Loose Ends (A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery)

by Terri Reid

  “How do you know,” Mary asked, already moving along the top of the ridge, back towards where she left Bradley.

  “Because I was there,” he said.

  Mary looked down. The truck was parked below her, alongside the road. She couldn’t see Hank, but he was fairly close to where she and Bradley had parted.

  “What the hell do I do now?” she wondered aloud.

  “He left his keys in the truck,” Mike said.

  “Well, why didn’t you say that in the first place?” Without thinking about the consequences, she ran down the incline, not bothering to hide the noise that she was making. If Hank heard her and decided to turn back, so much the better.

  She jumped onto the road about 10 yards from the truck. She briefly glanced around and then sprinted towards the truck. Mary was only fifteen feet from the truck, when Hank emerged from the woods next to the road. He looked up and smiled at Mary.

  “I’ve been waiting for you,” he said.

  He raised the gun and aimed.

  “Run!” Mike yelled at Mary, stepping between them.

  Hank looked at Mike and his eyes widened. He stepped backwards, away from the ghost.

  “He can see me,” Mike shouted and ran toward Hank. “You son-of-a-bitch, you tried to frame me.”

  Hank dropped the gun and jumped in the truck. Mary could hear the ignition grind, then Hank gunned the engine and tore down the road. Mike followed, hovering over the ground and matching his speed with the truck, the rope that still hung from his neck waving in the wind.

  Mary stopped at the edge of the road and watched. Hank was swerving back and forth on the road, driving at breakneck speed and Mike was right behind him. Suddenly, at the bend in the road, Renee stepped out. Her face blue and distorted, her hair and clothes dripping wet. She moved directly in front of the oncoming truck.

  Hank swerved and the truck left the road. It dove into the ditch, rolled over and finally careened into a giant oak tree. A thick low-hanging branch shattered the windshield and plunged into the cab of the truck.

  Moments later, Mike reappeared at Mary’s side. “He’s not dead,” he said, “But he won’t be going anywhere on his own.”

  “Thank you,” she said, “You saved my life.”

  “I couldn’t let him...” he began.

  “I know, and you didn’t,” she said, “I’ll make sure he gets blamed for your death, as well as the others.

  “And Mike,” she said, meeting his eyes. “Your secret is safe. Your legacy is safe.”

  Mike smiled. A tear ran down his distorted face. “Thank you.”

  * * * * *

  Chapter Forty-three

  Mary leaned back in her chair. Three days later and she was still stiff and sore. She needed to get an easier job.

  “So, how are you feeling today?” Rosie asked, as she entered Mary’s office. “Still aching?”

  Mary turned her chair and nodded. “Yeah, I still can feel where my muscles are,” she said, “Each and every one of them.”

  “Good!” Rosie said with delight.

  “I thought you were my friend.”

  “No, no, I mean wait until you see what I bought you,” Rosie said as she dug into her oversized purse.

  She drew out a small white jar. “This is a..,” she brought it closer to her bifocals, “a unique herbal remedy that heals the body and the soul in only twenty-four hours.”

  She looked up. “Imagine that, Mary,” she said, “Both body and soul in twenty-four hours.”

  “Wow! What a deal,” Mary said, “Both body and soul. What more could you ask for?”

  Rosie narrowed her eyes. “Are you making fun of my unique herbal remedy?” she asked.

  Mary tried to hide her grin. “No, never,” she said, “I mean, wow, twenty-four hours to take care of everything. Took God a whole week.”

  Rosie sniffed. “Well, at least you could try it,” she said, handing it to Mary.

  Mary nodded, opened the jar and sniffed. She coughed and quickly tightened the lid. “What is this made of? Yak poop?”

  Rosie grabbed the jar. “It can’t be that bad,” she said, twisting the lid and holding the jar next to her nose.

  “Oh, my,” she said, her nose wrinkling as she screwed the lid back on quickly. “I think I’m going to demand my money back.”

  Mary smiled. “I think that’s a very good idea.”

  “Maybe I could swap it for some lovely rocks that you lay on your body and they absorb your pain,” she suggested.

  “Or, you could just get your money back,” Mary said, swinging her chair back to her computer.

  Rosie nodded and sighed. “You’re just not any fun anymore.”

  Mary heard the door close and sighed. Rosie was right; she wasn’t much fun right now. The head of the forensics team Bradley sent out to the fort called earlier that day. He told her they had found the remains of the girls and would be contacting their parents.

  The remains of Jessica had already been found and her memorial service was scheduled for the next day. Mary hadn’t decided if she was going to attend. She had met with Jessica and the other girls the day after Hank had been taken into custody. They had said their good-byes and she knew they were already where they were supposed to be.

  The families would be the ones dealing with the grief and pain.

  “Which is better, hope or closure?” she wondered aloud.

  “Closure,” Bradley said, from the doorway.

  Mary jumped at his voice, then turned and smiled.

  “Good to see you on your feet, Chief,” she said.

  Using a wooden cane, he limped into the room, the small cast on his foot leading the way. He lowered himself into a chair. “I needed to get out of my office for a few minutes,” he said, “And I wanted to make sure you heard about the girls.”

  She nodded. “I got the call this morning,” she said, “Thanks for moving it along so quickly.”

  “Well, Montague was in no position to deny that he had confessed to the murders,” he said, “He’s still babbling about seeing ghosts.”

  Mary smiled. “Imagine that.”

  Bradley chuckled for a moment and then his face turned thoughtful. “I didn’t want the families to have to wait any longer. Now they can finally move on.”

  Mary nodded. “I can’t imagine what those families went through for all of those years,” she said, “How do you go on with your life?”

  Bradley sighed. “You go on because you have to,” he said, “Because if you don’t, you will go crazy.”

  “You sound like you have experience with this kind of thing,” Mary said.

  Bradley shrugged. “I’ll tell you about it sometime,” he said, “But now I have to get back to my office.”

  He hobbled over to the door, stopped and turned back to Mary. “Are you ever going to tell me what went on in the back of Hank’s truck?” he asked. “Something tells me that it’s important to remember, but my memory is still fuzzy.”

  Mary shook her head. “I really can’t think of anything that stands out,” she said evasively. “But if I do, I’ll let you know.”

  Bradley nodded. “You do that,” he said.

  He grabbed the door handle, walked out of the doorway and just before he closed the door said, “By the way, Mary, my wife’s name was Jeannine.”

  ####

  About the author: Terri Reid lives near Freeport, the home of the Mary O’Reilly Mystery Series, and loves a good ghost story. She lives in a hundred year-old farmhouse complete with its own ghost. She loves hearing from her readers at terri.reid@reidassociate.com

 

 

 
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