The Girl With Nine Lives, The Girl Who Bit Back, The Girl With Ten Claws 3 Book Boxset (The Adventures of Benedict and Blackwell Series)

by E. Earle

  He pointedly looked down at the keys in my hand and I shrugged. “You thought I’d locked myself in?”

  I put my hands on my hips, eager to change the subject. “Where have you been?”

  His expression darkened and he stepped forwards, forcing me back into his room. I scowled at him as he shut the door, his eyes never leaving mine.

  “Come back with me,” he said.

  “I can’t.”

  “Why?”

  “Because what is happening here isn’t right!” I snapped, so angry at everything all of a sudden. Barry leaving this place to me, me forcing my way out of the dirt, Rino escaping, and now having an hotelier bully trying to force people to give him what was theirs. “I have a chance to change this, Arthur- I can help-”

  Suddenly his hands were on my upper arms and he gave me a little shake. “You can’t save everyone, Ellie!” he snarled. “When are you going to start looking out for yourself? You don’t have nine lives!”

  No, I thought. But I have Ben.

  “I’d rather do something,” I said slowly, “and regret it, than regret not doing it at all.”

  He stared at me, his eyes losing some of their hope, their brightness and he released me. “Yeah? Well, this is something you’re definitely going to regret.”

  Calloway left that afternoon, and there wasn’t enough rum or catnip in the world to make me feel better.

  Chapter Eight

  The next morning, I decided to drive myself back to the small fishing town where Old Marley’s museum was. I needed to remind myself what I was fighting for.

  I managed to escape Brynn as he came back from his surfing lesson.

  “Wait a minute and I’ll come with you,” he said, peeling himself out of his wetsuit.

  I had mumbled something and waited until he tottered up to the last unscathed outbuilding where our surfing tack was, before I ran to my Fiat Punto. Ben had just managed to jump in after me before I slammed the door and sped off.

  “You know, you could have had my tail off,” Ben meowed sulkily.

  I rolled my eyes. “But I didn’t.” I glanced at his belly and raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been eating the bacon again, haven’t you?”

  Ben hissed at me in reply and I laughed.

  The sun beamed down on us as we walked through the town, ignoring the looks from the locals. Some of them waved and then I realised they probably recognised me from the paper- if not that, pretty much everyone knew Ben by now. Word got around fast in a small place.

  I used to find it annoying having people whisper about me and Ben, but there was something different about this place. People called out good morning to each other, even if they didn’t know that person. It made me feel lighter in spirit and soon I stopped trying to avoid the eye contact of people and started to wave back.

  Old Marley’s Museum soon came into view and I was surprised when I saw both doors open. I glanced around and could see no one about. Old Marley’s was slightly separated from the town and was shielded by view from all of the overgrowth. It was a shame, because the building’s architecture really was lovely under all that foliage.

  “Hello?” I called, wondering if Brynn had gotten there first. I hadn’t seen his truck in the small car park. Could he have parked somewhere else? My nerves started to prickle, instincts screaming that something wasn’t right.

  “Stay back,” I said quietly to Ben as I stepped towards the door.

  “They were here,” he hissed, ears going back as he raised a paw in mid step. “I can smell them.”

  “They? Who’s they?” I looked at the ground and saw the broken sign of Old Marley’s Museum along with tyre marks. I frowned and then stepped through the door. My jaw hit the ground. Everything was gone.

  “Shit, what the hell?” I literally jumped inside and searched for any sight of an antique- but there was nothing. Everything had been taken, and the rubble had been left behind. Glass cases had been smashed, fishing nets torn from the walls and the wooden mural of the mermaid being the only thing left. It lay in a state of concussion in the corner of the room, the mermaid’s face distorted in the dirt into a mask of fury.

  “What’s happened?” Ben meowed. He raced into the next room and I followed him. We ran into each room, climbed upstairs to find everything absent. I climbed back downstairs, out of breath and put my hands in my hair, ready to pull it out.

  “Do you think Old Marley’s just had a clean out?” I asked.

  But Ben was sniffing at a pile of rags covered with plants of wood and netting. Suddenly it started to move, making Ben and I jump back in alarm. Groaning came from the debris and I wondered if the place was haunted.

  Ben meowed and I dived forward towards the pile, ripping off the first plank of wood, bandaged hands be damned.

  Poor Old Marley lay beneath the wood, beaten, bruised and with a bloody nose. “Oh God,” I breathed, hauling off the rest of the rubbish. “Marley! Are you ok? Marley!”

  I fumbled in my pocket and dragging out my phone, I dialled 999.

  “Hello? I need an ambulance!”

  The woman on the other line told me to be calm and talked me through checking Marley and instructed me not to move him. He was still groaning, so that was a relief.

  “They took my gems!” Marley sobbed suddenly, his tears mixing with the dust and blood on his face. Seeing an old man like this so vulnerable made me want to cry myself and I put my hands on his shoulders. Ben tugged the rest of the fish netting off with his teeth and curled up next to Old Marley’s neck.

  “Who?” I demanded. “Was it your brother and his men?”

  Marley nodded and continued his sobbing, his thick fingers grasping for Ben for comfort. He breathed in a shuddering sigh of relief as his fingers touched fur and once again I thanked the day Ben came back into my life.

  “It’s ok, Marley,” I said softly, the woman on the phone still glued to my ear, reassuring me that the ambulance was on its way. “We’ll get it back- I promise, ok? We’ll sink the bastards down!”

  He fixed his pale blue eyes on mine and a small smile played on his bloody lips. “You sound like a pirate,” he said.

  An uproar rose in the town at the sound of the ambulance and hearing that poor Old Marley had been robbed. The police came and I explained everything, knowing nothing would be done. Patrick Marley had connections with the police and the case would be dismissed as simple theft.

  I called Brynn as soon as the ambulance arrived and he was there sooner than I thought was possible.

  “I came in to see my mother,” he explained, seeing my confusion. “I was having a beer when you called.”

  His face was grim as we watched the ambulance gurney take Old Marley, Ben meowing at his side so he knew he was still there. The ambulance wouldn’t let Ben come along, so Brynn promised to ride with him in the ambulance. I watched miserably as the ambulance drove away and the police had finished their all-too-quick inspection of the property.

  I crouched down to Ben as the cars drove away, misery and fury clawing at my gut. “Ben? Can you go inside and sniff out what you can?”

  A glint shone in Ben’s eyes as he saw the intent in mine. “Got it,” he meowed, and then he sped off.

  It was an anxious five minutes as I waited for him. “The two idiots who came last time were here,” he said.

  “Anyone else?”

  He sneezed from the dust and wiped his nose with his paw. “There was a woman there as well. But I don’t recognise her scent.”

  I frowned. “A woman?”

  He sneezed again and I picked him up, brushing off the cobwebs from his coat. Staring at the tire tracks on the ground, I felt my teeth clench. “We’ve got to get these bastards,” I snarled.

  “Marley was right,” Ben meowed and licked my chin. “You do sound like a pirate.”

  The teeny tiny Town Hall had no problem with letting me see their CCTV booth of the few cameras that were in their local area. I supposed the rules were far more relaxed here than o
ther places, but I played on that sense of community as we gossiped about the theft from the museum, and the security officers reminisced of their own times at the museum.

  “I always wanted to be a pirate when I was younger,” Bill, a balding middle aged man said, patiently tapping on the mouse until we came an hour before I had arrived. “Old Marley always had the best way of retelling the old stories- he could strike the fear right in you!”

  I nodded, allowing Ben to flirt with the security lady Doris. “It really is a pity that the police didn’t even ask us to help,” she said, her long dangling earrings probably not what you would expect a CCTV operator to wear. I learned then that the CCTV operation was purely volunteer based.

  “We always step up on the cameras when it’s holiday season,” Bill had explained. “You know how some of the tourists get.”

  Sure enough at 08:03 a white transit van had driven down one of the roads, and at 09:12 had driven off. But another interesting thing we noticed was that a black BMW followed the van there and back. The woman perhaps?

  I jotted down the licence plates and after printing a few screen shots, I said my thanks and left.

  It wasn’t much, but it was a start to catching the bastards.

  Ben wasn’t happy about being shoved back into a bag hidden by a scarf, but it was the only thing I could think to do to get into the hospital.

  “You need to get a bigger bag,” came his unimpressed muffled meow.

  “Or you need to lose some weight.”

  Brynn was waiting at the doors for me and raised his eyebrows in disbelief when Ben’s tail popped out.

  “You’re sneaking in a bloody cat?” he hissed, pulling me aside as we walked through.

  “Keep your voice down!” I threw back in a low snarl. “And yes I am, so what? People sneak in things all the time!”

  Brynn stared at me, disbelief making his mouth fall open. “Yeah, chocolate, pizza, maybe even a bottle of gin,” he blustered. “But not a cat!”

  I waved him off with no concern, ignoring him shaking his head as I carried on walking. “Rubbish.”

  “You are insane, you know that don’t you?”

  “That’s what they said to all the greats,” I threw back at him.

  Old Marley lay in his bed in a miserable lump. His clothes were gone and replaced with a hospital gown. His face was a mess of bruises and dried up blood. I wished that someone would wash him up.

  I sat down on the side of the bed, and as I did, an image of sitting next to my own Granddad at his bedside came back to me. We always got told off by the nurse for doing so but we didn’t care. I think it made my Granddad feel like a school boy by going against the rules. I always promised I would sneak him out and we would go clubbing.

  I took in a shaky breath and looked into not the face of my beloved Granddad, but another man.

  Old Marley opened his eyes and grasped my hand suddenly. “Thank you,” he rasped, licking his lips.

  I looked down at his hand and squeezed it back. Swallowing a lump in my throat, I lifted the quite heavy bag onto the bed, Ben’s head sticking out.

  Marley stared at Ben for a few seconds, as if wondering if he was really seeing a cat in a hospital and then started to laugh. “My lawyer is going to love this!”

  “Ahem.”

  My eyes widened at the sound of a voice behind me and I shoved Ben’s head back in the bag, muffling an indignant meow. A short skinny man with glasses stood at the door with his hands clasped behind his back, a briefcase swinging behind him. He wore a plain but expensive looking navy suit and a small smile tugged the corner of his mouth, although his face looked unused to such muscle movements.

  “I very much doubt that, Mr Marley,” his unexpectedly high voice said. His eyes took in the sight of me and Brynn together and finally lay on the bag in front of me.

  Smiling nervously, I shoved it under a chair, hoping to dear God Ben would get the message and stay put.

  “I’m glad you’re both here,” Marley said, suddenly looking more like the man he probably should be. Not drinking suited him and I wondered what he had been like before all of this. He sat up in his bed, grimacing at the pain. “Show them the papers, Christopher.”

  With an elaborate flourish, Christopher put his briefcase on a nearby side table and started pulling out a contract.

  “What’s this?” questioned Brynn looking suspicious.

  “I want to sign over my museum to you two,” Marley said, taking the contract from Christopher and shoving it at Brynn. “I don’t have any children- I want to name you two at inheritors of my estate.” He lay back then as if relieved he had finally gotten the words out.

  “Marley,” I said softly, “you’re not thinking straight-”

  “Nonsense, girl!” he snapped, looking insulted. “I have never thought so clearly in my life!”

  “Indeed,” Christopher said straightening his silk tie, “My client has undergone tests to prove he is of sound mind to pass over his estate over the past few weeks. As he has no children and no…” he paused, as if tasting something bad, “suitable relatives he wishes to pass over, he is entitled to name his inheritors as he sees fit.”

  I looked to Brynn, feeling panic rise in my gut. “But why?”

  “You don’t think for one second I want my slime ball bastard of a brother having my museum do you?” Marley’s face was an image of contained rage. “I would rather it burn to the floor than have him take it!”

  I paused, seeing the similarities of his words and the ones I had said previous to his brother.

  “He sent over those two idiots of his to talk to me,” Marley said, clutching his hands in memory. “Then they took my things! All of it!” His face crumpled and he fought to control himself. “Then that woman kept asking me about the plunder, but oh no! I wouldn’t tell her nothing.” He crossed his arms over his chest, a bitter smile now chasing away his sorrow. “That’s hidden and they can bulldoze the place down and they won’t find a coin.”

  “A woman?” I asked. “What did she look like?”

  Marley waved me off. “I don’t know- a woman!”

  I frowned. “Was she blonde or brunette?”

  Marley raised his eyebrows and shrugged. “I dunno,” he grumbled. “But she had great legs!”

  Brynn and I exchanged amused glances. “I saw on CCTV a black BMW drive to your museum,” I started and then I explained about the film I had seen and that I had the license plate numbers. “Much good it’ll do us,” I sighed. “I haven’t a clue how we’re going to find the vans.”

  “Well I can tell you where they’ve taken the stuff,” Marley said in bewilderment at the effort I had gone to. “My brother runs an illegal antique auction- his cronies said they were going to sell my stuff there unless I signed over my place.” A devilish glint gleamed in his eye. “And now I’m signing it over to you.”

  “But your things-” I started.

  “We’ll get them back,” Brynn interrupted.

  I peered at him curiously. “And how in hell are we doing that?”

  Brynn grinned at me.

  Oh good, more trouble.

  Chapter Nine

  It was obscene. The thought of Brynn and I owning the museum made me nervous. It would cost money! We didn’t have it! The thought of yet another burden made my shoulders tense.

  Brynn was insistent. It seemed like a dream come true to him, but I wasn’t so sure. Marley said he had funds to repair the damage, as long as we would be the ones prepared to do it. The hope in Brynn’s eyes made me hesitant to say no, so all I could say was, “let me think about it.”

  It would mean spending more time in Devon, and I hadn’t thought of the consequences. I had a life in the Midlands. Surely I couldn’t give that up? I didn’t want to choose. I loved my family and I didn’t want to miss out seeing Rowan grow up. But thoughts started running through my head of how we could run both places- how we could make a success of them, and I had to admit that I did get a bit excited.
/>   “Just rest for a while, Marley,” I said as I kissed his cheek to say goodbye.

  “You promised you would help me,” he said earnestly, holding my arm. “I’m asking you now.”

  I stared at the faith in his eyes and before I knew what I was doing, I was nodding. “Ok.”

  Brynn had a pen in my hand before I could change my mind, and so it was done. I stared numbly as Marley signed his section of the papers, passing on responsibility to us and watched his muscles relax as he lay back in the bed. Suddenly, he looked ten years younger.

  “Do me proud, kidda,” he said grabbing Brynn’s hand. “Make it what it should be.”

  Brynn nodded gravely. “I promise,” he said seriously. “We won’t let you down.”

  I shivered at the word ‘we’. Just what had I gotten myself into?

  Marley nodded and lay back on his pillow. “Take care of that cat of yours, lass,” he said to me, one eye open as he started to fall into sleep. “He’s all talk but he’s a good sort.”

  I froze in my spot, but before I could say anything else, Christopher was ushering us out of the room. I stared through the small window in the door, mouth agape at Marley as he shook Christopher’s hand.

  He caught my eye and winked.

  I walked out of the hospital like a zombie. Ben couldn’t wait to get out of my bag and nestled on my lap as Brynn drove us back, full of ideas on how to renovate the museum. We didn’t know how much in terms of funds Marley had to dedicate to the museum’s renovation, but he had some ideas how to generate income if it came to it.

  I stroked Ben’s coat, dying to talk to him about what had Marley said, and as I did, I made all the right noises to Brynn’s excitable ideas, frozen to my seat as the world passed me by.

  So much had happened and my mind was struggling to keep up. The thought of staying scared me. That would mean cutting Calloway out forever. Even though we weren’t together anymore and I owed him nothing- except from, ok, probably my life that one time when I got shot- something inside me tightened at the thought of not seeing him again.