TICK TOCK RUN (Romantic Mystery Suspense) (31 page)

Laura looked me in the eyes.  “This person is hitting me from as many angles as possible.  Whatever it is… it worked.  I paid.  I’m sure you’ve got nothing to worry about, Chelsea.”  Laura rubbed her temples then gripped the worktop and swayed.  She looked like she’d fall to the floor if she shut her eyes. 

I stopped chewing my nails and moved things along.  “We need a plan.”

“We give the police a reason to grill Mark,” Lee said.  “Get them to search his house, computer…  The video could have been transferred to it.  I won’t let him get away with killing Daryl.”

“No!” Laura yelled.

I echoed the word. 

Laura touched Lee’s hand.  “Please, Lee.  There has to be another way.  If we phone the police Paul will find out what I’ve done.”  Then to me, she said through her teeth, ”I knew you shouldn’t have told Lee about this, Chelsea.”

“Three heads are better than one,” I said.

Laura spoke as though Lee had left the room.  “He’s gonna blow my future with his big, flapping mouth!”

“That’s rich!” Lee jumped in.  “What kind of person lets her best friend think someone’s coming to kill her?  A selfish, gutless one!  You’re just protecting yourself.” 

“Selfish?”  Laura screeched.  “You’re sly, devious.  You’re using Chelsea to get a lead on your brother.”

“You’re the reason my brother’s dead!”

“Well, you’re a shithead!”

“Enough!” I slapped the worktop.  “I can’t stand this.”  Torn between the two of them, I felt like ripping my hair out.

Paul’s voice travelled in from the lounge.  “Is everything okay in there, Laura?”

“Yes,” she shouted back, eyes wide in panic.  She looked at us, pressed a finger to her lips, and then said to Paul, “Fine.  It’s wedding talk.  Want another drink?”

“No.  I’m good, thanks,” he replied.

Laura nibbled the corner of her lip and stared into the garden, as though considering taking our conversation outside.

Silence ensued while we listened for footsteps in the hall.  When it became clear that Paul wasn’t going to enter, I sighed.  The minute of time-out cooled the arguing.

Lee took a deep breath.  “Look, I’m not impressed with you either, Laura.  I’ll hold off calling the police for now.  But once I can prove who killed Daryl, I’ll be banging on the police station door.  Get his ass thrown in jail and the key snapped in the lock.” 

Lee and Laura shared an angry stare. 

“Okay, then.  A plan,” Lee continued, speaking with a new composure that impressed me.  “We have to find out if these photos exist.  It might be a bluff.”

Laura nodded. “I’ll send a text demanding to see them.”

“And we need backup,” Lee said.  “Something to level the playing field, trick Mark into slipping up.  I suggest you both get thinking.”

Just for a moment - despite each of us having a separate agenda - I smiled, feeling optimism stretch like a strong rope between us.  Although, I knew Laura would do everything within her power to prevent Lee making that dreaded phone call to the police. 

Lee scribbled his phone number on a pad, pushed it towards Laura.  A sharp intake of breath caused his nostrils to flare.  “I think my brother was blackmailed, too.  Those application forms for loans I found…  Whoever’s behind this must have known Laura was his patient.  Daryl could have worked out who it is, and then they killed him.”  He looked at Laura.  “Paying up might not save you.  It didn’t work for Daryl.”

My pulse began tapping at the side of my head.

Laura’s lack of response confirmed that she still believed Daryl’s death was accidental, not linked to the blackmail.  Without proof, how could we be certain?

“If Daryl took advantage of you, then I apologise for him and I…” Lee trailed off, he sounded flustered, choked up, and I wished I could finish his sentence for him.

I jumped off the stool and wrapped my arm around him, breathed in the sweetness of his aftershave.

Laura reached over to pat his shoulder, but pulled back at the last second. 

Lee produced a set of jangling keys from his pocket.  He stood and headed to the door.  “It’s time I left.”

Laura folded her arms across her chest.  “If I do pay this extra twenty thousand, I need to work out how to get all the evidence.  I’m not having him come back at me a third time.”

“Bluff,” Lee blurted out.  “If he sends you an actual photo, say there’s a fingerprint on it and we’ll give it to the cops, or that you remember seeing him nearby when the photo was taken.  The slightest risk of exposure might be enough to make him back off, or panic him into slipping up.”  His voice lowered, “which is what we really want.”

“What if he doesn’t believe me?”

“You’re good at convincing people, twisting things around to save your own ass, aren’t you?”  Lee’s tone was harsh again, sharpened to hurt.  Although I understood his frustration, I didn’t like this side of him.  “Ask him if he’s willing to take that risk.”

“That’s enough.”  Laura pointed down the hall.  “I think it best you leave.”

“With pleasure.”

A loud tapping arose in the room.  Laura’s Aunt Carol loomed bleary-eyed in the back garden, knocking on the kitchen window and waving like an excited child.

Laura grunted.  “What’s put a smile on her sour face?  She’ll be after something, yet again, the drunken fool.  Ever wondered why I keep the back door locked?” 

Carol shouted, “Cooey!” through the window and waved again. 

“Go round the front,” Laura shouted to her.

Before I could raise my arm to wave out of politeness, Carol lifted her top up to her chin and flashed her bra.  I pressed my hand over my mouth, and laughed into my palm.

“Oh, shit,” Laura said, dragging a hand down her face in humiliation.  “How can I be related to that?”

Carol pointed to the side of the house, then disappeared from the window.

“Great,” Laura muttered.  “Now the neighbours will get to see her underwear, too.”

I tapped Lee’s arm.  “Time to go.”

Laura stood and hugged me.  I knew she was trying to compose herself when I heard her sniff back tears.  “Can my day get any worse?” 

I whispered against her ear.  “If you can convince Mark that he doesn’t have a shot at a relationship with you, perhaps he’ll back off.”

Laura whispered, “Leave it to me.”  She pulled away then gave Lee an icy smile, which annoyed me.

“I really hope it’s not Mark,” I said, picking up my bag.  “He’s playing a DVD of photos during his best man speech.”

“You don’t think that’s how he plans to—” Laura paused, mouth gaping.

“I’m not sure,” I said.  “It’s possible he could slip a photo of you and Daryl in there.”

Lee pointed a stabbing finger towards the lounge and spoke in a low, but venomous tone.  “I can’t believe the son of a bitch who killed my brother could be sitting in the next room.  I should go in there and beat the crap out of him!”  He stormed towards the lounge door.

Nervous as hell, I grabbed the back of his shirt and railroaded him down the hall.  “We don’t know for certain that it is him.  Come on.  Let’s get out of here.”

Laura waved us off from the doorstep, although I think she was ensuring that Lee left.  Her aunt came round from the side of the house.  Laura grabbed her by the sleeve, yanked her inside and shut the front door. 

I dashed to my car.

“Wait up.”  Lee slipped his arm around my waist. 

My heart caught.

He hooked a finger in the loophole on my waistband and tugged me nearer until my hips skimmed his thighs.  “I’m sorry for getting snappy with Laura.  I know she’s important to you.”

“She is.  Very.  She’s had a tough year.  She’s not normally such a bitch, you know?”

Lee’s lips looked on the verge of a smile or a laugh.

“I’m serious,” I said.  I explained to Lee Laura’s mental state after losing her parents, and that I didn’t think she could cope with another blow. 

“I see.  So that’s why you won’t phone the police?”

“Losing Paul would finally crush her.  I couldn’t live with myself if she did something
stupid
.”

Lee gasped.  “You mean... like...?”

I nodded.

He tightened his hold on my hips.  “Do you really think she would hurt herself?”

I stared down and shrugged.  “Let’s just say, I wouldn’t rule it out.”

Lee tilted my chin up.  “It’s as though you carry a monstrous weight around with you each day.  The same way that I feel, lately.  I realised this yesterday.  It’s more than what’s going on now, isn’t it?  Something to do with Laura and... perhaps the crash?”

I nodded.  “Do you see my dilemma?”

“I understand.”

“I
want
them to get married,” I said.  “Laura needs Paul in her life, and he needs her.  They’re both lost souls who don’t have much in the way of family.” 

Lee stroked my face.  “I hope she knows what a loyal friend you are.  I’ll try to cut her some slack.  But let’s face facts, I strongly believe that someone killed Daryl and that the same person is after you.”

I cast my eyes down, confused and unsure.  After all, my deadline had come and gone and I was still breathing.  Lee, consumed by grief, could easily have twisted the story in his mind without realising, like Laura had said. 

“I’m going to dig around my brother’s place again.  He had time to send me that text before he died, so maybe he’s left another clue.”  Lee ground his thighs against my hips.  “Can we meet up later?  Finish where we left off?  Didn’t you ask earlier if you could stay at my place?”

“Hmmm...”

“I’ll bring the chocolate cake.”

“Sounds great.  Very tempting.”  I needed to come up with a way to satisfy both Lee and Laura, but if I didn’t get some sleep, I knew I’d be a bundle of brain cells that didn’t work.  “But, listening to you two has drained me.  I just need to flop into bed and sleep.” 

Lee cupped my face in his hands, dipped his head and kissed me, lingering longer than a single kiss needed.  “Are you sure?  I can think of a great way to take your mind off things.  And, it still involves flopping into bed.”

I shook my head.  “No.  I’m not sure.  Please go before I change my mind.”

CHAPTER 25

O
n entering my home I received a text message:
‘Sent text asking for proof photos exist.  Will try tell Mark I’m not into him.  Love Laura xx.  P.S.  Got £20,000 under your mattress?’

I harrumphed.  Yeah, sure.  Perhaps a few coins down the back of my sofa. 

I shoved some clothes into the washing machine.  Then, after a bath, I flopped into bed. 

Thirty minutes of tossing and turning later, my mouth felt dry.  I wrapped a dressing gown around my body and padded barefoot down to the kitchen for a drink of water, treading in the dark with care.  On raising the glass to my lips, the letterbox clattered. 
Mail?  At this time of night?
  I carried my drink into the hall to investigate the sound. 

Below the front door, on the welcome mat, a shaft of moonlight shone on a white envelope.  I picked it up.  No name, address or stamp.  I ripped the top off with my teeth, tugged at the piece of paper inside and flipped it over.  On the moonlit photo I thought I recognised Laura.  My glass slipped through my fingers and shattered on the floor around my bare feet.  Stretching an arm out, I located the light switch and flicked it.