by Terri Reid
“And sometimes, if the car has a GPS, they are on the screen too,” Bradley added.
She turned to her computer, letting go of Bradley’s hand. Joey instantly disappeared. Bradley placed his hand on her shoulder and Joey reappeared to him. Mary turned, surprised at the contact, and then realized what he was doing. “Sorry, forgot,” she said.
She Googled “Interstate Road Signs” and found the image she was searching for. She clicked on the familiar red, white and blue badge-shaped sign. “This kind of sign, Joey,” she said. “It usually has a number on it…knowing that number would be helpful.”
Joey nodded and then faded once again.
*****
Chapter Four
They sat in silence for a moment, then Dean Martin started to croon suggestively “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”
“Stalker music,” Bradley said.
“What?” Mary asked, surprised.
Bradley shrugged. “So, this guy has this girl trapped in his house and he won’t let her leave. Total stalker.”
Mary turned and, because of their earlier position, found herself encircled in his arm. Bradley immediately dropped his hand from her shoulder. “Sorry.”
Mary didn’t even notice.
“He was concerned about her,” Mary argued. “He wasn’t stalking.”
Bradley snorted. “Oh, yeah…concerned. Are you really that naive?”
“Naive? I don’t think so. I think I’m just not suspicious of innocent gestures.”
“Innocent gestures?” he asked. “That song is filled with innuendos.”
Mary shook her head. “You’re wrong.”
Lifting his eyebrows, Bradley stared at her for a moment. Then he shrugged. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
Mary smiled. “No probably about it.”
Bradley shivered noticeably. “Mary, are you cold?”
Casually lifting his arm, he placed it back behind her shoulder and pulled her closer. “It’s pretty chilly outside,” he remarked.
Mary found herself pressed up against his warm and solid body. She inhaled a whiff of his scent.
Do they add pheromones to cologne, she wondered silently, because…well…damn!
She needed to get out of this cozy arrangement before she did something they would both regret.
“Um, Bradley, I need to finish my decorating.”
Did she just imagine it, or did Bradley’s arm tighten?
“I saw that bunch of mistletoe on the desk,” he said, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively. “I could help you hang it.”
What the…? Oh. Duh!
Mary couldn’t believe she nearly fell for his ploy.
So, Mary are you that naive? Oh, Mary, you’re right. Oh, baby, it’s cold outside. What a jerk! Well, two can play at this game.
Mary snuggled against Bradley and smiled up at him, batting her eyelashes. “You’re right, it is cold in here,” she gushed, “and you make it much warmer.”
She toyed with the top button of his shirt. “Much warmer.”
Bradley eyes widened for a moment and then narrowed slightly. So, she thinks she’s got me figured out.
“I could make it even warmer,” he whispered seductively. “We could test the mistletoe, to be sure it worked.”
“Oh, Bradley,” she sighed and turned her head away.
He slowly slid his hand up from her shoulder along the back of her neck and threaded his fingers into her hair. He applied gentle pressure and Mary turned her face to look at him.
Her mother had always warned her that if she crossed her eyes her face would freeze like that - but, in this case, she felt the risk was worth it.
Bradley choked. “Mary,” he snorted, “you have the most beautiful eyes.”
Mary laughed and met his mirth-filled eyes.
The heat hit them both at the same time.
Mary’s breath caught and, no matter how loud her inner voice screamed a warning, she couldn’t pull away. Her body tensed in anticipation and her heart beat increased.
Bradley felt his heart race. He swallowed and tried to find a reason, any reason, not to bend down and kiss her lips. Unlike Mary’s, his inner voice was encouraging him all the way. Go for it, dude!
Mary felt his fingers tightened slightly against her neck. His breath feathered against her cheek as his face drew closer to hers.
“It’s the number ninety,” Joey announced as he suddenly reappeared. “Does that help?”
Mary and Bradley jerked back, like two children caught with their hands in the candy jar.
“That’s very helpful,” Bradley said, dropping back against his seat. He let his hand slide to Mary’s shoulder.
Joey looked carefully at the two adults across the desk. “You weren’t going to kiss or something, were you?” he asked. “That’s gross. Police guys don’t do stuff like that!”
Mary choked and coughed over a laugh.
Bradley ran his other hand over his face, chuckled and pointed to the greenery on the table. “It’s because of the mistletoe,” he said, “We were testing it.”
Joey looked down at the table and then back up at the adults. “That’s weird.”
“What did you say you found, Joey?” Mary asked, her voice slightly strained.
“Ninety, nine-zero,” Joey said, “That’s the number on the sign.”
Mary nodded, her focus back on the case. “What time did the kidnapping occur?”
“About an hour and a half ago,” Bradley supplied.
Mary turned back to her computer.
“What are you doing?” Bradley asked.
“Accessing Google Maps,” she replied.
“Look,” she said, pointing to the screen, “If they are on Highway 90 and they’ve been on the road for about an hour and a half and considering the weather - they could either be on their way to Madison or Chicago. But not much further.”
“We’ve got Amber Alerts already in place for both of those vicinities,” he replied. “Joey, do you know what kind of van?”
Joey shook his head. “I can only see what’s next to Jeremy,” he said. “So, I could tell it was a van, but the snow was falling so hard, I couldn’t even see the color.”
Bradley pulled out his cell phone and called the station. “Hello, Dorothy. I need you to update the Amber alert. Let them know that we have reason to believe that the couple is in a van and are on Interstate 90. We don’t know whether they are traveling north or south at this point. Thanks.”
“What do we do next?” Joey asked.
“This is great information,” Bradley said, “Narrowing down their direction and knowing they are in a van is going to help.”
Bradley stood up, his hand remaining on Mary’s shoulder. “I’m going to go back to the station and see if I can put it to more use,” he said, “Mary, call me if you learn anything else.”
Mary nodded.
Bradley leaned over the desk toward Joey. “You are doing a great job being a guardian angel. Jeremy’s lucky.”
Joey smiled. “Thanks.”
The bell jingled as Bradley left the office and Joey grinned. “Every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings.”
Mary was astonished. “That’s true?”
Joey laughed. “Naw, it was my mom’s favorite movie and we had to watch it like a zillion times every Christmas.”
Mary laughed for a moment and then turned thoughtful.
“Joey, this is the first time I’ve worked with a guardian angel,” Mary said. “It would help me more if you told me a little about what you can do.”
Joey nodded. “I get to be by Jeremy,” he said. “Watch over him. Sometimes, I get to interfere, but I can’t do that a lot because he has to make his own decisions.”
Mary nodded. “So, when do you get to interfere?”
Joey shrugged. “When it feels right,” he said. “I get good feelings and I know I can do something.”
“And you choose to be a guardian angel?” she asked.
He nod
ded. “Yeah, just like you got to choose to come back.”
She was surprised. “How did you know?”
“Who do you think sent me to you?”
*****
Chapter Five
”O’Reilly, Special Victims Unit, Chicago Police Department,” Mary’s older brother, Sean, answered the phone.
“Hey, Sean, it’s Mary.”
She settled back in her chair and watched the snow continue to fall.
“Hey, Mary. What’s up? You work off that extra piece of pumpkin pie yet?”
“I still can’t believe you forced me to eat that,” she responded, a smile playing on her lips.
“Yeah, I forced you by putting it in front of you. Sorry, that one won’t hold up in court.”
“You did put Cool Whip on it,” she countered. “I think that falls under the definition of ‘Attractive Nuisance.’”
“Only if you were five years old,” he replied.
She sat up and pulled her notepad closer. “Hey, I need your help,” she said.
“Sure, what’s up?”
She smiled, knowing that she could always count on her family. No questions, no stipulations - just help.
“There was a kidnapping here this morning,” she explained. “Three-month old snatched. The perps were a kindly old woman who volunteered to watch the baby while the mom got her car from the parking lot and a supposed store clerk.”
“Yeah, we’ve seen that M.O. here in Chicago,” he said. “We’ve actually put up warnings throughout the city and surrounding suburb. Guess they haven’t gotten as far as you.”
Mary grabbed a pencil from her desktop. “So, what have you found so far?” she asked.
“All infants,” he replied, “And they are targeting women perceived to be lower-middle class single moms.”
“So, they don’t have the money to pursue them,” Mary surmised.
“Yeah, exactly,” Sean replied. “We think they’re selling the babies. Making it look like a legal adoption, but charging high-end prices for the kids.”
“Have you located any of the babies?”
“Yeah, one,” Sean said.
Mary could hear the disgust in his voice.
“The couple had a feeling that something wasn’t right, so they contacted us,” he continued. “The baby was reunited with his mom, but the perps had cleared out and left no traces.”
Mary sat back in her chair and looked up at the sparkling Christmas lights nestled within the greenery. “Sean, I’ve got to find this baby,” she said. “What can I do to help?”
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. “Let me think on this for a little while, Mar,” he said, “I think we might be able to put together a plan.”
Mary nodded. “That would be great.”
“Are you okay coming into the city, if I need you?” Sean asked.
She nodded. “Yeah, I can handle it,” she said. “It’s important.”
“Okay, let me fly this up the flag pole and see what we can come up with.”
“Thanks, Sean, I really appreciate it.”
“Hey, that’s what big brothers are for!”
Several hours later, after researching all she could on illegal adoption agencies, she turned and looked out the office window. It was as if she was in the center of a snow globe depicting a small town at Christmas. Light poles wrapped in greenery and lights, garland-festooned street banners displaying “NOEL” in red, green and gold, a few brave shoppers bundled in scarves, coats and knit caps, and fat snowflakes drifting lazily down to the street.
She glanced over to her car and sighed. There had to be at least four inches of snow on top of it and even more surrounding it, a gift from the city’s snow plow driver. She grabbed her coat, she might as well get started digging it out. Before she reached the door, her phone rang.
“Mary O’Reilly.”
“Mary.”
The sound of Bradley’s voice on the other end of the line caused her cheeks to burn with embarrassment. Good grief, what was I thinking?
“Bradley, what’s up?”
Play it cool, O’Reilly.
“I just wanted to see if you were still at your office,” he said. “The weather service just issued a new forecast. This stuff isn’t going to slow down any time soon. Do you need a ride home?”
Okay, that was sweet. But there is no way I’m getting that close to him today.
“No, I’m fine,” she said. “The Roadster does really well in snow.”
Well, that was a definite lie.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, thanks for the offer,” she replied. “But really, it’ll be a piece of cake.”
The Roadster twirled sideways into the driveway, its front fender sliding into a large drift of snow stopping its forward motion. Mary breathed a shaky sigh of relief. It took her a few moments to unclench her hands from the steering wheel and slow the pounding of her heart.
The drive from her downtown office to her home that normally took five minutes required twenty minutes of death-defying, nerve-wracking, hair-graying determination. The Roadster was definitely not made for winter driving.
“Well, that was fun,” she exhaled an unsteady breath.
Pushing open the door, she pulled out her purse and computer bag and waited until her legs were steady beneath her. Then she waded through the knee-high snow to her front porch.
The steps looked more like a slalom run than anything resembling stairs, so she slipped her purse and computer bag over her shoulder, grabbed onto the rail with both hands and slowly pulled herself up to the porch.
“Hi, Miss O’Reilly. Do you want me to shovel your snow for you?”
Mary turned to see ten-year old Andy Brennan, one of the youngest of the seven Brennan children, who lived in the big house on the corner. He was dressed in a multi-colored collection of hand-me-downs, a bright blue wool hat, red gloves, a brown coat and black boots. At least he has brothers, not just sisters, who are older than him, Mary thought, remembering some of the hand-me-downs she received from her older and much bigger brothers.
“How much are you going to charge me?” she called back to him.
He sighed. His normally mischievous face subdued. “Mom says I’m supposed to do service, seeing that this is a snowstorm and all,” he explained, “so I’m not charging at all.”
“Well, that presents a big problem for me,” Mary replied.
“Why?”
“Because I’ve set aside twenty dollars for someone to shovel my walk, my porch and my driveway,” she replied. “And if I don’t pay them, it will mess up my budget.”
She shook her head and grimaced. “I don’t do accounting very well.”
Andy grinned, exposing a lovely gap where his front tooth used to be.
“What happened to your tooth?” she asked.
Andy’s grin got bigger. “David thought it would be cool to have a missing tooth for Christmas, so we could sing that song. So he helped me pull it out.”
Ouch, Mary winced.
“It wasn’t too bad,” he explained. “We used the taffy apple method. I bite into a Taffy Apple real hard and David pulls it out of my mouth.”
His eyes gleamed with pride. “It only took three Taffy Apples.”
Mary laughed. “Good for you,” she said, “That was brilliant.”
Andy shook his head. “That ain’t exactly what Mom said.”
Mary was delighted. “Well, she can’t say that, because she’s a mom.”
Andy nodded. “Yeah, that’s kind of what I figured too.”
“So, do we have a deal?” Mary asked.
Andy nodded. “I’ll have everything shoveled in a flash.”
“That sounds great,” Mary said, “Just knock on the door when you’re done.”
“Okay, I will.”
Mary trudged through the snow on her porch and pulled her door open. The warmth of her room greeted her. “Nice,” she purred, and dropped her purse and computer bag on t
he desk next to the door.
An hour later, Andy knocked on the door. Mary answered the door wearing jeans, an oversized flannel shirt and thick wool socks. Mary peered over his shoulder to inspect the job.