A Deadly Lesson (Storage Ghost Murders Book 5) (7 page)

Chapter 17

Grace
grabbed her bag tightly and silently crept up on the figure that was now
running their hands over her kitchen window.

Thwack!

The
figure cried out in pain and slumped to the ground. A woman screamed behind
Grace. “Carlos! Are you all right? Oh, my darling!”

Grace
was pushed to one side as the woman ran forwards and threw herself on the
groaning man.

Carlos?
As in Julianne and Carlos? Grace looked at Abbie. Abbie grinned and said, “Yep,
you’ve just whacked my sister’s boyfriend on the head. I wouldn’t like to be
you right now, Julianne’s got a right temper on her.”

Blue
eyes turned towards Grace. Even in the darkness, Grace could see the hate in
them.

“What
have you done to him?” Julianne spat. “You could have killed him! I’ve a good
mind to call the police!”

Carlos
began to get unsteadily to his feet. He rubbed his head and glared at Grace. In
a thick Spanish accent he said, “Call the police, get her arrested.”

Indignation
shot through Grace. “Yes! Call the police! Then you can explain what you were
doing creeping around my home! I saw you trying the door!”

Julianne’s
expression changed. She forced a smile and said, “Your home? You must be Grace
Abrahams. I’m Julianne, and this is Carlos. We run Last Hope Repossessions. We
have an appointment with you.” She held out her hand.

Grace
reluctantly took it. Was this how they did business? Her already low opinion
sunk even further. She said, “You’d better come in. Then you can explain what
you were doing out here.”

Julianne
gave an overly jolly laugh. “Just business! If we’re going to buy a property we
need to know what the security is like.”

Grace
said, “I haven’t said anything about selling my house.” She unlocked the
kitchen door and invited them in.

Julianne
gave another jolly laugh and stepped into the kitchen. Carlos gave her a wink
as he followed Julianne in. It made Grace’s stomach heave.

She
led them through to the living room and asked them if they would like a drink.

They
agreed on coffee. Carlos winked again and said, “Unless you have anything
stronger.”

Julianne
caught the wink. Her smile froze.

Grace
went into the kitchen and filled the kettle. She whispered to Abbie, “I know
they’re your family but I don’t trust them. Go and keep an eye on them.”

Grace
took a few minutes to make the drinks. Abbie returned and said, “They’re making
notes about your house, how many doors and windows it has. Carlos is taking
photos on his phone. You should have heard what Julianne said about him winking
at you! She’s so jealous! Carlos said he was only winking at you because he
felt sorry for you. He’s so funny.”

“I
wouldn’t describe him that way,” Grace muttered as she put the cups on a tray.
“And what a cheek, taking photos of my home!”

Grace
went into the living room and placed the tray on a table. “Help yourself to
biscuits,” she said.

Julianne’s
hand shot out. Carlos grabbed it, frowned and shook his head. Julianne brought
her hand back. She laughed, a little shakily this time, and said, “I really
shouldn’t. Carlos likes his women to be curvy, not fat.”

“I
see,” Grace said. She sat down opposite the couple and picked up two biscuits.
Abbie sat by her side. Grace took a moment to study Carlos. He was handsome in
an obvious way, his thick dark hair was combed back, his dark eyes twinkled at
her, his full lips twitched at the sides as if they were sharing a secret joke.
Oh, there goes his winking eye again.

Grace
couldn’t resist. She pointed at him and said, “Have you got something wrong
with your eye? I’ve some eye drops that might help.”

Julianne
gasped in shock. The twinkle in Carlos’ eyes was replaced by anger.

Abbie
tutted. “That was mean.”

Julianne
composed herself and put a big smile on her face. She looked the total opposite
of Abbie with her shoulder-length blonde hair and fair complexion. Grace could
see that she was pretty but her look was marred by the worry lines around her
eyes. Why was she so worried? “Grace, may I call you Grace?” Julianne began.
She didn’t wait for an answer as she continued. “We were pleased to get your
call, we love helping people who are in financial difficulties. We are often
their last hope!” Another forced laugh. “But we were also confused. We’ve
checked your mortgage payments and we can’t see that you’re behind at all. We
...”

Grace
almost choked on her biscuit. “You’ve checked my payments! How have you managed
to do that? How did you get my details?”

In
a cold voice Carlos said, “It’s standard procedure. Carry on, Julianne.”

Grace
highly doubted the truth of that but she didn’t want to argue with them now,
she wanted to find out how their business was run. She said, “Oh, of course.
You’d know more about that than me. The truth is ...” She put her biscuit down
and moved forward on her seat. Julianne did the same. “The truth is that I have
a terrible gambling problem. Bingo, the horses, poker. You name it, I’ve tried
it. My debts have caught up with me and I won’t be able to pay the mortgage
soon. I don’t want to lose my home. Can you help?”

Carlos
rubbed his hands together. Julianne smiled, glee in her eyes.

Julianne
said, “Of course we can help. We will buy your house and let you rent it from
us at a ridiculously low figure. Its a win-win situation for us all!”

“How
wonderful,” Grace said. She’d been in touch with two estate agents that
afternoon for a value on her house. “How much would you give me for the house?”

Carlos
moved closer, lowered his voice and said a figure that made Grace’s eyes almost
pop out of her head.

Chapter 18

“The
lying, cheating ...” Grace muttered to herself as she washed the pots up.
Julianne and Carlos had left five minutes before. Julianne even had the cheek
to produce a ready-made contract for Grace to sign. Grace had told her firmly
that she needed time to think about it.

Abbie
sat on the counter top next to Grace and said, “What’s wrong with you? I
thought you’d be pleased. You can see now that they’re not up to anything.”

Grace
put the scrubbing brush down. “That figure that Carlos gave me was less than
forty per cent of the value. Forty per cent! It’s insulting.”

“He
did explain about the housing market being in a bad shape at the moment.”

“Lies!
All lies! I had a good chat with some estate agents today. Apparently, I live
in a well sought-after place. I knew they were up to something! And they way he
treats Julianne! So controlling.”

Abbie
frowned. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Grace
paused. Abbie probably didn’t know what she meant. She had been controlled by
her good friend, Brooke, for years and hadn’t realised. Brooke and Carlos,
they’d make a good couple. Grace narrowed her eyes. What if they were a couple?
What if Abbie had found out about them? She could see either one of them mowing
Abbie down without a second thought.

Abbie
moved closer. “What’s wrong? Your face is all scrunched up.”

“Just
thinking,” Grace replied. She wasn’t going to share her thoughts with Abbie.
“What are we going to watch tonight?”

Abbie
settled on The Office. Grace would have liked to have done some online research
but she wasn’t sure Abbie would appreciate her checking up on Julianne and
Carlos again so soon.

Big
Bob was the first person through the shop door the following morning. He boomed
out, “Good morning to you both! How are you this fine Wednesday morning?”

Frankie
jerked his thumb towards Grace and said, “She won’t let me drive her car.”

Grace
tutted. He sounded like a child. Big Bob must have thought so too, he said,
“It’s Grace’s car, for her only. You could always get your own car. Anyway, I
thought you liked that van of yours. What did you say about it? That women are
always impressed with how big it is.”

Grace
snorted. There was a variety of noises coming from her this morning. She made a
gagging noise as Frankie smugly said, “Yeah, that’s right. And of course,
there’s more room in the back of a van than a car. If you know what I mean.”

Big
Bob gave him a stern look and said, “I do know what you mean. Please don’t talk
like that in front of your sister. And I hope to goodness that you don’t take
any young ladies into the back of your van.”

Frankie’s
smile dropped. He sighed and said, “They keep saying no.”

Big
Bob shook his head. He turned to Grace. “I’ve got my bank details but there’s
no rush for the money. I’m pleased that you like the car. Frankie said you’ve
been driving it a lot.”

Grace
smiled. “I have, I love it. Are you sure the price is right? It seems low to
me.”

“It’s
a family price, I consider you part of my family. My brother knew your dad too,
he wouldn’t dream of taking a higher price.”

“Tell
him thank you,” Grace said. She took the piece of paper from Big Bob. She
turned to Frankie and said, “And thank you to you, for the car money. I do
appreciate it, and, if you want, I’ll let you drive my car.”

Frankie
shrugged and said, “Whatever. I don’t think I want to now.”

Big
Bob burst out laughing. “Frankie Abrahams! You’re such a child, don’t ever
change.”

Frankie
frowned, then he smiled and said, “Thanks.”

Big
Bob stayed for a cup of tea and a catch up. It was lovely to have him near,
almost like having their dad back. Grace sighed. Not Dad exactly, maybe a
kindly uncle. Anyway, it was nice to have someone care about them.

Grace
went to the bank at lunch-time to transfer the money to Big Bob’s account.
Whilst the bank assistant was transferring the money Grace asked him, “I’ve got
my mortgage with you. Is it possible for anyone to look at my details, to see
if I’m up to date with my payments?”

The
assistant froze. “What do you mean? Has your identity been stolen?” His voice
rose. “Do you need to report it? I’ve got a form.”

“No,
it’s just that I was talking to someone recently, about something, and they
said they’d checked my mortgage payments.”

The
assistant stood up, panic on his face. “Has your account been hacked? Did you
install our recommended security software? Has this happened to anyone else?
I’ll have to let my manager know!”

Grace
shook her head. “No! Please, calm down. Nothing like that has happened. I want
to know if an outside company can check my details, is it easy to do?”

The
assistant wiped his brow. “Only if they’re criminals! Who have you been talking
to? We pride ourselves on our security!”

It
took a few more minutes for Grace to convince the sweating man she hadn’t done
anything wrong, and that she’d never give her bank details out. He still didn’t
seem convinced as he completed the money transfer.

Grace
knew for sure that Julianne and Carlos had obtained her information illegally.
But how could she prove it?

Grace
decided to call on Abbie’s dad, Derek, on the way home from work. She wasn’t
quite sure what she was going to say.

An
idea came to her as she pulled up outside Derek’s house. She’d show him the
book, tell him where it came from, and see if he could tell her anything about
it. She didn’t want to give it to him as it would mean she couldn’t see Abbie
any more. She looked over at Abbie, she was staring out of the window, her arms
folded. She’d barely spoken to Grace all day, how was she going to react when
she saw her dad up close?

Grace
soon realised that she should have been more bothered about how Derek would
react when he saw the driving book.

Chapter 19

Derek
Quill opened his door and looked at the book Grace was holding. He clutched his
chest and fell to the floor.

“Dad!
Grace! What’s happening?” Abbie cried out.

“I
don’t know! I think it was the shock of seeing the book!” Grace rushed into
Derek’s house and crouched at his side. He was taking deep breaths.

Grace
said, “Mr Quill, are you all right? Shall I get a doctor? An ambulance?”

Derek
shook his head and held up a finger as if to indicate to give him a minute.
After a few moments the colour returned to his face and his breathing returned
to normal. He smiled at Grace and said, “I bet I gave you a fright then, young
lady. I’m sorry, my heart isn’t what it used to be. Would you mind helping me
to my feet?”

Grace
did so, Abbie fluttered at her side. “Poor Dad! Is he okay? He looks so old and
frail!”

Grace
led Derek into a nearby room and sat him on a comfy-looking chair. She said,
“Shall I make you a tea? A strong one with lots of sugar?”

Derek
nodded. “That would be grand, although it should be me making the tea. The
kitchen’s through that way, do make one for yourself. Would you mind if I
looked at that book? I give my word that I won’t collapse again!”

Grace
handed the book over and left the room. Abbie knelt at the side of Derek’s
chair, love shining from her eyes.

Grace
returned shortly with two cups of tea. Derek invited her to sit opposite him.
He raised the book and said, “Tell me again about this. You said something when
I opened the door to you, but I can’t quite remember what it was.”

Grace
explained about finding the book in a storage unit. She pointed out that
Abbie’s name was written inside. “I did some research on the Internet, Abbie
Quill isn’t a common name, and I found out what happened to her. I hope you
don’t mind me coming to see you. I’ve been to a lot of storage auctions and
sometimes items are in there by mistake, or people forget that they’ve put them
in storage.”

Derek
frowned, “Well, that is a mystery, isn’t it? I wonder how this made it into one
of those storage locker things. When Abbie died, me and the wife went through
her belongings. Dorothy, that’s my wife, must have given this away to charity.
Although, if that’s the case, I’m most surprised. Dorothy kept all of Abbie’s
treasured things.” He waved the book in the air. “And this was the most
treasured! She was determined to pass that blooming driving test! She had me
asking her questions all the time. I think she felt guilty that I was paying
half towards the cost of the lessons. I didn’t mind at all, that’s what parents
do, isn’t it?”

“I
think I’ve got the same driving company, a card fell out of the book with their
details on. I hadn’t driven a car for a while and I needed a refresher lesson,”
Grace admitted.

Derek
nodded. “Ted and Kath Fairway’s driving school? They’re the best. We were lucky
to get Abbie in with them. The poor girl, every time she had a driving test she
seemed to forget half of what she’d been taught. It must have been nerves.”

“I
can understand that,” Grace said.

Derek
held the book out, “You must keep this, it sounds like it could be useful to
you.”

“Are
you sure?” Grace asked. She hadn’t wanted to give the book to Derek, but she
would have parted with it if he’d wanted it.

“Take
it, I insist.”

Grace
took the book and put it in her handbag.

Abbie
said, “He mentioned Mum. Where is she? Is she upstairs? Get her to come down.”

Grace
could hardly make that request. She looked around the room. “Is that Abbie?
She’s very pretty.”

Derek
nodded. “Taken on her eighteenth birthday. Me and Dorothy kept telling her how
beautiful she was but she wouldn’t listen. She said she’d never be as pretty as
her sister.”

Grace
pressed her lips together. That was probably Brooke’s influence.

Derek
waved his hand dismissively. “Oh, I’m sure you don’t want to listen to me going
on about Abbie. You probably have a party to go to, a disco or rave, whatever
they call them nowadays.”

Grace
smiled at him. “I’ve nowhere to go. And I would love to hear about Abbie, it
would be nice to hear more about the owner of this book. Please, do carry on.”

Derek
chuckled. “You have been warned! We might need more tea.”

Derek
told her about how he and Dorothy couldn’t have children. “We looked into
adoption. Oh! It took forever for us to be given a child. I was in my late thirties
when Julianne came into our family. Dorothy was a few years younger than me.
There’s a photo of Julianne over there.”

Grace
nodded. She knew what Julianne looked like.

Derek
continued, “We were overjoyed. We did want a baby, everyone does, but Julianne
was five years old when she came to us. Her natural mother had abandoned her.
Isn’t that awful? She was worried that we’d do the same, we had to constantly
reassure her that she was ours for good. I think she still worries about being
abandoned. It hit her hard when Abbie came along ten years later but we made
sure that she knew she was still wanted by us and we loved her just as much as
ever.”

Derek
looked at the photos on the wall and smiled. “Being a dad in my late thirties
was bad enough, but being one in my late forties was even worse! The late
nights and endless feeding! Not a job for an old man.” He looked directly at
Grace and said, “I’d do it all again tomorrow.”

“How
did Dorothy feel about having a child so late in life?”

“Shocked
at first, relived that she wasn’t putting on weight for no reason, and then
utterly delighted. I’d swear that she started looking younger. She had far more
energy than me!”

Abbie
stood up and began to wring her hands. “Where’s Mum? He keeps talking about her
as if she’s dead! Where is she?”

Grace
cleared her throat. “Could I ask where Dorothy is? Are you expecting her home
soon?”

Derek
slumped into the chair, it was like a light had been turned off.

Grace
called out, “Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Derek
gave a slow shake of his head. “Poor Dorothy. I will tell you about her,
forgive me if I cry.”