“I just wanted to give you a heads up. She may not go ahead with it, but I thought you should know.”
“It’s okay, Lizzie. My boss is pretty cool.”
I sighed. “So you won’t get into any trouble?”
“None that I can’t handle.” He laughed. “But Lizzie, be careful around her.”
I heard the warning in Ed’s words and felt the prickle run up my spine.
“Is there a reason I need to be?” I asked.
Ed’s sigh was loud in my ear. “Just be careful. Please.”
* * *
Riley returned home about an hour later. I’d finished painting the back wall, cleaned my brushes and was sitting down having a coffee when he walked in. He looked particularly happy about something.
“You were gone a long time,” I commented.
“I ran a few errands while I was out,” he said, moving to me, and kissing the top of my head. He sat in the chair opposite.
“The coffee has just brewed if you want a cup,” I said.
“No thanks. Actually, I want you to go and pack.”
“Pack?”
“Yes. Pack. You’ve been under a lot of pressure lately. I think you deserve this,” said Riley, handing me an envelope. I carefully took it from him and opened it. Inside was a piece of white A4 paper with a printed reservation for the Hilton Hotel in the city. It was for two nights, starting tomorrow.
“Oh my God! Really?” I asked, looking up at him. I’d always wanted to stay at the Hilton, but had never been able to justify spending the money.
“I know we’re not going very far, but I thought a break would be nice. Time for you and me.” Riley moved took my hand and pulled me into his lap. I looked up and saw the sparkle in his eyes.
“Just the two of us. No interruptions or family dramas?”
“Nope. Just us. For two days. To do whatever we want.”
I sighed as Riley kissed me softly on the lips. I felt the tension in my shoulders relax as I gave in to his kiss and put my arms around his neck.
As the floor scorched under my toes, I pulled up for air, my hormones racing. “Maybe we should get a little bit of practice in. You know, just to make sure we’re good at this,” I said.
Riley smiled and gathered me up in his arms. Taking the stairs two at a time, he pushed the bedroom door open with his hip, and dropped me on the bed.
“I think we should practice a lot,” he said, jumping next to me. “We don’t want to waste our time at the Hilton not knowing what we’re doing.”
I giggle and rolled on top of him, pushing his shoulders back to the bed as I did so. My hormones were racing at approximately three times the speed of light as I placed my hands on his flat stomach and lifted his shirt. Lowering my head, I nibbled his neck, his breathing ragged in my ear. I heard the moan escape his lips as he lifted my shirt over my head, very deftly unhooked my bra and threw it across the room.
Now this is the part where I would normally ask you to please close your eyes, but as with everything in my life, we got very rudely interrupted by the phone.
“Ignore it,” said Riley, his fingers working magic as he spoke.
“Okay. Sorry.”
Riley put his arms around me and rolled me over to my back where he continued on his plan, kissing his way down my neck. The doorbell rang. Shit.
Riley lifted his head and looked at me. “Ignore it.” As he moved his head an inch lower, I moaned and thought I’d have no trouble ignoring the door.
It rang again.
“Lizzie, I know you’re in there!” It was Danny.
“Stay quiet and he’ll think we’re not home,” mumbled Riley, his mouth full of my flesh. Oh boy! He sure knew what he was doing!
The doorbell rang again. And again.
“Open up,” yelled Danny. “I need to talk to you.”
Now, I really was enjoying what Riley was doing, but all I could hear was the constant ring of the doorbell and Danny’s voice. Hardly an aphrodisiac.
I sighed. “I’m sorry. As much as I want to, I can’t ignore him.”
“That’s okay. His voice kind of killed it for me too.” Riley rolled over onto the bed and ran his fingers through his hair, a habit he had when he was frustrated. Well, he wasn’t the only one.
“Can you go and let him in while I find my bra? You know, if you’re presentable and all.” I looked at Riley’s excitement and thought it would probably give Danny a heart attack.
Riley sighed and stood up, pulling his shirt back into place. “Don’t worry, after hearing that voice, it’ll hide for hours now.”
I giggled as I watched Riley’s glorious back walk out of the room. I climbed off the bed, retrieved my bra and t-shirt and spent a couple of minutes in the bathroom splashing cold water on my face before going down stairs.
I found Danny in the kitchen crying, with Riley standing next to him. When I’d first met Riley, Danny’s crying had kind of freaked him out a bit, but now he knows it’s just another day in the Fuller family.
“What’s wrong?” I asked Danny, picking up the tissue box and handing it to him.
“Andrew, that’s what,” he replied, snatching a tissue as he spoke. “We’re supposed to be going away tomorrow and he says he wants to cancel it! I’ve been looking forward to this time away without his mother. It’s the only thing that’s got me through the last few weeks.”
“Well why does he want to cancel?” I asked. Riley had slunk out the back door the second I had walked into the kitchen. Lucky bugger.
“He says no one will look after her. There’s nothing bloody wrong with her, Lizzie!”
“But Andrew must have a reason to think that there is,” I said soothingly.
“She’s just a manipulating cow,” said Danny blowing his nose.
“Danny! You can’t say that.”
“Why? It’s the truth.”
I was about to ask Danny for more details when my phone rang. I picked it up and saw the caller was Andrew.
I showed Danny the phone. “Why’s he calling me?”
Danny shrugged as I swiped the screen and answered the call.
“Hi Andrew.”
“Lizzie, is Danny with you at all?” I heard the anxiety in Andrew’s voice as he spoke.
“Yeah, he’s here.”
“I’ve been trying to call his phone but it must be playing up as it’s not even ringing. Could I speak to him please?”
I handed the phone to Danny. “Apparently your phone’s playing up,” I said.
Danny shook his head and mouthed, “I switched it off. I don’t want to talk to him.”
“Man up, Danny and talk to him. You’ll never sort it out otherwise.”
Danny glared. I didn’t care. Tomorrow I was going to the city for a couple of nights away from them all and the drama that went with them.
“Your shirt’s inside out,” snarled Danny as he snatched the phone from my hand.
I looked down at my shirt and realized he was right. I felt my face flush. Of course everybody knew what Riley and I got up to in the dark, and sometimes even in broad daylight, but it was still embarrassing to get caught in the act. I turned on my heel and moved outside to where Riley was sitting on the deck. Danny could sort his own bloody problems out.
* * *
The next morning I woke excited about the few days ahead. I’d lived and worked in the city for about ten years before buying this house, so I knew it pretty well, but in all honesty it wasn’t the city that was making me excited. Or the hotel, even though it was pretty spectacular. It was spending time alone with Riley with no interruptions. Last night we had both agreed to only answer our phones if we thought it could be an emergency. In my case that was only after Mum had rung about seven times and left a voice message. Then I’d call her back. We couldn’t check in until after two pm, and it was only seven am now, but our bags were packed, Cat had been left with the run of the house and a bowl full of biscuits.
Molly had agreed to come over every day to make sure he was
okay. She had my phone number so if anything went wrong with Cat, she could leave me a message and I would call her back. I was determined my family was not going to interrupt my sanctuary. Riley was right. I was pretty wound up and anxious. That was partly because I couldn’t go a day in my family without a drama, partly because I was still trying to figure out why those bones were in my garden, but mostly because of Riley’s working relationship with Allison.
Yes, I knew that was one of the reasons why he was taking me away. He wanted to show me I was the only woman he was interested in, but I still felt threatened by the time he spent with her. Since the purchase of her house had gone through, he seemed to be spending more time with her than me lately, and may I remind you that Riley and I got together after he had helped me with the renovations he’d been doing here!
I was sitting in my kitchen waiting for him to return from his dad’s, when I looked out the window and saw Ed’s police car pull into the driveway.
I walked to the door and opened it before he rang the bell.
As he stepped into my personal space, I got a nose full of his woody aftershave and had to shake myself to clear my senses. Looking closer at him, I could see the line of his mouth was drawn tight, and I felt anxiety swirl.
“Is everything okay?”
“Maybe we should go inside,” he said, stepping up close so he was almost touching me.
“Ed, what’s wrong. Is everything okay with Riley?” I asked as panic rushed at me.
“As far as I know, yes.”
“Then what is it?”
He sighed. “I followed up on Bradley.” My stomach flipped.
“And?”
“Let’s just go inside.”
“Tell me please. What’s wrong with Bradley?”
Ed let out a long breath. “I’m sorry, Lizzie. He’s dead.”
“Dead?” I couldn’t have heard him right.
“Yes. I found him this morning. He’d been shot. It looked like it happened a few days ago.”
I felt the world sway and the room turn black, as my stomach rolled. Ed reached out to me as I stumbled and fell forwards. His strong arms came around me and lifted me inside. As he gently placed me on the couch, Riley walked in the door.
“What’s going on?” he asked. Seeing my white face, his expression turned to concern as he rushed forward to me. “What happened?”
“Bradley’s dead,” I whispered. “He’s dead.”
Riley looked at Ed for an explanation.
“We’re not sure, but we think it may be connected with a video diary he’s got on YouTube.”
“The one about the body in my garden?” I asked, my stomach diving south.
“We need to look deeper into it. Nothing’s certain at this stage, but Bradley had no prior convictions or any associations with crime whatsoever. The last video diary he made on Monday stated he knew who killed Ronald Smithson and to watch tomorrow when all was to be revealed.”
“That means whoever killed Ronald Smithson is still alive and living in Westport,” I said.
“Like I said, we don’t know anything for sure. It could just be a coincidence.” I thought of Matt’s advice about coincidences.
“Is Lizzie in danger?” asked Riley, concern creasing his brow.
Ed looked uncertain. “I don’t think so. Unless you know who the killer is?”
I shook my head. “No. Bradley never confided that to me.”
“I’ll have a patrol car drive past here every hour keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Just don’t stay alone until this is over, Lizzie.”
“We’re going away today.”
“How long are you going for?”
“Two days,” answered Riley.
“Good. Let me know when you get back and we’ll decide what action we need to take then. If any,” added Ed.
* * *
Bradley was on my mind throughout the trip into the city and even though I knew we were going away to relax, I wondered if I could possibly forget him long enough to do that. But upon reaching the hotel, it felt like we’d escaped to another planet away from our normal lives.
The hotel was amazing, with one tower for permanent residents and the other for guests. I stood and looked up at the sun reflecting off the glass windows as I waited for Riley to give the valet his keys, . I sighed contentedly.
We entered the grand reception made of glass and stone and did the check-in thing. We were informed our room wasn’t quite ready, but we were very welcome to use the hotel facilities and they would call as soon as we could have the room key. We turned to head to the restaurant, and came face to face with Mum and Dad. WTF?
“Mum! Dad! What are you doing here?” I asked, my voice sounding very much like Alvin the Chipmunk.
“Oh, love!” laughed Mum. “We didn’t know you were going to be here too.”
Too? Who else was here?
“Are you meeting someone else?” asked Riley, who seemed just as shocked as I was.
“Well we’re not exactly meeting them, but they are here.” Mum smiled. Dad just looked uncomfortable.
“Who’s here, Mum?” I asked, my heart rate increasing.
“Danny and Andrew, of course. They said they were going away last week remember?”
Yes, but I had no idea it was to this hotel. “But ... but ... they had an argument. They cancelled ...” I stuttered.
“Oh, they kissed and made up. Andrew relented and got a carer in for his mother. I don’t believe for a second she’s really that sick,” tut-tutted Mum. I shook my head, trying to clear it and make sense of what I was hearing.
“Why are you here?” I asked.
“Well, when they told us about this place it sounded really nice so your father and I decided to use the money we raised from the garage sale and treat ourselves.”
“But ... but ... what about the ring?” I asked, distinctly remembering Mum telling me she was going to buy a ring with that money.
“Well when I went to Hogan’s Jewelers somebody had already bought it,” explained Mum.
At the mention of the ring Dad shifted uncomfortably next to her. I looked to him and wondered what he was up to.
“So Danny and Andrew are here too?” asked Riley, verifying he’d heard correctly.
“Yes, I think they’ve already checked in. Hang on let me see ... Danny sent me a message when we were in the car.” She lifted her phone from her handbag and scrolled through the menu until she found what she was looking for. “Here it is. Yes, they’re in room 815. What room are you in, love?”
I looked at Riley. He looked at the paperwork in his hand.
“Oh, we don’t have our key yet,” he explained, looking at me shiftily. “They’re going to call us when our room’s ready.”
“Oh, okay.” Mum turned to Dad. “Go and check us in, Bill. See what room we’re in. Wouldn’t it be funny if we were all on the same floor next to each other.” Mum laughed, but I didn’t think it was funny at all. Riley had just discreetly shown me the paperwork in his hand and it did indeed show our room number—816—right next door to Danny.
No! This can’t be happening!
I think Riley saw the panic in my eyes as he put his arm around my shoulders.
“We’ll go and get a drink in the bar,” he explained to Mum. “Let us know when you’re checked in.” He gave her the mega-watt smile and steered me towards the bar. As soon as we were out of earshot, he turned to me and said. “Don’t worry, once your parents are in their room, I’ll go back to reception and explain the situation. I’ll see if we can move.”
“Maybe we should change hotels.” I sulked.
Riley smiled and ordered me a drink. I know it was only midday, but I needed an alcoholic drink to soothe my nerves. It had been a stressful morning. Mum and Dad joined us a few minutes later.
“Our room’s not ready yet,” she explained, “but they gave us our room number. We’re in 1005. Not next to Danny and Andrew, but maybe we’ll be next to you.” She smiled. “Ar
e you sure they didn’t tell you your room number?” she asked, looking at Riley. “They told us ours.”
“I’ll go and chase it up,” said Riley, winking at me, and then walking back to reception.
“Isn’t this exciting?” asked Mum. Dad had gone to the bar to order them a drink too.
“Yes ... very,” I replied. I know, I know, I was thinking exactly the opposite, but Mum just looked so excited I didn’t want to disappoint her.
“I just messaged Danny and they’re at the pool. Maybe once we’ve all settled into our rooms, we could have afternoon tea together?”
Dad approached the table and put a fruity-looking drink in front of Mum. I heard his sigh as he sat down. I had a feeling he wasn’t all that excited about seeing us all here. We sat and sipped our drinks—well, to be completely honest, I’d skulled mine—and waited for Riley to return.
“I’m sorry, Lizzie,” said Riley, sitting down next to me, “but our room is on the fifteenth floor. We’re nowhere near your family.” He frowned, making me want to giggle. God love him. Who knows what he’d had to do to get our room changed.
“Ohhh ... that’s disappointing,” cried Mum.
“No, let the kids have some time alone. They don’t want to spend it with us,” said Dad.
I looked at him and saw him wink. I don’t know who was having the dirty weekend here – us or them. I shuddered, thinking I needed to forget that’s what they were doing or there would definitely be none of that happening in our room. Of course, I know Mum and Dad still had a sex life, but it was something I never ever wanted to think about.
“Our room’s ready now if you want to head up, Lizzie,” said Riley.
“Oh okay, we may as well get settled in.”
Riley had his arm around my waist as we walked to the elevator. We stood in silence as the doors opened. A few people moved aside to allow us in, and we stepped inside.
“Lizzie?” I heard a female voice behind me and turned. It was my post lady, Chloe. Dear God. Did this place have a special on or something?
“Oh hi!” I said, my voice sounding like Alvin again. “Fancy seeing you here!”
“I know, Of all the hotels in the city and we run into someone we know. What are the chances?”
Give Murder A Hand: Lizzie. Book 2 (The Westport Mysteries) Page 19