Lost And Found: A Cozy Ghost Mystery (Storage Ghost Mysteries Book 2) (4 page)

Chapter 10

Too
late.

Clive
and Grace found themselves standing about ten metres away from a young Clive
and Laura Opalson.

The
couple were sitting on the picnic blanket and chatting.

Grace
couldn’t hear them so she moved closer. She could hear the laughter of nearby
children, the warmth of the sun washed over her. She felt the older Clive
follow her.

Laura
was saying, “It’s going to be wonderful, Clive, all that you’ve ever wanted. To
see the world and to get paid for it! I’m so happy for you. Promise you’re
going to send me postcards? I want the silliest ones that you can find.”

Laura
laughed, the young Clive laughed too. Grace felt that Laura’s laugh sounded
forced.

Young
Clive spoke. “Of course I will. And when I’ve saved enough money I’ll pay for
you to join me. Where shall we go first? Egypt? Africa? Australia? You decide.”

Laura
smiled. Grace noticed the smile didn’t reach her eyes. Laura said, “I’d love to
go to Australia first. But you mustn’t think about me. You know I’ve got that
office job lined up. I want to make a go of it, to prove to myself that I can
be successful. We’ve got plenty of time for travelling. What time do you leave
tomorrow?”

Clive
grimaced and said, “Six o’clock. Are you sure you won’t see me off?”

“No
chance, buddy. I need my sleep, look at the bags under my eyes!”

“You
look beautiful. Let me take another photo,” Clive said.

“More?
You’ve nearly used a full roll of film on me. Save some for your journey.”

“I’ve
got another roll. Look out over the park, let me get your profile,” Clive said.

Laura
looked out, the secret smile that had been recorded on the photo appeared.

The
older Clive spoke. “Her beauty outshines the sun. Such a funny smile on her
face. I wonder what she’s thinking.”

The
young Clive took his photo and then started to fiddle with the camera. He
didn’t notice what Laura did next, but Grace did.

Laura
Opalson placed her hand gently on her tummy. Grace involuntarily did the same
and immediately felt a peculiar sensation, like small bubbles popping in her
tummy. It was a pleasant feeling and made Grace feel warm and peaceful.

The
older Clive looked at Grace and said, “What’s going on, you’ve got the same
funny

 smile
on your face.

Grace
gave him a direct look and said, “Laura’s pregnant.”

Chapter 11

The
park scene faded and they were back in the kitchen.

Clive
stared at Grace. “No! It can’t be true, she would have told me. How do you know
anyway?”

Grace
still had her hand against her tummy but the fluttering feeling had gone. She
said, “I felt it, Laura touched her tummy and I felt it in mine. That would
explain the secret smile on her face.”

Clive
shook his head. “No, I refuse to believe it. We never kept secrets from each
other.”

Grace
sat down at the kitchen table and watched Clive as he walked around the kitchen
muttering to himself and shaking his head. After a few minutes he said, “If she
was pregnant why didn’t she tell me?”

Grace
looked at him and kindly said, “She was thinking about you. You’d just got this
amazing job and were about to set off on your travels. What would you have done
if she’d told you she was pregnant?”

Clive
threw his arms up. “I would have given my job up of course! Without hesitation,
I would have looked after her and the baby. I’d have married her, I’ve been
asking her for years.”

“She
put your needs first, is that the kind of thing that she’d do?”

Clive
gave a resigned sigh and sat down at the table. “It’s exactly what she’d do.
She’d done it many times for her friends and family, put their needs before her
own. She seemed to think that she deserved second-best, whatever was left over.
If she was pregnant can we find out if she had the baby? Can we go back into
the picture?”

“I
don’t think so, we can only go into the time frame that you captured. We could
look online though, see if there are any Laura Opalsons out there. It’s not a
common name, I can’t imagine there would be many.”

“Good
idea,” Clive said. He looked around the kitchen. “Have you got a computer, I
can’t stand the blasted things, I never could get the hang of them.”

Grace
stood up. “My brother has a laptop upstairs, I’ll get it.”

Clive
glanced upwards. “Oh, has he got a flat up there? That’s convenient, right
above the shop.”

“Something
like that,” Grace admitted. She wasn’t going to tell Clive that Frankie was
staying in the stock room, despite her repeated requests for him to move in
with her. He was so stubborn.

Grace
returned to the kitchen with the laptop. She fired it up and then typed in
Laura’s name. Two Opalsons came up, one was Laura’s, the other belonged to a
man called David. Grace’s scalp prickled as she realised who David Opalson
might be. She kept her thoughts to herself and clicked on Laura’s name.

Clive
came round to her side. Grace pointed at the screen. “She’s got a website. And
it looks like she’s got her own consultancy business. Very impressive. Can you
see that photo of her?”

Clive’s
eyes seemed to mist over as he studied Laura’s face.

“She’s
aged well,” Grace noted.

Clive
didn’t speak, he moved closer to the screen as if he wanted to jump in to it.

“She’s
beautiful,” he said it so quietly that Grace almost missed it.

Grace
scrolled down the screen so they could see more photos. Laura looked every inch
the professional business woman.

Clive
suddenly made a weird wailing noise. Grace looked up, his face was so grey that
it was almost black.

“Grace!
I’ve just realised what I lost, what I’ve been looking for. It wasn’t those
damned photographs, it was Laura! I left her behind. How could I have done
that? And the baby! Was I a father all these years? What a waste! A complete
and utter waste!”

Grace
looked sadly at Clive. She knew how it felt to lose somebody, how lost and
alone you felt afterwards.

She
remembered something. “Clive, you said you had to find something in order to
help someone, do you remember?”

Clive
nodded, his face still grey.

“What
if you have to help Laura in some way?”

“Yes!
You’re right, I think that’s what I have to do. Why else would we have found these
photos of her. Do you think she’s in danger?”

Grace
tapped the screen. “We could visit her at her office, I could give her these
photos. Perhaps have a chat with her, see if she’s in trouble. What do you
think?”

Clive
brightened. “Can we go now?”

Grace
smiled, glad to see the older man looking happy. “Her office is closed today,
we’ll go tomorrow.”

“Oh,
thank you, Grace, thank you. I knew you were a good person,” Clive said.

Let’s
hope Laura thinks that tomorrow when I arrive unannounced, Grace thought.

Chapter 12

It
was getting dark so Grace locked up the shop and headed out of the door. She
made sure the precious photos were in her bag. As she locked the door her phone
rang. It was Frankie.

“Hey,
Grace! Me and Big Bob are still having our business meeting. Are you okay to
lock up? I’ll be back later to sort anything out that you haven’t finished.”

Grace
pressed her lips together as she listened. Then she said, “Are you having your meeting
in the pub?”

Frankie
laughed. “Talking business is thirsty work. I’m having a swift pint before I
head home.”

A
chill trickled down Grace’s back. With a slight quiver in her voice she said,
“Don’t drive, Frankie.”

“I’m
only having one, I’ll be fine.”

“Please,
Frankie, don’t drive.”

Frankie
must have caught the worried tone in her voice because he said, “Okay, I won’t
drive. You don’t need to worry so much, I’m a good driver.”

So
was Dad.

Grace
clutched the phone tighter and said, “Promise.”

Frankie’s
tone became solemn. “I promise. I’ll get a taxi. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,”
Grace said, loosening her grip slightly. Should she ask him to send her a text
when he was safely home? No. Better not. He’d only swear at her for being
overprotective.

They
said goodbye and Grace put her phone away. She set off towards the bus stop.

A
hand shot out of the shadows and grabbed her. She was pulled into a dark
alleyway.

She
didn’t need to wait for her eyes to adjust to the darkness to see who had
grabbed her. She could smell him. His overpowering aftershave made her stomach
heave.

She
pulled her arm free and turned to face her attacker. Sounding braver than she
felt she said, “What do you want, Eddie?”

Eddie
Tominski smiled his oily shark smile, a hungry smile ready for another victim.
His gold tooth caught the small light coming from a nearby lamppost. “And how
lovely it is to see you, Grace. Moonlight becomes you.”

Her
stomach heaved again. Grace swallowed down her rising bile. “I asked you what
you wanted. Is there any need to grab me off the street? Is this how you treat
people?”

Eddie
looked her up and down. “I treat people how they deserve to be treated. You owe
me money, you sort of belong to me.”

“No
I don’t!” Grace shot back.

Eddie
laughed. “I like a woman with fire. When I take over your shop I’ll keep you
on. You could be my ‘friend’.  I’d treat you nice, buy you some decent clothes,
treat you to a makeover. Let’s face it, Grace, you have let yourself go
somewhat. It must be that grieving  you went through.”

Grace
had had enough. She moved forward to step out of Eddie’s way. He stood in front
of her and barred her exit. She could feel his breath on her face as he spoke.
“I heard you on the phone just now with your dear brother, pleading with him
not to drive when he’s had a drink. He can’t help it, he’s just following in
your father’s footsteps.”

Grace
pushed her palm against his chest, it was like trying to move a brick wall.

Eddie
caught her hand and twisted it. “I don’t like the new stock that you’ve put in
my shop. When I take over on Friday I want it all gone. Understand?”

Grace’s
hand hurt but she wasn’t going to give Eddie the satisfaction of knowing that.
She bravely, or foolishly said, “We might have the money to pay you back before
then.”

Eddie
barked with laughter. Grace cringed as spittle landed on her cheek.

“The
whole £50,000! I don’t think so, you poor lovely girl. Oh, you are so amusing,
I’m definitely keeping you.”

Eddie’s
eyes flicked to something behind Grace. “What was that? Is someone there? Hey!
You’d better show yourself.”

Eddie
suddenly shivered. He dropped Grace’s hand and said, “Felt like someone walked
over my grave then.” He looked down at her and gave her an evil slimy smile.
“That’s probably how your mum and dad feel, people walking over their graves.”

Eddie’s
big hand came out and stroked her cheek. Grace held her breath, any bravery had
now gone.

Eddie
shivered again. Grace saw the faint outline of Clive as he tried to thump
Eddie. He threw his fists this way and that way, all to no avail.

Eddie
patted Grace’s cheek and said, “I can’t stand here chatting all night. We’ll
have plenty of time to get to know each other soon. I’ll see you Friday.”

He
gave her a wink and turned on his expensive heels, whistling as he left the alley.

Clive
came into fuller focus. “What a repulsive excuse of a man!” he exploded. “I did
my best to defend your honour, Grace, but I don’t think I did any good.”

“I
think you did something to him, thank you,” Grace said. She buttoned her coat
and pulled her bag closer. She hoped Clive didn’t spot her trembling hands.

Clive
wasn’t finished. “I don’t care if you owe him money, there’s no excuse to speak
to anyone in such a vile manner! I could see the evil oozing out of him like
poisoned tar.”

Grace
stepped out on to the pavement. She checked left and right to make sure Eddie
had gone.

“I’ll
walk you home,” Clive said gallantly.

“Thank
you,” Grace said again, her legs trembled as she walked forwards.

She
hoped they didn’t run into Eddie again. Clive’s intentions were firm but his
fists weren’t.