by Terri Reid
Bradley nodded. “Fighting Irish, oh, yeah.”
Mary watched Bradley slide closer to the couch, trying to crane his neck to see the screen. “Sean isn’t here yet,” she said. “If you’d like to watch the game until he comes, that would be fine.”
“Really?” he asked, a happy grin spread across his face.
“Hey, Bradley, have a seat,” Art called.
Mary nodded, “Really.”
Soon all four men were seated on the couch yelling at the television screen. Maggie rolled her eyes, “Well, there’s no use for sensible people in this room,” she said. “Let’s go into the kitchen and have a chat.”
“He’s a nice young man, your Bradley,” Maggie said, as she poured Mary a cup of tea. “I like his eyes.”
Mary smiled and shook her head, “Mom, he’s not my anything,” she said, “Except a good friend.”
Maggie shrugged. “So, how was your drive in?” she asked, “Did you have any troubles?”
Mary shook her head. “No,” she said quickly, and then paused. “Mom…no…we had no problems at all. I’ve never driven in without at least one sighting.”
Maggie smiled. “Is that right? Hmmmm, I wonder what caused the change?”
“Oh, no, it wasn’t Bradley, mom,” she said. “In the real world, fairy tales don’t work.”
Maggie laughed. “Mary, in the real world people don’t talk to ghosts.”
Bradley sat back on the couch and relaxed. The Fighting Irish had scored another touchdown and were now up by four. The announcer had paused for a station break and a commercial about a popular beer was playing on the screen. He turned to the other men with a pleasant expression on his face, to be met with three pairs of solemn eyes assessing him.
“And how did you meet our Mary?” Art asked, going immediately to the point.
Bradley sat up on the couch. “We met working on her last case,” he replied.
“And you’d never seen her before that?” Thomas asked.
He thought about the jogging encounters he and Mary had for several months before he actually knew who she was.
“Well, actually, I had seen her before I officially met her,” he admitted. “We would jog at the same time in the park.”
“Ahhh, jogging,” Art said. “Girls dressed in those cute little spandex shorts and sports bras. Could make a man yearn for exercising every day.”
Bradley started to smile, then, remembering who he was talking to, remained straight-faced. “Well, I could tell she took exercising seriously.”
Thomas snorted. “And how could you tell that?”
Damn, he thought. What do I say to avoid getting my butt kicked by three big Irish cops?
“Because she beat me in a race nine times out of ten,” he admitted. “And it was slightly humiliating.”
“That’s our Mary,” Thomas said, with more than a little pride. “Always wanted to be first, fastest and best. I hated when she beat me.”
Art laughed and slapped Bradley on the shoulder. “I’m in complete sympathy with you,” he said. “She enjoys showing men up. It’s disgusting.”
The game started up again and the men turned back to the screen. Bradley sat back, feeling like part of the group once again. That went really well.
“So,” Thomas said nonchalantly. “How many times have you spent the night at our Mary’s place?”
Bradley shrugged, his eyes on the quarterback weaving his way through the other team’s defensive line. “Just a couple of times,” he said absently.
Three pairs of eyes turned from the screen back to him.
Crap.
Before the men could respond, the front door opened and another Irish giant entered the house. Great, another one. I don’t stand a chance.
Sean O’Reilly walked across the room and stood before Bradley. “You must be Chief Alden,” he said. “I understand you saved our Mary’s life last month. I’d like to shake your hand.”
Bradley stood and extended his hand. “I don’t know where you got your information,” he said, “but I think your sister was the one who saved my life.”
Sean shook his head. “Let’s see if I can recall all the facts,” he said. “Someone shot at her in town; you pushed her down and covered her with your body. Someone was shooting at her in a forest preserve; you showed up in a knick of time to scare the fellow off. A serial killer breaks into her house while she’s in the shower; you pound on the door, scare him off and then spend the night on the couch protecting her. And then finally, you take a shot in the foot after you are both abducted and you make her leave you behind. Do I have the facts right?”
Bradley shrugged. “Really, it sounds like a big deal, but Mary has pulled me out of some pretty tight spots too.”
Timothy stood and put his arm around Bradley. “You did that for our little girl?”
“Yes, he did,” Sean said. “And he insisted on driving her in today.”
“Mary let you drive?” Art said in awe. “You’re a better man than I.”
Bradley smiled. “It wasn’t easy, but her car was slightly out of commission.”
“Parked sideways in her drive,” Sean said, to his brothers’ delight.
Bradley shook his head. “Do you have spies in Freeport?”
Sean simply smiled and shrugged.
“Hello, remember me?”
Bradley looked around Sean to see another man closing the front door behind him. He was nearly as tall as the O’Reilly men, but instead of being big-boned and burly, he was muscled and slim. He had dark wavy hair, bright blues eyes and a smile that belonged on a toothpaste commercial. This was going to be Mary’s husband? Bradley hated him already.
Mary and Maggie walked into the room.
“Kevin!” Mary yelled and threw herself into the arms of the man.
What the hell? Bradley thought.
Kevin lifted Mary in his arms and hugged her tightly. Then he loosened his hold and placed her back on the ground to get a good look at her. “Well, little O’Reilly has grown up to be hot,” he said with a grin.
Bradley didn’t like his grin.
Mary smiled. “You used to call me a brat,” she reminded him.
“Oh, darling, you can’t hold that against me,” he said. “I was only sixteen and you, as I recall, were ten …and a brat.”
“Okay, I admit I could have been a brat occasionally,” Mary said, laughing, “But it wasn’t nice of you to point it out.”
He lifted her hand to his lips, turned it over and placed a kiss in her palm. “You’re right,” he said. “Please accept my humble apology. I was a boorish youth.”
And you’re not much better all grown up, Bradley thought.
“Well, since you asked so nicely,” she said. “And…”
“We are to be man and wife, so we should really start the relationship off as …,” he interrupted her, lifted her other hand and placed a kiss on it, “At the very least… friends.”
Okay, enough is enough. “Um, perhaps we ought to discuss the case,” Bradley said to no one in particular.
Sean grinned. “Okay, Kevin, get your hands off my kid sister and let’s get to work.”
Kevin grinned. “Can you blame a guy?” he asked, wrapping his arm around Mary’s waist.
Yeah, I can! Bradley thought, walking across the room and standing in front of the cozy couple. “Hi, I don’t think we’ve been introduced yet,” he said, extending his hand. “I’m Bradley Alden, Chief of Police in Freeport, and a good friend of Mary’s.”
Kevin unwrapped his arm from Mary’s waist and shook Bradley’s hand. “Hi, Sergeant Kevin Brady, Vice Squad, Chicago Police Department, family friend and Mary’s new husband,” he replied.
Before he could place his arm back around Mary, Bradley moved between them and placed his arm around her shoulders. “Mary, why don’t you sit down over here and then we can discuss the case?”
With a slightly smug grin, Bradley guided Mary through the front room and into a recliner, situated
a little way from the other furniture in the room. Then he sat on the floor at her feet. “So, Sean,” he said with a smile. “What’s the next step?”
Sean grinned and sat on the couch. “Have a seat, Kev,” he offered. “We can’t waste any more time.”
Kevin leaned against the doorway and nodded. “I’m fine here, Sean,” he said. “Let’s get down to business.”
Bradley leaned back against the recliner and brought his arm up, so it rested on Mary’s knees. “I agree, let’s get down to business.”
As Sean brought Kevin up to speed on the case, Bradley’s attention was caught by a movement outside the house. He thought he saw someone standing outside the house, trying to peer into the window.
“What?” Mary whispered, feeling the tension in his body.
He quickly shook his head, stood up and walked to the window. Peering out, he couldn’t see anyone and there were no tracks on the snow either.
Must have been my imagination.
When he turned from the window, he saw that Kevin had taken his place next to Mary.
Well, this is going to be an interesting couple of days.
*****
Chapter Twelve
”So, Bradley and Mary will get settled into to their rooms at the hotel,” Sean said. “We will all meet at the Martin’s place at four-thirty and then we can catch some dinner after that. Any questions?”
“Don’t you think that Mary and I need some alone time so we give the appearance of a couple in love?” Kevin asked, smiling up at Mary.
“No.” Sean and Bradley said simultaneously.
Sean looked across the room to Bradley with a lifted eyebrow. Bradley merely shrugged.
“We need to get them settled and get going,” Sean said. “If you can’t fake it, I’ll have Bradley act as her husband and you can work back up with me.”
“I can do it,” Kevin said, shrugging. “But you can’t blame a guy for trying.”
He squeezed Mary’s knee. “We’ll be sure to take some time later to get reacquainted,” he offered.
Like hell. “So, Sean, where are Mary and I setting up?” Bradley asked, walking over to help Mary out of the chair.
“I’ve got you a couple of rooms at a place downtown,” Sean said. “Here’s the address. We’ll see you at four-thirty.”
Bradley nodded. “Great.”
After their good-byes, Sean, Kevin, Bradley and Mary walked to their respective cars. The snow was falling again, but this time the flakes were tiny glittering flecks. Mary turned and smiled at Bradley, her hair dusted with a frosty shimmer. “It’s like fairy dust,” she said.
“Great, just what we need, more magic,” he growled with a smile.
Laughing, she quickly turned and started to slip. Bradley quickly grabbed her arm and held her upright. “My hero,” she teased.
“Yeah, just don’t forget it,” he murmured.
“Excuse me?” Mary asked.
“I said ‘get in” so you’re out of the cold.”
Mary’s eyes sparkled up at him and she bit back a grin. “Sure you did.”
As he helped her into the car, he glanced over to Sean and Kevin, deep in conversation. Standing next to Kevin was the woman he had seen in the window and, as the snow fell through her, he could easily tell that she was a ghost. She was young, perhaps sixteen or seventeen. She looked like she was Hispanic - she had been a beautiful girl. Now her face was blue and her clothing was dripping wet. But, even more interesting to Bradley, was the fact that she was looking at Kevin like a woman in love.
Mary slipped her arm out of his grip and the woman faded away. “What?” she asked.
“I thought I saw something,” he said.
“Where?” she asked.
Bradley shook his head, the last thing Mary needed right now was another case to solve. He’d check into it later with Sean. “Never mind, it was nothing,” he said. “Let’s get downtown.”
He climbed in to the car and started it.
“What did you see?” she insisted.
Bradley pulled away from the curb, carefully navigating down the narrow street and then onto the highway entrance ramp. “I’ll tell you about it later,” he said. “How was your visit with your mom?”
“I know you’re trying to change the subject,” Mary said. “But that’s okay, because I wanted to talk to you about something my mom suggested.”
“I like your mom, by the way,” he said. “She’s a nice lady.”
Mary smiled. “Thanks, I think so too. My brothers and I are lucky.”
“So, what did she suggest?”
“She asked me about our trip in from Freeport and when I answered, I realized I didn’t have one sighting, nothing paranormal at all.”
“Is that normal?”
Mary shook her head. “No, I’ve never had a trip without seeing at least one ghost and usually much more,” she admitted. “This was certainly unusual.”
“Could it have been the snowstorm, you know barometric pressure?” he suggested.
“No, I’ve driven in snowstorms before.”
“Well, you weren’t driving, I was. Could that make a difference?”
“No, I’ve been a passenger and had sightings.”
“So, what are the other conditions that were unique for the drive this morning?”
“The only thing I can think of is you,” she said.
“Well, thanks, Mary, that is flattering and everything. But really, you should be thinking about what keeps the ghosts away.”
Mary laughed. “You…your presence was the only change from my other trips,” she said.
“So, you don’t only think about me?” he asked with mock despair.
She chuckled. “So, how do you chase my ghosts away, Bradley Alden?”
He shook his head. “Well, it’s obvious I don’t chase all the ghosts away, because they have come when I’ve been with you.”
Mary thought about it. “But they’ve been with me first. I don’t think I’ve had a ghost that isn’t already connected with me show up when you are around.”
“So, I’m the paranormal equivalent of bug repellent?”
She shook her head. “No, because they don’t run away when you come into the room. This is very interesting.”
“But at this point, it’s only a hypothesis,” he said. “We really don’t have any solid facts proving it. You’re just assuming I can ward them away because of one isolated situation. I think I’m going to need more proof before I’m convinced.”
He drove onto the exit ramp to Ohio Street, entering the outskirts of downtown Chicago.
“Well, we do have another case of ghosts not appearing,” she said. “The drive between my parents’ home and downtown. No specters on the horizon.”
“Could be the car,” Bradley suggested, “Perhaps something in the car is vibrating causing a spectrum of harmonic sound waves that repel ghosts.”
“Wow! You’re really exploring all the angles on this one,” she said.
Bradley turned and met her eyes for a moment. “Mary, this is about your safety,” he said. “Do you think I wouldn’t take that seriously?”
She was touched. “Okay, we have a little time, why don’t you pull over and let’s test it out,” Mary suggested.
“What do you mean?”
Mary shrugged. “I’ll get out of the car and walk for a while. See what happens,” she said. “Then after a block or so, you catch up to me and we see what happens.”
Bradley pondered her suggestion for a moment. “You said that once a ghost connects with you, it doesn’t matter if I’m there or not,” he pointed out. “So, how can we tell if it’s me? The ghosts will still be there.”
Shaking her head, Mary responded, “No, just seeing the ghosts doesn’t cause a connection. I have to acknowledge them. Say something to them. Interact in some way.”
“So, even if they know you can see them, they’re not connected with you, right?”
“Right.”
&nbs
p; Bradley turned right onto LaSalle and drove down a block and a half before he could find an open parking spot. “Okay,” he said. “You get out and start walking down the street and I’ll watch you for thirty seconds. Then I’ll follow you. Remember, no connections.”
Mary exited the SUV and closed the door firmly behind her. As soon as she stepped onto the street she began to see the strange “layering” of time periods as ghosts walked into her line of vision. The modern buildings faded out and were replaced with wide open prairies with an American Indian Scouting Party running by. That faded and Mary watched fur traders portaging their canoes as they headed to the shores of Lake Michigan. Soon they faded away to be replaced by cobbled streets and wooden tenement buildings. The acrid smell of smoke was heavy in the air and people were rushing around her with wooden buckets filled with water. Then a stylish flapper and her date strolled down the street until they surreptitiously slipped down a short flight of steps to a heavy wooden door. The gentleman knocked three times and a small window in the center of the door slid open. Moments later, the couple entered the speakeasy.