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

“Sorry, we don’t have a comment at this time,” replied
Riley, closing the door in Matt’s face. Molly sat up straight in her chair, her
eyes a bit brighter than a few seconds before. She placed Harper on the floor
and smoothed her dress.

“Who was that?” she asked.

“Just a reporter.”

“I might get some fresh air,” she said, standing and running
her fingers through her long curls in an attempt to straighten them.

I caught my reflection in the window and knew I needed more
than my fingers to straighten my mess. The humidity had had its affect, and all
I had was a mass of frizz.

I watched as she ran her fingers under her lashes, removing
the imaginary excess mascara. Like I said, Molly was perfect, even her make-up
didn’t dare run. Silently, I watched her move to the back door and step into
the chaos.

Moving to the window, I looked out at Molly talking to the reporter.
It didn’t take long for her to start flicking her hair, a habit Molly had when
she was flirting.

“Oh my God! She’s chatting up that reporter!” I said to
Riley.

Riley seemed uninterested in what Molly was doing but he did
join me at the window. We stood together and watched as the police taped off
part of my yard, making a lot of notes as they went. My neighbors had given up
the pretense of gardening and were all peering over their fences, obviously
wondering what the crazy woman next door was up to this time. It was only when
the police knocked on the door that Riley and I moved away.

“Hello, I’m Constable Davidson,” said a young officer. “I
was hoping to take possession of the skull your little dog found.”

Shit.
In all that had happened this afternoon, I’d forgotten it
was still on my coffee table.

Riley led the way and I stood back and watched as the officer
placed the skull in a bag, and stepped out the front door. I thought of that
table and knew, even though it was the least of my worries, it had to go. It
was bad enough I had a skeleton in the back garden. I didn’t need the house
contaminated with it too.

I moved to the coffee table, grabbed the opposite end of it
and dragged it after the constable, stopping when it was out on the footpath.
Then I moved back into the house, up the two flights of stairs to my office and
got a sheet of A4 paper. I wrote
It’s
yours if you want it
in big letters with a marker pen, ran back outside and
taped it to the front of the table.

I turned to see Riley smiling at me. The world swayed once
again, but for a whole different reason this time. Even after months of Riley
and I being together, his smile still makes my world stand still.

He pulled me in close and kissed the top of my head.
“There’s not a disinfectant in the world that can kill skeleton cooties.”
Luckily for me, Riley understood my hang up with germs, especially after the
horrors I’d been through.

Thirty minutes later, the collection of official vehicles in
my driveway had lessened, and Molly finally stepped back into the house.

“Lizzie,” she called. “Would you mind coming here for a
moment, please?” Geez, she was being formal. I followed her voice and found her
standing just inside the back door with the reporter I recognized from the six
o’clock news. I noticed the dazed look in his deep brown eyes as he gazed at
Molly.

“Umm ... this is Matt.” She smiled. Matt looked around our
age with short sandy blonde hair that curled at his collar. He was a little
shorter than Riley and, as far as I could tell, had no muffin top hanging over
his waistband. The biggest surprise for me was the dazed look in Molly’s eyes
as she smiled up at him. “He would like to ask you a few questions,” she
explained.

“Oh, really?” I stuttered as a cameraman walked closer and
pointed his equipment at me. Yes, get your mind out of the gutter – it was his
camera. Even though he looked pretty sexy—so maybe I wouldn’t mind his other
equipment pointing at me—I shook my head, remembering Riley and how he had all
the equipment I’d ever need.

“Yes, if that’s okay?” Matt extended his hand for me to
shake.

My mind stuttered as the camera came closer.

“Um ... this is Sam, my cameraman. You don’t mind, do you,”
he asked uncertainly.

I looked at Molly as she mouthed
please
. “I ... I guess not,” I
answered quietly.

Matt dropped his hand and tried to pull his phone out his
pocket. His fingers caught on the seam of his jeans and he dropped his phone
onto the timber deck. He swore quietly as he bent to retrieve it but misjudged
how close he was to Molly.

As he stood, his head caught her elbow and caused her to
slop her now cold coffee all over her white designer dress. Geez, her dry
cleaner would be busy. She gasped and I waited for her to yell at him. Instead,
she simply smiled.

“I’m ... I’m so, so sorry,” he stammered, using the sleeve
of his shirt to wipe at her bodice. Only when he realized he was actually
rubbing her ample chest, did he stop. I looked at Sam and saw his smile from
behind the viewfinder. He’d caught the whole thing on camera.

Molly took Matt’s hand and gently moved it away, smiling as
she did so. “It’s okay. No biggie. It needed dry cleaning anyway.”

It was this reaction that made me realize Matt was the man
Molly had been telling me about
earlier, the new man she had her eye on. Well, judging by
the color of his cheeks, I thought he would fit in with our family very well.
Maybe he could even contribute to my book,
101
Ways to Embarrass Yourself
.

“Why are you so interested in this?” asked Riley, stepping
up behind me and putting a protective hand on my lower back.

“Oh ... well ... um, news is a bit slow in Westport today,”
explained Matt. “Plus not everybody digs up a whole skeleton in their back
garden.”

“A
whole
skeleton?” I asked. That was the first I’d heard exactly
what the police had found.

“Yes, they think so. I don’t think they have it all yet, but
the unusual thing about this skeleton is ... it has three hands.”

Chapter Two

I closed the door behind Molly, leaned against
it and sighed. Cat sauntered out. Who knows where he’d been hiding, but he
seemed to know exactly when Harper had left. I inherited the cat with the house,
and even though my pet owning history was bad, Cat seemed not to care. As long
as his bowl was full of food and he could stretch out on my comfy bed, all was
good in his world. We also both shared a dislike for my neighbor, Helen. Only he
could poop in her garden bed though.

Riley walked down the stairs towards me carrying my pillow.

“Are you ready?” he asked. You guessed it ... tonight we were sleeping
at his house. Riley owns a small converted church that backs on to the river. It
looks, smells and feels like Riley. I loved it. Since he was renovating my
house, we’d divided our sleeping arrangements between the two homes. This seemed
to work well, but personally I loved the nights at his house the most.

“Sure, just let me get Cat’s travel box and put him in it.”

“He’ll be okay here for the night, won’t he?”

“Maybe, but I don’t like the thought that whoever that body
belonged to may not have crossed to the other side. I’ve watched
Ghost Hunters
and I know exactly what
dead people are capable of.”

Riley sighed. “Lizzie, I don’t know much about dead bodies, but I
know enough to know that the one they dug up in your garden has been there a
very long time. He’s had plenty of time to walk to the light.”

“How do you know it’s a he?” I asked.

“I don’t. I guessed and I’ve got a fifty percent chance of being
right.” Riley flashed a smile.

“Fair enough, but if you’re wrong, I’ll make you pay for it later.”
I laughed, using Riley’s catch phrase on him. Making me ‘pay for things later’
was a favorite saying of his. And when he says ‘pay’ he doesn’t mean with
money. Personally, I try to
find
things that I will need to ‘pay for’ later.

Riley laughed. “It’s a bet.”

“I could always pay in advance—you know, just in case you’re right
and I’m wrong. I wouldn’t want to have a debt like that hanging over my head.”

Riley moved toward me and pulled me in close. His lips touched mine
and I felt the sizzle all the way to my toes. After a moment of skin-melting
body contact, I pulled up for air and tried to regain my senses. Truth is,
Riley has the ability to fry my brain. I have a secret fear that I’ll be
totally brain dead by the time I’m thirty-three, but damn it’ll be worth it. I
averted my gaze and refused to look into his eyes. If I did, I’d be a goner.

“Not here,” I breathed.

“What?” asked Riley, his lips moving their way down my neck.

“Not here. We have to wait until we get to your house.”

“Why?”

“In case the ghost is watching us. That would be creepy, don’t you
think?”

“Lizzie, there is no ghost,” explained Riley patiently, lifting the
collar of my dress and kissing my shoulder. “And beside, we’ve done it here
loads of times. If there is a ghost, he’s seen it all before.”

“But what if the ghost wasn’t here before? What if it’s been
watching and has seen its body uncovered and now it’s pissed off.”

Riley sighed and lifted his head. “You’re serious aren’t you?”

“Yes,” I said, happy my voice sounded a lot more resolute than I
felt. Looking into Riley’s brilliant blue eyes made me have second thoughts. I
heard him sigh once again, but thankfully he stepped away from me.

“Okay, here’s the plan. You get Cat and I’ll get his travel box. I’ll
meet you back here in one minute. If I speed and take the short cut, I can be
at my house in ten minutes. Then you’re all mine.”

* * *

After I dropped my pillow and Cat at Riley’s—and
paid him my debt,
of course—we headed over to Mum’s
for dinner. It was a tradition that every Friday night I would get together
with my siblings. Tonight however, Mum had moved Sunday dinner forward as Dad
was taking her out on Sunday for their anniversary. Honestly, this made me a
bit restless, as Dad wasn’t known to ever even have remembered their
anniversary, let alone take her to a nice restaurant, but who was I to question
the sudden change of heart.

In a previous life, Mum’s dining room was the bedroom Molly and I
shared growing up. Now, both the room and the table weren’t quite big enough as
our family grew, but somehow we all squeezed in. It’s just ‘elbows in’,
everyone. This worked well as long as you didn’t get the seat next to Grandma.

Today however, I had
that
privilege. I guess I couldn’t complain. The only reason we were
last to arrive was because of paying my debt to Riley and that was
more
than
worth it.

I looked around me. There were eight of us in total. Mum and Dad
sat at the opposite heads of the table, I had Grandma Mabel to my right and
Riley to my left. Opposite me was my brother Danny, who had Molly to his right
and his partner Andrew to his left.

In her younger days, Grandma Mabel had been quite beautiful with
long black curly hair and deep brown eyes. Danny, Molly and I all inherited her
dark curly hair and brown eyes, but only Danny truly got her free spirit. Thankfully
he has Andrew to keep him grounded.

I looked at Andrew. He was about seventeen years older than Danny,
graying at the temples and had started work on a very small muffin top. I knew
he worked hard to keep the weight off, as Danny resembled a walking skeleton,
but I guess age catches up with us all at some point.

Next to Danny, he was very conservative. Danny and Andrew were not
only life partners; they were also business partners, owning their own
hairdressing salon on River Road. Personally, I thought Andrew must actually be
some sort of saint.

“Hey Molly, Sexpo’s in town. I was wondering if you wanted to go?”
asked Danny looking hopefully at Molly, his eyebrows raised.

“Why don’t you go with Andrew?” she responded.

“He won’t go with me,” said Danny, sulkily. “He says I’m too
embarrassing.”

“You
are
too embarrassing!” commented Andrew.

“Well, excuse me if I just happen to show my enthusiasm!” snapped
Danny, turning his back on Andrew and giving his full attention to Molly. I
knew what Molly was thinking. She thought Danny was embarrassing too.

“Umm, I’m not really sure. I’m pretty busy with work at the
moment.”

“I’ll go!” piped up Grandma Mabel. “It’ll be great. I might learn a
few new things.” I felt Riley smile next to me. He loved Mable. He thought she
was a hoot.

I could see Danny mentally calculating how he could retract his
statement about going. “Oh ... well ... umm ...”

“Mum! Really!” chastised my mother, horrified.

“What?” asked Grandma.

“What would the ladies at Seniors’ group think?”

“They’d think it was great. In fact, I might see if I can get a
group of us to go. We could get all sorts of new toys. And maybe the men may
learn a thing or two,” she said, swishing her bottom teeth around.

I smiled as Danny eyes widened and he looked for the exits.

“Daniel, if you take your Grandmother to Sexpo I will stop making
you chocolate cake,” continued Mum. That was a threat we all took seriously. “And
you,” she said, turning towards Grandma, “you need to start acting your age!”

“Humph,” said Grandma, forking at her potatoes. “Sounds like you
should be the one going. It might loosen you up a bit.”

We all held our breath as we heard Mum suck in hers. Mum may be
small, but when she’s upset, it’s time to get out of her way and hide. I snuck
a look at Mum and saw her death-stare Grandma, deciding whether or not it was
worth the fight. After a few minutes of silence, she must have decided it
wasn’t.

“Lizzie, I need you to take your Grandmother to the doctor’s on
Monday,” she said, looking at me.

“I’d love to, Mum,” I replied, noting the forced calmness of her
voice. “But my car is in for a service. I won’t have any transport. Sorry. Maybe
Molly can take her?”

“Sure. Why not?” said Molly. “I can move work around to do that for
you, Mum. But Lizzie, you really should join us.” She looked at me, her smile
tight. “It’ll be nice spending time together.”

Spending time together, my ass. She just didn’t want to take Grandma
on her own. As I mentioned, Grandma is a bit of a wild card and I emphasize ‘wild’.
Grandma now lives with my mum and dad after she accidentally set the oven on
fire. She’d had only ever been married once in her life, and as far as we knew
had had a long, faithful marriage. However, since Grandpa had relocated to
somewhere beyond the Pearly Gates, Grandma seemed to be making up for lost
time.

“Great!” said Grandma, coming in on the end of our conversation. “You
can pick me up early and we can go shopping. I need a new dress.”

“Good. That’s sorted then,” said Mum, standing up and clearing the
plates as she went. Silently, we all helped her, too afraid to say anything
that may upset the peace. Only when dessert was served—sticky date pudding with
custard – yum!—did the tension in the room lift.

“What’s happening with your dead body?” asked Danny, looking at me.

“It’s not
my
dead body,” I responded, shivering.

“Possession is nine-tenths of the law ...” said Danny. “... Or
something like that anyway.”

“Tomorrow the police are bringing in a team of experts to dig up
the rest of the yard, looking for whatever’s left of it,” explained Riley. “They
believe it’s a whole skeleton, but the officer I spoke to this afternoon, is
hoping there’s only one.”

“Only one what?” I asked.

“Skeleton.”

“
What?
There could be
more
than one
?”
Okay, that thought maybe made me a little anxious.

“It’s okay, Lizzie. They’re only checking. I’m sure one is all you
have.” Riley put his hand on my thigh and gently rubbed it up and down. I know
it was supposed to calm me, but honestly it was much more distracting for
another reason. I swatted it away.

Riley smiled his very wicked smile. He knew the effect he had on
me.

* * *

Saturday dawned bright and sunny, which was in
complete opposition to my mood. I’d had another restless night. Since my run-in
with my stalker and his attempt to murder me, I’d had a lot of restless nights.
Only last night instead of dreaming about stalkers, I’d dreamt about dead
bodies and ghosts. Hence, this morning, I felt slow and sluggish.

Riley and I had completed the morning routine of teeth-cleaning etc.
and then made our way back to my house in May Street, where we found the police
vans already in place. I will admit to being a bit overwhelmed by the amount of
people it took to dig up my garden. At first I thought at least they were
saving me the job of digging the soil for the new garden beds, but when I saw
the bobcat moving the piles of discarded soil, I thought again. No garden bed
needed to be that deep.

I tried to distract myself and not think about what they were
finding, but it all became a bit difficult when the news cameras returned and
hundreds of people stood at my front fence, hoping to get a glimpse of what was
happening.

Riley did tell me there weren’t actually hundreds of people—more
like—but it felt like hundreds. I only hoped that when the
For Sale
sign went up, my house would be just as popular.

It was early afternoon when the police officer knocked on my door. I
let Riley open it, unsure as to whether or not I actually wanted to hear what
he had to say. It was only when Riley called my name that I reluctantly moved
into the kitchen.

He handed me a cup of coffee and pulled out the chair for me to sit
in. “Officer Helms would like to have a chat.” I looked at Officer Helms and
recognized him immediately. Not too many men were six foot tall and head-to-toe
gorgeous mocha skin. He was the policeman who had helped me when Joe Woods—aka
my stalker—had declared his love for me. At least this time my life wasn’t in
danger.

“Hi, Lizzie. It’s nice to see you again,” he smiled. I noticed how
white his teeth looked against his skin. I smiled back at him.

“Thank you, it’s nice to see you too.”

“We’ve finished digging your garden and you’ll be pleased to know
that we only found one skeleton.” There was that smile again.

“Umm... I guess I’d be happier if you actually found no skeletons,”
I replied.

I instantly felt bad when his smile faltered. “Well ... yes, of
course ... sorry.”

“Is it true you found three hands?” asked Riley.

“Yes, we did. At this stage we’re unsure as to why but we’ll
certainly be looking into it. I just wanted to inform you that you need to stay
out of the garden for the time being. No digging. In fact, we’ll be leaving the
tape up until we are sure that we have all the evidence we need.”