Obsessed (The Lizzy Gardner Series) (25 page)

CHAPTER 58

Lizzy rushed out of the elevator and walked at a good clip to the nurses’ station. She needed to find Seth Brown, wanted to meet the man face-to-face and see what he had to say about taking the drugs. Maybe Tim Hughes had lied to her, but before she could call the police about either man, she needed to know exactly whom and what she was dealing with. She didn’t have much on either man. There was no way Detective Chase would believe a word she said without solid proof.

Not one nurse was to be found in the nurses’ area. She glanced in the three hospital rooms closest to the counter where the nurses could usually be found when they weren’t with a patient. Nobody was there, so she went to the break room where she knew Margery liked to hang out. There she was, talking to another nurse.

Margery skittered over to the door and told Lizzy the break room was for hospital personnel only.

“That’s fine, Margery, but I have a quick question and I figured you would be the one to ask.”

“What is it, dear?”

“Do you know where I can find Seth Brown?”

“He called in sick today. His wife, Janelle, would know where he is, but she’ll be in surgery for another hour at least.”

“You wouldn’t happen to know where they live, would you?”

“Oh, yes, indeed, but I couldn’t give out private information like that. Maybe if you tell me what this is about, I can give Seth a call.”

“No, that’s OK,” Lizzy said. “I’ll come back later.”

“If you’re sure,” Margery said. “Everyone’s been enjoying the treats you dropped off.”

“I’m glad.” Before Lizzy left, she thought of something else and called out Margery’s name before she returned to her seat.

Margery looked at her and waited.

“I realize this might sound like a strange question, but you wouldn’t happen to know what kind of car Seth Brown drives, would you?”

Margery shook her head, but another nurse sitting at a different table nodded her head while she finished chewing. After she swallowed, she said, “He drives a Honda Civic. The only reason I know that is because he hung a picture of it on the corkboard.” She pointed to the wall where Help Wanted signs and other random notes and pictures were pinned.

Lizzy walked that way. Sure enough, there was a picture of the same car Mr. Whitton had seen in his neighborhood. Also included on the piece of paper pinned to the corkboard were little paper tabs with Seth Brown’s name and telephone number. “Mind if I take one of these?” Lizzy asked.

“Are you looking for a car?” Margery wanted to know, as though suddenly suspicious.

Lizzy ripped off one of the tabs. “It’s not for me, but this might be the perfect car for my niece.”

The other nurse smiled. “Seth will be thrilled. He just put that up yesterday.”

“Kitally, this is Lizzy. Is Hayley around? She didn’t answer her phone.”

“She’s around here somewhere. Is there something I can help you with?”

“That would be great. I need an address for Janelle and Seth Brown. For some reason, they’re not coming up on my database.”

“No problem. Just give me a minute.”

Instead of taking the elevator, Lizzy walked up the stairway to the fifth level of the parking garage where she’d parked her car. She passed a couple on her way.

“Here it is,” Kitally said. “The Browns live in Sacramento.”

“Can you go ahead and text me their address?”

“Sure.” After a short pause, she said, “Done.”

Lizzy reached the top of the landing and looked around.

“Does this have to do with Madeline Blair’s stalker?” Kitally asked.

“Yes, it does. I might have identified the man. I’ll update you and Hayley later. I’ve gotta go.”

“OK,” Kitally said. “I’ll talk to you later.”

Lizzy thought about calling Detective Chase, but she didn’t trust him. Her next thought was to call Jared, but he was out of town, so she decided to call Jared’s old FBI friend Jimmy Martin. She told Jimmy everything she’d learned so far about Seth Brown. Although she didn’t have any proof yet that he was Madeline’s stalker and the person responsible for five missing persons, she felt the need to let someone in authority know what was going on.

She hung up the phone just as she reached the floor where she’d parked her car. Because she’d been in a hurry when she’d first arrived at the hospital, she couldn’t remember where she parked.

She walked down a long row of parked cars, peering around the poorly lit, deserted garage. Then she inwardly scolded herself when she realized she could use her key fob to find her car. She held her key in front of her and pushed the unlock button. A beep sounded not far ahead of her—she was headed in the right direction.

The moment she wrapped her fingers around the door handle, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye.

But it was too late.

Something jabbed the back of her arm. She reached over her shoulder, yanked out what had stabbed her—a syringe—and tossed it away, already spinning and cocking one leg, but before she could kick her attacker, her leg buckled.

She held on to her car to keep from falling to the concrete. A woozy sensation enveloped her, causing her to stagger as her attacker came at her. With the last of her strength, she jammed the palm of her hand into his nose.

Blood spurted. He cursed.

It was no use. Both legs gave out. Her body felt weightless as he picked her up, her limbs numb as he carried her and dropped her into the trunk of a car. Before the lid of the trunk was slammed shut, she saw a glimpse of madness: unkempt hair, bulging eyes, and a smirk of satisfaction playing on his lips.

CHAPTER 59

Hayley and Tommy followed Kitally inside her parents’ home.

The house was massive, all marble columns and stone floors. According to Kitally, if you stood in the backyard, you could see 270-degree views of Folsom Lake. Hayley half imagined she’d find a heliport out there.

Kitally’s mom greeted them. She didn’t look anything like Kitally. She was taller and big boned. The only features tying them together were the brown eyes and the wide smile.

People were talking in the other room.

After making quick introductions, Kitally got right to the point of their visit. “We need to use the computer room. We won’t be too long.”

“That’s fine, dear. Come closer, though, so I can take a closer look at your face. The injuries are much worse than you let on. I think you need to give up skateboarding.”

“Don’t worry, I gave my skateboard to Tommy. He’s better at it anyway.”

Tommy shrugged.

“Are you and Dad entertaining tonight?” Kitally asked. “You look great, by the way.”

“Thanks. We’re just waiting for another couple before we head out for dinner and a show in San Francisco. Come say hello to everyone.”

Kitally told Tommy and Hayley to stay where they were. She would be right back. Then she followed her mother into the living room.

There were four couples and right away Kitally recognized one of the ladies as the woman she’d seen with her dad—his mistress.

Her dad visibly stiffened, but the woman either had no idea Kitally knew about her and her dad or she just didn’t care.

Her dad frowned. “I had no idea your injuries were so bad.”

“It’s pretty bad, I know,” Kitally agreed. “My face looks as if a couple of guys followed me home and beat the crap out of me, doesn’t it?”

“That’s enough,” her father warned.

“Are you going to introduce us to your friends?” her dad’s mistress asked.

“No.”

The woman smiled as if Kitally were merely playing with her. “What do you kids do for fun these days?”

Kitally wanted to tell her to fuck off and that it was none of her business. The fact that she referred to her as a kid was enough to make her want to drop-kick the woman and then put an elbow to her face. It made her crazy to think her father was entertaining this woman right under her mother’s nose. She knew she should just let it go, ignore the woman and walk off, but she didn’t have it in her. “We’re going to use Dad’s computer room and see if we can hack into a governmental GPS tracking system, but I don’t think it’s going to be easy.”

Nervous laughter erupted.

Her father gave her mother a stern look, as if to say,
I told you not to introduce her to our guests.

“Don’t worry, Dad, we won’t be staying long.”

He let out a ponderous sigh. He knew if he pushed her, she would tell her mother right then and there that he was having an affair.

Kitally was about to walk off, but she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t leave without asking her dad’s mistress a question. Kitally looked at the woman and said, “Where did you find that amazing dress? It’s beautiful.”

The woman put a slender hand to her chest to make sure Kitally was referring to her.

“Yes, you. Where did you get that dress?”

“I’ve had this old thing for years.”

“Funny,” Kitally said. “My father bought me the exact same dress.” That was the truth. Her father had bought the dress for her before she’d gone to detention. When she came home, the dress was gone. “I wonder if you and Dad found the gown at the same store, because I was told it was a one of a kind.”

Silence.

“Well, it’s probably not the exact dress,” Kitally fibbed. “The crystal beads on your dress don’t pick up the light quite the same as mine. OK, well, it’s been nice meeting all of you.”

“Make yourselves at home,” her mother said, oblivious as ever of everything going on around her.

“Will do,” Kitally said as she walked off. Next time she saw her father alone, she would get an earful, but she didn’t care. If her mother knew he was bringing his mistress to the house, flaunting her right under her nose, she would divorce him and take half his millions.

Kitally often thought about telling her mom, but she just couldn’t do it. Her mother loved her father, flaws and all. Kitally wasn’t going to be the one to tell her the truth and ruin her life.

When they walked into the computer room, Hayley didn’t have to be a techno geek to be astounded by the room. It looked like mission control. There were ten screens and five laptops, all lined up in a perfect row.

Tommy was speechless.

Kitally smiled. “Pretty cool, huh? Dad is into all sorts of stuff, but he was once given a grant to build a high-performance computer system designed for scientific research and computing. This is a smaller model of what he built for a secret project he worked on years ago. This room has made it easy for me to hack into every broadband and telecommunications company in the country.”

“Precision air-conditioning?” Tommy asked.

“Of course. And it can all be remotely controlled. Temperature, particle filtration, humidity, you name it.”

“Cool. We could do anything in here. Intercept, decipher, analyze.”

“Exactly,” Kitally said. “It’s more than a data center. I’ve been able to cryptanalyze and break ridiculously complex encryption systems.”

“I’m surprised your dad allows you to come in here.”

“We have a deal. I don’t touch NSA, foreign military, and diplomatic secrets, legal documents, et cetera.”

“Can we stop talking and get to work now?” Hayley wanted to know.

Hours later, Kitally looked around, bored out of her mind. Hayley had borrowed her car and told her she would be back soon. Giddy with all the equipment, Tommy had taken the reins. He didn’t need any help. Kitally’s parents and their guests had left for dinner and a show. She and Tommy were alone in the house. With nothing better to do, she checked out her GPS tracking application. Her parents were in San Francisco and Lizzy was on the highway headed east toward Reno.

Why was Lizzy headed toward Reno?

She waited another fifteen minutes before she walked back to where Tommy was sitting. “How’s it going?”

“I’ve located the first two towers. Brian is in Placerville.”

“That’s only ten or fifteen miles from where we are right now.”

“Exactly,” Tommy said. “Is Hayley around?”

“No. I’m not sure where she went, but she said she would only be an hour at most.”

“Let me know if you hear from her. How much longer before your parents return?”

“My guess is we have at least another two hours. I’ll leave you alone for now. Let me know when you’ve found the last tower.”

Tommy didn’t answer. He was already back to work.

Since he didn’t need her help, Kitally returned to the other side of the room and took a seat. The first thing she did was turn on her GPS application again to check Lizzy’s location.

Hmm. Odd.
She glanced at the clock on the wall, trying to figure out how long it had been since she’d given Lizzy the address she asked for.

Where is Lizzy going?

The GPS screen showed her moving in the opposite direction of where Kitally had told her to go. That didn’t make sense. When Lizzy had called, she’d sounded excited, as if she were onto something big.

Kitally looked around the room, tapped her fingers, came to her feet, sat back down, and then finally broke down and dialed Lizzy’s number.

No answer.

She called Hayley next, relieved when she answered. “Brian is in Placerville,” she blurted.

“No kidding?”

“Tommy should have an address in another hour or so.”

“Thanks. I gotta go.”

They hung up before Kitally could ask her what to do about Lizzy.

Kitally tried Lizzy’s number. No answer. She blew out a frustrated breath as she came to her feet, then walked back to where Tommy was sitting and hovered over his shoulder. He had three different screens on, all showing satellite imagery: maps, terrain, lots of trees and wooded area.

“Lizzy called a while ago to ask for an address. I think she knows the identity of Madeline Blair’s stalker.”

“Who is Madeline Blair?”

Kitally snorted. “Oh, forget it.” She returned to her seat, where she resumed watching the little red dot on the GPS map. Lizzy was definitely headed east, away from Sacramento, which didn’t make any sense.

Worry gnawed at her.

What if something happened to Lizzy after she hung up the phone?

Why wasn’t she answering her phone? More importantly, why was she headed in the wrong direction?

She looked from the back of Tommy’s head to the dot on her cell phone.

It would be a while before they could set into motion their plans to find Brian. She looked at the clock and watched the second hand go round and round.

She’d had enough. There was no way she could sit there and do nothing, knowing Lizzy could be in danger.

Without saying goodbye to Tommy, she grabbed her bag and headed out, figuring she would have to take one of her dad’s cars since Hayley was driving hers.