Free Tick Tock (Storage Ghosts) by Gillian Larkin Page A

too. She’d had an uneasy feeling for days. It
was partly due to waiting for the evil loan shark, Eddie to turn up and take
their shop, but there was something else. It was like expecting bad news. She
knew it was going to be bad news but she didn’t know how bad it was going to
be.
    “Crikey,
Grace, you’ve got a look that would turn milk into cheese. Why do you have to
be so miserable?”
    “Why
do you have to be so cheerful? There’s nothing to be cheerful about! We’re
going to lose our lovely shop, the only thing that we have left from Mum and Dad.”
Grace’s eyes prickled as fresh tears appeared. When would she ever stop crying?
Surely she’d run out of tears at some point.
    Frankie
moved a bit closer. He softly said, “You’re wrong. We’ll always have our
memories of Mum and Dad and, until we lose our minds, we can always think about
them. I’m gutted about losing the shop too but what would happen if we did? Do
you think we’d be out on the streets?”
    “No,”
Grace sniffed.
    “Do
you think we’d have to resort to eating baked beans every day? You know what
happens to you when you eat too many beans. Pooh!”
    Frankie
made a wafting motion with his hand. Grace’s mouth lifted slightly.
    Frankie
continued. “We still have money from our storage sales, and if we didn’t, one
of us could become an escort. I’ve heard there’s good money in that. It would have
to be me, of course, I’ve seen how some of our female customers eye me up and
down when I bend over.”
    Grace
laughed. “You are such an idiot! As if anyone would pay you to be their escort.
They’d demand a refund within ten minutes.”
    Frankie
puffed his chest out and said, “I highly doubt that, young lady.”
    Grace
gave him an affectionate push. “You twit.”
    There
was a sudden bang on the door that made them both jump.
    Grace’s
heart began to speed up, terror flooded her body. “It’s Eddie.”
     
    Chapter 2
     
    It
wasn’t Eddie. Frankie opened the door to reveal the smiling face of Big Bob.
    He
stooped a little as he entered the shop. “Ready to hit the auction?” he asked.
    “Certainly
am,” Frankie replied. He tapped his top pocket. “Got all my money here.”
    “Just
a moment!” Grace interrupted the cheery banter. “What auction and, what money,
Frankie?”
    “The
money that we’ve put aside for our investment,” Frankie gave her a look and
then made a slight indication towards Big Bob as if to say, ‘Don’t embarrass me
in front of him’.
    “What
auction?” Grace persisted. “You’ve been to two in the last few weeks, isn’t
that enough?”
    “This
one’s a hundred miles away, it’s supposed to be a good one,” Big Bob said. “Do
you want to come with us, Grace? You’re more than welcome.”
    Grace
was torn, she didn’t want to see Frankie wasting their precious money, they’d
need every penny of it when they lost the shop. But she didn’t want to be left
here alone in case Eddie turned up. She grabbed her handbag and coat and said,
“I’ll come with you. Are we taking the van?”
    She
stepped out of the shop and stopped in her tracks. “What is that?”
    Big
Bob stood next to her and proudly said, “My removal truck. She’s a beauty,
isn’t she?”
    “How
many storage units are you planning on buying today?” Grace asked.
    “A
few, there’s enough room for you and Frankie to put your things in too.” Big
Bob moved towards the driver’s door.
    Frankie
grinned at Grace. “Aren’t you going to ask me how many storage units I’m going
to buy?”
    Grace
slowly shook her head. “I don’t want to know. How can you think about buying
more stock? Where are we going to put things when Eddie takes the shop?”
    Frankie
tapped the side of his nose and said, “I have a plan. You can sit next to Big
Bob, I know you like him.”
    Frankie
pulled open the door to the passenger side. Grace hissed at him, “I don’t like
Big Bob in that way! I wish you’d stop saying things like