Remembering the Dead by Duncan Elizabeth J

Author:Duncan, Elizabeth J. [Duncan, Elizabeth J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, Contemporary
ISBN: 9781643851143
Amazon: B07NKQ22XN
Goodreads: 44439625
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Published: 2019-09-10T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

A cold shudder ran through her as a surge of adrenaline propelled her across the kitchen floor to the back door. The key was in the lock, and it was in the right position, but she tried the door handle anyway. The door was locked. With a pounding heart, she checked the text again for the phone number, but it wasn’t one she recognized. Was she being watched? Stalked?

Although she was quite sure she must have locked the front door behind her when she came in, she couldn’t remember doing it, so she raced through the sitting room. Just as she placed her hand on the key, she was startled by a knock. She hadn’t heard a car approach, but then she’d been rattling about in the kitchen and listening to the radio. She crept to the front window and gently pulled back the curtain. Through the sodden darkness, and with the glow from the lamps in the sitting room behind her, she could just make out the outline of a car she didn’t recognize.

The knocking came again. She returned to the door, and with her mouth so dry she could barely speak, she forced out two words. “Who’s there?” she croaked.

“Gareth.”

She flung the door open. “Bloody hell! What are you playing at?”

The former Det. Chief Inspector Gareth Davies, now retired, stood on her front step, rain pouring down behind him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t ring to let you know I was coming over. I was going to, and then …”

“The text? Was it from you?”

“Yes.”

“It frightened me half to death. What did you mean by it?”

“Look, would it be all right if I came in out of the rain for a moment, and I’ll explain.”

“Yes, of course,” Penny said.

At one time it had looked like a fine romance was in the offing between her and DCI Davies, as he’d been then. But although he could claim her affection and respect, that essential spark needed if a relationship was to move to the next level just wasn’t there for her, and he didn’t have her heart. She’d kept him in the “friend zone,” as she’d overheard a young customer say to Eirlys in the nail studio. And then Gareth had met Fiona Barton from Scotland, who had lured him out of Penny’s friend zone and into her … well, Penny wasn’t sure what her zone was, but she was sure it was a step up from the friend zone, and it was in Edinburgh. At the end of the summer Gareth had announced that he was selling his house in Llandudno and moving to Edinburgh to be with her.

“I wanted a quick word. Look, if I’ve come at a bad time, I’ll just say what I’ve come to say, and then I’ll be off.” He gestured at the door.

“No, it’s all right. Now that you’re here, go on through.” She reached for his coat and draped it over the newel post of the staircase.

“Good. Well, I won’t stay long,” Gareth said, easing himself into one of the comfortable wing chairs.

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