Parcels of Doom (Chapel End Mysteries, #1)

by Lown, Anne

  Jenny couldn’t see what the problem was until it dawned on her. They wanted to know why they’d been paying Emma when she hadn’t been at work. The woman’s dying let her off the hook from explaining herself, but that wasn’t much consolation to Carmie.

  “You’ll make a great shop manager,” Jenny said, hoping to cheer her up if nothing else.

  “But what about Emma? She was a great shop manager, too.” Carmie sobbed, her tear-stained cheeks refreshed by more.

  Jenny tried to think of something to say. A thought crossed her mind. “You’ll have to look for more staff, to help in the shop.”

  “You could help me,” Carmie said. “I don’t want anyone else.”

  Jenny felt flattered by the comment, but with her work duty it’d be impossible. “I already have a job.”

  “But it’s only part-time. You could work here when you’re not delivering the post.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  That was all she could say. It was true she needed money. Her hours weren’t enough to get by on, and soon her savings would run out. She’d put herself in a bind going on deliveries, but when she’d split from Scott it was the only thing she could do. Maybe it’d be her saving grace if it fit with her schedule.

  “I’ve got to get on. See you later, okay?”

  Adam was already at the van. She felt like she was letting him down by not getting there first. She apologised for keeping him waiting.

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I’ve got years on you doing the walks.”

  At the end of the shift, Jenny rode back to the Mail Centre in silence. She helped bring in the empty mailbags and the undelivered post. Adam dealt with that while she retrieved her things from her locker. She’d been thinking what she’d tell Scott. Part of her cringed about how she’d spent the night, but she couldn’t spare his feelings. A murderer on the loose trumped everything else.

  The loose gravel crunched beneath her tyres. It felt surreal parking on Scott’s driveway, almost like old times. Jenny killed the engine and got out. She knocked at the door and waited for him to answer. When no one came, unease swept through her. She stood back and studied the grimy windows.

  What if the killer went after Scott?

  Jenny berated herself for being so naïve. She banged harder on the front door, determined to get an answer. Tears welled in her eyes. A sob escaped moments before a voice resonated from behind her.

  “Couldn’t stay away, eh? I know, I’m too irresistible to women.”

  She whirled around to find Scott grinning at her. Jenny lunged forward, slapping at his arms and chest. She was glad to see him. “I was so worried. I thought you’d been killed.”

  “What?” Scott said. “Who’d want to kill me? I’m too fabulous for that.” The smile on his face didn’t reach his eyes.

  She could see he hadn’t thought it a possibility until she’d said it. He opened the front door while Jenny clung with her arms around his torso. Somehow, they made it inside, and it took a moment for him to peel her from him.

  “Tell me what’s wrong,” he said.

  Jenny allowed herself to be led to the sofa, and they sat together. She rocked with her hands wrapped around her knees. “Someone tried to break in, and I didn’t know what to do.”

  Scott sprang up, clearly no longer able to stay seated. “What? Who? Did they hurt you?”

  “I’m fine, but I was terrified. I think it was the killer; he was coming in the back door. I made a noise, and then there was banging on the front door. It was Jason.”

  Scott ran his fingers through the ringlets of his brown curly hair. She waited while he processed the information, shock evident on his face.

  “Wow. What happened next?”

  “He checked out the back and in the street, but no one was there. He stayed the night on the sofa to look after me.” She watched his reaction from the corners of her eyes, wondering if he’d make the connection—she’d been on the sofa, too.

  “Did you talk to him? What about Ben?”

  “No, neither of them. I thought you should be there when I do.”

  “Let’s do it now.”

  Jenny followed Scott from the house and back to her car. It looked like they’d be having those conversations whether the other parties wanted to or not. Nervous tension coursed through her veins. She just hoped their snooping didn’t put them in danger.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Rays of afternoon sunshine broke through the clouds. They danced along the fields and lanes, making the day appear better than it was. Jenny kept her attention on the road, digging her fingers into the steering wheel with her tightening grip when she’d rather have been admiring the view. Her running had come to an abrupt halt, and she was feeling the effects in both body and mind.

  The village emerged from behind a canopy of branches that would be a delight when the summer rolled around. It gave way to the first of the road junctions, the Manor House gates stopping their progress before they met it. Jenny swung the car off the road and headed towards the entrance, surprised to find the gates already open and a car coming the other way. With quick thinking, she slewed to a wonky halt, blocking the vehicle from leaving. She peered through the windscreen and couldn’t believe her luck

  Scott flung aside his seatbelt and hopped out of the car. With smooth movements, he charged at the driver’s window, banging the glass a tad too hard with his ring finger to force Ben to open it. “Get out of the car, we need to talk.” He pulled on the driver’s door handle and swung it open.

  Ben complied with the instruction, confusion clouding his face.

  “You were in the pub the other night,” Ben stated.

  “That’s right,” Scott said. “And you were in my girlfriend’s bedroom. We found your security pass under the bed.”

  “My what?”

  “From your postman days. What were you doing in her house?”

  Jenny watched from her car. The posturing between the two men was escalating, and there was a good chance fists were going to fly. Ben stared straight at her. A tingle crept up her neck from his intensity, but she could see he really didn’t know what was going on.

  “Not seen that pass in years, and I don’t know where she lives.”

  It seemed Scott knew more than she’d realised. “Where Annalise Jessop used to live, when she was alive.”

  Ben stopped short. The confusion on his face turned to fear. Tears welled in his eyes. “You do know my cousin’s dead. Someone killed her.”

  The anger between the two men fell apart.

  Jenny got out of the car and went to offer him comfort. “I’m so sorry. Emma was a lovely lady.”

  “No, she wasn’t. She was mad and spiteful, but that’s not a good enough reason for him to kill her.”

  Jenny and Scott looked at each other, surprised by this sudden revelation.

  Does he know who did it?

  “I told her to stay away from that Jason, he’s a bad lot,” Ben said. “She wouldn’t have it and now she’s dead, too.”

  “Why do you think it’s Jason?” Jenny braced herself for his answer, afraid he would add weight to her fears.

  “Do you know he didn’t? Do you know where he was when she died?”

  Scott placed a hand on the man’s shoulder and squeezed. “But we don’t know for sure he did. He was with us until late so he might have an alibi.”

  Ben pulled away. “I’d better not see him before the police do, cos he’s a dead man walking.” He got back in his car and slammed the door. He didn’t wait for Jenny to move hers out of the way, pushing forward and coming close to clipping her front bumper.

  “Well, that didn’t go as planned. Do you think he could be right?”

  It was the first time she’d heard Scott question Jason’s innocence, even though he’d warned her to stay away from him in the first place. She shook her head in disbelief at how easily he’d been swayed by another man. Jenny wasn’t concrete on her own thoughts, but she did know
Jason would have to tell her why he’d turned up like he had. It was something she’d have to wait for, though, because his home had been empty when they’d arrived.

  The only place left to go was the pub. Scott insisted on treating her, his way of calming the distress from the last few days. The sight of Martin propping up the bar wasn’t a surprise, but that didn’t stop Scott from making a snide remark.

  “Doesn’t that man ever go home?”

  Jenny dug him in the ribs. There was enough bad feeling flying around without him creating more. She led the way to the bar where they waited for service. The other customer in the room was Graham. He sat in his wheelchair at the same table he’d occupied with Sarah and seemed to be in a world of his own. The drink before him, a pint glass of what looked like blackcurrant squash, had hardly been touched as he stared off into the distance.

  “Don’t worry about him,” Martin said, “he’s two planks short of a wood shop.” He laughed at his own joke.

  Crikey, he can be mean when he wants to be.

  Scott changed the subject. “You hear about Emma? They found her dead yesterday.”

  “Yeah, Tracy told me,” he said. “Awful way to go.”

  The words didn’t match his body language. It ruffled her feathers. She considered many of her colleagues to be like family. Working so many hours over the years with the same people brought an assumed familiarity. That didn’t seem to extend to Martin. Somehow, he didn’t appear all that upset. It could be Jenny was still unnerved, but whatever it was, she didn’t feel like being with him today.

  “I’ll just go over and say hi to Sarah’s friend,” she said.

  Graham pulled himself together when she approached him. His smile was genuine, like he knew her already, and he invited her to sit down. “How are you?”

  “I’m fine. You’re Sarah’s friend.”

  Graham nodded and began to say something else when Scott called over to see what she wanted to eat.

  “The same as you.” She couldn’t be bothered to decide. All she wanted was a cosy evening chatting with a good friend.

  “That your boyfriend?”

  “No, we split up. How do you know Sarah?”

  “Been friends for years, we met in AA. I helped her get sober.”

  It was then Jenny knew why Sarah held Graham in such high regard. If she trusted him that much, then what he had to say must’ve been of great value. Jenny eyed Martin with suspicion. She wondered if he’d like to run off with Tracy instead of her going with Paul. For someone on the sick, he spent an amazing amount of time in the bar. There had to be a reason he was never home.

  “Was there anything you noticed the other night you didn’t tell Sarah about?” Jenny had an inkling there was more to what he’d seen than he’d been able to say. It could be it had come to him later, but she knew he’d seen something else.

  “That Ben,” he said. “He’s scared.”

  “Scared how?”

  Graham shrugged. “Just scared.”

  What or who does he need to be scared of?

  The hint passed her by, and Graham wasn’t saying any more. Was it someone in the room when Emma had her outburst? If Ben had opened his mouth like she’d done, would that have put him in danger?

  Scott stayed at the bar when the food arrived. He ate while talking to Martin, leaving Jenny to have hers where she was. She couldn’t finish soon enough, wanting to alert him to her new information. When it was time to go because Scott had plans for the evening back in Bishop, Jenny was more than ready to jump in the car and leave.

  “Graham says Ben’s scared.”

  Scott turned to her even though he couldn’t see her face in the unlit interior. “Of what?”

  “He doesn’t know, but he could see something’s bothering him. Might be why he doesn’t want to talk.”

  “Stay away from Jason. Just until I’ve had a chance to talk to him.”

  Jenny nodded when she dropped him off outside his house. She had no intention of going near him without Scott, at least that’s what she told herself.

  The drive through the lanes was easy enough. Barely any traffic on a Saturday evening meant no slowing down except for the crossroads. It seemed like she’d get home in no time at all, but with her mind on Graham’s revelation, she caught the curb with her front left wheel, and it leapt in the air from the blow-out. She tried to keep moving to get to the village and keep the air in the tyre, but luck was not on her side.

  Jenny flashed her lights at the oncoming car, but it wasn’t going to let her through. The narrowing lanes held passing places, and the other driver aimed at her, their speed not diminished an ounce. She held her course, swearing into the night and fighting to win. It wasn’t to be. At the last moment, the other car barely scraped against her wing mirror, and she had to change direction to avoid them, the angle taking her into the flattened mud and a steep embankment. Her car came to a halt, and the air escaped.

  She banged the steering wheel in frustration. It was the last thing she needed on a jet black evening with fog building in the fields. Jenny flicked her hazard lights on and got out of the car. Her mobile phone lay in the pocket of the door. She picked it up and placed the rescue call immediately, aware the battery had barely enough charge. It died when she’d finished speaking. Now all she could do was wait and hope help wasn’t far away.

  Personal safety was her priority. She climbed through the hedge into the field beyond the lane. People died while waiting with their vehicles, and she had no intention of being a statistic. Time dragged, the evening getting colder. She blew onto her hands then thrust them into her jacket pocket.

  The view around her diminished, the fog growing thicker the longer she waited. Jenny shuddered. Her mind wandered to the intruder breaking into her home and leaving the message on the wall. Had they known she’d been out at the time, or had it been a lucky guess?

  Was someone watching me?

  Something cracked. A stick behind her? She turned her head in response, hunching her shoulders close to her ears. It wasn’t a loud noise, but she’d heard it and froze. Someone or something was there. She held her breath in anticipation, straining to hear it again.

  Jenny scanned the immediate darkness. Nothing moved. When minutes passed, she allowed herself to relax. The chill crept through her clothes, the fog now so thick she could barely see in front of her face. Water droplets caught in her hair, and she brushed them away, straightening the strands ready to spring back into a frizz.

  It’s like pea soup.

  She chastised herself for not being able to call Scott. The truth was, there wasn’t anything he could do unless he took a taxi and stood waiting with her. Jenny checked her phone again. No dice. It was completely devoid of power.

  Crack!

  She flinched, daring to call out this time. “Who’s there?”

  Her attention strained, her gaze darting at nothing but pitch black. Another sound arose in the stillness. Someone breathing. A heavy sense of doom weighed her down, her fight or flight reflex stunned by panic at not knowing where she would put her feet. She swung herself away from the road and plunged headlong into the night with only her fingertips catching the hedgerow to guide her. Thudding footfalls followed in her wake. Someone was running behind her, and they weren’t there to rescue.

  Jenny pumped her arms at her sides. Her lungs engulfed sharp litres of cold air. She brought her knees up and drove her feet into the compacted earth, twisting her ankle more than once. It didn’t stop her, the savage, piercing pain ignored in her attempt to escape, the assailant hot on her heels.

  She gasped a mouthful of air and forced out her distress. “Help!”

  The end of the field bounded towards her, its hedgerow crossing her path and cutting off her escape. She ran full pelt. Guessing the distance of the blank patch ahead devoid of the rarest star, she readied herself to go over the top into whatever lay on the other side. As she lifted her leg for the final time to leap clear of the branches, a body crashed
into her from out of nowhere and propelled her to the other side. The cold, hard earth thumped out her breath. A pair of legs landed, knees jutting out and digging into her thigh

  A finger was held to her lip, pressing hard against her teeth. Neither spoke. Jenny’s mind combed her surroundings, and she tried to hear past the blood whooshing in her ears. Even her heart competed for attention, determined to not let her listen. There was nothing there.

  The stray body untangled itself and stood. A strong hand reached down and gripped her arm, dragging her to her feet. Jenny’s knees buckled, and she dropped to the ground. Again, she was lifted to her feet, this time managing to stay upright.

  “Are you all right?”

  She shook herself off, brushing dirt off her trousers. Nothing was broken. “Yes.”

  The strong hands pulled her forward, and two arms encircled her body. She breathed in the fabric against her face.

  It’s Jason.

  Jenny felt bewildered. He’d saved her—again. But how?

  They held each other until she stopped shaking, before he helped her through the hedge and back onto the road.

  “Don’t worry, there’s no traffic coming.”

  He led her back to her car. They stood on the embankment a short distance away. Jenny didn’t know what to think. He’d saved her, hadn’t he? She put it out of her mind. Better to concentrate on one thing at a time, and getting home was the priority. She just hoped she made it there alive.

  Chapter Thirty

  The recovery vehicle arrived an hour later. The mechanic set out his warning signs and made short work of changing the wheel. It would’ve been too dangerous on the dark lanes for Jenny to attempt it herself, and Jason didn’t have the skills either. Along with Scott, he’d never learnt to drive.

  Jenny closed her eyes. She prayed she’d get home in one piece and continue to live her life. A few weeks ago, doing such a thing would’ve seemed stupid, but right now she’d try anything.

  The sight of her street brought tears to her eyes. They stung as she blinked them away. A whimper escaped her lips, the bottom one quivering. If Jason hadn’t insisted on coming home with her, she would’ve pulled over and let the emotions out. Instead, she sucked it up. The night wasn’t over yet.