by Terri Reid
He smiled and nodded. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”
He opened the book and wrote the check, taking care not to touch the checkbook where she had. “There,” he said, handing it to her.”Is there anything else you need from us?”
The woman pulled out a few forms and requested their signatures, explaining the forms would be filed with the Secretary of State to insure the baby was legally theirs. Both Bradley and Mary filled out the forms as the Martins. In a few moments, the transaction was over.
“Once we have verified funds for your check, I’ll call and let you know where we can meet,” she said. “Do you have any questions?”
“Oh,” Mary gushed. “I brought a gift for him. Could you give it to him, from us?”
She pulled out a plush teddy-bear and handed it to the woman.
“That was very thoughtful,” the woman said, placing the stuffed animal in her bag. “I know he will love it. I’ll be in touch.”
She turned and walked out of the room. Mary once again turned herself into Bradley’s arms and was held close. “I wanted to scratch her eyes out,” Mary muttered.
Bradley laid his head on top of Mary’s. “That’s the kick-ass private investigator we all know and love,” he chuckled. “I was getting worried.”
“That I was going soft?” she asked.
“No, that you were going to lose it and take her out.”
She laughed softly. “Yeah, well thanks for letting me take out my frustrations on you,” she said. “Did I hurt you when I squeezed your arm?”
“I’ll never play the violin again,” he shrugged.
She looked up at him and raised one eyebrow. “But you never played it before, right?” she said.
He winked. “Caught me.”
He looked over her shoulder, through the open doorway and at the lobby one story below. “Looks like they are leaving.” he said, “but we should stand here for a few more minutes, just in case.”
“In case of what?” Mary asked, placing her head against his shoulder enjoying the solid strength of it.
In case I never get another reason to hold you like this, Bradley thought.
“In case they come back,” he said, tightening his hold on her.
“You two done hugging?” Joey asked.
Bradley looked over Mary’s shoulder to Joey and replied, “No, I’m not. Go away.”
Joey grinned. “I know you’re just teasing me, Chief Alden. So are we going to get Jeremy now?”
Mary regretfully slid out of Bradley’s arms and turned to Joey. “Well, we want to do this carefully so they still think we want Jeremy,” she said. “But we put a tracking device in a toy I gave her for Jeremy, so the police know where they are going.”
Joey smiled. “So, the police are going to crash in the door and grab Jeremy?”
Bradley, his hand on Mary’s shoulder, shook his head. “No, we want to catch all of the people who did this to Jeremy and to all of the other babies,” he said. “So we are going to watch their apartment and see who else is involved.”
“But, we should have Jeremy safely delivered to us this afternoon,” Mary added, “and then we can bring him back home to your mom.”
Joey smiled. “I knew you could do it,” he said. “I knew you would save Jeremy.”
“Well, he isn’t safe yet,” Bradley cautioned. “So we need you to stay close and let us know if anything changes. Okay?”
“Okay, I’ll let you know,” he said, then faded away.
“I love that little boy,” Mary said, rubbing a real tear from her face.
“Careful,” Bradley said. “You’re ruining your kick-ass reputation.”
She laughed. “I think my secret is safe with you.”
“Always,” he said, placing his arm over her shoulders and guiding her out of the gallery. “Always.”
*****
Chapter Eighteen
Sean met them at the hotel room. “It looks like everything is going as planned,” he said. “The GPS device is working fine. They are heading toward the River North District.”
“Great,” Mary said, offering Sean a soft drink from the refrigerator. “Now all we have to do is wait for the call and pick up Jeremy.”
“I feel like I’m in an episode on television,” Bradley said. “Nothing happens this fast in real life. It can take years to recover stolen infants.”
“Yes, it really helps when you have a guardian angel giving you information,” she said.
“Well, this is by no means over,” Sean said. “We’ve set a trace with the check you wrote back to any account they might use. We’ve got undercover officers located around the area, waiting for our signal. And we’re running the fingerprints we lifted from the checkbook to see if she has a record and any known accomplices.”
“You guys are right on top of things,” Bradley said.
“Thanks for your help on this, Sean,” Mary added.
He shrugged. “Hey, no big deal,” he said. “These creeps have slipped through our fingers enough times. If not for you and Joey, we wouldn’t be this close.”
They gathered around the sitting area, eating the lunch Sean provided, and waiting for the phone call from the Martins. “Where’s Kevin?” Mary asked.
“He’s at the station,” Sean said. “I’ve got his cell, so when this goes down, he can be there.”
Mary nodded and was about to speak when she caught something out of the corner of her eye. She reached over and grabbed Bradley’s hand, “Joey’s back.”
“Something’s wrong,” Joey cried. “Something’s really wrong. They’re gonna kill my brother.”
“Joey, tell us what happened,” Bradley said.
“They got a phone call and then they started screaming about a set-up,” he said. “They are packing up all their stuff.”
Mary turned to Sean. “The perps know they didn’t meet with the Martins. They are pulling out and are talking about killing Jeremy.”
“Okay, I’ll get my guys to close in,” he said, lifting his walkie-talkie and immediately connecting to the officers. “I want all patrols to close in now.”
He jumped up, “Come on, my car’s downstairs. We’ve tracked them to Kingsbury and Grand Avenue, that’s less than two miles away.”
Bradley and Mary grabbed their coats and ran after Sean. The squad car was parked at the curb; they jumped in and flew through traffic. As they neared their destination, Mary and Bradley watched out the windows for any sign of the couple while Sean maneuvered through the traffic. They barreled down Canal Street and turned onto the Grand Avenue Bridge. “Damn, I see them,” Bradley called. “Stop the car!”
Sean screeched to a halt, but Bradley was already jumping out of the squad car and racing down the stairs to the river walk below. Mary jumped out after him, her heart in her throat. It was clear they were planning to throw Jeremy into the freezing waters of the Chicago River.
Bradley took the stairs four at a time, his eyes fixed on the elderly couple fifty yards away who moved with determination towards the bank. Jeremy was screaming at the top of his lungs, which only made the couple more anxious to get rid of him.
“Stop! Police!” Bradley called, hoping they would drop Jeremy and run.
The man took the crying baby out of the woman’s arms, ran to the edge of the embankment and threw the baby into the choppy, freezing water. The couple turned and ran the other way. Bradley threw off his coat and dove into the river after the baby.
The freezing water hit his chest like a solid wall of ice. He lost his breath for a moment, but inhaled deeply and pressed on in the water. He could see the blue blanket bobbing up and down on the waves, but it was being carried downstream faster than he could swim. He felt his body begin to react to the cold, but he had no choice but to go on.
Suddenly, the baby stopped moving downstream, as if it were caught on something. Bradley allowed the current to pull him towards the baby and within moments, he had pulled the baby into his arms. He took a deep breath, wil
ling his body to move before hypothermia set further in, and pulled himself with one arm toward the bank.
Mary ran along the embankment carrying a life preserver she had pulled from one of the boxes along the river. “Bradley, I’m here,” she called, climbing down the metal casings to an old wooden dock extending into the river, “Just a few more feet!”
She leaned as far as she could and threw the life preserver toward them. Bradley grabbed it and secured his arm through it. “Mary,” he gasped, “I don’t have much more strength.”
“Just hold on and enjoy the ride,” she said, pulling against the current with all of her might, “Just a few more seconds.”
She pulled him alongside the dock and secured the rope to an old piling. She reached down; the water level was two feet below the dock. “I can’t pull you both up by myself,” she said.
“Mary, take the baby,” Bradley gasped, “then I can hold on with both hands until help comes.”
She reached down and grabbed the edges of the blanket and pulled Jeremy up on the dock. The baby was stiff and unresponsive. She unwrapped the baby from the blanket and wet clothes, opened her coat and enclosed his tiny frame next her body beneath her coat.
“Sean will be here in a moment,” she said, shivering in the cold, “He’s called for paramedics. We’ll get you out of there. Just hold on.”
“I… want… a… hot… bath,” Bradley stammered, his teeth chattering.
Mary nodded, tears filling her cheeks. “I’ll be sure you get one, in a Jacuzzi tub.”
He nodded and closed his eyes.
“Bradley,” Mary screamed. “Don’t you dare close your eyes! You stay awake, do you hear me?”
Bradley opened his eyes. “Yes…ma’am,” he stuttered, “Mary.,. tell…them…to…hurry.”
Mary could hear the sirens above them on the street level. She heard Sean’s voice calling to them to hurry and heard the rush of paramedics running across the pavement.
“They’re here,” she said. “Hold on for just another moment.”
She waited until the paramedics were at the dock. “Ma’am, I don’t know if this dock is going to hold all of our weight combined,” the first one called to her. “Why you don’t you bring the baby over here and we’ll come down and get your friend.”
She turned to Bradley. “I’ll be waiting for you on the dock,’ she said. “Keep holding on.”
He nodded and Mary could see that he was too weak to do anything else. She ran to the edge of the dock, handing the baby up to another paramedic. She started to climb back up to the embankment when she heard the shot.
She screamed.
Bradley looked at her with astonishment as his shoulder blossomed in bright red blood. His head fell back, his arms slipped out of the life preserver and he floated downstream.
*****
Chapter Nineteen
He watched as he floated away from the dock.
I’m going to die.
He saw Mary run back to the edge of the dock, pointing to him.
Mary. Damn, I never had a chance to kiss her.
He tried to focus, but his eyesight was getting blurry.
I can’t kiss Mary; I have to find Jeannine first.
Jeannine? Was that Jeannine standing next to Mary on the dock? He tried to shake his head to clear it, but couldn’t.
I’m hallucinating.
I wonder if you always hallucinate before you die.
I’ll have to ask one of Mary’s friends.
Crap, maybe I’ll end up being one of Mary’s friends.
He could barely keep his eyes open and his shoulder hurt like hell. This was not the way it was supposed to end. He suddenly realized that he wasn’t moving downstream any longer and his head was staying above water.
Wow, I’ve got powers that I haven’t even begun to tap. Must be mind over matter.
Then he smelled it…wet dog.
No, really? The dog is saving me? Good dog!
He recognized the pull on his shirt was not the drag of the water. The ghost dog had him by the collar and was saving his life. He remembered how Jeremy had stopped in the middle of the river too.
Damn, this is a great dog!
Over the crests of the waves, he could see a bunch of emergency guys in an inflatable raft coming towards him. As long as the dog’s jaws held, he’d be getting a second chance. He tried to wave to them, but his arms weren’t working. Actually, nothing seemed to be working. Even his eyes seemed to be getting a little blurry.
Please dog, hold on.
Then there was darkness.
Beep…beep…beep…beep
The incessant tone of the monitor seemed to mesh with Mary’s heartbeat. Sitting in a chair next to the bed where his unconscious body lay in the ICU at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, she tightened her grip on Bradley’s limp hand. The warming blankets left his shoulders, head and arms exposed; the purple and brown bruising setting off the stark white of the bandage on his right shoulder. She lifted his hand to her lips and pressed a kiss on his palm.
The door opened and Sean walked in. He looked exhausted. The past twenty-four hours since they pulled Bradley from the river had not been easy on any of them.
“How’s he doing?” he asked, leaning against the doorway.
Mary shrugged and she fought the tears filling her eyes. “No change,” she said, “the doctor said that the bullet wound was clean, it didn’t hit any internal organs or bones. And the…the hypothermia actually helped because…because there was less blood.”
Sean nodded.
“They’re worried about infection, of course, because… it is the Chicago River,” she added, shuddering with each statement. “And they don’t know…they’re not sure…with his heart beat slowed for so long…”
She lifted his hand back up to her lips and held it there for a moment, oblivious to the tears streaming down her face. “We won’t know about brain damage until he wakes up,” she finished.
Sean walked across the room and put his arms around his sister. “He’s strong,” he said, “He’s going to be fine.”
Mary nodded through her tears. “Yeah,” she sniffed. “He has to be.”
“I know how much you hate hospitals, do you want me to watch him for a while so you can take a break?”
Mary shook her head. “No, I have to be here. In case…”
Sean hugged her. “Don’t you think he’d find you and say good-bye, no matter where you were? Not that I believe he’s going to die.”
Mary nodded. “Yes, he would, if he could,” she said, “but I still have to be here.”
“Hey, Bradley, don’t you think you’ve spent enough time lying around?” he asked. “There’s a family in Pediatrics that wants to meet the man that saved Jeremy’s life.”
He leaned forward over the bed.
“What’s that you said? Yeah, I know he was mostly saved because of my amazing driving ability,” he continued, “but, being the modest fellow I am, I had to share the credit with you.”
Mary smiled weakly, “Well, that was big of you Sean,” she said. “Bradley, you really have to get up and stop him from taking all the credit.”
Sean smiled at her. “Jeremy is responding well to the treatment,” he said. “Another mixed blessing; the cold water prevented him from drowning.”
“It’s a strange world we live in,” Mary said, “You never know where a blessing will come from.”
Sean nodded. “We don’t have any leads on the shooter yet,” he said. “The bullet could have come from anywhere.”
“Hey, how’s the big guy doing?” Kevin asked as he entered the hospital room.
“It’s still too early to tell,” Mary said.
“Well, let him know that we caught the couple and they are singing like canaries over at the station,” he said. “They don’t want to be tied to a cop’s death.”
Mary gasped.
“Oh, Mary, sorry,” he said. “Listen, he’s not going to die. He’s going to be fine. R
eally.”
She nodded and wiped her face with a tissue.
“Hey, listen, how about you let Sean watch over the psychic and I’ll take you to get something to eat,” he offered.
“That’s okay,” she said. “I need to stay here.”
She looked up and saw the young girl still hovering behind Kevin. Obviously Bradley didn’t chase away ghosts when he was unconscious.