Lynne and Tom were at Clare’s side, the hurt was clear on their faces, along with their love that was shining out. How could Eddie do this to families?
Eddie sauntered into the room. Grace could see that he was thoroughly enjoying the power that he had over the woman. Well, she wasn’t going to show him any fear.
Clare stared blankly at the table. Eddie sat down next to her and shoved a cup of coffee towards her. “Have a drink, it’ll make you feel better, take all your troubles away.”
“No! Don’t drink it!” Grace called out.
Eddie pointed the gun at Grace. “Let Clare make her own decisions. She looks tired, I think she’s had enough. She can have a nice drink and then go and see mummy and daddy. Would you like that, Clare?”
“Stop him!” Lynne shrieked.
Clare lifted dull eyes to Eddie and said, “You win, your kind always wins.” She looked at Grace. “I’m sorry, I thought we could do it. It’s no use, he’s going to kill us.”
“No, wait. You said you had something when you came into the shop, what was it?” Grace said.
Clare gave a humourless laugh. “It was that red book. It suddenly came to me. I think the names inside match those in my newspaper clippings.”
Eddie gave a bark of laughter. “Well worked out, Miss Marple. Now, Clare, have your coffee, it’ll knock your socks off.”
Clare lifted the cup. Eddie’s gun pointed steadily at Grace. Grace closed her eyes, she couldn’t bear to watch the looks on Tom and Lynne’s faces as they watched their daughter die.
Chapter 15
Eddie said, “Grace, open your eyes. I want to tell you about your darling brother and his new friend. I know where they are.”
Grace’s eyes flicked open. “What have you done to them?”
Eddie laughed. “I couldn’t believe the nerve of that idiot giant, thinking he could pay me off. My boys soon taught him and your brother the error of their ways. I must say, your brother put up a good fight.”
“Where are they?” Grace repeated, the spark of fury in her tummy started to grow.
Eddie leant back in his chair, his eyes twinkled. “You’ll like this, Grace, I thought it was quite fitting. They’re in a storage unit! Isn’t that hilarious? I have many storage units around the country, I use them for furniture that people don’t need any more. You know, the furniture like you have in your shop. I think that table belonged to Clare’s mum and dad. Poor Clare had to sell it of to pay mum and dad’s debts. Lucky for her I had a dealer on standby who offered her a decent price. Money that she then gave to me. Rather like your Frankie had to do with your parents’ things. That’s why I need storage units, to store all this rubbish til I get fed up with paying the unit fees. Drink up, Clare.”
Clare sipped at her coffee.
Eddie waved his gun at Grace. “Your coffee’s getting cold, drink up.”
“No, you’ll have to force me,” Grace said coldly.
Eddie gave a pretend grimace. “Why do you have to make things difficult? Just a minute! I’ve got a genius idea. I can just imagine the headlines – ‘Grief stricken orphans take their own lives!’
He chuckled and went on. “What a great story. I can’t believe Clare came here to visit you and found you dead, a bullet to the head. And in her grief stricken state she realised she was just like you, she couldn’t carry on with her miserable life. There was one bullet left and she had perfect aim. Of course, that means I’ll have to leave my gun here. Never mind, I’ve got more at home.” He leaned over towards a groggy looking Clare and said, “You can leave that coffee now.”
He stood up and reached for his jacket.
Lynne began to cry, Tom pulled her close. The two ghosts shimmered and disappeared.
“Isn’t this the part where you gloat about how you’ve tricked people into giving you money, how you then killed them and got away with it?” Grace said.
Eddie put his jacket on and smoothed it down. “Don’t forget about me getting all those businesses. I turned Clare’s dad’s shop into a fruitful bargain shop, people like cheap and cheerful. I think I’ll do the same with this one. Any more questions before you go?”
Grace stood up, she wasn’t going to make this easy for him, she’d struggle to the bitter end. “What’s in the tea? And the coffee? Poison?”
Eddie considered this for a moment. “I’m not sure of the chemical name, some chap makes it for me. It has the effect of strong alcohol. Isn’t it a shame that your dad drove after having a cup of tea with me? Mind you, I did know his plans for the evening, I’d had him followed for weeks. It’s so sad that they died on your birthday. Why don’t you sit down, Grace, it makes it easier for me to shoot you.”
Fury exploded inside Grace. She picked up the red book. “You murdered my parents! Just to get their shop!”
“Yes, and your point is?” Eddie said. “People have murdered for less. I’ll let you into a secret, shall I?”
He came round to Grace and held the gun against her head. Eddie softly said, “I like killing people.”
Grace’s world seemed to slow down. She took in the sight of Clare, a life ruined by grief. She squeezed the red book, her own parents’ debts recorded there along with goodness knew how many more. She felt the cold metal against her head.
She was surprised that she wasn’t feeling any fear. What she felt was rage, a rage that was rushing up through her body, making her breathing shallower. She’d felt this before when she’d seen Eddie’s men beating Frankie up.
She slowly turned her head towards Eddie so that the gun rested in the middle of her temple. She gave him a steady look and said, “I’m not dying today, Eddie.”
There was a creak as a cupboard door above Eddie opened. The big old tea pot that Grace had used as a weapon previously flew out of the cupboard and crashed down on Eddie’s head. His eyes flickered in surprise. He fell to the floor. The gun dropped from his hand and Grace instinctively kicked it away.
The tea pot landed on the floor. Grace picked it up, the tea pot was still in one piece. Grace touched the blood on the bottom of it.
In a groggy voice, Clare said, “What have you done?”
“I think I’ve killed Eddie Tominski.”
Clare smiled. “Good.” She fell forward onto the table.
Chapter 16
“So, Miss Abrahams, the tea pot just flew out of the cupboard and hit Mr Tominski on the head?”
Grace nodded.
The policeman wrote something down in his notebook. “And how did you get blood on your hands?”
“I picked the tea pot up,” Grace said. “We’ve gone over this twenty times. Have you found my brother yet? Is Clare okay? And Eddie, Mr Tominski, is he ... dead?”
She hoped not. She could imagine Eddie coming back to haunt her for the rest of her life.
The policeman closed his book and gave her a stern look. “I can’t tell you anything else at this point. You’re a suspect.”
Grace sighed and leaned back against the hospital seat. She’d phoned the police as soon as she could after the accident. Was it an accident? It must have been, she hadn’t physically picked the tea pot up and bashed Eddie with it. She quickly dismissed the thought that she had somehow willed it to happen.
An older policeman appeared in the corridor. He looked at the younger man, and with a firm nod of his head, indicated for him to leave them.
The young man did so. The older policeman sat next to Grace and gave her a kind smile. “We found your brother, and his friend, Big Bob I think his name is.”
Grace let out a sigh of relief. “Are they okay?”
The man nodded. “Dehydrated and hungry, but okay. They’re being checked over at the moment. It took us a while to find them, Mr Tominski had a lot of lockers. I don’t care if you did hit Eddie with a tea pot, he had it coming. I’ve known him for years, knew he was up to something but I could never pin anything on him.”
“Is he dead? Will I go to prison?” Grace asked quietly.
&n
bsp; The man shook his head. “Unfortunately, he’s still alive. He’s the one who’s going to prison. We’ve got all the evidence we need now. I can’t believe he’s capable of murder. I don’t know why I’m surprised, I’ve seen it all in my life. It’s amazing what humans do to each other. You’re free to go.”
The man stood up. Grace said, “What about Clare?”
“She’s had her stomach pumped, she’s going to be fine.”
“Can I see her?”
“I can’t see why not, have a word with the nurses. We’ll be in touch to get statements.”
He walked away. Grace stood up, she wouldn’t be happy until she saw Clare for herself. And she needed to find Frankie. She’d been waiting all night for news of him.
She was allowed into Clare’s room. Clare had a tube attached to her arm. She smiled when she saw Grace. She eagerly said, “Is he dead?”
Grace sat down on a chair next to the bed and said, “No, but he’s going to prison. The police have got his red book, his poisoned basket and his gun. How are you?”
Clare looked up at the ceiling. “I’m not sure, I’ve been holding onto my anger for so long I can’t remember how to feel anything else.”
“I know what you mean. Losing our parents was bad enough, but knowing they were murdered makes it much worse. It’s going to take us a long time to get over this.”
Clare turned watery eyes towards Grace. “I’m not sure I can.”
Grace put her hand over Clare’s and said, “We’ve just taken down an evil snake of a man, we can do anything!”
Clare laughed.
Grace carried on, “You need to talk about your feelings, and so do I. Why don’t we talk to each other about it? I could do with a friend.”
Clare smiled. “That sounds a good idea. You can help me get my life back. Thank you, Grace, for believing me about Eddie.”
Grace squeezed her hand. “No problem. I need to go and find my brother and then I’m coming back, okay?”
“Okay,” Clare smiled again and closed her eyes.
Grace found Frankie and Big Bob.
They were both covered in bruises and cuts but they looked fine. They seemed to be enjoying the attention they were getting from the nurses.
They told her about what had happened with Eddie. Then Grace told them what had happened in the kitchen at the shop, excluding the parts with ghosts in.
Frankie laughed. “You and that tea pot! How did you get it down? I thought you’d never find it in that cupboard.”
Grace shrugged. That part was worrying her and she didn’t want to think about it. “I think it must have fallen out, maybe you didn’t push it in the cupboard properly.”
“Yeah, that’ll be it,” Frankie said. “And maybe a flying unicorn gave it a push. Doesn’t matter now. Do you know what this means, Grace?”
She shook her head.
“We’re free from debt! We don’t owe Eddie anything. We can keep the shop!”
Big Bob put his arm around Grace and smiled kindly at her. “It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it? You look tired, Grace, go home and get some sleep.”
“Are you two coming home yet?”
Frankie winked at a nearby nurse and said, “We might be a while, I still feel a bit woozy.”
Grace sighed. He was still an idiot, but she was relieved he was okay.
She called in on Clare before she left the hospital. She promised Clare she’d return the following day.
Grace didn’t head towards home, there was something she had to do first.
Chapter 17
Lynne and Tom were waiting for her at the shop.
“Is she alright? What happened to her? Is she going to be okay?” Lynne bombarded her with questions as soon as she entered the shop.
Grace held her hands up and said, “She’s fine. I’ll tell you everything.”
Grace really wanted a cup of tea but she had been told not to go into the kitchen by the police.
She found a chair to sit on, Lynne and Tom followed her.
They listened as Grace explained everything to them.
“And will you go and see her? And talk to her?” Lynne asked.
“I will, I think we could become good friends,” Grace said. She cleared her throat. “When I’ve helped ghosts before they sort of move on, or go to another place. What happens next with you? Do I need to help you with anything else?”
Lynne looked at Tom. “I don’t want to go, I want to keep an eye on Clare.”
Tom took his wife’s hand. “We don’t need to keep an eye on her. She’s a grown woman, she can look after herself, and Grace will help. It’s time for us to go, can’t you feel it? I can.”
The worry on Lynne’s face slowly trickled away to be replaced with a look of peace. “Yes, I can feel it now. She is going to be okay, I can feel that too. But what about Grace? Are you going to tell her?”
Grace sat up straighter. “Tell me what?”
Tom gave her a reassuring look. “Your mum and dad have been in touch with us. They said thank you for clearing their names, they knew you would. And, this came from your dad, don’t try and find their furniture in one of Eddie’s lockers. You need to let the past go.”
Grace shifted in her seat. “I wasn’t thinking of looking for their furniture.”
Tom and Lynne gave her a look to let her know that her lie was obvious.
“Okay, I won’t look. Did they say anything else? Why won’t they appear to me?”
“Calm down, Grace. They don’t need to come back, they’re at peace. Your mum mentioned the tea pot and said you’re not to blame yourself.”
Grace sunk into the chair. “But it was my fault. Every time I get angry I make things happen.”
“It’s not you, you didn’t move the tea pot. Didn’t you see the old woman? She was in the kitchen when Eddie was there,” Tom said.
Lynne pursed her lips, “I’ve never heard such language, the things she was calling that Eddie. He deserved them, but still.”
“What old woman? I didn’t see anyone. Is she here now?” Grace looked around the shop.
“No, I think she must come to you in times of need. Like some guardian angel, or ghost, whatever she is. Your mum said it was her that threw the tea pot. Lynne, it’s time for us to go. Are you ready?”
Lynne and Tom stood up and held hands. Grace jumped up. “Wait! Did my mum and dad tell you anything else?”
“Your mum says you should use your gift, the one you have of seeing ghosts. But, watch out, not all ghosts are friendly. Time to go, Lynne.”
Grace had many more questions. She didn’t want them to go, they were a link to her parents.
Lynne kissed her cheek, it felt like someone had placed an ice cube there. “Thank you for helping Clare. Take care of her, and take care of yourself. Goodbye.”
Lynne and Tom smiled a farewell and then walked towards the shop wall. They glowed brightly for a while and then disappeared.
Grace stared into the distance.
Their debts had been paid off.
Eddie wasn’t going to trouble them anymore.
The shop was theirs.
Her parents were at peace.
Life was good.
Then why didn’t she feel happy?
And why did she need the ghost of an old woman to protect her?
“Well, Grace,” she said out loud. “Looks like you’ve got yourself a new career, helping ghosts! What could possibly go wrong?”
A note from the author
Just like Frankie in this story I love watching storage auction programmes. I’ve never been to one but I’d love to visit one of the big ones in America, I’m sure I’d be useless at bidding though – I’d be too excited.
When I watch the shows I always wonder where the items have come from, and who they belonged to. I wondered what would happen if some of the items had ghosts attached. I reached a point where I couldn’t stand it anymore and I knew I had to write some stories down, I was inspired by the variety of
items that have been discovered in storage lockers.
I hope you enjoyed this second story. If you did could you post a quick review? Thank you, I read all my reviews and I really do appreciate them.
Here is the link to the first story – Jacob’s Coins:
Amazon Com
Amazon UK
This is the second – Lost And Found
Amazon Com
Amazon UK
You can see all my books at:
www.gillianlarkin.co.uk
You can email me at:
[email protected]
Best wishes
Gillian
STORAGE GHOSTS – TICK TOCK
By
GILLIAN LARKIN
KINDLE EDITION
www.gillianlarkin.co.uk
Front cover image by Dreamstime.com
Copyright 2014 by Gillian Larkin
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, electronically or mechanically without permission from the author.
Tick Tock (Storage Ghosts) Page 5