Free Jacob's Coins: A Cozy Ghost Mystery (Storage Ghost Mysteries Book 1) by Gillian Larkin Page B

he felt, her own heart was filled with loathing. How she’d love to
give Eddie a matching scar above his right eye.
    Eddie
stopped laughing and focused his eyes on them again. His smile disappeared.
“Joking aside, you know I’m going to take over this shop. Why don’t we sort
things out now? Save ourselves lots of hassle.”
    “What
if I don’t want to sell to you? I could put the shop on the market, we could
get a decent price, it’s in a good position,” Frankie said, his hopeful tone
forced.
    Eddie
shook his head slowly in mock regret. “You know that’s not going to happen. Who
would put a bid in? Who would dare to go up against me, the great and powerful
Eddie Tominski? I’m sure you’ve heard rumours about me.”
    Grace
looked at the floor, she’d heard rumours alright. She looked back at Eddie and
tried to stand a bit taller. “We’re not scared of you.”
    Eddie
leant closer, his aftershave almost choked her. In a soft voice he said, “Those
rumours you’ve heard, dear Grace, are not rumours.”
    He
waited a few seconds as if ready to impart a punch line. “They’re not rumours
at all, they’re the truth. And you should be scared of me. My patience with you
two is running thin. You owe me thousands and I’m getting fed up of waiting.”
    Eddie
reached into his pocket and pulled out a slim red book. Frankie and Grace had
seen it before.
    Eddie
opened a page and ran his finger down it. “Oh, here we are, as of today’s date
the amount you owe is £50,000.”
    “£50,000!
It was £40,000 last month!” Frankie exploded.
    Eddie
closed the book and gave them  a shark smile. “Interest. And I’ve added a small
amount to compensate for my patience.”
    Ho
looked at his watch. “I have to go. I’m going to be generous and give you two
more weeks to sort this out, you either come up with the money...”
    He
burst into guffaws again. “Come up with the money! Did you hear that? Another
joke! You come up with the money or you sell the shop to me, at a discount of
course. I hope you appreciate my generosity and patience, I sort of feel sorry
for you, with having dead parents who left you with crippling debt.”
    Grace
felt Frankie move forward, she reached out and grabbed his arm. Hitting Eddie
was not the answer, even though it was tempting.
    Eddie
gave them a cheery wave as he left the shop.
    Frankie
let out an exasperated breath. “I hate that man! Do you think we could get away
with killing him? I’ve watched lots of police shows, I think we could dispose
of his body without being found.”
    Grace
shot him a look, she saw that he was trying hard to control his temper. She
joined in with his game. “But how would we kill him? That’s the best part. I’m
all for poisoning, it’s less mess.”
    Frankie
took a sip of his tea. He grimaced and said, “I think poisoning would be your
thing. Did you even put a tea bag in this water? Or did you just wave it above
the cup?”
    Grace
smiled. “Make it yourself next time.” She looked into her own cup, her smile faltered.
“What are we going to do, Frankie? I can’t bear the thought of losing this
shop.”
    Frankie
patted her shoulder and brightly said, “Something will turn up, you’ll see.”
     

Chapter 4
     
    A
few hours later Frankie looked at his watch and said, “We might as well call it
a day. I doubt we’re going to get a mad rush now. How much have we made today?”
    Grace
smiled sadly and said, “Nothing. That lady who looked at the floral vase said
it was too much and she could get it cheaper down the market.”
    Frankie
shook his head. “I don’t think some people understand the concept of antiques,
she won’t get one of them down the market.”
    Grace
looked round the shop. “We need to sell other things, stuff that people want,
but what? And where can we get it from at a cheap price?”
    Frankie
held his hands up. “We’re not going to discuss this any further today. Do you
want a lift home?”
    “If
it’s no trouble,