Give Murder A Hand: Lizzie. Book 2 (The Westport Mysteries) (7 page)

Opening the door, I looked out into the sunlight. Standing on my
doorstep was Bradley. He looked younger than ever today wearing shorts instead
of long pants. He still wore the white button-down shirt, and, I guess to make
himself feel a little bit more business-like, he’d added a tie ... a bright
Mickey Mouse tie. He looked down at me and smiled.

“Hey, Lizzie,” he said, bounding on the spot. “How’s things?”

“Oh hey, Bradley. What’s up?” As much as Bradley was becoming a
garden ornament around here, it was rare that he rang my bell.

“I noticed the police car out the front.”

“And?”

“I just wondered ... you know ... what’s happening?” I looked at
the enthusiasm in Bradley’s eyes and couldn’t help but smile.

“Nothing’s happening, it’s just Officer Helms. He removed the
police tape.”

“Oh! Is that all? I thought maybe they had some more news on what
they’d found.”

“Sorry, I guess we won’t be seeing much of you from now on then.”

I probably should be relieved at this, but in all honesty I didn’t
mind either way. Bradley had turned up every day with a different group of
people and since he’d stopped parking in my driveway, we were getting along
much better.

Bradley looked at me quizzically.

“You know, with the police tape gone, it just looks like I’m a
messy gardener,” I explained.

“Oh no, I’ll be here.” He smiled. “People are always interested in
gossip.”

“Did you buy a new bus?” I asked. Looking out to the curb, I saw an
old rust bucket that I if I used my imagination, I’m sure could be called a
bus. The white paintwork was faded and dull, but the eager faces looking out of
it were anything but. Well, they were old. They just weren’t dull.

“Yeah, isn’t it great! My dad told me I couldn’t borrow his anymore
and these tours are getting really popular, so I thought why not invest in my
future.” Bradley shrugged and flashed a boyish grin. He could be annoying at
times, but he
was
pretty cute. If you were into grown men who looked about twelve
but dressed like fifty-year-old businessmen.

I was about to ask if his bus was up to the job when he turned and
waved to the occupants. Twenty senior citizens jostled for first place to
disembark, but unfortunately it was Norm Aldershott, Westport’s’ oldest
resident, who managed to get the honor. God knows how. I’d seen snails move
faster.

Bradley sighed. “I’d better go and help them. Otherwise you’ll be
inviting us in for supper.” I smiled at Bradley as he skipped down the steps
and hopped over the little garden bed I’d planted around my front porch. Credit
where credit’s due—he was far more patient than I was.

Chapter Seven

As the sun set on the day, I made a quick dash
upstairs to grab a few extra things from my wardrobe. Even though Riley and I
had never actually discussed our living arrangements, we both agreed on the
fact that once the house was sold, I would move in with him—which was going to
be good for more than one reason.

Yes, yes I know. What better reason could there be other than
spending all that quality time with Riley? And of course that was at the top of
my list. But other, more practical things were on that list too. Like having my
clothes all in one place.

I’m not like Molly in that I don’t need designer clothes, or even
lots of expensive new clothes, but I do have a bit of an addiction to jumpers
and cardigans. In fact, last time they were all together in one wardrobe, I
counted twenty-six of them. You would think that because we live in a hot
climate, I wouldn’t need twenty-six of them, wouldn’t you? And I would then ask
you if anyone
anywhere
actually needed twenty-six jumpers.

But I liked them, and as I was usually a bit of a cold fish—especially
when the air conditioning was on—I found myself always carrying one with me. Tonight
we were visiting Riley’s parents for dinner and as his mum was going through
menopause, the air conditioning was always on high, so I needed to grab a
jumper that was a little bit warmer.

I walked into my bedroom and opened my wardrobe. It took me a few
minutes but finally I chose my light grey cashmere cardigan. It was long enough
to cover my bottom, button-up so it wouldn’t be too warm and the softness of it
made me feel pretty and gave me a little extra confidence.

Not that I needed it, of course. Riley’s parents seemed to like me
and made me feel welcome in their home. I’d only met them once before. They’d
been on a world cruise when Riley and I first met and they only arrived home a
month ago. They had invited us to dinner and I think that evening went well. I
never actually embarrassed myself at all, which is really quite uncommon for me
(I joke that I’m writing a book on 101 ways to embarrass myself, but in all
honesty I think I should actually do it).

Well, that’s not completely true. I was very embarrassed when I
walked to the car and slipped on the wet grass, fell on my ass and showed
everyone my knickers, but I don’t think Riley’s parents were looking at the
particular moment, so it doesn’t count, right? Anyway, I think tonight I should
try a little harder, just in case they did see.

I grabbed my new jeans, my floaty white singlet top and the only
black heels I owned, and carefully put it all in a bag. Hearing the stairs
creak I thought Riley must be ready to leave, so I quickly zipped up the bag
and headed to out to meet him. Only he wasn’t there.

Oh well, I must be hearing things.

I walked down about four steps and stopped dead. Halfway down the staircase
was a spray of bright red blood running down the wall. I strangled a scream and
looked around to see if anyone was there, a creepy feeling running up my spine as
if I was being watched.

“Riley!”

I stood completely still and waited for Riley to come running. It
felt like an eternity and he never came. Shit. He must be outside. Alright, put
your big girl pants on and have a closer look, I told myself.

Taking a deep shuddery breath, I moved down the stairs and stopped
in front of the blood. It covered an area of about a foot round and once again
looked like it had been sprayed on. Or maybe it was seeping out of the walls. I
thought back to all the horror movies Danny had made me watch as a teenager and
felt the fear grab at my throat.

“Riley!”
I
screamed again, this time much louder than the last. What if Danny was right
about this house being haunted? I mean this never happened before Harper found
those remains. My heart rate picked up even faster as anxiety gripped me. I
scanned the hall for anything that may be scary but the only thing I came
across was Cat who seemed to be having a bad hair day, his bed hair making him
look like one side of his head was deformed.

Okay, think of this rationally. Ghosts are not real and blood does
not seep out of walls.

But ghosts were real. I’d seen one before. Even though Mum had told
me it was stress. Apparently stress can make you have hallucinations. And mums
are always right, aren’t they?

It had to be coming from somewhere. The adrenalin rush made my knees
rubbery, so I sat on the step and tried to think calmly. As I was wondering how
many people had died in this house and how many more secrets it could hold,
Riley opened the front door and stopped.

“Working hard?” he asked. Then he saw my pale face and rushed up
the stairs to me. “Lizzie, what’s wrong?”

I nodded towards the wall where the blood was now trickling towards
the skirting boards.

“There’s more of it?” he asked, taking a closer look. He swiped his
fingers through it, and then rubbed them together, smelling his fingers as he
did so.

“Would you stop doing that?”
I yelled. “Have you never heard of blood transmitted diseases? And
besides that, it’s
creepy!”

He stopped, looked at me like I was crazy and then wiped his
fingers on his jeans. I made a note to boil those jeans later.

“It smells wrong,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. It just smells wrong.”

“Riley, it’s freaking me out! I really thought I heard you on the
stairs before but instead this is what I find. Should we call Ed?”

“There has to be a sensible explanation,” he said, looking around.
“Blood does not appear from thin air.” His gaze stopped on Cat. “It’s not
coming from Cat is it?” he asked.

I hadn’t actually thought of that. I stood and followed Riley down
the stairs, stepping over Cat who was sleeping on the bottom stair.

Cat wasn’t really one to like human contact. He only usually showed
up when he was hungry or when he felt like sleeping somewhere warm and cozy. But
if you tried to hold him for too long, he would squirm and claw until you let
go.

He didn’t give Riley the chance to try though. He sensed he was
about to be held, sprang up from the step and hightailed it out of our sight.

“I guess we’ll never know,” sighed Riley.

“The noise I heard didn’t sound like Cat.”

“What did it sound like?”

“Like someone was walking up the stairs and stepped on that creaky
board we have. If it was Cat, he should definitely go on a diet.”

“I’ll have a look around. Maybe some other animal has got some
secret entrance that I’ve missed when I made sure the house was rodent-proof.”

“Let’s hope they do. It’s creeping me out.” Riley pulled me close
and kissed the top of my head.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked.

“Yes. I’ll just get my bag.” I trudged back up the stairs and
picked my bag up from the floor where I had dropped it, thinking I needed to
add bleach to my shopping list, and knowing that the nightmares were about to
kick up a notch.

* * *

Riley’s parents’ home was very different to my
parents’ home. For starters, it was about triple the size and they hadn’t
converted Riley’s old bedroom into their dining room. Their dining room held a
table big enough for twelve, their furniture was mahogany and the crystal was
Waterford. The wine was also something expensive, but I took their word for
that. I wasn’t much of a drinker and when I needed to be on my best behavior it
was advisable for me to stay away from the stuff. Tonight I needed to be on my
best behavior. Not only were Riley’s parents, Anna and Mal going to be there,
but his brother Jared was going to be there with his wife Shelly and their
daughter Mia.

Mia is the cutest bundle of joy you’ve ever met. She’s now eight months
old, has her Uncle Riley’s smile and resembles a baby Michelin man, with roll
after roll of gorgeous baby fat. Last time I saw her she had learned to laugh. Apparently
I was the funniest thing she’d ever seen.

We were at present all sitting around the large dining room table
about to help ourselves to the meal Anna had prepared. It looked delicious – it
really did. The only problem was it all seemed to be fish based. And fish was
the one food I hated. I took a very large helping of salad and added a slice of
the salmon quiche and handed the serving dish to Riley.

When everyone was served we all dug in. Not like dinner at Mum’s
house at all. There you started as soon as your plate was full, but I guess
they had better manners here.

“How are the renovations going, Lizzie?” asked Riley’s dad, Mal. Mal
was in his mid-fifties and had obviously passed his good looks and genetics to
Riley and Jared. Apart from the eyes, Riley was a carbon copy of him. Mal’s
eyes were a much paler blue and had a sharpness that reminded me why he was a
successful property developer.

“They’re going really well, thanks,” I replied.

“We’re not far from finishing the inside,” added Riley. “We started
to pull the old kitchen out today.”

“Are the walls in reasonable condition? No water damage under the
cabinets?”

“No ... surprisingly. The house looks old and run down, but the
structure is actually in good condition. Lizzie has a good eye for picking a
house that’s good to renovate.” Riley looked at me and smiled.

“A house with good bones will always clean up well,” added Anna.

“Speaking of bones, what’s happening with the bones they dug up?”
asked Jared.

“I was hoping you could tell me that,” I said.

Jared was a detective, and I secretly hoped I could convince him to
do some digging for me. I knew I could ask Officer Helms for help, but I kind
of had a feeling that may cause a few complications of a different variety.

Riley stopped his fork half way to his mouth. “It doesn’t matter
what’s happening with those bones. They’re gone and so has our involvement with
it.” His tone suggested it was not negotiable.

“It’s kind of intriguing though, isn’t it?” said Shelly.

Shelly was my second favorite person at this table. She was much
taller than I was, with big green eyes framed with extraordinary long
eyelashes, long carrot red hair, willowy arms and the grace of an angel. Don’t
be fooled ... she may look elegant and full of class, but she had the laugh of
an old sailor, which is actually the thing Ioved most about her. I looked at
her and smiled.

“Yes,
I
think so but Riley wants me to stay out of it.”

“I’m just worried about you that’s all,” he said quietly.

“What’s to worry about?” asked Shelly. “Aren’t those bones really
old? Surely whoever put them there is no longer around?”

“Lizzie’s still having nightmares about the last secret that house
held. I just don’t want it getting any worse.”

“Lizzie, you really should get some counseling. It helps a lot. Or
at least it helped me after Jared got shot,” said Shelly, looking at me, her
eyes huger than ever.

I felt a lump form in my throat. Shelly had told me that just after
she found out she was pregnant with Mia, Jared was shot on duty. He was lucky
the guy shooting at him had bad eyesight and had only got him in the leg, but
Shelly had a hard time with it. It could easily have been so much worse.

I looked at Riley. What if it was him? I suddenly understood why he
was worried about me.

“Lizzie is getting counseling,” Riley said. “She’s seeing Allison
Greene.” He took my hand and squeezed it.

“The same Allison Greene who was once your girlfriend Allison
Abbott?” asked Jared, incredulously.

Riley nodded.

“And you went to see her?” Shelly asked, staring at me.

I nodded. “I didn’t know who she was at the time,” I said quietly.

“You aren’t going back to her, are you?” asked Shelly, shocked.

“Why shouldn’t Lizzie see her?” asked Anna. “She’s a very good psychiatrist.
Allison has done very well for herself you know.”

“Yes, but that’s like a conflict of interests or something, isn’t
it?” asked Shelly, her eyes wide with disbelief.

“Why would you say that?”

“Well, because Lizzie is Riley’s girlfriend now. Don’t you think
that would be uncomfortable?”

“Lizzie has an appointment tomorrow,” said Riley.

Hang on, how did he know that?

“Oh really? Well that’s good,” said Anna. “Did I mention Allison
phoned me a few days ago? She wanted your number, Riley.”

“And you gave it to her?” I asked, my voice getting slightly higher
as I felt the agitation grow.

“Well, of course I did,” laughed Anna as if I had just asked a
stupid question.

I looked at Shelly, whose eyebrows had disappeared into her
hairline. “Why did she want Riley’s number?” she asked.

“Oh, she said that she’d run into him and that he’d mentioned how
they should catch up sometime, but he’d left before she’d got his number.