Free Give Murder A Hand: Lizzie. Book 2 (The Westport Mysteries) by Beth Prentice Page A

thought over the events of the last few days, and about all the
secrets my house held.
    “Lizzie, sit still please,” said Riley, placing his hand on my knee
to stop it jiggling.
    “Sorry.”
    “What are you thinking about?” he asked, muting the ads on the
television and turning to face me.
    “Oh, you know, just how much I want to sell that house.” I smiled
weakly as Riley took my hand and squeezed it.
    “It’s nearly finished. I reckon another month and I’ll have the
kitchen out and the new cabinets in. Once we tidy up the garden, it’ll be
finished then.”
    “But who’ll want to buy it with a ream of police tape strung across
the yard?”
    “That won’t be there forever.”
    “The fact that the body has now been removed, does that mean that
it’s no longer someone’s grave?”
    “It’s no longer a grave,” Riley reassured me.
    “How long do you think it will take until they find out who it
belonged to?”
    Riley shrugged. “No idea, but it doesn’t really matter does it?” he
said, turning his attention back to the television and pressing the remote as
Spiderman shot webs across the screen.
    “Of course it matters,” I said. “How can you think it doesn’t
matter?”
    “The body’s gone and as soon as the police have finished, the tape
will be gone as well. Then we’ll fill in the hole and plant some trees.” This
all seemed so easy for Riley.
    “Riley, someone was murdered and buried in my back garden. Of
course it’s a big deal.”
    “Lizzie, it happened years before we were even born.”
    “Yes, I know that, but it matters. Whoever it was, they were still
human and deserved to be buried appropriately.”
    Riley turned and looked at me, his eyes softening. He put his hand
on my knee and squeezed. “I’m sure the police will find out who it belonged to
and contact any family that may be around today. They’ll see to it that it’s
buried appropriately. If it makes you feel better we’ll go to the funeral.
Anyway, when’s your next appointment with Allison? Maybe you could talk to her
about it.”
    I shrugged and chewed on my thumb nail.
    “Lizzie, you are going back aren’t you?” Riley looked at me, his
eyebrow raised.
    “You know, you’re really cute when you do that,” I said, smiling.
    “Don’t change the subject.”
    Hmm, I needed another tactic. “I’m not. It’s just that you look
kinda sexy when you do that eyebrow thing.” I moved closer and nibbled on his
ear. If all else fails, you know what they say?
    Thankfully, it worked a treat. Riley shivered and moved his mouth
to mine. All thoughts of Allison forgotten.

 
    * * *

 
    It took until Monday, but Allison did start
calling me. If only I’d known about her and Riley when I’d filled in my
personal details, I would have given her someone else’s number. Also I should
have saved her number to my contact list, as when she rang all my caller ID
showed was a phone number. So I stupidly answered the call.
    “Hello?”
    “Hi, Lizzie,” said a voice I didn’t recognize.
    “Who’s calling please?”
    “It’s Allison. Allison Greene.”
    “Oh, hi Allison.” Shit.
    “What can I do for you?” I asked.
    “Well, I’ve just checked my diary and you haven’t rebooked your
appointment yet. I have a cancellation tomorrow morning and I was hoping you’d
be free to take it.” She sounded really friendly, and I told myself to calm
down and not over react. “Riley told me you’re still having nightmares and I
wanted to help you. I know that with a bit of time and the right techniques, we
can make them stop.”
    “Oh really?” I thought of last night and how I really did want the
nightmares to end. I just didn’t want Allison to be the one to help me.
    “The sooner we start the better,” she continued. “So I’ll put you into
that spot tomorrow at 10.30. Try to arrive about five minutes early, that way
you can relax before we start our session. See you then.”
    She ended the call before I even