Almost Dead (21 page)

CHAPTER 49

Hayley knocked three times, then tapped her foot on the welcome mat as she waited.

Tommy opened the door, rubbed his eyes. “Hayley?”

“Mind if I come inside?”

He moved aside to make room and then followed her in. “What’s going on?”

“Kitally. Is she here?”

A dark brow shot up. “Kitally? Here?” He shook his head. “No. Why would Kitally be here?”

“I don’t know. I had to ask. The past few days have been crazy at the house and there were only two places I thought of that she might go to . . . home to her parents or here . . . to you.”

“I haven’t seen her since last weekend,” he said, “when I helped her with that missing dog situation.”

“She’s been missing since yesterday afternoon. Her phone has either been shut off or she’s in a place where she can’t get a connection.” Hayley plunked down on the sofa, looked around, tapped her fingers and toes.

“Does Lizzy know she’s missing?”

“Yeah, but she can’t help me now.”

“Why not?” Tommy asked.

“She’s in jail.”

He shook his head in wonder. “I need to get a pot of coffee brewing.” He stepped into the kitchen and started rooting around. Tommy’s apartment was basically one big living area with a counter separating the kitchen from the main room. A hallway led to the bedroom. As he filled the coffeepot, he blinked at her. “So now, why is Lizzy in jail?”

“After I left for El Dorado Hills to see if Kitally was at her parents’ house, I guess Lizzy went all psycho on a woman she thought was responsible for killing off the Ambassador Club.”

“I must really be out of the loop. The Ambassador Club?”

“Yeah, long story short, a woman who was bullied in high school by members of the Ambassador Club, some sort of high-end mean club, is killing club members left and right. She’s doing a good job, too, making many of the killings appear as accidents. She’s literally getting away with murder.”

“So, what did Lizzy do?”

“I don’t have all the details, but Lizzy was able to make one call and she called me. After hanging up, I called her friends at
Channel 10 News
and told them what was happening, asked them how in the world anyone could lock up a hero like Lizzy Gardner on a trumped-up charge like this. A woman who has lost everything?”

“Good one. You get shit for sleep, but you’re always thinking.”

There were more times than not that Hayley wished she could shut off her brain for a few hours, give it a rest, but so far she hadn’t figured a way to quiet the beast. “OK, so drink some coffee, Tommy, and try to remember the dognapper case. Kitally tell you anything going on in her life, anything at all that might tell me where the hell she is?”

Tommy left the coffee to brew and sat down across from her. “We didn’t have much time to talk. Everything went down pretty quickly. I had just gotten the camera set up when suddenly Kitally saw the guy with the dog approaching the house.”

Hayley exhaled as she stood.

“You’re not going to stay and have a cup of coffee?”

“No. I can’t.”

“Before we got to the dog lady’s house, Kitally had a lost look to her. Sad, too. I asked her what was wrong, and she said it was her brother’s birthday and she always thought of him on his birthday.”

“Kitally has a brother?”

“Or had a brother. I didn’t ask any more questions. I don’t think that bit of information is going to help you find her, though.”

“Do you think she went off somewhere to mourn?”

Tommy came to his feet, too. “I really don’t know. Do you want me to come with you?”

She shook her head. “I’m going to head home, get on Kitally’s computer, see what I can find. I’ll call you if I find her.”

“Yeah, good. I’d appreciate that. Let me know if I can help.”

After he walked her to the door, she surprised him with an awkward hug.

“How’s your shoulder doing?”

He straightened his arm, the one that had been injured in their war against Brian Rosie. “It’s almost as good as new.”

“That’s good. I like your place, by the way.”

“Thanks. Maybe next time you can stay for a while.”

She looked into his eyes, saw a glimmer of hope, and wondered why he even bothered with her. He’d grown in leaps and bounds over the years—opened a second karate school, moved to a nice apartment, helped Lizzy with her defense program. Hayley spent her nights wandering the streets, taking out a thug here and there. She had no tangible proof that she’d helped one other soul. Her future was a dark winding path with no discernible light at the end. Tommy was full of light, too good to follow her trail.

She opened the door and walked away without so much as a goodbye.

“Oh when the saints, go marching in . . . oh when the saints go marching in . . . oh, Lord, I want to be in that number—”

Kitally heard a noise on the little cinder block room’s roof. She stopped singing and listened closely. Heard the pitter-patter of tiny feet above her head. It was just a squirrel or a rat—though why would either bother with such a desolate place as this? There was nothing here to sustain life, as she might just be demonstrating.

She plopped down in the corner of the room, clamped her arms around her legs, and sang another verse. Her gaze darted from wall to wall, floor to ceiling. She already knew every crack in all four walls.

She’d stopped walking around and banging the walls hours ago.

Her mouth was dry and sticky. Dehydration was setting in. It hadn’t helped that she hadn’t taken the time to drink water or eat lunch before Chalkor had shoved her inside this cold, windowless room.

Was he planning on leaving her here?

Yeah, he might be a scumbag trying to collect monies he didn’t deserve, but was he willing to kill her for a few extra bucks?

He had to be coming back.

And when he did, she thought, she needed to be ready for him.

She scanned the room for the hundredth time. Nothing. All the rusty nails were in the other room. This room had been swept clean.

Even the shoes she’d decided to wear were worthless to her. If she’d worn her spiky heels, she could have done some damage the second he opened the door.

Think, Kitally, think.
She had on a long-sleeved cotton shirt and red stretch pants. She had recently bought a matching bra and panty set.

Her bra!
That’s it.
At this very moment, the wire was pinching her skin, making her even more uncomfortable. She pulled her arms out of her sleeves, unhooked the back of her bra, and pulled it off. With her shirt back on, she examined the undergarment. She needed to get the wire out somehow. She crawled over to the door where she’d scratched herself earlier on a ragged metal hinge. She began rubbing the silk against the metal edge until she’d made a hole. The wire slid out. Back in her little corner of the room, she began to twist and bend it.

When Chalkor came back, she’d be ready for him.

CHAPTER 50

Hayley had spent most of the afternoon driving around, visiting every place she could think of where Kitally might be. Unfortunately, she’d had no luck with her search. As she pulled into the driveway, she couldn’t help but hope she would find Kitally inside the house, going about her business as if nothing had happened.

Instead, she found Jessica sitting on the front stoop, checking messages on her phone.

“What are you doing here?” Hayley asked.

“Nice to see you, too.”

Hayley unlocked the door and left it open for Jessica. “Kitally!” Hayley called out more than once.

There was no answer.

“Where is everyone?” Jessica asked.

“Lizzy is sitting in jail, and Kitally is missing.”

Jessica dropped her phone in her purse. “Since when?”

“Lizzy or Kitally?”

“Lizzy. I talked to her the other day and I didn’t think she sounded right, so I decided to pay her a visit, see how she was holding up.”

“She’s a mess.”

“You don’t look so hot yourself.”

“Yeah,” Hayley said. “I get that a lot.” She anchored loose strands of hair behind her ears. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to take a quick shower and then I’ll explain everything.”

“You live here, too?”

“All three of us—Kitally, Lizzy, and me,” Hayley said as she disappeared around the corner.

“Must make for interesting conversations,” Jessica called after her.

“That’s putting it mildly.”

“You didn’t tell me why Lizzy was in jail.”

“Five minutes. Just give me five minutes.”

Jessica secured the front door and then shouted, “Mind if I make myself some tea?”

“Make yourself at home.”

Jessica didn’t wait for the teakettle to whistle before she poured hot water into the mug she’d found. She walked around the bottom floor of the house as she sipped her tea. So far she hadn’t seen any sign of Lizzy’s things, not until she walked into the office at the end of the hallway. That’s where she found Lizzy’s laptop and a couple of very familiar-looking file cabinets, reminding Jessica of all the hours she’d spent organizing and searching through those same files. It was hard for Jessica to imagine Lizzy living with Kitally and Hayley, but these were strange times.

She headed out of the office, made her way down the hall and into the living area. The house was huge. There were more windows than walls. The views were magnificent. As she stared out into the trees, admiring the way the afternoon sunlight slipped through the branches, she wondered again why Lizzy would be in jail. The notion of Lizzy being put behind bars made no sense at all. If Hayley didn’t make an appearance soon, she was going to call the station and see what she could learn.

Outside, not too far in the distance, between a regiment of large oaks and light brush, she saw movement. At first she thought it was a deer, but it wasn’t.

It was a man.

And he was watching her.

How very peculiar.

Jessica moved her head away from him as she sipped her tea, but she kept him in her peripheral vision.

Her gun felt suddenly heavy upon her hip. A good weight.

From this distance, she couldn’t make out the color his eyes, but his hair was light, almost blond. His skin color was on the pale side. He was massive in build and tall, over six foot four.

She took another sip of her tea, didn’t taste a thing.

Footfalls sounded as Hayley descended the stairs.

Stay focused.

The man’s ears were flat against his head. His neck was half the size of the tree trunk he stood next to. His shirt was plaid. He wore denim, brown boots.

“Looks like you found the tea,” Hayley said. “What are you looking at?”

“A man.”

Hayley peered off into the same general direction she figured Jessica was looking. “Where? I don’t—”

“Not there. Farther to the right. But don’t—”

Hayley turned that way.

The man took off.

Before Hayley could run after him, Jessica put her tea down and stopped her. “It’s too late. You’re not even wearing shoes.”

“Why didn’t you go after him while you had the chance?”

“Because I was too busy memorizing his features. I need a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. Quick.”

Surprisingly, Hayley rushed off to find what she needed, and she was fast.

Jessica began jotting down the description of the man she’d seen:
blond hair, ears flat to his head, full upper lip
.

Hayley took the pencil and paper from her and began to draw on the other side of the paper. “Keep going,” Hayley said. “Describe him.”

Frustrated, but knowing she needed to describe the man before she forgot what she’d seen, Jessica obliged. With each detail she provided—six-four or six-five, broad shoulders, plaid hunting shirt, heavy brow—Hayley scratched something new on the paper.

Fifteen minutes later, when Jessica picked up the piece of paper, she was looking at the man she’d just seen outside. “This is amazing. I never knew you could sketch.”

“You never asked.”

“Who is he?”

“A man has been following Lizzy for months, maybe longer. She has no idea who he is, hasn’t been able to get a close look at him. Maybe this will help to finally identify him.”

“Do we know if he’s dangerous, or does Lizzy think it’s just another kook who wants to scare her?”

“We know that he’s big, strong, and fast. He kicked a truck driver in the face—broke his nose. Definitely dangerous,” Hayley said. “Lizzy believes he took Shelby Geitner.”

“I’ve been keeping up on the Geitner case,” Jessica said. “I know Shelby. Is she the reason Lizzy is in jail?”

“Mind if we talk about this in the kitchen?” Hayley asked. “I’m hungry.”

Jessica followed her into the kitchen, watched her pour a glass of milk and grab a piece of chicken from Tupperware inside the refrigerator. They sat at the kitchen table, and Jessica listened while Hayley caught her up on everything going on, including the reason why Lizzy was in jail.

Jessica sighed. “I’ll go to the station and see what I can do, if anything, to help Lizzy, but first let’s talk about Kitally. How long did you say she’s been missing?”

“About twenty-four hours now. She’s not answering her phone and this is the first time she hasn’t come home. She’s a stickler for checking in.”

“How about friends?”

Hayley shook her head. “I checked the only two places she would go—her parents’ house and Tommy’s place. She wasn’t at either one.”

“What cases was she working on? Do you know?”

“She had three workers’ comp cases, but one particular case was giving her problems.” Hayley went still. “Chalkor.”

“Who’s Chalkor?”

“Just another loser claiming work-related injuries—” Hayley stopped midsentence. “We need to find the file and pay him a visit.”

Jessica followed Hayley down the hall to the office she’d seen earlier, watched her open the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet and finger through the files until she found what she was looking for.

Hayley turned the pages. “Here it is. Chalkor lives on Azevedo Drive in Sacramento. About twenty-five minutes from here.” Hayley looked at Jessica. “Want to come along?”

The last thing in the world Jessica wanted to do was go for a ride with Hayley. Some of her worst memories were doing surveillance and ride-alongs with her. But they were some of her best memories, too, and she found herself nodding.