The Westport Mysteries Boxed Set

by Beth Prentice

  Riley had left early this morning and gone back to the house to get a head-start on the work that needed to be done today. I’d promised I’d help him as work-wise, I seemed to have a quiet week. I crossed my fingers and hoped my bookkeeping business wasn’t suffering from all the publicity I’d been getting over the body in the backyard. Picking up my bag, I headed to my car, locking the front door behind me.

  First thing I noticed as I pulled into my little driveway was the police car parked at the curb. I cut the engine and really hoped that Riley had the coffee on. I think I was going to need it.

  “Hi,” I called to Riley as I placed my bag on the couch in the lounge room.

  “Hey,” I heard him call back. “We’re in the kitchen.”

  Walking into the kitchen, I saw Riley leaning against the counter and Officer Ed Helms sitting at the table, both with coffee in hand.

  “Oh hello, Officer Helms.” I smiled, stretching my neck to try to alleviate the tension that was already building there.

  “Hi, Lizzie,” he replied. “And please remember to call me Ed.” He smiled a super-white smile, and extended his hand for me to shake. I accepted it and felt the heat of his skin as he held on for slightly longer than I thought was necessary.

  “Sorry…Ed.” I smiled back at him and removed my hand as Riley gave me a cup of coffee. “Thanks.” I looked at Riley to see if he had noticed the handshake but it appeared he hadn’t. Well, either that or he just didn’t care enough to be jealous. Then again maybe there was nothing to be jealous of. “What’s happening?” I asked.

  “I’ve just removed the police tape we had out the back. It’s okay for you to go back now.”

  “Great. Thanks,” I said sarcastically. Ed’s smile got a little bit bigger.

  “It’s okay, Lizzie. We removed all the cooties. There’s nothing to be worried about anymore.”

  “Do you know anything about who it was yet?” I asked, cradling the coffee and allowing the heat to seep in me. Even though there was enough heat in the kitchen I couldn’t understand why my hands were so cold.

  “Not yet. But I promise I’ll keep you up to date.”

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re doing a really nice job restoring this old house,” Ed said, still smiling at me.

  “Thanks, but Riley is the one doing all the work.”

  “Yeah, but I’m sure you’re the one with all the design ideas.”

  I felt the happiness surge as finally someone had given me some credit for the changes. I mean, I know Riley’s the one doing all the hard stuff, but I’d put in my fair share too, designing and…stuff, like shopping. I mean shopping is a very important part of the process. Without it the house may not have a new kitchen waiting to go in. Or bench tops (even though I haven’t quite made the decision on that one yet). Or that really lovely wallpaper Riley put on that one wall in the lounge.

  “Lizzie has a lot of talents,” said Riley, coming in on our conversation. “Decorating is only one of them.” He gave me a very suggestive little smile and I had to check the floor to make sure my toes hadn’t burnt a hole in it.

  “I don’t doubt it.” Ed Helms understood exactly what Riley was suggesting. I felt the heat rise from my neck and spread its way across my face, only stopping once a sweat broke out on my forehead.

  Thankfully, I was saved from any more embarrassment as the doorbell rang. Actually, I should say it screeched. I made a note to add buy new doorbell to the To Do list.

  Opening the door, I looked out into the sunlight. Standing on my doorstep was Bradley. He looked younger than ever today wearing shorts instead of long pants. He still wore the white button-down shirt, and, I guess to make himself feel a little bit more business-like, he’d added a tie—a bright Mickey Mouse tie. He looked at me and smiled.

  “Hey, Lizzie,” he said, bouncing on the spot. “How’s things?”

  “Oh hey, Bradley. What’s up?” As much as Bradley was becoming a garden ornament around here, it was rare that he rang my bell.

  “I noticed the police car out the front.”

  “And?”

  “I just wondered...you know...what’s happening?” I looked at the enthusiasm in Bradley’s eyes and couldn’t help but smile.

  “Nothing’s happening, it’s just Officer Helms. He removed the police tape.”

  “Oh! Is that all? I thought maybe they had some more news on what they’d found.”

  “Sorry, I guess we won’t be seeing much of you from now on then.”

  I probably should be relieved at this, but in all honesty I didn’t mind either way. Bradley had turned up every day with a different group of people and since he’d stopped parking in my driveway, we were getting along much better.

  Bradley looked at me quizzically.

  “You know, with the police tape gone, it just looks like I’m a messy gardener,” I explained.

  “Oh no, I’ll be here.” He smiled. “People are always interested in gossip.”

  “Did you buy a new bus?” I asked. Looking out to the curb, I saw an old rust bucket that I if I used my imagination, I’m sure could be called a bus. The white paintwork was faded and dull, but the eager faces looking out of it were anything but. Well, they were old. They just weren’t dull.

  “Yeah, isn’t it great? My dad told me I couldn’t borrow his anymore and these tours are getting really popular, so I thought why not invest in my future.” Bradley shrugged and flashed a boyish grin. He could be annoying at times, but he was pretty cute. If you were into grown men who looked about twelve but dressed like fifty-year-old businessmen.

  I was about to ask if his bus was up to the job when he turned and waved to the occupants. Twenty senior citizens jostled for first place to disembark, but unfortunately it was Norm Aldershott, Westport’s’ oldest resident, who managed to get the honor. God knows how. I’d seen snails move faster.

  Bradley sighed. “I’d better go and help them. Otherwise you’ll be inviting us in for supper.” I smiled at Bradley as he skipped down the steps and hopped over the little garden bed I’d planted around my front porch. Credit where credit’s due—he was far more patient than I was.

  Chapter Seven

  As the sun set on the day, I made a quick dash upstairs to grab a few extra things from my wardrobe. Even though Riley and I had never actually discussed our living arrangements, we both agreed on the fact that once the house was sold, I would move in with him—which was going to be good for more than one reason.

  Yes, yes I know. What better reason could there be other than spending all that quality time with Riley? And of course that was at the top of my list. But other, more practical things were on that list too. Like having my clothes all in one place.

  I’m not like Molly in that I don’t need designer clothes, or even lots of expensive new clothes, but I do have a bit of an addiction to jumpers and cardigans. In fact, last time they were all together in one wardrobe, I counted twenty-six of them. You would think that because we live in a hot climate, I wouldn’t need twenty-six of them, wouldn’t you? And I would then ask you if anyone anywhere actually needed twenty-six jumpers.

  But I liked them, and as I was usually a bit of a cold fish—especially when the air conditioning was on—I found myself always carrying one with me. Tonight, we were visiting Riley’s parents for dinner and as his mum was going through menopause, the air conditioning was always on high, so I needed to grab a jumper that was a little warmer.

  I walked into my bedroom and opened my wardrobe. It took me a few minutes but finally I chose my light grey cashmere cardigan. It was long enough to cover my bottom, button-up so it wouldn’t be too warm, and the softness of it made me feel pretty giving me a little extra confidence.

  Not that I needed it, of course. Riley’s parents seemed to like me and made me feel welcome in their home. I’d only met them once before. They’d been on a world cruise when Riley and I first met and they only arrived home a month ago. They had invited us to dinner and I think that evening w
ent well. I never actually embarrassed myself, which is really quite uncommon for me (I joke that I’m writing a book on 101 ways to embarrass myself, but in all honesty I think I should actually do it).

  Well, that’s not completely true. I was very embarrassed when I walked to the car and slipped on the wet grass, fell on my ass and showed everyone my knickers, but I don’t think Riley’s parents were looking at the particular moment, so it doesn’t count, right? Anyway, I think tonight I should try a little harder, just in case they did saw.

  I grabbed my new jeans, my floaty white singlet top and the only black heels I owned, and carefully put it all in a bag. Hearing the stairs creak I thought Riley must be ready to leave, so I quickly zipped up the bag and headed out to meet him. Only he wasn’t there.

  Oh well, I must be hearing things.

  I walked down about four steps and stopped dead. Halfway down the staircase was a spray of bright red blood running down the wall. I strangled a scream and looked around to see if anyone was there, a creepy feeling running up my spine as if I was being watched.

  “Riley!”

  I stood completely still and waited for Riley to come running. It felt like an eternity and he never came. Shit. He must be outside. Alright, put your big girl pants on and have a closer look, I told myself.

  Taking a deep shuddery breath, I moved down the stairs and stopped in front of the blood. It covered an area of about a foot round and once again looked like it had been sprayed on. Or maybe it was seeping out of the walls. I thought back to all the horror movies Danny had made me watch as a teenager and felt the fear grab at my throat.

  “Riley!” I screamed again, this time much louder than the last. What if Danny was right about this house being haunted? I mean this never happened before Harper found those remains. My heart rate picked up even faster as anxiety gripped me. I scanned the hall for anything that may be scary but the only thing I came across was Cat who seemed to be having a bad hair day, his bed hair making him look like one side of his head was deformed.

  Okay, think of this rationally. Ghosts are not real and blood does not seep out of walls.

  But ghosts were real. I’d seen one before. Even though Mum had told me it was stress. Apparently stress can make you have hallucinations. And mums are always right, aren’t they?

  It had to be coming from somewhere. The adrenalin rush made my knees rubbery, so I sat on the step and tried to think calmly. As I was wondering how many people had died in this house and how many more secrets it could hold, Riley opened the front door and stopped.

  “Working hard?” he asked. Then he saw my pale face and rushed up the stairs to me. “Lizzie, what’s wrong?”

  I nodded towards the wall where the blood was now trickling towards the skirting boards.

  “There’s more of it?” he asked, taking a closer look. He swiped his fingers through it, and then rubbed them together, smelling his fingers as he did so.

  “Would you stop doing that?” I yelled. “Have you never heard of blood transmitted diseases? And besides that, it’s creepy!”

  He stopped, looked at me like I was crazy and then wiped his fingers on his jeans. I made a note to boil those jeans later.

  “It smells wrong,” he said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know. It just smells wrong.”

  “Riley, it’s freaking me out! I really thought I heard you on the stairs before but instead this is what I found. Should we call Ed?”

  “There has to be a sensible explanation,” he said, looking around. “Blood does not appear from thin air.” His gaze stopped on Cat. “It’s not coming from Cat, is it?” he asked.

  I hadn’t actually thought of that. I stood and followed Riley down the stairs, stepping over Cat who was sleeping on the bottom stair.

  Cat wasn’t really one to like human contact. He only usually showed up when he was hungry or when he felt like sleeping somewhere warm and cozy. But if you tried to hold him for too long, he would squirm and claw until you let go.

  He didn’t give Riley the chance to try though. He sensed he was about to be held, sprang up from the step and hightailed it out of our sight.

  “I guess we’ll never know,” sighed Riley.

  “The noise I heard didn’t sound like Cat.”

  “What did it sound like?”

  “Like someone was walking up the stairs and stepped on that creaky board we have. If it was Cat, he should definitely go on a diet.”

  “I’ll have a look around. Maybe some other animal has got some secret entrance that I’ve missed when I made sure the house was rodent-proof.”

  “Let’s hope they do. It’s creeping me out.” Riley pulled me close and kissed the top of my head.

  “Are you ready to go?” he asked.

  “Yes. I’ll just get my bag.” I trudged back up the stairs and picked my bag up from the floor where I had dropped it, thinking I needed to add bleach to my shopping list, and knowing that the nightmares were about to kick up a notch.

  * * * *

  Riley’s parents’ home was very different to my parents’ home. For starters, it was about triple the size and they hadn’t converted Riley’s old bedroom into their dining room. Their dining room held a table big enough for twelve, their furniture was mahogany and the crystal was Waterford. The wine was also something expensive, but I took their word for that. I wasn’t much of a drinker and when I needed to be on my best behavior it was advisable for me to stay away from the stuff. Tonight I needed to be on my best behavior. Not only were Riley’s parents, Anna and Mal going to be there, but his brother Jared was going to be there with his wife Shelly and their daughter Mia.

  Mia is the cutest bundle of joy you’ve ever met. She’s now eight months old, has her Uncle Riley’s smile and resembles a baby Michelin man, with roll after roll of gorgeous baby fat. Last time I saw her she had learned to laugh. Apparently I was the funniest thing she’d ever seen.

  We were at present all sitting around the large dining room table about to help ourselves to the meal Anna had prepared. It looked delicious—it really did. The only problem was it all seemed to be fish based. And fish was the one food I hated. I took a very large helping of salad and added a slice of the salmon quiche and handed the serving dish to Riley.

  When everyone was served we all dug in. Not like dinner at Mum’s house at all. There you started as soon as your plate was full, but I guess they had better manners here.

  “How are the renovations going, Lizzie?” asked Riley’s dad, Mal. Mal was in his mid-fifties and had obviously passed his good looks and genetics to Riley and Jared. Apart from the eyes, Riley was a carbon copy of him. Mal’s eyes were a much paler blue and had a sharpness that reminded me why he was a successful property developer.

  “They’re going really well, thanks,” I replied.

  “We’re not far from finishing the inside,” added Riley. “We started to pull the old kitchen out today.”

  “Are the walls in reasonable condition? No water damage under the cabinets?”

  “No…surprisingly. The house looks old and run down, but the structure is actually in good condition. Lizzie has a good eye for picking a house that’s good to renovate.” Riley looked at me and smiled.

  “A house with good bones will always clean up well,” added Anna.

  “Speaking of bones, what’s happening with the bones they dug up?” asked Jared.

  “I was hoping you could tell me that,” I said.

  Jared was a detective, and I secretly hoped I could convince him to do some digging for me. I knew I could ask Officer Helms for help, but I kind of had a feeling that may cause a few complications of a different variety.

  Riley stopped his fork half way to his mouth. “It doesn’t matter what’s happening with those bones. They’re gone and so has our involvement with it.” His tone suggested it was not negotiable.

  “It’s kind of intriguing though, isn’t it?” said Shelly.

  Shelly was my second fav
orite person at this table. She was much taller than I was, with big green eyes framed with extraordinary long eyelashes, long carrot colored hair, willowy arms and the grace of an angel. Don’t be fooled…she may look elegant and full of class, but she had the laugh of an old sailor, which is actually the thing loved most about her. I looked at her and smiled.

  “Yes, I think so, but Riley wants me to stay out of it.”

  “I’m just worried about you, that’s all,” he said quietly.

  “What’s to worry about?” asked Shelly. “Aren’t those bones really old? Surely whoever put them there is no longer around?”

  “Lizzie’s still having nightmares about the last secret that house held. I just don’t want it getting any worse.”

  “Lizzie, you really should get some counseling. It helps a lot. Or at least it helped me after Jared got shot,” said Shelly, looking at me, her eyes huger than ever.

  I felt a lump form in my throat. Shelly had told me that just after she found out she was pregnant with Mia, Jared was shot on duty. He was lucky the guy shooting at him had bad eyesight and had only got him in the leg, but Shelly had a hard time with it. It could easily have been so much worse.

  I looked at Riley. What if it was him? I suddenly understood why he was worried about me.

  “Lizzie is getting counseling,” Riley said. “She’s seeing Allison Greene.” He took my hand and squeezed it.

  “The same Allison Greene who was once your girlfriend Allison Abbott?” asked Jared, incredulously.

  Riley nodded.

  “And you went to see her?” Shelly asked, staring at me.

  I nodded. “I didn’t know who she was at the time,” I said quietly.

  “You aren’t going back to her, are you?” asked Shelly, shocked.

  “Why shouldn’t Lizzie see her?” asked Anna. “She’s a very good psychiatrist. Allison has done very well for herself you know.”