“Always trust your feelings, Cara. He wasn’t in danger yesterday. I stayed with him at the office and then he went to see his mum again.” Robin sighed. “She was just the same, she recognised him at first but then forgot who he was. It’s heartbreaking for you humans to witness such a change in a beloved one. I hope you never have to experience it.”
“Me too. Have you got an update on Gavin’s death?”
“I have indeed.” Robin checked his watch. “Oh, his time frame has shortened, he’s going to be murdered between ten and twelve today. It’s nine o’clock now so you don’t have to worry too much yet.”
“I can’t help but worry! Robin, what if I don’t stop him from being murdered?”
“You’ll do fine,” Robin assured her.
She pointed at him. “You’ve got your fingers crossed!”
Robin’s cheeks matched the red of his T-shirt. “Time to go!” He zoomed through the car door and on to the pavement.
Cara collected her things and joined him. She muttered out of the side of her mouth, “Are you invisible? I wish I could tell when you are.”
“I am invisible.” Robin’s eyes sparkled. “I can’t believe I’m going in Abigail’s house! The other angels will be so jealous! I bet she has pictures of angels everywhere.”
“I doubt that,” Cara said. She walked up the drive and towards the front door.
“Cooee! Cara!” a voice called out.
Cara closed her eyes and mumbled, “No, please no.”
Robin looked at the owner of the voice. He laughed. “Look at that old woman! She’s so cute. Look at her wrinkles and smiley face. Are you going to talk to her? She’s waving at you.”
Cara pasted a smile on her face and turned around. She said, “Hello, Ada. How are you?”
“Pardon? You’ll have to come closer, my hearing aid is on the blink again.”
“She’s got a hearing aid!” Robin clasped his hands together. “How adorable is that! Go and talk to her, Cara.”
Cara could see that she didn’t have a choice. She walked over to the fence that separated Ada Clement’s property from her gran’s. She said again, “How are you, Ada?”
Ada’s face wrinkled up even more as she smiled. “I mustn’t grumble, I’m still alive! How are you? I haven’t seen you for a while. Your gran said you were doing something with computers. Do you fix them?”
“I do work on the Internet. I build websites and deal with online problems,” Cara said, hoping she didn’t have to explain what the Internet was.
To her relief, Ada said, “I love the Internet! How did we manage without it?” She chuckled. “I go a bit mad with online shopping sometimes. It’s so easy, you only have to press a button and it’s done! I bought a leopard-skin thong last week by mistake, I wanted a pair of support tights.”
Robin laughed. “Ask her what else she bought, she’s so funny!”
Cara ignored Robin. Gavin Bennett would be turning up any minute and she didn’t want to get into an elaborate lie with Ada. Cara said, “You know that my gran has gone away?”
Ada nodded. “She’s gone on a cruise. Yes, I did know that. She’s been to some amazing places, hasn’t she? She sends me a postcard twice a week. I expect she sends you some too.”
Cara’s eyes narrowed. “She’s been in touch with me recently. In fact, she said I should use her house if I wanted to. She’s already letting me use her car.”
Ada’s hands flew to her chest. “Oh, Cara, are you going to move in? That would be wonderful. I miss having Abigail around, it would be smashing to have someone to talk to.” She looked towards Gran’s house. “I hate seeing Abigail’s house empty. I’m glad you’re thinking of moving in, you’re a sensible girl, you’d take good care of the house. You wouldn’t have one of those rave things behind Abigail’s back, or try to sell the house without her permission! Imagine if you did that!”
Robin burst into laughter. “Ha! That’s so funny! If only she knew what you were up to!”
Cara’s attention was caught by a car driving down the road. Her eyes widened. It was Gavin Bennett’s car. Cara blurted out, “Is that your phone I can hear?”
Ada cocked her head. “I can’t hear anything.”
Cara said, “There it is again! You should get it, it might be important.”
Ada frowned. “I must get my hearing aid sorted out. I’d better see to that phone. I’ll speak to you later, Cara.” She shuffled towards her house.
Robin gave Cara a funny look. “Her phone wasn’t ringing, why did you lie?”
Gavin parked his car behind Cara’s and switched off the engine. Cara put her hand to her mouth and hissed, “Robin! Keep Ada inside her house. I don’t want her to know about Gavin’s visit. She’ll only worry. Quick, he’s walking up the drive!”
Robin raised a finger towards Gran’s house. “But I want to go into Abigail’s house.”
“Later!” Cara hissed.
Robin folded his arms and muttered, “Fine.” He disappeared.
“Good morning, Ms Daniels. I hope I’m not late.” Gavin extended his hand as he got closer.
“Not at all,” Cara replied as she shook his hand. She flinched, his hand felt unnaturally cold. Why was that? His black death line looked thicker.
Gavin didn’t notice Cara’s flinch. He looked admiringly at Gran’s house. “It’s not often that houses in this street come up for sale. It’s a real privilege for me to be here. Thank you for choosing Wright’s Estate Agents.”
“Looks like I made the right choice!” Cara quipped, and then wished she hadn’t. Gavin Bennett must have thought she was an idiot.
Gavin waved his clipboard towards the house, an eager look in his eyes. “Shall we get started?”
Cara nodded and made her way to the front door. She opened it and was taken aback by the familiar smell inside. Tears pricked her eyes as she thought about Gran.
She didn’t have much more time to think about Gran as Gavin made his way around the house. He took measurements and photos whilst making constant comments about how wonderful the house was. Cara felt more than one flicker of guilt as she showed him around. Mind you, she was intending to save his life so a bit of a lie didn’t matter.
They returned to the front door.
Gavin beamed at her. “What a delightful property. I think …”
He jumped as someone burst through the front door.
Chapter 8
Liam Fox’s face was so red that Cara thought he was in danger of exploding.
“I knew you were trying to keep properties from me!” Liam spat. He advanced towards Gavin, his fist raised.
The hairs on Cara’s arms lifted. Was Liam Fox going to attack Gavin? Was he going to try and kill him? She planted her feet more firmly on the carpet. If Liam Fox launched himself at Gavin she would launch herself at Liam. And then hope for the best.
Gavin held a hand up and calmly said, “Mr Fox, please lower your fist. Like I’ve told you before, I don’t keep properties from you. Why would I? I’m in this business to sell houses.”
Liam’s fist wavered in mid-air. “Then why haven’t you told me about this house? I’ve always wanted a house on this street.”
“This property isn’t even on the market yet.” Gavin indicated towards Cara. “Ms Daniels hasn’t yet confirmed that she’s going to place the property with Wright’s Estate Agents.”
Liam lowered his fist and turned his beady eyes towards Cara. He quickly sized her up. “Well? Are you going to sell this house or not?”
“I … I haven’t decided.”
Liam snorted. “Typical woman! Where’s your husband? Let me speak to him.”
Cara said, “I don’t have a husband, I am capable of making decisions on my own.”
“Well make a decision then! I haven’t got all day to look at houses!” He looked towards the stairs. “I might as well have a look around now while you’re making your mind up.”
Anger erupted in Cara. “You’ll do no such thing! You haven�
��t been invited into my house so get out!”
Gavin stepped forward. “I think you should leave, Mr Fox. Now. Ms Daniels can make her own mind up, and in her own time.”
Liam Fox bared his teeth as he snarled at Gavin. “I know what you’re up to! You’re like all the other estate agents round here. You think I’m some sort of joke, you don’t take me seriously.” A cold look came into his eyes. “You’ve just made a mistake, Mr Bennett, a big mistake.” He threw Cara a disgusted look as he turned on his heel and walked out of the door.
“I’m so sorry about that, Ms Daniels. I don’t care if Mr Fox has a million pounds to spend, I’m not going to do any more business with him.” Gavin looked at his clipboard. “I’ve got all the information I need. I’ll be in touch with our proposed selling price and details of our marketing plan. You can then decide if you want us to go ahead. Do you have any questions?”
Cara looked at him. She wanted to ask him where he was going next and would he mind if she tagged along? Instead she said, “No, thank you for coming round.”
They both walked out of the front door. Gavin’s phone rang. He asked Cara to excuse him as he answered it. He walked a little way down the drive and spoke into his phone. Cara took a couple of discreet steps after him so that she could listen.
Gavin said, “Hi Susan. What? No, I won’t return Nora Silcoates’ call! While I’ve got you on the phone, block any future enquiries from Liam Fox. I don’t want him on our books any more, send him the standard letter. Was there anything else? Okay. Bye.”
Gavin gave Cara a final wave and then headed towards his car. Cara walked casually back towards Gran’s house hoping she was giving the impression of being the owner.
“Cara! She’s coming out! I can’t stop her!” Robin flew into her vision and floated down to her side.
Ada Clements came out of her house and made her way over to the adjoining fence. She put one hand on it and nodded towards Gavin who was standing near his car. “Who’s that? Has he been in Abigail’s house? I’m sure I know him. Let me get a closer look.” Ada turned towards Gavin.
“No!” Cara said and she shot towards the fence. “He’s no one.”
Ada frowned. “I’m sure I saw him coming out of Abigail’s house. Is he your boyfriend?”
“Yes,” Cara said. “That’s who it is. He’s my boyfriend. He wanted to have a look at Gran’s house.”
“Why?”
“Because he …” Cara faltered.
Ada tapped the fence. “Because he’s an estate agent! That’s where I’ve seen him before, at Wright’s Estate Agents.” Ada chuckled. “I like to look at other people’s houses. I’ve been in that estate agent’s a few times, they never mind me looking at the photos.” Ada’s smile dropped. “You’re not thinking of selling Abigail’s house are you? Oh! Don’t tell me she’s not coming back!”
Robin flew through the fence and over to Ada’s side. “Cara! She’s crying! You’ve upset her!”
Cara moved closer to the fence, leaned over and put her hand on Ada’s arm. “Gran isn’t moving. I’m not selling the house. In fact, I think I will move in for a while. My apartment hasn’t got a garden and I do miss sitting out in the sun.”
Ada and Robin said at the same time, “Do you mean that?”
Cara laughed. They both had the same hopeful expression on their faces. She said, “Yes, I do mean that.”
Ada wiped a tear away.
A screeching noise from the road made all three heads turn. They watched dumbfounded as a car skidded to a halt in the middle of the road and a man wearing a woolly hat jumped out. He grabbed hold of the shocked-looking Gavin and pressed a knife to his throat. The man forced Gavin towards his car, pulled open a door and threw Gavin in. The man ran back to the driver’s side, jumped in and roared away.
Cara’s mouth dropped open. She looked from the road, back to Ada and Robin, and then back to the road. Had that really just happened?
Ada sighed. “Cara, I think you need to find yourself another boyfriend.”
Chapter 9
Cara leapt into action. She raced towards her car and flung herself into the driver’s seat. Robin was at her side in a second. He said, “Did you see that? A kidnapping! Right in front of our eyes!”
Cara said, “Did you see who the driver was? Was it that Liam Fox? He threatened Gavin a few minutes ago.” She drove down the street after the other car.
Robin shook his head. “It all happened so quick. Careful, you’re going too fast.”
“I don’t want to lose them. I can see the number plate. Robin, there’s a tablet device in that briefcase under this seat. Can you get it? Gran showed me an app on it before. You type in the licence number and the owner’s address and name comes up.”
“Awesome.” Robin soon had the tablet out and was typing in the details. “Aha! It isn’t Liam Foxy-face at all! It’s someone called John Coldcott. I’ve got his address.”
Cara frowned as she negotiated a roundabout. “Coldcott? Where have I heard that name before. Oh! Of course! Mrs Coldcott came to see Gavin yesterday. She’s the one who complained about that abattoir being built near her house.”
Robin placed the tablet on his knee. “And didn’t she say that her husband was going to kill Gavin?”
Cara shot him a look. “She did. Oh, Robin. I’m scared. What should we do? That man had a knife. I can’t launch myself at him if he attacks Gavin!”
Robin said firmly, “You must never put yourself in danger, Cara. If it looks as if John Coldcott is going to hurt Gavin you’ll have to talk him out of it.”
“How do I do that? I don’t know what to say!”
“You will do.” Robin sniffed. “What’s that smell?”
Cara’s nose wrinkled. “We must be near the abattoir. Pooh! It stinks. No wonder the Coldcotts are angry about living here.”
Robin’s hands flew to his ears. He screamed, “Cara! Stop the car!”
Cara skidded to a stop. “What? Robin! What is it? Is Gavin already dead?”
Robin lowered his hands. He turned pain-filled eyes towards her. “The animals! Cara, the animals in the abattoir! I can feel their pain, I can hear their cries.” His hands flew to his ears again and his face scrunched up. “Ouch! It hurts!”
Cara shouted, “Go! Robin! Get away from here.”
“I can’t leave you!”
Cara put her hand out and shoved him. “You can leave me, you have to! I’ll be fine. Go!”
Robin gave her one last look and then disappeared.
Cara didn’t know her heart could beat so fast. She set off once more. She must be near the Coldcotts’s house, the smell was almost overpowering.
There! The car that stopped at Gran’s house was parked outside a bungalow. Cara pulled up behind it and checked the address that Robin had found for her. This was definitely the right address.
Cara’s stomach flipped as she switched off the engine. She was not ready for this! She wished she could drive away and pretend none of this was anything to do with her.
No. She had to go in. She had to somehow try to save Gavin’s life.
She got out of the car and ran along the drive. She thumped on the front door. No answer. She raced around to the back of the house. The back door was open. Cara could see Gavin inside, he was tied to a kitchen chair, a tea towel stuffed in his mouth.
Cara burst into the room and over to Gavin. A hand grabbed her shoulder and threw her to one side. It was the man with the knife. Thankfully, he was no longer holding the knife. He glared at Cara and said, “Who the hell are you?”
“Never mind who I am! I know who you are. You’re John Coldcott and you’re going to murder Gavin Bennett!”
“What?” John Coldcott blanched. “Murder? I’m not going to murder him. Why would you think that?”
Cara pointed a shaking finger at him. “I saw you! You had a knife, you forced him into your car.” Cara turned her finger towards Gavin. “And you’ve got him tied to a chair!”
“Ah
, yes,” John said, he gave her a small smile. “It does look rather suspect, doesn’t it? I only used a knife to persuade him to get in my car. I knew he’d say no if I asked him politely. Would you like a cup of tea?”
“What? No! You’ve kidnapped him! What are you going to do with him?”
Mrs Coldcott chose that moment to walk through the open door. She took in the scene and sighed. “John, what have you done now?”
John Coldcott folded his arms and stuck his chin out. “I wanted him to experience what we have to go through every day. I wanted him to smell that disgusting stench.”
Mrs Coldcott put her handbag down. “You idiot! Look at the poor man, you’ve scared him half to death.”
John shrugged. “I had to do something. I had to make him pay for what he did to us.”
Mrs Coldcott shook her head. “It’s not his fault. I told you I was going to see a solicitor this morning. I’ve spoken to one and he said he’s going to look into things for us. He’s quite certain that we will get a substantial compensation package from the abattoir owners. It seems some of our neighbours already have. And that company that Mr Bennett told me about have made us an offer for this house.” She shook her head again. “We’ve wasted such a lot of time blaming Mr Bennett when we should have been looking into solutions.” She turned to Gavin and took the tea towel from his mouth. “I’m so sorry. My husband is not normally so stupid.” She untied him.
John Coldcott gave an embarrassed laugh. “What a pickle! We’ll laugh about this later!”
“I doubt it,” his wife added. “Mr Bennett, are you okay?”
Gavin stood up and rubbed his wrists. “I am okay, thank you.” He tried to smile. “That was quite an experience, I’ll have to tell my mum about this.”
John Coldcott moved closer. “I really am sorry about kidnapping you. I don’t know what came over me.”
“You kidnapped him!” his wife shrieked. “Mr Bennett, call the police! Get this fool locked up.”
John backed towards the open door, purposely avoiding his wife’s glare. “Would you like a lift back to your car Mr Bennett? We’re going to need a new house soon, you can tell me what you’ve got on your books.”
Gavin's Death (Cara Daniels Cozy Mystery Book 4) Page 3
