MURDER AMONG THE ROSES an utterly gripping cozy murder mystery full of twists (Maybridge Murder Mysteries Book 1) by LIZ FIELDING

Author:LIZ FIELDING [FIELDING, LIZ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Joffe Books crime thriller and cozy mystery
Published: 2023-04-17T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Abby checked the bathroom, then went downstairs in case Lucy had come down to get a drink, but the house was quiet. There was only the ticking of the grandfather clock in the hall and the settling of old timber after the warm day.

She opened the drawer where she’d told the kids to put their phones. Lucy’s was missing.

Muttering an expletive, she ran back upstairs. ‘Tom!’

He grunted. ‘Whasup?’

‘Lucy’s gone.’ He struggled, blinking, to sit up. ‘She’s taken her phone. Do you know anything about this?’

‘What? No . . . Yes . . . I told the silly cow not to get involved . . .’

‘Cal?’ She didn’t wait for a confirmation. ‘Has he been in touch with you?’

‘He doesn’t fancy me,’ he said, smirking.

‘This is not a laughing matter,’ Abby snapped. ‘Where is he?’

‘Hiding out in one of the kitchen garden stores.’

‘But the police searched there.’

‘He stayed out of the way until they’d finished. Lucy made me promise not to say anything, but I didn’t think she’d be this stupid.’

‘We’ll discuss that later. I have to get there before Cal gets that old motorcycle going.’

‘What motorcycle?’ He saw her look. ‘I’ll come with you,’ he said, rolling out of bed.

‘No, I need you to stay here with Sophie. Take your phone, and if Lucy comes back, with or without Cal, call me.’

Abby flung on some clothes, grabbed a torch and let herself quietly out of the back door.

With the policeman guarding the front of the house and the possibility of lurking newsmen, she couldn’t take the car, but Lucy would be on foot.

The bolt on the back gate was drawn, confirming her belief that she’d gone down the narrow lane at the back of the garden and then taken to the woods. The same route she would have used that morning on her mission to warn Tom.

There was a nearly full moon, and she ran a good half-mile, panting with the effort, until she reached the edge of the trees. Thick with leaves, they cut off what light there was and she was forced to slow down and turn on her torch. Aware there was bound to be at least one officer to keep the press and the ghoulish away from the scene of Howard’s murder, she angled the beam down onto the path and moved more cautiously.

The path through the woods was steep and overgrown, and the woods were full of alien sounds that had her constantly twisting and turning, half expecting something to leap out at her. Trying not to think about Em’s warning . . .

Forcing herself to ignore the rustling of small mammals going about their business, the grabbing thorns of wandering brambles that lay in wait to snag on clothes and skin, she pushed on, only letting out the tiniest squeak as one caught at her cheek.

Heart pounding, a stitch in her side, she stopped for a moment to catch her breath and, in the silence, became aware that her own heavy breathing was being repeated half a second later.

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