Give Murder A Hand: Lizzie. Book 2 (The Westport Mysteries) (8 page)

“Really?” I said, dropping my fork onto my plate. “You wanted to
catch up with her?”

“Of course not, I was just being polite. You know, it’s just a
phrase like ‘how are you?’, ‘what’s happening?’ I didn’t really want to know.”

“
How are you
is a lot
different to asking someone to catch up sometime.” The jealousy monster reared
its ugly head.

“It’s nothing to worry about, Lizzie,” said Anna, defending her
oldest son. “Riley didn’t mean any harm.”

“Well, I know I wouldn’t be happy about it if Jared had said that
to an old girlfriend,” added Shelly, giving me some back up.

Jared shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“You wouldn’t actually say that to one of them would you?” she
asked, turning to him.

“I’m with Riley on this one,” he said. Looks like the Thomas’ stick
together. “It’s not like he’s going to date her again or anything. I mean the
only thing I ever really liked about Allison was her legs. She had the most
amazing long legs.” Jared flashed Riley a smile.

“You noticed that, did you?” asked Riley, smiling broadly. “You
know it’s not polite to check out your brother’s girlfriend?”

“Yeah, I know, but you have to admit they were pretty magnificent
legs.” Shelly punched Jared in the arm.

Riley laughed.

I sat there watching the banter between brothers and felt
invisible.

“How did
you enjoy the salmon quiche, Lizzie?” asked Anna, smiling at her boys, and then
changing the subject. “I’m happy to give you the recipe if you’d like it.”

“Um ... it was lovely, thank you,” I lied. I’d actually passed it
to Riley when nobody was looking. “It was ... umm...very tasty. Delicious,” I
added, hoping she would forget that comment and never ever cook it for me
again. I refused to meet Riley’s eye, but I could feel his mega-watt smile from
here.

“Have some more,” she added. “There’s a lot left. Riley, pass the
plate to Lizzie will you?”

“Sure.” Riley reached across the table and picked up the quiche
dish. Putting it in front of me he asked, “How much would you like?”

I met his eye and felt my face flush. “Oh no, thank you. I’m full. Thanks
anyway.”

“You can’t be full,” he added. “You hardly had any.” His smile was
at full wattage. Bastard.

“No really. I’ve had plenty, thank you.”

He put the plate down. “Okay. We’ll ask for leftovers. Maybe you’d
like it for lunch tomorrow?” I glared at him. He’d pay for that later and when
I say pay for that later, I didn’t mean the same thing he meant when he said
it. In fact I meant the exact opposite. His smile faltered slightly. “On second
thoughts, maybe Jared should have it. It’s his favorite and I wouldn’t want to
deprive him.”

* * *

After dinner, Jared and I cleared the table as Mia
was unsettled and only wanted her mum. Anna had offered to help, but Jared had
insisted he’d do it. Mal and Riley were deep in conversation about a job Riley
had put a tender in for, so Jared and I collected all the plates and moved to
the kitchen. I placed my pile in the sink and turned the water on to rinse
them.

“I’ll let you pack the dishwasher,” I said to Jared.

“Sure, I’m a pro at it anyway. Years of practice.” Jared ran his
fingers through his hair and moved awkwardly next to me at the sink, his
mannerisms identical to Riley’s.

I looked at their resemblance and smiled. Jared had the same blond
hair and toned body Riley had, but he was slightly shorter and had slightly
less vibrant eyes. He was still drop-dead gorgeous though. I sighed thinking
how I really needed to take better care of myself. If I still wanted to be with
Riley when I was old I needed to do something fast. I’ve seen my genetic
heritage and let me tell you Grandma is so wrinkly she reminds me of a Shar Pei.

“Hey Lizzie, I just wanted to say sorry for my comments about
Allison earlier. Shelly told me it was a bit insensitive.” My stomach jumped at
Allison’s name.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m not bothered,” I lied. I could hardly
tell Jared how insecure I felt next to Allison.

“She was never suited to Riley anyway. Not like you are.”

I smiled at Jared’s attempt to make me feel better. “Really it’s
okay. You don’t need to say anything.”

“But it’s true. I’ve never known Riley to be so contented and happy
as he is with you.”

I stopped what I was doing and looked at Jared. “Do you mean that
or are you just trying to be nice?” I asked. The truth was, earlier he had been
insensitive but I really liked Jared.

“I mean it. If you believe in soul mates, I think you’re his.”

Okay, Jared was forgiven for this and every other thing he may do
to me in his lifetime.

“Thanks,” I said unable to hide my smile. We worked silently
together for a few minutes.

“I was thinking also about that skeleton they pulled out of your
garden. Do you want me to look into for you?”

“I’d love you to, but Riley wants me to stay out of it.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I want to know who it belonged to and why it was there. I know it
happened years before I was born, but I’m still curious.”

“I’ll see what I can find out about it. Who was the local officer
who did the initial investigation?”

“The only one that I know by name is Ed Helms. He seems really nice
and helpful. He gave me his number in case I needed it. I can give it to you if
you like?” I added.

“I’ll just call the station.”

“No worries, but if you need it, he gave me his personal number as
well.”

Jared stopped and looked down at me. “Wow, does Riley know this guy
is interested in you?”

“What?”

“We only ever give out our personal numbers to people we find
interesting. I’d say Officer Ed Helms has his eye on you.”

“Don’t be stupid, Jared. He knows I’m with Riley.”

“Doesn’t stop a man trying though, does it?”

I sighed. I certainly hoped it did. I did not need any more
complications in my life.

* * *

Thankfully we got out of there without me
embarrassing myself. I came close when I went to kiss Mal on the cheek but
didn’t know what cheek to go for. He seemed undecided also, and I ended up
planting a kiss smack bang on his lips. Nobody else seemed to notice so we both
gave a small laugh and pretended it never happened.

I closed the door on Riley’s truck and clicked my seatbelt into
place. As he closed his door he looked at me and smiled.

“So are you always going to kiss my dad like that or was this a
special occasion?”

Damn. I’d almost gotten away with it. “It was a special occasion,”
I replied.

“For future reference Dad always goes for the right cheek.”

Riley laughed as he turned the truck around and headed for home. We
sat in comfortable silence for most of the trip, my mind going over the earlier
conversation about Allison and how Anna had given her Riley’s number.

“How come you didn’t tell me you were talking to Allison?” I asked
eventually.

“She only phoned once. She was checking up on you, wanting to know
when you were going to go back and see her. She’s gone over your test and has
the results.”

“Oh.” I looked out the side window at the streetlights flashing as
we passed. Riley shifted in his seat.

“If you’re not comfortable seeing her we can find someone else for
you,” he said.

I turned to face him, relief flooding through me.

“You wouldn’t mind?”

“Of course I wouldn’t mind, but I did check around and Mum’s right,
she’s very good at what she does. I want you to see the best, Lizzie.” Riley
reached out and took my hand in his. I looked into his face and felt my heart
squeeze. I knew he only wanted the best for me.

Chapter Eight

The following morning dawned overcast and
stormy but thankfully the rain held off as Riley and I made it back to my house
ready for another day of work.

I had my follow-up appointment with Allison today and I had put
extra effort into my appearance. Molly had dropped a carefully selected dress
from her wardrobe to me on her way to work. It was pale blue and fitted,
skimming my knee and showing just enough cleavage to be classy. I paired it
with my low strappy heels and added an extra layer of mascara. And with the
miracle of a GHD my hair fell in soft, silky layers around my face and down my
back. The last thing I needed was for it to rain, whereby my beautiful swishy
hair would swell and frizz, and once again become an unruly mess. I groaned as
I opened my back door and stepped outside, looking up at the clouds that seemed
to be getting darker by the minute.

I moved to the table, put my coffee down on it and sighed, dread
sitting heavily in my stomach. Cat jumped up onto the deck and sat at my feet. I’d
thought about leaving him at Riley’s today, but I knew he preferred it here
where he could roam outside safely and poop in my neighbor Helen’s flowerbeds. That
was something I should somehow stop him doing, but seriously how do you stop a
cat doing anything it wants ... especially when the cat in question was old and
slightly cantankerous.

I crouched down and stroked his back as he purred and rubbed
himself against me. This lasted all of five seconds, when he suddenly turned,
scratched my leg with his claws and took off across the garden towards the old
garage. What the hell he did in there had me beat.

“Ow!” I cried, looking at the blood appearing on my leg. “What was
that for?”

“Sorry, Lizzie. What did I do?” I looked up to see Bradley standing
on the grass, frowning at me. I hadn’t even heard him turn up.

“Oh, hi Bradley, sorry I wasn’t talking to you.” He was followed by
a group of what appeared to be Japanese tourists. “Not your usual group of
senior citizens,” I commented, nodding towards them.

Bradley grinned, his schoolboy like face lighting up. “Yeah, they
all turned up this morning wanting to see your house. Apparently you’re on the
Internet. I haven’t had time to check it out yet, but I will later today. I
hadn’t actually thought to advertise through YouTube, but it’s probably
something I should look into.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

He looked perplexed. “No. Why would I kid about that?”

“How many stops do you actually have on this tour?” I asked.

“Ummm ... a few.”

“Maybe I should book Grandma Mabel on it.”

“Oh, old George would love that. I think he has a crush on you, you
know.” Bradley grinned.

“You’re sick.”

“I’m serious!” said Bradley, laughing. “He’s already been on this
tour three times.”

“Three times?” I asked incredulously. Bradley nodded. “I knew I’d
seen George here before.”

“He’s booked again to come tomorrow. I’m not sure if he’ll turn up
now that he’s got your grannie’s phone number though. He can probably get
closer to you through her.” Bradley thought he was hilarious. Humph.

“You should really feed your tourists before you start your tour,”
I commented. We looked around at the group. The leader had a loaf of Turkish
bread she was tearing apart and handing out to the group. Her helper walked
behind her with a jar of peanut butter and a knife, allowing whoever wanted
some to spread as much as they wanted onto their bread. A second helper was
doing the same but she was offering strawberry jam.

“I guess they missed breakfast,” shrugged Bradley.

I smiled and left Bradley to go back to his group, but instead of
going inside the house, I sat quietly and listened to his spiel.

“Okay folks, gather round,” he called.

The head of the group must also have been the translator as she
immediately started to call to the group in Japanese. Seconds later they all
gathered around Bradley.

He straightened his jacket and smiled. “Well, as you know this site
is of great interest to the town of Westport after a sixty-five-year-old
skeleton was dug up from this very spot. The reason why it was there is still
unknown, but a source told me that it could belong to a missing person from
1949 ...”

Really?
How come Bradley could get this kind of information? I made a note
to ask him as soon as the tour was over.

“ ... and that’s about all we know so far, but make sure to keep up
to date with the investigations via my YouTube video diary I’ll be starting
today. I’ll be checking in daily with all the latest information.”

Applause broke out as Bradley beamed back at his group. I added
check Bradleys’ video diary
to my To Do
list.

“Feel free to wander around the site and take as many photo’s as
you like. And for anyone who may be interested the owner of the house, Lizzie
is with us today.” Bradley waved in my direction.

Shit.

The group turned towards me and lifted their cameras. As the sound
of nineteen digital SLR’s clicked I had no choice but to smile and wave. Bloody
Bradley.

“Would anyone like to ask Lizzie any questions?” he asked.

Immediately all nineteen group members shouted in Japanese. By the
time all nineteen members had asked me their questions (seriously every single
one of them pretty much asked the same thing – when will they see it dance?
What the ... ?)
and the leader of the
group had translated the questions and the answers, I tried to signal Bradley
that I wanted to ask
him
a question, but
I had to wait. Everyone wanted a photo with me. I sighed. I was going to be
very late for my appointment with Allison.

When my face started to hurt from all the smiling (actually it was
quite fun) I grabbed Bradley by the arm.

“I want to talk to you,” I hissed.

“I’m sorry, Lizzie. It just kind of popped out of my mouth.”

“What did?”

“Telling the group that you were there and did they want to ask you
a question.” Bradley looked at me with his big eyes reminding me of a scared
puppy.

“Oh, well that’s something else I wanted to talk to you about,” I
said remembering to add that to the list. “First off, I want to know your
source.”

“My what?”

“Your source. You know, the person who gave you the info about the
missing person?”

“Oh yeah, well sorry Lizzie, but I can’t tell you. That’s
confidential information.”

“Confidential, my ass. Tell me who it was, or I’ll have Riley ban
you from my property.” I crossed my arms over my chest in a don’t-mess-with-me
stance I’d learned from Grandma.

Bradley’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down at the sound of Riley’s
name. Honestly, Riley wouldn’t hurt a soul but Bradley didn’t need to know
that.

“Lizzie, I want to tell you, I really do. But if word gets around
I’ve blabbed, who’s going to tell me the gossip anymore?”

“The tourists won’t like only being able to see this site from the
road, will they?”

It was Bradley’s turn to sigh.

“You’re a hard woman, Lizzie Fuller.”

I smiled. He was so easy to manipulate.

Bradley leaned in close and whispered in my ear. Seriously, what
was this?

“It was an old man in the pub. He told me he remembered a person
going missing in 1949 and he believed there was something fishy going on over
here at the time. I worked it out and that’s about the time that the bones were
buried.” Bradley stopped and looked at me.

“And?”

“And that’s it.”

“Who was this old man?”

“I think his name was Bob. Or something like that anyway.”

“Bob?”

“Yep, Bob.”

I sighed. “Bob who?”

“Just Bob.”

“Which pub was he at?”

“Grinning Dog on Elm Street near the dance hall.”

“What did Bob look like?”

“Old.

“Bradley!”

“Okay, okay, don’t yell. The tourists are looking. He was old, sort
of short, bald head, but he wore a turtleneck. I thought that was kind of odd. I
mean the temperature’s in the high thirties and there he is in a turtleneck. Poor
guy must have been boiling. I asked him about it and he said he had some
scarring and didn’t like people to see it, so he kept it covered.” Bradley
shrugged. “That’s it. That’s all I know.”

“Thanks.”

“So you won’t talk to Riley?”

“Not for the moment.”

Bradley shook his head and turned back to his group, his shoulders
sagging.

I looked at my watch and realized I was now
very
late for my appointment with Allison. Shit. I ran to my Mini
and hoped Riley didn’t hear the motor and check the time, and if he did, I
hoped he would have forgotten about it by the time that I got back.

* * *

By the time I reached Allison’s office, I had
missed my appointment altogether. She was just finishing up a phone call as I
walked in. She looked up at me and waved for me to take a seat.

“Okay ... no, it was fantastic talking you ... yes, I will ...” She
giggled, obviously flirting. I wondered who she was talking to.

I watched her as she spoke, casually tucking a stray hair behind
her ear as she did so. Today she was wearing a dress in the same shade of blue
as I was. It was very similar to the one I was wearing, but hers looked a hell
of a lot more stylish on her than mine did on me. I ran my fingers through my hair
and attempted to smooth the frizzies that popped up.

“You have an awesome afternoon won’t you ... okay, bye!” Allison
finished the call, and put the phone back into place on the desk, her smile
huge, showing her perfectly straight teeth. She turned to me.

“Lizzie, did you forget your appointment?” She laughed lightly.

“Umm, no I just got held up. Sorry.”

“That’s okay. I was just talking to Riley and told him that even
though I couldn’t fit you in for another appointment, I would take you out to
lunch. We may not be able to get too personal, but at least we can get to know
each other. On a friendly basis.”

I felt the saliva in my mouth dry up. “You ... you were speaking to
Riley?”

“Yes, I was worried when you didn’t turn up. I thought he would
know where you were. You don’t mind that I called him do you?”

“No. Why would I mind?” I smiled.
Of course I bloody mind!

“That’s good. Some women might feel threatened by an ex-girlfriend,
but I assure you that you have nothing to worry about. I can tell how much he
loves you just by looking at him.”

I felt myself relax slightly. Of course Riley loved me, and I had
absolutely no reason to doubt that.

“Now, there’s a little family-run cafe just down the road from here
that makes the yummiest food. I thought we could go there for lunch. My treat,”
she continued.

Before I had the chance to respond, she picked up her handbag,
walked to the door, and turned the sign to closed. She then opened it and
waited for me to walk out first.

“We’ll take my car. It’s parked just over there.”

I looked at where she pointed, and saw the sleek silver Mercedes
parked in the shade under a tree. The car reminded me of the one my ex–boyfriend,
Scott drove. It’s funny, but Allison made me feel the exact same way Scott had
– stupid and insignificant—even though I couldn’t pin point why. She was being
nice enough to me. Maybe it was just my own insecurities and jealousy making me
feel that way. I decided I should give her the benefit of the doubt and
followed her to the car, her heels clicking on the cement as we went.

As she beeped the doors open, I got in the passenger side. “New
car?” I asked, trying to be friendly.

“I’ve had it two months. It’s nice isn’t it?” she asked, without
any pretention.

“It’s gorgeous.” I shuffled on the seat trying to get my skirt
under me as the leather felt quite warm against my legs.
Broomph
.

Allison giggled.

I felt the heat flush my face. “Oh um ... that was my leg on the
seat,” I explained.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to explain. It’s just us girls, no one
has to know.”

“But I didn’t ... you know?” How did you say that to someone who
you were insecure around? Do you say ‘fart’ or do you say ‘pass wind’?

“Honestly, it’s okay Lizzie,” said Allison, winding her window
down. I groaned and sank into my seat.

The café she selected was only a five-minute drive away but as it
started to rain, I was grateful we were driving and not walking. As she pulled
into a car park, I tried to judge how far away the door to the café was and thought
if I ran, I’d be able to make it without getting my hair too wet. I waited for
Allison to get out first and then made a run for it. She gracefully opened her
umbrella and followed me across the road, dodging puddles as she went.