“Help me with the ice bucket, please,” Ellen said.
Joyce pointed at the beer bottle and said, “Don’t go anywhere, I’ll be right back.
Ruth and Alice were arguing over whether the banner Leonard was hanging up was straight or not.
Vicky’s cellphone played Aidan’s ringtone, an Irish jig, and she quickly pulled it from her jeans pocket. “Quiet everyone!” she demanded, then spoke calmly into the phone. “Honey, were are you?”
“Hey, baby. We finally finished so I’m on my way home. Should be there in about twenty minutes.”
Vicky grinned. “Oh, I’m so glad. Bring Jerry with you and I’ll fix you both a bit to eat.”
“Roger that, but nothing elaborate, okay, kid?”
“No problem. Hurry home, honey, but please be careful, all right?”
“I will. I love you.”
“I love you too, sweetheart.” Vicky ended the call and looked at her friends. “Twenty minutes, people! Let’s hurry!”
Twenty minutes later, Aidan and Jerry walked into her darkened apartment. Aidan immediately drew her weapon from its holster. She knew Vicky was expecting her and Jerry, so there was no reason for the room to be dark, unless there was something wrong. She felt for the light switch and flipped it on.
“Surprise!” everyone jumped up and yelled at once.
Aidan stood frozen in place, her finger on the trigger. Luckily, her training taught her to evaluate quickly before pulling the trigger. Son of a bitch! Shocked, her mouth hanging open, Aidan saw Vicky’s smiling face, and she quickly put her pistol away. She looked from Vicky, to her mother, to the banner on the wall that said happy birthday.
“What’s going on?” She asked hesitantly.
“It’s a birthday party,” Vicky replied, walking up and kissing Aidan on the cheek.
“Uh… thanks?”
“Yes, I know. It’s not your birthday according to the lunar calendar,” Vicky admitted. “But, it is a new beginning. You’ve been reborn as an O’Malley. Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”
Aidan wrapped her arm around Vicky as she laughed. “You’re sure it’s not because the bastard is dead?”
“Oh, no. That would be too cruel, even for him,” Vicky proclaimed. “So your mother came up with this idea instead.”
“Aha! There it is.” Aidan pulled Vicky close and kissed the top of her head. She held out her other arm toward Brigid. “Do I need to worry about you and my mother scheming against me?”
“Yes, yes you do,” Brigid said as she walked into Aidan’s embrace.
“Okay, too much mushy stuff,” Joyce complained, handing Aidan a beer.
“Yes. Tell us what happened with the second sniper,” Leonard requested. “Did he spill his guts?”
“Not only did he spill his guts,” Jerry began, “But Aidan got him to tell us who the leader of the Chicago gang is.”
“Who?” they all asked in unison.
“None other than the sniper’s father,” Jerry answered.
“No shit?” Joyce asked.
“Yep. You see, the mob had put a hit out on Harold in retaliation for what they believed to be a double cross,” Aidan explained. “The boss sent his own son to carry out the contract as a way to show the others that he wasn’t a coward. But when Wilkes showed up, Connor freaked and ran away.”
“Did they see each other?” Alice asked. “Well, I guess they did if Connor ran away.”
“When Connor heard the door to the rooftop open, he jumped up and shoved Wilkes aside, then bolted down the stairs,” Aidan explained. “Neither one got a good look at the other. And Wilkes claims that he never saw the rifle Connor had left behind. From the trajectory of the bullet, the detectives determined that he was shooting on the right side of the cooling vent, and Connor had been on the left side.”
“So who is the man who killed Harold?” Ruth asked. “I had seen him in court every day.”
“Wilkes had been a sniper in the Marines and bought the rifle off of the internet years ago,” Aidan reported. “It was the same type of rifle he had used in the Afghanistan war. The rifle used Lapua shells. One shell was found on the rooftop with his DNA on it. Not that it matters, since he turned himself in.”
“But I don’t understand. Why did he want to kill Harold?” Ruth asked.
“His daughter was raped by Harold when she was thirteen,” Vicky explained. “She never recovered from it though, and committed suicide a few months ago.” Vicky’s eyes moistened with tears and Aidan pulled her closer.
“My God. Realizing that there were two killers sitting right there in court with us, makes me a little sick to my stomach,” Alice stated.
“I know what you mean, Mom,” Vicky agreed. “And to think that they were willing to kill for two completely different reasons.”
Aidan nodded. “Yeah, Wilkes because he loved his daughter, and Conner because he was a coward.”
Vicky looked up at Aidan and asked, “What will happen to Bob?”
“Aw, kid. I don’t think you want to know.”
Leonard looked at his daughter. “You see, honey. Arkansas has the death penalty.”
“Oh, no,” Vicky exclaimed. “Surely, under the circumstances, the judge will be lenient. Maybe if I testify on his behalf, they might spare his life.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Aidan said. “Especially when the judge hears that your lawyer is representing him on your behalf.”
Vicky smiled. “Oh, I hadn’t thought about that. I hope you’re right.”
“What about the second sniper? What will happen with him?” Joyce asked.
“Not much since he didn’t fire the gun,” Aidan said. “He’ll get a worse punishment from his father because he left the rifle behind.”
“I don’t mean to break up the conversation, but the Baked Alaska is melting,” Yvonne interjected, pointing at the cake on the table.
“Um, what’s a Baked Alaska?” Joyce asked.
“Heaven,” Aidan answered.
“Chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla ice cream baked inside a white cake with meringue on top,” Vicky explained. “Yvonne had to go to three different shops to find one, so let’s eat.”
Aidan was ready to dig in when she looked at the cake. “Birthday candles? Seriously?”
“Happy birthday, darling,” Vicky replied.
Epilogue
“You’re not that heavy. Come on, let me carry you over the threshold,” Aidan coerced.
“Aidan, I’m five months pregnant, of course I’m heavy,” Vicky explained.
Aidan shook her head. “This is our first house together. It’s bad luck not to christen it first.”
“All right, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Aidan picked her up and balanced her in her arms, groaning mischievously.
“Oh, you,” Vicky squealed as Aidan pinched her breast.
“Welcome home, Mrs. Montgomery-O’Malley.”
Vicky clung to Aidan tighter, nuzzling her head against Aidan’s neck, as she rubbed her own burgeoning belly. “And welcome home, little Aidan, the third.”
“Or Vicky, Junior,” Aidan added happily.
The End
That wraps up the Harold Cassidy arc, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg for Aidan and Vicky. New escapades await them as they learn how to be both mothers and adventurers.
Other books by Mairsile:
Riches to Rags series:
From Riches to Rags
A bad-girl billionaire, accepts the ultimate challenge from a waitress, and gives up all her money, expensive toys, liquor, and women, to live in a run-down building, working at a barbeque restaurant. She only has to last thirty days, and suppress her growing feelings for the waitress. Just thirty days, but to a billionaire, that's a lifetime. This is a multi-first-person point of view novel. (Riches to Rags Book 1) Buy it now!
Combining Riches
Blackie and Chris set up house together in a romantic mansion by the river, where the paddlewheel
er greets them in the morning, and the golden rays of the setting sun, dance on the river for them in the evening. They work on their first pay it forward case, which is more of a favor for a close friend. And Chris meets the man she hit when she was drunk. Her guilt becomes so great that Blackie is afraid that the very special Valentine’s Day she has planned for them may not happen. Book two of the Riches to Rags series. This book is a multiple person point of view. (Riches to Rags Book 2) Buy it now!
Separating Riches
When Blackie and Chris initiate their scholarship program, an unexpected call-in sends them to San Francisco to revisit Blackie's past and presents an opportunity for her first pay-it-forward case. Once they have settled into their temporary home, the City by the Bay opens itself up for a wonderful experience that is celebrated by all. But not everything is as it appears to be as the investigations progress and Blackie finds herself in a compromising situation that threatens to separate the soul mates forever. This book is a multiple person point of view. (Riches to Rags Book 3) Buy it now!
Aidan & Vicky series:
I Remember You
Aidan is tough, self-assured and suffering from amnesia. The only person who knows her heart, Vicky, can’t tell her that they were childhood lovers, even when Vicky is asked to hire her.
Vicky is the CEO of a multi-million dollar health system, being targeted by terrorists. Will Aidan get her memories back in time to stop the bombs before they destroy Vicky’s hospital? Will Vicky choose the hospital over Aidan? (Book 1 of the A&V series) Buy it now!
Remember, It’s You I Love
Aidan & Vicky are on a mission called, Operation Pink Knight, where they must enter a war zone in order to rescue Aidan’s second love, and first fiancée. It comes down to a volatile standoff between them and the enemy, and Aidan must choose which woman to save. (Book 2 of the A&V series) Buy it now!
Remember, You Love Me
Planning a wedding with her fiancée, losing herself to the sexual advances of her ex-fiancée, Aidan is torn between love and duty. Through no fault of her own, Aidan is caught up in a love triangle, and must choose which woman she will marry. But that's not Aidan's only problem. She must save her fiancée, Vicky, from a particularly nasty stalker, who as it turns out, is Aidan's own father. But how can she concentrate on just her, when she is also engaged to Samantha, who Aidan believes she left behind, during an insurgent attack in Iraq. Samantha spent a year in captivity, and the only way she could survive the horrific treatment, was to think of Aidan. (Book 3 of the A&V series) Buy it now!
Remember This Day
Life together had never been easy for Aidan and Vicky, but it just got worse as their wedding day approaches. Tornadoes threaten their magical roof top wedding, Aidan gets in a drunken fist fight behind a bar, and Vicky performs open heart surgery on a city street as buildings collapse all around her. And then if that weren’t bad enough, after a horrific experience while making love, one of them calls the wedding off. This time, their love may not be enough to see them through these disasters. (Book 4 of the A&V series) Buy it now!
Remember, It's Our Honeymoon
Their honeymoon postponed by a tornado, a crazed mad man, and a building collapsing on top of them, Aidan and Vicky are finally on their way to Ireland. Exploring the emerald island led to a lot of shopping, love making in some provocative places, and of course espionage. But life for Vicky's best friend, Joyce, wasn’t nearly as bright, when she suddenly couldn’t see the patient’s heart beating in his chest cavity. (Book 5 of the A&V series) Buy it now!
Generations of Women Warriors:
Generations of Women Warriors: Battle of Pea Ridge, American Civil War
First in a series chronicling the life and times of women in a family, who fought in historic battles and loved in historic times, though both could get them killed. Temi, at age 17, finds herself pregnant, in love with a girl, and staring down a cannon, in this epic tale of growing up during the Civil War. Buy it now! (Book 1 of the Warrior series)
Generations of Women Warriors: Battle of Amiens, The Great War
The next generation in the second book of the series, finds the daughter of Temi and Robin, in France during WWI, fighting for her life, as German tanks rumble toward her. Buy it now! (Book 2 of the Warrior series)
Stand-a-lone:
Breaking into Prison Ten weeks on the best seller list. Twelve – five star reviews!
Trudie Youngblood, a successful author with a movie franchise based on her award winning novels, had everything; fame, money, and a wife who loved her. Then the unthinkable happened. Her wife was murdered leaving Trudie so devastated that she became a shut-in. Unable to leave the confines of her home, she lives with her dog and cat, allowing very few people into her inner-circle.
Annie Nichols is the service tech for the ultra-modern building where Trudie lives behind her lock door. A routine work order introduces Annie to the reclusive writer and opens up a world of love and danger. Annie, a reservist in the Air Force Military Police, must use her skills to discover the identity of the stalker who has caused the beautiful author so much pain. Buy it now!
It Happened Over the Holidays
A chance holiday meeting, followed by a second unplanned holiday encounter, leads to a series of adventurous holidays for Bobbi and Lynsey. They find themselves drawn closer to each other with each meeting, yet dare not expose their painful secrets that could bring their fun filled holidays to an end.
Secrets that are revealed just before their mission to a war zone, putting their relationship in peril. The life of a child hangs in the balance. Buy it now!
Booker James - The Case of the Blood Red Rose
Booker James is a private investigator who is having a bad year. Her girlfriend dumped her after taking all her money with her. Her beloved grandfather died. She’s living out of her rundown office, and her PI license is about to expire. The last thing she wants to see walk through her door is an upstart young lawyer, eager to hire her.
Through Booker's door, walks Kennedy Witherspoon, a novice lawyer hoping to prove herself with her first case, but she needs Booker’s help to do it.
Booker’s penchant for alcohol clouds her judgement, and she sign’s Kennedy’s contract before she learned what the case was. Someone is murdering nursing home patients. The same nursing home where Booker's ex-girlfriend just committed suicide in.
In the middle of a murder investigation, romance blooms like a garden full of roses. Buy it now!
See No Evil: Adventures in the Grand Canyon
In ten years a worldwide catastrophe no one was prepared for, will inexplicably change life as we know it. Ranger Mackenzie Mason, a Park Ranger in the Grand Canyon, has to stop a diabolical plan to kill the Major General in charge of the South Western portion of the nation under Martial Law. But she was injured by the anarchists, and it is up to Hannah Cumberland, a registered nurse at the canyon hospital, to nurse her back to health. The attraction was instant, but they had many obstacles to scale first, not the least of which was Mack’s blindness after she was attacked, and her dogged determination to save her mother, the Major General. Buy it now!
UNLEASHED: It's Not Nice to Frack with Mother Nature!
A meteorologist and a geologist meet in a bar, and...
A chance meeting in a bar brings a new passion to the chaotic lives of a storm chaser and an earthquake enthusiast. When these two women make love, the earth quakes and the winds howl. But there’s a dark past that keeps one of them from committing to their love. And the other embarks on a dangerous mission to expose an illegal fracking operation. Will the earthquake swallow up the tornado, or will their love conquer all? Buy it now!
The Younger Twin (a Novella)
Maci and Madi are twins, but not your normal sisters. One is seven weeks older than the other, and one can see through walls. Maci was hit by a car after she discovered medical fraud, and lies in a coma at the very hospital she works at. Maci’s spectral self must find out who is trying to
kill her, and enlists the help of her sister, an FBI agent. Maci finds that being a ghost can be fun, but that fun is spoiled when the person who attacked her is back to finish the job. Buy it now!
I Won't Remember You (Aidan & Vicky Book 6) Page 20
