A Deadly Lesson (Storage Ghost Murders Book 5) (12 page)

Chapter 29

Dorothy’s
whole demeanour changed. It was like someone had switched a light on. She sat
up straighter, turned to Grace and beamed at her. “I knew you’d come! I knew
it! I told everyone but they just wouldn’t listen, not even my lovely Derek
here! Grace! At last!”

Dorothy
moved her hands from under Derek’s and grabbed Grace’s hands tightly.

Grace
frowned. “I don’t understand, have we met before?”

Derek
said, “After Abbie died, Dorothy ...”

Dorothy
burst out, “She was murdered! How many more times do I have to tell you!”

Derek’s
head dropped. “I’m sorry, I can’t accept that, you know I can’t. No one would
murder my little girl.”

Dorothy
gave him a sympathetic look. “You’re still not ready for the truth. Why don’t
you get us a cup of tea, and some of that cake before old Linda over there
gobbles it up. Let me talk to Grace.”

“Cake?
You haven’t eaten cake for ages,” Derek said with a smile. “Of course I’ll get
some.” He stood up and made to walk away.

Dorothy
added, “Take your time, I’ve got a lot to say to Grace.”

Derek
gave her a cheery nod and walked away.

When
he was out of ear shot Dorothy looked at Grace and grinned. It transformed her,
the years seemed to melt away. Abbie sat down at her mum’s side and smiled at
her. “She looks more like Mum now, even with all those new wrinkles and white
hair.”

Dorothy
released Grace’s hands and said, “After Abbie was murdered I was consumed with
grief, I couldn’t eat or sleep. I kept hoping I’d get a sign from Abbie to say
she was okay in whatever afterlife people go to. Sorry, I must sound quite
mad.”

“Not
at all,” Grace interjected.

“I
started to visit psychics, I spent so much money on them! Some of them were
useless but a few were good, they told me the same thing. They told me I had to
wait for Grace. At first, I thought they meant grace, as accepting what had
happened to Abbie and coming to terms with it, but then one psychic said it was
a woman called Grace. He said she was special and that she would help me.”

Grace’s
heart missed a beat. “And you think this Grace is me?”

Dorothy
gave her a knowing smile. “Of course it is. You know that, don’t you? You’re
the one who can see ghosts, aren’t you?”

Grace
stared at Dorothy. After a moment she managed to say, “How do you know that? No
one knows that.”

Dorothy
turned slightly to her side, her smile grew. “You’ve brought my Abbie with you.
I can see a shimmering form at my side, I can just about make out that purple
top that she was wearing on the night of her party. The last psychic I spoke to
said you helped ghosts who had been murdered, he knew you’d find Abbie. Oh! I
can’t believe you’re here! I’m so happy to see you!”

“I
still don’t understand. If you knew I was on my way to help then why ... sorry,
but why are you in this home? Didn’t you tell your family about what the
psychic had told you?”

“Ha!
I certainly did. They nodded in that way that people do, like they’re humouring
you. They must have thought I’d get over whatever nonsense was going on in my
mind. But they didn’t understand at all when I started looking for anyone
called Grace.” She chuckled. “I looked on the Internet, in the phone book, even
on those social things online. Looking back now I can see I must have looked
mad, trying to contact everyone I could find called Grace. I forgot to eat and
sleep in my quest to find you. Poor Derek, I must have driven him crazy.”

Abbie
put her arm around Dorothy and said, “Poor Mum.”

Dorothy’s
eyebrows rose. “Is that Abbie? I’ve gone all warm down my back, like someone’s
put a blanket there.”

Grace
nodded. “She’s giving you a hug. Whose decision was it to put you in here?”

Dorothy’s
eyes narrowed, her smile died. “It was that evil snake, Carlos. I heard him
talking to Derek about me, heard him convincing him and Julianne to put me in
here. I disliked him the second I saw him. I saw the way he treated Julianne,
and I saw the way he looked at Abbie. Goodness knows why Julianne brought him
back from Spain, she usually brings perfume back.”

Abbie
giggled and pressed her head against her mum’s. Dorothy suddenly smiled and
said, “That feels nice. Anyway, we’ll talk about that evil cockroach in a
minute. I spent years looking for you. When my family put me in here I decided
to wait for you, I knew you’d turn up. I feel like I’ve been in a trance
waiting for you. Poor Derek, I can’t be much company for him. By the way, did
you recognise the song I was humming? I was singing it for you.”

Grace
shook her head. Dorothy smiled and then began to hum. Grace felt a shiver start
at the top of her head and trickle slowly down her body.

Dorothy
was humming - ‘Amazing Grace’.

Tears
escaped from Grace’s eyes. “I can’t believe it, it’s so sad. You’ve been
waiting for me for so long. I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner.”

Dorothy
patted her hand. “It’s okay. You weren’t ready before. The psychic that I spoke
to explained everything to me, he said you needed a few years to develop your
skill. He told me about what would happen with your parents. I’m so sorry to
hear about that, Grace, it’s a terrible thing for you to go through.”

Fresh
tears flowed down Grace’s cheeks. “Thank you, and I’m sorry about Abbie.”

Dorothy
sat back in her chair, released Grace’s hands, and gave her a big smile. “It’s
in the past, we can’t do anything about that now, but we can catch the
murderer. Let’s get down to business. Tell me everything you know about my
Abbie and the night she was murdered, don’t leave anything out. Then I’ll tell
you what I know.” She paused and looked to the side where Abbie was. “And I’ll
tell you Abbie’s secret.”

Chapter 30

It
was a relief to talk to someone about Abbie, someone who knew she could see ghosts.
Grace didn’t leave anything out, including Last Hope Repossessions.

Dorothy
listened intently and asked the occasional question.

Derek
returned at one point with a tray full of tea things. Dorothy waved him away,
“Give us a bit longer, we’ve nearly done. Then you and I need to talk.”

Derek
gave her a fond look, nodded his head and ambled away.

Grace
said, “He looks happier.”

Dorothy
sighed. “It’s probably because I’m acting my normal self again. I should have
tried harder to make him understand what I was feeling. But that damned Carlos!
Always getting in our way, always taking Derek to one side for a quiet word. It
doesn’t surprise me at all that he’s involved in a scam. Oh! Those poor people
that he’s taken in! He needs to be stopped. I know you think Julianne’s
involved but I’m not sure she knows the full extent of what’s going on. And as
for Brooke McIntosh!” Dorothy took a deep breath and looked out of the window
as if to control herself. When she looked back at Grace she was startled to see
the hate in Dorothy’s eyes. “I rue the day that my Abbie met that evil girl.
I’m convinced that some people are born evil and nothing you can do can change
them. That Brooke told Abbie all sorts of lies, saying that Derek and I didn’t
want her, that we preferred Julianne because she was prettier. I told Abbie
over and over again how much we loved her, but she never seemed to believe me.
I tried to make Brooke welcome at our house, but I could see the greed and
jealousy in her eyes. She often borrowed Abbie’s things and never returned
them. As soon as Abbie wanted driving lessons, Brooke did too!”

“Please
don’t get yourself in a state,” Grace said. “I know what kind of a person
Brooke is, and Abbie does too now. How long do you think Brooke and Carlos have
been together? Do you think Julianne knows?”

Dorothy
made a clicking sound with her tongue. “It wouldn’t surprise me if that
scheming madam had been after Carlos since the minute she met him. And she’s
got something that’s attractive to Carlos – money, lots of money.” She
sighed. “Julianne most likely has her suspicions. She needs to get away from
Carlos, but she’s in love with him, she’s blind to common sense. I’ll have to
speak to Derek, he has to do something!”

“Can
you tell me about Ethan?” Grace asked.

The
look of frustration was replaced with delight. “Lovely boy! So polite, so
caring. He adored Abbie, it was plain to see. Brooke hated him, she hated
anyone who took Abbie away from her, but she had a special hate for Ethan.
Whenever she thought Abbie wasn’t looking she’d bat those ridiculous eyelashes
at him. Bless him, he always politely turned her down. Abbie was a different
person when she was around Ethan.” She shot a look to where Abbie was. “If
you’re still there, young lady, I don’t approve of the language you used when
you were with Brooke. You didn’t have to impress her, to get her to like you
more.”

“Sorry,
Mum,” Abbie mumbled.

Dorothy
continued, “We encouraged Ethan to come round to our house more. He even took
Abbie out on driving lessons when Derek didn’t have the time. Derek was happy
to let Ethan borrow his car. In fact, Ethan borrowed it on the night of Abbie’s
party. He’d forgotten her present and was so upset that Derek insisted he use
his car to nip home and get it.”

A
cold feeling went through Grace. She said, “What time was that?”

Dorothy
thought for a moment. “It wasn’t long before Abbie left. Everyone seemed to be
leaving for one reason and another. Carlos left, and then shortly afterwards,
Brooke left. They both had a sneaky look on their faces. I saw them, I thought
they’re probably meeting up somewhere for a bit of slap and tickle.”

Grace
would have smiled at the old-fashioned phrase if she wasn’t having a dreadful
thought. She said, “I told you that I looked at the CCTV footage on the night
of the party. I saw you go to the door. You paused, and then you screamed. What
did you see?”

Dorothy
deflated and looked down at her hands. She looked back up and said, “I saw
Abbie running out into the road. I was about to shout out, ‘Stop! There’s a car
coming!’ I could hear a car, you see, it sounded like it was driving fast. I
saw Abbie look towards the car, she froze. The car slowed down, it was obvious
that the driver had seen her. Relief washed through me and I thought, that was
a close shave. Abbie looked at the driver, she smiled and raised her hand in
greeting. Then ...” Dorothy gulped and looked away. Grace placed her hand on
top of hers. Dorothy gave her a grateful smile. “You know what happened next,
you saw it in that vision thing. But to watch it from the door was horrifying.
The car revved up and then shot forward, Abbie was flung up like a rag doll. I
heard the sickening noise as she landed on the road. That dreadful car sped
away.”

“Did
you recognise the car?”

A
tear ran down Dorothy’s cheek. “No, I wish I had. I’ve replayed the event over
and over in my mind. It was dark and I was focused on Abbie. All I know is that
it was a smaller car, not one of those big estate cars, or those huge four
wheeler ones. But lots of people have those. I know Brooke and Julianne do, and
Derek has one but he was at the bar getting a drink when Abbie died. His car
was ... oh! Ethan! Ethan borrowed his car!”

That
was the thought that was troubling Grace. She said, “I can understand why
Carlos or Brooke might want to kill Abbie, she could have stumbled upon their
various secrets, but why would Ethan want to kill her?”

Dorothy
gave her a sad smile. “It must be because of Abbie’s secret, but I really don’t
think Ethan is that kind of person. I’m not sure he even knew her secret. No! I
refuse to believe it, he wouldn’t kill her!”

Grace
looked over at Abbie. What was she hiding?

Dorothy’s
breath caught and her hands flew to her chest. “Forgive me, Grace, I’m not very
strong. This has been a lot for my heart to take in. I need to speak to Derek
urgently. Will you get him, please? And promise me that you’ll find Abbie’s
killer. Promise!”

Grace
wanted to ask what Abbie’s secret was but Dorothy had turned a peculiar colour.
Grace stood up and said, “I absolutely promise that I’ll find her killer. Abbie
is saying goodbye, and she’s saying that she doesn’t want you to be angry with
her. She says she feels like she let you down, that you’ll think she’s an awful
person.”

Dorothy
wheezed. “Never! I love that girl with all my heart. Always have, and always
will.” Another wheeze. “Please get Derek! Quick!”

“I
will,” Grace turned away, panicked at Dorothy’s changed state.

“One
more thing,” Dorothy forced out. “Thank you for finding me, thank you for being
so amazing, Grace.” She grimaced as she tried to smile.

Tears
flowed down Grace’s cheeks. She called out for a nurse. Derek must have heard
her because he came racing into the room. Grace pointed over to where Dorothy
was. Abbie whimpered, “Grace, what’s happening? I don’t like it, I want to go.”

Grace
walked swiftly through the room and towards the exit. She faltered as she saw
the old woman and soldier that she’d seen earlier as they’d first come into the
building. The old woman’s eyes were closed. A younger version of the woman
smiled down at her former self, she was now holding the hand of the soldier
ghost. The soldier put his arm around the now young woman and led her away
towards a bright light.

Abbie
saw what had happened. Her hand shook as she pointed at the happy couple.
“That’s what the white line means, doesn’t it? It means they’re about to die!
Grace! I want to get out of here!”

Grace
broke into a sprint and raced through the doors. She didn’t want to be here any
more either. She fumbled with her car keys and shoved them in the lock. She
threw herself into the driver’s seat, Abbie flew in and sat at her side,
silently crying. Grace said, “Abbie, are you okay? That must have been awful
for you.”

Abbie
nodded and mumbled, “Mum, poor Mum.”

“I
know. We’ll wait for your dad and see what’s going on. We’ll see what your mum
says to him.”

Abbie
wiped her tears away. “Do you think Ethan killed me?”

“I
don’t know. Your mum mentioned your secret. Abbie, what was she talking about?”

Abbie
looked down at her top. “I don’t know.” She looked at Grace. “Honestly! I don’t
know! But if I had a secret, how can it be so bad that someone would want to
kill me?”

Grace
considered her for a moment. Abbie was lying and Grace was beginning to suspect
that Abbie knew what her secret was. Furthermore, she had a suspicion that
Pearl knew too. This wasn’t the time and place to confront Abbie. Grace looked
towards the home. “Oh, look, your dad is coming back out. Abbie, he’s smiling.”

Abbie
floated to the back seat. Derek got in the car and gave Grace a smile. He said,
“Blooming heck! That was a close one, thank goodness the nurses were there.
They sorted her breathing out. Sorry for making you wait, Dorothy had some
things to tell me, she was just like her bossy old self! It was wonderful to
see her like that!”

“I’m
relieved she’s okay,” Grace said with feeling.

Derek
shook his head, still smiling. He gave Grace a direct look and said, “Now then,
Dorothy says I’ve got to help you with our Abbie’s murder, on account of you
seeing ghosts.”