TICK TOCK RUN (Romantic Mystery Suspense) by H Elliston Page A

perhaps confusing saving my life with his.
    He swivelled in the chair and looked away.  “Unless it’s random, you’ve both upset the same person.  I need to go through Daryl’s belongings again.  I’ve done nothing but search his home since Phillip gave me your note.  There must be something I’ve missed.  But it would help if I knew what to look for.”  He glanced over his shoulder.  “That’s where you come in.”
    “What did he do outside of work?”
    “Daryl liked football matches, enjoyed going out to bars, although he wasn’t a big drinker.  He preferred dark-haired women to blondes, girls with their heads screwed on the right way, not scatty ones or lazy layabouts.” 
    I looked at the ceiling, searching for the answers along the hairline cracks I’d only just noticed. 
    Lee played the keyboard like it deserved a beating, his fingers almost phantom drumsticks.  The furious tapping took my concentration away, and coupled with my head feeling like a hammer was tapping my skull from the inside, drowsiness crept in. 
    Shutting my eyes, I curled up on the sofa and tried to bring guilty thoughts to the forefront.  I remembered ruining a pair of Jayne’s Jimmy Choos, but that was over a year ago - nothing to warrant this level of evil. 
    I began to fast forward the last year of my life in my head.  Complaining customers, fallouts with friends, my parents’ cat dying...  Once I’d ruled out family and friends – it seemed ludicrous to even consider they’d issue me with a death threat – if that’s really what it was.  My thoughts turned to old boyfriends and the numerous people I’d dated.  A logical step seeing as the first message contained the word ‘slag.’ 
    “My old boyfriend Shaun.”  I lurched forward.  “I dumped him on his birthday last year.”
    Lee swivelled around in the chair.  “And...”
    I thought about the circumstances.  “No.  It can’t be.  He’s been dating someone for a while now, and he’s never off with me when I see him around town.  Other old boyfriends?  Mark?  Jake?  Carl?  But why would something to do with the men I’ve dated be linked to your brother?”
    Lee raised an eyebrow.  “Exactly how many exes are we talking here?”
    “I lost count a long time ago,” I said, instantly regretting it. 
    He looked at me, shocked, as though I were a hooker.  “I see.”
    My cheeks warmed and I wagged my finger.  “Hey!  I like men, but please don’t think that I sleep with any old Tom, Dick or Harry.  I’ve got my standards.  Setting me up is kind of my friend Jayne’s hobby.”
    “Interesting hobby,” he muttered.
    “They weren’t all boyfriends.  I’ve been on a lot of dates, that’s all.  But, not this year, well, only when I’ve been pushed into it.” 
    Lee looked relieved to hear I wasn’t the local bed-hopper.
    I continued thinking.  “I just can’t remember things ever ending too badly.  It’s not like I cheated, or stood a man up at the altar.”  I had to think harder, dig deeper, pull at the roots.  “I’ve obviously done something terrible, so why don’t I know?”
    “Neighbours?  Friends?  Family?” he suggested, trying to trigger my memory.  “Don’t rule anyone out unless you’re one hundred percent sure.  Do you go to a gym?  My brother did.”
    “Call me unhealthy, but I don’t work out.  Well, not in a gym.”
    “Colleagues?”
    “Hmmm... maybe it’s someone from work.  I was promoted to head receptionist last year.”  I tapped my lips and thought.  I got on well enough with the other girls to go out for drinks.  “No.  Not them.”  Frustrated, I fiddled with a coaster.  It slipped through my fingers.
    Hearing the soft thump as it hit the laminate floor must have sparked a new line of thought.  Lee walked over, picked up the coaster and handed it to me.  “Got any dodgy friends?  Done anything illegal?  I need you to be honest with me, Chelsea.  If you tell me