Clear Expectations - A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book 20) (Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mysteries)

by Terri Reid

  “She didn’t know what she was doing,” he said softly.

  She nodded against his chest. “I know,” she cried. “I know. But he’s still gone. And he didn’t get to say goodbye.”

  He rubbed her back and nodded, his own tears flowing freely. “Is there a chance?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she said sadly. “Clarissa was kind of the loophole to keep him here, with us. And when she…”

  Her voice shook, and she buried her face in Bradley’s chest to cry some more.

  “When she said she didn’t need him, she closed the loophole,” he finished for her.

  She took a deep breath and wiped her tears with her sleeve. “I didn’t mean to upset her,” Mary said. “But it just…it just hurt so much.”

  Bradley reached past her, pulled a handful of tissues from the bedside box and handed them to her. “I think she needs to see that her actions caused you pain,” he said. “She needs to be aware that what she did was wrong.”

  Mary wiped her face and nodded. “But she’s also a nine-year-old child who is going to say and do stupid things,” she acknowledged. “I remember telling my mother that I hated her when I was her age. I was angry and thoughtless. The pain I saw in my mother’s eyes went straight to my heart.”

  “Did you learn?” he asked.

  She nodded. “I never said that to her again,” she replied.

  “Well, the pain Clarissa saw in your eyes cut her to the heart too,” Bradley said. “I think she expected you to say that everything was okay. But you didn’t.”

  Mary shook her head and dabbed the tissue against her eyes. “I couldn’t,” she said, her voice shaking again. “Because it’s not okay. I’m going to miss him so much.”

  Bradley nodded. “Me too,” he said. “He was…” His voice cracked, and he pulled a tissue out for himself. “He was my brother.”

  Mary reached over and hugged Bradley. “I know,” she said. “Mine too.”

  Chapter Fifty-nine

  Bradley leaned over and kissed Mary lightly on the cheek. She slowly opened her eyes and was surprised that the sun was streaming in through the windows. “Good morning,” he said. “How did you sleep?”

  She stretched slowly and sighed. “Good,” she said, and then she remembered. “Mike?”

  Bradley shook his head. “No, Clarissa got up early and called for him,” he said. “He didn’t respond.”

  “I don’t think he could even if he wanted to,” Mary said. “Once she sends him away…”

  “He has to stay away,” Bradley finished. He looked into her eyes. “How are you today?”

  She shrugged. “Sad. A little sad,” she said. “Well, no, a whole lot sad. But I can handle today.”

  He kissed her again. “Good, because I have to run into the station for a little bit,” he said. “But I should be home by noon. We could do something as a family.”

  She smiled. “That would be nice,” she agreed.

  A few minutes later, Mary walked down the stairs, wrapped in her robe. Clarissa was in the living room, staring down at the floor.

  “Good morning, Clarissa,” Mary said.

  Clarissa slowly lifted her head and met Mary’s eyes. “I called and called for Mike,” she said, shaking her head. “And he’s not coming.”

  Mary nodded. “I know,” she replied. “Your dad told me.”

  Clarissa stood up, facing Mary. “Do you hate me?” she asked, her lower lip trembling in fear.

  “No, I don’t hate you,” Mary said, coming forward and hugging her daughter. “I don’t hate you at all.”

  “But I made Mike go away,” Clarissa sobbed. “I was mean to him and I made him go.”

  “Yes, you did,” Mary said. “And that made me sad. Very sad. But just because you do something wrong doesn’t mean I stop loving you. Love doesn’t work that way. I can be disappointed and sad but still love you.”

  “I tried to fix it,” Clarissa explained. “I tried to get him back, but he won’t come.”

  “Did he tell you that once you sent him away, he couldn’t come back?” Mary asked.

  Clarissa nodded.

  “Well, Mike doesn’t lie,” Mary said. “So, even if he wants to, he can’t come back.”

  “But I miss him,” Clarissa cried.

  “I do too,” Mary replied softly. “And I will miss him for a long time. But we can’t change what happened. I hope, though, that you learned something from this.”

  “Grandma said we shouldn’t say things in anger because we can’t take them back,” Clarissa said.

  Mary put her arm around Clarissa’s shoulder and guided her to the dining room table with her. She sat down and put her hands on Clarissa’s shoulders. “Do you know what that means?” Mary asked.

  Clarissa looked away, then met Mary’s eyes and shook her head. “No,” she admitted. “I don’t.”

  “Do you remember when we were making Christmas cookies last month and your dad squeezed the frosting tube too much?” Mary asked, earning a shadow of a smile from Clarissa. “It was a mess.”

  Clarissa nodded.

  “Do you remember what we had to do with the extra icing?” Mary asked.

  “We used some of it,” she said. “But most of it we had to throw away.”

  “Why?” Mary asked. “Why did we have to throw it away, do you remember?”

  “Yes,” she said. “Because once it was squeezed out we couldn’t put it back inside.”

  “No matter how hard we tried,” Mary said. “Right?”

  “Right,” she agreed. “It couldn’t go back.”

  “That’s what Grandma meant about saying things in anger and not being able to take them back,” Mary said. “Once they’re out there, we can’t put them back in our mouths and unsay them.”

  “Like when Maggie said I was a baby?” Clarissa asked.

  Mary nodded. “And what did you say to Maggie?” she asked.

  “I said that machines were cooler than her and that I didn’t want to be her friend,” she admitted.

  “How do you think that made her feel?”

  Clarissa glanced down at the floor again. “Sad,” she whispered, tears in her voice. “Very sad.”

  Mary nodded. “I think this family has had enough sad,” she said. “I think you need to walk over to Maggie’s and apologize. I think that’s what Mike would want you to do.”

  Clarissa finally met Mary’s eyes. “I’m so sorry you’re sad,” she said.

  Mary smiled. “Thank you, sweetheart,” she replied. “Now, go to Maggie’s and get this worked out.”

  Chapter Sixty

  On Monday morning, Mary looked out the window as Clarissa and Maggie waited for the bus together. Bradley walked up behind her, put his hands on her shoulders and leaned forward to share her view. “It’s good to see them together again,” he said. Then he placed a tender kiss on her neck. “Have I mentioned what a fabulous mother you are?”

  She leaned back against him and sighed. “I had a really good example. Besides, Clarissa did all of the hard work. She had to swallow her pride and ask for forgiveness. That’s a hard thing to do.”

  He slipped his hands from her shoulders, looped them around her waist and laid his head against hers. “How are you doing?” he asked softly.

  Her throat tightened, and tears filled her eyes. She nodded, not trusting her voice at first. “I’m fine,” she whispered. “I still, you know, miss him a lot.”

  Bradley nodded. “Yeah, I know,” he replied. “I don’t think that’s going to go away for a long time.”

  She shook her head and brushed a few tears off her cheeks. “No, probably not,” she said. “But, you know, he’s probably really happy with his new person.”

  “Is it selfish to hope that he’s as miserable as we are?” Bradley asked.

  A ripple of laughter escaped her lips, and she nodded. “Probably,” she said. “But it’s only fair that he’s as sad as we are.”

  The bus pulled up outside, and th
e girls, chatting happily with each other, climbed on together. When the bus pulled away from the curb, Mary turned in Bradley’s arms to face him. “So, what’s on the agenda for today?” she asked.

  He looked down at her. “Well, first thing on my list is kissing my wife senseless,” he said with a smile.

  She looped her arms around his neck. “I can agree to that,” she said. “As a matter of fact, I can move that right to the top of my list.”

  He smiled at her. “Good thing,” he said, lowering his lips to hers and kissing her tenderly.

  She sighed softly, enjoying the sweetness and the comfort of his kiss. Once the kiss ended, she put her head against his chest and absorbed the warmth of his embrace. “Can we just stay like this all day?” she asked.

  He laughed softly, and she could hear the rumble through his chest. “Well, although it would be wonderful, there are a couple of problems with that,” he said.

  She sighed. “Name one,” she asked against his chest.

  “We’re not close enough to a bathroom,” he teased.

  She sighed loudly. “Why did you have to bring that up?” she grumbled. “You just reminded my body.”

  She stepped out of his embrace and smiled up at him. “But I’ll be back.”

  “I’ll be here,” he promised.

  As she hurried up the stairs, Bradley sighed softly.

  “How is she doing?” Margaret asked, walking into the living room from the kitchen.

  “She’s handling it,” Bradley said. “And I suppose that’s all any of us can do.”

  She nodded. “Do you think there’s any chance he’ll be back?”

  “If there’s any way possible, Mike will figure out,” Bradley said.

  Margaret studied him for a moment. “I realize that Mike was a special friend of Mary’s,” she said slowly. “But I suddenly realized that he was even more than that for you. How are you doing?”

  Bradley smiled sadly. “He was like my right-hand man,” he admitted with a shrug. “I kind of relied on him to watch over Mary and Clarissa when I couldn’t. Suddenly, this weekend, I realized that I didn’t have that backup anymore.”

  Margaret placed her hand on Bradley’s arm. “Make sure you give yourself a chance to grieve too,” she said. “You’ve been strong all weekend long, helping everyone else.”

  “Thanks, Margaret,” he said. “I’ll try to remember that.”

  She laughed softly. “I raised sons, Bradley,” she said, shaking her head. “That is your polite way of saying that you really don’t have time to take care of yourself right now. But you’re too polite to say it out loud.”

  Bradley smiled at her. “You are a very wise woman,” he said. “But, I really will think about what you said.”

  She sighed. “Thank you.”

  Chapter Sixty-one

  Mary placed another armful of files into a cardboard box. She looked around her office space, the shelves now bare and boxes piled up in one corner. She wondered if Mike had known what was going to happen when he suggested she not renew her lease. “Why am I doing this?” she wondered aloud. “Is there a real reason here?”

  With a loud sigh, she put the lid on the box and sealed it with tape. “Mike, if you can hear me,” she said, “I’m so sorry it ended like this. I miss you and I love you.”

  The bell over her door rang, and she looked over to see Alex and Bradley walk in.

  “Good morning,” she said. “What’s up?”

  “Do you have a few minutes?” Bradley asked. “We wanted to catch up on the case.”

  “Sure,” she replied. “I think that’s a great idea.”

  They pulled chairs up around Mary’s desk after Bradley raided the refrigerator for bottled water for each of them.

  “Okay,” Bradley said after he took his seat. “Who’s first?”

  “Claeys was on the parole board,” Alex said.

  “What?” Mary asked. “How did that happen?”

  Shaking his head, Alex looked disgusted. “If I were to guess, it would be that he made a contribution to someone’s political campaign,” he said. “Perfectly legal. But at this point, it would be hard to trace it back. He was appointed just after Carol’s sentencing and stayed on the board throughout her time.”

  “This is unbelievable,” Mary said. “How did this go on for so long?”

  Alex shrugged. “No one looked because no one cared,” he said. “Well, except for Carol, and they were powerful enough to silence her.”

  She nodded. “Well, they also silenced Dr. Reinsband in their own way,” she agreed. “They must have been initially drugging him without his knowledge and then just continued so he would be unable to ask any questions.”

  “How is he doing? Bradley asked.

  “Karen called me this morning and said that since he’s been off those drugs he’s started to regain some of his cognitive abilities.”

  “So, it really was the drug that kept him from being aware?” Alex asked.

  “Yeah, they took an honorable doctor, one people would trust, got him to sign on to the project, and then took his health away from him,” Bradley said. “So, what’s our next step? Obviously, Claeys knows we’re looking into this.”

  Mary shook her head. “But look at it from Claeys’ point of view,” she said. “He got to Carol Ford before we could, in his estimation. As far as he knows, Dr. Reinsband is totally useless to us. And those guys Ma heard think they got all the records.”

  “Who is the most dangerous?” Alex asked.

  “I went to the hospital on Saturday morning and spoke with the pharmacist about the drug orders that are sent over to the prison,” Bradley said. “He said the orders are generated from computer requests made by the doctors and then filled by the pharmacist at the prison. So, there doesn’t need to be collusion on the pharmacist part, just a different order from the doctor.”

  Mary shook her head. “Aren’t pharmacists supposed to know about drug interactions? Shouldn’t they have caught that?”

  “So, the fill-in pharmacist was one of the goons from the pharmaceutical company,” Alex suggested. “If Claeys got him fake identification, it wouldn’t have been an issue.”

  “If the autopsy shows a complication from a drug interaction caused Carol’s death,” Alex said, “can we trace the order back to the doctor that requested it?”

  “Funny thing,” Bradley said. “I had the pharmacist pull the order, and even after all of these years, Dr. Reinsband has the ability to order drugs.”

  “Claeys!” Mary exclaimed. “It had to be him.”

  Alex sat back in his chair, pondering the information they’d just shared with each other. “Okay, I can see how difficult it is having clients who can’t testify in court,” he finally said.

  Mary smiled. “It can present its challenges,” she agreed. “But it can also give us an upper hand when dealing with the bad guys.”

  “How?” Alex asked.

  “What if one of you were to meet with Claeys?” she suggested. “And mention that you were contacted by either Ash or Hickory and they wanted to make a deal. Then ask Claeys if he’s ever heard of them or dealt with them and if he thinks they would be good witnesses for the case.”

  Bradley smiled and nodded. “Stir things up a little,” he said. “I like it. What do you think, Alex?”

  “I think I need to meet with the CEO of the hospital and see what information he can share with me,” he replied. He stood up and smiled at Mary. “You are brilliant. Any time you want to give up PI work and work with me, you just make a call.”

  “Thanks,” she said with a smile. “But I think I’ll stick with ghosts.”

  Chapter Sixty-two

  Alex walked into the CEO’s office and sat down in the chair across from the stylishly dressed CEO. Although, Alex reasoned as he casually unbuttoned the first button of his own Italian wool suit, the guy was not even close to his league. Leaning back and leisurely crossing his legs, Alex smiled at Dr. Claeys.

  “Th
ank you for taking some time out of your busy day to meet with me,” Alex began cordially.

  Claeys smiled and nodded affably. “Well, you know, I always support the law enforcement system of our town,” he said.

  Alex continued to smile but had to stop himself from clenching his teeth. “Well, we all appreciate it,” he was finally able to say. “And, actually, that’s why I’m here. We’ve had a tremendous break in the case—”

  Alex watched Claeys’ eyes widen momentarily and then relax again. He’s good, Alex thought.

  “You did?” Claeys asked, templing his fingers as he rested his forearms on his desk. “What kind of break?”

  “We received a phone call from a man who said he was a representative from the pharmaceutical company in question,” Alex said. “I have his name and contact information written down in my notebook…” He patted his pocket and rolled his eyes. “Well, I guess my notebook is still on my desk.” He shook his head dismissively. “Well, actually, that’s not important. His name is something to do with trees, like oak or linden or…”

  Claeys looked alarmed.

  “Basically, to cut to the chase,” Alex said, “the man said he wanted to cut a deal with my office.”

  “Cut a deal?” Claeys repeated, stunned.

  Alex nodded again. “Yeah, people do it all the time,” he replied casually. “They testify against the other people in the group for a promise of a lighter sentence. And really, considering how old this case is, I’ll probably take him up on his offer.”

  Alex could see tiny dots of sweat forming on Claeys’ forehead.

  “I was just wondering if you remember any of the names of the people who were sending the hospital the monthly check.” he asked. “It would be great if one of them had, you know, a tree name.”

  Claeys swallowed loudly and patted his forehead with his handkerchief. “Well, I can certainly go back and check,” he said, and then he smiled. “So, when do you need the information?”

  “The sooner the better,” Alex replied. “I’ve got to call him back, but I’m hoping he’s able to meet with me this afternoon. Tomorrow at the latest.”