the answer was right there in front of her, staring at her like an old cat, just waiting to be paid some attention.

The silence stretched out between them until it was deafening. Lizzy tapped her pencil against her desk and then heard herself say, “I miss hearing his voice.”

“I know,” Hayley said. And for the first time in forever, the tough girl looked slightly uncomfortable. “I miss him, too.”

“I don’t even know why I said that,” Lizzy said. “It does no possible good. Talk. Everybody wants me to talk about it.” She shook her head. “All I know is it’s not real. Not to me.”

Hayley gave her a nod of understanding.

“I’m feeling so damned helpless,” Lizzy said next. “Shelby’s out there somewhere. But where? Here we are, sitting in a warm office while she’s out there with some lunatic. And then what about the kill list? Two people on the list are still alive, but for how long? And what are we supposed to do about it? I can’t exactly move in with them. I feel as if my hands are tied.”

“I still can’t believe the authorities fell for the snake scene,” Hayley said. “It was so obviously staged. Two people don’t sit down to watch television and then let their longtime pet snakes sneak up on them. It’s ridiculous.”

The door to the office opened, and a young woman walked inside at the same moment the phone rang.

Lizzy picked up the call while Hayley went to talk to the woman.

“Is this Lizzy Gardner?”

“This is her,” Lizzy said into the receiver.

“This is Sandy, Dean Newman’s girlfriend.”

“Hi, Sandy. What’s going on? Did you hear from Dean?”

“No. He still hasn’t come home. I’ve been looking through his things, trying to find any clue that might tell me where he is. It took me a while to find his passwords. I finally found them, though. Long story short, I found a list of the people he planned to apologize to. I thought you might be interested in seeing the list.” The woman’s voice cracked. She was crying. “Are you still looking for Dean?”

“I am,” Lizzy told her. “The list that you have . . . can you email it to me?”

“Yes, of course.”

“My email is on the card I left with you. Do you still have my card?”

“I do. I’m looking at it right now.”

“If you could forward the list, that would be a big help.”

“You will call me, won’t you? You know . . . if you find Dean . . . you’ll call me?”

Lizzy cradled the phone. “Of course I will. You’ll be the first one I call.”

“Thank you.”

Lizzy hung up the phone. Dean Newman was dead, and they both knew it.

“Lizzy,” Hayley called from the door, “this is Christina Bradley, the person Pam Middleton has been looking for.”

Lizzy walked up to Christina and shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You, too,” the young woman said. It was hard for Lizzy to get a fix on her attitude, beyond the fact that she looked as if she hadn’t slept in a week.

Hayley said, “Christina just told me that after I paid her a visit at the day care center, she went straightaway to a private lab to have blood work done. She just got the results back from the lab.”

Judging by the expressions on their faces, it wasn’t good. God, when would all this end? How would she break the news to Mrs. Middleton? How in the world do you tell someone that all hope is lost?

But then Hayley smiled, an occurrence so rare it never failed to take Lizzy by surprise.

“Looks like she’s a match,” Hayley said.

Chills swept over Lizzy. She looked at the girl standing next to Hayley, peered into her clear blue eyes, and realized she didn’t need to ask the question. The answer was right there in Christina’s eyes, shining as brightly as the northern lights. Christina Bradley was going to do everything she could to save Pam Middleton’s younger daughter . . . her sister by blood.





CHAPTER 47

Kitally huddled in the corner of the room, shivering and humming.