A Deadly Lesson (Storage Ghost Murders Book 5) Read online

  He certainly was a gent. He handed her the book and said, “You dropped this.” His eyes were on Grace and not on the book.

  Grace took it and said, “Oh! I’m so clumsy. Thanks for this. It’s a great book. Have you ever read it?”

  She placed it inches from his face. Ethan’s eyes grew wide and the blood ran from his face. He said, “Where ... I mean ... when ...”

  Abbie giggled. “He does recognise it! He should do, I’ve drawn a picture of him on the front.”

  Grace turned the book towards herself, she hadn’t noticed a drawing before. Oh! There it was, a little stick figure with glasses.

  Ethan pushed his glasses further up his nose, and in a shaky voice, he said, “Could I have a look at that? Please. My friend used to have one like this.” He took the book and began to flick through the pages. Any blood that he had left in his cheeks had now completely drained away. He turned his attention back to Grace and said, “Where did you get this? It did belong to my friend, Abbie Quill, she’s put notes inside to help her remember things. I was there when she did that.”

  Grace explained about finding the book at an auction. She took a breath and readied herself for a lie. “Abbie Quill? That name rings a bell. Wasn’t she the victim of a hit-and-run a few years ago?”

  Ethan nodded and handed the book back to Grace. “It was on her birthday. It was the worst day of my life. I miss her so much. We were good friends, but I felt more than friendship for her. I was planning on telling her my true feelings that night, that I loved her. But I never got chance. How can somebody be here one minute, and then just gone the next? It doesn’t make sense.”

  Abbie said quietly, “He loved me, just like I loved him.”

  Ethan pointed at the book. “I was helping her with her driving test. We used to borrow my dad’s car and sneak off somewhere. She was becoming a good driver but when it came to the test she must have lost her nerve because she kept failing. I really wanted her to pass.”

  “How long had you known Abbie?”

  “All my life! Well, since I was about five. We played together at school.” Ethan gave a bitter laugh. “When she was allowed to play with me, that is. She had a so-called friend who was awful to her. So controlling and abusive, but Abbie could never see it. I tried to tell her gently but she’d never hear a bad word said about her friend. I knew exactly what her friend was like, everyone did, except Abbie.”

  Grace went on, “I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but as I walked in I saw you with a woman. Is she your girlfriend? Did she ever meet Abbie?”

  Ethan looked towards the window, his jaw clenched. “She’s no friend of mine.” He looked back at Grace. “That was the person I was telling you about, she’s called Brooke. I’ve never liked her. At school she had all the boys round her, her parents are rich and she used to get boyfriends by bringing them presents. Her bribery never worked on me, I knew what she was really like. She never forgave me for turning her down. I overheard her talking to Abbie about me, saying I was common and needed a good wash. Abbie never listened, thank God.

  When Abbie died, Brooke played the sympathy card. She claimed she was heartbroken, she said no one was suffering more than her over Abbie’s death, not even Abbie’s parents. She actually said that! Can you believe that?”

  Grace nodded. Abbie moved closer to Ethan.

  “Brooke kept texting me, asking to meet me, said it helped her to talk about Abbie with me, to keep her memory alive. I couldn’t say no, could I? I tried but she never took it in. This has been going on for years, she thinks we’re great friends. She was just here to ask me to go on holiday with her, to the places that Abbie planned to go to. I told her no but then she started to cry and said it was Abbie’s wish that she go. Being the idiot that I am, I agreed to it.”

  “I don’t think you’re an idiot, I think you’re considerate. But you can’t live your life according to what someone else wants.”

  “I know. I’m going to tell her I’m not going.” He sighed and then said with more conviction, “I will tell her this time, she can cry all she likes.”

  Grace suddenly laughed at something Abbie said. Ethan looked at her.

  Grace said, “I’m sorry. I was thinking you should hit her with this book.” That wasn’t her thought at all. Ethan would think she was weird.

  He smiled. “Perhaps I should, but I wouldn’t want to damage the book.”

  Grace then said something that she didn’t want to. “You can have the book, if you like.”

  He shook his head. “I can’t take it. But I know somebody who might want to see it.”

  Chapter 16

  Grace waited for Ethan to continue. He said, “Her dad would love to see it. He used to ask her questions all the time about her driving, you know, road signs, speeds, all that stuff. How did this book get into a storage locker?”

  Grace shrugged. “I don’t know how half of the contents end up in those lockers. This book was with lots of older books. My brother referred to them as charity shop rejects, he was probably right.”

  “I bet it was Brooke. After Abbie died she asked Abbie’s mum if she could have some of Abbie’s things, like her favourite necklace and such. She claimed it would help her deal with her grief. The bloody cheek! Anyway, Abbie’s mum agreed to let Brooke go into Abbie’s bedroom and take what she wanted. She probably took that book and gave it to a charity shop out of spite.” Ethan looked at his phone. “She’s texting me again! Right, that’s it, I’m going round there to give her a piece of my mind. I’ll tell her where she can stick her bloody holiday!”

  He stood up and shoved his phone in his pocket. Grace had one more question. “You mentioned Abbie’s mum, is she still alive?”

  Grace heard Abbie’s intake of breath.

  Ethan shook his head slowly. “She is alive, but I don’t know if you could call it living. I’ll give you Derek’s address, that’s Abbie’s dad. He loves talking about Abbie, if you can bear to listen he’ll talk about her all afternoon.”

  Ethan wrote an address on the back of the menu. Grace didn’t need it, she knew where Derek lived but she wasn’t going to tell Ethan that. He pushed his glasses up again and said goodbye. He marched purposefully out of the cafe. He looked like a man on a mission. Grace wished him a silent good luck.

  Abbie said, “Can we go and see Dad now? I want to see him again, I want to know what’s wrong with Mum.”

  Grace tapped a message onto her phone – ‘No, sorry, I have to get back to the shop. We’ll see him soon, promise.’

  Abbie sighed and gave Grace a small smile.

  Grace was back at the shop within ten minutes. There weren’t many customers and Frankie looked as if he was falling asleep behind the till. Grace gave him a friendly whack on the arm.

  “Oi! That’s child abuse!”

  “It was a tap, and you’re not a child. Well, not legally. Has Big Bob been in?”

  “No, why? Are you going to assault him too?” Frankie said as he dramatically rubbed his arm.

  “I’m going to keep the car. I’ll need to pay Big Bob.”

  Frankie’s hand dropped. He grinned at her. “That’s great news! I knew you could get in a car again. I’ll send Big Bob a text to let him know. This is really good news!”

  Grace frowned. “It’s nice that you’re happy for me. Hang on, what’s going on?”

  Frankie took his phone out. “We can share the car now, saves me having to drive that dirty old van around. I don’t know why you never clean it.”

  Grace held her hands up. “No! Never! No way! Get your own car!”

  “I don’t need to, I just said, I’ll borrow yours. I don’t know why you’re making a fuss about it.”

  Grace shook her head. Then she remembered something. “All right, you can drive Fred if you want to.”

  Frankie looked up from his phone. “Fred?”

  “Yes, Fred Ford Focus, that’s his name. I’m going to put it on the windscreen. And I’ve already bought some fluffy pink
dice to hang from the mirror. And I’ll get some car freshener. I think the smell of freshly cut roses would be nice.”

  Frankie threw her a disgusted look. “You know how I feel about people who name their cars. If you’re going to put pathetic girly stuff in your car I’m not going anywhere near it. In fact, you can keep it at home, I don’t want it near the shop.”

  Grace grinned at him. “I’ll park round the back. Have you sent Big Bob a message? Can he send his bank details then I’ll transfer the money over.”

  “Give me a chance,” Frankie muttered. “What sort of a car name is Fred anyway?”

  Grace couldn’t resist. “Maybe I should call it Frankie Junior.”

  Frankie pointed his phone at her and said, “Stop that right now.” He looked back at the phone. “Big Bob says he’s not giving his bank details over a text, he doesn’t trust texts. He’ll stop by the shop tomorrow.”

  “Fair enough,” Grace replied. A memory of her dad came to mind. He could never get to grips with the Internet, he claimed that someone was spying on him. Mum loved the Internet and ordered things constantly. Grace smiled, it was comforting to have such memories of them. She looked over at Abbie. The poor girl looked so sad. It must be awful to find out what people really thought about you.

  Grace stayed at the shop with Frankie for the rest of the day. Whenever she was on her own, she took the opportunity of calling out for Pearl.

  Abbie said, “I don’t think she’s coming back.”

  “She will, she has to,” Grace said, sounding more confident than she felt. She couldn’t bear the thought of Pearl disappearing from her life.

  Abbie didn’t speak on the drive home. Grace was grateful as she needed to concentrate on driving through heavy traffic. She smiled as they pulled up outside her house. She turned to Abbie and said, “I didn’t even break into a sweat on the drive home, I must be getting better.”

  Abbie didn’t return her smile. She was looking at something over Grace’s shoulder. She said, “I think someone’s trying to break into your house.”

  Grace whipped herself around and peered through the car window and in to the darkness.

  A figure was creeping along the side of her house. It stopped near the back door and reached towards the handle.

  “I don’t think so,” Grace said through clenched teeth.

  Abbie cried out, “Call the police! Don’t go out there! They might hurt you!”

  “I’ve been taking self-defence classes, I know how to injure someone. Come on.”

  “What are you going to do? Give them a karate kick? Poke them in the eye?”

  Grace grabbed her bag and took a quick look inside. She held it up and said, “I’m going to whack them with this.”

  Chapter 17

  Grace grabbed her bag tightly and silently crept up on the figure that was now running their hands over her kitchen window.

  Thwack!

  The figure cried out in pain and slumped to the ground. A woman screamed behind Grace. “Carlos! Are you all right? Oh, my darling!”

  Grace was pushed to one side as the woman ran forwards and threw herself on the groaning man.

  Carlos? As in Julianne and Carlos? Grace looked at Abbie. Abbie grinned and said, “Yep, you’ve just whacked my sister’s boyfriend on the head. I wouldn’t like to be you right now, Julianne’s got a right temper on her.”

  Blue eyes turned towards Grace. Even in the darkness, Grace could see the hate in them.

  “What have you done to him?” Julianne spat. “You could have killed him! I’ve a good mind to call the police!”

  Carlos began to get unsteadily to his feet. He rubbed his head and glared at Grace. In a thick Spanish accent he said, “Call the police, get her arrested.”

  Indignation shot through Grace. “Yes! Call the police! Then you can explain what you were doing creeping around my home! I saw you trying the door!”

  Julianne’s expression changed. She forced a smile and said, “Your home? You must be Grace Abrahams. I’m Julianne, and this is Carlos. We run Last Hope Repossessions. We have an appointment with you.” She held out her hand.

  Grace reluctantly took it. Was this how they did business? Her already low opinion sunk even further. She said, “You’d better come in. Then you can explain what you were doing out here.”

  Julianne gave an overly jolly laugh. “Just business! If we’re going to buy a property we need to know what the security is like.”

  Grace said, “I haven’t said anything about selling my house.” She unlocked the kitchen door and invited them in.

  Julianne gave another jolly laugh and stepped into the kitchen. Carlos gave her a wink as he followed Julianne in. It made Grace’s stomach heave.

  She led them through to the living room and asked them if they would like a drink.

  They agreed on coffee. Carlos winked again and said, “Unless you have anything stronger.”

  Julianne caught the wink. Her smile froze.

  Grace went into the kitchen and filled the kettle. She whispered to Abbie, “I know they’re your family but I don’t trust them. Go and keep an eye on them.”

  Grace took a few minutes to make the drinks. Abbie returned and said, “They’re making notes about your house, how many doors and windows it has. Carlos is taking photos on his phone. You should have heard what Julianne said about him winking at you! She’s so jealous! Carlos said he was only winking at you because he felt sorry for you. He’s so funny.”

  “I wouldn’t describe him that way,” Grace muttered as she put the cups on a tray. “And what a cheek, taking photos of my home!”

  Grace went into the living room and placed the tray on a table. “Help yourself to biscuits,” she said.

  Julianne’s hand shot out. Carlos grabbed it, frowned and shook his head. Julianne brought her hand back. She laughed, a little shakily this time, and said, “I really shouldn’t. Carlos likes his women to be curvy, not fat.”

  “I see,” Grace said. She sat down opposite the couple and picked up two biscuits. Abbie sat by her side. Grace took a moment to study Carlos. He was handsome in an obvious way, his thick dark hair was combed back, his dark eyes twinkled at her, his full lips twitched at the sides as if they were sharing a secret joke. Oh, there goes his winking eye again.

  Grace couldn’t resist. She pointed at him and said, “Have you got something wrong with your eye? I’ve some eye drops that might help.”

  Julianne gasped in shock. The twinkle in Carlos’ eyes was replaced by anger.

  Abbie tutted. “That was mean.”

  Julianne composed herself and put a big smile on her face. She looked the total opposite of Abbie with her shoulder-length blonde hair and fair complexion. Grace could see that she was pretty but her look was marred by the worry lines around her eyes. Why was she so worried? “Grace, may I call you Grace?” Julianne began. She didn’t wait for an answer as she continued. “We were pleased to get your call, we love helping people who are in financial difficulties. We are often their last hope!” Another forced laugh. “But we were also confused. We’ve checked your mortgage payments and we can’t see that you’re behind at all. We ...”

  Grace almost choked on her biscuit. “You’ve checked my payments! How have you managed to do that? How did you get my details?”

  In a cold voice Carlos said, “It’s standard procedure. Carry on, Julianne.”

  Grace highly doubted the truth of that but she didn’t want to argue with them now, she wanted to find out how their business was run. She said, “Oh, of course. You’d know more about that than me. The truth is ...” She put her biscuit down and moved forward on her seat. Julianne did the same. “The truth is that I have a terrible gambling problem. Bingo, the horses, poker. You name it, I’ve tried it. My debts have caught up with me and I won’t be able to pay the mortgage soon. I don’t want to lose my home. Can you help?”

  Carlos rubbed his hands together. Julianne smiled, glee in her eyes.

  Julianne said, “Of cou
rse we can help. We will buy your house and let you rent it from us at a ridiculously low figure. Its a win-win situation for us all!”

  “How wonderful,” Grace said. She’d been in touch with two estate agents that afternoon for a value on her house. “How much would you give me for the house?”

  Carlos moved closer, lowered his voice and said a figure that made Grace’s eyes almost pop out of her head.

  Chapter 18

  “The lying, cheating ...” Grace muttered to herself as she washed the pots up. Julianne and Carlos had left five minutes before. Julianne even had the cheek to produce a ready-made contract for Grace to sign. Grace had told her firmly that she needed time to think about it.

  Abbie sat on the counter top next to Grace and said, “What’s wrong with you? I thought you’d be pleased. You can see now that they’re not up to anything.”

  Grace put the scrubbing brush down. “That figure that Carlos gave me was less than forty per cent of the value. Forty per cent! It’s insulting.”

  “He did explain about the housing market being in a bad shape at the moment.”

  “Lies! All lies! I had a good chat with some estate agents today. Apparently, I live in a well sought-after place. I knew they were up to something! And they way he treats Julianne! So controlling.”

  Abbie frowned. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  Grace paused. Abbie probably didn’t know what she meant. She had been controlled by her good friend, Brooke, for years and hadn’t realised. Brooke and Carlos, they’d make a good couple. Grace narrowed her eyes. What if they were a couple? What if Abbie had found out about them? She could see either one of them mowing Abbie down without a second thought.

  Abbie moved closer. “What’s wrong? Your face is all scrunched up.”

  “Just thinking,” Grace replied. She wasn’t going to share her thoughts with Abbie. “What are we going to watch tonight?”

  Abbie settled on The Office. Grace would have liked to have done some online research but she wasn’t sure Abbie would appreciate her checking up on Julianne and Carlos again so soon.