Lizzy Gardner #2_Dead Weight (32 page)

“I’m glad.” After a moment Jessica added, “I heard that Farrell is suing after all.”

“Don’t worry about him. We have pictures of your bruises. I saw the welts with my own eyes. He’s not going to get away with it. The company that hired me to watch Farrell is backing us up one hundred percent.”

A knock at the door put an end to their conversation. Jessica grabbed her purse, looked through the peephole, and opened the door. “Hi Jared.”

“Hi, Jessica. I heard you did some great work with the Fullerton case.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t easy, but I found Carol. Speaking of which, your girlfriend owes me a raise.”

He chuckled. “I’ll have a talk with her.”

“See you both later,” Jessica said. “Enjoy your evening.”

Jared shut the door, locked it, and then headed straight for Lizzy.

Without a word said, he took her into his arms and kissed her soundly. “I missed you,” he whispered into her ear.

“I’m glad you’re home,” Lizzy said. “It’s been a rough couple of weeks.”

“I don’t like being away from you. Move in with me, Lizzy.” He took hold of her hand and kept his gaze on hers. “
It’s not gonna be easy. It’s
gonna be really hard. We’re gonna have to work at this every day, but I
want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, you and me,
every day. Will you do something for me, please? Just picture your life
for me? Thirty years from now, Forty years from now? What’s it look
like?
”

Lizzy laughed. He had just quoted a passage from
The Notebook
.

“You memorized that for me?”

“Nobody but you.”

“I love you, Jared Shayne. I really do love you.”

“Don’t tease me,” he said.

“I’m not teasing. And it’s not just because you quoted such a wonderful passage from my favorite movie.” She stood on her tippy-toes and kissed his cheek and then his nose and his chin. “I love you.”

She looked away for a moment, her eyes wide with wonder. She inhaled. “I feel okay.” She looked at him again. “Telling you I love you feels good.”

“I love you, too, Lizzy Gardner,” he said, holding her tight again.

“You know that I do.”

“Meow.”

Smiling, Jared bent down and picked up the kitten. “How did Peter Pan get here? I thought he was at my house?”

“Her name is Hannah.”

He wrinkled his nose. “Hannah?”

“Don’t ask. It’s a done deal.”

He set Hannah back on the ground, wrapped Lizzy in his arms and kissed her neck.

To love and be loved, Lizzy thought, knowing she was one of the lucky ones.

***

Two days later, Lizzy followed Jared into the front entrance of the California Division of Juvenile Justice. Usually visitors were not allowed to visit until after thirty days, but Jared had pulled some strings so she would get a chance to see Hayley.

After checking I.D., they were asked to leave their cell phones and other personal belongings at the front desk. A inal check and a frisk allowed them to follow an unarmed guard to the Level 2 facilities where Hayley was being kept. Firearms were only allowed outside of the institution. The DJJ was a division of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation where education and treatment services were provided for some of California’s most serious youth offenders, ranging in age from 12 to 25. According to the reports Lizzy read, teens with mental health problems were failing to be rehabilitated. The place felt cold and smelled sterile. It made Lizzy sick to think that Hayley was somewhere inside.

The most serious offenders were locked down for 23 hours a day.

Not as punishment, the institution said, but as a means to keep the teens safe.

They followed the guard down a long narrow hallway, where the only sound was the click of their heels. It was early. Most of the incarcerated youths were still asleep. Hayley didn’t sleep much, which bothered Lizzy further, since she wondered what Hayley would do to keep herself busy.

They entered a room that resembled a school cafeteria. A guard stood at a door on the other side of the room. The guard next to them said they had ten minutes. Then he stepped back, arms stiff behind him, and waited quietly.

Hayley sat alone at a long table in the center of the room.

When Lizzy had irst met Hayley she had black spiky hair. Her hair was layered now, lyaway pieces framing a pale, heart-shaped face.

Most of the black had grown out, revealing her natural color, a rich dark chocolate, the same color as her eyes. All of her piercings had been removed. She wore a one-piece brown uniform. She was not cuffed. No chains around her ankles. For that Lizzy was thankful.

Lizzy looked at Jared, who gestured for her to take the lead. He followed behind and took a seat at the same table, but sat quietly a few seats away. Earlier, he’d made it clear that he would be right there if she needed him.

Hayley’s hands rested on the table, one on top of the other, the stub of her pinky finger clearly visible.

Lizzy put her hands on top of Hayley’s and looked into her eyes.

“Don’t you be sad,” Hayley said.

Lizzy smiled. “Everything’s going to be okay. Jared’s going to help me get you out of here.”

“Assault with a deadly weapon is considered a felony,” Hayley told her. “It’s punishable by up to four years in state prison. That’s not counting fines up to $10,000, which we both know you can’t afford.”

Lizzy looked at Jared. He nodded his agreement with her assessment of the situation. As usual, Hayley had done her homework.

A moment of silence passed before Lizzy said, “I left some books for you at the front. They’ll give them to you after they check everything.

There’s also an iPod from Jessica. She said it was old and she wanted to get a new one anyway.”

Hayley smiled. “I hope she downloaded some decent music. Have you ever heard the music she listens to?”

Lizzy forced another smile. She could hear the strain in Hayley’s voice as she put on a strong front.

“I know I disappointed you,” Hayley said, her tone serious. “I’m sorry about that, but I’m not sorry for anything I’ve done.”

“You didn’t kill that man. I’m thankful for that.”

“I wanted to. My intention was to inish Brian off once and for all. I cannot and will not lie about that. That man does not deserve to be living and breathing.”

A sigh escaped Lizzy.

“You don’t need to worry about me. I realize this place has a bad reputation. Ninety percent of those released from this place end up in adult prison. It’s overcrowded. The food sucks and the suicide rate is high. But you still don’t have any reason to worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

“Time is up,” the guard said.

“Is there anything you need?” Lizzy asked. “Anything I can send you before we get a court date set up?”

“Nope,” Hayley said. “I’m good.”

Jared stood and waited for Lizzy.

“By the way,” Hayley added, “I heard that you saved Vivian. I guess you didn’t lose your mojo after all.”

Lizzy squeezed both of her hands since they weren’t allowed to embrace one another.

Hayley looked at Jared and thanked him for inding a way to visit.

He told her to hang tough.

As the guard led them out, Lizzy looked over her shoulder, but Hayley had already disappeared through the door across the room.

The building was empty and quiet. Despite the dreary gloom weighing heavily on Lizzy’s psyche, the depressing darkness inside of her blossomed right then and there into single-minded resolve.

This was not the ending. It was only the beginning. She would do a thorough investigation, and she would utilize every contact she’d ever made to find out everything she could about the men Hayley had singled out for retribution. And then she would stop at nothing until Hayley was back home where she belonged.

***

Books by T.R. Ragan

ABDUCTED
(Lizzy Gardner Series #1)

Elizabeth Gardner (Lizzy) is seventeen-years old when she tells her parents she’s going out with her girlfriends. Instead, she meets up with Jared Shayne, her boyfriend of two years. As she walks home beneath an inky black sky, her perfect night becomes her worst nightmare.

Fourteen years later, Lizzy is a licensed PI known as the “one who got away." When she’s not searching for runaway teenagers, working on insurance scams, or talking to her therapist, she’s at the local high school teaching young girls to defend themselves. But her world is turned upside down for the second time after she receives a call from Jared Shayne. He’s an FBI special agent now and he needs her help.

Lizzy has no plans to get involved. Not until Jared tells her the kidnapper left her a personalized note.

Escaping from a madman should have been the end of her nightmare…but it was only the beginning.

Books by Theresa Ragan

Return of the Rose

Medieval Time Travel Romance

Twin sisters are born in Medieval England. One of the infants is dying and is taken to the Witch of Devonshire, who uses supernatural powers to transport the ailing babe to the future. It is the year 1986

when Cathy Hayes, a woman who has lost her child and husband in a car accident, inds the baby at her doorstep, gets her the medical attention she needs, and raises the baby as her own. Morgan grows up in the twentieth century with a mysterious attraction to a hollow suit of armor that stands in the window of her mother’s antique store.

Morgan is twenty-four-years old when she becomes entangled within the armor’s metal plates and is whisked back in time where she is mistaken for Amanda Forrester, a twin sister she knows nothing about. In Amanda’s place, Morgan is forced to marry King Henry’s favored knight, Derek Vanguard, Lord of Braddock Hall. Abandoned by his mother and having failed as a child to gain his father’s love, Derek’s heart is as cold as the stone walls of his castle.

A Knight in Central Park

Medieval time travel Romance

Alexandra Dunn, a spirited twenty-ive year old peasant woman feels weighed down by responsibility after her father abandons his family, leaving her in charge of four siblings. There are crops to tend, endless chores to do, and her grandfather is showing signs of feeble-mindedness. To make matters worse, Sir Richard, an overly pampered lord, wants to marry her sister. After Alexandra refuses his offer on her sister’s behalf, he sends his men to destroy her home and takes her sister captive. As their farmhouse is set a lame, Alexandra’s grandfather places his precious stones in her palm, telling her she has until the next full moon to ind a hero-a brave, chivalrous knight who must return with her and help save her family. Suddenly, Alexandra is standing in the middle of Central Park, but she has no time to ponder on the wondrous powers of the stones. .she needs to find a hero before all is lost.

Joe McFarland is the “lucky” guy who runs into her. He would be the irst to admit that he’s about as far as a man can get from hero material. He is a irm believer of truth, justice and quietude. A strong believer of non-violence, he avoids con lict at all costs. At thirty-four, he is one of the younger Professors at NYU where he lectures and teaches History: The High Middle Ages. Joe’s main goal in life is to gain membership into the Medieval Academy, a highly distinguished group of archaeologists and historians. He believes membership will bring him respect and recognition. .but what he really wants is to be reunited with his father; a man who has spent his entire life searching for the Black Knight, the last of the medieval knights.

Joe’s organized, well-structured life begins to unravel the moment he meets Alexandra. He igures she majored in medieval history before going off the deep end. .until days later when he is miraculously transported through time, to 1499 England. Dressed in Dockers and a button down shirt, Joe thought he was ready for anything. .anything but this! An armored man with a very authentic looking broadsword is about to strike him down. Joe has no time to think about such an implausible phenomenon as traveling through time. .not if he wants to live to see another day.

Finding Kate Huntley

Romantic Suspense

During a vacation in the Caribbean, ifteen-year old Kate Huntley’s father, a prominent U.S. scientist, is murdered before her eyes. For the next ten years, Kate grows up alone in Haiti, one of the most dangerous and poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Not a day goes by that she doesn’t think of her father. Kate pushes herself to become stronger, mentally and physically. Every day is a struggle for survival. And yet she lives for only one reason. .revenge.

FBI Agent Jack Coffey has eidetic memory, the ability to recall images with great accuracy. While looking for a drug lord via satellite in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, Jack spots Kate Huntley. Jack is sent by the agency to find Ms. Huntley and bring her back to the States. They have many unanswered questions about her father’s death. A professional and responsible man, Jack is confused by Kate’s lack of cooperation.

He wants to help her return to the States where he believes she’ll be safe, but she treats him like the enemy and refuses to go. Everything about Kate Huntley is a contradiction. She looks fragile and innocent, but every time he turns around she’s putting another thug in his place. In the beginning Jack wonders if Kate’s distrust of his superiors is warranted or just simple paranoia. In the end, Jack realizes nothing is as it seems.

Taming Mad Max

Romantic Comedy

Max Dutton, a starting NFL linebacker for the Los Angeles Condors, is certain he’s going to die young since his father and grandfather both passed away at an early age. Believing his life will be cut short, Max lives every moment to its fullest. For this reason, Max also shies away from forming close relationships. What would be the point of falling in love and starting a family only to leave them as his father left him and his sisters?