Deadly Circumstances

by Terri Reid

  Bradley nodded, but said nothing.

  She was about to take another deep breath, but stopped herself.

  “We knew we had to get some evidence…” she began.

  “I’m not going to like this, right?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “No, you’re not,” she said. “We went to the first guy’s house. Margo was actually able to get a neighbor to let her in, so it wasn’t really breaking in. But, really, we don’t think he’s a suspect anymore.”

  “Well, that’s a relief,” Bradley said.

  “You’re being sarcastic, right?” Mary asked.

  Bradley nodded. “Continue,” he suggested.

  “Okay, well, while Stanley took the second guy out for lunch, we went into his house to search it.”

  “You do understand that’s breaking and entering,” he said, his voice tight.

  “Well, the door was unlocked, so we didn’t have to break,” she said quickly. “And he told Rosie she could drop by any time, so it wasn’t exactly entering.”

  He stared at her for a long moment. “Rosie made that up, right?”

  She nodded again.

  He closed his eyes and shook his head. “Okay, what else?”

  “We looked on his computer and found that he’d been researching how to cut brake lines and the schematic of the Koch’s car just before they had their accident,” she said quickly.

  “So, he probably did do it,” Bradley said.

  “But we also know everything is circumstantial, and even though the car hasn’t been destroyed, the evidence of a bad brake line probably is gone. No one actually thinks a crime was committed,” she said.

  “I’m not going to like this either, right?” he asked.

  This time she smiled and shook her head. “Actually, it’s not as bad as the first thing,” she said.

  “What?” he asked.

  “We want to do a séance,” she said, and before he could disagree she added, “Not a real séance. A fake one. But the Kochs will be there giving me information. We want to scare Butch into confessing. And, we could invite Eddie and see if he confesses, too.”

  “Kind of like a party,” he said.

  “You’re being sarcastic again, right?”

  He nodded slowly. “And you want to sit across the table from a murderer and pressure him until he snaps,” he said. “Right?”

  “Well, when you put it that way, it doesn’t sound nearly as good as I want to wear a wire and I want you in the other room waiting to hear his confession,” she said.

  “Whose house?” he asked.

  “Rosie and Stanley’s,” Mary replied.

  “When?”

  “Tonight,” she said.

  “Why tonight?” he asked.

  “Because Margo is a huge part of this, and she has to leave tomorrow,” Mary said. “Margo is the one who told Butch that the Kochs were her friends.”

  He sighed slowly and nodded. “Okay, tell them to invite him over at seven,” he said. “We should get there by six and set things up.”

  “Thank you,” she replied.

  “You just have to promise me one thing,” he said.

  She nodded.

  “Don’t do anything that will put you or Mikey in jeopardy, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said. “I won’t.”

  “And if I think things are headed in the wrong direction, I have full veto power over the entire thing,” he said.

  She nodded. “That’s fair.”

  He sighed. “Okay, let the Brennans know we might not be able to come by tonight.”

  “I will,” she said, pushing herself out of the chair. “Thank you.”

  He stood and pulled her into his arms. “You’re going to drive me crazy,” he said, kissing her.

  “But you’ll never be bored,” she whispered, kissing him back.

  “No,” he said against her lips. “I’ll never be bored.”

  Chapter Forty-three

  Shivering, Mary let herself into the empty house and hurried to the thermostat to turn it up. The temperature was dropping rapidly, and the forecaster was predicting record-breaking temperatures before the end of the day. Slipping off her coat, she hung it up and then walked into the middle of her living room. She needed to get in touch with the Kochs so they would know about the fake séance, and she hoped they would respond to her calling out—the way they did last time.

  “Hello,” she called. “Hello. Can you hear me?”

  She waited for a moment, looking around the room, and then she tried again. “Hello. I need to talk to you.”

  “I’m here.”

  Mary’s heart dropped. She slowly turned around to face Julie.

  “Hello Julie,” Mary said.

  The ghost glided across the room to stand directly in front of Mary. “I don’t like you,” she said.

  Mary shook her head. “You don’t know me,” she replied.

  “You’re like those other girls who steal boyfriends,” she said.

  Mary shook her head. “No, that’s not me,” she said. “I was one of those girls who didn’t have a boyfriend because I had three big brothers.”

  Julie studied her. “Do you know what it’s like to be me?” she asked, her voice brittle. “Do you know what it’s like to wait for your destiny?”

  “Julie, listen…” Mary began.

  “No!” Julie shouted. “You listen to me. He’s mine.”

  A cold wind whipped through the house and knocked Mary backwards. She stumbled but caught herself before she fell. “Stop it,” she yelled back.

  The wind blew again, pushing Mary across the room. She grabbed hold of the back of a chair, but the next gale ripped her away from the furniture towards the kitchen. She grabbed for the counter, but she was being pummeled over and over again with freezing cold winds. Her fingers were numb, and she was shivering. “Julie, stop,” she cried. “Please stop!”

  The basement door flew open, and Mary felt a panic unlike she’d ever felt before. “Please, Julie, don’t do this,” she cried. “Please don’t hurt my baby.”

  The force of the wind increased. Mary’s hair blew in her face, blinding her. She wrapped her arms around the pillar that stood between the countertop and the cabinet. “No,” she screamed. “Mike help me!”

  She was slipping, and there was nothing she could do. “Please God,” she prayed. “Please help me.”

  Digging her fingers into the wood, she tried to hold on. She felt another burst of wind, and she wrapped her arms more tightly around the pillar, holding on for dear life. The sub-zero temperatures made her skin burn, and the wind felt like sandpaper against her face. The wind hit again, and she heard the crack of the wood of the pillar give way. “No,” she cried, desperately searching for something else to hold onto. “No, please.”

  An enormous blast of frigid wind ripped the pillar from its moorings, and Mary flew across the room. Knowing she was going to hit the wall, she was able to pivot so her back took the impact of the wall.

  The impact knocked the breath out of her, and she fell to the ground, gasping. Then, suddenly, she was sliding across the floor towards the open basement door. She pushed her hands out in front of her to stop, but her hands were too numb and the pressure too great.

  “No!” she screamed.

  The basement stairs loomed dark and steep. She closed her eyes and screamed as the wind swept her through the doorway. She waited for the first hit, tensed for it, but nothing came. She opened her eyes and cried in relief when she saw Mike.

  “I got you babe,” Mike said as he enveloped her in his arms and carried her down the stairs, laying her on a piece of old carpet near the furnace.

  Shivering and crying, her teeth rattling, she couldn’t speak. “My…my…my…” she stammered.

  “He’s fine,” Mike said to her. “Mikey’s fine.”

  Tears of relief coursed down her cheeks, and exhausted, she collapsed against the carpet, her body still shaking from the cold.

  “Come on,
sweetheart,” Mike said. “You can’t sleep. You need to get warm.”

  “So…so…cold,” she stammered, her eyes drifting closed.

  Mike looked down at her and shook his head. “Forget the rules,” he whispered.

  He knelt down, picked her back up into his arms and whispered something Mary was too far gone to understand.

  The fog started to clear. The cold began to thaw, and Mary almost immediately began to feel warmer, as if the heat was surrounding her from both the inside and the outside. Her shivering stopped. The fear was gone, being replaced by an overwhelming feeling of well-being and peace. She opened her eyes in wonder. “What?”

  “God’s warmth,” Mike whispered.

  “I feel amazing,” she said.

  He smiled down at her. “Yeah, it does that,” he said.

  He gently placed her on her feet. “Can you stand on your own?”

  She stood and did a quick assessment. “I can not only stand,” she said. “I feel like I could run a marathon.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and just held her for a moment. “I’m so sorry,” he said.

  “What? Why?” she asked.

  “I brought her here,” he said. “I asked you to go to the reunion. I didn’t come when you called.”

  “But you came when I needed you,” Mary insisted. “You came and you saved me. You’re not responsible for her actions.”

  He stepped away from her. “She could have killed you,” he said. “She doesn’t deserve your help. I’m sending her away.”

  He started to move away, and she placed her hand on his shoulder, stopping him. “How did that happen?” she asked, knowing that her hand should have gone through him.

  He shrugged. “A little residual effect from the warmth,” he said.

  “Okay, listen to me,” she said. “I don’t like what she did. I don’t know why she’s filled with hate. But, I’m not going to let her choices affect me. I’m not going to hate. I’m not going to be angry. I’m not going to stop being who I am and doing what I do. I won’t let her change me.”

  “But Mary,” he started to argue. “Once Bradley—”

  “Oh, no,” she said. “Bradley will not find out about this.”

  “Mary,” Mike said.

  “Mike,” she interrupted. “This is our secret. At least for now. Okay? Please?”

  With a frustrated sigh, he nodded. “Okay,” he said. “For now. So, what’s next?”

  “We go upstairs,” she said.

  “But she’s still up there,” Mike said.

  Mary took a deep breath and smiled. “For some reason, I feel like I can handle her this time.”

  Chapter Forty-four

  Mary climbed up the stairs and stepped into the kitchen. She looked around and saw Julie standing on the other side of the counter. The ghost’s eyes glossed over, and she waved her arms to generate more wind. But Mary turned to her and shook her head. “No,” she said, lifting her arms defensively. “Not this time.”

  Suddenly, the ghost flew backwards, a shocked look on her face. “What did you do?” she screamed.

  Mary looked down at her hands and then over at the ghost. “Just this,” she said, repeating the same defensive gesture. Pure energy flowed from Mary’s hands, knocking the ghost across the room. Mary grinned. “I really like residual effects,” she said quietly.

  For the first time since Mary met her, Julie actually looked frightened. A remnant of a young, frightened girl manifested itself. “Please don’t hurt me,” she pleaded. “I’m sorry. I won’t try and hurt you again.”

  Mary studied her for a moment and realized this show of strength was the one thing that had finally reached her. Well, she wasn’t going to back down now.

  “I’ve been patient with you for as long as I can,” Mary said firmly. “But now it’s time to show you that I mean business. Do you understand?”

  Julie nodded quickly. “Yes. Yes, I understand.”

  “Good. Now, I want you to be back here tomorrow night,” Mary said. “If you come tomorrow, you won’t have to worry about me hurting you. Is that a deal?”

  Julie nodded. “Yes, it’s a deal,” she said.

  “Don’t make me come and find you,” Mary threatened easily.

  “No! No, I’ll be back here,” Julie promised anxiously.

  “You can go now,” Mary said and was delighted when the ghost faded away at her request.

  Mike appeared next to her. “You handled that well,” he said.

  Mary looked down at her hands and then up at Mike. “Am I like an X-Man now?” she asked. “Do I have mutant powers?”

  He chuckled despite himself and shook his head. “No, I can assure you this is just temporary,” he said.

  She grinned. “How long is temporary?” she asked.

  “Mary,” he said, trying to be serious. “Don’t get carried away.”

  She shook her head. “No, of course not,” she said. “Me? Get carried away? That would never happen.”

  She paused, considered the powers for a moment, and then looked at him. “Can I levitate things?”

  “Mary,” he warned.

  She smiled. “Just kidding,” she said. “But I do need to invite Eddie to the fake séance tonight. Do you think you could track down Frasier and Shirley and make sure they attend?”

  “Yeah, I can do that,” he said. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  She smiled at him and nodded. “Really, I haven’t felt this good for a long time,” she said. “And I really hope when this wears off I don’t suddenly feel everything it’s been masking.”

  He shook his head. “It doesn’t mask anything,” he said. “It heals. It won’t just wear off; the effects will just slowly dissipate.”

  She placed her hand on his shoulder, delighted she could still feel him. “I don’t know if I thanked you,” she said. “I have a feeling what you did went a little above and beyond your usual duties.”

  He smiled and shrugged. “Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.”

  “I am more grateful than you could know for what you did,” she replied seriously. “I know you saved Mikey and me.”

  He placed his hand over hers, and she could feel the power inside her intensify. “We’re family,” he said. “Sometimes you’re born into a family and sometimes you get adopted into one. I’m grateful to be part of yours.”

  “Same here,” she said.

  He released her hand and stepped back. “Okay, I’ll go find Shirley and Frasier,” he said. “And I’ll be at the séance, too.”

  “Thanks, Mike,” she said. “For everything.”

  Chapter Forty-five

  She drove over to Eddie’s shop, occasionally glancing down at the clock as she went. It was nearly closing time, and she wanted to be sure and catch him before he went home. As luck would have it, he was just locking the door when Mary pulled up in front of his business.

  “Eddie. Hi,” she called as she pushed herself out of her car. “I’m Mary O’Reilly. We met a couple of days ago.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I remember you,” he said. “How are you doing?”

  “Great,” she said with a smile. “I’m great. But I’ve had some developments on your parents’ case.”

  His smile dropped, and he shook his head. “I really don’t think they were murdered,” he said. “Dad was upset. He was probably driving too fast for conditions. That’s all it was. People just die sometimes; it doesn’t have to be a big mystery.”

  “Actually, I know they were murdered,” she said. “And I really need your help to discover who the murderer is.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of work to do. And I don’t think I’d be of much help.”

  “I really need you,” Mary said. “Tonight.”

  He put his keys in his pocket and started walking towards his car. “Tonight? What’s tonight?”

  “We’re, um, we’re having a séance,” she said.

  He stared at her for a mo
ment. “Are you kidding me?” he asked. “What kind of crazy, woo-woo operation do you have? A séance?”

  “We feel it’s the only way your parents will be able to let us know about their murderer,” she said. “I really don’t like to resort to séances, but this time it is the right thing to do.”

  “Yeah, well, no thanks,” he said adamantly. “You can count me out. This is just crazy and, quite frankly, not something either of my parents would have wanted to do.”

  Mary nodded. “I understand that,” she argued. “But it’s really important…”

  Reaching his car, he unlocked it remotely and opened the door. “Sorry,” he said. “But my answer is final and it’s no.”

  Mary reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder to stop him from getting into the car. “But…”

  She stopped when she saw the surprised look on his face and a change come over him. He took a deep breath and smiled at her. “When did you want me to be there?” he asked.

  “At seven,” she said, pulling a notecard out of her pocket. “And here’s the address.”

  He glanced down at the card and smiled. “Yeah, I know where this is,” he said, nodding. “Okay, I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

  He slipped into his car, turned it on and drove away. Mary stood at the curb for a moment, watching his car drive down the block. Once he was out of sight, she looked down at her hands again, turned them over and shook her head in awe. Then she grinned and lifted one hand up and made a slight sweeping motion. “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.”

  She chuckled and took a deep breath. “This is awesome.”

  Chapter Forty-six

  “This has never happened to me before,” Bradley said as he repositioned Mary’s wire again. “I’m getting nothing but static.”

  “Maybe it’s a pregnancy thing?” Mary suggested.

  “Yeah, or maybe it’s your special powers,” Bradley said, shaking his head.

  “What do you mean?” Mary asked, surprised.