A Deadly Lesson (Storage Ghost Murders Book 5) (14 page)

Chapter 34

“You!”
Carlos roared at her, his accent even thicker. “You! This is all your fault!
Everything was fine until you came along!”

Julianne
turned on him and cried out, “This has nothing to do with her! This is about
you and this over-made-up cow! I knew you were up to no good but planning to
run away together? Leaving me to deal with the business and all the police
questions? I don’t think so!”

Brooke
smirked. “I don’t know what’s going on with you two. I don’t know why Carlos is
here. Can you go away now? My neighbours are looking.”

Carlos’
face whitened, he moved closer to Brooke. “What are you saying, my love?”

Brooke
took a step backwards. “Don’t touch me! I don’t know what’s going on with you,
Julianne and the police but I don’t want anything to do with it!”

“Why
are you saying these things? We’ve been partners for years.”

Julianne
folded her arms. “She’s trying to deny everything now the police have been in
touch with us. Brooke, really? You’re in this mess as much as us.”

“You
have no proof that I’m involved!” Brooke shot out.

Grace
wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but she could guess. She assumed that
Derek had been in touch with the police about Last Hope Repossessions, and it
seemed that Julianne had come across Carlos and Brooke trying to run away.
Grace said, “Brooke, I spoke to someone called Kevin Thompson, does that name
ring a bell?”

Brooke
blanched. She stammered, “No, I’ve never heard that name before.”

Grace
sighed. She’d had enough of these people and their lies. “Well, Kevin Thompson
has heard of you. You probably know that I went to see Dorothy yesterday.”

Carlos
raised his fist towards her. “You have no right to interfere! Who are you
anyway?”

“A
friend of Abbie’s. I promised Dorothy I would find out who murdered Abbie.”

“No
one murdered her, the stupid cow ran into the road without looking,” Brooke
said.

Grace
raised her voice. “She was murdered and you make a likely suspect! You left the
party in your car just before Abbie was knocked over.”

Brooke
lifted her chin, “You don’t know that.”

“I
do, and I have CCTV footage to prove it.” She faced Carlos and said, “And you
left just before Brooke, you’re a suspect too. Why did you kill Abbie? Had she
found out about you and Brooke? Or was there another reason you wanted to get
rid of her?”

Carlos
threw his hands up. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! I would never hurt
Abbie, she was like a little sister to me.”

All
eyes turned towards Brooke. Her head lowered slightly. “It wasn’t me! I wasn’t
the only one that left the party that night. I saw Ethan leave.”

Carlos
glared at Brooke. “Ethan! Always going on about Ethan! You love him, you always
have. You’ve been tricking me all along, trying to get my money, making me
think you love me!”

“I
do love you!” Brooke burst out. Her hands flew to her mouth as if trying to put
the words back in.

Julianne
smiled and shook her head. “I knew it, you can’t deny it now. And you can’t
deny your involvement with Last Hope. I’m going to tell the police everything I
know, and so are you two.”

Brooke
reached out for Carlos, all pretence gone. “I’m sorry! I would never leave you!
Please forgive me!”

Carlos
wrapped his arms around Brooke and pulled her close. Julianne looked them up
and down and shook her head again. She said, “I can’t believe I fell for all
his lies. Grace, can I have a word?”

Julianne
took Grace to one side and said, “I saw Mum last night, she told me about Abbie
being pregnant. Dad doesn’t know. Whatever you think of Carlos it’s not
possible for him to be the father. He did treat Abbie like a little sister, but
he can’t have children, he had a vasectomy years ago.”

“Oh,
I wished I’d known that earlier,” Grace said.

Julianne
added, “I wouldn’t put it past either of them to be capable of murder. When I
see the police later I’m going to ask them to look into Abbie’s death again.
I’ll let them know about Carlos and Brooke leaving the party. Which brings me
to Ethan. Do you think he’s capable of murdering Abbie?”

Grace
shrugged. “I’ve only met him once. If he was the father of her baby he might
have felt tied down. I know from his blog that he wanted to go travelling.” She
sighed. “I don’t know what to think about Ethan really.”

Julianne
said, “I don’t think it was Ethan. He left the party that night because he’d
forgotten Abbie’s present. He showed me it later. It was a beautiful necklace,
it had a heart-shaped pendant. Ethan was going to declare his love for her, at
last! And that necklace was going to be a token of his love. Even if Abbie was
carrying his baby I don’t think he’d want to get rid of her. He was broken up
when she died, he hasn’t really recovered.”

Grace
looked towards Ted’s car. She could see him looking back at her, she could also
see Abbie peering at her. She suddenly realised that Abbie hadn’t come with her
to see what everyone was arguing about.

Julianne
said, “I don’t know who the father of Abbie’s baby could be, she never said she
was dating anyone else. Although, to be honest, I was too wrapped up in Carlos
to notice what was going on in her life. I’ve been a terrible older sister, I
should have been there for her more. I should have been kinder to her.”
Julianne turned towards the hugging couple. “I’d better go, I’ve got things to
do. Those two are going to face up to what they’ve done. I’ll let you know how
I get on with the police. Could you give me your number?”

Grace
did so and then said, “I have to go too, I’m in the middle of a driving lesson.
I don’t know what Ted must think of me!”

“Ted?
Ted Fairway? But he ...” Julianne said.

Grace
turned away. “Sorry! I really have to go!”

She
jogged back to the car, apologised profusely to Ted, and then drove off. She
glimpsed at the scene behind her as she drove away. Why was Julianne waving
frantically at her like that? Oh well, she’d speak to her later. Her phone
rang. “Sorry,” Grace said to Ted. “I forgot to switch it off, it’ll go to answerphone.”

“No
problem.” Ted gave her a cheery smile.

Grace’s
thought turned to Ethan as she drove along. He was the only suspect left. She
needed to find a way to talk to him.

Chapter 35

Grace’s
phone rang a few more times as they drove along. Grace kept apologising.

Ted
waved a hand at her. “It’s okay. Is it your boyfriend? Asking where you are?”

Grace
negotiated a roundabout before answering. “I haven’t got a boyfriend. It’s
probably one of those companies that asks if you’ve been sold payment
protection insurance, I get those calls all the time.”

Ted
laughed. “Me too!”

There
was a lull in the conversation, then Grace decided to take a chance. “I’m sorry
again about stopping. That woman I was talking to, the older one, she’s called
Julianne Quill. She’s the sister of Abbie, the girl we were talking about earlier.
I won’t bore you with the details but I’ve got involved with her and her
family. Did Abbie ever talk about her family?”

“She
certainly did,” Ted said, his friendly voice held a note of anger. “That poor
girl, she was in tears sometimes when she came for her lesson. I had to take
her somewhere quiet to calm her down before we could continue with the lesson.”

“What
was she upset about?”

“Her
family, and how they felt about her. Apparently, Abbie never heard herself what
they were saying about her, but her best friend heard them. She told Abbie
everything. Abbie’s mum and dad used to say that they never wanted Abbie, that
they were happy with one daughter. Can you believe that? What a thing to say?”

Having
met Derek and Dorothy, Grace didn’t believe that for a moment. And having met
Brooke, she knew she was more than capable of spreading such lies.

Ted
went on, “Also, it seems there was a young chap who was upsetting her. She
liked him but her friend, I wish I could remember her name, said he didn’t like
her and that Abbie should forget all about him.”

Grace
glanced in the rear-view mirror. Abbie looked at Grace and said, “It was all
lies, wasn’t it? Brooke was telling me lies all the time. Ted used to listen to
me complaining, he was a good friend.”

“It
sounds like you were a good friend to her,” Grace said. She made a right turn.

“Friend?”
Ted chuckled. “I liked to think that we were more than good friends.”

Grace’s
mouth went suddenly dry, her hands gripped the steering wheel.

No.

It
couldn’t be.

Her
legs shook slightly as she continued to drive. All the information from the
past week began to piece itself together like a jigsaw in her head. She didn’t
like the picture it was making.

She
swallowed, and trying to keep her tone light, she said, “Abbie was lucky to
have you to talk to, to confide in.”

“That’s
what I told her. Between me and you, I think she had a crush on me. I could see
how she looked at me. She’s not the first either. That’s why Kath, my missus,
doesn’t like me teaching young girls. They always seem to fall for me! It’s so
embarrassing!”

Grace
looked again at Abbie. The teenage girl’s eyes were wide, she had one hand on
her tummy, the other hand was raised towards Ted, her index finger pointing at
him.

The
business card. Ted’s business card, it was in her handbag. That’s what Abbie
was attached to, not the driving book.

Grace
couldn’t stop herself from shaking.

Ted
put his hand on her knee and said, “Are you okay, Grace? You’ve gone white, you
look like you’ve just seen a ghost. Do you want me to drive for a while?”

Grace
looked down at her knees and muttered, “Yes, please.”

Ted
squeezed her knee and then got out of the car. Grace turned to look at Abbie.
Abbie whispered, “It was Ted! I remember everything! He took me to secluded
places and cuddled me, he made me forget my troubles.”

Grace
muttered, “Looks like you did more than cuddle.” She moved forwards and did
what she had to. Ted knocked on the driver’s window. Grace lowered it, her
heart thumping in her ears as she looked into the eyes of the man who had
killed Abbie. She tried to smile. “I think I’m all right now. I think I have to
work through my fears.”

Ted
winked at her. “Good girl.”

He
jogged back to the passenger side of the car and got in. He patted Grace on the
shoulder and said, “Let’s go!”

Grace
tried not to squirm. He really was a hands-on type of man. Is that why he
wasn’t allowed to teach young girls? Had there been complaints? No wonder his
wife had glared at her so much earlier, and why she used to give Abbie the same
look.

Grace
thought awhile about which direction to go in. There was only one place to go.
She gave Ted a quick smile. “Thank you for these lessons, I really appreciate
it.”

She
felt Ted’s gaze on her as she drove. In a low voice he said, “I hope we can
remain friends, Grace. We could meet up some time. We could go somewhere quiet
now, to the place where I used to take Abbie. It’s deserted, we won’t be
disturbed.

Grace
hated herself but she forced out a giggle. “That sounds great. Was Abbie your
girlfriend? Don’t worry, I won’t tell your wife!”

Ted
laughed. “Abbie was one of many. One of the perks of my job. Where are we going
now? I recognise this road.”

Grace’s
tone became solemn. “Oh, I didn’t realise where we were. That’s The Old Highway
Man pub, isn’t it.” She slowed the car down. “And this must be where Abbie
died.” She stopped the car and turned to Ted. “But you know that, don’t you?
You were on this road on the night she died. You’re the one who ran her over.
You saw her run out on to the road, you slowed down as you waved to her, but
then you speeded up. You killed her.”

Ted’s
voice turned cold. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why would I want to
kill Abbie?”

“Because
she was carrying your child. Your wife would definitely find out about your
affair this time, it sounds like Abbie wasn’t the first. Did you send Abbie a
text that night telling her to come outside?”

Ted
narrowed his eyes. “You’ve no evidence. There are no CCTV systems round here, I
checked before I came here that night.”

Abbie
cried out, “Grace! He did send me a text! That’s the one I got at my party! The
one that upset me. He said he wanted to meet me, to talk about the baby, he
said I had to get rid of it but he would support me. It was his car that I saw,
it’s got L-plates all over it. I can see his face now! He smiled at me as he
came closer!” Her hands flew to her face. “No! Stop! I won’t tell anyone! I
won’t tell anyone about the baby!”

“You
saw her face clearly before you drove at her,” Grace said. “How could you do
that? She was only eighteen.”

Ted
banged his fist on the dashboard. “She was going to ruin everything! My wife
would find out! My reputation would be ruined. I had to get rid of her!” He
sighed and looked at his fist. He turned towards Grace. She shivered at the
hate in his eyes. He said, “It’s all in the past now. Like I said, you’ve got
no evidence. If you say anything to the police I’ll tell them that you came on
to me and I turned you down, I’ll explain you’re trying to spread vicious lies
about me.”

Grace
pointed to the radio. “I switched on the call system, the one that’s marked
‘All Cars’. Everyone’s been listening to you.”

Ted’s
face turned from hate to rage. “No!” he lunged towards Grace.