Obsessed (The Lizzy Gardner Series) (26 page)

CHAPTER 60

Wolf was not happy to see Hayley at his doorstep again. “You’ve got another fucking question to ask me?”

“No, I have information I think you might be interested in.”

“I’ve done some research since we met, Hayley Hansen,” Wolf said, “and I know you’re pals with that Jessica chick, and my main man tells me she’s an FBI wannabe. I don’t want anything to do with you.”

“What I have to tell you involves Brian Rosie. We need to talk in private.”

After telling a couple of his watchdogs to stay put, Wolf ushered Hayley into a different room than the last time she was here. He shut the door and took a seat in a plush leather chair behind a mahogany desk. “I got Kiki back,” he said, “and you got the name you asked for. That was it for you and me, far as I was concerned. This better be good.”

“I know who’s cutting into your turf,” Hayley said. “Not only are they selling drugs on every street corner, they’ve been selling everything at a cheaper price than your foot soldiers.”

“You thinking about getting into the drug business?”

“No.”

“Then stay out of my business.”

“Brian Rosie is very much my business. I’ve come here to tell you that before midnight tonight, I will know exactly where Brian is hanging out.”

“Last I heard, he was in the Bahamas soaking up the sun.”

“I just got word that he’s hiding out somewhere in Placerville.”

Wolf raised a brow.

“That’s right. I came here to ask for your help, but the truth is, whether I have enough manpower or not, I’m going to find him and kill him. And it’s going to happen tonight.”

Wolf gave her a long, hard stare. “What you probably don’t realize is that I have to think about the economic aspects. If I go after this guy and lose a couple of my boys in action, then I’m going to have a slowdown while I find replacements, not to mention the increased heat any kind of firefight brings down. I need to analyze the risk trade-offs.”

Hayley didn’t know a lot about the drug business, but she’d done some research and she knew just enough to hopefully make him think she knew more than she did. “Brian is hiring street-level boys,” she said. “He’s paying them less than minimum wage, but they don’t care because they need jobs. He’s already got three guys out there for every one of yours. At this rate, it won’t be long until he’s gotten more than a foothold on your turf.”

He slammed a fist on his desk.

She didn’t flinch.

“No shit,” he said. “I know what’s happening on my streets. What you don’t seem to understand is that gang wars are costly. Not only in lives but in lost profits.”

“I get it,” Hayley said. “Violence keeps customers away and the last thing I want on my streets is more violence.”

“These are your streets now?”

“You know what I mean,” Hayley said. “Brian Rosie could move right in on your territory.”

“What the fuck did that guy do to you?”

“What didn’t he do would be an easier question to answer.” Hayley exhaled, wondering how she was going to convince this guy to take a stand on such short notice. “I know Brian and his men are stationed somewhere in Placerville. Any moment now, I should have an exact location for you. If you give me a number where I can text you with the location, you’ll know Brian’s whereabouts in under two hours.”

“How many men does he have guarding him?”

Hayley had no fucking idea, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. “Close to a dozen.”

“And you’re going to go after him?”

“That’s right.”

Wolf got a good laugh before he said, “You’re just looking to get yourself killed, aren’t you?”

“I’m not afraid to die.”

“It’s more than that. You, girl, are afraid to live. It’s written all over your face.”

After a long bout of silence, she said, “There’s one more factor you haven’t yet taken into account.”

He tilted his head as if he were enjoying himself now. “What’s that?”

“If you send your men within thirty minutes of my texting you his location, your men will be on the offensive, prepared to fight. While Brian Rosie will have no idea what hit him.”

For the first time since she’d entered his office, Wolf looked as if he might be considering his options.

“Brian has been expanding his organization, working with suppliers in other regions,” she added, keeping the pressure on.

“Is that so?”

She nodded. “He’s got twice as many people as you collecting dues and recruiting new men. It won’t be long before he runs you out of town. If I’ve done my homework right, nearly one-third of your guys are imprisoned as we speak.”

“That’s enough. You’ve had your say.”

She lifted her hands in surrender. “Thanks for your time.” She prayed she’d been convincing enough because the truth was, as much as she hated to admit it, she needed the scumbag.

She heard him chuckling as she made her way to the front door and let herself out.

CHAPTER 61

Lizzy’s head felt as if it were filled with bricks.

Pain shot through her right side. As the fog cleared from her brain, she realized she was being carried over a man’s shoulders, hanging down his back with her arms dangling toward the ground and knocking into his legs with each step. She hung limp. Played dead. She could see the ground: dirt, mud, leaves. She wondered if her attacker realized she’d pulled the syringe out of her arm before it was emptied into her system.

The man grunted as he leaned forward and dropped her. She rolled into a deep pit. He planned to bury her alive.

She could hear him walking away. This was her chance. Tearing at the soft earth, she pulled herself upward, using what strength she had left to crawl out of the pit and make a run for it. She didn’t know which way to go, but she weaved through the trees.

Leaves crunched behind her, and then she could hear his labored breathing.

She ran on through dense underbrush until she fell, then scrambled on hands and feet. Branches clawed through her skin and threatened to gouge her eyes out. She reached under her arm, hoping for a miracle, but of course her gun was gone.

Back on her feet, she twisted her way through thicket after thicket before breaking through into a clearing surrounded by mossy trees.

She stopped to listen.

Crickets and frogs chirping and croaking in the distance, and her own breathing.

She couldn’t stay in one place. She needed to keep moving. The medication he’d shot into her system made her feel as if she was hallucinating.

Nausea swept over her as she took off running again.

It would be dark soon.

She could only pray she was moving toward the highway and not farther into the woods.

CHAPTER 62

Hayley knocked on the door to Kitally’s parents’ house. When nobody came, she opened the door and peeked inside. Everybody was gone. She called out Kitally’s name as she made her way up the spiral staircase with iron railings. Everywhere she looked there was custom cabinetry and chandeliers dripping with sparkling crystals. She could easily get lost in a place like this, but somehow she managed to find the computer room. Tommy was right where she’d left him.

No sooner had she walked into the computer room than he jumped out of his chair and said, “Got it!”

“No kidding?”

“No kidding!” Tommy picked her up and twirled her about the room. Then he kissed her on the mouth before she could decide whether or not she wanted to be kissed. It was over almost as quickly as it began.

Pretending what just happened hadn’t happened at all, she went to the computers and stared at all the images. There were dozens of still shots of a house in the woods surrounded by chain-link fencing. “Is this his location?”

Tommy sat back down. “This is it. Quite the setup. He’s been hiding out in the woods for two years. This guy isn’t fooling around.” Tommy pointed to one of the screens. “You can see part of the wire fencing and a gate right here. And over here you can see more chain-link fencing topped with razor wire. At the time this picture was taken, he had four people securing the property.” He pointed to a couple of the tiny, blurry figures on the screen. “This is a satellite shot from who knows when. It could have been taken two months ago or two days ago. I was able to get six cell phone signals in this one area, so we can easily assume that Brian has up to six men protecting the grounds at any given time.”

Hayley scribbled the address on a piece of paper, then pulled her cell from her pocket and sent a text.

“What was that about?” Tommy asked.

“You were right about our needing manpower. I’m trying to round up some help. Let’s get going.”

Tommy looked around. “What about Kitally?”

“I don’t know where she’s at, but she left us a note saying she was taking one of her dad’s cars. I tried calling, but my call went directly to her message box. She must be out of range.”

“She did say something about Lizzy and a woman named Madeline.”

“We’ll have to do this without her,” Hayley said. “Besides, she’s still healing. It’s better this way.”

CHAPTER 63

Kitally pulled onto a dirt road. It was muddy from recent rains and there was no way she was going to get very far in her dad’s Ferrari. She pulled over, shut off the engine, grabbed her phone and her bag, and headed off. At speeds close to a hundred mph, it had taken her more than thirty minutes to arrive.

Glad she had opted to wear boots instead of heels today, she followed the GPS tracker, which told her she didn’t have far to go. The signal was strong enough that she knew Lizzy couldn’t be too far ahead. She had called Lizzy’s phone dozens of times, to no avail. All movement on the tracker had stopped a while ago. Lizzy had arrived at her destination, wherever the hell that was.

What was going on?

Kitally couldn’t think of one good reason Lizzy would come to the woods . . . especially alone.

Unease crept up her spine as she followed the tire marks. If Lizzy was following someone, why wouldn’t she have called or at least answered her phone? Worry quickened Kitally’s pace. She started to run. It wasn’t long before she found a Nissan parked to the side of a dirt road. The trunk was open. The GPS signal led her right to Lizzy’s purse inside the trunk.

Someone had Lizzy.

Kitally walked around the area, peering into the trees. All she saw were shadows as the tree branches moved and danced with every breeze. Frogs croaked in the distance. Dead leaves covered the ground and that’s when she realized she could make out footprints in the beaten-down leaves. There were footprints . . .

The trail led her to a muddied pit. Another area ten feet away looked as if it had been covered up recently. There was a strange smell in the air. Definitely funky.

Once again, Kitally examined the ground for any sign that might give her a clue about which way they had gone. It didn’t take her too long to find tracks. But it was getting darker by the minute, and she didn’t know how much longer she would be able to see where she was going.

Kitally put her phone in her back pocket and then pulled out her machete. Leaving everything else behind, she took off through the trees and brush.

CHAPTER 64

After talking Debra Westlake down, convincing her to put her gun away and go home, Madeline realized it was time to leave town. She would go to San Francisco and stay with her brother for a while, lie low and decide what to do next. She no longer had a job. Her reputation had been severely damaged. Until the police found Chris Porter and David Westlake, all eyes would be focused on her.

She went upstairs and checked phone messages. Two missed calls from Lizzy, who was hopeful she had found their man. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she prayed it was true. She reached into her purse and pulled out the driver’s license she’d found on her passenger seat two days ago: it belonged to Megan Vos. This man, whoever he was, had killed Chris Porter, David Westlake, Amber Olinger, Megan, and maybe even Cindy. He was doing his best to point all evidence her way. He was getting away with murder. She wanted to take the ID to Detective Chase, but she was afraid he would lock her up for good. The media still came around every once in a while. They stood on her front lawn and waited for her to make an appearance.

She looked around her. Her actions truly had caused all of this craziness. What had she done? Tears flooded forth. She cried for her friends, for all the lies she’d told, for the person she’d become.

After a while, she went to the bathroom and washed her face.

When she returned to the bedroom, every sound, every creak caused her to jump. Making quick work of packing, she tossed in a few changes of outfits and her toiletries and headed downstairs. Before she could make it to the door, there was a knock.

Taking quiet steps, she left her suitcase at the bottom of the stairs and tiptoed toward the door so she could look through the peephole. Her body relaxed the moment she recognized the nurse from the hospital, the odd, intense one with the streak of white hair. The woman was alone.

Madeline opened the door.

“Hello, Dr. Blair. I don’t know if you remember me—I’m Janelle, head nurse from the hospital. Is this a bad time?”

Madeline noticed her stethoscope hanging around her neck. She wore a white lab coat over her blue scrubs. “I do remember you, but I am in a bit of a hurry.”

“It’s standard procedure that we check up on our patients, you know, a follow-up on all assault cases. I don’t live too far from here, so I thought I would drop by, get your blood pressure and check your heart. After that I can sign off on these papers and wrap this up.”

The last thing Madeline wanted to do right now was spend time taking her vitals. “Maybe some other time. I’m going to visit my brother and he’s expecting me.”

Janelle held up her little black bag. “It will only take a moment of your time. If we don’t take care of this now, the rape crisis center will badger you until they get this taken care of.”

“It will only take a minute?”

“I promise,” the woman said as she stepped inside and shut the door behind her.

Flustered, Madeline pulled the strap of her purse off her shoulder and set it next to the bag she’d packed at the bottom of the stairs. “Where should we do this?”

“Why don’t you just take a seat right there at the dining room table?”

Madeline turned one of the dining room chairs outward away from the table so that the nurse could examine her.

She watched the woman set her black bag on the table, open it, and then slide on a pair of latex gloves. After Madeline took a seat, the nurse asked Madeline to raise her arm and pull up her sleeve so she could take her blood pressure. A moment passed before the woman said, “One twenty over eighty. Looks good. Have you been feeling any anxiety?”

“Definitely,” Madeline said. “It’s been a very stressful time.”

The nurse unhooked her stethoscope from around her neck. “It’s going to feel a little cold. Do you mind unbuttoning the top buttons of your sweater?”

Madeline sighed. She did mind, but she wanted to get this over with. “There,” she said, holding open her sweater. “I really don’t know why this is necessary.” Perspiration covered her brow. The stress was getting to her.

The nurse placed the cold metal disc on Madeline’s chest and listened. “Breathe in. Good. Now breathe out. Perfect. Almost done.”

Thank God
.

Behind her, Madeline heard the nurse shuffling through her bag.

Wondering what was taking so long, she looked over her shoulder and saw the nurse writing down some numbers.

Madeline’s heart raced as she closed her eyes and tried to stay calm. She needed to get out of this house, out of this town. She’d made so many mistakes in her life, but she was ready to make amends and set things straight. Debra had been right when she told her she was self-absorbed. Madeline couldn’t remember the last time she’d spent any quality time with her sister or brother. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d called her parents, who lived only thirty minutes away. It was time to reach out to her friends and family. Going to San Francisco and staying with her brother for a while would do her a world of good.

“This is for you, Seth.”

Madeline wondered what the nurse was talking about. But then she felt a sharp sting. She reached her hand over her shoulder, felt something sticking out of her neck and yanked it out.

An empty syringe.

She looked up from the syringe to the nurse, watched her quietly pack up her things.

“We’re all done here,” the nurse said as she moved to stand in front of Madeline.

Madeline’s hands felt numb. She wanted to ask her about the syringe, but she couldn’t find her voice. The needle dropped to the floor.

The woman, still wearing gloves, picked it up and dropped it into her bag. “You should feel a tingling sensation in your limbs. And then your tongue will start to feel thick. In a few moments, you might find it difficult to swallow, but don’t worry, you won’t feel any pain. It’ll be like you just fell asleep. The only difference being that you’ll never wake up.”

Madeline reached out and grabbed a fistful of the woman’s suit jacket. The nurse wasn’t worried. She didn’t budge. She just stood there watching and waiting until Madeline crumpled to the floor.