Give Murder A Hand: Lizzie. Book 2 (The Westport Mysteries) (21 page)

I will admit that even though fancy dining wasn’t really my thing,
I did enjoy myself and I only embarrassed myself once. That was when I bumped
the waiter’s elbow causing him to spill the wine all over the floor, but he
told me it was really no problem and busied himself cleaning it up ... oops.

I’d ordered a coffee with my dessert—tiramisu and it tasted as good
as it looked—and was sitting back in my chair, people-watching. Riley had
excused himself to use the little boys’ room, so I used the time to have a good
look around. It didn’t take long and the conversation between Chloe and Brody
drifted my way.

“Oh my God, Brody! I was so embarrassed at work yesterday,” I heard
Chloe say.

I felt her pain. Maybe she could add to my book on 101 ways to
embarrass myself.

“I had to make a delivery to Mr. Jefferies but he can’t get to the
door because he only has one leg, so I leave it with his pain-in-the-ass
neighbor.”

I understood pain-in-the-ass neighbors too.

“Anyway, yesterday I delivered Mr. Jefferies his new leg.”

“How did you know what it was?” asked Brody.

“Because it looked like a leg wrapped in brown paper. Anyway, when
I opened the back of the van to give it to the painful neighbor, I found Theo
sitting on top of it, paper ripped open and gnawing on the toes. Seriously, I
nearly fainted!”

I laughed as I visualized this. Theo was Chloe’s little Chihuahua. I’d
met him a couple of times as he often rode in the van with Chloe as she worked.
He was a cute little thing and would seriously fit in my handbag.

Brody laughed. “He probably thought it was the biggest bone he’d
ever had.”

“Yeah, not very tasty though,” added Chloe.

“You deliver some really weird things,” said Brody.

“Yeah, I’ve delivered ashes, legs and hands among other things. The
worst was probably the meat I delivered to the local supermarket. Of course it
was packed in gel packs to keep it cold, but I don’t think I’ll ever buy meat
from there again.”

Me either after hearing that story.

“Did you just say you delivered a hand?”

“Yeah, an old guy who lives over the back of the retirement village
lost his so they posted him another one. Actually you know the guy. You’ve done
some work for him.”

“Really? Who?”

“Leo. Leo Burnett. You know, he looks like
Droopy Dog
.”

“Isn’t his name George?”

“That’s what he goes by, but he has to show ID to take the
possession of the parcel and I promise you his name is Leo. Leo George
Burnett.”
LGB
! The hair on my arms stood
up.

“So is that why he always wears those cotton gloves?” asked Brody.

“Yeah, he tells people he as a skin condition and maybe he does,
but personally I think he doesn’t like people to see the fake hand. God knows
why. Loads of people have fake limbs these days.”

Brody said something in response, but I didn’t hear it over the
blood pounding in my ears. LGB. Leo George Burnett. George Burnett. Could this
be the same man Grandma was dating? I mean that would be a pretty big
coincidence, wouldn’t it? Or would it? Just then Riley returned to the table.

“Riley, I think we need to go home.”

“Why?” he asked, stunned.

“I think Grandma may be in trouble.”

Chapter
Nineteen

Riley convinced me that maybe I should ring
Molly instead. Running home when we didn’t even know if Grandma was with George
seemed just plain stupid. Fair enough, I guess.

Only Molly’s phone was either switched off or not in a service
area. At least that’s what the recording on the phone told me.
Damn
.

I tried to call Mum’s house to see if Grandma was home, but no one
answered. She also didn’t answer her own mobile phone.

“Why don’t you try that
Find
My Phone
app?” suggested Riley. “That’ll tell you where she is.”

I pulled my iPad from my bag and typed in the web address. After
putting in Grandma’s user name and password, it told me exactly where she was –

401/27 Pickett Street. George’s house.

Riley made good time getting us home. We’d left all our belongings
at the hotel, with the intention of going back there after we’d made sure
Grandma wasn’t with George. Thankfully Westport was only a half hour drive from
the city and at this time of night, the trip was even faster.

I was about to pick up my phone and give Ed a call when Riley’s
phone rang instead. I looked at the caller. It was his mum.

He pressed the answer button on his hands-free.

“Hey Mum. What’s up?”

I heard Anna’s tears before I heard her voice. My stomach flipped
again.

“Oh Riley, I’m sorry to bother you. I know you’ve gone away, but
it’s your dad.”

“What’s wrong with him?” asked Riley, panic tainting his voice.

“He’s having chest pains so we called the ambulance. They think it
may be his heart.”

Could this night possibly get any worse?

* * *

We decided I would drop Riley off at the
hospital, and call Ed to ask him to meet me at George’s house. We didn’t know
if Grandma was in danger, but I didn’t want her there even if she wasn’t. As
soon as she was safe, I’d race back to be with Riley, and Ed could do the whole
arresting thing with George, if indeed George and LGB were the same person.

The Westport General Hospital was positioned on my side of town,
taking up the entire block with Main Road to the North, Nelson Road to the
South, Wood Street on the West, and Bell Road on the East. The ER was accessed
from Wood Street. Riley parked the car opposite the Ambulance entrance and
killed the engine.

I quickly kissed him and gave him a hug, wishing with all my heart
I could stay, just to be with him. I saw the worry in his eyes as I waved him
goodbye and he ran into ER.

I said a silent prayer that Mal would be okay, and got behind the
wheel of Riley’s truck. I dialed Ed’s number and listened as it went to his
message bank.
Shit.

I sat back and thought my next move through, and decided I would
drive to Pickett Street and do a bit of surveillance to see if Grandma was
okay. Putting the truck in gear, I turned it around and headed in the right
direction, redialing Ed as I went. After my fourth attempt, I gave up and left
a message for him to call me as soon as possible – it was urgent.

The night had turned out to be a wet one, the drizzle causing the
headlights of on-coming cars to have a halo effect. At that moment I felt cold,
lonely and sad. I thought of Riley sitting in ER with his family, and I thought
of Mal. If only I could see a star tonight. My wish would be that he was okay.

Reaching Pickett Street, I turned the truck into the Grange
Retirement Village and made my way to 401. I was surprised to see that it was a
six-storey unit block with a roof top garden.

I pulled the truck to a stop in a park that was partially covered
by an overhanging tree, and killed the engine. I got out and crept towards the
building, checking for unit numbers. It appeared George’s was the unit on the
ground floor.

I looked towards it, but couldn’t see if Grandma was there as the
front curtains were closed. I chewed my thumbnail as I checked my phone for
messages. Nothing. As the rain fell, I moved back to the truck.

I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t exactly go knocking on his
door and demand to know if Grandma was there, yet if she was in danger then
sitting here was just silly. But why would she be in danger? She didn’t know
who LGB was.

I sat there for about half an hour debating whether I should have a
walk around, when a car pulled into the driveway. I ducked down in my seat a
little bit as the female driver got out and beeped the doors locked. As she
passed under the light from the porch, I noticed the woman was Allison.

Not for the first time today I thought
What the f ... ?

What was she doing here?

She inserted a key in the front door of the building and let
herself in.

Okay, I had to find out what was going on. I opened the truck door
and got out, pocketing my phone as I did so. I moved silently using the bushes
to shield me, and ducked under the window. Even though it was a rainy night,
the window was open an inch. An inch I strained to listen at, hoping to hear
anything that might indicate Grandma was there.

I heard George’s laugh.

“Hi Grandpa,” I heard Allison say.

Grandpa?

“Hello, girly, you’re just in time.”

“Why have you got Mabel Phillips tied up?”

“Well we were on a date, and she started asking questions about my
hand and how I lost it. She’s a bit smarter than I gave her credit for—which is
a bit of a shock as I hadn’t given her any credit for being smart at all.”

I heard Grandma protest.

“Shut up,” said Allison, as I heard the slap. “I’ve wanted to do
that to your stupid granddaughter for weeks, but instead I had to contain
myself. If I’d known it felt that good, I would have bloody done it.”

“Allison, don’t get distracted. This isn’t about your love life. We
need to sort this mess first.”

“Grandpa, there’s nothing to sort.”

“Of course there is. They know the truth. I’m eighty-seven. I can’t
go to jail now.”

“Relax, you’re not going to jail. They may not know anything.”

“They know everything! Avis’s diary tells the whole damn story.”

“They don’t know it’s you,” said Allison patiently.

George thought about this for a second.

“But what about that video thing on the Internet? The one that
named me.”

“I handled that.”

“What did you do?”

“I made the kid remove it from the Internet and then I killed him.”

I suddenly realized I didn’t need to worry about Riley leaving me
for Allison. This woman was certifiably insane.

“We will need to get rid of Mabel though. Maybe we should just kill
Lizzie too. It would solve more than one problem. She’d no longer be in my way
to get Riley back.”

I knew she was after him.

“I’ve tried to get rid of her a few times, but she doesn’t want to
die.”

I dropped to my knees and hid below the windowsill as my phone
started to ring in my pocket. My hand shook as I hurriedly swiped to answer it.

“Hi Lizzie, its Ed.” I could hear the smile in his voice. He
obviously thought this was a social call.

“I need help,” I quickly said. “I know who the killer is and he has
Grandma.”

“Where are you?” His voice instantly changed to police mode.

I gave him the address and a quick rundown on what was happening.

“Okay. Stay where you are. Do not enter the premises. I’ll be there
with back up as soon as possible.”

I hung up the phone and tried to slow my heart rate as a shadow
passed between myself and the streetlight.

“I knew I heard vermin out here,” said Allison, standing over me.
She grabbed my hair and pulled me to my feet. I looked at her and wondered if I
could take her down. I mean, I had anger, contempt and jealousy on my side so I
could take a pretty mean swing at her, but on closer inspection she
was
the one with the gun. I decided to
play nice and do what she said.

She grabbed my arm and pushed me towards the door, looking around
her as she went.

“Are you alone?” she asked.

“Y ... y ... yes.” I said, my voice betraying my fear.

She slammed the door behind us and pushed me forwards into the room
where Grandma was tied up.

“I thought this country had anti-gun laws?” said Grandma, as
Allison pushed me to the floor.

“You
really need to shut the hell up, Mabel,” snarled Allison.

“Don’t
talk to her like that,” I said.

“Lizzie,
Lizzie, Lizzie,” said Allison, walking close to me. “Please don’t give me a
reason to kill you sooner than I want to.”

“Allison!”
said George. “Stop. We don’t want any more dead bodies. We have enough
already.”

“Grandpa,
I have to kill her anyway,” she said, kicking me in the stomach with the pointy
toe of her Louboutin. “First of all, she knows too much and second of all, I
really, really want to. I just don’t want to rush it.” She pouted like a child.

George
laughed. “Yeah, I guess I can see your point.”

Allison
turned to me, her gun shiny under the overhead fluorescent bulb. “Have I
mentioned how much I hate you, Lizzie?”

I
whimpered as she kicked me again. Grandma yelled.

“Hey Bitch,
leave her alone!”

Allison
backhanded her with the gun. I looked up to see Grandma’s eyes glaze and her
head slump.

I moved
myself into sitting position. I’d been in a situation similar to this once
before, and it turns out it taught me a lot. First off, I could handle fear—at
least this kind of fear. It apparently brought out the fighter in me.

“Go fuck
yourself, Allison,” I said.

“Ooh hoo
hoo.” She laughed. “Listen to you. If Riley could hear you now, what would he
think of that potty mouth?” She grabbed my mouth with her free hand and
scrunched my lips together. I swatted her away.

“I know
it was you with the blood,” I said, trying to keep her talking long enough for
Ed to arrive and save the day

“What? What
are you talking about?”

Oh, so
it wasn’t Allison then. She stood, the hand holding the gun falling to her
side.

“Just so
you know, Lizzie. Once I’ve killed you, I’m going to take Riley back. Yes,
he’ll be upset at first, but he doesn’t really love you. So it won’t take long
for him to forget you. Then I’ll remind him of how great we were together and we’ll
get married and have lots of children.” A dreamy look clouded her eyes. “Oh and
lots and lots of sex. Yes. We won’t be able to keep our hands off each other. I
mean, I already have experience with him, so I know just what he likes.” Her
eyes glittered, giving me a glimpse of crazy.

George
turned his back on us, covering his ears. “La la la,” he hummed as he sat on
the lounge chair opposite us. Allison stopped, her face only inches from mine.

“Yes, I
know how much he loves to hear breathing in his ear. I know how much it arouses
him.”

I wanted
to block my ears like George had done. I knew how much Riley liked that too.

Allison
giggled. “Oh, I also know how much he loves ...” She moved close to my ear and
whispered.

I’m not
going to tell you the details of what she said, but she was spot on with
exactly what Riley liked best.

She
laughed loudly, moving away from my ear. “Oh yes. I’m going to do that to him
a lot
!”

Hatred
for her built inside me.

“But you
only have yourself to blame, Lizzie. You see, if you never bought that house,
none of this would have happened.”

“How the
hell do you figure that?” I spat.

“Well
you see ... you were right when you said you recognized me from the auction. I
wanted to buy it that day, but my stupid bank couldn’t get their shit together
fast enough. If I had bought it, the bones would have stayed safely buried and
you would never have met Riley. Your stalker, Joe Woods would never have been
watching you, causing all those nightmares. You never would have walked into my
office that day, and we would never have met.”

As
Allison spoke closely to my face, my phone vibrated in my hand. She shifted her
gaze and snatched it away from my hand.

Scrolling through my call list she saw that my last call was to Ed.

“Shit! She’s called the bloody police.” She cursed as she stood,
turning her back to me.

As she threw my phone across the room in temper, I took my
opportunity and kicked her in the back of the knee.

She fell forwards as the gun discharged, the bullet lodging itself
into George. I heard his scream as Allison fell to the floor. I didn’t stop to
see what had happened to him. Instead, I got to my feet and rushed at her from
behind. I needed to get the gun out of her hand before she spun around and shot
Grandma.