Almost Dead (Lizzy Gardner #5)(77)

She looked at the gun sitting on the nightstand.

One more drink for courage, she told herself.

Adam insisted she needed to let the past go, told her she needed to forgive herself. But would he say that if he knew everything she’d done? Sure, she’d told him about taking her mom’s credit cards. She’d even swallowed her pride and told him about the time she’d kicked her grandmother. But she couldn’t tell him everything. The things she’d done while she was a part of the Ambassador Club were so horrifyingly awful, she couldn’t begin to imagine telling him. If she couldn’t forgive herself, how would Adam ever find it in his heart to forgive her?

She put the entire bottle to her mouth and guzzled.

The amber liquid drizzled down over her chin as she reached for her gun.

It was time to end the pain.

She lifted her cell phone. The names in her contact list were blurred. It took her a moment, but she finally hit the right button. Adam answered on the first ring.





CHAPTER 56

The thick bulletproof glass window slid open, and Lizzy’s things were passed through to her: wallet, gun, ID, money, purse. She signed a form, then followed Jessica out the station door, but not before giving Detective Chase a smug look.

As soon as she climbed into the passenger seat of Jessica’s SUV, though, she said, “How the hell did you get me out of there?”

“It wasn’t me. Jimmy Martin worked his magic. He has a soft spot in his heart for you.”

The first time Lizzy had met Jimmy, he was special agent in charge of the Samuel Jones aka Spiderman case. Jimmy and Lizzy had been like oil and water back then. But Jared had been their common denominator, and they had quickly grown on one another. Now she thought of Jimmy as a father—the doting, caring father she’d never had. “I’ll have to give him a call and thank him.”

“I’m sure he would appreciate hearing from you.”

They were silent for a long moment as Jessica drove, and then Lizzy said, “Sorry I wasn’t at the house earlier to greet you.”

“Not a problem. It gave me time to bond with Hayley. Why didn’t you tell me she was living with you?”

“I figured you would find out next time you were in town, which is exactly what happened.”

Jessica pulled onto the freeway, heading west. “Where are we going?” Lizzy asked. “I could really use a change of clothes and some coffee.”

“No time for that at the moment.”

“What’s going on?”

“Mr. Howard Chalkor is what’s going on. There’s a possibility he might be holding Kitally hostage in a warehouse over in Rancho Cordova. When we got the call saying you were being released, Hayley and I decided to split up. She’d get Tommy, I’d get you, then we’d all meet there.”

Jessica floored it up the HOV lane. Lizzy had a tight grip on the grab-handle.

“How are you holding up these days?” Jessica asked.

“Great. Never been better.” Jessica didn’t deserve her sarcasm, but Lizzy was in no mood to apologize.

Jessica seemed to shrug it off. “Good. Maybe we can talk more later after you’ve gotten some rest.”

“How long are you planning on hanging around?”

“A few days. I need to get back to Magnus and training. It’s amazing I’ve gotten this much time away.” She looked over at Lizzy. “Do you think Kitally will mind if I take one of those empty rooms in that giant house of hers?”

“I’m sure she’ll invite you to stay for as long as you’d like. We just have to find her first.”




As Jenny drew closer to her house, she noticed a car parked outside her front walkway. It looked like Dwayne’s. What was he doing here? She looked at the wig sitting on the passenger seat on top of the bag filled with a bloody hammer and sweater.

If Dwayne hadn’t climbed out of his car just then and waved, she would have turned around and driven off. Instead, she hit the remote to open the garage, pulled in, and shut the garage door before he could get to her.

Her hands shook as she put the key in the garage door leading to the house and ran inside. She shoved the bag inside her closet and then ran to the bathroom and washed her face. She looked in the mirror. Shit!

Her blouse was stained with blood. She pulled her shirt over her head, tossed it in the closet with her bag, and grabbed a clean blouse. Her hair was a mess. She finger-combed it, tried to make it look presentable.

By the time she opened the front door to let Dwayne inside, he looked concerned.

“Is everything all right?”

“Of course. Why, what’s going on?”

“I heard that you left early to go to the dentist, and I thought I’d surprise you.” He held up a bouquet of flowers and a small tub of gourmet soup.

She took the flowers and the soup from him and headed for the kitchen. He had completely thrown her off guard by showing up. She couldn’t think straight.

He was right behind her. “What’s this in your hair? Are you bleeding?”

“Here,” she said, handing him the flowers. “Do you mind finding something to put these in while I go to my room and wash up? The dentist hit a nerve. I had blood on my shirt and my face. I didn’t want to worry you, so that’s why I rushed into the house before saying hello.”