Tick Tock (Storage Ghosts)

by Gillian Larkin

  There was a heavy silence as Tom and Lynne stared at Grace.

  Finally Tom spluttered, “But we don’t drink! We have a small glass of sherry at Christmas, but that’s it.”

  “We did have a glass of champagne at Laura’s wedding,” Lynne added.

  “We’re not drinkers at all, that’s outrageous!” Tom paced up and down. “Clare must have got it wrong.”

  “She didn’t. You were examined, after your deaths, and large amounts of alcohol were found in your stomachs. The same thing happened with my parents, they didn’t drink but alcohol was found in them too. Can’t you remember anything about the night you died? Did Eddie Tominski call round to see you? Did he force alcohol on you?”

  Tom stopped pacing, his brow furrowed as he thought. “I have a vague memory of something. If only we could go back in time.”

  “We might be able to,” Grace said. “I told you that I’d started seeing ghosts after my parents’ accident, and that I’d helped some ghosts that I’d met in other storage units.”

  “Yes, you said,” Tom nodded.

  “Well, when I touched something that belonged to the ghost at the same time they did we were taken into a vision of the past, we were shown something that helped us with the ghost’s problem.”

  “A vision! I like the sound of that!” Lynne said with glee. “We’d be like time travellers. Could we meet our younger selves and tell them to watch out for Eddie?”

  “It doesn’t work like that. We can only observe, it’s like we’re going into a television screen. We need something from that night when you think Eddie may have called round. What were you working on?”

  Tom held his finger up. “A watch! That watch that’s on my desk. I was working on the mechanism inside. Do you really think it would work?”

  Grace shrugged and gave them a small smile. “We can try. I’d like to find out exactly what happened to you, for Clare’s sake. She’s become a bit obsessed with your deaths.”

  Tom and Lynne nodded sadly. Lynne said, “We know. She needs to move on with her life.”

  Grace didn’t want to get into a conversation about how hard it was to get over your parents’ death. She said, “Let’s give this a go. Is that the watch on your table, Tom?”

  “It is,” Tom said. He took his wife’s arm and steered her over to the watch. They put their hands on top of it and waited for Grace.

  Please work, please work. Grace walked towards the watch and carefully placed her hand on top of the two ghostly ones. A chill went up her arm.

  “Now what?” Lynne said. “Are we going to zoom through time and space?”

  Tom tutted. “You’ve been watching too much TV. I don’t see how this can work.”

  Grace quietly said, “It has worked, look around you.”

  Lynne gasped. “We’re in our house! Look, Tom, there we are. You at your table and me looking at you. Look at my hair! I knew that style didn’t suit me.”

  Tom’s eyes widened. “I don’t believe it. Do we have to stay here touching this watch? Will the vision fade if we move?”

  “I think it’s safe to move,” Grace said. She removed her hand, Lynne and Tom did the same. The vision remained.

  “Now what do we do?” Lynne whispered.

  “We wait. You don’t have to whisper, they can’t see or hear us,” Grace said.

  They didn’t have to wait long. There was a knock at the door. The Lynne in the vision went to answer it.

  She returned with Eddie Tominski.

  Even the past version of Eddie Tominski sent Grace’s heart racing. The shark smile on his face made shivers of fear shoot down her back.

  Something awful was about to happen. Grace didn’t want to watch but she knew she had to.

  Chapter 12

  In the vision Tom stood up to greet Eddie. It was easy to see that Tom’s smile was forced.

  Eddie’s smile widened as if he wanted to eat Tom. He held a basket in his hands, it was covered in cellophane with a bow at the front.

  Eddie offered the basket to Tom and said, “I think it’s time we sorted out this loan business, don’t you? It’s obvious that you’re struggling with the payments.”

  Tom took the basket as if it was an unexploded bomb. He gingerly put it down on a table. He looked back at Eddie and said, “We can’t pay you any more money, Eddie. We’re struggling with the payments already. We’ll probably have to sell the house.”

  There was a sob from the vision Lynne. She came to stand next to her husband. There were tears in her eyes as she said, “Please, Tom, don’t say that, I can’t bear it.”

  Eddie gave an exaggerated sigh and said, “You knew about the terms when you signed the loan agreement. So many people don’t read the small print.”

  Tom gave a bitter laugh. “I never thought I’d be one of those people. What are you here for, Eddie?”

  Eddie held his arms wide and said, “This is your lucky day. I’m a very busy man and I don’t have time to chase up all these debts that people owe me. I’ve decided to let you off.”

  “What? What do you mean?” Tom said, suspicion growing on his face.

  Eddie gave a benevolent smile. Grace could see how false it was.

  “You don’t owe me any more money. I appreciate that you’ve paid as much as you can. I can see that I’m not going to get much more from you.”

  “What’s the catch?” Tom asked.

  Eddie laughed. “No catch. I’ve got other loans to collect on, I don’t need yours. As a gesture of my sincerity I’ve brought you this basket of luxury goods. I hope you’ll accept it.”

  Lynne burst out, “Do you really mean it? Is our loan paid off? We don’t have to sell the house? Or our business?”

  Eddie gave them a jovial smile as if he was a modern day Santa. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.” He gave a cough. “Sorry about that, I haven’t had a cup of tea since this morning, I’m parched.”

  “Oh! Where are my manners!” Lynne said. “I’ll put the kettle on.”

  Eddie indicated towards the basket that he’d brought. “There’s some special tea in there, very expensive. Why don’t you use that? Then I’ll know you’ve accepted my offer.”

  Lynne picked the basket up and headed towards the kitchen.

  Tom invited Eddie to sit down, all the time giving him a hard look. Tom said, “What about the loan papers?”

  Eddie leant back on the sofa and waved his hand. “I’ll shred them when I get back to my office. It’s a lovely home you’ve got here. How’s the business going? Is there much money in the watch repair and clock business? Have you thought of turning it into one of those pound bargain shops? You’ve got a great position on the high street, you’d make a fortune.”

  “We’re doing okay,” Tom said curtly.

  The ghost Tom said to Grace, “I’m starting to remember what happened. I knew that I didn’t trust him, I didn’t believe him about writing the loan off. He was up to something.”

  Grace nodded, there was an evil vibe coming from Eddie, he looked too smug.

  Lynne returned with a tray of tea things. “That expensive tea has an unusual smell.”

  Eddie smiled and said, “It’s supposed to. Wait til you taste it, it’s to die for.”

  Grace’s breath caught in her throat. What was he up to?

  The ghostly couple watched their former selves as they sipped at their teas.

  Ghost Lynne said, “Eddie isn’t touching his tea, I never noticed at the time.”

  Ghost Tom said, “He’s put something in the tea, some sort of poison. I didn’t like the taste at the time but I was too polite to say so.”

  Eddie’s smile grew as he watched Lynne and Tom sip their drinks. He said, “Oh, I nearly forgot.”

  He took out the slim red book that recorded his debts. He opened it up. Grace quickly walked around the room so that she could see the names in the books. Some had lines drawn through them. Her pace quickened as she recognised some of the names from the newspaper clippings th
at Clare had pinned on her walls. The ones that reported how local business people had died in ‘accidents’.

  Eddie took a pen out and made a great show of crossing out Lynne and Tom’s names. Underneath he wrote, ‘Loan repaid’.

  Grace looked at the vision Lynne and Tom. They had glazed looks on their faces, their eyes were drooping. What was in that tea?

  Eddie suddenly stood up and said, “My gran used to have a house like this. It had a cellar. I loved going down there. Does yours have a cellar?”

  Tom gave an unsteady nod.

  “Could I see it? It would take me back to my childhood,” Eddie said. He clasped his hands together like an eager child.

  Lynne got to her feet and wobbled. “Oops, I think I stood up too quickly.”

  Tom stood up and caught her arm. “My head feels strange, I must be coming down with something.”

  “The cellar?” Eddie prompted.

  The ghost Tom and Lynne followed the people in the vision. Grace joined them.

  They watched in horror as Eddie joyfully pushed the couple down the cellar steps.

  Then he collected all evidence of the tea including the cups, tucked the basket under his arm and left the house, whistling as he went.

  The vision faded. They were back in the shop.

  Tears ran down Grace’s face. “He did murder you.”

  Chapter 13

  There was a shocked silence as the three of them stood still, nobody knew what to say.

  Finally Grace said, “Your Clare is right. He murdered you, he most likely murdered my parents, and there must be many more deaths going by all the newspaper clippings that Clare has.”

  Tom said, “I can’t believe he could do such an evil thing. You’ve got to stop him Grace.”

  “How? I can’t take him on, he’s evil. If he hasn’t been caught by now he must be covering his tracks well.”

  “You have to find a way,” Tom insisted. “You can’t let anyone else die.”

  Grace looked at the floor. Tom was right. She had to stop Eddie, she had to expose what he’d been doing. She realised that if the truth came out she could clear her dad’s name, everyone would know that he wasn’t a drunk driver.

  She looked back at Tom and said, “You’re right, but how? We need evidence.”

  Lynne spoke, her voice trembled. “That red book of Eddie’s, he seems to write everything down in it. You said that Clare has newspaper clippings? Perhaps the names in those clippings will match up to the names he has in his book. Oh! Tom! I can’t believe he did that to us.”

  Tom pulled his wife close. He gave Grace a grim look. “That red book could be evidence, it’s the only thing we’ve got to go on. You’ve got to get it, Grace. Then you can give it to the police.”

  Grace wasn’t sure. Even if she could get the book would the police even listen to her? Would they dismiss her like they did with Clare?

  “How can I get my hands on that book? He never lets it out of his sight,” Grace pointed out.

  There was a thundering on the shop door.

  “Frankie?” Grace ran over to the door and flung it open.

  Eddie Tominski smiled his oily smile. “Hello there, Grace, won’t you let me in?”

  Grace heard a shriek from Lynne behind her. Then she heard Tom cry out, “Let him in, Grace, this is your chance!”

  Grace opened the door wider and Eddie stepped through. Grace almost collapsed when she saw what Eddie was carrying. It was a cellophane wrapped basket, with a bow on the front.

  There was another shriek from Lynne followed by, “Tom! The basket! He’s going to kill Grace! Stop him.”

  Grace swallowed the ball of fear that had jumped into her throat. “What do you want, Eddie?”

  Eddie gave a jovial laugh. Grace shivered, she remembered that laugh from the vision, just after he’d pushed Lynne down the cellar stairs.

  Eddie said, “I’ve had a visit from your dear brother and that giant friend of his. It’s your lucky day, Grace, the giant has paid off your loan. You don’t owe me anything. Isn’t that wonderful?”

  Eddie looked right into Grace’s eyes. She felt like he was trying to suck her soul out. She blinked, “Where are Frankie and Big Bob now?”

  Eddie shrugged. He held out the basket and said, “I’ve brought you this gift, to say sorry for the times that I might have been a bit ... heavy handed with you.” He coughed. “I haven’t had a cup of tea for hours, would you be kind enough to make me a quick cuppa? Then I’ll be on my way.”

  Tom appeared at Grace’s side and said, “Get the book. Grace, you’ve got to find a way to get it.”

  Grace took the basket and went through to the kitchen, her head was buzzing. How was she to get the book? And how was she to avoid being killed by Eddie? Oh! Where was Frankie?

  Eddie followed her, her back prickled as she felt him staring at her.

  She placed the basket on the kitchen table and then filled the kettle with water.

  In a calm voice Eddie said, “There’s some special tea in this basket, luxury tea to die for. Why don’t you use that?”

  Grace shot back, “I don’t feel like tea, I’ve got some instant coffee in the cupboard.”

  There was a rustle of cellophane. Eddie appeared at her side, so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek. He said, “I’ve got coffee too, use this.”

  Grace swallowed and muttered, “Thanks.”

  Eddie sat down at the table and watched her. “It’s a shame we didn’t get the chance to work together, I’m sure we would have got on well.”

  Over my dead body, Grace thought. Then she shivered, thoughts like that were not helping.

  She made two coffees and turned back to Eddie, he was gazing around the kitchen, a smug smile on his face.

  Quick as a flash Grace threw the coffee on him. She yelled, “Oh no! Eddie! I’m so sorry! Are you alright? Your jacket! Let me take it, I’ll wipe it down.”

  She made such a fuss that Eddie didn’t know what was going on. Grace whipped his jacket off and ran over to the sink. Her heart speeded up as she turned her back to Eddie, the red book was sticking out of the inside pocket.

  Grace’s hand closed over it.

  “Do it!” Tom whispered at her side.

  Chapter 14

  “I’ll take that.” Eddie reached over her shoulder and took the book.

  Grace turned around, her cheeks felt warm. “Sorry, it was wet, I was trying to dry it out.”

  Eddie flicked through the pages. “It looks okay to me.”

  Grace tried to smile. “I’m so sorry about dropping that coffee, I don’t know what came over me.” She still held his jacket.

  Eddie gave a shrug. “I didn’t feel anything.”

  Lynne burst out, “You don’t feel anything! You’re a monster!”

  Eddie’s hand moved towards Grace. She held her breath. Eddie took his jacket and held it up to the light. “It’s a bit damp, I’ll hang it on the back of a chair whilst I make you another coffee, you look as if you need one.”

  Eddie used his other hand to turn Grace towards a chair, he firmly pressed her down. He placed the slim red book on the table, next to the basket.

  Tom came to Grace’s side, he pointed at the things on the table and said, “Evidence! Take them.”

  Grace froze. What was she supposed to do? Tom was right, the evidence was right in front of her. She glanced towards Eddie, he was busy making coffee. Could she grab these items and run out of the shop? Would she be fast enough? Did Eddie have his cronies waiting outside the shop?

  Eddie appeared at her side and placed two cups of coffee on the table. He gave her a fond look and said, “Would you mind if I used your bathroom?”

  Grace’s eyes widened, she didn’t trust herself to speak so she nodded.

  “I know where it is, I’ve been here before,” Eddie said with a knowing wink.

  As soon as he’d left the kitchen Tom hissed, “Now! Get the book and basket and run! Now!”

  Lynne
wrung her hands and said, “Be careful, Grace.”

  Feeling sick with nerves Grace grabbed the items and raced out of the kitchen. Her heart matched her pounding legs as she ran towards the shop door. She heard the toilet flushing behind her.

  She put her hand on the shop door and pulled it open.

  Clare Opendale knocked into her and forced her back into the shop.

  “Move!” Grace yelled. “Get out of the way!”

  Clare put her hands on Grace’s arms and shouted, “I know how we can get him! Listen!”

  Grace tried to wriggle free. Clare was stronger than she looked and she pushed Grace further back.

  Grace cried out, “Clare, we’ve got to get out! Quick! He’s here!”

  “You’re not listening to me! No one listens,” Clare pushed Grace again.

  “But he’s here!”

  “Who? Who’s here?”

  The shop door slammed behind them, the locks shot into place. The two girls spun around.

  Eddie sneered at them. “I think Grace was trying to warn you, Clare, but you never listen do you? You should have forgotten about this silly vendetta of yours. No one will ever believe you, look at the state of you.”

  Clare’s hands dropped, she stared numbly at Eddie.

  Lynne screamed, “He’s got a gun! Tom, he’s got a gun!”

  Grace looked at the barrel of the slim gun that Eddie was pointing at them. This couldn’t be happening.

  Eddie waved the gun towards the kitchen. “Off you go, girls, let’s get this matter sorted out. This must be my lucky day, two for the price of one. Hurry up, I haven’t got all day.”

  Grace looked at Clare, all the colour had drained from her face. A spark of anger ignited in her, who was Eddie to treat people like this?

  “When you get there, Grace, you can put that basket and book back on the table, they aren’t going anywhere. Oh! I do like your spirit! I shall miss you when you’re gone.”

  Grace walked towards the kitchen, Clare followed behind. Grace placed the items on the table and then helped Clare to sit down. It looked like the life had been drained out of her.