It Started With A House: Lizzie. Book 1 (The Westport Mysteries) (14 page)

After what felt
like an eternity, he whispered, “Do you love him, Lizzie?”

I felt my heart
miss a beat. I didn’t know what to say. Of course I didn’t love Scott. I
thought I did, but the last few weeks had proved wrong. What I wanted to say
was
No, I think I’m falling in love with
you,
but I knew I would never have the courage to say that. Before the
right words could form in my brain, the Heavens opened and rain poured down. Now
I don’t mean just a shower, I mean large, pelting drops that soaked us in a
matter of seconds. Squealing, I started to run back towards the car, Riley
close behind me. It was then I noticed the lone man, his face still hidden
under his hat, standing in the rain near Riley’s truck, watching us run towards
him. As we got closer, he turned his back and disappeared into a black sedan.

* * * *

On
the drive home, neither Riley nor I spoke. I thought if he asked again about
Scott, I would tell him the truth. At least, the part about me not loving Scott.
But maybe he meant nothing personal by it. It was probably just a simple
question about love, not the mammoth event I’d made it out to be. There weren’t
any signs of anything special happening between us. In fact he was just being
his normal self. Maybe it was just my imagination back there, listening to him
tell the story of his Gran and Grandpop and how they loved each other. With the
way I’d been feeling at Avis’s grave it was likely I’d projected the feelings
onto Riley I wanted to hear.

“Did you notice
the man standing alone at the Cemetery?” I asked to break the silence. “The one
wearing the long black coat?”

“Do you mean
the one who was praying when we were at Avis’s grave?”

“Yes. He was
watching us when we were over at your Pop’s site.”

Riley stopped
at a red light and looked over at me.

“Did you happen
to see where he went?”

“Yes, I saw him
get into a black sedan. No idea what type of car it was though, but it looked
very similar to one my neighbor has. You know, the one who always parks in
really inappropriate places?”

“Would that be
anything like the black sedan that’s been following us since we left the
cemetery?” Riley asked.

“What? Are you
kidding?” I looked at him, surprised but as I went to turn to look over my
shoulder, Riley reached out and touched my arm.

“Don’t look
back, I don’t want him to know we know he’s there.”

“Why would
anyone be following us?”

“I don’t know,
maybe it’s just a coincidence, but I think I’ll head into town for a while and
see if he follows us there.” Driving through town, Riley pulled in at the local
Kmart.

“Let’s go in
and see what happens,” Riley suggested, finding a parking spot. “Apart from
that, I’m hungry, so we can get something to eat.”

How could he be
hungry at a time like this? Someone was following us!

As we parked
the car, I had a discreet look to see where the black sedan went. It had
followed us into the shopping center car park but I tried to calm my nerves by
telling myself that could just be coincidental. I noticed Riley was a lot more
relaxed about this than I was. I’d never been followed before and didn’t know
the correct protocol or anything.

“What should I
do?” I asked, feeling a bit panicky.

“Just act
normal.” Riley looked at me and smiled.

Okay…normal. I could
do that.

“I need to
pee,” I said looking at Riley. Alright, normal wasn’t going to be as easy as I
at first thought it would be. Working our way through the shops, I found the loos
but hesitated before I went in.

“What?” asked
Riley.

“Will you be okay
out here on your own?”

“Yes, I’ll be
fine.” I could see him struggling to cover his smile.

“But what if he
sneaks up behind you and hits you with something?” I asked, my eyes darting
around everywhere. Personally, I’d had lost sight of the man in the car park. Shows
how good I was at this.

“I’ll be fine. I
think we may have lost him in the crowd.”

I breathed a
sigh of relief and walked into the loos.

Chapter
Fourteen

We
decided to grab some lunch and take the ring to the jeweler for a valuation. The
jeweler we chose had been around for a long time and was well respected in the
community. Mum and Dad had used him for years. I have memories of being here as
a child, looking at all the sparkly diamonds, totally awe struck. Not much had
changed apparently. I was still mesmerized by the diamonds.

As we walked in
I saw an older man, who I remembered to be the jeweler, Brian Hogan, behind the
counter serving a young couple, obviously looking for an engagement ring. The
total giveaway was the way they were standing, heads together, looking at each
other with love-struck eyes. Sighing, I took the time to have a good look
around. Riley wandered over to the watches, talking to someone on his phone,
but I found myself drawn to the rings. Within seconds I was hypnotized.

“Can I help
you?” asked a lady who appeared from a back room. She looked about my mum’s age
and was dressed fairly formally with a black skirt and a white blouse
 
buttoned all the way to the neck. I
assumed she was the jeweler’s wife, but I’d never seen her before.

“Oh, I was just
admiring these,” I said with a smile.

“They are
lovely, aren’t they?” She pulled out a tray of rings from the cabinet and placed
them in front of me. “Which one appeals to you the most?”

That was easy. “That
one,” I said pointing to the floating two-carat diamond in a solitaire setting.

Taking it out
of its case, she lifted my hand and placed it on my finger.

Wow
. The diamond was huge and the way it sparkled
in the light was breathtaking. I turned my hand around to make it sparkle even
more. Something about the lighting in a jeweler shop makes diamonds even more
alluring. I know I should have said no to her and never tried it on, but hey
some things are too hard to resist.

Riley, of
course, picked this moment to walk over to me. “Expensive taste I see.” He
smiled.

“I’m sure she’s
worth it,” the lady smiled at Riley.

Oh…she thought
we were together. Better set her straight. Taking the ring off, I placed it
back on the counter as Riley put his arm around my shoulder and smiled at me.

“Yes, she is.” Turning
to face him, I raised my eyebrows and saw the playful glint in his eyes.

“What we’re
really here for,” I said, turning back to the lady and elbowing Riley in the
ribs, “is to get a valuation on a ring we have.” Digging into my bag, I pulled
out the ring and handed it to her.

“Oh my, that is
beautiful, isn’t it,” she said picking up her little eyeglass and looking at it
through the magnifying lens. “It has our markings on it,” she muttered. Removing
the eyeglass she looked at me. “It was made by us. All the jewelry we make, we
mark,” she said showing us some very tiny markings on the inside of the band. “This
is quite old, I personally have never seen it before.” The jeweler behind the
counter had finished serving the lovebirds, so she called him over to us. “Brian,
these lovely young people would like to get a valuation on this ring.”

“Yes. Hello,
Elizabeth,” he greeted. I was quite surprised he remembered my name. It had
been many years since I’d been in this shop. “How is your mum? It’s been quite
a long time since I’ve seen her.”

“Oh, she’s
really good, thank you, Mr. Hogan. I’m actually quite shocked you remember me.”

“Well, your mother
and grandmother are quite memorable, if you don’t mind me saying,” he chuckled.

“Not at all. That’s
actually a very polite way of saying it.” I grinned back.

“Now, what do
you have here?” He took the ring from his wife and looked at it through the jeweler’s
glass.

“It looks quite
old. Have you ever seen it before, Brian?”

“It was more
than likely made by my father, but then again it could have been my
grandfather. It does look quite old. If you give me about an hour I can give it
a good clean and have a valuation certificate made up for you,” he said, placing
the ring back on the bench.

“Do you think
your father would remember who it was made for?” I asked getting a bit excited.

“I could ask
him, but I’m not sure if he will remember as he has made so many pieces over
the years. He’s quite elderly now and his memory isn’t what it used to be. But
I have to photograph it for the valuation certificate, so if you like, I can
show him the photo and see if he recalls anything,” he offered with a smile.

“If it’s not
too much trouble, that would be fantastic.” I smiled back at him. He reminded
me a lot of my dad with his kind eyes and gentle smile. “But don’t worry about
a valuation certificate, we only really needed an idea of the value. There’s a
bit of a story attached to the ring and we’re trying to track down the original
owner.” I quickly filled him in on the story so far, hoping that when he spoke
to his father someone may recall something useful.

“Oh, what a
sweet couple you two are,” smiled Mrs. Hogan. “Most people would sell the ring
and keep the money.” Brian looked at her and then back at the ring.

“Well, the
clarity of the diamond is exceptional and it’s made from platinum, not white
gold, so I would give you a rough estimate of about $10,000. Of course I would
need to weigh and measure it to give you an exact value.” Brian looked up. “It
has quite a unique band, so there’s a chance Dad may remember it.”

I knew Brian
was still talking but my mind was stuck on the $10,000 bit. Maybe returning it
wasn’t that important after all. I mean, I did buy the house and that meant
everything in it became mine, right? I looked at Riley to find him smiling at
me. I think he can read my mind sometimes.

After Brian
photographed the ring to show his father, I gave him my number and thanked him
for his time. Walking out of the Jeweler’s, Riley turned to me.

“I rang my
brother before about the man who was following us. If we see him again we need
to get a license plate number and he’ll run a check on it for us. He thinks it
was probably a coincidence though.”

“Yeah, I’ve
been wondering why anyone would want to follow us. I think the break in has
made me a bit paranoid.”

Working our way
back through the shopping plaza to the car, we passed a florist, so I made a
quick detour and bought a small bunch of flowers.

“Do you think
on the way home we could stop by the cemetery again? I didn’t feel right not
leaving anything for your Grandpop.”

****

After
an uneventful trip home, via the cemetery, I spent the rest of the day trying
to get some work done. I had a meeting in the city tomorrow with Scott and the
client to talk about how their financials were looking so far this year. I was
supposed to have had the figures to Scott yesterday, but hey, shit happens.

By sunset, I
had everything pretty much up to date. So I backed everything up, emailed the
figures to Scott and closed my laptop down for the night. Riley had left a few
hours earlier, so it was just me and Cat. I really needed to stop calling him
that and use his proper name, but habits are hard to break. Turning the TV on
in the lounge, I went into the kitchen to find what was left for dinner. A trip
to the supermarket would be advantageous but who had the inclination for that?

Finding some
left over spaghetti, I zapped it in the microwave and gave Cat some really
yummy cat biscuits. Well, at least according to the box they were yummy. It’s
not like I’d actually tasted them or anything.

I went back to
the lounge. My oversized armchair was probably big enough for two, but it was
perfect for me to spread out on. Which is exactly what I did. Ready for a bit
of TV time to catch up on my favourite shows, I put my feet up and relaxed. I
had to admit life wasn’t too bad at the moment. Sure the décor of the room was
pretty awful but progress was being made. If I could just keep Riley around
long enough to finish the whole house, I’d be set.

About half an
hour and quite a bit of channel surfing
later, I came
across a local current affairs show doing a story on the Global Ministry. I
thought of Grandma Mabel and how she’d
 
enjoyed her day there, so I turned up the volume on the TV and
listened. It was just a human-interest piece about the family who ran the
church but proved to be quite interesting.

Apparently
Grandma was right when she said the grandfather of the present minister had
started it. He’d had two children—a girl named Mina and a boy Charles. The
grandson, David Thornton was the present minister. Even though it was his
father, Charles who had made the church what is was today, David had continued
to help the congregation grow. Not much was said about Charles’ sister, only
that she’d married and had a child, and that she kept pretty much
to herself, never in the public eye like her brother. Not everyone was cut
out for that kind of attention, I supposed.

The story
continued to show footage of the Sunday Services they held and there was a lot
of singing and arm waving. I think my Sunday school training had made me a bit
more of a traditional girl, even though I rarely stepped foot inside a church
anymore. I know I should go more often than once a year at Christmas time, but
Mum always told me you could pray behind a bus stop so that was more my kind of
scene, speaking to God in a more relaxed setting. When it was over I did a bit
more channel surfing and found a rerun of Big Bang Theory, so I sat back for a
few hours of laughter.

It was midnight
when I found myself asleep in the chair, now covered with a blanket and the
television off.

* * * *

Riley
was waiting for me when I got out the shower the following morning.

“I wondered if
you would mind if I gave my brother Jared a look at the ring and the letters. I
thought he might be able to track a few things down for us,
him b
eing a detective,” he said.

“Yeah, sure. They’re
still in my bag from yesterday,” I said walking down the stairs. Reaching the
kitchen, I grabbed my bag and pulled out everything Riley needed. I decided to
keep the photo, though. I didn’t think it would be much use to him.

“Are you still
going into the city for your meeting today?” Riley asked, once we’d both had a
cup of coffee.

“Yeah, my
meeting’s at eleven thirty but I should be there a bit earlier so I can go over
some notes with Scott.” This was always the plan but rarely did I ever get
there early.

“Did you want
to get a lift in with me? I’m meeting Jared at twelve so I could drop you first
and then meet him at the station after that,” Riley asked.

Now that’s a
hard one, I thought. I could make the boring trip into the city by myself or
spend half an hour or so with Riley.

“Sounds good. What
time are we leaving?” I smiled.

* * * *

With
Riley driving I should be at my meeting with plenty of time to spare but today,
we kept being stopped by roadwork. By the time Riley dropped me off, I was
running late. Damn and double damn. Scott of course, was waiting.

“You’re late,
Elizabeth,” he said, stating what I already knew. He walked over to me and kissed
me on the cheek. Lucky for me, the client was also running late, so I was being
let off without a lecture.

“You only just
made it. I believe Mr. Thompson is in the lobby waiting,” said Scott, frowning.

“Where’s
Brenda?” I asked, ignoring his disapproving look. “I didn’t see her at her
desk.”

“She’s not
feeling very well today, so I gave her the day off,” he said walking to the
other side of his desk and sitting down. “I thought after this meeting, maybe I
would take the rest of the day off and we could spend some time together.”

“That would be
nice. I haven’t seen much of you lately.” I couldn’t say anymore as there was a
knock at the door and Mr. Thompson was escorted in by the office junior.

The meeting
took a bit over an hour and the client seemed happy with how things were
progressing, so Scott was in a particularly good mood when we headed out to
lunch. As we walked towards the restaurant I filled him in on all that had been
happening with the
Will Hunt
as I was
calling it.

“I think you
are making too much out of this, Elizabeth. I mean really, it all sounds like a
coincidence to me,” said Scott, as we walked side by side. Saying it all out
loud in broad daylight had me questioning it as well. It all sounded a bit
far-fetched. Things like this just didn’t happen in everyday life.

After lunch I
talked Scott into a walk around the park. As he still thought I should lose a
bit of weight and I had consumed a whole piece of mud cake with lunch—yes,
it was delicious and worth every calorie—he didn’t hesitate in agreeing.

After a few
minutes in the park itself, it was easy to forget you were actually in the city.
It was so beautiful here. It was pretty busy though, as many people tried to
enjoy their lunch break away from their offices. Scott seemed pretty relaxed as
we walked, so I decided to bring up our last meeting in the sandwich shop.