Jacob's Coins: A Cozy Ghost Mystery (Storage Ghost Mysteries Book 1) (5 page)

Chapter 16

They
soon discovered a problem. Grace left the shop and expected Jacob to be at her
side. When he wasn’t she gingerly called out to him, not wanting to catch the
attention of any passers-by.

There
was no answer so Grace went back into the shop. She immediately saw Jacob
inside, his face grief-stricken. “I can’t leave! It’s like a force-field is stopping
me!”

Grace
frowned and thought for a moment. Then she said, “Perhaps you’re attached to
your belongings, you might have to be near them to travel anywhere.”

“Do
you think so?” Jacob asked. “Are you going to try to take something with us?”
He gave a sudden laugh. “You’re going to look ridiculous walking down the
street with my bed cover tucked under your arm.”

Grace
shot him a withering glance. “I’ll obviously take something smaller. How about
those cassettes of yours? If you don’t mind, I can give them away to Steve.”

A
hurt look crossed Jacob’s face. “Give my music away? I’m not sure about that,
those cassettes are valuable, you could sell them.”

As
gently as she could Grace told him that they didn’t use cassettes any more. She
explained about MP3 players. Jacob didn’t believe her so she showed him her
own.

“Impossible!
How can you fit thousands of songs on that? Do I look stupid?” Jacob said.

Grace
turned her music on, then she showed him her listed albums. Jacob’s look
changed from disbelief to awe.

“Cool,”
he said. He tried to reach out for it but his hand passed through.

“Can
I take the cassettes then?” Grace asked.

Jacob
gave a sad shrug. “I suppose so.”

Grace
collected the cassettes and put them in her handbag. She stepped out onto the
pavement. Jacob took a step forward and joined her. He grinned, “Your plan
worked. Now what?”

“Now
we get the bus. I can’t talk to you in public, people will think I’m talking to
myself.  You can talk to me but if I need to reply I’ll type you a text and you
can read it.”

“Eh?”
Jacob said.

Grace
took out her phone and told him what it was.

“Looks
like something from Star Trek. Wait! Can it transport you? Or beam you up
somewhere?” Jacob asked, his face lit up like a Christmas tree.

Grace
didn’t like to burst his bubble, but she did so anyway. She showed him how it
worked and what a text looked like. She didn’t use text abbreviations, she
didn’t think he was ready for that yet.

They
headed towards the bus stop. Jacob walked slightly behind her, taking in all
the new sights, and old sights.

“I
can’t believe that hairdressers is still there! My dad goes there. And my mum’s
being going to that butchers for years.”

Grace
felt Jacob’s mood change. She looked back at him. Sadness filled his face.

“My
mum and dad, what’s happened to them? Do you think they’re dead? Is that why my
stuff was in storage?”

Grace
made a show of looking in the shop window where Jacob had stopped. It was full
of home brewing equipment. She quickly typed a text and held it up. Jacob was
staring straight ahead and didn’t notice. She coughed and muttered, “Text!”

Jacob
blinked and brought his attention back to her. He read the text and nodded.
“Yeah, we can ask Steve about that, good idea. Why are you looking at beer
making kits?”

Chapter 17

Jacob
was quiet on the bus journey, he sat in the empty seat next to her. Grace sent
a silent prayer requesting that no one would sit next to her. Other than
muttering a few disdainful comments about what people were wearing, and how
awful their hairstyles were, Jacob didn’t say much.

A
short while later, they stood in front of the receptionist at the lawyer’s firm
where Steve Roberts worked.

Grace
explained for the third time that they didn’t have an appointment but it was
urgent, and no, she couldn’t tell the receptionist what it was about.

The
gleam in the receptionist’s eyes made Grace think the woman was thoroughly
enjoying being unhelpful.

“I
can only reiterate what I’ve just told you, Mr Roberts is extremely busy and is
only available by appointment. I can book you in for two weeks on Monday,” the
woman said. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”

“Silly
cow, she doesn’t look sorry at all,” Jacob grumbled. “Just push past her and
run in to Steve’s office. You’re bigger than her, you can easily knock her
over.”

“Thanks,”
Grace mumbled.

“You’re
welcome,” the woman said, thinking the thanks was for her. “The exit door is to
your left.”

Grace
sighed and turned away. Jacob stood in front of her, his arms held forward like
a barrier. “You’ve got to see him now! I can’t wait for two weeks on Monday!
Knock that snooty cow over!”

Grace
passed through Jacob, feeling a slight chill as she did so.  She headed towards
the exit. She wasn’t happy about having to wait two weeks either but what could
she do? She wasn’t the type to argue with an evil receptionist. She was too
much of a wimp.

The
office phone rang as Grace put her hand on the handle of the exit door. She
heard the receptionist say, “I’ll check in the postroom, I won’t keep you a
minute.”

Jacob
appeared at Grace’s side and hissed, “Don’t move!”

Grace
stood frozen in mid-step. She heard the click clack of the receptionist’s shoes
as she walked away.

“She’s
gone! Now’s our chance. Run!”

Grace’s
heart began to beat faster. She glanced behind her and saw that the
receptionist’s desk was empty.

“Run!
Run!” Jacob chanted in her ear. “Quick! Steve’s office is down this way.”

Fighting
all her good upbringing Grace spun around and ran down the hall towards a line
of doors. She spotted one with Steve’s name on it and flung it open. She leapt
inside and slammed the door behind her.

“What
on earth? Who are you?” the man behind the desk stood up and glared at Grace.

“Steve!
Steve Roberts! You fat old man!” Jacob burst out in delight. He ran over to him
and looked him up and down. He turned back to Grace and said, “He hasn’t got
wooden legs! He’s got a massive tummy though. Ha! I can’t believe it! Steve
Roberts!”

Grace
tried to regain her composure. It wasn’t easy with Jacob bounding around Steve
like a playful puppy. It would be so much easier if Steve could see Jacob.

Steve
put his hands on his ample hips and in a louder voice he said, “Who are you?
And how dare you burst into my office unannounced? If you don’t explain
yourself I shall be forced to call security.”

Jacob
collapsed into hoots of laughter. “Steve! You’re so funny, acting all grown
up!”
Grace stepped forward. “I really must apologise but there’s something important
I have to tell you, well, discuss with you.”

Steve’s
expression changed slightly. He pointed at Grace and said, “Don’t I know you?
Your face looks familiar, have you been on the TV? Or in the papers?”

Grace
had but she wasn’t going to get into that just now. She shook her head.

Steve’s
look hardened. “Then I’m definitely calling security.” He reached for the phone
on his desk.

Grace
opened her handbag and grabbed the cassettes. She flung them on to Steve’s
desk.

He
dropped the phone receiver and collapsed in to his chair, the colour drained
from his face.

He
looks like he’s seen a ghost, Grace thought.

She
knew how he felt.

Chapter 18

“Where...where
did you get those?” Steve asked, his voice weak.

Grace
sat opposite him and said, “My brother and I bought a storage locker this
morning, we found them inside.”

A
sudden panic rushed through Grace. How was she going to explain the connection
between Steve and the cassettes? There was no way she was going to tell him she
could see ghosts.

A
lie quickly came to her. “There was some paperwork with the things that we
found. We know that they used to belong to a boy called Jacob Paster.”

Steve
automatically mumbled, “Paster, not like the food but as in faster.”

Jacob
let out a whoop of delight. “He remembers me!” 

Grace
continued with her lie. “Your name was on a scrap of paper next to the
cassettes, with your old address. I managed to track you down online, I wasn’t
sure if you were the right Steve Roberts, the one who knew Jacob Paster.”

Steve
didn’t seem to be paying much attention to her story. He gazed at the cassettes
as if they held some sort of magical power. He said, “Jacob, my best friend. He
was mad about music, we both were. That was a million years ago.”

“What
happened to him? Is he still alive?” Grace hated lying but she had to find out
as much as she could for Jacob’s sake.

Steve
didn’t look away from the cassettes. “He died in a car accident. We were on our
way to a concert. What a waste of a life.”

Grace
prodded a bit more. “Was he driving?”

Steve
snapped out of his trance and looked at Grace. “Why do you want to know?”

Grace
swallowed. She didn’t like the angry look on Steve’s face, she didn’t blame
him, it was none of her business.

Before
she could speak Steve clicked his fingers and said, “I know who you are! You’re
the daughter of that drunken driver, the one that killed himself and his wife,
he tried to kill you too!”

Chapter 19

Grace
jumped up and shouted, “That’s not true! My dad didn’t drink! He wouldn’t drink
and drive. It was an accident!”

Steve
stood and held his arms up in a calming manner. “I’m sorry, I know how facts
can get twisted by the press. I didn’t mean to upset you. Please, sit down. I
know all about car crashes and gossip. Let me tell you what happened to me and Jacob.”

Grace’s
eyes stung, her heart thudded against her chest. A familiar panicky feeling
threatened to overtake her. She felt the urge to run away.

Jacob
stood at her side. She felt a coldness on her arm, she looked down to see that
Jacob was touching her. He looked at her with concern and said, “I’m sorry to
hear about your mum and dad, Grace. We can go, if you want.”

Grace
took a deep calming breath and sat back down. It never got easier. She looked
up at Steve, and then at Jacob. She wasn’t the only one who had suffered. She
tried to smile. “Sorry about that. I’d like to hear about Jacob, thank you.”

Steve
began to explain. He said he had only passed his driving test the week before
the car crash, he wasn’t a confident driver and didn’t feel happy about driving
on the motorway.

“But
Jacob was so keen to get to the concert, I couldn’t let him down. He’d made a
special cassette, just for the journey,” Steve said. He looked back at the
cassettes. “No way! There it is! I didn’t know that it had survived. Anyway,
Jacob kept telling me to hurry up but I was afraid to. Then a lorry shot out
from the left hand side, I panicked and lost control of the car. Everything
slowed down as we skidded across the lanes. When we stopped we were upside
down. That’s the last thing I remember. The next thing I knew was that I was in
hospital.  No one told me about Jacob for a while, I think they were waiting
until I was strong enough.”

Grace
nodded, she knew that feeling. Frankie sometimes still treated her as if she
were a fragile piece of china that was going to break.

Steve
looked past Grace and across his office. “I feel so guilty over what happened,
Jacob died because of me.”

Jacob
went over to Steve and said, “It wasn’t your fault! It was mine, I put you off
your driving because I shouted at you. Grace! Tell him!”

Grace
looked at the desk. She wasn’t ready to admit to anyone that she could see
ghosts. She looked back at Steve and said, “I felt guilty about the crash that
killed my parents. It was my car and Dad was driving. He wasn’t used to it. We
were going out for a birthday meal, my birthday, and he insisted on driving. I
could tell as soon as we set off that he wasn’t comfortable, he couldn’t
control the car.”

Steve
brought his attention back to Grace. “Forgive me for bringing this up again,
but it was reported that your father had been drinking and that he was over the
limit before he set off. It wasn’t your fault that he couldn’t control the
car.”

Grace
vehemently shook her head. “My dad wasn’t a big drinker, he would never drink
and drive. I can’t explain what happened and why the medical reports showed
what they did. I need to dig further into it, I just don’t feel up to it yet.
But my point is, that I feel guilty, just like you.”

Steve
said, “But it wasn’t your fault.”

“And
do you truly believe that your car accident was your fault?” Grace probed.

Steve
looked into the distance again. He sighed. “I suppose not,  but it’s hard to
let go of the guilt.”

“I
know,” Grace said.

Steve
suddenly smiled. “We should make a pact, no, make that a legal agreement. We
should both agree to let go of our guilt. What do you say?”

“A
legal agreement?” Grace asked.

Steve
stood up and straightened his jacket. He held his hand out and said, “An
informal legal agreement, so to speak. We’ll shake on it.”

Grace
didn’t move. Her guilt was fresh, could she really let it go that easily?

Jacob
was at her side. He said, “You have to do it, for Steve’s sake and your own.”

Grace
stood up, her legs felt weak as she held her hand out. Steve gripped it firmly.
Warmth flowed from his hand and in to Grace’s body. She took a sharp intake as
a feeling of pure peace washed over her. She could almost see her guilt
floating away.

“You
look like a heavy weight has been lifted from your shoulders,” Steve said. He
grinned. “I feel like that too. Isn’t that silly? Holding on to guilt when we
shouldn’t? I feel years younger! Do you know what I feel like doing? Playing
these music cassettes at full blast!”

Jacob
jumped onto the desk and started to play an air guitar.

Grace
couldn’t help but laugh.

Steve
loosened his tie and opened a drawer in the desk. “I’ve still got a cassette
player somewhere. Stay and listen if you like, or have you got to be
somewhere?”

Grace
felt light-headed and wanted to get out in to the fresh air. She said, “I have
to go but  could I ask you for some legal advice? Please?”

“Of
course,” Steve said as he pulled out a dusty cassette player.

Grace
briefly told him about Eddie Tominski and the loans her dad had left her and
Frankie with.

Steve
gave a low whistle. “I wouldn’t cross Eddie Tominski for all the chocolate in
Belgium. Nasty piece of work but clever with it. I’ve known other lawyers
who’ve tried to get their clients free of him, some of them ended up in the
hospital, the lawyers not the clients. My best advice is to try and clear the
debt as soon as you can. If you really get stuck I can try to help but my fees
would only add to your debt I’m afraid.”

Grace
said, “Thanks anyway.” Frankie had taken legal advice too about Eddie and had
been told the same thing. She remembered Jacob asking about his parents. She
asked Steve about them.

He
told her that they were still alive, they were utterly devastated after Jacob’s
death, it took them years to lead a normal life again. He had no idea about why
they’d put Jacob’s belongings in a storage unit. “They moved house a few years
ago, we keep in touch through Christmas cards. Perhaps they felt ready to let
his things go. I could ask them.”

Grace
looked at Jacob, he shook his head.

Grace
said, “No, thank you anyway. I’d better go.” She walked towards the door. Steve
called after her, “Have a look through Jacob’s things. You never know, you
might find those famous coins of his, he was convinced that they were worth
something!”