TICK TOCK RUN (Romantic Mystery Suspense) (28 page)

I slumped on the sofa and filled Lee in on the blackmail, his brother’s affair with Laura, and the money drop which explained why my hair was so wet. 

When I finished, he looked too stunned to even breathe.  A blue vein popped up on his forehead, pulsating.  I wanted to stroke it, take the stress away. 

His slow nod indicated things were adding up.  A slow one was all he could manage.  He finally knew the connection between me, Laura, and his dead brother.

“Let me get this straight.  Laura was Daryl’s mystery girlfriend, and she’s paid money to keep the affair quiet?”

I nodded.

Lee switched the telly off, chucked the remote away and held a serious face, pinning me with his chestnut eyes.  He leaned forward, vein still pulsating like an angry worm under his skin.  “Why the hell didn’t you tell me this before?  Whoever’s blackmailing Laura must have killed my brother!”

My throat felt dry.  “I couldn’t tell you because Laura was so convinced it was you.  But she still thinks that Daryl’s death isn’t linked, that it was accidental.  She says this person only wants money.” 

“Then she’s a fool.”  Lee shook his head.  “You asked me to forgive you, and all the time you had this information about my brother?”

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t get the chance.  The only thing on my mind was the thought I’d lost you.”

He threw a hand into the air.  “Jesus, Chelsea!”

“They want more hush money, twenty thousand, or they’ll still tell Paul during the wedding ceremony on Saturday.  So now you know everything I do.”

“Twenty?  That’ll make it fifty-five grand!”  Lee shook his head so much I didn’t think he’d be able to stop.  But he did, and his expression changed as if switching perspectives.  “Laura has to tell Paul, and the police.”

“She won’t.”

I filled Lee in on Paul’s painful childhood, and how the blackmailer threatened to expose the affair earlier if Laura involved the police.

“Why don’t
you
phone the police instead?” he asked.

“Laura didn’t get out of bed for months when her parents died, barely ate, hardly spoke…  It doesn’t matter
who
phones the police, the blackmailer will tell Paul about the affair.  But even if not, I’m sure Paul would figure something was wrong when Police start swarming their house.  Paul will leave her.  She’ll crumble.  I can’t see her go through that again.  Not twice in nearly six months.” 

“Does Laura know who’s doing this?  Know who killed my brother?”

I almost laughed.  “You’re kidding, right?  Don’t you think we’d be kicking down their—”

“Stupid question.”

“I’m hoping another solution presents itself.  If it doesn’t, then yes, I guess I’ll have to phone the cops myself tomorrow evening.  Until then, I’m just trying to support her.”

CHAPTER 23

P
aul’s incessant milling around Laura’s house prevented me from speaking in private with her.  Frustrated, I gave up and waited in the lounge.  Before long, the best man, Mark, arrived.  “Hey!” he said, removing his beige leather driving gloves while crossing in front of me.  “How are you?”

“Good, thanks.  Bit cold out.  You?”

He smiled at me.  “Yeah.  Great.”  He pointed at my cheek.  “You’ve got a little something on your—” 

Oh, Christ!  The chocolate.  Why hadn’t anyone told me?  “Thanks.”  I wiped the icing off my face and licked my fingers.

Mark settled onto the opposing sofa, laid his gloves on the arm and started filling in a newspaper crossword. 

He used to be a good friend, until Jayne had tricked me into dating him a short while back.  I quit taking his phone calls after the third night out because I still felt guilty about dating someone.  I felt awful about the way I’d rejected him, but relieved that he wasn’t a very outspoken person about feelings, relationships...  It meant he didn’t press me for an explanation.  If handled badly, dating friends can kill friendships.  I’d learned the hard way.

I remained sitting on the sofa, nibbling my fingernails in my rising awkwardness.  Mark was a nice guy and deserved better.  I intended to make it up to him one day, but not today.  Not with all this going on. 

His presence reminded me again that Jayne's attempt at playing cupid in my life often backfired.  He had shaved his head since I’d last seen him, making his long nose appear even more Pinochio-like.  Laura and I often joked that his intelligence made him the human equivalent of a computer processor – Intel Mark inside. 

I put a smile on my face.  “Looking forward to the big day?”

Mark glanced up from the crossword.  “Yeah.  What about you?”

“I can’t wait.”  Putting us in the same room, when we’d never cleared the air, was like trying to mix vinegar and water, but I carried on making an effort.  “Have you got your speech ready?”

“Yeah.”  He tapped a pen to his temple.  “It’s all in here.  I’ve also compiled a short DVD of photos to play.  I think I’ll manage to embarrass the poor bloke.  That’s what I’m meant to do, right?” 

I chuckled.

He smirked then returned to the crossword. 

Paul poked his head round the door and motioned for Mark to follow him.

With the men out of the way, I joined Laura in the kitchen just as she finished a conversation with her aunt over the phone.

“How’s your Aunt Carol?” I asked.

“She’s good.”  Laura began chopping vegetables.  “Well, that’s a lie.  She keeps pestering me for more of my mum’s things, you know, to remember her by.  But I’ve been putting it off.”

“What does she want?”

“Jewellery, ornaments, the expensive kind.  My parents didn’t leave her much of value in their will.”  There was deep sadness in Laura’s voice.  “I’m worried she’ll trade them for booze.  I can’t remember the last time she was sober.  It’s gotten much worse since my parents died, as has her dress sense.  She either looks scruffy, or over the top like a clown.”  

“I didn’t know her drinking was quite
that
bad.  You really do have a lot on your plate.”

“Maybe when this is over I’ll give her something.  Make her promise to quit the hard stuff.  If there’s anything left to give her.”

“Anything left?”

Laura turned her back to rinse the knife in the sink.

It was hard to get my head around how problematic her life was.  After just days of carrying Laura’s problems, I wondered how she’d ever maintained a cool head.  Next week, I thought, next week has to be a good one to balance this out.  I pictured Laura on her honeymoon, basking on a white beach with Paul.  Then, I pictured myself and Lee, with a lot of uninterrupted time together between the sheets.  It made me long for this nightmare to be over more than ever. 

“Listen,” I said, wishing I could have changed the subject to a more pleasant one.  “We have to talk about you-know-what.”

Laura suddenly looked horrified, as though looking into my eyes was the same as staring down the barrel of a gun.  “Keep your voice down.  Paul could walk in at any minute and hear us.” 

I lowered my voice.  “How long shall we give them to reply to your message?”

“I’m working on the money.  I’m gonna have to sell some of my mum’s—” 

There was an unexpected knock at the front door followed by feet descending the stairs. 

“I’ve had an idea,” I whispered.  “Mark’s quite a brain box, isn’t he?”

She nodded, but only seemed to be half-listening.

“Perhaps he has some thoughts on email accounts.  You know, about hacking into them.  Or maybe the dead guy knew this creep and was seen typing the password.”

Laura shook herself and moved her gaze from the hallway to me.  “Huh?”

I tugged her sleeve.  “I said...”

Someone knocked on the door again, louder.

Laura’s knife clattered when she dropped it in the sink.  She darted into the hall.  “That better not be…”

I followed, while wondering how to persuade Mark to help us.  After all, we were barely speaking, and I’d also have to make him promise to not mention it to Paul.

Down the hall, I saw Lee standing in the doorway swapping pleasantries with Paul. 

“Hello,” Lee said, smiling.

I returned Lee’s warm smile, but then worry caught up with me and my heart missed a beat when his gaze landed on Laura.  Oh, Christ! 
Is Lee going to shout at her in front of Paul now that he knows she tried to cover up being Daryl’s mystery girlfriend?
  It was as though Lee’s presence tainted the house even more, and I could smell catastrophe in the air from the looks crossing between them.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Paul said, and went upstairs.

Scowling, Laura returned to the kitchen.

I whisked Lee into the lounge.  “I thought I asked you not to come round?” I tried to speak calmly, but to me, my voice sounded sharp.

“What?  No kiss?”  Lee leaned toward me.

I put my palms on his chest to push him away.  “You’re not here to have a go at Laura, are you?”

I listened for movement beyond the door, too on edge to kiss him.

“Wow!  You blow hot and cold,” he stated.  “I warned you I’d drive over if I didn’t hear from you.  I’m allowed to be concerned, aren’t I?  It’s not every day people have to deal with something like this.”

“Please don’t be angry with Laura.  Don’t say anything to her, and certainly not in front of Paul.  She’s got enough to cope with.”

“You make her out to be a porcelain doll.  Don’t worry, I’ll not upset her.”

Hearing voices in the hall stopped me from continuing the conversation.  We sat down, and I gave Lee a kiss on the lips.  “You’ve been eating that chocolate cake,” I said.

He smiled.

Paul entered the lounge followed by Mark, who sat as far away from me as possible.  I took this as an unsubtle snub.  Getting him alone and persuading him to look into the origin of our emails would be tricky.

Paul passed Mark a newspaper.  “Here, I saved you the sudoku puzzle.  If you finish it before you leave, I’ll buy you a pint of beer.  I swear those puzzles get harder each week.”

“Cheers.  You’re on!”

Laura entered, carrying hot drinks on a tray.

“Thanks, love,” Paul said.

Conversation ping-ponged across the room between Paul and Mark about an upcoming football match on the TV.  Then Paul started teasing Mark about his driving gloves.  “When will I ever persuade you to dump those things?  No one has driving gloves these days.  I wouldn’t be seen dead in them.”

Mark laughed, started teasing Paul about his days of the week socks which Laura had bought him. 

It appeared to be a normal gathering of friends in good spirits.  Then, the men fell silent, slurped their coffees, and Mark began the Sudoku. 

Lee took my hand in his and rested it on his thigh, but just like me, I could tell he wasn’t relaxed.  He felt stiff and had a tight grip. 

I glanced around at everyone’s faces and noticed the atmosphere had a hidden layer.  Mark and Lee swapped shifty eye movements and didn’t smile once.  I looked between the two of them, hoping to pick up whatever I’d missed.