Lizzy Gardner #2_Dead Weight (17 page)

“Can I borrow your phone at least?”

“No way.”

Hayley held her cell phone out for Brittany to use. “No long-distance calls, okay?”

“Thanks!” Brittany grabbed the phone and disappeared in the other room.

“You shouldn’t baby her so much.”

“Lending her my phone is babying her?”

“Didn’t you read the note that Cathy left? Brittany is grounded. She went to a movie after school without telling anyone. Can you imagine what Mrs. Warner must have been thinking while she was looking for her daughter?”

Jessica didn’t give Hayley a chance to respond. She just kept talking.

“Six months ago Brittany was kidnapped by a madman.”

“I know. I was there.”

“You really are a bitch.”

“Why? Because I was there?”

“You know that’s not why. It’s because you go out of your way to take sides against me whenever you can.”

Hayley smiled.

“Why is that funny?”

“Because you think everything is about you.”

“I do not.”

“You do, Jessica. I have never once formed an opinion based solely on disagreeing with you. You’re the one who has a problem with me.

Not the other way around.”

“Then why do you roll your eyes every time I come up with an idea?” Jessica wanted to know.

“Because most of your ideas are lame.”

“Like what? Name one idea I’ve had that’s lame.”

“The Going Green Project for Lizzy’s office.”

“It bothers you that I care about the earth?”

“It’s the way you go about doing things. .trying to force your ideas down everyone else’s throats.”

“Wow. Okay. I’ll remember that. Anything else?”

“You really want to know?”

“I’m asking, aren’t I?”

“That’s true, you are asking for this,” Hayley said. “Stop talking to Lizzy about me behind my back.”

Jessica’s face flushed. “Are you spying on us?”

“Yeah, I’m spying on you, JessicASS, because everything you say is so fucking riveting.”

“What did you just call me?”

“Jessica. Isn’t that your name?”

Jessica’s eyes were tiny slits now. “What else?”

“I don’t think you can handle the truth.”

“Very funny,” Jessica said since they were just now getting to the end of
A Few Good Men
.

“You try so hard to be Miss Goody-Two-Shoes,” Hayley went on. “It’s fucking annoying.”

“Well, you swear too much, trying so hard to be such a bad ass.”

Hayley sighed. “The difference between me and you,” Hayley said, “is that I didn’t ask you what you thought about me because I don’t care what you think.”

Brittany stepped in the room just then, her eyes big and round, her face pale.

Hayley came to her feet. “What’s wrong?”

“Somebody is crawling around outside Mom’s room.”

“Stay here with Jessica.”

“You can’t go out there,” Jessica said when she saw Hayley move toward the sliding glass door and unlock the bottom latch.

“I’ll be right back.”

Jessica and Brittany stood huddled by the door, peering out through the glass into the dark, listening and waiting.

***

The lodge where Cathy and Lizzy were staying was average on all counts: food, entertainment, décor. A pair of snow shoes decorated the wall. There was a table with two chairs, a television, all the standard things you would ind in a hotel room, but the best part was the view: tall pines and blue skies.

The two sisters were already tucked into separate and equally uncomfortable twin beds. The lights were out and yet neither of them had fallen asleep.

“Did you see how innocent Melbourne looked when I asked him about Diane Kramer?”

“He looked innocent because he is innocent,” Cathy answered. “He said he knew her and that he’d talked to the police and that he was worried about her whereabouts. He wasn’t trying to hide anything.”

“Wow, love really is blind.”

Cathy chuckled in the dark. “To tell you the truth, I didn’t like the way he wouldn’t allow anyone to rest during the hike. He pushes people too hard. Everyone is at different levels and this was supposed to be a beginner’s retreat. That was a tough mountain. I don’t know how you did it.”

“I didn’t even make it three-quarters of the way up. Sorry I stopped you from seeing the view from the top.”

“Don’t be silly. But that’s exactly what I’m talking about. Half the people on the trail today didn’t make it to the top, but did that stop Mr. Perfect from heading onward and upward without looking back?

I appreciate his passion, but he’s a workhorse and he expects too much out of people. Despite all of that, I still think he’s innocent.”

“I don’t know. When I asked him about Diane, just for an instant, I saw a lash of anger pass through his eyes. It was subtle, but it was there.”

“How would you feel if the police had talked to you, the girl’s sister talked to you, and now your brand new client and number one fan are talking to you about Diane? Personally, I would be a little perturbed.”

Damn. She had a point. “Do you mind if we leave a little earlier than planned tomorrow?”

“No, not at all. I wasn’t going to tell you but I’m meeting with Richard tomorrow night. He’s taking Brittany and me out to dinner.”

Lizzy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You’re not letting your ex-husband back into your life after everything he did to you, are you?”

“No, of course not.”

“I understand if you’re lonely Cathy, but do not go to dinner with Richard. Sign up for Match.com or Fish in the Sea or whatever it’s called. .something, anything but Richard.”

“He made a mistake. People make mistakes, remember?”

“Yes, I know people make mistakes. Sometimes they make them over and over and over again. But he was never right for you. You married him for all the wrong reasons. You said so yourself. So why in the world would you even go to dinner with him? I bet you a million bucks his new girlfriend saw right through his narcissistic shit and dumped him like a hot potato!” Lizzy was glad her sister couldn’t see her face in the dark.

“For starters,” Cathy said matter-of-factly, “he’s the father of my daughter. We’ve been through a lot together. And there was a time when I did love him.”

“When? Why? How?”

“Cut me a break, Lizzy. The divorce will be inal in a few weeks. I’m not going to do anything crazy, okay?”

“Okay.”

“I’m tired. I’m going to sleep.”

“Goodnight,” Lizzy said. “I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

***

“Oh, my God! Let him go!” Jessica shouted from the door. She left Brittany’s side and ran outside to where Hayley was using her knee to hold a man to the ground. “Is that a knife in your hand? Do you carry that thing around wherever you go?”

“You know this loser?” Hayley asked.

“His name is Casey. Let him go. Now!”

Hayley took her knee out of his stomach and then slid her knife back into the leather sheath fastened under her pant leg.

“What is that thing wrapped around your leg?” Jessica asked.

“It’s nothing.” Hayley took a good long look at the guy. He didn’t look like Jessica’s type. In fact, the idea of Jessica dating at all, didn’t compute. She took a whiff of the man. “Have you been drinking?”

“Leave him alone.” Jessica bent down next to Casey. “Are you alright?”

He sat up.

He was ine. “Why don’t you ask your dipshit friend why he’s lurking around Cathy Warner’s backyard? I think that’s the question we need answered.”

“I think you need to mind your own business,” Jessica told her.

“The side gate was open and I could have sworn I saw somebody,”

Casey said as he put a hand to his throat. “Maybe I should leave.”

“I think that’s the best idea I’ve heard all night,” Hayley agreed.

Jessica pointed at the house while she looked at Hayley. “Go away,”

she said. “You’ve done enough.”

“He’s been drinking,” Hayley said. “I don’t want him coming inside.”

Hayley headed for the house where she could see Brittany standing at the door.

Jessica and Casey came to their feet. “That’s the girl I’ve been telling you about.”

“I guess you left out the part about her being crazy.”

“She’s not crazy,” Jessica said in Hayley’s defense, but even as she said the words, she wasn’t so sure. “And you never told me you were coming over.”

He shrugged. “I swear I saw someone back here. I thought maybe it was you and your friend.” He looked toward the tall dark trees in the corner of the yard. “I didn’t know your friend kept watch and carried knives.”

“She’s not my friend.”

Casey raked a hand through his long tangled hair. Her brother had introduced her to him a few months ago. Casey was twenty-ive years old, and he had a full-time job at a grocery outlet. The few times they talked, he’d made her laugh. He did smell like beer, she thought, but she hadn’t known him for very long and she didn’t want to scare him off too soon by mentioning it. Jessica rubbed her arms. “If she tells Mrs.

Warner and Lizzy that you were here, I could lose my job.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” he said. “If she’s smart, she won’t say a word. Not unless she wants everyone to know she carries knives in weird Rambo-like homemade sheaths. That’s one crazy chick,” he muttered under his breath.

Jessica sighed. “You better go. I need to get back inside.”

He didn’t waste any time taking off, heading back the same way he’d come. “I’ll give you a call sometime.”

She watched him leave, figuring another one bit the dust.

Chapter 25

Starving to Death

Sierra Mountains, Day 61

Vivian stood and waited for the dizziness to pass before making her way to the kitchen. She knew she needed to eat, but she was no longer hungry.

For anything.

Even the thought of eating pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting made her want to puke.

Three weeks had passed since Melbourne’s last visit. The moment he left the cabin, she’d allowed herself liquids only, which included chicken broth. She also spent three to four hours a day on the treadmill.

Melbourne seriously seemed to think he was doing her a favor.

According to Melbourne, the contract she signed had some sort of no-backing-out clause. She didn’t recall reading anything of the sort, but that was water under the bridge. There was nothing she could do about any of that now.

Unless she could escape, she might just be another missing person on a milk carton. Her only hope would be if somebody talked to her mother. Although she and her mother rarely talked, she had called her mom before she left to come here. In case something really bad had happened to Diane, she wanted at least one other person to know where she was. She even mentioned Anthony Melbourne’s name. Her mother was her only hope.

For many years now, Vivian had done everything she could to make sure people stayed away from her, including paying her rent in advance. Her landlord knew better than to bother her; the few times he had tried, she’d given him a piece of her mind.

Karma, Vivian thought, karma had come back to bite her in the ass.

As they often did, her thoughts drifted back to Diane.
Had Diane been
here?

Vivian had spent hours every day looking for clues, but so far she’d come up empty-handed. It was hard to tell if anyone had ever stayed here before.

Melbourne was de initely a neat freak. If he touched something, he wiped it clean afterwards and then squeezed hand sanitizer onto his palms and rubbed his hands together for way too long. Melbourne had cleaned the insides of the appliances and the top of the cupboards when he was here last. He was a busy man. Why didn’t he have people do that for him? Unless nobody but Jane, his minion, knew about this cabin and what went on here.

Melbourne had seemed a little too excited when he took her measurements. Not excited in a perverted way, though. Obsessed would be the word she would use to describe his actions: obsessed with cleanliness and obsessed with her measurements and weight.

Although he’d seemed excited about her weight loss, he didn’t look at her with longing or desire. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t strange.

He was an odd duck alright. She igured he might suffer from some form of OCD since he obviously had an unhealthy fear of germs.

Vivian set the can of chicken broth on the counter. When she turned to get the can opener, something happened. She looked down at her foot and saw that it had nearly come out of the cuff. She let out a whoop of joy and then grabbed the chain and walked quickly back into the main room.

Sitting on the edge of the pull-out bed, she propped her ankle on her knee and began to work the cuff, pushing and twisting.

Afraid she might break her foot, she let up some and gently tugged at the cuff. She was so close.

Butter
, she thought. She needed butter!

Recalling the bottle of vegetable oil, she went to the pantry, unscrewed the lid and poured half the bottle in and around the cuff.

The thought that today might actually be the day she would escape made her try harder. Holding tight to the cuff around her ankle, she pushed as hard as she could.

It slid right off! She was free!

For the next thirty seconds, she stood inside the pantry, dumbfounded. Seconds passed before she inally took a few steps.

Walking felt strange without a chain attached to her foot. She went to the kitchen and used a towel to wipe oil from her foot.

At the realization that she was truly free, she walked back to the bed and hopped onto the lumpy mattress. She jumped up and down, making the hinges creak in protest. Next, she ran to the treadmill, set it on seven and ran for the first time ever.

Finished with the treadmill, she looked around, a madwoman let loose. It took another minute or two before she could inally sit down and calm herself.

Think, Vivian, think
.

What would she need to bring with her? The extra-long T-shirt she was wearing was all she had.

Giddy with joy and insanely lightheaded, she hurried to the wall that was covered with fabric; a wall she’d never been able to reach with the chain around her ankle. She yanked at the corner of fabric and the sheet fell to a heap on the ground, leaving Vivian to stare at her reflection in the floor to ceiling mirror.