Darkness Exposed - A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book 5) Read online

  “You weren’t always such an idiot.”

  Bradley spun around to see Jeannine’s translucent form hovering across the room. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her face was set with determination.

  “I need your help right now,” she said. “And, really, standing around feeling sorry for yourself isn’t going to solve my murder. So pull yourself together, okay?”

  Bradley was speechless for a moment.

  “What do you mean, feeling sorry for myself?” he finally blurted out. “My heart is broken here.”

  “Oh, well, maybe if you hadn’t treated Mary like she was a liar, hadn’t acted like a jerk while you asked for her help and basically threw her love back in her face, you wouldn’t be in the situation you are in right now,” she said.

  “But, but, but,” he sputtered. “I told her I loved her.”

  Jeannine sighed loudly. “Bradley, love is more than just words. Love is action. Words are easy, backing them up every day with what you do and what you say is when you really prove what you feel.”

  “I loved you,” he said.

  She smiled sadly. “Yes, you did,” she said. “And I knew it because you were willing to change to save our marriage. You fought for me, Bradley. Fight for Mary.”

  He shook his head. “She’s got a new guy,” he said. “And he’s got an accent.”

  Jeannine grinned and she shook her head slightly. “So what, you’ve got a sexy uniform,” she countered. “Uniforms always ace out accents. Besides, she loves you and that trumps all.”

  “Really?” he asked. “Still? Even after all I’ve done?”

  “Go find out,” she said.

  Chapter Four

  When Bradley left a few minutes later he absently switched off the lights and closed the door firmly behind him. Jeannine, alone in the living room, was left standing in the dark. The sound of the door closing and the darkness triggered a flutter in the pit of her stomach. She started to fade away, then stopped.

  What if the panic has something to do with my murder, she thought.

  Although she couldn’t remember much about her death, she realized she hadn’t even thought about it until she found Bradley in Chicago a few months ago. Before then she had been floating helplessly between this life and the next trying to find resolution.

  Forcing herself to remain calm, she tried to think back and remember why she would be afraid of the dark. She closed her eyes and searched her memory.

  “Darling, I’m home.”

  The voice seemed to echo in the small chamber. Jeannine breathed in the gust of fresh air, then the door closed and once again the stale, damp air of the room surrounded her.

  “Have you been a good girl today? I brought you a present. But first, your medicine.”

  She shook her head, “No. No drugs,” her voice came out hoarse and dry.

  She felt the hand on her jaw and the metal cup pressed against her lips. She tried to shake her head, but she was never strong enough. She gagged as the liquid was forced down her throat. “There, there, my dear, it’s not all that bad.”

  She tried to fight it, tried to fight the drug and the power it had over her mind and her will. “I hate you,” she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  She felt lips press against her temple. “Ah, yes, my dear, but in a few moments, you will love me once again.”

  She shook her head. “No, never.”

  “But, darling, you don’t remember do you? You don’t remember what you do when your medicine takes control.”

  She felt the hand move past her shirt and stroke her bare skin. “I make you very happy, Jeannine. You cry out to me in ecstasy.”

  “No!” she cried, her voice slurring, “No, I don’t want you.”

  “Oh, darling, you want me. You’ve always wanted me. You just needed me to free you from the clutches of your husband. It was always me. And this baby has always been ours.”

  She shook her head, trying to clear the fog from her brain. “No, this is my baby. This is Bradley’s baby.”

  The fog was thicker. She couldn’t think, couldn’t remember. She felt the hands again, stroking, moving over her body.

  “You like this, don’t you darling?”

  “Please,” she whispered, a final tear threading its way down her cheek.

  “Oh, yes, darling, you please me very much indeed.”

  Jeannine shook with revulsion as she came back to the present. She didn’t have a better idea of who had done this to her, but at least she understood why she couldn’t remember the details of her death. She had been drugged.

  She needed to let Mary know what she’d remembered and Bradley would have to know too. She shuddered again.

  But first she needed to think things through before she shared them with anyone.

  Chapter Five

  Bradley found himself heading to Mary’s house once again. He was going to fight for her! Well, at least I’m going to talk to her, he thought, and give that Scottish Casanova a thing or two to think about.

  He turned right and headed down Empire Avenue toward Mary’s home. As he drove past the park a familiar figure caught his eye. He slowed the cruiser down and stared. It couldn’t be Mary out on the ice, could it?

  He pulled onto the emergency lane that ran through the park and headed toward the rink. Damn, that is Mary!

  Parking the cruiser on the side of the lane, he jumped out and started to jog towards the rink. His jog broke into a run when he saw her slip from the chain and race towards the edge of the rink.

  “Well, crap,” Mary thought, as she hurtled towards a very large pile of ice covered snow. “This is definitely going to hurt.”

  She closed her eyes and braced for the impact.

  “Oomph.”

  That was not a snowdrift, she thought, as strong arms closed around her and shielded her from the impact. It must be Ian.

  “Wow, you skated to the rescue...,” she stopped midsentence once her eyes were fully open and she realized it was Bradley holding her in his arms. They were both lying on top of a four-foot pile of snow. “Bradley!”

  He raised one eyebrow. “You were expecting someone else?”

  “Um, no,” she stuttered. “I was...it was...a...surprise. That’s all.”

  Bending her head away from him, she couldn’t believe how intensely guilty she felt being caught participating in outdoor activities. She had promised him she would take it easy all week-end.

  Bradley could see the guilt spread across her face. Damn, that could only mean one thing. She had slept with Ian.

  Ian and Andy brought their skates to a quick stop when they saw Bradley help Mary. Andy shook his head. “She’s in trouble now. Can a grown-up get grounded?”

  Ian grinned. “Well, I guess we’re going to find out. Shall we wait and see if she needs our help?”

  “Yeah, but let’s watch from this far away,” Andy replied. “I don’t want the police chief to get mad at me. It was my idea we go sledding.”

  “That’s a cunning plan, Andy,” Ian agreed.

  Bradley held Mary loosely in his arms. “Are you hurt?”

  Shaking her head, she looked up into his eyes and smiled. “No, I’m not,” she said. “Thanks. How about you? Are you okay?”

  He started to respond, but then he stopped. “I need to be honest with you and I hope you can be honest with me.”

  “Of course,” she said. “I’ll be honest with you.”

  After taking a deep breath, he met her eyes directly. “I know about yesterday.”

  Crap, how did he find out about the sledding? she wondered.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know I promised, but really I was so bored.”

  “You did it because you were bored?” he asked incredulously.

  “Well, that, and he was pretty hard to resist,” she said with a smile. “He really does know how to wheedle his way into my heart.”

  Bradley’s heart sunk. He realized he had been hoping it had been a misunderstan
ding. That she hadn’t slept with Ian.

  “But, Mary, after all you said about waiting,” he insisted.

  “I know,” she admitted. “And I really had planned to wait. But, I really didn’t see the harm in it. Although, to be honest, I was really exhausted afterwards.”

  “Well that’s the usual outcome,” he replied bitterly.

  “I probably would have been okay if I had stopped after an hour,” she said. “But after three hours, I could barely lift my legs.”

  “Three hours?” he gasped. “Mary, that’s impossible.”

  “I know, right?” she replied. “I couldn’t believe it either. We’d just finish and then it was time to start up all over again. I mean it was fun; actually, it was pretty exhilarating. But all that work for just a few moments of excitement and, poof, then it’s over.”

  “But, you enjoyed yourself?” he asked. “I know it was your first time.”

  Mary was confused. “First time?” she asked. “Bradley, I grew up in Chicago. I’ve done it hundreds of time. But I haven’t really taken the time to do it lately.”

  “But, I thought you said...”

  “Thank heavens his mother called and interrupted us,” Mary continued. “They would have had to pull me home on the sled. And, let me tell you, only my pride prevented me from begging for a ride anyway.”

  Bradley shook his head to clear it. “Mary, what are we talking about?” he asked.

  “Sledding with Andy Brennan and his brothers on Saturday,” she said. “Right?”

  Ian watched the conversation between the two and saw the confused look in Bradley’s eyes. What in the world were they discussing? He decided it was time to skate over and reintroduce himself.

  “Andy, me lad, I’m going over to help our Mary,” he said. “It looks like things could be getting a little fierce.”

  Andy looked up at Ian. “Do you think I should come too?” he asked. “I mean I was the one who made her go.”

  Ian chuckled. “No, but I’ll be sure to let the chief know you are willing to take the fall for Mary.”

  Andy smiled. “Thanks, Ian.”

  Andy skated back to his siblings and Ian skated to Mary and Bradley.

  “Morning Constable,” he said, skating to a halt next to them. “Looks like you saved the day.”

  Mary turned to Ian. “You know Bradley?”

  “Oh, aye, we met last night whilst you were making up my bed,” he replied easily. “But he left in a hurry and I dinna get the chance to introduce myself.”

  Mary turned back to Bradley. “You came to my house last night,” she asked, “Why didn’t you stay?”

  She had been honest with him; he had to be honest with her. “I thought I was interrupting something.”

  “Interrupting?” she repeated.

  At first she was confused, then she thought back to the conversation they’d been having before Ian introduced himself. “That’s what we were just talking about, wasn’t it?”

  She pushed herself out of his arms, stumbled, and would have fallen if Ian hadn’t caught her. But she was oblivious to all of it. She was only aware of the boiling anger and hurt raging through her body.

  “You thought that I...that Ian and I...after all I said,” she said, closing her eyes a moment to try and control her feelings. “I had hoped you thought better of me.”

  The single tear that slid down her cheek broke his heart. “Mary, I’m sorry,” he said. “But, what was I supposed to think when I come to your house in the middle of the night and a man answers your door.”

  “You were supposed to trust me,” she said, “Which really has been the issue between us for quite a while.”

  She angrily wiped the tear away from her face. “I have to go now, Bradley,” she said. “I don’t want to talk with you anymore.”

  She turned away.

  “But, our meeting,” he called after her.

  She quickly whipped back to face him. “I gave you my word that I would help you with Jeannine’s case,” she said bitterly. “And although you don’t find much value in it, my word is my bond.”

  She skated across the rink, leaving Ian and Bradley alone facing each other.

  Bradley turned to Ian. “So, who the hell are you?”

  Ian shrugged. “I’m a professor from the University of Edinburg. I’m on a joint fellowship with the University of Chicago researching paranormal entities and criminalistic methodology.”

  Bradley lifted an eyebrow.

  “Ghosts and solving crimes,” Ian said. “Sean figured Mary would be the perfect person to help me with my work.”

  “Ah, so Sean sent you here,” Bradley said, nodding his head. “And what did Sean tell you about me.”

  “That you were a bloody idiot who was breaking his sister’s heart.”

  “Well, he’s right about the idiot part,” Bradley agreed. “Have you ever been in love?”

  “Oh, aye, Gillian, my fiancée back home who’d rip my heart out of my chest and serve it with jelly if she’d thought I’d even looked at another woman,” he said with a sigh. “I miss her terrible.”

  Bradley chuckled. “I should have known better, she wouldn’t have slept with you,”

  “Aye. Her heart’s already taken, I ken.”

  Bradley shrugged. “Well, it was,” he agreed, “Until I acted like a fool. I’ve got a lot to apologize for.”

  “Well, no time like the present, Constable,” Ian said. “Would you be willing to give a man a ride home?”

  Bradley nodded. “Let’s take the long way, give her a chance to cool down.”

  “You might have to drive to Scotland for that.”

  “You’re probably right.”

  Chapter Six

  Mary slammed the door with all of her might. “The big jerk,” she yelled, throwing her bag across the room.

  Mike appeared behind her. “Okay, so now that the dead are awake,” he said. “You wanna tell me what the trouble is?”

  “Men are idiots,” she said, pulling her coat off and angrily shoving it into the closet. “All men are idiots.”

  “Should I be offended, or are you just referring to living men?” he asked.

  “Don’t patronize me,” she said, turning and glaring at him. “All men, living and or dead.”

  “Wow! So what did we do? I mean other than starting wars, destroying civilizations and being generally insensitive and smelly?”

  Mary faced him, ready to fight, when a large tear escaped from her eye and ran down her cheek. She tried to sniff it back, but once the first one escaped, she had no control of the others.

  “I really hate him,” she cried, sitting down on the couch and burying her head in her hands.

  “Well, of course you do,” Mike said, floating over next to her. “What did the big, bad, police chief do this time?”

  She looked up at him, her face tear-stained, and her nose runny. She grabbed a tissue from a nearby box and blew noisily. “How did you know it was Bradley?” she asked.

  He looked at her for a moment and shook his head. “Tell me.”

  “He thought I slept with Ian.”

  “Well, where would he get an idea like that?” Mike asked, hoping she didn’t find out about his part in the charade the night before.

  “Well, I was skating and I was going to crash...”

  “Of course you were,” Mike interrupted, which earned him another glare.

  “And Bradley happened to be there and he caught me.”

  “Well, that was romantic,” Mike said. “Prince Charming rescuing the damsel in distress.”

  Mary sniffed again. “Then he told me he knew about yesterday.”

  “Yesterday? What happened yesterday?”

  “Well, I thought he found out that I had gone sledding with the Brennan boys,” she said. “But when I tried to explain, he thought I was talking about sleeping with Ian.”

  “No!” Mike asked incredulously.

  “Yes,” Mary replied. “And I have no idea how he could
have mistaken anything I said for having sex.”

  Mike turned his head slightly away from Mary. “Mistaking sledding for sex? I don’t see the connection either,” he said, his voice slightly strained. “So, what did you say?”

  “Well, first, I wanted him to understand that I didn’t purposely break my promise to him, But I was so bored, so I agreed to do it,” she said.

  “Okay, you were bored,” Mike repeated, “Sounds innocent enough.”

  Mary paused, trying to remember how the conversation had progressed and listing the items sequentially. “I told him that it was really exhilarating, but I was exhausted afterwards. I told him that if we had just done it for an hour or so, I would have been fine, but after three hours I could barely lift my legs.”

  She turned to Mike. “You know, climbing that hill over and over again is exhausting!”

  Mike just nodded.

  “Then the last thing I said was that it was a lot of work for just a few moments of fun,” she added. “How could he think I was talking about anything else but sledding?”

  Mike was silent. Mary looked over at him. He had turned fully away from her, his shoulders were shaking, but he was completely silent. “Mike?”

  He shook his head, but didn’t turn back.