Never Forgotten (20 page)

Mary breathed a sigh of relief.

“That I couldn’t have seen in a Sears catalog,” he added with a wink.

“Mike,” Mary said, fighting between mortification and amusement, “what are you doing here?”

“I’m going with you.”

“What?”

He stood up and walked over to her. “Since we can’t run away together to a hot tropical island, I figured I go with you to case the killer’s joint,” he said. “I’m your backup.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Mary said.

Mike rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Why because I might get shot?
Oh, wait, I’m dead.
Maybe because someone might see me?
Wait again, I’m a ghost. Maybe I might knock into something and make noise? Oh, no, can’t…I am ghost here.”

“Okay, you made your point,” she sighed. “You can come.”

“Beautiful and gracious, how lucky can a guy get?”

“Fine.
Thank you for coming and being my back-up,” she said, trying and failing to contain a smile. “I really appreciate it.”

Mary tiptoed down the stairs, Mike hovering behind her, and slipped out the back door. The night air was cold and the sky was dark and clear. They walked around the side of the house and quietly continued to Bradley’s SUV parked at the curb. Within ten minutes they were located down the street from Angela’s house.

“I don’t know what to expect,” Mary said. “I don’t even know what we’re going to accomplish.”

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” Mike said, then turned to her. “Let me take lead, okay? I’ve got the advantage of being invisible.”

Mary nodded. “Okay, you’ve got lead.”

Climbing out of the car, she kept her eyes on Mike as he moved closer to the house. He was next door to Angela’s home, when he suddenly disappeared from sight. Mary looked around, trying to catch a glimpse of him. Then instantly he was at her side.

“Not funny…” she began, but then she looked up at his face, serious and determined. “What?”

“There’s something there, near her house. It’s like an energy field, but it seems to be limited to a small area,” he said. “It’s angry and it feels evil. If I had gotten any closer I think it would have felt me. It’s not human, although it may have been at one time.”

Mary shivered and ran her hands up and down her arms. “What do you suggest?”

Mike looked back over his shoulder. “We go in together, I lead. It’s not big enough to hold us both back. When it confronts us, I distract it and you go past its guard and figure out what its hiding. You okay with that?”

“Yeah, I think it’s a good plan,” she agreed. “Ready?”

This time Mary jogged down the street toward the house, Mike in front of her. She wasn’t surprised that she could feel the bad energy coming from the house; she was just amazed at the intensity. Mike turned to her and nodded. Then both ran towards the house. The energy hit them like a wall of bricks, but Mike took the brunt of it. Mary ran to the right and used the cover of the neighbor’s hedges to move undiscovered toward the back of the house. She climbed through a break in the hedge, the snow reaching up to her calves.

Angela’s backyard was dark and completely snow covered and, except for the driveway, nothing had been shoveled. Risking her footprints in the snow, Mary moved closer, searching for a way to enter the house. The basement door was padlocked from the outside and the windows had steel bars over them. There was a small hatch at the ground level, but it was also padlocked. “Definitely wants to keep people out of here,” Mary muttered.

“It’s him. He’s doing this to her.”

Mary turned quickly and the ghost of the woman behind her flinched in fear. “I’m not going to hurt you,” Mary immediately reassured. “I just need to learn more about Angela. I need to stop her.”

The woman looked like a frail and older shadow of Angela. “It’s not her fault,” she said. “It’s my fault. I should have protected her. I should have left him.”

“Him?”

“My husband.
He was, is, a bad man. He hurt us, both of us,” she explained. “And once I was gone, he hurt Angela.”

“But he’s dead now,” Mary said. “How can he hurt her now?”

“Her mind isn’t strong anymore; she is too easily influenced by him.”

“Angela is killing people,” Mary said. “She is trying to kill my friend. She has to be held responsible.”

The mother shook her head. “No, she’s not killing them,” she said. “She wants them to love her; she’s just making my tea.
My love potion.”

“Does your love potion cause cramping and destroy liver functions?”

“No,” she said, “No, it’s a mild tea. That’s all. There’s no poison in it.”

“Well, whatever she’s been giving to the men she’s been interested in for the past few years has killed them all,” Mary said.
“A painful death.”

The ghost gasped and placed her hands over her mouth, “No.”

“What?” Mary asked. “What is it?”

“No, she wouldn’t do that,” Angela’s mother decided. “She couldn’t do that.”

“Whatever it is, why don’t you just check for yourself,” Mary said. “You can go inside and see how she makes the tea.”

The ghost hung her head. “I can’t go in,” she said. “He won’t let me enter.”

“You can’t go into your own home because your dead husband won’t let you?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “He’s powerful. He’s strong. He’s…”

“He’s a bully,” Mary said. “He’s a mean bully and deep inside, bullies are weak and cowardly. They only prey on people they can intimidate.”

“No, he’s powerful,” the ghost insisted.

“So, what can he do to you now?” Mary demanded. “You’re already dead. He’s just made you so afraid in life, that you still fear him in death. What could he do if you stood up to him? What could he do?”

The ghost shook. “I don’t know. I can’t. I couldn’t stand up to him.”

“Then you are abandoning your daughter all over again,” Mary said, “Because if he is the one making her to do this, she needs your help now more than any other time in her life.”

Tears streamed down the ghost’s face. “I can’t,” she pleaded. “I can’t.”

“Yes, you can,” Mary said, moving closer. “But you have to decide not to be the victim anymore. You have to be stronger than your fears.”

Sobbing, the ghost shook her head regretfully and faded away.

“Damn,” Mary swore.
“Just damn.”

“Any luck?” Mike appeared by her side.

“No, none,” she said. “Everything is bolted down tight. I’d need a tank to get into this place.
How about you?”

“Well, whoever was causing the bad vibes took a hike soon after I showed up,” he said. “So I checked out the front door and windows, sealed up just as tight.”

“It sounds like the bad guy is her dad,” Mary said. “I met the mom back here. She claims the dad has control over Angela’s mind.”

“Like she’s possessed?”

“I don’t know,” Mary began, and then saw a light turn on in the house. “But I think we ought to get out of here before it gets even more interesting.”

Mike nodded. “Good idea.”

Mary dashed back through the hedges at the side of the house and then made her way slowly, hiding behind trees and piles of snow, until she got back to the SUV. She pulled the vehicle backwards into a driveway and turned around heading back the way she had come.

A few minutes later she was parking the car in the same spot it had been before she left. She crept around the back of the house and carefully climbed up the backstairs. She nearly screamed when Mike appeared beside her.

“
Shhh
, you scream and you’ll mess everything up,” he said with a grin, “Just wanted to let you know that Bradley’s still sound asleep. But just in case, I hung your robe over the chair in the kitchen.”

“
Thanks,
Mike. That was really nice.”

“You know, you should really get one of those lacy robes, in black,” he said.

“I like my terry cloth robe,” she said. “Besides it’s warm.”

He rolled his eyes. “We’re not talking warmth here, we’re talking sexy.”

“You’re talking sexy,” she said.

“No, I’m talking to sexy,” he said with a wink and then he started to fade away. “Sweet dreams Mary.”

She slowly turned the doorknob and slipped inside the house. The robe was right where Mike had promised, she slipped it over her clothes, tugged off her boots and crept up the stairs.

Made it, she thought, once she had closed her bedroom door behind her. She turned around and saw that her bed was turned down and a set of sexy black lingerie she had been given as a gift was lying across the sheets.

“Go read a Sears catalog,” she said, picking up her sweats and t-shirt and heading into the bathroom to change.

Mary pulled Bradley’s car up to the Emergency Room entrance. “I can walk, Mary,” Bradley said. “I don’t need to be brought through the Emergency Room.”

She looked at the yellowish hue of his skin and the dark circles under his eyes and her heart dropped. “It’s not for you,” she said brightly. “This is the only way I can get valet parking.”

She hopped out of the car and saw the young officer she’d met two days before. “Hi, Tom,” she said. “How are you today?”

Tom snapped to attention. “Fine, Miss O’Reilly, thank you. How are you?”

“I’m great,” she said. “Would you mind taking the keys to the Chief’s car and holding on to them for me? I’m just bringing him in for some blood work, but I won’t be staying and I don’t want to be in anyone’s way.”

“No problem, Miss O’Reilly,” Tom said. “Will you be coming back to get him when he’s done?”

“No, one of our friends will be doing pick-up, I have a couple things I have to do.”

“Okay, I’ll keep an eye on it for you.”

“Thanks, Tom.”

Mary helped Bradley out of the car and they walked through the entrance and down the hallway to the labs. “You don’t have to walk me,” he said, breathing heavily. “I can make it myself.”

“Yeah, but this gives me a chance to put my arm around you in public,” she teased.

“You’re humoring me,” he said.

“Yeah, but don’t get used to it.”

He chuckled. “I won’t. Listen, I do appreciate your help, even though I growl a bit.”

She smiled at him. “No problem. Are you sure you don’t want me to stay? I can go find the other “curse” victims later.”

“No,” he replied, shaking his head. “I don’t know how long I’m going to have to wait for results. I’ll give Rosie or Stanley a call when I’m done.”

Once he’d registered with the receptionist, Mary left him comfortably ensconced in a waiting room chair with a selection of magazines within reach.

“Be careful out there,” Bradley said.

“You too, don’t let them take more blood than necessary.”

He shivered. “Nice thought, thanks!”

She laughed. “See you tonight.”

Officer Tom
Killoran
was faithfully guarding Bradley’s SUV. “Have any problems, Officer?” Mary asked with a smile.

“No ma’am,” he replied.
“Nice and quiet here.”

“Excellent,” she said, “Thanks for watching it.”

“Have a nice day, Miss O’Reilly,” he said.

“Please, call me Mary,” she replied. “You have a nice one too, Tom.”

Mary pulled out of the hospital parking lot onto Stephenson and turned left. She was planning on driving out to Pearl City to visit another law enforcement officer who had died from the curse.

She stopped at Park Avenue and was about to continue when her cell phone rang. She glanced down, the number didn’t look familiar. Pulling over to the curb, she answered her phone.

“Mary O’Reilly.”

“Hello, Mary, this is Luke, Dr. Thompson, we met yesterday at the hospital,” he said. “I was the one who ran you over.”

“Yes, I remember you,” she answered with a smile. “How can I help you?”

“Well, I told you about my sister-in-law and I think I might have found something that makes me think she might not have left voluntarily,” he said. “Do you have time to come by and take a look?”

“Why don’t you call the police?” she asked.

“Well, it could be nothing,” he said. “And I would hate to make a false accusation. I’d be happy to pay you for your time.”

Mary thought about the nice nest egg she’d received when she left the Chicago Police Force and shook her head. “No, you don’t need to pay me,” she said. “I can come by today. When would be a good time?”

“The sooner the better,” he said. “My brother’s away from the farm for a while and I think there’d be less problems if he’s not here.”

“Fine, I can drive over right now. What’s your address?” she asked, not wanting him to know she’d already been there a number of times.

He gave her the address and they hung up. She turned the car around and headed out of town towards Orangeville.

The drive was lovely. The sun was shining and glistening on the fields of snow. She had the radio blasting to an oldies station and she was singing along to “Here Comes the Sun.” It was going to be a great day.