Give Murder A Hand: Lizzie. Book 2 (The Westport Mysteries) (16 page)

“Oh, Lizzie!” she cried. I quickly pulled my hand away from Ed’s
before she noticed, but I wasn’t quick enough. I saw the look pass through her
eyes as she moved to stand in front of me. “I’m so sorry. I just didn’t see the
red light.” The tears welled up in her eyes and I may be a bitch, but I’m sure
they were fake and put on for a show. “Are you hurt?”

“You know each other?” asked Ed, standing.

“Yes. I’m Lizzie’s therapist,” she said loudly, holding out her
hand to Ed. Ed’s jaw flexed as he took her hand and shook it.

“And you’re the driver of the car that hit Lizzie?”

“Yes. I am,” she added quietly.

“Well, I’ll need to get an official statement from you shortly, but
I’ll leave you two alone for a few minutes whilst I speak to my partner and
look over the vehicles. Will you be okay, Lizzie?” he asked kindly.

I nodded and watched as he moved into the road, stopping in front
of my car. A lump formed in my throat as the tears fell again.

“He’s cute,” said Allison, following my gaze, as red and blue
lights from the emergency vehicles flashed across her face.

“I need to call Riley,” I said quietly, wiping my tears with the
back of my hand.

“Oh, no need. I’ve already called him. He’s on his way.”

By the time that Riley reached us, Paramedic Jim had thankfully
covered my semi-naked torso with a blanket, and was strapping me to a gurney.
He was pushing me into the ambulance as Riley rushed towards me, torture in his
beautiful eyes. As I reached out to him and held on tight, I felt his heart
beating fast against his ribs. Pulling me close, he kissed the top of my head and
his heart rate decreased.

“Look at my poor little Mini,” I cried, glancing at it as it was
pulled on to the back of a tow truck.

“We can always get you another one,” he said, his deep voice
betraying his emotion.

“Surely they can fix it?”

We both looked up at her. Her bonnet was smashed, the side doors
were smashed, the headlights were gone, the windows were broken, and I’m no
expert on cars, but I didn’t think wheels were supposed to be on the angle that
they were at present.

“Maybe,” said Riley, grimacing.

“Sorry, love,” said Paramedic Jim, walking towards me, “but we need
to get you to the hospital.”

Fear danced in Riley’s eyes.

“We just want a doctor to check the knock you’ve got on your head. That’s
quite an egg you’ve got growing there.”

I reached up and felt my forehead and indeed, Jim was right. It
felt like someone had put a tennis ball under my skin. In fact, now that the
adrenalin had stopped pumping, I actually felt like I’d gone ten rounds in a
boxing ring.

“Alright,” said Riley, kissing me gently. “I’ll follow you there.”

“Where’s Danny?” I asked, looking at Jim.

“He’s in another ambulance. We’ll meet him at the hospital.”

“Is he okay?” Uneasiness snaked through my stomach.

“He’s fine. We just want to get an x-ray of his arm,” explained
Jim. I settled back against the gurney, relieved. I sat back up as Allison’s
voice rang through the air.

“Riley!” she called, touching his arm as she moved close to him.

I saw the confusion cross his face.

“Allison was driving the vehicle that hit me,” I explained, wishing
she would remove her hand from his arm.

“I’m so sorry, Riley,” she said, tears welling, as her eyes got
wide. “I just didn’t see the red light.” As she spoke, I noticed she started to
shake and the tears spilled over her lashes and down her cheeks. As she looked
at Riley, her crying turned up a notch. She leaned forward and fell into his
arms.

Jim chose that moment to push my gurney into the back of the
ambulance. The last thing I saw was Allison burying her head into Riley’s
chest, as he put his arm around her shoulders and held her tight.

Chapter
Fourteen

A few days had passed since my run in with
Allison but my body still felt sore from the impact. I will sadly report that
little Mini could not be fixed, but the girl at the insurance company assured
me that the money would be in my account in the next few days. Then I could go
shopping for a new car. Somehow, I just didn’t share her enthusiasm.

What’s that saying? TGIF? That’s all I could chant as I closed my
computer on the accounting file I was working on, and headed down the stairs.
I’d actually lost track of time, and I was now running a bit late for Friday
night get together. Shit.

Work had slowed on my renovation due to Riley spending quite a bit
of time at Allison’s, apparently making her house habitable and safe from any
intruders.

I was actually quite proud of the way I’d been behaving about it.
I’d been very mature (If I say so myself) and only swore and punched the
furniture when Riley wasn’t around. It hadn’t stopped us arguing a few times
about it though.

Sure, I understood he needed the money and apparently she was
paying him a very good rate. I just wished she was an ugly hag and that Riley
hated her.

I tried
to distract myself from that thought as I packed Cat into his box. I opened the
front door, about to step out when I remembered I should check the lock on the
back door. I put Cat down, and moved to the kitchen, flicking the light switch
on as I went. I was about to make a quick dash across the room when I froze.

The blood
was back. And this time it was double the amount we usually saw.

I felt
the scream strangle in my throat as the wind blew the back door open, slamming
the front one shut.

Time
stood still as it whistled through the old house, and the hairs on my neck
stood to attention, my breath stuck in my lungs. Cat howled from his box.

I spun
around, grabbed the keys to my loan car and Cat, and got the hell out of there
as fast as I could, dialing Ed as I ran.

* * *

The sight of the blood had freaked me out enough that my hear rate
skipped outside the normal range, but Ed’s words played on my mind. Was the
blood real? I practiced some deep breathing and calmed myself with the
knowledge that Ed was going to find out.

I pulled
into Riley’s drive and maneuvered past all the cars, realizing everyone had
beaten me here.

“Hello,”
I called as I walked in, throwing my bag on a nearby chair. “Sorry, I’m late.”
I put Cat on the floor and opened his box. He immediately high-tailed it to the
stairs and straight for Riley’s bed. “You’ll never guess what happened as I was
leaving though?”

“What
happened?” asked Riley, greeting me with a quick kiss. He moved past me to the
refrigerator, opening it and retrieving two beers. I watched him as he moved
back and handed one to Matt. Riley finally had another beer drinker to share a
beer with. Molly moved to me and handed me a glass of wine.

I took
the wine and drained the glass in one go, in the hope that the alcohol would
settle my anxiety. Everyone was looking at me, waiting for an explanation.

By the
time I had recalled the scene in the kitchen, everyone was draining
their
glass and demanding a refill.

“I
called Ed about it. He’s on his way over there now.”

“You
didn’t wait for him?” asked Danny.

“No. He
didn’t want me there alone, so he told me to leave. He’s going to do his thing
and lock the door behind him.” I shrugged. In the car listening as Ed told me get
away from the house I’d felt more freaked out than ever before. But sitting
here with Riley and my family, I felt safe. Riley’s house played a part in that
feeling. Now I’m not an overly religious person. I do believe in God, but I’m
more of a casual participant. However, I did wonder how I would feel living in
an old church. Sure, I knew it was previously a house of God and surely he
didn’t stop protecting it once he’d upgraded to something bigger, but I did
think of how many funerals would have been held here in the day. Funny though,
all I felt when I was here was safe and secure.

“You
should have a security system fitted,” said Danny, rubbing the goosebumps off
his arms.

“CCTV camera’s
would be better,” said Matt. “You’ll see exactly how it’s getting there.”

Riley
nodded. “Yeah. That’s a good idea. A friend of mine fits those. I’ll give him a
call.”

“Don’t
stay in that house alone Lizzie,” said Molly, looking at me, her eyes huge with
fear.

“There’s
no need to worry about that,” I said.

“There
has to be a logical explanation,” said Andrew.

Riley
nodded. “Yeah, beats me what it is though.”

“I don’t
care what it is. It creeps the hell out of me. The sooner I sell that house the
better.”

* * *

Thankfully the conversation lightened with the more alcohol
everyone consumed, and once we’d all eaten it felt like everything was back to
normal. We were just cleaning up when Ed rang.

“How are
you feeling?” he asked, his voice soft in my ear.

“Freaked
out,” I answered honestly.

“I can
see why. I’m just locking up now.”

“Really?
It took that long?” I asked, checking my watch. It had been nearly two hours
since I’d called him.

“No, not
really. We took all the swabs we needed and I’m going to hurry the lab up with
the results. Hopefully I’ll have the results of the first swabs by tomorrow
morning.” Ed’s voice sounded weary. “Most of the time was spent cleaning.” I
felt my breath catch.

“You
cleaned?”

“Yeah. I
didn’t want you to have to clean it tomorrow.” I didn’t know how to respond. I
was sure cleaning did not come into his official police duties.

“Oh
thank you,” I said lamely. “Umm ... what time does your shift finish tonight?”
I asked, my mind spinning.

“It
finished five hours ago.”

“What? That’s
a lot of overtime.”

Ed
chuckled. “I wish it was. No, I was at home when you rang.”

I felt
horrified and guilty at his words. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t think,” I said. “I
saw the blood and panicked. I didn’t even think that you wouldn’t be at work.”

“It’s
okay. I want to help you.” For a moment Ed’s voice felt intimate. “Lizzie,
there’s something I want to tell you, but I can’t ...” My heart missed a beat
as a different kind of panic took hold. I was standing in the kitchen, looking
at Riley as he smiled at me over his beer bottle. With Ed’s voice in my ear, I
felt like I was betraying him.

“Ed I
really should go.”

“Oh ...
umm ... okay.” He seemed taken aback with my abruptness.

“Thank
you so much for your help tonight. I mean it Ed. I appreciate everything you’ve
done.” I wanted him to understand that I really was grateful but at the same
time I didn’t want to give him the wrong idea about my feelings for him. I
heard his sigh.

“All
part of the service Lizzie.”

After he
hung up, I moved to the wine bottle and poured myself another glass.

* * *

Tonight we were playing Rummikub. It was a game Andrew introduced
us to, and it involved two to four players. Tonight there were actually six of
us, so we decided to play in teams. Andrew and Danny, Molly and Matt, and Riley
and I. I wasn’t the best at the game, but thankfully Riley was. We played best
of five. When we played single player, I always wanted to play best of
twenty-seven. That way I may actually have a chance to win one! By our fifth
game, we were in the lead. We were up two games thanks to Riley, Molly and Matt
had one, and Danny and Andrew had one. If we won this game, we would win the
match. If anybody else won, it would go to a tiebreaker.

Molly
laid her tiles and called that she only had one tile left. I looked at our hand
and excitement surged. I had it! I knew what I had to do to win.

I pushed
my chair back and stood, leaning across the table to rearrange tiles into a
winning combination.

“Oh here
we go!” yelled Danny. “She’s standing! Lizzie’s about to win.” Everyone laughed
good-naturedly.

“You
don’t know that,” I commented, trying to hide my smile.

“Everyone
knows that,” said Riley, rubbing my backside affectionately.

I looked
around our group. All eyes were on me and they were all smiling.

“You
stand up when you’re about to win,” said Molly, laughing.

“Lizzie
has no poker face,” said Danny.

Humph. “Yes
I do! You don’t know what tiles I’ve got.”

“Go on
then. Finish your go,” challenged Danny.

I looked
at the tiles in my hand. He was right of course, I was about to win, but now I
had a dilemma. Did I want to win and let him know he was right, or should I sit
back down and pretend he was wrong? I sighed and put the tiles on the table,
declaring we had won. Everyone laughed as I sat back down.

“Told
you so. Never play poker for real money.” Danny thought he was hilarious.

“Don’t
worry about it,” said Riley, kissing me above my ear. “It’s one of the things I
love about you.”

I gave a
contented sigh and leaned into him, happiness filling me with a warm glow. Then
again, that could have been the wine.

“Do you
want another beer, Matt?” he asked, standing and walking towards the fridge. Matt
nodded.

I
watched as Riley moved, thinking how sexy he looked tonight in his new jeans,
his black t-shirt molding his body to perfection. As he reached into the fridge
ready to retrieve two beers, his phone rang. He stopped what he was doing and
pulled it from his pocket.

As he looked
at the screen, he opened the back door and stepped outside. I heard him say,
“Hi, Allison.”

I looked
to Molly. The atmosphere in the room changed as everyone looked to me.

“You’re
handling this a lot better than I thought you would,” she said.

“What
choice do I have?” I shrugged, clearing the plastic tiles off the table.

“Have
you told him it bothers you?”

“Yes, but
that always ends in an argument. I’ve only shut up about it because I don’t
want to drive him into her arms.”

“Maybe
that’s her plan,” said Molly.

“Ed says
there’s a possibility that the blood’s fake. He said it could just be someone
trying to scare me. I thought of her.”

“Personally
I think she’s trying to
kill
you,”
said Danny.

I looked
at him expecting to see a glint in his eye. Instead I saw he was perfectly
serious. Riley chose that moment to walk back into our conversation. He looked
stunned at Danny’s words.

“Lizzie,
Allison is not trying to kill you!” said Riley, picking up his beer bottle.

I didn’t
respond. Instead I looked at Danny, the events of the last few weeks racing
through my mind. Everyone went quiet.

“Danny
may have a point,” I finally said, breaking the silence.

Riley
scoffed. “Are you serious?” he asked, staring at me. “Christ! You are aren’t
you?”

“Think
about it,” I said quietly.

“You
know, if you gave her a chance, you might realize she’s quite a nice person,”
said Riley, pulling the label off the bottle in his hand. “All she does is ask
about you.”

Humph.

“You
actually have a lot in common,” he continued. “She loves that stupid TV show
you like, she wears the same perfume you do, and she’s always asking about your
house.”

“She
wears the same perfume?” asked Molly. “It’s time to change perfume, Lizzie,” she
whispered, as Riley turned his back.

“Which
perfume?” I asked, making a note to throw it out.

“The one
I bought you for Christmas. What was it? Umm, A Dior one.”

“What
does she ask about the house for?”

“She
really likes the choices you made and was hoping to do something similar to her
place. She especially likes the wallpaper.”

“How
does she know what wallpaper I used?” I asked incredulously.

“She saw
it last week when she dropped by.”

“What? Where
was I?”

“You
were at your mum’s.”

“Why did
she drop around?” My skin crawled with suspicion.

“To make
sure that you were okay after the whole allergy thing.”

“Sure.”

Riley
sighed.

“I just
think she’s trying to get me out of your life.”

“It is
funny how she always seems to be around whenever your life is in danger,” added
Danny quietly.

“I
know!”

Riley
scoffed. “Really, Lizzie. You’re being a bit dramatic, don’t you think?”