Murder Vows (Storage Ghost Murders Book 4) (13 page)

Rob
placed a heavy hand on Jessie’s shoulder. “I didn’t want you to deal with it.
After he died I helped Sylvia sort everything out. Gordon was talking to the
police and you were in no state to go back into that honeymoon suite. I was
looking out for you.”

Jessie
nodded as if she understood his motives, it was clear to Grace that she didn’t.

Grace
said, “What did you do with Archie’s suitcase?”

Rob
gave a casual shrug. “I was going to leave it at a charity shop at some point.
The police returned Archie’s wedding suit so I shoved that in the suitcase too.
I was driving to work one day when I saw a removal van parked at the side of a
road. It was full of old furniture and rubbish. I reckoned another bit of
rubbish wouldn’t make any difference. I flung the case in when no one was
looking.”

Grace
heard sharp intakes of breath behind her. Pearl and Archie? She didn’t blame
them for sounding shocked, Rob was a callous man.

In
a shaky voice Jessie said, “Why didn’t you give the case to me? I would have
sorted it out eventually.”

Rob
pressed his hand down more firmly on Jessie’s shoulder. “What does it matter
now? Archie Goodwin is dead and buried. He’s your past, I’m your future.”

Jessie
gave a small nod. “Yes, I know.”

Rob
looked at Grace and said, “Has Jessie told you about us? We’re getting married.
Which reminds me.” Rob put his hand under Jessie’s arm and lifted her to her
feet. “We’ve got a meeting with Sylvia. She wants to sort out the final
arrangements. Have you finished here?”

Jessie
tried to smile. “Yes, I have. Do we really have talk about the wedding? You
know she goes on about me wearing make-up and perfume. I don’t want to smell
like an evening in Paris, or a morning in Venice.”

Grace
could see that making light-hearted talk was difficult for Jessie.

Rob
put his arm around Jessie and planted a big kiss on her head. “She just wants
what’s best for you. We all do. Come on.”

Rob
turned her around and led her towards the door. Jessie looked back at Grace and
said, “I’ll drop a quote round tomorrow morning, if that’s okay?”

Grace
nodded. “Thank you, I’ll be here.”

She
watched the couple leave. Rob was almost carrying Jessie. Frankie popped his
head round the door. “Was it all right to let that man in? He said he was a
work colleague of Jessie’s.”

Grace
folded her arms “He’s not just a colleague, he’s her fiancé.”

Frankie
frowned. “Weird. They don’t look like they belong together.”

He
went back to the shop.

Archie
appeared. Grace wasn’t surprised to see the black cloud surrounding him.
Archie’s lovely eyes had turned black too. He snarled, “You have to do
something! You can’t let them get married!”

“I
agree,” Grace said. “But I can’t talk to you in that mood, you’re not yourself.
Where’s Pearl?”

“I’m
here!” the old woman appeared. “Let me sort Archie out. Come here, young fella,
give me a hug.”

Archie
didn’t have a choice in the matter. Despite being smaller than him Pearl
grabbed hold of Archie and squeezed him. Grace had seen Pearl do this before,
she absorbed whatever was troubling a ghost. Sure enough, the black cloud
evaporated and Archie returned to normal. He sank on to a chair and stared at
the table.

Grace
turned to Pearl. “Has Archie told you everything? About Lily and the hotel?”

“He
has. Lily is the key to Archie’s murder, I can feel it in my water. Find out
what happened to her. See when she died, and how she died. That gorilla that
was just in here, he’s hiding something too. That young lass can’t marry him,
she looks as if she’s been forced into it. Is he blackmailing her?”

“That’s
a lot for me to find out,” Grace said.

“Grace!”
a startled yell came from the shop. It was Frankie. Grace sped out of the
kitchen and to his side. Frankie pointed a shaking finger at the window. “The
pensioners are back! And they’ve brought reinforcements! They’re heading this
way!”

Grace
put a hand on Frankie’s shoulder and smiled. “This is what you get for having a
sale on pension day. Come on, we can deal with this. Think of all the money
we’ll be making.”

Frankie
gulped. “I’ll try but I’m scared, they look like vultures.”

“It’s
all right, I’m here to help,” Grace reassured him. Her investigations would
have to wait.

Chapter 27

Jessie
returned to the shop the next morning with the quote for building work. It was
obvious from her pale and drawn-looking face that she had been crying again.
After making sure it was all right with Frankie, Grace took Jessie into the
kitchen and made her a strong cup of tea.

Jessie
cupped her hands around the warm mug and gave Grace a grateful smile. “Thank
you for this, I haven’t had time to make one for myself this morning. I didn’t
sleep well, and then, you know how it is, I finally fell asleep thirty minutes
before I was due to wake up. It’s been a bit of a rush this morning. Shall we
go through the quote?”

Grace
shook her head. “The quote can wait. Why didn’t you sleep well? You can talk to
me, I don’t mind.”

“Are
you sure? I don’t want to burden you with my problems”

“I’m
sure,” Grace said. She sat down opposite Jessie, her own mug in her hands.
Archie and Pearl were leaning against the kitchen cupboards behind Jessie.

Jessie
sighed. “I’m sorry about all that commotion with Rob yesterday. I know he means
well but he can be ...”

“A
selfish pig,” Pearl said.

“An
ignorant bully,” Archie added.

“...
over-protective,” Jessie concluded. “He seems to think that I can’t look after
myself.”

“Ask
her why she’s marrying him!” Pearl shot out.

Grace
fidgeted in her seat. That wasn’t an easy question to throw out there.

Jessie
must have caught her uncomfortable look. She said, “You must be wondering why
we’re getting married.”

“It
did cross my mind,” Grace admitted. She took a sip of her tea.

“I
do care for him, I always have. He’s worked for Dad for years. He trained me
and encouraged me to go to college to learn more. We’ve always been friends.
Things changed when I met Archie. Rob didn’t trust him, but he was never
willing to get to know Archie better.” Jessie shook her head. “He was wonderful
after Archie died, he came to see me every day. I was touched by his kindness
and when he asked me out on a date I didn’t have the heart to say no.”

Pearl
whooshed to Jessie’s side and wagged her finger. “He’s a leech! He’s taking
advantage! Get rid of him!”

Grace
frowned. She could do without Pearl voicing her opinions, even though she felt
the same way about Rob. It was clear that he’d taken advantage of Jessie when
she was in a fragile state.

Jessie
carried on, “Dad encouraged me to go out with Rob. He said Rob was a great guy
and that he would never let me down. There was also the matter of our business.
I told you that Dad insisted on paying for the wedding? It put him into
terrible debt, I didn’t know the extent of it until Rob told me. Oh! I felt so
guilty about it. Rob agreed to put his own money in to Dad’s firm, to form a
partnership.”

There
was a loud tutting noise. It came from Pearl. “Oh, he’s a clever one, that Rob.
Making you and your dad reliant on his money. The slimy snake.”

Jessie
said, “I told Dad again about Archie’s money but he still wouldn’t take it. He
said he’d rather have Rob’s money. I wish I knew why he didn’t like Archie.”

“So
do I,” Archie added quietly.

There
was silence for a while. Grace was working out how to ask her next question.
There wasn’t an easy way to say it. “Do you love Rob?”

Jessie
didn’t seem offended by the question. “I like him, I care about him. But no, I
don’t love him. I loved Archie, I still do. He was the most amazing person I’d
ever met, for so many reasons.” Jessie smiled. “I wish you could have met him,
you’d have fallen in love with him, most women did.”

Grace
glanced over at Archie, he shrugged and gave Grace a small smile.

Grace
listened whilst Jessie talked about Archie. Archie moved closer, the love in
his eyes matched that in Jessie’s. Grace felt her eyes prickling. They made a
lovely couple, why couldn’t they have had more time together?

They
both jumped as Jessie’s phone beeped. She read the text and frowned. “It’s Rob,
he wants me to phone him. He’ll have to wait. Thanks for listening to me, I’ve
gone on too long!”

“Can
I ask one more thing? Does your dad know how you feel about Rob? Would he want
you to go ahead with your wedding if he knows you don’t love him?”

Jessie
pushed the mug away from herself and then gave Grace a steady look. “I have to
marry Rob. Dad doesn’t need to know how I feel. Now, let’s talk about the
quote. I thought we could ...”

Jessie’s
phone rang. She rolled her eyes as she saw the caller’s name. She mouthed a
‘sorry’ to Grace and tapped a button. “Hi, Rob. Yes, I got your message but I
was busy. What? What are you talking about?” A pause. Jessie’s hand trembled.
“Rob! Are you sure? All right! I’m on my way.”

Jessie’s
shaking hand placed the phone on the table. Her hands covered her mouth.

“Jessie,
what’s wrong?” Grace jumped up and walked round to Jessie.

Jessie
moved her hands. “It’s Dad. He’s been arrested. For killing Archie!”

Grace
was ready to catch Jessie as she passed out.

Chapter 28

“Not
again!” Frankie said as he came into the kitchen following Grace’s call.
“What’s wrong with her? Are you sure we should let her loose in my bedroom? I
don’t want to come home and find her lying sparked out on my bed.” Frankie
nodded to himself. “There again ... What? I’m only kidding.”

Frankie
knelt at Jessie’s side and held her steady in the chair. He said, “We could do
with some old-fashioned smelling salts. There’s some in the cupboard. I don’t
know how long they’ve been there.”

Pearl
chuckled, “They’ve been there since I was alive. Don’t touch them, you’ll kill
this young lass with the smell. Use one of your brother’s smelly socks, that’ll
bring her round.”

Grace
didn’t need to resort to any kind of smelly product. Jessie’s eyes fluttered
open. “Oh, not again!” She tried to stand up, Frankie put his arm around her
waist.

“Sit
down, you’re in no condition to move,” Grace said.

Jessie
tried to untangle herself from Frankie’s grip. She said, “I have to go. I have
to speak to Dad, he’s at the police station.”

Grace
said, “I’ll come with you. Frankie, can I take the van?”

Frankie
was staring at Jessie, a silly smile on his face. “Of course you can. Shall I
carry you to the van? I don’t mind.”

I
bet you don’t, Grace thought. “You can let her go, I’m sure Jessie can manage.”

Jessie
smiled at Frankie, “Thank you, I’ll be fine.”

Frankie
reluctantly removed his arm. Grace swiftly gathered her belongings. She’d put
the hammer necklace in her handbag. Pearl was at her side. “Get as much
information as you can. Find out how he did it, and why.”

Archie
said, “Did he really hate me that much? Grace, I’m coming with you.”

Grace
gave him a slight nod. Then she led Jessie to the van. She had to help Jessie
with her seat belt as her hands were shaking too much to fasten it. Archie sat
next to Jessie, his ghostly hand rested on top of hers throughout the journey.

Rob
was waiting for her at the police station. He jerked his head towards Grace and
snapped, “What’s she doing here?”

Jessie
lifted her chin and said firmly, “Grace kindly drove me here. Where’s Dad?”

“In
a cell. You can tell her to clear off, I’ll take care of you now.”

“I
don’t mind waiting,” Grace offered. She needed to hear Gordon’s story.

Rob
took a step forward. He glowered at Grace. “I said I’ll take care of her.”

“Stop
it!” Jessie called out. “Rob, I can take care of myself!” She turned to Grace.
“Please could you wait for me? I’ll need a lift back to the shop to collect my
van.”

“Of
course,” Grace said, resisting the urge to give Rob a satisfied look.

She
took a seat in the waiting area. Jessie and Rob walked over to the enquiries
window. Archie sat at Grace’s side. She took out her phone and typed a message,
she showed it to Archie: ‘I know you’re angry but you have to control yourself,
you’re turning black again. I need you to hear everything that Jessie tells
me.’

Archie
muttered, “I’ll try. I just can’t stand to see how he treats Jessie.”

Grace
typed another text: ‘Remember what she said – she loved you and sill does.’