by Terri Reid
Mike walked over and looked her up and down. “Okay, you got your stop-his-heart dress, your how-damn-long-are-her-legs heels and your sophisticated-but-sexy jewelry,” he said, his chin resting in his hand. “You pretty much covered all the essentials.”
Sighing, she shook her head. “I don’t know what…”
“Wait…I have it,” Mike said.
He started to float towards her bathroom and stopped. “Permission to enter your bathroom,” he requested.
Smiling, she nodded and watched, as a moment later he came back with a small object in his hand. He handed her a tube of lipstick. “Cut-him-off-at-the-knees red lipstick,” he said. “That’s what’s missing.”
Uncapping the tube, she carefully covered her lips with the dark red gloss and then looked at her reflection again. He was right, the lipstick was the missing ingredient. “Well?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “I know whatever I want to say will not be covered in the angel handbook,” he replied. “But I can’t wait to see old Bradley swallow his tongue when he sees you walking down the stairs.”
Turning away from the mirror, she smiled at him. “Thanks, Mike, that’s just what I needed to hear. But, he won’t see me walking down the stairs because I’m ready and he’s not going to be here for another fifteen minutes.”
“Oh, did I forget to mention that Bradley was already here?” he asked, looking apologetic. “Must have slipped my mind when I saw you in the mirror.”
Taking a deep breath, she glanced one more time in the mirror. “Okay, well, I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
She left her room and walked down the hall, surprised to discover her palms were sweating. She shook her hands for a few seconds, trying to dry them and then started down the stairs.
She felt a little silly, being anxious about a date with Bradley. For heaven sakes, she was going to marry him in two weeks. This was just ridiculous. But when her eyes met his, her stomach tightened and her heart raced. He just stared at her for a long moment, hunger in his eyes, and then slowly sauntered forward. She paused on the step and nervously moistened her lips with her tongue. His gaze narrowed on her mouth and she exhaled softly.
He climbed the few steps in front of her, stopping one step below her. Taking her hand in his, he lifted it and brought it to his lips. “You look amazing,” he said, his voice slightly hoarse. “I knew you were beautiful, but I guess I never realized how incredibly sexy you were.”
She smiled, feeling emboldened by his words. “Really? I’m sexy?”
“Oh, yeah,” he said, smiling back at her. “Oh, yeah.”
“Mary, you look beautiful,” Clarissa said, coming up to the stair case. “Doesn’t she look beautiful, Grandma?”
“Yes she does,” Margaret said. “And if her brothers were here, they’d insist on going along with them.”
“It’s a good thing for me they’re not here,” Bradley said.
“I could go,” Mike whispered from behind Mary.
“Not a chance,” Bradley whispered back, guiding Mary down the stairs. “You stay home and watch over Clarissa and Margaret.”
He helped Mary with her coat and they walked to the door. “We won’t be too late,” he said.
“Don’t worry about anything,” Margaret said. “Clarissa and I are going to have a fine time of it here.”
Bradley looked down at Mary; she literally took his breath away. “Ready?” he asked.
She nodded. “Let’s go before one of my brothers shows up.”
Chapter Sixteen
He watched as Bradley protectively put his hand on the small of Mary’s back and guided her down the walkway to the waiting car. It should have been his hand on her body, not Bradley’s. He didn’t deserve her. He hadn’t deserved Jeannine.
Eyes narrowed and hate pumping through his body, he watched Bradley place a soft kiss on her lips before helping her into the car. She was smiling at him. She was enjoying herself. He shook his head. No! No, she was only smiling because she was imagining it was he who was kissing her. She was thinking about him.
If he had only been a little closer, he could have smelled her. Breathed in the unique perfume that was Mary O’Reilly. Felt the heat rising from her skin. Watched the pulse beat through the delicate skin in her neck. Gripping his fist on the steering wheel, he swore. Only a few yards away from her, parked in his former landlord’s ancient sedan, but it was too far away. However this time, he needed to be sure, needed to be safe.
The police were looking for Gary Copper’s car; they didn’t care about an old jalopy that looked like it would fall apart in a good wind. And they were looking for Gary Copper.
Smiling, he looked into the car’s rearview mirror and an elderly man looked back at him. The makeup kit he had purchased in Madison, as well as the thick white wig, had done wonders. While the police looked for Gary Copper, he would be helping himself to Mary O’Reilly.
Bradley’s car started and slid out of the space in front of her house. Should he follow, or should he pay a little surprise visit on Clarissa?
He pondered for only a moment when the urge to see Mary again became too strong and he turned the wheel of the old car and followed them down the street. He left several cars’ distance between himself and Bradley’s car. It was much too soon in his plan to have them grow suspicious. He wanted them to feel safe. He wanted them to become careless. And then he would get exactly what he wanted… Mary.
Following them to the other side of town, Gary wondered where he would be taking her. Were they going to the park again for a moonlight rendezvous?
Smiling in anticipation, he thought about the rifle hidden underneath the old wool blanket in the back of the car. It had been an extra bonus to find that his former landlord had also been a hunter. And, just as he had helped himself to the dead man’s keys, he also helped himself to weapons and ammunition. He had practiced in the fields beyond the edge of town and had been pleased with his progress. He wondered if it would be harder to pick out his target under the light of the full moon. He had already had Bradley in his sights once, but just before he could squeeze the trigger, Mary had knocked Bradley over and they had tumbled down the hill, out of his range.
If they went there tonight, he would be sure Bradley never left the park alive.
They approached the entrance of Krape Park and Gary felt the adrenalin rush. She could be his…tonight. But, the rush died and frustration replaced anticipation when the car moved past the entrance and continued down Empire Street towards the other side of town.
He followed them for a few more miles, passing through some residential areas, some small strip malls and finally arriving at the far south side of town where most of the property was commercial. When Bradley’s car slowed and his left turn indicator signaled he was going to turn, Gary passed them on the right. Peering inside, hungry for a glimpse of Mary, he accelerated quickly when she started to turn her face towards his car.
Pulling into the next parking lot, Gary found he could maneuver his car to a position on the far side that was adjacent to the restaurant parking. The restaurant was the only business open in the evening. The rest of the lots were dark and empty. He parked as close as he could, turned off his lights and reached behind the seat for the rifle. This could be the perfect opportunity.
Chapter Seventeen
Bradley steered the car into Cimino’s parking lot. “So, do you want to go in?” he asked, as he drove towards the far corner of the parking lot. “Or do you just want to park in the far corner and smooch?”
“Well, I’d choose door number two, but I’m actually pretty hungry and I know it would be so unsexy to have my stomach growl,” Mary replied with a grin.
“We could park in the back and I could call for delivery,” he suggested, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
“And how would it look to have the Chief of Police caught in a car with steamed up windows?” she laughed.
He turned to her and met her eyes. “Well, when the
y got one look at you, they would consider me the luckiest guy in the world,” he said. “But, on the other hand, when I walk through the restaurant with you on my arm, looking the way you look, every guy in the room is going to be jealous.”
“Bradley,” Mary chided. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I don’t think you realize how gorgeous you are,” he said. “So, just for your edification, we are going in.”
The car splashed through the slush and finally Bradley pulled into a parking spot at the far end of the lot. He started to shift into park when he glanced over to Mary’s legs and then her shoes.
“Damn, I’m an idiot,” he said, shifting into reverse.
“What?” Mary asked.
“Your shoes,” he said. “Great to look at…no…amazing to look at, but how are they for actually walking in?”
Mary bit into her lower lip. “Not very good at all,” she admitted. “I only wore them…”
He smiled at her. “Yeah, I know why,” he interrupted. “And man, did it work. And in honor of your sexy legs, I think tonight we deserve something special.”
He backed the car up and pulled around to the front of the restaurant, stopping right in front of the door. “Valet parking,” he said, reaching over and unlatching her seatbelt. “Come on, sexy, let’s go eat.”
The valet hurried out of the door and Bradley handed him the keys and a twenty dollar bill. “Keep it close by, in case I get a call,” he said and the valet nodded in understanding.
Chapter Eighteen
Gary placed the rifle back under the seat and nervously shifted the car into reverse. They had been ready to park in the far edge of the lot. Bradley would have been a perfect target. Why had they changed their minds? Had they seen him? Were the police on their way?
He quickly pulled out of the parking lot, drove back onto South Street and headed towards his house on the other side of town. In the distance he saw a police car, so he turned right, slowly driving through some residential neighborhoods, watching to see if he was being followed. As he passed the high school, another cruiser slipped down an adjacent street and Gary panicked. They were trying to surround him. They knew he had weapons.
His heart racing, he pulled back behind the school and turned off his car lights, sitting in the dark, watching to see if other cruisers passed by. Loading the chambers of the rifle, he waited, panic turning into anticipation. There was something powerful about taking another life, watching the surprise, the pain and finally, witnessing the moment when the living entity actually slipped away. He felt like a god. He was in control. He had all the power. No one could tell him what to do.
Shivering with excitement, he willed the cruisers to come close. He wanted an officer to knock on his window. He wanted to see eyes widened in horror as the reality of death became evident.
He waited in the darkened parking lot for ten minutes when he realized with disappointment that they were not coming for him. That he was not under observation. That he would not be killing a police officer tonight.
He started the car, turned on the lights and slowly made his way through the parking lot back toward Empire Street. He passed a number of students getting out of an afterschool activity and slowed the car, considering whether the death of a student or two would give him the same rush. Glancing at their faces, he saw a young girl who had the same features as Clarissa. Yes, he could see Clarissa looking just like her when she was a teen.
He stopped the car, as the thought occurred to him. Clarissa. If Mary and Bradley were out, who was home with Clarissa?
The students forgotten, Gary smiled broadly and turned onto Empire Street in the direction of Mary’s house. Maybe tonight wouldn’t be a waste of time after all.
Chapter Nineteen
“Well, now, let me look,” Margaret said as she scanned the colorful cards in her hands. “I’m sorry. I have no threes. You’ll have to go fish.”
“That’s okay, Grandma O’Reilly,” Clarissa said. “I don’t mind, really.”
She flipped over the first card on the pile and located a three. “See, I got it on the first try,” she said.
“Good for you,” Margaret replied. “It’s the luck of the Irish you have for sure.”
“Really?” Clarissa asked. “Am I Irish?”
Margaret looked at her over her cards and winked. “Well, you’re my granddaughter, aren’t you?” she asked.
Clarissa nodded.
“Then you’re as Irish as the day is long,” she said, with a firm nod. “And no one’s to tell you otherwise.”
With a wide grin, Clarissa nodded and then looked down at her cards. “What number, Grandma?” she asked.
Margaret studied her cards for a moment. “Have you any twos?”
Clarissa smiled up at her. “Go fish!” she said.
Picking up the first card, she saw it was a three. “Well, perhaps all of my Irish luck is transferring to you tonight,” she said.
“Then I’ll have two times the luck,” she replied quickly, but then her smile quickly dropped.
“Grandma, do you know about guardian angels?” she asked, staring beyond the table to the front door.
“I do,” Margaret said, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck raise. “What’s wrong?”
“Mike, my guardian angel, said the bad man is coming,” Clarissa said. “He says we need to hide.”
Margaret was out of her chair in a flash, taking Clarissa by the hand. “Where should we hide?”
Clarissa looked over to the door again. “The basement, in the back room,” she said. “And then we should call the police.”
Margaret looked over to the door, “Thank you, Mike,” she said. “Now go get Mary and Bradley.”
Margaret guided Clarissa through the kitchen to the basement door; hurrying through it, she pulled it closed and then wedged a broom handle between the knob and the door, so it couldn’t easily be pulled open. They hurried down the steps and Margaret picked up a flashlight on the shelf at the bottom of the stairs. She flipped on the flashlight and then turned off the light. “Just a moment, darling,” she said. “I want to make the way, a bit more difficult.”
She pulled a chair across the room, stood on it and, pulling her sweatshirt sleeve over her hand, unscrewed the light bulb from the fixture next to the stairs. Once she climbed down, she laid the chair on its side next to the last stair. “Now, let’s move back a ways,” she whispered.
With the flashlight pointed to the ground, they slowly made their way back to the workroom. Margaret opened the door and they both quietly slipped inside. She bolted the door with the small hook and eye, and then moved them both to the far corner.
“I’m going to call the police now,” Margaret said. “Can you hide under that table?”
Nodding, her eyes wide and frightened, she obediently scurried under the workbench.
Pressing 911 on her cell, Margaret listened to the sounds above her as the call connected.
“911. What’s your emergency?”
Giving the operator her name and Mary’s address, she added, “We’re down in the basement, but I can hear someone above me,” she whispered. “I don’t know if he’s still on the porch or in the house.”
“I’ll send someone immediately,” the operator replied. “And I’ll stay on the line with you.”
“That’s fine,” Margaret replied. “I’ll put the phone on the counter, so you can listen, but I’ll not be doing any more talking.”
She laid the phone on the workbench and knelt down next to Clarissa. “How are you doing, darling?” she whispered.
“Fine, Grandma,” Clarissa said softly. “Is the bad man going to get us?”
Margaret shook her head. “Oh, no, darling. If the bad man thinks he has a chance tonight, then he’s never run into an O’Reilly protecting her young before. You sit back while I choose my weapons.”
Clarissa watched in the dim light as her grandmother walked over to the corner where many of the tools lay on shelves. She s
aw her lift several objects, test them in her hand and put them down. Finally, she saw her lift a large object up and heard a soft chuckle.
“This will do fine,” Margaret whispered, hefting an ax with both hands.
Placing herself next to the door and in front of Clarissa, she lifted the ax and waited. No one was going to take her granddaughter. Not while she was alive.
Chapter Twenty
The music was soft and romantic, the lights were low and Bradley had arranged a table in a quiet corner of the restaurant. He reached over and took her hand in his, lifted it to his lips and kissed it softly.
She sighed and felt her heart flutter. If she hadn’t already been in love with him, this date would have sealed the deal.
“You look even better in candlelight,” he said, his voice low.
She cleared her throat, uncomfortable with all of his compliments. “Actually, it’s been proven that most women look better in candlelight,” she said, as he rubbed his thumb against her palm. “It, um, it makes our skin look better.”
“No, Mary, not most women,” he said firmly. “You. Only you.”
“Well, actually…” she began.
He lifted her hand again and kissed her palm. She felt the sensation throughout her entire body.
Clearing her throat softly, she met his eyes. “I can’t…I can’t think very clearly when you do that,” she said breathlessly.
He smiled slowly and kissed her again. “Good. Don’t think, just feel.”
He started to lift her hand again when he saw her eyes widen and she looked past him.
“What?” he asked, turning and looking over his shoulder immediately.
Mike was standing behind the table, his face grim. “Copper’s at Mary’s house,” he said. “Margaret and Clarissa are hiding in the basement. The police have been called.”
Bradley grabbed Mary’s hand and they ran through the restaurant. Before they reached the front desk, he called across the room, “I just got an emergency call, where’s my car?”
