by Terri Reid
They got Bradley into the car and Angela waved at Tom as they drove off. “Well, that was certainly a frightening moment,” she said. “But now there are no more obstacles and you, my dear Police Chief Bradley Alden, are coming home with me.”
Bradley shook his head.
“Oh, darling,” she laughed, “you’re fighting spirit is just one of the reasons I fell in love with you.”
She reached over and ran her hand up his arm. “That and your handsome body,” she whispered. “We are going to have so much fun together.”
She drove to her home and parked her car at the far end of the driveway, behind her house. Opening his door, she half-dragged Bradley out of the car and laid him on a plastic toboggan. She pulled him through the snow to a small ground-level door.
“This used to be the Coal Shoot, darling,” she said, to the now-unconscious Bradley. “But, I found it very helpful for all kinds of deliveries.”
The toboggan slid slowly down the 45 degree angle, Angela using a sturdy rope to control the rate of descent. Finally, it slid to a stop on the basement floor. “I’ll be down in a moment, darling,” she called, “I can’t wait until you meet daddy.”
Chapter 36
The bell over the door to Rosie’s Real Estate office jingled and Rosie looked up from her computer screen. “Stanley? What’s up?”
Stanley walked over to her desk and nodded at the screen. “You got something important going on?” he asked.
“No, I’m just answering e-mails,” she said, “It’s pretty quiet during the week between Christmas and New Year’s.”
Stanley sat on the chair next to her desk. “Did you get a call from Bradley?”
Rosie shook her head. “No, I thought he must have called you.”
“No, and that don’t sit right with me,” he said. “He’d of called if they were admitting him, wouldn’t he?”
She thought about it for a moment. “Well, he’s a fairly private man,” she said. “But he’d know we’d worry. So, yes, I believe he would call.”
“And if Mary went and got him, she’d call, right?”
“Well, of course, our Mary’s not one to leave us high and dry,” she said. “She’d call us right away.”
“Yep, I agree,” he said. “So something’s up.”
“Yes, something’s up.”
“My car or your car?” Stanley asked.
“Your car is closer,” she answered, grabbing her purse and her coat, keys in hand.
On the way to the hospital, Rosie tried calling Mary. “She’s not answering,” she said. “That’s not like her, especially with Bradley so sick.”
“Could be she’s out of cell range,” he said. “There are a couple places out in the country where you don’t even get one bar.”
“Yes, I know, like Orangeville.”
Stanley turned to her. “Orangeville?” he asked, his eyebrows rising to his hairline. “You don’t think she’d do something stupid like go out there again by herself?”
“Well, of course she would,” Rosie said. “That’s her job.”
Pulling the car over Stanley put his elbows on the steering wheel and put his head in his hands. “It’s like having teenagers all over again,” he groaned.
“We could call the hospital and see if Bradley is still there, then we could drive out to Orangeville,” Rosie suggested.
Nodding, he turned back to her. “You are a smart cookie sometimes,” he said.
Acquainted with some of the ladies who volunteer at the reception desk, Rosie called there first. “Why yes,” her friend, Nellie, responded. “I saw the Chief being wheeled out of here about two hours ago. A lovely young lady helped him. They even stopped and chatted with the officer on duty.”
“Thanks, Nellie,” Rosie said. “You helped us solve a mystery.
Rosie relayed the information to Stanley. “Well, it must have been Mary,” he concluded. “Maybe those two young people decided they needed a little alone time.”
Smiling, Rosie nodded, “That’s probably it,” she agreed. “Pretty silly of us to worry.”
“Naw, it’s because we’re friends, good friends, and it’s what we do.”
Reaching over and placing her hand on Stanley’s, Rosie smiled, “You’re right, Stanley, that’s what friends do.”
Chapter 37
Mary woke to someone calling her name.
“Mary, wake up. Come on Mary, you can get your beauty sleep later.”
She opened her eyes and found herself staring at a translucent Jeannine. “I really need you,” Jeannine said.
Mary looked around. She was in the loft of a barn, sun filtering between the wood panels on the roof. She was against a wall, with tall stacks of hay encasing her in a small room between her and any exit. She looked down to see her hands and feet were tied with thick rope.
“Excuse me,” she said. “I hate to state the obvious, but I’m a little tied up here.”
“Mary, she has him,” Jeannine said. “Angela has Bradley at her house.”
“Well, damn,” she swore, looking around the floor, “Well, help me find something to cut these ropes.”
“Mary, you know I can’t...”
“Yes,” Mary interrupted. “But we both know that you sometimes fudge the rules and if there were ever a time for fudging - now would be it.”
Jeannine faded away. “Well, thanks for nothing,” Mary called, dropping her head back against the wall.
The wood panel cracked beneath the pressure. “What the...”
She scooted around on the floor to face the wall. Most of the walls in the loft were exposed vertical two by fours, but this section behind her was covered with about four feet of wide horizontal boards. She saw the hairline crack she caused. “Where’s there’s boards, there’s nails,” she said.
She angled herself so she was sitting alongside the wall. Then with all her might, she threw her weight against the board. Another crack. She repeated the process and the board split.
Mary maneuvered her tied wrists behind the board, placed her feet against the wall for leverage and pulled. The board pulled free and Mary heard a clattering sound as she fell back. She sat up and saw a collection of human bones on the floor next to her feet.
“You found me.”
Mary looked around to see Shirley Thompson, the ghost from the cemetery, hovering next to her. “These are your bones?”
Shirley nodded. “They sealed me in here,” she said.
“They told everyone I left my boys; I would have never left my boys.”
“Did your husband put you in here?” Mary asked.
“Yes,” she said. “My husband and Luke. He made Luke help him. Made Luke lie to the others.”
Shirley flew around the area. “Now what did they do with my luggage,” she said, searching the rafters. “They must have hid them somewhere in here.”
While Shirley searched, Mary found a jagged nail in the wall and cut through the ropes on her hands. She leaned over and untied her feet.
“Shirley, which way out?” she called.
Shirley pointed to the left.
Mary began climbing up the hay. Each forty foot stack was comprised of rectangular bales about four feet wide and two feet high, wrapped in a rough twine. Mary began her climb, sticking her feet between the bales and grasping the twine to pull herself up. When she reached about twenty feet, she rested one foot on a support beam on the wall. Her hands were cut and bleeding, her body hurt and she was just plain tired. Then she heard the voices.
“Luke, I can tell you’re lying again,” one male voice said. “What the hell is going on here?”
“Nothing,” Luke said. “Just go back into town and I’ll handle things.”
Shirley flew by. “My boys,” she said. “My boys are arguing.”
“Did Paul know anything about your death?” Mary asked,
Shaking her head, Shirley perched near Mary. “No, he was just a toddler. He had no idea.”
“So, Paul didn’t k
ill Peggy, did he?”
“No, it was Luke. Paul doesn’t know, Luke was blackmailing Peggy so she didn’t tell Paul.”
“What in the world did Luke have on Peggy?”
“Peggy’s family had some black sheep that Luke discovered through his work at the hospital,” Shirley said. “He hadn’t wanted Paul to get married in the first place, so when he discovered she hadn’t been totally honest with Paul, he started hitting her.”
“And it got worse, the more she allowed it,” Mary guessed.
She pulled herself up and started climbing again. “Well, come on, I need to get out of here.”
The arguing continued outside as Mary climbed another ten feet. About thirty-five feet above the floor, the stack started to shift. “Crap!” Mary called.
Frantically looking around, she saw a small loft about a foot above her against the wall. As the stack started to crumble beneath her, she dove for the loft. She grasped hold of one of the support beams and pulled herself up.
The small four by four platform was covered in dust and cobwebs, but in the corner against the wall was a suitcase and a small steamer trunk. “You found my things,” Shirley said. “He must have hidden them up here because we never get a hay harvest that reaches this loft.”
“Fine, Luke, I’m leaving,” Paul was yelling. “But you had better clean up this mess before I get back. You shouldn’t be sleeping with another man’s wife no matter how willing she might be.”
“Oh, gross,” Mary said, “He told Paul we were sleeping together.”
She turned to the ghost. “We need to stop Paul, now.”
Shirley turned to her and nodded. “It’s time Paul learned the truth. Hold on, Mary.”
The wooden siding on the outside of the barn began to tremble as if a tornado had caught the barn in its grasp. Boards were ripped from the side of the barn and went flying into the barnyard.
“What the hell?” Mary heard Paul yell.
Like a giant wave, the boards pulled off the barn in succession, one after the other until they reached the loft Mary was perched on. The boards flew off and then stopped.
“Do you think I got their attention?” Shirley giggled.
Mary nodded, “Oh, yeah, that did the trick.”
Mary watched Shirley shove the suitcase and trunk off the loft and let them hurtle to the ground below. She moved to the edge of the platform. The luggage had fallen on top of the boards and split open, Shirley’s clothes scattered out.
“What the hell is this?” Paul asked, picking up a dress.
Luke pulled it away from Paul, “Nothing, it’s nothing. Get out of here, Paul.”
Paul picked up another dress. “I remember this,” he said. “I remember Mom wearing this.”
Luke grabbed it. “No, you’re wrong,” he screamed. “She left us. This is not hers.”
“How about this trunk?” Paul asked, picking up the small steamer. “I remember this. It was on Mom’s dresser. Luke, what’s going on? Dad told us Mom took these with her.”
“You were too young,” Luke said. “You don’t remember. She was bad. She was evil. She didn’t love us.”
Paul shook his head. “I remember her,” he said. “She was loving, tender and kind. I loved her. I could never understand why she would leave without taking us with her.”
“Well, she did,” Luke said. “And there’s nothing we can do to change things.”
Mary leaned out over the edge of the building. “He’s lying, Paul,” Mary called. “He’s lied to you all of your life.”
“Shut the hell up,” Luke screamed. “Just shut the hell up.”
“Why Luke? You don’t want me to tell your brother that while I was trying to escape from you murdering me, I found your mother’s bones sealed up inside this barn?”
“Or maybe you don’t want me to tell your brother that you killed his wife when you found out she was pregnant?”
“How did you know...,” Luke gasped.
“You killed Peggy?” Paul asked, astonished. “You killed my wife?”
“I did it for you,” Luke cried, “She would have left you, just like mom.”
“Your mom never left, Luke,” Mary called. “Your father killed her and made you help him cover it up. She loved you. She would have never left either of you.”
“She didn’t love us,” Luke pleaded. “Dad told me, she never cared for us.”
“He lied to you, Luke,” Mary said. “He lied to you and he made a little boy betray his mother.”
“You killed Peggy?” Paul repeated, disbelief turning to anger. “You killed my wife? You killed my baby?”
Paul grabbed his brother by the front of his coat and lifted him from the ground. “You killed her,” he said, tears streaming down his face. “I loved her.”
He started shaking Luke and tightening his grip on the collar of his coat. “You killed her,” he repeated, while Luke struggled against the strangle hold.
“Paul,” Mary called, watching Luke’s face turn red. “Paul, let him go.”
Mary looked around and saw a ladder built into the side of the barn, a foot from the platform. She crawled to the edge of the platform and swung over to the ladder.
“Paul,” she yelled again, as she climbed down. “Paul, don’t kill your brother.”
Mary ran the few feet between the barn and Paul and grabbed on to his arm. “Neither Peggy or your Mother would want you to do this to your brother,” she said. “Paul, let go.”
Paul shook his head, as if he finally realized what he was doing. He immediately loosened his grip and Luke fell to the ground. “Oh, no, did I...”
Mary knelt down next to Luke and felt for his pulse. “No, he’s not dead,” she said. “Just unconscious.”
Paul sat down on the ground and sobbed. “Peggy. Peggy, I’m so sorry.”
“Paul, Peggy loved you too,” she said. “She never blamed you. She was excited about the baby. She knew you would be too.”
He lifted his tear-stained face up. “Where...where did he put her?”
“He buried her in your trash dump,” she said. “I put an old kitchen table over the spot I think he buried her.”
“You? How did you?” he asked.
“I’ll tell you about it, I promise,” she said. “But right now, I need to go help a friend. I’ll call 911 and send someone here to help you.”
He nodded and placed his head back in his hands.
Mary ran to the SUV and grabbed her phone.
“Don’t send the police in,” Jeannine said, before Mary could dial.
“Why not?”
“She’ll kill him,” she said.
Mary shook her head, “She couldn’t get away with it,” she argued.
“He’s been sick. He called her to pick him up,” Jeannine said. “And he died while she was taking care of him. She’s free and clear.”
“Damn, you’re right,” Mary agreed. “I just hope I can get there fast enough.”
Mary turned the SUV around and caught a glimpse of both Shirley and Peggy surrounding Paul; she hoped that he could feel some of the supernatural comfort being offered.
Putting the SUV in four-wheel drive, Mary sped down the gravel roads. Once she reached Highway 26, she was able to take one hand off the wheel and call 911, asking for a Sheriff’s Deputy to go to the Thompson Farm. Then she pressed her foot on the accelerator and sped toward Freeport.
Chapter 38
Something smells bad, Bradley thought once he began to regain consciousness. He sniffed the air again. Like something died. He slowly opened his eyes and tried to look around his surroundings. At first everything was blurry. Probably the after-effects of the drug. Then things started to clear up. The fuzzy item positioned a couple feet in front of him began to slowly come into focus.
Is that a leather jacket?
Is that a Halloween decoration?
He leaned forward to get a better look and suddenly his vision cleared, leaving him less than a foot from the mummified corpse. “W
hat the hell,” Bradley yelled, pushing back in his chair.
The chair skidded back and crashed against the wall behind him. He found, that like his neighbor the corpse, he was strapped to his chair too.
“Oh, Bradley, you’re awake.”
Angela’s voice had him quickly turning his head to the left, watching her enter the small room through a makeshift door.
“And I see you’ve met Daddy,” she continued with a sweet smile. “Daddy’s been looking forward to meeting you.”
“Angela, your father is dead,” Bradley said, trying to remain calm, but not willing to be pulled into her fantasy world.
“Bradley, it’s not polite to bring something like that up on a girl’s wedding day,” she replied tartly. “And you haven’t even commented on how you like my dress.”
Angela was dressed in a full-length wedding gown, carrying a bouquet of red roses, her hair was pulled back and piled on top of her head and she was wearing a veil.
“You’re getting married?” he asked.
She giggled, but he heard the sharp edge underneath it. “We’re getting married,” she replied firmly. “This is our wedding day, Bradley dearest.”
She walked over to him and ran her fingers through his hair. “I know you’ve wanted me for as long as I’ve wanted you,” she said. “And soon our wait will be over.”
She leaned down and placed a kiss on his lips. Bradley tried to pull away, but the straps around his head, shoulders, arms, waist and legs held him tightly to the chair.
He twisted his head to end the kiss. “Angela, I can’t marry you,” he said. “I’m already married.”
“I don’t believe you,” she said, straightening up and crossing her arms over her chest. “I’ve never seen your wife. Besides, you were hugging Mary O’Reilly.”
“My wife disappeared years ago, after our house was broken into,” he explained. “I’ve spent years searching for her. I just haven’t found her yet.”
“And Mary?” Angela asked.
“Well, Mary and I worked together and we fell in love,” he explained honestly, hoping that would dampen Angela’s desires. “But we both realize that nothing can happen until I find Jeannine.”
