Darkness Exposed (7 page)

He turned back, his eyes determined and his gaze pointed. “Mary, this killer you are going after came into my house and took my wife, in broad daylight. He has been able to evade police for over eight years. He was cruel and he was sick. And now, now I’m supposed to send you into those same conditions and hope, no, pray that we are smarter this time?”

He turned away from her, ran his hand through his hair and finally turned back again. “I can’t lose you too,” he whispered, his voice breaking.

Although outwardly she looked calm, Mary’s heart was pounding. After he found out about Jeannine, Mary was sure her relationship with Bradley had been altered. Love doesn’t grow where there isn’t trust. Love couldn’t grow when someone thought they’d been deceived.

Sighing, she shook her head. He just needed reassurance that he wasn’t putting her in a dangerous situation without her full knowledge of the circumstance, she reasoned. He just needed to realize that she and Ian could do this.

“I know this is not easy for you,” she said. “I know you want to protect me, us, because that’s who you are and that’s what you do. But, this time, you can’t. This time the only way to catch this killer is for you to stay in the background.”

“I know,” he said, slowing moving towards her. “But what you don’t seem to understand is this is not just about protecting you.”

She shook her head and he could see that she really didn’t comprehend what he’d been trying to say. He stopped in front of her, cupped her face in his hands and stared into her eyes. “You are my heart, Mary O’Reilly,” he whispered. “I can’t live without you.”

He bent his head and placed soft kisses her on her forehead, eyelids and along her jawline. The sweetness of the gesture and the tenderness of the kisses undid her. She trembled in his arms. “Bradley,” she moaned, sliding her arms over his shoulders and threading her fingers through his hair.

He gathered her up in his arms. “Sweet, sweet Mary,” he said hoarsely and bent his head to crush her lips in a heart-stealing kiss.

The world disappeared. All she was aware of was Bradley; his touch, his scent and the strength of his arms around her. She wanted the kiss to last forever. She moved even closer, pouring her heart into her response. He held her tighter, deepening the kiss. But after a few minutes, she felt his arms loosen as he slowly lifted his lips from hers.

“I know you need time,” he said, breathlessly, “I’m not going to press you.”

He stared down at her face, memorizing her swollen lips, her love-glazed eyes and flushed skin. Placing a final soft kiss on her lips, he stepped away, his hands sliding down her arms to her hands.

He lifted her hand to his lips, turned it and pressed a lingering kiss to her palm. “I love you,” he whispered. “I know I’ve been a number one jackass lately, but I never stopped loving you.”

He didn’t give her a chance to respond; he simply released her hands, turned and let himself out of the room.

Mary slid down to the carpet and just stared at the closed door, running a hand over her swollen lips.

“Well, damn, girl,” Mike said, appearing next to her. “If your heart isn’t melting like chocolate in the sunshine, you aren’t human.”

“And so, when Bradley heard Earl walking back down the stairs, and saw no one, and then the basement door opened and closed by itself what did the poor man do?” Ian asked, as he changed lanes on Highway 39 on their way to Sycamore.

Mary laughed as she recalled the first time Bradley had seen a ghost in her home. “He finally let his gun fall to his side and told me there were no such things as ghosts.”

Ian chuckled. “And what did you say to that?”

She shrugged. “I said, ‘Oh, I keep forgetting’ and then told him I was going back to bed and he could clean up the cookie jar.”

“Ach, the poor, poor man,” Ian said, without a shred of sympathy in his voice. “I remember the first time me poor fiancee, Gillian, spied a ghost. I was staying at Edinburgh Castle, doing research. It was into the evening and she thought she’d surprise me with a bit of supper. She was walking down one of the halls, almost to my room, and passed a lady who was dressed in late 17th Century clothing. At first she just thought it was one of the guides, but after she passed, she realized that she could see through the lady. She felt a cold chill up her spine and turned quickly, but there was no one else in the hall now.”

“Oh, poor Gillian,” Mary said. “I’m sure she was frightened.”

“Aye, our ghosties in Scotland tend to be a bit more gruesome than those here in the States,” he said. “On closer reflection, Gillian recalled the woman had a darkening around her neck, where she’d been hanged.”

“That sounds terrible.”

“No, actually, it was quite nice,” Ian admitted with a grin. “She had a bit more respect for the daft work she’d always thought I’d done and she was quite adamant about staying very close to me for the remainder of the night. I owe that bonnie ghostie a boon I’ll never be able to repay. We became engaged on that very night.”

“I so love a happy ending,” Mary said.

Ian sighed. “Aye, so do I.”

The GPS reminded them to exit and within ten minutes they found themselves pulling into the driveway of Bradley’s home. Waiting on the front porch was a large assortment of boxes in varying shapes and sizes.

“Oh, good, they’ve arrived,” Ian said, as he exited the car.

“What is all that?” Mary asked, looking at the pile of at least twenty boxes.

“Well, half of the boxes contain equipment I use when I study paranormal activity,” he explained, as they pulled several suitcases out of the back of the car. “The other half is filled with my exercise equipment.”

“You sent your exercise equipment all the way from Scotland?” she asked.

“Oh, no, I actually found a company in Chicago that would rent equipment while I was here,” he said. “And since the delivery was made by the University, it wasn’t a problem to have them bring it here, rather than Freeport.”

It took them about an hour to unload the car and then to carry Ian’s equipment into the house. Mary finally closed the door and leaned back against it, puffing from exertion, “That was harder than a work-out,” she panted.

“No, the other equipment,” Ian said. “I’ve cameras and infrared detectors that can not only pick up ghosts, but also any other kind of intruder we may encounter over the next little while.”

“Well, that’s brilliant,” Mary said. “How many cameras do you have?”

“Well, enough for Edinburgh Castle, so more than enough to place all around this house,” he said. “They’re wireless, so we just have to set them up and route them to our network.”

“So, we can access them from our laptops?”

“And I can send a link to Bradley,” he said with a grin. “So, while he lying awake at night, worrying about you, he’ll have something to watch.”

“That’ll ease his mind a little.”

“Aye, but only a little.”

They worked together, setting up cameras throughout the house. Nearly every square inch was covered, except the bathrooms. Mary insisted she have at least a little privacy there. “There is no way someone will make it past all of these other cameras and only been seen in the bathroom,” she argued. “Besides, I’m going to already feel like big brother is watching all the time.”

“Oh, so Sean’s told you he’s to have a link in here too?” Ian teased.

She shook her head. “No, but I’m not surprised. When am I not going to be the baby sister?”

“Never,” Ian said simply. “And it has nothing to do with your ability to take care of yourself and everything to do with their need to protect you.”

Mary climbed down from the ladder she’d been perched upon and put her tools in Ian’s toolbox. “I know,” she sighed. “Men!”

Ian laughed and tried to sigh as fully. “Women!”

He walked over to his laptop and tested the cameras. “All fully functional and reporting,” he said. “Now what’s the next step?”

Mary picked up one of the boxes and started towards the kitchen. “I’ll start getting the kitchen put together and you call for pizza,” she said.

“Don’t tease her about it,” Mary warned, “because she’ll take you seriously and we will be eating Haggis for the rest of the time we’re here.”

Ian lifted his hands in surrender. “Thanks for the warning,” he said. “I’ll not be bringing it up.”

Several hours later, with the house mostly put in order and the empty pizza box in the trash, Mary and Ian sat at the dining room table connected to Bradley via video chat.

“Any visitors today?” he asked.

Mary shook her head. “No, no one stopped by, which was probably a good thing because we got the cameras up and the house put in order.”

“I hope they’re just giving you a day to get settled,” Bradley said. “The neighborhood tends to be quieter in the winter. People are not out and about as much.”

“Do you have a list of people you’d like us to speak with?” Ian asked. “Anyone you’ve always had a feeling about, but could never confirm it?”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” he said. “I’ll e-mail you both the list and a little background on each of the families.”

“Do you want us to touch base with your old Chief of Police, now that we’re here?” Mary asked.

Bradley shook his head. “No, because whoever did this knew me and Jeannine,” he said. “I hate to think that is was one of the guys on the force, but we can’t be sure.”

“I’m not sure who that is yet,” Mary said, “But I’m going to turn the laptop so whoever it is doesn’t know you’re chatting with us, okay?”

Mary quickly got up from the table and met him halfway, so he wouldn’t see the computer screen. “Gary Copper?” Mary asked with a little smile.

The man smiled and bowed his head nervously. “Yeah, I know, not Gary Cooper,” he said, and then he flushed. “Well, I guess you know that I’m not, well, you know. I’m not…”

He nodded, but had a hard time meeting her eyes. “Yes, our properties actually touch lines on the east side of the back of your lot,” he said. “Jeannine used to call us kitty-corner neighbors.”

“Well, neighbor, come in and make yourself comfortable,” she said, guiding them into the chairs in the living room.

She offered Gary a chair that was facing one of the concealed cameras and she sat across from him on the love seat.

“Well, it’s nice to meet a new neighbor,” Ian added, following them and sitting on the arm of the love seat. “As you know, we’re brand new here.”

“Yes. I mean, I know. I mean, that’s why I came by, actually,” he stammered. “I knew the Aldens owned this place, Bradley and Jeannine. I saw the lights, from my kitchen. I wondered, you know, who you were. Why you were here. Because I didn’t think Bradley wanted to ever sell his house.”

Mary shook her head. “Oh, no, they still own it,” she said. “Bradley is letting us rent it from him for a while. We’re newlyweds and still haven’t quite got ourselves situated.”

“Oh,” he said, looking around nervously. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be here. I mean, newlyweds, company is the last thing you’d want.”

Ian moved onto the love seat, put his arm around Mary’s shoulders and drew her close. “I have to tell you, with a wife like Mary, I plan on being a newlywed ‘til my dying day.”

Mary leaned her head on Ian’s shoulder. “Now that was sweet,” she said. “So, Gary, are you married?”

He lifted his head to look at Mary, then shook it quickly and addressed Ian. “No, I’m divorced,” he said. “I wasn’t real good with words, like you are. I think she got bored with me.”