Chapter Forty-Two #2
A smacking sound jolted me from the edge of sleep. I blinked against the light. The man was slapping Lizzie.
“Use your fists, but not too hard,” she directed him. “It has to look like I was in a fight with a woman.”
I squinted, sharpening my gaze on the man. As I’d surmised by now, it was Bill Warren. I began to tremble as the reality of my situation settled over me. Lizzie was dangerous, a murderer. And she’d attacked me. I thought of my children. What would happen to them?
Something rustled beside me, pulled on me. A shadowy outline of Lizzie rifling through my crossbody, which was still on me.
Don’t touch me. I itched to swat her hands away, but my arms were too heavy to move. My heart raced. I had to stop her. I couldn’t allow Lizzie to get away with what she’d done to Ali. I couldn’t let her destroy my family even more than she already had.
“Ha!” Lizzie pulled out my phone. “She was trying to record our conversation. She’s a real Nancy Drew. There.” She tapped the phone a few times. “That should take care of that. Now we have to decide what to do with her.”
Who was pounding on the door? My headache was excruciating. I moaned. The door banged open, sending a fresh wave of pain blasting through my head.
“Where’s my mother?” a female voice demanded. “I know she’s here.”
Horror bolted through me. I would recognize that voice anywhere.
“Hello, Ayla,” Lizzie greeted my daughter.
I struggled to open my eyes. The urge to protect my child racked my body. Run! I silently pleaded. Run. Ayla, run.
“I have no idea where Amira is.” Lizzie’s voice. “Did she tell you she was coming here?”
“No, but I tracked her phone. I know she’s here.”
No, Ayla. Save yourself. Don’t come in. Get as far away as you can! Desperation clawed at me. I tried to drag myself into a sitting position. I had to help Ayla. My daughter needed me.
“You got me,” Lizzie’s voice said as I drifted away. “Your mom is here.”
No! I tried to yell. But it came out as a whimper.
Run, Ayla, run! Lizzie murdered your dad! But my warnings were silent screams blasting into a void of nothingness. I needed to get up, to help her. Then I remembered.
My crossbody was still slung across my shoulder. I forced my hands to move. It was a herculean effort; each arm felt like a fifty-pound weight. Luckily, Lizzie had left my bag unzipped. I fumbled around inside until my fingers wrapped around what I was looking for.
Darkness was gaining on me again, but I battled against the fatigue. If I went to sleep, who would save my little girl?
“I want to see my mom right now,” Ayla said.
“Calm down. Like I said, your mom is inside,” Lizzie said. “Wait here while I see if she wants to talk to you.”
“Nice try.” Ayla’s skeptical voice. “Why wouldn’t she want to see me?”
“She knows that you were involved in your dad’s death. She’s pretty upset about it. Now wait while I check.”
Witch! How dare she say that to Ayla?
And was she getting something to hurt my daughter with? I struggled against the lethargy, which was like quicksand slowly pulling me under.
“Lizzie!” I croaked. I cleared my throat. Louder, I bullied myself. For Ayla. “Lizzie!”
Lizzie stood over me. “What?” she hissed. “Now your brat is here. See what you’ve done.”
“I have proof of what you did in my purse . . .”
“Thanks for the tip, but I already took care of your phone.”
“Second phone,” I gasped. “Also recording.”
“You’re lying. I didn’t see a second phone.” Still, she leaned closer to reach for my bag.
My heart rate spiked. It was now or never. Gathering every bit of strength I could summon, I dragged the small canister out of my purse and blasted Lizzie in the face with pepper spray.
As I drifted off, her screams filled my ears.
“Amira! Amira! Wake up.” A man’s voice wafted over me. Ali? Relief rushed through me. Ali was here to help me save our baby girl!
“An ambulance is on the way,” the man said. “You’re going to be OK.”
I fought to open my eyes. “Ayla,” I croaked, trying to sit up. Bill Warren might hurt her. “Have to help her.”
“Easy.” The man’s firm but gentle hand on my shoulder kept me in place. “Ayla is fine. She’s safe. But you need to lie still until the paramedics get here.”
“I’m here, Mommy.” Ayla’s voice. When was the last time she’d called me “Mommy”? “I’m not hurt.” Relief whooshed through me. My girl was OK.
I dragged my eyes open. Ayla’s concerned face hovered over me. Nasser knelt beside her.
“How did you find me?” I whispered to keep my head pain from skyrocketing.
“I knew you were too worried about me to stay gone this long,” Ayla said. “Once I figured something was wrong, I tracked your phone.”
“I turned off location services.” My voice was barely audible.
“Adam and I can tell when you turn them off, you know. We just turned them back on the next time we were home.”
“So sneaky,” I breathed.
“We were worried about you,” Ayla said. “Why do you think we’ve been home so much since Dad died?”
My heart contracted painfully. Despite everything that Ayla had been going through, she’d still been concerned about me? “And I thought you came home because you needed to be with your mommy,” I said hazily. “How did Nasser get here?”
“I called him on my drive over.”
“That’s not your job, to worry about me,” I whispered. Loud sounds hurt too much. Especially ones coming from inside my head.
“Oh, Mommy.” Tears filled her big dark eyes, droplets catching in her lush eyelashes. She had Ali’s lashes. “I’m so glad you’re OK.”
Another blurry face appeared behind Nasser and Ayla. The features sharpened into focus. “Detective Fox?”
“I’m sorry I missed your call. I came as soon as I got your message.” She wore her usual humorless expression. “How are you feeling?”
“Like someone hit me over the head with a weight.”
She cracked a smile. “We’re interviewing Bill Warren and Lizzie Martins. They both say you’re the one who attacked Lizzie first with pepper spray.”
My throat was so dry. “I recorded our conversation,” I rasped.
Behind her, Detective Lloyd appeared with my phone and looked through it. “I checked the voice notes. You didn’t record anything today.”
“Not that phone. Check my jacket pocket.”
Ayla went through my pockets and pulled out the device. “Why do you have Dad’s phone?”
“I always double record my interviews,” I explained as Ayla handed the phone to Detective Lloyd. “In case one of them messes up.”
“Poor Dad,” Adam said. “What assholes those people were to let Dad think he’d killed someone.” He’d driven down from school after Ayla called to tell him what happened.
“Definitely a very troubled family.” I was lying on a gurney in the emergency room, where I’d been taken from Lizzie’s hotel room. So far I’d had a CT scan and other tests. We were waiting for the ER doc to come in to talk with me.
“And they arrested this Lizzie person and her brother?” he asked.
“Yes,” Ayla said. “I was afraid the brother was going to come after me after Mom pepper sprayed his sister, but Uncle Nasser showed up. And the police came right after.”
“Thank goodness.” I rubbed my aching head. “Hopefully they’ll lock both of them up and throw away the key.”
Adam looked relieved. “I knew Dad wasn’t some loser who’d buy a house for his girlfriend. Seriously, Dad wasn’t cool enough to have a side piece. He was kind of a nerd.”
“Thank goodness for that,” I murmured.
“Adam, don’t be an idiot.” Ayla rolled her eyes. “Cheating on your wife isn’t cool.”
He dismissed her. “You know what I mean.”
“Whatever. Here.” She handed me some water. “Maybe you should drink some more.”
“Thank you, rohee.” My soul. These beautiful children were my heart and soul, and I was beyond grateful that the three of us were safe and together. I took the water even though I feared it would make me more nauseated. “How are you doing?”
She shrugged. “I feel sad about what Dad went through. I feel bad that I was such a bitch to him that last time I saw him.”
“You know your dad. He would understand. He’d never blame you. You came to a natural conclusion when you saw him secretly meeting a strange woman late at night at a hotel. You have to give yourself some grace.”
“At least I don’t feel like I killed him.”
“Whoa! What?” Adam’s gaze ricocheted between the two of us. “What are you talking about?”
“You’ve missed some things.” I closed my eyes to quiet my throbbing head. “Ayla will have to fill you in.”