Give Murder A Hand: Lizzie. Book 2 (The Westport Mysteries) (3 page)

“You don’t need to worry about me,” I said. “I don’t think I’ll
ever be digging in that soil now.”

“That’s understandable.” Officer Helms
nodded. “I can recommend a good gardener if you ever need one.” He
smiled warmly, his eyes full of compassion.

“Do you know much about the skeleton?” asked Riley, ignoring the
look Officer Helms gave me.

“Not really. I’ve been informed that it’s male and has been there
approximately sixty years, but until the Coroner does his thing we don’t know
much more than that.”

“Will we be kept informed about the findings?” I asked. As much as
I didn’t like the idea of a body in the backyard, I
did
like
the idea of knowing
why
it was there.

“I’d be more than happy to keep you up to date. I’ll give you my private
phone number. Call if you need anything.”

I thought his offer was very kind, but I felt Riley tense next to
me. Maybe he thought the offer was a little too kind.

“Thank you, Officer Helms,” I said.

“No worries ... and please, call me Ed.”

About an hour later Danny wandered in the front door. “Geez Louise.
Who would have thought you’d be this popular?” he commented, looking at me.

I huffed. “Nice to see you too,” I said. My bad mood had not
lightened as the day continued. In fact, if anything it had gotten slightly
worse.

“I had to park
way
down
the street. Don’t those gawkers know family has priority parking around here?” Danny
walked past me, gave me a peck on the cheek, and put a backpack on the ground.
“Oh, I’ve made you an appointment for Tuesday to get your hair done,” he said,
opening the zip and retrieving something from his bag.

“Why? You only did my hair about a week ago.”

Danny responded by jiggling a DVD in the air. “Yeah, I know. See
what you have to say when I show you last night’s news. I recorded it.” He
smiled, moving into the lounge room and towards the TV. I followed him.

“Why did you record the news? And more importantly, why are you
showing me?” I asked, standing in the doorway watching him insert it into the
DVD player.

“Because you’re on it,” he said, picking up the remote and moving
to sit on the couch. I sighed and sat beside him. I thought back to yesterday
afternoon when Matt interviewed me. I’d actually forgotten all about it last
night and never once thought to switch the news on.

“That probably explains the hundreds of people standing outside my
fence,” I commented.

“Lizzie, you’re a bookkeeper. Surely you can count past twenty,”
said Danny.

“Of course I can count past twenty. And that’s how I know there are
far more people than that standing out there,” I huffed.

“Whatever. Here, watch this,” said Danny, stopping the fast-forward
of the DVD and pressing play.

I instantly regretted owning a forty-eight inch TV. Seeing my face
blown up to that scale was awful. I never realized that when I’m nervous I bite
my bottom lip and it makes me look ridiculous. Plus I’m starting a new diet
tomorrow. I can only hope that the rumor that the camera adds ten pounds is
true and correct.

“You’re right. I definitely need that appointment. And I think I
should join the gym.”

This certainly had not helped my mood.

* * *

After Danny had his fun at my expense—lucky I love
him, that’s all I’ll say—he got ready to leave.

“I have to head off. Andrew’s parents are in town and we’re going
out to dinner with them.” Danny sighed.

“Ahh, I wondered why you were here alone on a Saturday afternoon,”
I said, referring to the comment about the in-laws. Danny glared at me.

“Lizzie, I live with Andrew, I work with Andrew, and I sleep with Andrew.
I need my time without him thank you very much.”

I smiled. I figured Andrew needed his time without Danny just as
much.

“Just you wait until the honeymoon period is over with you and
Riley. Sure now it’s all sex and smoochy, lovey-dovey stuff, but it wears off
you know!”

Just then Riley stuck his head in the doorway, pulling a clean
shirt over his head. Both Danny and I were rewarded with a glorious view of his
naked abdomen.

“Hey Lizzie, I’m just running down to the hardware store. I’ll be
back in about half an hour. Will you be okay?”

“Sure will.” I smiled and looked at Danny. I noticed the glazed
look in his eye as he smiled at Riley. Once he was out of earshot, Danny looked
at me.

“Okay, I retract my last statement.”

“Of course you do,” I commented, laughing. “If it’s up to me, the
honeymoon period will never end.”

Danny sighed. “How do you ever get any work done?” he asked,
seriously.

I laughed. “Yeah, some days it’s really difficult to concentrate
when I know he’s downstairs doing manly stuff.” We sat silently for a moment,
thinking our own private thoughts about Riley. Only when Danny’s phone beeped,
signaling a text message, did he give a final sigh and stood.

“I have to go. Andrew’s warned me not to be late.”

“Okay well, have fun,” I said, following Danny to the door. Opening
it, I looked out at the crowd of people mingling around my fence.

“What do they think they are going to see?” I asked.

“News is obviously quiet in Westport. Either that or they are
really bored.”

* * *

Later that night the nightmares began again.

It was a cold clear night and I stood in the backyard, looking into
the open grave as Joe Woods looked back at me. I felt relieved he was finally
dead. Only just as I smiled, he floated out of the grave and moved towards me,
his shiny blade glistening in the moonlight. I screamed and turned to run, but
before I got too far I found myself back in my bed with him standing over me.

The now familiar fear ran through my veins, as I pushed past him
and ran for the door, my only hope for survival. I could feel his breath on my
neck. Slamming me into the back of the door, his fingers dug into my arm as he
attempted to pull me close. Grabbing at the handle, I wrenched the door open
and ran for the stairs.

I heard my blood-curdling scream. Tripping on the top stair, I fell
to my knees as I slid to the bottom, my stalker right behind me. Pain shot
through my knee as I dragged myself to my feet and moved to the front door,
praying I could open it and run to freedom. It was locked.

My heart pounded loudly in my ears as desperation and fear consumed
me.

It was my screams that woke me, and I found myself standing on my doormat,
face to face with a terrified looking Riley.

“Lizzie. It’s okay,” he said, shaking. “You were just dreaming.” I
looked at him and fell to my knees as the sobbing started. He sat next to me
and pulled me in close, the heat from his body surrounding me as I moved into
his arms, the fear from the dream still lingering.

“It’s okay,” he whispered, his voice shaky. “It was just a dream.”

I held on tight, unable to speak. Riley allowed me to stay there
until the sobbing stopped. Only then did he tilt my head back, move my hair
from my face and kiss my forehead. As his fingers wiped my tears, the dream
lifted and a feeling of safety took its place.

The room was only lit from the streetlight
outside, but it gave enough light that I could see the torture on
his face. My heart squeezed.

“You really need to talk to someone about it,” he said.

“I’m ... I’m sure the dreams will stop,” I whispered.

“It’s been eight months, Lizzie. You can’t go on like this forever.
Please.”

“I’ll be okay,” I said, snuggling closer. If I could just get a
little bit closer to him, I’m sure I could push the memory of the dream into
the back of my mind. True, the
To Be
Sorted
bin back there was probably overflowing, hence the nightmares, but I
really didn’t want to open that box.

“He can’t hurt you anymore, so what are you afraid of?” he asked, placing
his hand under my chin and tilting it to face him.

I thought about his question. What I was afraid of was, once I
opened that box, I may never be able to close it again. “I’ll think about it,”
I said.

“Promise me you will.”

“I promise I’ll think about it.”

“No. You have to promise to get some help. I hate that you have
these nightmares.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to upset you,” I said quietly.

“I don’t care about that. I just hate that it scares you.” He
gently kissed my forehead, and squeezed me tight. I let out a breath I’d been
holding and thought about what he had said.

“Will you come with me?” I asked.

“Sure.” I felt him smile in the darkness as the relief washed over
him.

He helped me to my feet, ready to go back to bed. As we turned, he
flipped the hallway light on and we both stopped dead, neither of us daring to
move ... because in front of us, in droplets sprayed across the wall, was
blood.

I felt fear grab at me and held on tight to Riley. I heard the
clock ticking off the seconds, as I held my breath and wildly looked around.

Riley stepped in front of me protectively and moved to it.

He picked up a hammer he’d left lying on the floor and handed it to
me. “Stay here,” he commanded. “I’m going to look around.”

I took the hammer and looked back at him, the fear from the dream
returning.

“No way, I’m not staying here on my own.”

Riley sighed. He knew better than to argue with me. “Fine, but stay
close.”

No need to tell me twice. I grabbed the back of his boxers and
stayed on his heels. We systematically checked every door and window in the
house, only to find they were all securely locked.

Returning to the hall, Riley let out the breath he’d held, and
moved closer to the blood.

I shuddered. “How the hell did it get there?” I asked, my voice
barely above a whisper. I was having a really bad week. I already had
nightmares to deal with, but now I had a dead body found in my backyard, and
blood dripping down my walls.

“I don’t know,” said Riley, his shoulders dropping.

“Can we sleep at your house for
the
rest of the night?” Riley looked at the clock on the wall. It read two thirty.

“Please?” I gave Riley puppy dog eyes, secretly praying he would
say yes.

“Sure,” he said, sighing.

Once we were back in bed at his house, I snuggled my face into his
chest and after a few minutes the gentle rise and fall of his chest lulled me
back to sleep, all thoughts of the blood pushed into the back of my mind. There’s
nothing nicer than snuggling someone you love after a bad night.

Chapter Three

I leaned against Molly’s shiny black Lexus and looked
at her.

Today had turned into another scorcher, but even though I had sweat
running down my neck and between my breasts, Molly’s skin just had a slight
sheen to it. I tugged at the hem of my t-shirt in an attempt to stop it
sticking to me.

“Molly, can we wait in the car with the air conditioning on, please?”

“No. I’m saving money and I don’t want to waste fuel,” she
explained. I looked at her, my eyebrows raised. Molly had never been known to
save money. I was just about to ask her if she actually had heat stroke when
the door to the doctors’ surgery opened and out walked Grandma Mabel, pushing
her red walker, her purple patent handbag precisely placed on the seat in front
of her.

“Oh, thank God,” muttered Molly, moving away from the car door and
towards Grandma.

“Not so fast, girlie,” snapped Grandma. “I’m not done yet.” I
watched as she swished her false teeth around, contemplating her next move. “I
have to have a blood test done.”

“Oh okay,” I said standing next to her. “You can get that done next
door,” I said indicating towards the doorway very conveniently located next to
the doctors. Molly took the relevant paperwork off Grandma and stepped towards it.

“Hang on a minute,” said Grandma. “I need to fix my hair.”

“There’s nothing wrong with your hair,” said Molly. I looked at
Grandma’s neat rows of purple tinted curls and agreed with Molly.

“You look fine, Grandma,” I said nodding.

“Yeah well, I need better than fine. I just saw Barry Crosby go in
there and he’s a cutie. I need to look my best if I want to turn his head.”

“First of all, you are eighty-two, when are you going to stop
looking at men?” asked Molly. “And second, Barry Crosby is married. I remember Mum
going on about it at dinner once.”

“Well,” answered Grandma, “I’ll stop looking when I’m dead. Which
is exactly what his wife is. I read her obituary in the paper yesterday.”

“If his wife just died he’s hardly going to be looking for another
one so soon,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“You don’t know that. And anyways, he may just file me in his
memory bank for a later date. A good looking man like him won’t stay single for
too long, and when you’re my age you got to stay on top of things like that. The
number of eligible men is dwindling fast. Women live longer than men, you know.
Competition’s fierce,” said Grandma with a wistful sigh, looking at Barry
through the glass window of the pathologist. I followed her gaze. Barry Crosby
stood with a hunched back, his nose hair visible even from this distance and
his pants tied somewhere around his armpits.

“Well, I guess you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, Grandma,”
said Molly, her nose crinkling. She mouthed ‘yuck’ as she turned to me and
giggled.

“Yep, wish me luck. Not that I need it of course,” said Grandma,
smoothing her blue polyester dress, taking the paperwork from Molly and pushing
her walker towards the pathologist.

“That’s going to be us one day,” I said to Molly, thinking that
loss of eye sight with age was probably a good thing.

“Puh-
lease
... I would never wear polyester.”

We watched in awe as Grandma chatted to Mr. Crosby and then made her
way to where she had to give blood.

“Actually Molly, do you mind if I just pop into the doctor’s. I
need to make an appointment.”

“You’ve been standing here all this time and now you remember?”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” I’d realized Riley was right and the
memory of the night my stalker caught up with me wouldn’t stay buried amongst
all the other crap I had buried at the back of my mind. Go figure.

“Well don’t be long,” said Molly as her phone beeped, signaling a message.
She pulled it from her bag, read the screen and looked around the car park, her
face suddenly animated with excitement. Obviously her message was a good one. She
looked back at me. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

“Nothing,” I replied. “Just thinking I might stay here and check
out the scenery instead. I can always phone through an appointment.”

Her sigh could be heard a mile away. I grinned.

“Lizzie, you’re such a pain,” she muttered as she turned her back
and crossed the car park. I giggled and moved into the doctor’s surgery,
looking back out at her whilst I waited my turn. She walked between two cars
and stopped, talking to someone in a white Toyota Camry. I could tell by her
smile that whoever it was, he was male. And obviously cute, because I had never
seen Molly flick her hair as much as she did at that moment. I stood on my tippy
toes trying get a better look, but he sat in the car and I couldn’t see
anything. I wondered if it was Matt.

My attention was one hundred percent on Molly and her attention was
one hundred percent on the occupant of that car, so neither of us noticed
Grandma Mabel exit the pathologist.

“Ahh, Lizzie,” said the receptionist, “I think you should go and
see if Mabel’s okay.”

“What?” I asked, turning my attention to her.

“Your grandma,” she said pointing outside the glass. “I think
something’s wrong.” I followed her finger and saw Grandma arguing with a woman,
who in all honesty looked perplexed. I quickly moved to open the door to see
what was going on.

“Call the police!”
yelled Grandma, to anyone that was listening. “This woman is
trying to steal my granddaughter’s car!”

The woman in question turned to me as I pushed through the surgery
door, her face bright red. “I’m not. Honestly, this is my car,” she said
pointing to the black SUV Grandma was trying to get into. I looked at Grandma
struggling to get into the back seat.

“Women like you should be locked up,” yelled Grandma, as a small
crowd gathered to see what was going on. “My granddaughter is hard working and
pays for things and you shouldn’t go around stealing it. Anyway, I know your
mother—God rest her soul— and she’d be disgusted to know this is what you’re up
to.” Grandma crossed her arms over her chest in a ‘don’t mess with me’ stance
as Barry Crosby walked past.

“Everything all right, Mabel?” he asked, stopping to help. I
quickly moved towards them.

“I’m so sorry,” I said to the accused woman. As I looked into her
red face I realized it was Sharon Williams, a girl I had gone to school with.

“Lizzie, you really need to keep your grandmother under control,”
she huffed, her embarrassment now turning to anger she directed at me.

“Oh, as if I have any chance of doing that,” I replied on a sigh.

“No, everything is not alright, Barry,” said Grandma, turning her
watery eyes to Barry. “I’ve had a very traumatic few minutes.” Her hand shook
as she put it to her heart. “But I did manage to stop a thief. I just don’t
know what the world is coming to these days when an old, frail woman has to
become a crime fighter.”

“Now, now Mabel. You’re not old. And frail is not a word I would
use to describe you. I would say you are fearless.” He smiled, his false teeth
shining brightly. He obviously used his Polident regularly.

“Oh Barry,” giggled Grandma, all signs of her ordeal now gone.

“Umm, sorry to interrupt, Grandma, but you need to get out of the
car,” I said, stopping this interaction before I had any chance of over hearing
something I could never un-hear.

“I’m alright now, love,” she said. “Maybe we could go home though
so that I can rest a bit.”

“Yeah sure, Grandma, but we need to go in Molly’s car.”

“This is Molly’s car,” she stated.

“No. It’s not. Molly’s is over there,” I said pointing to the black
SUV parked right next door.

Grandma looked through the windows to the car parked next to the
one she was presently sitting in.

“Well, I’ll be buggered,” she said. “Fancy that.”

* * *

Grandma had moved in with Mum a few years ago
after a she has set the oven on fire. True, only her pension money got burnt as
apparently the oven was the safest place to hide money, but Mum felt after that
she couldn’t be trusted to live alone.

Molly sighed all the way back to Mum’s. By the
time we got there, I thought she might be slightly light-headed from all the
oxygen she forced out between her gritted teeth.

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked quietly. Grandma’s gentle snores
drifted my way, alerting me to the fact that she had nodded off and I didn’t
want to wake her.

“Nothing,” she snapped. Clearly it was something. I looked at her,
my eyebrows raised. She sighed again. “It’s just that whenever I meet a really
nice guy, this family has to come along and spoil it.”

Now I should be offended as I was a part of this family, but I got
her point.

“The right man won’t be bothered by your family,” I said philosophically.
“Look at Riley. He has stuck with me looking my absolute worst, he’s the main
witness to me embarrassing myself 101 ways, he’s been railroaded by Mum whenever
Auntie M’s around, and he’s still here,” I explained.

“Yeah. I’m still wondering if that man is actually human,” mused
Molly, indicating and turning the car into Mum’s street. Grandma’s internal GPS
stirred her awake.

“Who is he anyway?” she asked.

“Riley. We’re talking about Riley,” answered Molly, pulling the car
into Mum’s driveway and parking behind her silver Mazda.

“No you weren’t. I may be old but I’m not stupid.” I too was
curious to know the answer to Grandma’s question.

“It’s nobody.”

“I bet it was that guy you were talking to at the doctor’s. The one
with the nice head of hair.”

I looked at Molly and noticed her ears had gone a light shade of
pink. Grandma was sharper than any of us gave her credit for.

“So ... was it Matt?” I asked, smiling.

“It was no one you need to worry about,” she snapped.

“It’s all right, Molly. He gave me a wink as I got into the car,”
explained Grandma. “He’ll fit right in with us lot.”

“If he ever calls me again,” sulked Molly.

“You should ask him out and wear that black dress you bought last
week. It shows a lot of leg that dress.”

“I don’t think so, Grandma but thanks for the advice.”

“Well can I borrow it then? I think Barry Crosby is going to ask me
out and I’ll need something to give me the edge over Vera Cartwright. She’s got
big boobies and Barry likes big boobies.”

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“Because his poor dead wife had massive ones. She had a hump on her
back because of the weight of ‘em,” she explained. “So can I borrow it then?”
she asked Molly, her watery eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.

Thankfully, Mum opened Grandma’s car door before Molly had to
reply.

* * *

After we dropped Grandma home and made sure she
was tucked safely under Mum’s wing, we both let out a sigh of relief. Honestly,
I love my grandma—in fact, there were times when I wished I was just a little
bit more like her—but most of the time she exhausted me. It appeared Molly
shared this sentiment. I opened my bag and retrieved a pack of chewing gum. “Want
some?” I asked Molly, offering her the packet.

“No thanks.”

“Suit yourself,” I replied, popping a piece in
my mouth

“Did you book your doctor’s appointment?” asked Molly, her brow
furrowing.

“Yeah, I got an appointment for Thursday.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yep. She just booked me an appointment to speak to a counselor. Some
memories don’t want to stay buried.” I shrugged my shoulders in an attempt at
nonchalance.

“Is this about what happened with Joe Woods?”

I shivered at the mention of his name. “Aha. Riley thinks I need
professional help.”

“Are you sure he was referring to a counselor?” asked Molly,
grinning.

“Ha ha, you’re a real comedian.” I smiled sarcastically and Molly
giggled. “So when are you inviting this new man of yours to our family dinner?”

Her giggling stopped immediately. She glanced sideways at me as she
turned her car into my street. “Not for a very long time.”

“Are you going to tell me about him or do I have to pry the
information out of you?”

She sighed. “Okay, but please don’t tell Danny, Mum or Grandma. They’ll
just want to meet him and once that happens he’ll run for his life.”

“Our family’s not that bad,” I said. Molly death-stared me. “Okay. They
have their moments but for some reason we love them anyway.” Molly pulled her
car up outside my house. “Are you coming in?” I asked, my hand on the door
latch.

“No. I need to get going and get back to work. I have a favor to
repay the head of the newsroom at WIN TV. He’s down a cameraman and needs some
still footage for a story they’re running tonight.” You’ve probably already
guessed it, but in case you haven’t, Molly’s a photographer and a very good one
at that. “How about afterwards, I go home, get Harper and come back for
afternoon tea?”