by Terri Reid
“Darling, what you’re going to do is have faith in the man you love,” Ian said.
Rosie turned and looked at him. “But he left…”
Ian shook his head. “Rosie, you know that Stanley and I rarely see eye to eye, but I will tell you one thing I know, Stanley is a man of honor. He would not leave you stranded at the altar. If he’s gone, it’s for a damn good reason.”
Stanley cleared his throat as he stood in the doorway of the room and they all turned around. “I thank you, Ian,” he said. “I thought it was important, or I wouldn’t have left, I swear Rosie.”
“What was it?” she asked.
“I’ve got something for you, Rosie,” he said, walking towards her, “something that Verna wanted me to remember.”
“Would you both like a moment alone?” Ian asked.
Stanley nodded. “Yeah, that’d be nice.”
Once they left the room, Stanley reached into his pocket and pulled out a strand of pearls.
“Oh, Stanley, they are beautiful,” Rosie said.
“These pearls belonged to my great-grandmother. They’ve been passed down to new brides through every generation,” Stanley explained. “Verna got them on our wedding day.”
Rosie stepped back. “But these belong to her, or to one of your children,” she said.
He shook his head. “When Verna was sick, she told me that someday I would find someone special. Someone I could love again, with all my heart. She told me she wanted her to have these pearls,” he explained. “That’s what she wanted me to remember. She wanted you to have these.”
He moved behind her, laid the pearls over her neck and fastened the clasp. Then he pressed a kiss on the back of her neck. “I love you, Rosie,” he said.
She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. “And I love you too Stanley,” she whispered, her voice overcome with emotion. “Let’s get married.”
He smiled and kissed her one more time. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
The bus station was enormous. E-N-O-R-M-O-U-S, Clarissa thought. There had to be hundreds of people running back and forth, rushing to catch their bus. Although everyone seemed to be in a very friendly mood; laughing and patting each other on the back. Clarissa decided she liked St. Patrick’s Day.
They had taken a city bus to the subway station and taken the subway train to downtown and then walked six blocks to the bus station. Clarissa’s feet hurt and she was hungry and tired. She thought about the food they left in their refrigerator in the apartment and her stomach growled. Her mother told her they were playing a game. They were going to make people think something happened to them, like they died and disappeared. That way, the bad man would stop looking for them. So, they left some of their clothes and all of their food and locked up the apartment like they were planning on coming back.
The big clock at the end of the terminal said it was eight o’clock. Clarissa knew their bus to Florida didn’t leave until two o’clock in the morning, so they had to stay in the station for six hours. Clarissa hoped there was something to eat at the station.
“Come on, sweetheart,” Becca said. “Let’s go sit down on those benches over there.”
Most of the wooden benches in the middle of the station were empty. Becca led Clarissa over to a bench near the ticket booth and they piled their belongings next to them and sat down.
“Mommy, can we get something to eat?” she asked. “I’m a little bit hungry.”
Becca reached into her purse and pulled out a small package of Saltine crackers. “Here, darling, why don’t you eat these,” she said. “Then you should take a nap. We can buy some food when we get closer to Florida.”
Clarissa opened the cellophane wrapper and pulled the two crackers out. She took tiny bites, eating around the edges of the crackers to make them last longer. But in a few minutes they were gone and her stomach still felt empty.
Becca placed her arm around Clarissa and pulled her close. “Now, get some rest, sweetheart,” she whispered. “Two o’clock isn’t for a very long time.”
Clarissa cuddled close to her mother, placed her head on her lap and drifted to sleep. In the back of her mind she could hear her mother’s occasional cough and the familiar sound was actually soothing.
Becca stroked her daughter’s hair and tried to force oxygen into her lungs. The last couple of blocks had been so hard, she thought she was going faint a number of times. But somehow they made it and soon they would be safe.
She slowly looked around the bus station. Ever since they left their apartment, she had the feeling someone was watching them. She decided to take the less direct route, just to throw anyone off their path. But, even now, she didn’t feel safe.
She coughed again and lifted her hand to wipe away the moisture on her lips. Her heart dropped when she saw her hand was covered with blood. She reached into her purse once again, pulled out her plastic bag of pills and swallowed two of them. That should do the trick, she thought. If one is good, two must be better.
Chapter Fifty
The newlyweds were happily moving from one table to the next, greeting friends and taking photos.
“They look so great,” Mary said, glancing at them as she and Bradley spun slowly around the dance floor.
“Yeah, there were a couple of minutes there when I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Bradley admitted.
Mary grinned. “You mean when Stanley forgot he was supposed to say, ‘I do?’” she asked.
Laughing, he nodded. “Well, that one too,” he acknowledged. “But all it took was a slight elbow from his best man…”
“You were amazing,” Mary said, reaching up and placing a kiss on his cheek.
“It’s nice to feel like everything’s getting back to normal,” he said. “The trial is finally over and Rosie and Stanley are married.”
“And with Copper in prison, maybe Becca will feel like she can return to Freeport with Clarissa,” Mary suggested.
“Yeah, well, that’s next on our agenda,” he said. “We need to go into Chicago and find her.”
The music stopped and Bradley led her back towards their table. “I got a call from Bernie,” he said. “He said his daughter is following up on some leads. They think they might have found someone, a gypsy, who’s seen Clarissa.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful,” Mary said. “We can drive in tomorrow.”
Bradley pulled out Mary’s chair for her and was about to sit down when his phone rang. “Alden,” he answered, then his face turned pale and he slowly took his seat. “Why was he allowed out of his restraints? When did they discover he was gone? Well, hell, he’s got a half day’s lead on us.”
Mary put her hand on Bradley’s arm, her blood turning cold. He turned to her, his face grave and nodded. “Copper has escaped and Thanner is dead.”
Chapter Fifty-One
Clarissa woke up from her nap and looked around in confusion. Suddenly she remembered they were in the bus station. She turned to her mother, but her mother’s eyes were closed. Clarissa smiled, she must be sleeping too. Remembering how frequently her mother had been coughing just before she fell asleep, she was happy to see that she was finally resting peacefully.
She looked up at the clock and saw that it was almost midnight. Her daddy used to tell her that was the magic time. Clarissa wondered if she would see any magic in the bus station. She looked around and saw some people watching her. She pulled her backpack closer to her and slipped her arm through the strap. She didn’t want anyone to take their money. It was her job to keep it safe.
Her stomach growled again. She wondered if her mother had any more crackers in her purse. Keeping one arm firmly around her backpack, she reached over to the purse situated between her mother and the end of the bench. Her mother’s arm was slung through the handle to protect it, just like Clarissa was doing with her backpack.
She peeked up at her mother. Her eyes were still closed and Clarissa didn’t want t
o wake her. Carefully, she lifted her mother’s arm up and slid the purse handle forward, so she could reach inside. But the purse was hanging off the side of the bench and it started to slip to the ground. As she grabbed for the purse, the backpack swung around and bounced against her mother.
Immediately regretful, she pushed the purse back in place and turned to apologize for waking her up. But when she turned, her mother’s eyes were still closed.
Clarissa sat up on the bench, her heart pounding against her chest. She lifted her mother’s arm, the one that had been around her shoulders, and let it go. It dropped with a thud against the bench and her mother’s eyes still did not open.
“Mommy?” she whispered. “Mommy, it’s time to wake up.”
Her mother still didn’t move.
Clarissa looked around; no one seemed to be watching them. She sat up on her knees and placed her face against her mother’s cheek. Please breathe, Mommy, she prayed. Please breathe.
But as soon as she felt her mother’s cold, stiff cheek, she knew the truth. Her mother was dead.
She buried her face against her mother’s neck, as she wept soundlessly. What can I do now? Where am I supposed to go? Why aren’t there any angels?
A noise startled her and she turned around. The man that stood in front of the bench just stared at her for a moment. Then he looked beyond her and studied her mother for a moment. Finally, he smiled and squatted down, so he could see her face. “Hello Clarissa,” he said. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
Clarissa scooted back on the bench, as close to her mother as possible. She wiped the tears from her eyes and took a deep breath. Maybe the man couldn’t tell her mother was dead. Maybe he wouldn’t realize her mother was dead. “My mom’s just asleep,” she lied, “So…no one better think about taking anything.”
“You’ve had a pretty rough day, kid, haven’t you?” the man asked, then he shook his head. “Let’s be real, you’ve had a pretty rough life.”
Looking around at the bus station, it seemed that they were suddenly alone. There was no one around who would come running if she screamed. Clarissa shook her head. “Are you the bad man?” she asked, her voice shaking.
“Oh, no, Clarissa,” he replied. “I’m a friend of your dad’s. My name is Mike and I’m your guardian angel.”
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 [email protected]
Other books by Terri Reid:
Loose Ends – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book One)
Good Tidings – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Two)
Never Forgotten - A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Three)
Final Call - A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Four)
Darkness Exposed - A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Five)
Natural Reaction – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Six)
Secret Hollows – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Seven)
The Ghosts Of New Orleans -A Paranormal Research and Containment Division (PRCD) Case File
