WILL TIME WAIT: Boxed set of 3 bestselling 'ticking clock' thrillers (8 page)

I
drove my Corsa
through the rain-soaked streets, anxious to beat the traffic lights at every
junction.  Nervous energy made my body jitter and the heavy rain
heightened my agitated mood.  “I haven’t got a clue where Daryl fits
in.  All I know is, Laura has one mother of a reason to hate me.” 

“What
reason?  And keep calm,” Lee said.

“Calm? 
My best friend could be involved in a plot against me!”  I slapped the
steering wheel.  “And according to your theory, a plot to kill me! 
Ugh!  I have to talk to her, right now.”

“Are
you going to tell me what this thing with Laura is about?”

I shifted
my weight as I turned the steering wheel, skidded round the next corner, right
onto Laura’s street. 

“Wish
I’d brought a crash helmet.”  Lee gripped the dashboard.  “I’ll drive
next time, or they’ll be a few less cats in the neighbourhood.”

“Suit
yourself.”

I
parked behind Laura’s BMW and darted to her house.

I
pressed the bell several times and banged the door with my fist. 

Lee
stood behind me under the porch.  His breath blew warm on my neck. 
“The door’s not to blame,” he said, as I continued pounding on it, floating on
the edge of upset and anger. 

The
handle clicked and the door swung inwards. 

I
stared at Laura, my knocking fist still in the air.

Laura’s
dazzling smile drooped.  “What’s wrong?”

I
stepped over the threshold.  “Please, tell me you’ve got nothing to do
with this.” 

“With
what?”  She cast a nervous glance over my shoulder, perhaps looking at
Lee, or perhaps wishing she hadn’t opened the door.

“The
email.”  I walked towards her.

“Oh,
not that again.”  She backed up.  The wall brought her to a halt and
she had nowhere to go.  “What’s this about, Chelsea?”

“Did
you send, or know who’s sending me the emails?”  I stared straight into
her eyes, not even blinking. 

“No. 
Of course not.”  Her answer, spoken without hesitation, sounded
genuine.  However, her silver, slit eyes contradicted the words.  She
gulped.  “Have you received
another
one?”

I
brought my face closer.  “Are you punishing me for last year?  Is
that what this is about?” 

Her
choppy bob of hair swished as she shook her head.

“If
you hate me, tell me.”  I pointed my finger at her nose.  “I’ve been
waiting for you to say it all year.  But please, don’t scare me.”

“Sometimes
I think you’d feel better if I
did
hate you,” Laura said.  “But I
don’t.  And I didn’t send that damn email.  Now back off!”

Lee
hooked his hand around my elbows.  “Okay.  Let’s bring this down a
notch.”

I
watched Laura rub her throat, apparently finding something difficult to
swallow.  Her lips moved, but no sound came out.  Was she sworn to
secrecy? 

“That
email didn’t seem to bother you,” I said, probing for more.  “Only someone
who’d seen it before would be that calm.  What’s going on?”

“It’s
nothing to do with me.  I swear.”

Lee
studied Laura.  “Chelsea has just accused you of sending her a death
threat.  If you’re innocent, then why aren’t you mad with her?”

Laura’s
eyes expanded.  “Death threat?  Please believe me, Chelsea.  I
could never hurt you.  Not in a million!  What do I know about
computer codes and fancy countdown timers?”

“Fancy?”
Lee jumped on her words.  “Chelsea
never
mentioned anything about
the timers being fancy.”

Laura’s
expression darkened.  “Okay, okay.  You got me.  I am hiding
something.”  Her gaze lowered to the floor.  “I’ve been getting the
emails, too.”

Mouth
open, I stared in disbelief.  Hearing this broke my misdirected anger like
a crashing wave.  “Oh, hell!”  I reached out to stroke her arm. 
“I’m so sorry.  But why would you hide this from me?”

Lee
cut in.  “Do you still have the emails?” 

She
sniffed.  “Just one.”

“Will
you show us?” he asked.

Lee
released my other arm.  I dashed forward and gave Laura a hug. 

The
three of us mounted the winding stairs and entered the fourth bedroom. 
Laura shoved boxes and bags of wedding items aside, and then pulled her silver
laptop to the lip of the oak desk. 

“Boot
it up, please,” Lee said.  “I need to read what it says.”

Her
finger showed a light tremor when she hit the power button.  The screen
lit up and she clicked on the icon for the internet.  She logged in, typed
a password then stepped back from the screen.

I
squeezed her hand between both of mine, smiled apologetically, then let go and
leaned over the laptop.  I clicked on the old email section, then scanned
down to the one marked
‘urgent.’ 
“It’s definitely from the same
person.”  I faced Lee.  I pointed to the screen.  “Look. 
The email account is named
‘no fool.’
” 

Like
mine, the hotmail address bore no clue as to who’d sent it.  I
swallowed,
then double clicked to open it.  “Here goes.”

The
instant the timer appeared on the screen I burst out crying.  “What the
hell’s going on?”  That familiar but eerie ticking sound beat through the
speakers.  So, Laura was a target, too.  There were three of us in
the loop. 

“See?” 
Laura said.  “I neither hate you nor want to frighten you.  If
anything, I was trying to protect you.  Do you believe me now?”

“Protect
me?”  I stared at Laura, ready for my well-deserved bollocking.

She
didn’t say another word, which surprised me.

I
wanted to rewind life by half an hour and slap sense into my idiotic self.

“That’s
what they meant by the word
‘people,
’” Lee said.  “How likely is
it, though, that two best friends would receive these emails?  It can’t be
random.”

I
needed a private moment to take things in.  I was upset, but also felt
guilty for my brief second of gladness about Laura being a target, too. 
Glad only because this proved she wasn’t involved in sending them, and
therefore, she didn’t hate me.  I swiped tears from my eyes, but more
rushed back when I looked at Laura, knowing that she was in danger, too. 
“I can’t believe someone’s after you, as well.  Why on earth didn’t you
tell me?”

“Do
you know who’s sending them?” Lee cut in.  “Or what it’s about?  And
look at the message here on the email.  It’s different from yours,
Chelsea.”  Lee pointed to the words on the laptop screen.  It read:

‘I
know what you’ve been up to.’

“Well,
tell
us
!  Because we don’t have the faintest clue,” Lee said
tersely to the screen.  He looked at Laura for an answer.

She
shrugged.

“
’I
know what you’ve been up to,’
” I said in wonder, my voice breaking on the
last word. 

Laura
tugged my sleeve. 

I
pulled my gaze back to her.

“I
don’t know who’s sending them.  They’re clever.  Be careful.”

“Why
are you whispering?” I asked.

“I’ve
been getting these messages for a couple of weeks, Chelsea.  I deleted the
rest.”

“I’ve
only been receiving them this week,” I said, even more perplexed.  “Why
send them to you and Daryl earlier than to me?”  I glanced up at the
ceiling.  “Unless, perhaps, I deleted the first batch.” 

“Everyone’s
probably receiving them,” Laura said.

“Not
me.”  Lee gave a curt head shake.  “That’s one less person.”

“Nor
Emma,” I added.

“Okay,
maybe not Emma or Lee.”  Laura reached for my arm and pulled me
close.  “Don’t let this upset you.  Don’t waste your time on
it.  It’s a silly joke or something, just like Emma said.”

“Tell
that to my brother!” Lee snarled.  “Daryl is dead.  He received the
same email and even pointed me to it with a Goddamn text message on the day he
died.  He wouldn’t have done that unless it meant something
important.  And, I don’t call his death a silly joke.” 

Laura
flinched at the cutting pitch of Lee’s words.  Tears began drowning her
eyes again.  Why was she crying if the emails didn’t worry her?

“Did
you know Lee’s brother?”

Laura’s
eyes flicked up to the left then down to Lee.  “No, I didn’t.”  She
shook her head then plonked herself on the bed and sighed.  “And the
emails make no sense to me.  I’m just upset that you thought I’d sent
them.”

Lee
flipped open his wallet and thrust the snapshot of his brother in front of
Laura.  “Take a good look at his face.”

She
took the photo between her fingers, held it above her lap, and stared for a few
seconds in silence.  She handed it back and shook her head. 

 “So,
what now?”  I dropped down gracelessly onto the bed next to her.

Lee
had his back to us, bending over the laptop, scrolling and clicking the
mouse. 

Laura
tapped her fingers over her mouth.  I wondered what other words she was
keeping inside.  Then, she looked past me, avoiding my gaze, or maybe she
was looking at Lee again.  If so, the look she threw him was far from
pleasant.  No.  She must have been eyeing the laptop, silently
cursing the messages for the trouble they caused.  I could understand
that. 

“The
other messages you deleted, Laura, what did they say?”  Lee tapped on the
keyboard, to check if they could be retrieved, I presumed.

“Same
sort of stuff. 
Your number’s up, you can’t ignore this forever
…”

“Oh,
Laura,” I said, softly.  “I’m very sorry for suspecting you.  I don’t
know what came over me.”  I wiped a tear from her eye, then tried to
smile, a show of apology. . 

She
stared over to the laptop again, watching what Lee was watching.  “I
didn’t realise you were
this
worked up about it, Chelsea,” Laura
said.  “You seemed fine last night, dancing, singing, laughing, telling us
about your
mystery
man.”

Lee
shot a questioning glance my way.

I
dodged his gaze, turning back to Laura.  “Yeah, well, I didn’t want you to
worry.” 

“So...
you’re not actually
together
?” Laura whispered, her eyes flicking toward
Lee.

I
shook my head.

Laura’s
shoulder’s relaxed.

“You
should have told Chelsea about the emails earlier,” Lee said.  “The more
we know the better.”

He
cast a glance over his shoulder, and Laura looked away.  The laptop lid
snapped shut.  Lee turned around and stood in front of us, looking
incredibly tall from my vantage point.  He slid his hands into his pockets
and stared around the room.  “Were there any puzzles or games in your
other emails?”

“Puzzles? 
No.”  Her answer sounded genuine.

His
gaze locked on her.  “A number?  Did any of your other emails
indicate a number?  You know, you’re third, fourth...  Daryl was
number one, and Chelsea’s number two.”

She
stuck her bottom lip out, shook her head.

“When
do you usually receive these messages?”

“Before
lunch time, I guess.”

Lee
pointed at the laptop.  “Your email shows you’ve got four days left on the
countdown timer.” 

“That’s
the morning of Laura’s wedding.”  I gasped, held my hand over my gaping
mouth.  “Do you think it’s just a coincidence?”

We
were silent for a moment. 

“How
long on yours?” Laura asked me, looking like she was holding her breath.

“We’re
waiting for the next email to find out.”

I
dropped my head and fell into her waiting arms.  “We need to keep
ourselves isolated while we work this thing out.  I don’t want anyone else
put in danger.” 

“It’s
not a death threat.  You’ve got it all wrong.”  She pushed me away
until she could see my face.  “Is this why you said you’d be disappearing,
last night?”

“Yes. 
But, hold on, a few minutes ago you said ‘be careful.’”

“It
came out wrong.”

“Someone
has a grudge against both of you, and my brother.”  Lee’s tone had bite to
it.  “You both need to think.  However insignificant things seem
right now, they might not be.  Who have you both pissed off
recently?  Who acts weird when they see you?  Is someone hanging
around more than usual?  Asks strange questions?  Gives you sly
looks?”

He’s
good
,
I thought.  He got my brain ticking over.  “Who is this damn
deathclock killer?”  I squinted into Laura’s eyes, trying to work out who
would be angry enough with both of us to threaten our lives.  Without
realising what ran through my head, a name popped up.  I hissed the name
Carl
Sanderson
under my breath to Laura, then looked at Lee.