Obsessed (The Lizzy Gardner Series)

by T. R. Ragan

  Hayley walked over to the cozy little couple, grabbed hold of Becca’s arm, and told her it was time to go home.

  “I just got here.”

  Hayley yanked her to her feet and turned to go, only to find two guys blocking her way.

  “The girl wants to stay,” the taller goofball said before he tugged Becca out of her grip and pulled her to his chest.

  Strangely, Hayley wasn’t in the mood to fight the goons, so she decided to make up a lie. She looked at Becca and said, “There’s been an accident. Hudson managed to get through the fence and into the pool.”

  Becca’s face turned yellow. “I told him to stay in the house.”

  Hayley shrugged.

  “He doesn’t know how to swim.”

  “Someone pulled him out and was giving him mouth-to-mouth when I left. I called 911, but I knew I needed to come find you.”

  Becca pushed away from the guy who was holding her and marched away. Hayley followed close behind as they made their way through the side yard to the front of the house.

  “Where’s your car?” Becca shouted over the loud music.

  “Right over here.”

  By the time they drove off, Becca was sobbing uncontrollably.

  Hayley didn’t tell Becca the truth until they were close to home. “Hudson is fine. He didn’t fall in the pool. He stayed in the house like you told him.”

  It took a moment for that news to register. Becca stopped crying. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “You have obligations—a little boy to take care of, a new job. You have to work tomorrow.”

  “You don’t own me.”

  Hayley kept her eyes on the road. “Um, afraid so. I paid off your debt, remember? I own you.”

  As Hayley made a right, Becca opened the door and rolled out onto the street. Hayley slammed on the brakes, put the car in park, and jumped out. Becca was on her feet, muttering curses as she marched down the middle of the street toward the party.

  Hayley caught up to her and grabbed her arm. “Get in the car right now or I’m calling social services.”

  Becca stabbed a finger at her face. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “Try me.” Hayley turned and walked back to her car. “Go back to your party and have fun.” She got behind the wheel and leaned out the window. “When you get home, Hudson won’t be there. I just hope they find him a nice family because he deserves to have parents who care more about him than getting a buzz.”

  Becca came back to the car and climbed in. She sat low in the seat, pissed as all hell. “What are you going to do? Watch my every move?”

  “If that’s what it takes.”

  “For how long?”

  “Until hell freezes over.”

  “You’re insane.”

  “So I’ve been told.”

  Becca crossed her arms tightly against her chest. “What do you expect me to do?”

  “You’re coming home right now and you’re going to take care of your kid. I’ll move in with you if I have to.”

  “No fucking way.” She pointed a finger at Hayley. “Stay out of my house.”

  “I’m not messing around, Becca. You’re better than this. You and Hudson can have a decent life. It’s up to you.”

  CHAPTER 28

  Madeline’s house sat on a tree-lined street close to Midtown, a popular cultural scene in Sacramento, where bars, clubs, boutiques, and casual dining thrived.

  Thirty minutes ago, Lizzy had received a call from a frenzied Madeline Blair pleading with her to come to her house. Lizzy could hardly understand what the woman was saying. She’d managed to piece together enough to figure out that someone had broken into Madeline’s home, tied her up, and made it clear he would be back. The police were on their way.

  Police vehicles lined the street, forcing Lizzy to park a half a block away. When she arrived at the front door, she showed her credentials to the uniformed policeman. He refused to allow her inside until a crime-scene technician recognized her and told him to let her in. That same technician informed Lizzy that Detective Chase and Dr. Blair were expecting her and she could find them in the upstairs bedroom.

  As Lizzy made her way upstairs, she saw two technicians in the living room below dusting for prints. Although she’d never been to Madeline’s house before now, nothing looked disturbed. No furniture appeared to be knocked over or out of place. The stairs were wooden and cleaned to a shine. No scuff marks or any signs of any recent turmoil.

  Although the bedroom door was open, she knocked to let them know she’d arrived and introduced herself to Detective Chase. He was at least six foot five and built like a tight end—neck like a tree trunk, shoulders so broad he probably had to turn sideways to enter most rooms. He had an intense look about him, as if he could see right through her, the kind of eyes that might make most people shy away.

  Sitting on the edge of an upholstered chaise lounge, Madeline thanked Lizzy for coming. She wore a thick white robe, her hair was a tangled mess, and her eyes were red rimmed and bloodshot.

  “There was no sign of a break-in,” the detective told Lizzy.

  Lizzy looked at Madeline. “I’ll call a locksmith and have new locks put on every door in the house. The garage, too.”

  Madeline nodded.

  The photographer apologized for interrupting, but he needed to take pictures of Madeline’s wrists.

  She obliged, holding her arms straight out. Both wrists were red and raw. Lizzy inwardly cringed. She knew what it felt like to be tied with thick rope with no way to get loose. “Where are the ropes?”

  The detective shrugged. “Nobody knows.”

  “He must have taken everything with him when he left,” Madeline added, “including my pajamas.”

  “He tied your wrists to the bedposts?” Detective Chase asked as he moved around the room, checking things out, careful not to touch anything.

  “I already told you, I don’t know.” Madeline looked around. “Maybe he tied the rope to the doorknob or to something inside my closet. Yes,” she said, nodding as she pointed toward the closet. “He could’ve tied the other end to the wooden rod in the closet.”

  The bedposts were much more likely. Lizzy’s heart went out to her. Clearly the woman was in shock.

  “How did you get away?”

  “I told you I felt a pinch, a sting. He gave me something that caused me to pass out.” She closed her eyes. “Before he did, he used scissors to cut off my clothes. He wouldn’t stop kissing me and sniffing.” She shivered. “When I woke up, he was gone.”

  “So it’s your belief that he untied your hands and your feet, washed all evidence from your body and then took everything with him when he left—syringes, ropes, and the pajamas you were wearing.”

  “Yes.”

  “But you don’t recall how he came to be in your room?”

  She shook her head, then rolled her sleeves back into place after the photographer finished taking pictures.

  “Don’t you think it’s strange he went to all the trouble to unbind you and wash you before he left?”

  “Well, yes,” she said, beginning to bristle. “I think the whole damn thing is a little strange, don’t you?”

  Lizzy wasn’t a lawyer, so she remained silent, taking notes of her own and wishing there was some way she could make this easier on Madeline. Her wrists had obviously been bound. If the man had drugged her, she could have been raped. But Detective Chase didn’t seem to be buying any of it.

  A uniformed police officer stuck his head into the room. “Detective. There’s something we need to show you downstairs.”

  Lizzy followed Madeline and the detective out of the bedroom and down the stairs. A crime-scene investigator had found something inside a decorative box on her coffee table. With blue latex-covered fingers, he held up a leather wallet.

/>   “What is that?” Madeline asked.

  The investigator looked at the detective, who nodded, letting the investigator know he could tell her what he’d found.

  “It’s a wallet, ma’am. According to the ID inside, it belongs to Chris Porter.”

  Madeline paled. Afraid she might faint, Lizzy helped her to the closest chair. Madeline’s hands felt clammy. Lizzy went to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. When she returned, Detective Chase had Madeline on her feet. “I’m going to need Dr. Blair to come to the station.”

  “That wallet was clearly planted,” Lizzy said. “She never would have called the police if she’d known Chris Porter’s wallet was anywhere inside this house.”

  “I need to take her in all the same.”

  After he read Madeline her rights, Lizzy asked Madeline if she had a lawyer.

  “Do you know of someone?”

  “Of course. I’ll give her a call and we’ll meet you at the station. Until then, don’t say another word.” Lizzy turned to face the detective. “Before anything else happens, I must insist she be taken to the hospital for a full examination. If she was drugged, she could have been raped.”

  He stroked his jaw as if he might deny the request.

  “I mean it,” Lizzy told him. “If she isn’t seen by someone before the hour is up, it’ll be your ass on the line, no one else’s.”

  CHAPTER 29

  When Jared walked outside to get the mail, their neighbor Heather spotted him and ran across the street to greet him. “Hey there, neighbor. How are the wedding plans going?”

  “Not very well. Lizzy has been busy. Without the bride-to-be around to make the decisions, this wedding just might end up being a disaster.”

  “What’s the date?”

  “December 20. I have about a month and a half to put this thing together.”

  “Did you order the cake?”

  He shook his head. “I met with the cake lady you told me about, but there were too many flavors to choose from. After an hour of tasting just about everything they had in the bakery, I was high on sugar and I couldn’t make a decision.”

  She laughed. “Go with chocolate devil’s food cake and vanilla buttercream. You can’t go wrong.”

  He looked doubtful. “It can’t possibly be that easy. I should have taken you with me.”

  “I used to work for an event planner when I was in college. I’ve planned a lot of weddings in my day. If you need any help at all, I’m your gal.”

  He used his key to open the mailbox. “I might just take you up on that offer. I have a long list and nothing is getting done.”

  “I won’t be starting my new job until the end of the month. I’m free as a bird. If you’re not busy today,” she told him, “we can order the cake.”

  “I would be forever indebted.”

  “What else do you have on the list?”

  “I need to pick out some food. I’ve been told people like to eat at weddings.”

  She laughed. “Easy smeasy. What else?”

  “Why don’t I run home and grab the list?”

  “Perfect. Meet me at my house in fifteen minutes and we’ll get started.”

  His cell phone was ringing when Jared walked into the house. It was Lizzy. He answered his phone and said, “Hello, beautiful.”

  “Sorry I had to run off so early this morning. My newest client, Dr. Blair, was attacked last night. The detective in charge seems to believe she made the whole thing up.”

  “No evidence?”

  “Not so far. I take that back. Remember what I told you about Dr. Blair’s two missing friends?”

  “Did they find them?”

  “No, but they found one of the men’s wallets in Dr. Blair’s house.”

  Jared whistled. “Sounds like she needs a lawyer.”

  “Yes, indeed. I called Dana Kerns. She’s meeting me at the station.”

  “If it makes you feel any better, I’m going to run out and get some things done so we can cross a few items off our wedding list, starting with ordering the cake.”

  “I thought you said after your last attempt you’d never taste another piece of cake in your life.”

  “I ran into Heather Long Legs at the mailbox. She said she would help me out. She used to be an event planner.”

  Silence.

  “Is that a problem?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Good, because I need to overcome my fear of wedding cake before the big day.”

  Lizzy laughed. “You are a very brave man and I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  “I should be back in time to have dinner and watch a movie.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  “Without Heather?”

  “Without Heather,” he said. “Do I detect a hint of jealousy from my wife-to-be?”

  “Maybe just a little.”

  “You’re the only woman for me, you know that.”

  “Jared?”

  “What is it?”

  “You sure you’re not having second thoughts about being stuck with me for the rest of your life?”

  “You wear ugly T-shirts to bed, cry at the end of every movie, and snore in your sleep, but I love you, and I absolutely want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  “I do not snore in my sleep.”

  “Why do you think I have half circles under my eyes every morning?”

  She laughed again. “Ridiculous.”

  “OK,” he said, feeling guilty. “Go ahead and list my flaws. I can take it.”

  “You’re perfect just the way you are.”

  “Not fair,” Jared said. He could see Heather coming up the walkway. “Go do what you have to do, but don’t make me eat dinner alone. I have to go to Virginia in a few weeks and I miss you already.”

  CHAPTER 30

  Thirty minutes before Dr. Blair was brought to the hospital to be examined, Seth arrived at the hospital for work. His wife was a certified sexual assault nurse examiner. The idea of Janelle being the one to examine Dr. Blair made the blood pump faster through his veins.

  He’d known Madeline would call the police, which was why he’d planted the wallet for them to find. He’d selectively placed a few other surprises, too, and he wondered what the investigators found, if anything. Everything was going according to plan. In fact, planting the book in her house last week had been way too easy. Janelle was a big reader. She had a habit of telling him every detail of every book she ever read. When the idea had first come to him to set up Madeline and make her look guilty, he’d remembered Janelle talking about a novel titled Obsessed. Hell, she’d even stood in line for hours at the mall just to get the author to sign it. Obsessed was a thriller, a story about a female killer, a psychologist, too. It had all been too perfect. His campaign to set Madeline up as the villain was working out well.

  The one place examiners and detectives would find absolutely no evidence whatsoever was on Dr. Blair’s body. Before he’d untied Madeline, he’d given her enough etorphine to put her out for at least an hour. During that time, he’d searched her house, looking for keepsakes.

  He stopped for a moment and took a breath. If he inhaled deeply enough, he could still smell her. Divine.

  After using soap and water to thoroughly clean every inch of her creamy flesh, an enjoyable experience in itself, he’d taken a few pictures as keepsakes. He’d made sure her fingerprints were all over Chris Porter’s wallet before he gathered his rope and his tape and exited her house.

  He stood just outside the examination room. The door was closed, but he could hear Janelle’s voice as she explained to Madeline the process, as well as her rights and choices. Madeline was asked to describe the events of the assault, which she did in detail.

  He didn’t have to be inside the examination roo
m to know what would happen next. Janelle would perform a general health check—blood pressure, heart rate, eyes, ears, nose—and then collect evidence from head to toe, using a bright light to look for semen or saliva before taking samples of her hair and swabbing the inside of her mouth.

  And then his wife would examine Dr. Blair’s genitalia.

  The thought took his breath away. How long would Janelle linger there? Maybe he would put an end to Janelle’s sufferings and take her to bed tonight. She’d been slaving over him, covering his shifts, making his meals, washing his clothes. She deserved to be fucked.

  As Seth filled out forms at the desk where he sat, another nurse’s pager went off. He watched the nurse open a drawer and then take Janelle a camera that he knew would be used to photograph bruises and lacerations. He felt no trepidation, no worries at all. Other than the bruising and scratches on Madeline’s wrists, there were no other signs that he’d been inside her room last night.

  “I think that woman is a criminal,” a nurse named Margery said in a low voice.

  “What makes you say that?” he asked.

  “Down the hallway. Look. There’s a uniformed officer just sitting there. He’s carrying a gun and everything. I asked Tim about it and he said the officer escorted the woman into the hospital and all the way up the elevator to that spot right there where he’s been sitting this entire time.”

  He said nothing as excitement rushed through his veins. The police must have found the wallet. Everything was going as planned. Hopefully they wouldn’t keep her behind bars for too long. He was already eager to pay her another visit.

  “Do you think she murdered someone?”

  “I have no idea, Margery. Why don’t you go ask the man?”

  “Oh, gosh, no. Don’t be silly. What if he pulled out his gun and shot me?”

  “We have security guards all over the place, Margery. I’m pretty sure they all carry guns and no one has shot you yet.”

  She laughed. “You’re right. I am being silly.” She cocked her head as she looked at him. “It’s good to see you feeling better. We’ve all been worrying about you.”

  “Really?”