Donald's Death (Cara Daniels Cozy Mystery Book 1) (4 page)

Chapter 9

Gran and Cara walked towards Donald’s
office. They were almost knocked off their feet as a red-faced Gregory stormed back
out.

Gregory yelled over to Emma, “Where the
hell is he? He’s not in there.”

Emma began to move away from the
reception area. She put her hands up and said, “Please, Mr Templeton, calm
down.”

“Don’t tell me what to do! Where is
he?”

Emma said, “He did go into his office,
there’s a door in there that leads directly to the golf course. He must have
gone out that way. He could be anywhere on the course.”

Gregory let out a few swear words and
marched towards the main door that led to the golf course.

Emma wrung her hands together. She
looked at Gran and said, “What should I do? Should I go after him?”

“Don’t you have any security systems in
place?” Gran asked.

“Not for situations like this. I think
I’d better call the police,” Emma said.

Cara stepped forward. “Mr Ackroyd
mentioned that he had CCTV in his office. Perhaps we could look on the monitor,
see if we can find Mr Ackroyd before Gregory Templeton does.”

“Yes! That’s a good idea,” Emma turned
to walk into Donald’s office.

“Hey!” a voice called out. “What do we
have to do to get some service in here?”

Emma looked towards the irate-looking
customers that were now waiting at the reception area. Gran said to her, “We’ll
have a look for Mr Ackroyd.”

Emma gave her a grateful smile and made
her way back to reception.

Cara and Gran went into Donald’s office
and over to a bank of four TV monitors. Cara quickly scanned the monitors. She
pointed. “There he is, in the car park! He’s putting some golf clubs in the
boot. Oh no! Gregory’s just come into view! He’s raising his fists!”

Gran was already running out of the
office. She called over to Emma. “He’s in the car park. We’re going to stop
Gregory Templeton from attacking him!”

Cara overtook Gran as she raced towards
the car park. She could see Donald leaning back over the bonnet of his car.
Gregory towered above him, his fist ready to come down.

“No!” Cara screamed. She rushed forward,
and without thinking, she headbutted Gregory in the stomach. He stumbled
backwards looking stunned, his fist dropped to his side.

Gran arrived. She helped the
dazed-looking Donald into an upright position. She said, “Are you okay? Did he
hurt you?”

Donald shook his head. “I’m not sure
what just happened there. He came out of nowhere, charging at me like an angry
bull.”

Cara rubbed the top of her head.
Gregory Templeton’s stomach must be made of steel.

Gregory looked down at Cara and said,
“What the hell did you do that for?”

Cara thought quickly. “I couldn’t let
you hit Mr Ackroyd. I know you blame him for losing the game yesterday but it
wasn’t his fault. You know that. If you’d have hit him what would your fans
have thought? You know what the press are like, they’ll ruin your reputation.”

Gregory shook his head slowly. “You’re
right. I’m a celebrity, I have to act in a certain way. What was I thinking?”
He looked at Donald. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Donald, I’m so sorry. I
don’t know what came over me. I was ready to kill you.”

Donald gave him a weak smile. “That’s
okay.”

Emma ran over to Donald’s side and
said, “Mr Ackroyd! Are you alright?”

He nodded. “Just in shock. Could you
help me to my office, please, Emma? Would you mind if I leaned on you? My legs
feel shaky.”

Emma gave him a smile and put her arm
around his waist. Donald put his arm around her shoulders as they walked
unsteadily back towards the main doors.

“Well!” Gregory boomed out. “I think
I’d better go home. A day away from golf would be a good idea.” He winked at
Cara and continued, “Don’t worry, I’m only taking a day off. Did I give you a
signed photo?”

Cara said, “You did. Thank you.”

Gran and Cara watched Gregory walk
towards his car. Gran tutted at him. “He’s still got that swagger in his walk.
It doesn’t seem to bother him that he nearly killed someone.”

Cara looked at Gran and said, “Is that
it? Is it over? Have we saved Donald’s life?”

Gran smiled. “You saved him. What were
you thinking, barging into Gregory like that? You could have hurt yourself.”

“I just wanted to stop him.” She rubbed
her head again. “I did hurt myself.”

Gran linked her arm through Cara’s and
led her towards Gran’s car. They got in and Gran reached for the ignition.

“Haven’t you forgotten something?” a
voice said from behind them.

They both turned around to see the
unsmiling face of Edward.

Gran’s brow wrinkled. “Oh! My golf
clubs! And my handbag! I’ve left them inside.”

Edward frowned. “I didn’t mean that,
Abigail. It’s Donald Ackroyd.” He glanced at his watch. “He’s going to die in
three minutes.”

Chapter 10

“What?” Cara cried out.

Gran looked stunned. She blinked a few
times and then said quietly, “Edward, what have I done? I went for the wrong
person.”

Edward tapped his watch. “We’ll discuss
that later. You need to find Donald.”

Cara jumped out of the car and sprinted
towards the golf building. She heard Gran running behind her. Cara raced into
the building and looked over at the reception area. No one was there. She ran
towards Donald’s office and tried to open it. She looked back over her shoulder
and said to Gran, who had now caught up with her, “It’s locked! I can hear him
inside.” She rapped on the door but no one answered.

Gran grabbed her arm. “We haven’t got
time to wait. Quick, we’ll try the back door to his office. I bet it’s young
Jason who’s going to murder him! Why did I take my eyes off him?”

They ran out of the door that led to
the golf course and swerved to the left. They saw that the back door to
Donald’s office was ajar.

Cara yanked it open and let out a cry
of horror as she took in the scene in front of her.

Donald Ackroyd was in a crouching
position a few feet away. Both hands were on his head. Blood ran through his
fingers and down his face.

Emma stood next to him, a gold golf
trophy raised high. She swung it downwards.

Cara shot forward and launched herself
at Emma. Emma screamed as Cara connected with her. They both fell to the floor,
the golf trophy rolled to one side.

Gran entered the room. Emma curled into
a ball and began to sob. Cara stood up and rubbed the shoulder that had
connected with Emma. Gran looked at her and said, “Have you turned into a human
cannonball today? Stop throwing yourself at everyone!”

Cara raised a shaking hand. “Gran! It
was Emma! She was going to kill Donald! She’s already hit him once.”

Gran walked over to Donald and helped
him to straighten up. She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and handed it
to him. He took it and pressed it to his head. He tried to smile. He said,
“This is becoming a habit, you saving my life.”

Cara knelt down next to Emma and said,
“It’s okay. It’s all over now.”

Emma’s sobs subsided. She moved into a
sitting position and looked at Cara through watery eyes. Emma said, “I was
going to kill him! I really was going to kill him!”

Donald said, “Let’s try to forget about
this Emma, no harm done.” He gave a wry smile as he looked at the blood on the
handkerchief. “Not much harm done.”

Emma’s eyes widened. She moved closer
to Cara. Cara frowned. Something wasn’t right here. She said to Emma, “Why did
you try to kill Donald?”

Emma said, “It was self-defence. He was
going to … hurt me. He had me pinned against the desk. My hands landed on that
golf trophy and before I knew it I hit him with it.”

“Self-defence? Why?” Cara asked.

Donald laughed. “Don’t listen to her,
she’s in shock. I think I’d better get myself to the hospital, get checked out.
Don’t worry, Emma, I won’t press charges.”

Emma shook her head. “No! No! You can’t
get away with what you’ve just done!” She got to her feet and pointed at him.
“You accused me of stealing.” She looked at Cara. “He said he’d found stolen
money in my handbag, money from the till. I didn’t put it there. He said he’d
seen me putting stolen clubs in my car. I’ve never done anything like that!”

Donald pulled at his collar. “Emma,
let’s not talk about business matters in front of strangers.”

Gran folded her arms and gave Donald a
cold look. She said to Emma, “When did he accuse you of this?”

“Just now. I brought him into the
office after Mr Templeton nearly attacked him. Mr Ackroyd locked the door, I
thought he was worried about Mr Templeton coming back. He said we needed to
talk about money and golf clubs being stolen. That’s when he accused me of
having stolen money in my handbag and golf clubs in my car.” Emma’s hands flew
to her face and she began to cry again.

Cara put her arms around her shoulders
and said, “Please, carry on.”

Emma lowered her hands. “He said he
wouldn’t tell the police if I was … nice to him. He went on about how I must be
lonely being a single mum, and that he’d hate for me to lose this job. He came
towards me and pinned me to the desk. His hands …” She broke into tears again.

Donald cried out, “She’s lying! She has
been stealing from me. I confronted her and she went mad!”

Gran shared a look with Cara. Two
thoughts came into Cara’s mind. She looked straight at Donald and said, “Have
you got a dog?”

Donald frowned. “What? A dog? What’s
that got to do with anything.”

“Just answer the question,” Gran said.

Donald threw his hands up. “This is
ridiculous! Yes, I have got a dog!”

Cara looked at Gran and said, “That’s
what I saw yesterday when we drove past his house. I wasn’t sure what it was at
first, I saw a dog’s head near the window. I didn’t mention it because I wasn’t
really sure that I saw it.”

Donald spluttered, “What are you
talking about? What were you doing near my house?”

Gran nodded. “And what does that tell
you about his character?”

Cara looked back at Donald. “We saw you
yesterday with your neighbour. He complained about your dog, you lied and said
your dog had died.”

A steely look came into Donald’s eyes.
He sneered and said, “That old fool deserves everything he gets. He’s always
complaining. So what if I let my dog out on a night to make a mess in his
garden? I thought it would be a laugh to let him think he’s going mad. It
serves him right for complaining all the time.”

Emma wiped her eyes. “You’re evil.”

Donald shrugged. “And you’re a thief.”

“No, she isn’t,” Cara said. “I presume
that you all have access to the staffroom. Emma, do you have lockers in there?”

“No, I leave my handbag hung up next to
my coat.”

Cara nodded. “So anyone could plant
money in your handbag. I saw you, Donald, on the CCTV, you were putting some
golf clubs in the boot of a car. At first I thought it was your car, but I’ve
realised it was Emma’s car, she’s parked next to you. You must have taken her
keys from her handbag.”

Emma gasped. “Why? Why would he do
that?”

Gran said, “So he could blackmail you.”
She looked Donald up and down in disgust. “You haven’t worked here long. I
wonder if you’ve done this sort of thing before. I wonder if you’ve got away
with it before. The police can look into that.”

Panic crossed Donald’s face. “Now wait
a minute! There’s no need to get the police involved. It’s all a
misunderstanding. You’ve no proof that I did any of those things you’ve accused
me of.”

Cara pointed towards the bank of CCTV
monitors. “We’ve got proof.”

Donald made a lunge towards Cara and
the TV monitors. Gran stepped forward and stuck her leg out. Donald crashed to
the floor.

Emma began to shake. She turned to Cara
and said, “I’m so glad you came in! I would have killed him! I would have gone
to prison! Oh, my little boy! I wouldn’t have seen him grow up!”

Cara took Emma in her arms and held her
as she cried.

Gran touched Cara on the shoulder and
said, “I’m going to phone the police.” She jerked a thumb at Donald. “He’s not
getting away with this. It might take a while to sort everything out.”

Cara gave her a small smile over Emma’s
shaking shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Chapter 11

Cara woke with a jump the next morning.
Someone had tapped her leg. She screamed when she saw a man sitting at the end
of her bed.

Edward held up a hand. “Oh dear, I
didn’t mean to frighten you, Cara. I didn’t want to wake you, you looked so
peaceful but I’ve got to be somewhere soon and I need to talk to you.”

Cara rubbed her eyes. “How long have
you been watching me?”

Edward smiled, “Just for an hour. Did
you know that you snored?”

Cara ran her hand through her hair and
tried to straighten it a bit. “What are you doing here? Is Gran here too? Has
she some news on Donald Ackroyd?”

“Your gran isn’t here but I can tell
you that Donald Ackroyd is under arrest. The police found a lot of sexual
harassment claims against him. The claims were dropped for one reason or
another. Based on Emma’s experience the police are going to interview the
people who made the complaints again. He’s going to be spending a while in
prison. He paused and studied her. “What’s wrong?”

Cara sat up and pulled the bedcover up
to her chin. “He’s such a nasty man. He had us all fooled. Me and Gran went to
all that trouble to protect him and …” She looked away.

“Are you thinking you should have let
him die?”

“It did cross my mind,” Cara muttered.

Edward tapped her leg again. Cara
looked back at him. He said, “My experience has taught me that some people
deserve to be punished for what they’ve done, but not killed. In Donald’s case
you helped Emma. She would have murdered Donald, she would have gone to prison.
Her soul would have shrivelled. You helped her. Don’t forget that.”

Cara nodded. She remembered how
grateful Emma had been. “Where is Gran?”

Edward sighed and looked down at the
bedcover. “Abigail is not in a good place right now.” He looked back at Cara.
“I mean emotionally, not physically. She was furious at herself for thinking
Gregory Templeton was going to be the murderer. She said she should have
spotted the clues that you did. She should have noticed the black line around
Donald didn’t disappear when Gregory was no longer a threat.”

Cara frowned. “I didn’t notice that either.
There was so much going on. She shouldn’t feel guilty, we got there in the
end.”

“She does feel guilty. One more blow to
Donald’s head and Emma would have killed him.” He stood up. “Your gran needs a
rest from saving souls. She’s been doing too much since your granddad died,
it’s affecting her health. I’ve sent her on a holiday, a cruise.” He laughed.
“She didn’t want to go! You should have heard some of the things she called
me!”

“A cruise? That sounds lovely. Where?”

“Not far, just around the world. She’ll
be gone for months.” His face softened as he smiled at Cara. “I told Abigail
that you’re ready, you proved that yesterday.”

Cara clutched the bedcover tightly. In
a wary voice she said, “Ready for what?”

“For taking over Abigail’s job, of
course! She’s left her car outside for you. The keys are in your kitchen along
with the keys to her house. She said you’d find resources in her home that will
help you.”

“But I … I don’t know what to do!”

“You’ll learn. And you’ll have an angel
to help you.”

“You?” Hope flared in Cara.

Edward shook his head. “I can’t help
any more, I haven’t got any white feathers left.” He took a step back and his wings
appeared. “You see how my feathers are silver? They turn that colour once a
soul has been saved.”

Cara pointed. “I can see a white one!”

Edward gently shook his wings. The last
white feather detached form his wing and floated towards Cara. The space that
it left behind was filled with a new silver feather. The white feather landed
in front of Cara. She picked it up.

Edward said, “That is for you to keep.
Every time you save a soul you get a white feather. Your gran has got hundreds
of them! And she’s already gone through two other angels! Cara, don’t look so
worried, you’re going to do a wonderful job. I really have to go now.”

“No! I’m not ready!”

“Your angel will visit you soon, he’ll
explain everything.” He held up a hand. “Be patient with him. The new angels
can be a bit of a handful. They’re so eager but naïve! Keep your eye on him.
Goodbye, Cara, my beloved.”

Edward smiled and then disappeared.

Cara looked at the empty space where
he’d been. Tears came to her eyes. She couldn’t do this, she really couldn’t.
She would have helped Gran with other cases, but she couldn’t do it on her own.
She placed the feather against her cheek and closed her eyes. A warmth trickled
down her body.

Her eyes opened. “I can do it!” she
told herself. Then her resolve immediately wavered. “Can I?”