Twisted Paths (2 page)

She nodded and took a deep breath.  She would have faith, she would be brave, for just a little longer, if that’s what her parents would want her to do.

 Chapter Two

Mary stood in front of her bathroom mirror and stared into it, not really registering the face looking back at her.  She took off her earrings and necklace and placed them into the jewelry box on the counter.  Her maid of honor dress was hung on the door and she was wearing a short black slip, silk stockings and a garter belt.

Lifting a bottle on the counter, she applied makeup remover to a cotton pad and started removing her eye makeup automatically. 

Gary Copper had escaped.  He’d killed Thanner.  After all they did, he was still a threat.

Sighing, she leaned forward and rested her head against the mirror.  Would life ever get back to normal?  Then an unexpected giggle escaped her lips.  Yeah, right, who would ever describe her life as normal?

Washing her face, she applied moisturizer and pulled her hair out of the band that held it in place. She turned to pick up her pajamas and realized she had left them in her bedroom.  She started to grab for a robe and then remembered, she could walk unencumbered into her bedroom.  There was no worry that Mike would suddenly appear with his teasing grin and off-color suggestions about what she should be wearing to bed.  She placed a hand on her shower door.  The last place Mike had left a note for her, a note that had nearly frightened the life out of her.

Exhaling slowly, she leaned back against the counter. She really missed him. She knew he was in a better place, but, there was still a hole in her heart.  She slipped out of the bathroom and entered her bedroom.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about.”

She froze in place, not believing what she was seeing.  Perched on the corner of her bed, Mike was sitting; his arms wrapped around one knee, as he leered at her in his old familiar way. “Mike?”

He grinned. “Yeah, babe, it’s me in the flesh,” he grinned and shrugged. “Well, okay, not in the flesh.”

“But you…you…,” she shook her head. “You went to the light.”

“They threw me back,” he teased.

Covering her mouth with her hand, tears spilled unconstrained down her cheeks. “I can’t believe…,” she cried. “I mean…”

He got up and hurried to her side. “Hey, don’t cry.”

She buried her head in his chest and he held her in his arms for a few moments. Suddenly she backed up. “I can feel you,” she said.

“Yeah, I got promoted,” he explained. “I’m a guardian angel now. So, it comes with perks.”

She grinned up at him through her tears. “You’re a guardian angel?” she asked, lifting an eyebrow. “Who’d you pay off?”

Laughing, he wiped away her tears. “I just had to drop your name,” he said with a tender smile. “Seems like you got a lot of pull up there.”

“So, are you my guardian angel?” she asked.

He grinned and shook his head. “No, I don’t have enough combat experience for that job. But, we are going to be working together.”

“What?” she asked, shaking her head.

“As much as it pains me to say this, you need to get dressed,” he said.

She looked down at herself and squealed, and then ran into the bathroom to retrieve her robe. “You should have reminded me,” she yelled from behind the door as she tightened the belt.

“Hey, I might be an angel, but I’m not stupid,” he teased.

Walking back out, covered by a huge terry-cloth robe, she faced him. She placed her hands on her hips and shook her head. She couldn’t be angry, she was so glad to see him. “I missed you,” she admitted. “I really missed you.”

“Yeah, me too, kid,” he replied. “Now, get dressed and meet me at the Greyhound Station in downtown Freeport in fifteen minutes.  She was asleep when I left, guarded by a little old lady who would take someone out with her knitting needles if they dared disturb her.”

“Who?” Mary asked.

“My first charge,” he replied. “Mary, I’m bringing Clarissa home.”

Chapter Three

“Ian!” Mary yelled, pulling the sweatshirt over her head as she rushed from her bedroom.

Ian, dressed in flannel pajama pants, shaking the sleep from his face, rushed out of his room and met her in the hall. “What the hell…,” he paused and looked at her face. “You’ve been crying. What is it, Mary darling?”

Mary threw her arms around him and gave him a quick hug. “Mike’s back,” she exclaimed, jumping back and smiling from ear to ear. “He’s back and he’s bringing Clarissa with him.”

Ian placed his hands gently on her shoulders to hold her in place. “Okay, now,” he said, keeping his voice slow and calm. “Obviously you’ve had a wee bit of a shock and you’re going a bit daft.  But it’s nothing we can’t take care of. Why don’t you sit a bit and I’ll call Bradley.”

She nodded. “Yes, we should call Bradley,” she repeated. “We can call him from the car.”

“Oh, no, darling,” he said. “You won’t be driving the car in your condition.”

She paused and considered him for a moment, biting her lower lip to keep the laughter from bubbling out. “Ian, do you think I’ve gone over the edge?” she asked.

“Well, ah, I think that might be a wee bit harsh. And we know you’ve been under a lot of stress lately,” he explained slowly. “But I could fix you a nice cuppa tea and we could talk about it.”

She lifted her hands and placed them on Ian’s shoulders, mimicking his own position. “Ian, darling,” she said in her best mock accent. “I’m not a wee bit daft at all.  I came out of my bathroom and Mike was sitting on the corner of my bed. He’s not a ghost anymore. He’s a guardian angel.  He’s Clarissa’s guardian angel and he’s got her on a Greyhound bus coming into Freeport in ten minutes.”

Comprehension dawned on Ian’s face as his smile spread. “He’s back?” he asked. “He’s really back?”

She nodded eagerly.  “We have to meet him in ten minutes,” she repeated.

He threw his arms around Mary and hugged her. “Well, then, what are we waiting for?” he asked.

“Well, you really should get dressed,” she suggested. “At least put some shoes on.”

He looked down at his bare chest and feet and nodded. “Aye, that would be a good idea,” he said.

“I’ll warm up the car,” Mary said. “And I’ll call Bradley while I wait.”

Ian paused on his way into his room. “Ah, Mary, about Bradley,” he said. “Why don’t you just ask him to meet us at the station, but don’t tell him why.  I think we ought to be with him when he hears the news.”

“You think he might react the way you did?” she asked, one eyebrow raised.

He just grinned. “Be down in a trice,” he said before pulling his door closed behind him.

Mary hurried down the stairs, pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed Bradley’s number.

“Mary, what’s wrong?” Bradley’s voice, although sleepy, was filled with concern.

“I’m fine,” she replied immediately. “But I need you to meet me at the Greyhound Station on South Street in about ten minutes. I have a lead on a case I’m working on and I need you to be there.”

“Which case?” Bradley asked.

“I’ll tell you all about it when you get there,” she replied, and then after a moment’s consideration she added, “Oh, wear your uniform. I might need a little law enforcement reinforcement.”

She hung up the phone, grabbed her purse and hurried out to the Roadster. The night was clear and the stars were shining in the evening sky.  Mary could hear the soft call of an owl from somewhere in the vicinity.  The ground was cold and the grass crunched beneath her feet. It had been almost a year since Clarissa had been in Freeport. She wondered what the little girl would think about finding her real father.

“She has a real father,” a voice said from next to her.

Mary jumped and turned.  Henry Madison, Clarissa’s father, stood next to her.

“How did you…” she began.

He shrugged. “I just knew,” he said. “She’s back.  She’s back in town?”

Mary nodded. “She will be, in just a few minutes.”

“How is she?”

“I don’t know,” she replied. “I only know that she’s coming back on a Greyhound Bus and that my friend, Mike, is her guardian angel.”

He smiled. “She’d like that, her own angel,” he said. “I used to tell her all about angels.”

“Well, I’m sure Mike is nothing like any angel you might have described to her,” Mary responded.

“I’d like to see her,” Henry said. “I need to see her.”

“Yes, you do,” she agreed. “But we need to be sure she’s safe first. Gary Copper escaped today.  We don’t know where he is.”

Henry quickly looked around. “Is she safe?” he asked.

Mary nodded. “Bradley, Ian and I will be meeting her at the bus station,” she said. “We’ll keep her safe.”

“And Becca?” he asked.

Shaking her head slowly, she met his eyes. “I don’t know anything about Becca,” she said. “I’m guessing she’s on the bus too, but I’m not sure.”

Henry paused for a moment, seeming to search the night air and then he turned back to Mary. “No, she’s not on the bus, Mary,” he said sadly. “But she’s watching over Clarissa just the same.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Mary said, her heart breaking for the little girl who’d lost so much in her young life.

Ian hurried out of the house and down the steps. He was nearly to Mary before he saw Henry. “Ah, so you’ve heard the news?” he asked.

Henry nodded and then began to fade. “Bring her to me, when it’s safe,” he said to Mary.

Mary nodded and waited until he was gone.

“So, what was that all about?” Ian asked as they hurried to get into the car.

“He knew,” she said. “He knew Clarissa was coming back to Freeport.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” he said. “I think our psychic connection with the people we love is the strongest bond we have. I’m guessing that without the physical and mental limitations we place on our own abilities, it’s even stronger.”

Mary turned on the car and backed out of the driveway. “What do you mean limitations?” she asked, as she shifted gears and drove the car down the street.

“When you tell yourself you can’t do something and you believe it, you generally can’t do it,” he said.

“Isn’t that just wisdom?” she asked.

“Could be. Or it could be fear holding you back,” he said. “Why can some people see ghosts and others not?”

“Because we have a gift.”

“Or because they don’t want to see a ghost,” he supplied. “They don’t want to know, so they can’t.”

“So, Henry can feel Clarissa’s presence because he thinks he can?” she asked.

“No, Henry can feel Clarissa’s presence because he’s opened himself up to the possibility of being able to.  He knows he can do, so he can,” Ian replied.

“He has faith,” Mary countered, as she turned right onto Empire Street.

Ian smiled. “Aye, faith,” he said. “It can do miraculous things.”

“So, changing the subject,” Mary said with a quick glance over at him. “Why didn’t you want me to tell Bradley about Clarissa?”

“Well, first, I didn’t want him jumping in his squad car, rushing down the highway to meet the bus and getting her off of it,” he said.

Nodding, Mary agreed. “Yes, I could see him doing that. And…”

“And, she just lost her father a year ago, the only father she’s known,” he said.

“And if Henry is right, she’s lost her mother too,” Mary added.

“Ah, the poor wee bairn,” Ian said sadly, “so much for her to deal with. Perhaps she doesn’t need to have one more thing, one more major change thrown at her.”

“Maybe she doesn’t or shouldn’t know that Bradley is her father?” Mary asked.

“At least not yet,” Ian said. “She might just need familiar surroundings, people she knows, a place to feel safe and a place to grieve.”

“It’s late, but I’m sure Katie won’t mind a phone call,” Mary said.

Ian smiled. “Aye, the Brennans would be the perfect place for her to stay for a while,” he said. “And it’s a place where Gary Copper would not think to look.”

“Do you think he’s looking for her?” she asked.

He turned to look out the window for a moment; at the dark, quiet houses and the empty silent streets. Then he turned back to face her. “No, Mary, I don’t think he’s looking for her just yet,” he said softly. “I think he’ll be looking for you first.”

Mary’s hands tightened on the steering wheel for a moment and she felt a sick feeling in her stomach.  But Ian’s words had not surprised her.  She had known that Gary would seek her out first. She had escaped him. She had denied him.  And she had challenged him. “I know,” she whispered.

He placed his hand over one of hers and gave it a quick squeeze. “Aye, and you also know that you will win,” he said with confidence, “because you have faith in your abilities.”

She smiled. “Faith, it all comes down to faith.”

Chapter Four

The squad car arrived only a few minutes after Mary had pulled into the parking lot of the hotel just off Highway 20 on South Street.  Bradley, dressed in his uniform, met Mary and Ian in the front lobby. “So, what’s going on?” he asked.

“I had a visitor tonight…,” Mary started.

“Copper?  Did Copper come to your house?” he interrupted.

She placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. “No, Bradley, it was Mike. Mike came to me.”

“But he went to the light, right?”

She nodded. “Yes, he did,” she answered, with a smile on her face. “But, he told me he got reassigned, he’s a guardian angel now.”

Bradley leaned back against the wall and shook his head. “Well, what do you know,” he said, smiling back at her. “That’s great. That’s just great.”

“Aye, and for his first assignment, he has quite a special charge,” Ian inserted.

Bradley looked at Ian and then Mary. “Okay, who is Mike’s new friend?” he asked.

“Clarissa,” Mary replied softly. “He found Clarissa and is bringing her back to Freeport.”

“What?” Bradley’s eyes were wide with shock. “He has…she’s coming…where is she?”

“She’s on the bus,” Mary said. “She’ll be here in about five minutes.”

He ran his hand through his hair and started pacing. “What do I say to her? What should I do? I’m not ready,” he stopped and looked at Mary and Ian, a smile growing on his face. “I finally have my daughter back.”