Almost Dead (23 page)

CHAPTER 54

“Just like old times,” Hayley said to Jessica as they pulled up to the curb outside Chalkor’s house.

“Yeah, just like old times.”

“How’s Magnus doing?” Magnus Vitalis was a DEA agent and a man Jessica had been very fond of even before he’d thrown himself in front of her at Lizzy’s wedding and taken a bullet to the spine for his efforts.

“He’s not adjusting well,” Jessica said. “He’s angry. The doctors have told him he’ll never walk. He’s not ready to accept that prognosis.”

Hayley shook her head and listened.

“Some days I find myself babying him, doing every little thing for him, but on the other days I do my best to practice tough love. The physical therapists told me to let him do things. They want him to keep his muscles strong. The joints need to stay limber, and they want Magnus to keep active. So when I insist he do things for himself, we fight.”

“I’m sorry. That sucks.”

“Yeah, it does.”

With nothing else to say, they both exited the car.

The house looked well kept, the trees trimmed and the walkway swept. The grass was weed-free and newly mowed.

“Here we go,” Hayley said, then knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” The woman answered immediately, as though she’d been waiting for them right on the other side of the door.

“My name is Hayley. It’s very important that we talk to Mr. Chalkor.”

“Go away.”

“If you don’t talk to us, we’ll have no choice but to make a call and get the police involved.”

The door inched open. “What did he do now?”

She was heavyset. Blonde. Deep grooves made from her permanent frown were plastered across her face.

“Is he inside?” Hayley asked.

“No, but I’m his wife. Tell me what’s going on.”

“A friend of ours is missing. She drives a new Ford Escape and—”

“The girl who’s been parked across the street off and on for two weeks taking pictures?”

“That would be her.”

“I have no idea where your friend is.”

Jessica flashed her badge. “FBI.”

“Shit.”

“I guess that means you know something?”

The woman looked down and away and locked her arms across her stomach. Then she released a sharp, tense breath through her nose and looked up at Jessica. “I just know that he was gone for most of the day yesterday,” she said in a low voice. “He needed to get some tools from the warehouse. I also know I haven’t seen the girl in the past few days.”

“Does he work at a warehouse?”

“Oh, no. The warehouse is a run-down building that we invested every penny into when we were first married. If he had sold it when I told him, too, we’d be living the good life about now.”

“Could you give us the address?”

She looked suddenly pensive. “You don’t seriously think my husband would have anything to do with your missing friend, do you?”

“Why don’t you give us the address,” Jessica said, “and let us check it out.”

“What if I refuse?”

“We’ll be forced to call for backup and they’ll haul your ass down to the station for further questioning,” Hayley told her. “It’s up to you.”

Hayley also knew she could do another Internet search and find out any and all properties the Chalkors had ever owned, but that would take precious time they didn’t have.

“It’s 11500 Sunco Drive, Rancho Cordova.”

“Do you have a key to the place?”

“My husband is the only one with a key, but he’s not home.”

“When will he be back?”

The woman sighed. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

CHAPTER 55

Ever since being warned that almost every member of the Ambassador Club had died in some sort of bizarre manner, Chelsea Webster had been unable to eat, sleep, or do much of anything at all . . . except stare out the window, jump at every sound, and pour herself another shot of Jack Daniel’s. With a trembling hand, she brought the glass to her lips, took a sip, winced, then downed the rest in one swallow.

That’s why she’d left her boyfriend a note at their apartment in Orangevale and then had driven out of town. She was scared, and she didn’t want to put him in any danger. She was staying in a Motel 6 off of I-80 in Auburn. Where else would she go?

Certainly not to her family. Most of them had disowned her when she was only seventeen after she’d kicked her grandmother in the shin, cutting through skin and hitting bone, causing swelling in Grandma’s leg that she’d heard from a cousin still bothered her to this day. Not that that was the only awful thing she’d done. It had just been the final straw.

Chelsea didn’t know why she’d been such an angry teenager. Looking back, it didn’t make much sense. She’d been spoiled since birth. But lots of kids in the world were spoiled and somehow they turned out all right.

Maybe if her parents had disciplined her every once in a while, given her chores, things would have turned out differently. When she used to get angry with her mother, she would dump the contents of her mother’s purse onto the floor and then take cash and credit cards. Her mother never stopped her.

She poured herself another glass, swallowed the contents in one gulp.

To this day, she didn’t like waiting in lines, had zero patience, and did not like to share. The world hadn’t made any sense at all until she’d met Adam. He was the most caring, patient, understanding individual she’d ever met. He loved her for who she was, and yet he didn’t take her shit, either. He stood up to her. She’d never had anyone do that before.

It sounded corny, but it was the truth: love had opened her eyes to so many things—the good and the bad, although the bad all had to do with her past. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to shake all the nasty things she’d done back in high school.

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.”

“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 pussy. 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.”