COFFIN COVE a gripping murder mystery full of twists (Coffin Cove Mysteries Book 1) by JACKIE ELLIOTT (books for new readers .TXT) 📕

memory. She remembered being very cold, her cheek pressed against a hard frozen surface. Her head hurt. The back of her neck hurt. She’d tried to open her eyes and when she did, she was aware of a shoe, a man’s shoe near to her head. She was afraid. She felt like she should lie still, not call out or speak, even though she was chilled to the bone. She forced herself not to shiver . . . and then it went dark again.

When Brenda woke up, she was in hospital. The nurse who coaxed her awake from her deep sleep patted her hand. “Brenda? It’s alright, hun, you’ve had an accident, a bit of a bump on the head, but you’ll be fine. Not to worry, just rest.” Before Brenda could grab her arm, tell her she was frightened, she felt a prick on her arm, and the smiling nurse faded from sight.

Next time she woke, the same nurse explained what had happened. A young man had found her, she told Brenda, collapsed in a heap in a freezer, of all places! Brenda had a nasty bump on her neck where a large box of frozen fish had hit her, and a smaller bruise on her forehead, probably from her head hitting the concrete floor. She had a concussion, had suffered very mild hypothermia, but would be fine with plenty of rest. They were keeping her in for a night, maybe two.

Brenda nodded and tried to smile her thanks, but tears rolled down her face instead.

“Oh, don’t worry, you’ve had a nasty shock to the system. Tears are normal,” the nurse reassured her. “Try to get some sleep.”

Adrian had visited her in hospital. Brenda had woken to find him pacing at the bottom of her bed, whispering urgently into his phone. He had brought her flowers, which she acknowledged with a slight nod of her throbbing head.

He was agitated, and she soon realized why.

“You know, Brenda, you shouldn’t have been in the freezer. I know you were only trying to sort out that delivery problem, but still, you weren’t supposed to be there . . .” His voice trailed off, and he paced back and forth again. “But look, everything worked out. I know you had a bump on the head, but no long-term harm done, right?” Again, he flashed her an anxious smile. “And maybe it’s for the best if I just accept your resignation? Pay you some severance pay? And a bit extra for the holiday you’re owed? We can sort it out in no time, if you just sign here . . .”

Brenda was too tired to argue. She’d forgotten about her resignation letter. And now she’d given Adrian the perfect excuse to terminate her employment. She knew why he was nervous — what if she sued? She didn’t care about the severance or the holiday pay, what she wanted right at that moment was a sip of water to soothe her parched mouth and for Adrian to leave.

“Leave it there,” she croaked.

“Sure, sure, not a problem, when you’re ready. OK, then.” Adrian’s phone rang, and he grabbed it thankfully. “OK, Brenda, get well soon, and let me know about that letter, OK? It’s the best thing, the best thing . . .”

The next day she discharged herself. She needed to be home.

And now it was late afternoon. The sun was sinking out of sight, leaving purple and pink streaks in the sky and illuminating the river. Brenda had got up late, pulled on some sweatpants and picked up some coffee from the shop at the bottom of her apartment block. She didn’t feel like eating or talking. The nurse had asked her if there was anyone they should contact. Brenda realized that apart from her sister in Ontario, there was no one. No one apart from Adrian and the other people she worked with — or used to work with, she corrected herself — had any idea she was in hospital. Or even alive, or dead. Was that the sum of her life? Nikos used to tell her that nobody was indispensable. When we leave, it’s like pulling your foot out of a bucket of water. Apart from a few ripples, it’s like we had never been there at all. Brenda used to think this was such a cynical view of the impact people make on the world, but now she believed him. All those years, for what? An undignified end to her career. Not even a career. Just a job. And now she didn’t even have that.

Brenda hadn’t read Adrian’s letter until she got home. He’d got legal advice, she guessed. It was written in formal language and made it sound like her fault.

“Against safety protocol . . . not authorized . . . breached the rules . . . Unfortunate that she placed a box back on the shelf insecurely, resulting in it slipping and banging her on the back of the head—’

She stopped when she got to that part. She shut her eyes. She remembered crouching down over a box, but then? The memory was just tucked out of reach.

The letter described the supervisor returning because he’d forgotten his phone, and finding the freezer door unlocked, and Brenda lying unconscious on the floor. She’d been there for two hours. The rest of the letter laid out the terms of her termination. Quite a generous severance — Adrian was probably advised to do that, Brenda thought — her holiday pay and a month’s pay in lieu of notice.

At first, she was angry. What if she didn’t sign? She contemplated phoning a lawyer herself. But just as quickly as her anger flared when she read Adrian’s letter, it dissolved. She would sign it.

Later, while she was trying to get comfortable and take a nap as the doctor ordered, her phone rang. The sudden noise in her silent apartment made her jolt, and her head hurt all over again.

“Brenda? How ya feeling?” Amy