Almost Dead

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.”

 

“Sweetheart,” he said, his expression filled with concern. “Let me take care of this. You go get comfortable, and I’ll warm you up some soup. Are you allowed to eat this soon after?”

 

“I don’t think I should. But bringing me soup and flowers was very thoughtful of you.”

 

He took her into his arms and gave her a gentle squeeze. She closed her eyes and prayed he couldn’t feel the frantic beating of her heart.

 

She was finished, she realized. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing Dwayne.

 

Dwayne is a *. You need to focus. You have one more person on your list. Dwayne doesn’t love you. I’m the only one who cares about you. Chelsea Webster cannot get away with all of those horrible things she did to you.

 

“Dwayne,” she said, looking up into his eyes.

 

“What is it? What’s bothering you?”

 

“We haven’t known one another very long, but I was wondering if you thought that maybe someday you could ever fall in love with someone like me?”

 

He smiled. “Someone like you? Are you kidding me? You have no idea how beautiful you are, inside and out. Every morning I wake up and wonder if this will be the day Jenny Pickett realizes she’s way too good for me. And then I see you and you smile at me and in that moment I know Jenny Pickett is my girl, my one and only. I’ve loved you since the first moment I laid eyes on you.”

 

“I love you, Dwayne.”

 

“I love you, too.”

 

Oh, for Christ’s sake.

 

 

 

 

Tires sent gravel flying as Hayley pulled her Chevy in front of the warehouse on Sunco in Rancho Cordova. Tommy had followed her on his motorcycle. He killed his bike’s engine as Hayley hopped out of her car and immediately began to dig around in her trunk. Too many damned tools. She quickly found her set of lock-picking tools, but was damned if she could locate the crowbar. At last she unearthed it, though, and headed for the main door into the warehouse.

 

Jessica and Lizzy pulled into the driveway as Hayley reached the roll-up door. It was a heavy affair, with a white rusted frame. The door was banged up good.

 

She put the crowbar underneath it and hauled up on it. Nothing happened the first time, but the second time did the trick and she threw open the door.

 

They charged into the warehouse as a pack. The place was dank and dark and empty except for a rat skittering across the cement toward the back corner. There was a low-ceilinged room back there—an office by the rear receiving door. If Kitally was here, that’s the only place she could be. They hurried over to it.

 

“Kitally,” Hayley called, “are you in there?”

 

The door was locked. There was no answer.

 

Hayley used the tools she’d brought to try to pick the lock, but this lock wasn’t like anything she’d seen before.

 

“Let me try,” Tommy said. Using a pick gun and a tension tool, he had the door open in a little over a minute.

 

“Nice job,” Hayley said.

 

“I’ve been practicing.”

 

When Hayley opened the door, Kitally was already lunging at her, but she managed to stop herself in midswing, the wire device in her hand mere inches from taking out Hayley’s eye.

 

Kitally’s pupils had dilated. Her hair stuck out in every direction, making her look as if she’d been trapped in the tiny room for weeks instead of twenty-four hours.

 

“Are you all right?” Hayley asked.

 

Kitally stepped out of the room without a word, just kept walking through the warehouse toward the light. Jessica grabbed Kitally’s camera and phone from inside the windowless room, then followed the rest of them out into the open air.

 

“What’s this?” Lizzy asked, taking the wire from Kitally.

 

“I made it. I wanted to be ready for Chalkor when he came back.”

 

“Did he tell you he was coming back?”

 

“No. I just didn’t think he’d really leave me in there to die.” Kitally looked around the parking area. “Where is he? How did you find me?”

 

Before Lizzy could answer, a car came roaring into the lot, spraying gravel. A heavyset man jumped out. “What the hell is going on? This is private property!”

 

Kitally walked up to the man and shouted, “Ay Yaah!” before anyone had a clue what she was up to. A powerful thud sounded the moment her foot connected with Chalkor’s gut. Panicked, he turned about and tried to get back in his car, but another one of Kitally’s kicks shut the door, almost taking his hand.

 

He turned to face the crowd. “Help me,” he said. “She’s crazy.”

 

Nobody said a word.

 

“I could have died in there, you son of a bitch!” Kitally chambered and snapped her leg through a vicious front kick that drove her heel into his side.

 

Chalkor grunted and doubled over, clutching his side. “I was coming back to let you out.”

 

“Liar,” she said, driving a sudden knuckle blow into his throat.

 

Tommy looked at Lizzy and said, “Don’t worry. She’s going easy on the guy. If she wanted to kill him, she’d already have popped his nose into his brain.”

 

“Great. I feel better now.”

 

When Kitally advanced on him then, there was something darker in her movements, as though she’d taken Tommy’s remark as an instruction.

 

Chalkor cowered against his car. “Somebody stop her.”

 

Tommy stepped up behind Kitally, hooked an arm around her waist, and held her back.

 

“Let me go, Tommy. He tried to kill me.”

 

“Don’t worry,” Lizzy said. “You’ve got four witnesses. Mr. Chalkor is going to be spending some time behind bars.”

 

“You’re all crazy,” Chalkor moaned. “I’m going to sue you for everything you’ve got.”

 

“Get in line,” Lizzy said. “Get in line.”