The Last Reading (Storage Ghost Murders Book 1) by Gillian Larkin Page A

hurts.”
    Frankie
grimaced. “That’s the problem with getting older, everything starts falling
apart.”
    “You’re
older than me,” Grace reminded him. She rubbed her neck a bit more.
    The
locker door fully opened. The pain shot through Grace again.
    She
soon realised why.
    There
was her ghost.
    The
ghost was holding the right side of her neck, just like Grace.
     

Chapter 2
     
    Grace
stared at the ghost. It was an older woman, probably late fifties, early
sixties. She had black hair piled up on her head. She was wearing brightly
coloured clothes, some sort of long blouse over a long skirt. Even from this
distance Grace could see the thick make-up on the ghost.
    “Another
rubbish locker,” Frankie muttered. “What is that? Some old curtains and table
cloths? Who would want that?” He laughed and jerked his thumb towards the crowd.
“I bet some idiot will start bidding soon.”
    Grace
swallowed. “I want to bid on it.”
    “What?”
Frankie’s eyes widened.
    “I
want to bid on it, I think those look like quality curtains.”
    Frankie
snorted. “They don’t! What do you want them for? Are you going to make some
clothes for yourself?”
    “Don’t
be ridiculous. I just want them, maybe I’ve got a sixth sense too.”
    “I
doubt it.” Frankie studied her for a second. “All right, if you want to bid
then go ahead. But you’ll have to use your own money.”
    “I
don’t mind using my own money,” Grace said huffily.  She rubbed her neck again,
the pain was getting worse.
    Sylvester
spoke, “Okay, not the best locker but could be worth something to someone.
Anyone give me £100? No? £50? Come on, folks, it must be worth that.”
    “I’ll
give you £10!” a voice called out.
    There
was laughter from the crowd. Grace looked over at where the voice had come
from. She couldn’t see who had made the bid, and she couldn’t tell if it was a
male or female voice.
    Grace
turned back to Sylvester and shouted, “I’ll give you £20!”
    The
laughter rose again, Grace’s cheeks heated up as people looked her way.
    Frankie
folded his arms and took a step away from her.
    The
other bidder hadn’t finished. “£30!”
    “£40!”
Grace yelled.
    “£100!”
    Sweat
broke out on Grace’s forehead. Was she doing the right thing? Was this the
ghost that she was supposed to help?
    She
looked back at the woman. The woman met her gaze and cried out, “Please help
me! Something terrible has happened and I don’t know what!”
    The
woman collapsed on to the floor of the unit, her hand still pressed on her
neck.
    A
peculiar feeling washed over Grace, she’d felt the woman’s confusion and
something else – fear.
    Grace
stood up straighter. She had to have this locker. “£200!”
    The
other bidder wanted the locker too. “£400!”
    The
crowd had stopped laughing now, their heads swivelled as one from side to side
as Grace and the other bidder called out.
    Grace
stood on her tiptoes and peered over to where the voice was coming from. Who was
it? She couldn’t see who was bidding.
    Frankie
nudged her. “I think you’d better stop now, this is getting ridiculous.”
    “I
have to have it!” Grace hissed at him. She registered the startled look in his
eyes. Let him think that she was mad, she didn’t care. That woman needed her
help.
    Grace
quickly calculated how much money she could get her hands on. She called out,
“£1000!”
    There
was a silence.
    Even
Sylvester went quiet.
    Grace’s
knees went weak. She didn’t have £1000 on her at the moment, would Frankie lend
her it? She knew the rules of the auction, you needed to pay there and then
with cash.
    What
if she won the bid and wasn’t able to pay?
    She’d
be kicked out!
    Oh,
the shame. Frankie would never speak to her again.
    She’d
have to deal with all of that later.
    “£3000!”
the other bidder shouted.
    “No!”
Grace cried.
    “Was
that a bid, young Grace?” Sylvester asked.
    Frankie
put his hand firmly around Grace’s shoulders and