The Westport Mysteries Boxed Set

by Beth Prentice

  “Yes, but that’s like a conflict of interests or something, isn’t it?” asked Shelly, her eyes wide with disbelief.

  “Why would you say that?”

  “Well, because Lizzie is Riley’s girlfriend now. Don’t you think that would be uncomfortable?”

  “Lizzie has an appointment tomorrow,” said Riley.

  Hang on, how did he know that?

  “Oh really? Well that’s good,” said Anna. “Did I mention Allison phoned me a few days ago? She wanted your number, Riley.”

  “And you gave it to her?” I asked, my voice getting slightly higher as I felt the agitation grow.

  “Well, of course I did,” laughed Anna as if I had just asked a stupid question.

  I looked at Shelly, whose eyebrows had disappeared into her hairline. “Why did she want Riley’s number?” she asked.

  “Oh, she said that she’d run into him and that he’d mentioned how they should catch up some time, but he’d left before she’d got his number.”

  “Really?” I said, dropping my fork onto my plate. “You wanted to catch up with her?”

  “Of course not, I was just being polite. You know, it’s just a phrase like ‘how are you?’, ‘what’s happening?’ I didn’t really want to know.”

  “How are you is a lot different to asking someone to catch up sometime.” The jealousy monster reared its ugly head.

  “It’s nothing to worry about, Lizzie,” said Anna, defending her oldest son. “Riley didn’t mean any harm.”

  “Well, I know I wouldn’t be happy about it if Jared had said that to an old girlfriend,” added Shelly, giving me some back up.

  Jared shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

  “You wouldn’t actually say that to one of them, would you?” she asked, turning to him.

  “I’m with Riley on this one,” he said. Looks like the Thomas’ stick together. “It’s not like he’s going to date her again or anything. I mean the only thing I ever really liked about Allison was her legs. She had the most amazing long legs.” Jared flashed Riley a smile.

  “You noticed that, did you?” asked Riley, smiling broadly. “You know it’s not polite to check out your brother’s girlfriend?”

  “Yeah, I know, but you have to admit they were pretty magnificent legs.” Shelly punched Jared in the arm.

  Riley laughed.

  I sat there watching the banter between brothers and felt invisible.

  “How did you enjoy the salmon quiche, Lizzie?” asked Anna, smiling at her boys, and then changing the subject. “I’m happy to give you the recipe if you’d like it.”

  “Um...it was lovely, thank you,” I lied. I’d actually passed it to Riley when nobody was looking. “It was...umm...very tasty. Delicious,” I added, hoping she would forget that comment and never ever cook it for me again. I refused to meet Riley’s eye, but I could feel his mega-watt smile from here.

  “Have some more,” she added. “There’s a lot left. Riley, pass the plate to Lizzie will you?”

  “Sure.” Riley reached across the table and picked up the quiche dish. Putting it in front of me he asked, “How much would you like?”

  I met his eye and felt my face flush. “Oh no, thank you. I’m full. Thanks anyway.”

  “You can’t be full,” he added. “You hardly had any.” His smile was at full wattage. Bastard.

  “No really. I’ve had plenty, thank you.”

  He put the plate down. “Okay. We’ll ask for leftovers. Maybe you’d like it for lunch tomorrow?” I glared at him. He’d pay for that later and when I say pay for that later, I didn’t mean the same thing he meant when he said it. In fact I meant the exact opposite. His smile faltered slightly. “On second thoughts, maybe Jared should have it. It’s his favorite and I wouldn’t want to deprive him.”

  * * * *

  After dinner, Jared and I cleared the table as Mia was unsettled and only wanted her mum. Anna had offered to help, but Jared had insisted he’d do it. Mal and Riley were deep in conversation about a job Riley had put a tender in for, so Jared and I collected all the plates and moved to the kitchen. I placed my pile in the sink and turned the water on to rinse them.

  “I’ll let you pack the dishwasher,” I said to Jared.

  “Sure, I’m a pro at it anyway. Years of practice.” Jared ran his fingers through his hair and moved awkwardly next to me at the sink, his mannerisms identical to Riley’s.

  I looked at their resemblance and smiled. Jared had the same blond hair and toned body Riley had, but he was slightly shorter and had slightly less vibrant eyes. He was still drop-dead gorgeous though. I sighed thinking how I really needed to take better care of myself. If I still wanted to be with Riley when I was old I needed to do something fast. I’ve seen my genetic heritage and let me tell you Grandma is so wrinkly she reminds me of a Shar Pei.

  “Hey Lizzie, I just wanted to say sorry for my comments about Allison earlier. Shelly told me it was a bit insensitive.” My stomach jumped at Allison’s name.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m not bothered,” I lied. I could hardly tell Jared how insecure I felt next to Allison.

  “She was never suited to Riley anyway. Not like you are.”

  I smiled at Jared’s attempt to make me feel better. “Really it’s okay. You don’t need to say anything.”

  “But it’s true. I’ve never known Riley to be so contented and happy as he is with you.”

  I stopped what I was doing and looked at Jared. “Do you mean that or are you just trying to be nice?” I asked. The truth was, earlier he had been insensitive but I really liked Jared.

  “I mean it. If you believe in soul mates, I think you’re his.”

  Okay, Jared was forgiven for this and every other thing he may do to me in his lifetime.

  “Thanks,” I said unable to hide my smile. We worked silently together for a few minutes.

  “I was thinking also about that skeleton they pulled out of your garden. Do you want me to look into it for you?”

  “I’d love you to, but Riley wants me to stay out of it.”

  “What do you want to do?”

  “I want to know who it belonged to and why it was there. I know it happened years before I was born, but I’m still curious.”

  “I’ll see what I can find out about it. Who was the local officer who did the initial investigation?”

  “The only one that I know by name is Ed Helms. He seems really nice and helpful. He gave me his number in case I needed it. I can give it to you if you like?” I added.

  “I’ll just call the station.”

  “No worries, but if you need it, he gave me his personal number as well.”

  Jared stopped and looked down at me. “Wow, does Riley know this guy is interested in you?”

  “What?”

  “We only ever give out our personal numbers to people we find interesting. I’d say Officer Ed Helms has his eye on you.”

  “Don’t be stupid, Jared. He knows I’m with Riley.”

  “Doesn’t stop a man trying though, does it?”

  I sighed. I certainly hoped it did. I did not need any more complications in my life.

  * * * *

  Thankfully we got out of there without me embarrassing myself. I came close when I went to kiss Mal on the cheek but didn’t know what cheek to go for. He seemed undecided also, and I ended up planting a kiss smack bang on his lips. Nobody else seemed to notice so we both gave a small laugh and pretended it never happened.

  I closed the door on Riley’s truck and clicked my seatbelt into place. As he closed his door he looked at me and smiled.

  “So are you always going to kiss my dad like that or was this a special occasion?”

  Damn. I’d almost gotten away with it. “It was a special occasion,” I replied.

  “For future reference Dad always goes for the right cheek.”

  Riley laughed as he turned the truck around and headed for home. We sat in comfortable silence for most of the trip, my mind going over th
e earlier conversation about Allison and how Anna had given her Riley’s number.

  “How come you didn’t tell me you were talking to Allison?” I asked eventually.

  “She only phoned once. She was checking up on you, wanting to know when you were going to go back and see her. She’s gone over your test and has the results.”

  “Oh.” I looked out the side window at the streetlights flashing as we passed. Riley shifted in his seat.

  “If you’re not comfortable seeing her we can find someone else for you,” he said.

  I turned to face him, relief flooding through me.

  “You wouldn’t mind?”

  “Of course I wouldn’t mind, but I did check around and Mum’s right, she’s very good at what she does. I want you to see the best, Lizzie.” Riley reached out and took my hand in his. I looked into his face and felt my heart squeeze. I knew he only wanted the best for me, but why did it have to be her?

  Chapter Eight

  The following morning dawned overcast and stormy but thankfully the rain held off as Riley and I made our way back to my house ready for another day of work.

  I had my follow-up appointment with Allison today and I had put extra effort into my appearance. Molly had dropped a carefully selected dress from her wardrobe to me on her way to work. It was pale blue and fitted, skimming my knee and showing just enough cleavage to be classy. I paired it with my low strappy heels and added an extra layer of mascara. And with the miracle of a hair straightener, my hair fell in soft, silky layers around my face and down my back. The last thing I needed was for it to rain, whereby my beautiful swishy hair would swell and frizz, and once again become an unruly mess. I groaned as I opened my back door and stepped outside, looking up at the clouds that seemed to be getting darker by the minute.

  I moved to the table, put my coffee down on it and sighed, dread sitting heavily in my stomach. Cat jumped up onto the deck and sat at my feet. I’d thought about leaving him at Riley’s today, but I knew he preferred it here where he could roam outside safely and poop in my neighbor Hazel’s flowerbeds. That was something I should somehow stop him doing, but seriously how do you stop a cat doing anything it wants...especially when the cat in question was old and slightly cantankerous.

  I crouched down and stroked his back as he purred and rubbed himself against me. This lasted all of five seconds, when he suddenly turned, scratched my leg with his claws and took off across the garden towards the old garage. What the hell he did in there had me beat.

  “Ow!” I cried, looking at the blood appearing on my leg. “What was that for?”

  “Sorry, Lizzie. What did I do?” I looked up to see Bradley standing on the grass, frowning at me. I hadn’t even heard him turn up.

  “Oh, hi Bradley. Sorry I wasn’t talking to you.” He was followed by a group of what appeared to be Japanese tourists. “Not your usual group of senior citizens,” I commented, nodding towards them.

  Bradley grinned, his schoolboy like face lighting up. “Yeah, they all turned up this morning wanting to see your house. Apparently you’re on the Internet. I haven’t had time to check it out yet, but I will later today. I hadn’t actually thought to advertise that way, but it’s probably something I should look into.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  He looked perplexed. “No. Why would I kid about that?”

  “How many stops do you actually have on this tour?” I asked.

  “Ummm...a few.”

  “Maybe I should book Grandma Mabel on it.”

  “Oh, old George would love that. I think he has a crush on you, you know.” Bradley grinned.

  “You’re sick.”

  “I’m serious!” said Bradley, laughing. “He’s already been on this tour three times.”

  “Three times?” I asked incredulously. Bradley nodded. “I knew I’d seen George here before.”

  “He’s booked again to come tomorrow. I’m not sure if he’ll turn up now that he’s got your grannie’s phone number though. He can probably get closer to you through her.” Bradley thought he was hilarious. Humph.

  “You should really feed your tourists before you start your tour,” I commented. We looked around at the group. The leader had a loaf of Turkish bread she was tearing apart and handing out to the group. Her helper walked behind her with a jar of peanut butter and a knife, allowing whoever wanted some to spread as much as they wanted onto their bread. A second helper was doing the same but she was offering strawberry jam.

  “I guess they missed breakfast,” shrugged Bradley.

  I smiled and left Bradley to go back to his group, but instead of going inside the house, I sat quietly and listened to his spiel.

  “Okay folks, gather round,” he called.

  The head of the group must also have been the translator as she immediately started to call to the group in Japanese. Seconds later they all gathered around Bradley.

  He straightened his jacket and smiled. “Well, as you know this site is of great interest to the town of Westport after a sixty-five-year-old skeleton was dug up from this very spot. The reason why it was there is still unknown, but a source told me that it could belong to a missing person from 1949…”

  Really? How come Bradley could get this kind of information? I made a note to ask him as soon as the tour was over.

  “…and that’s about all we know so far, but make sure to keep up to date with the investigations via my video diary I’ll be starting today. I’ll be checking in daily with all the latest information.”

  Applause broke out as Bradley beamed back at his group. I added check Bradleys’ video diary to my To Do list.

  “Feel free to wander around the site and take as many photos as you like. And for anyone who may be interested the owner of the house, Lizzie is with us today.” Bradley waved in my direction.

  Shit.

  The group turned towards me and lifted their cameras. As the sound of nineteen digital SLR’s clicked I had no choice but to smile and wave. Bloody Bradley.

  “Would anyone like to ask Lizzie any questions?” he asked.

  Immediately all nineteen group members shouted in Japanese. By the time all nineteen members had asked me their questions (seriously every single one of them pretty much asked the same thing—when will they see it dance? What the…?) and the leader of the group had translated the questions and the answers, I tried to signal Bradley that I wanted to ask him a question, but I had to wait. Everyone wanted a photo with me. I sighed. I was going to be very late for my appointment with Allison.

  When my face started to hurt from all the smiling (actually it was quite fun) I grabbed Bradley by the arm.

  “I want to talk to you,” I hissed.

  “I’m sorry, Lizzie. It just kind of popped out of my mouth.”

  “What did?”

  “Telling the group that you were there and did they want to ask you a question.” Bradley looked at me with his big eyes reminding me of a scared puppy.

  “Oh, well that’s something else I wanted to talk to you about,” I said remembering to add that to the list. “First off, I want to know your source.”

  “My what?”

  “Your source. You know, the person who gave you the info about the missing person?”

  “Oh yeah, well sorry Lizzie, but I can’t tell you. That’s confidential information.”

  “Confidential, my ass. Tell me who it was, or I’ll have Riley ban you from my property.” I crossed my arms over my chest in a ‘don’t-mess-with-me’ stance I’d learned from Grandma.

  Bradley’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down at the sound of Riley’s name. Honestly, Riley wouldn’t hurt a soul but Bradley didn’t need to know that.

  “Lizzie, I want to tell you, I really do. But if word gets around I’ve blabbed, who’s going to tell me the gossip anymore?”

  “The tourists won’t like only being able to see this site from the road, will they?”

  It was Bradley’s turn to sigh.

  “You’re
a hard woman, Lizzie Fuller.”

  I smiled. He was so easy to manipulate.

  Bradley leaned in close and whispered in my ear. Seriously, what was this?

  “It was an old man in the pub. He told me he remembered a person going missing in 1949 and he believed there was something fishy going on over here at the time. I worked it out and that’s about the time that the bones were buried.” Bradley stopped and looked at me.

  “And?”

  “And that’s it.”

  “Who was this old man?”

  “I think his name was Bob. Or something like that anyway.”

  “Bob?”

  “Yep, Bob.”

  I sighed. “Bob who?”

  “Just Bob.”

  “Which pub was he at?”

  “Grinning Dog on Elm Street near the dance hall.”

  “What did Bob look like?”

  “Old.

  “Bradley!”

  “Okay, okay, don’t yell. The tourists are looking. He was old, sort of short, bald head, but he wore a turtleneck. I thought that was kind of odd. I mean the temperature’s in the high thirties and there he is in a turtleneck. Poor guy must have been boiling. I asked him about it and he said he had some scarring and didn’t like people to see it, so he kept it covered.” Bradley shrugged. “That’s it. That’s all I know.”

  “Thanks.”

  “So you won’t talk to Riley?”

  “Not for the moment.”

  Bradley shook his head and turned back to his group, his shoulders sagging.

  I looked at my watch and realized I was now very late for my appointment with Allison. Bugger. I ran to my Mini and hoped Riley didn’t hear the motor and check the time, and if he did, I hoped he would have forgotten about it by the time I got back.

  * * * *

  When I reached Allison’s office, I had missed my appointment altogether. She was just finishing up a phone call as I walked in. She looked up at me and waved for me to take a seat.

  “Okay...no, it was fantastic talking to you...yes, I will...” She giggled, obviously flirting. I wondered who she was talking to.