Authors: Terri Reid
“You want me to do what?” Bradley asked.
“It’s not that hard,” Kate said. “Just hang some sheets from
this side of the wall and block off the kitchen and the dining room.”
Rosie looked over her shoulder at the front door. “Are you
sure Mary isn’t going to walk in on us?” she asked. “I don’t want her to be
upset.”
Bradley shook his head. “She promised she’d call before she
left the office,” he said. “So, we’ll have at least ten minutes to get you out
of here before she shows up.
Now, back to me hanging my laundry across the house.”
Kate laughed. “Come on, Bradley, it’s not that hard,” she
said. “You just have to use thumb tacks and cordon off this area.
Tell Mary you are planning a surprise for the
family get-together, and she can’t peek or it will be ruined.”
He sighed and shook his head. “You know I’m not that guy,”
he said. “I’m the call-the-pizza-delivery-at-the-last-minute guy.
She’s going to get suspicious.”
“Oh, I know,” Rosie volunteered. “Tell her that Stanley said
that he figured you would just call the pizza guy at the last minute, so you’re
doing this to show Stanley that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
“So this turns into it’s about my honor, rather than I’ve
suddenly started looking at that one website,” he paused and thought for a
moment. “Pin interest.”
“Or something like that,” Kate said. “But, yes, it’s a
challenge, and Stanley threw down the gauntlet.”
“Yeah, I can go with that,” he said. “So, what am I really
doing?”
“You are really getting the sheets up by noon on Friday so
Rosie and I can get in here and set things up,” Kate replied.
“And, we are going to give you a list of things you have to
buy and have in the refrigerator before we come,” Rosie added.
“A list?”
Bradley asked. “I don’t
know…”
“Oh, that’s okay,” Rosie said sweetly, waving the list in
the air. “I told Stanley that if you couldn’t do it, I’d give it to him…”
Bradley snatched the list out of her hand. “I’ll take care
of it,” he said.
“You also have to remember to set all of the Halloween candy
out in the front room so Mary doesn’t have to go into the kitchen to replace it
when it runs out,” Kate reminded him.
“Why can’t I put it all out in the bowl on the front porch?”
he asked.
“Really?”
Kate asked. “What would you
do if you went trick-or-treating and someone put an entire cache of candy out,
unguarded, on their front porch?”
“But I’m the chief of police,” he argued.
“Then you should know better,” Rosie said.
“One bag of candy in the bowl, two shopping bags full of candy near
the front closet ready for replenishment.”
“And I still get to decorate the front porch, right?” he
asked.
“Yes,” Kate smiled. “Mary told us about the things you
bought at the Halloween store. Clifford is jealous.”
Bradley smiled. “Have him come over. He can help me set it
up,” he said. “I downloaded some special effects sounds, and I’m going to play
them through Bluetooth speakers hidden under the coffins.
I can’t wait to scare people.”
He paused and turned to Kate. “Um, when are your boys planning
on stopping by?”
“Do you really want to start a war with the Brennan clan?”
she asked. “They play for keeps.”
“You’re right,” he agreed. “I want them on my side. Have
them
come over with Clifford, and they can help us set
things up.”
Rosie shook her head. “Just make sure you don’t get all
wrapped up in Halloween and forget what you’re supposed to do for the shower,”
she cautioned.
“I promise, I won’t,” he said. “Besides, Mary is going to be
so surprised. You two have outdone yourselves. She doesn’t suspect a thing.”
“That’s the best part of a surprise shower,” Rosie said.
“The surprise.”
“Now, the only thing that concerns me is this case she’s
working on,” Kate said.
“Why does it concern you?”
Bradley asked,
suddenly tense.
“Well, I just want to be sure she’s not going to be called
away at the last minute and miss her own shower,” Kate said.
“Oh, that,” Bradley said, exhaling softly. “If she doesn’t
have it taken care of by the end of the week, I’ll insist she take a break on
Halloween night.
Besides, with all of
her family here, I’m sure that’s what she’s planning on doing anyway.”
“Good,” Rosie said with a satisfied sigh. “It all sounds
like it’s going to be perfect.”
“Yes, it does,” Kate said. “At this point, nothing could go
wrong.”
“Yeah, just remind me to knock on wood,” Bradley said.
“Just to be safe.”
Plywood scarecrows were propped up against streetlights and
parking signs, signaling the celebration of fall in downtown Freeport.
In the late evening hours, when the shops
were closed and the traffic non-existent, the friendly figures transformed from
harbingers of the harvest to dark specters lurking near shadowed
signposts.
But tonight, the wooden
mannequins were actually treacherous because they hid within their number a
true menace of the night seeking to silence a threat.
The soldier slipped from the alleyway and pressed a
camouflaged jacket against the brick façade of the nearby building.
The target was less than a click away, alone
and unaware in her office. Shifting slightly, an object slipped from the sleeve
of the jacket downwards. The cold steel of the knife felt familiar in the
soldier’s hand. It would only take a moment, and then the threat would be
eliminated.
Taking a steadying breath, the shadowed figure turned and
dashed up the side street, ducking for cover at the entrances of the closed
downtown shops.
A cursory glance down
the street showed the only building with the glow of light from a street-level
office was only half a block away.
That
had to be the target.
The soldier slipped to the next darkened entrance and
waited. It wouldn’t be long now.
She
would walk out of her office and turn to lock the door.
That’s when the attack would happen.
It would be quick and professional.
She would not suffer.
A car pulled down the street, and the soldier pushed back
into the far corners of the entranceway, melting into the shadows.
But instead of continuing down the block, the
car pulled up in front of the target’s office and beeped his horn.
“Hey, girlie,” Stanley called, stepping out of his giant
Buick. “Don’t you know it’s time for you to get yourself home?”
“Stanley, I was just leaving,” Mary replied, walking out of
her office and locking the door. “What are you doing out so late?”
“I just felt like I needed a ride in the night air,” he
replied.
Laughing, she walked over to his car. “
Hmmmm
,
now why don’t I believe that?” she asked.
He reached into his car and pulled out a container from the
local ice cream shop. “Well, if you must know, I’m afraid I’ve developed a
hankering for pumpkin pie shakes. But they had a two
fer
one deal, and you know how I can’t pass up a deal,” he confessed. “So
iffen
you want to stay on my good side, you’ll take the one
I bought for you and destroy the evidence.”
“Pumpkin pie,” she moaned. “Stanley, I ate banana cream pie
at lunch.”
“Well, it
ain’t
lunch now,” he
said. “It’s practically the next day, so it
don’t
count.”
She grinned at him and took the offered shake. “Well, who am
I to argue with that kind of logic?” she asked, tasting the delicious treat.
“Oh, Stanley, this is really good.”
“Well, don’t stand out on the street drinking it,” he said,
glancing down the street. “You never know when Rosie’s going to drive by, and
she’ll chew my hide for eating sweets this late at night.”
Mary opened her car door, put her purse and briefcase in the
passenger’s side and slipped behind the steering wheel. “Thank you, Stanley,”
she said. “I was actually getting hungry. You saved my life.”
Stanley waved at her and slipped into his own car. “Anytime,
girlie,” he called. “You have a good night.”
The soldier watched in irate silence as Mary drove away into
the night. “Next time,” the low voice throbbed with fury. “Next time you won’t
be so lucky.”
Bradley stood on the front porch watching for Mary to drive
up.
He didn’t want it to look like he
was worried about her, but after the other night, he was.
Looking up into the night sky he stared at
the nearly full moon and the almost starless sky. Only the brightest stars
could be seen when the moon was that bright.
“The other ones are there,” Mike said, appearing next to
him. “You just can’t see them.”
“So, you read minds now, too?” Bradley replied, still
looking up to the sky and not giving Mike the satisfaction of knowing he’d
startled him.
“Yeah, only simple ones,” Mike teased. “They’re easy.”
Bradley chuckled. “So, what wise philosophical statement do
you have for me tonight?” he asked, only half-joking. “That sometimes I don’t
see all the blessings I have because worry overshadows them?
Or maybe I don’t see the good in people
because one bad trait blinds me to the others? Or perhaps I don’t see all the
tiny miracles that happen throughout my day because life overshadows them?”
Mike shrugged. “No, I was commenting on the stars,” he said.
Bradley turned his head, looked at Mike and grinned. “You
can be such an ass,” he said.
“That’s ass-angel to you,” Mike countered, grinning back.
“She’s fine. Stanley stopped by with a pumpkin shake at just the right moment.”
Bradley started to smile, then stopped and met Mike’s eyes.
“There was a potential wrong moment, then,” he stated.
Mike nodded. “Yeah, there was.”
“And did you have anything to do with Stanley’s sudden urge
for late night ice cream?” Bradley asked.
Once again, Mike shrugged. “Hey, I told you. I’m not
supposed to interfere,” he said. “But, you know, stuff happens.”
“Thank you,” Bradley said with sigh.
“For
not interfering in your own unique way.”
“No problem,” Mike replied. “But keep an eye on her. There’s
a troubled soul involved in this one.”
“Who…” Bradley began, but before he could ask the question,
Mike had already faded away.
He sighed
again. “Yeah, I know. You can’t interfere.”
Mary’s car pulled up into the driveway, and Bradley jogged
down the stairs towards the car.
He was
at her door before she was able to open it. “Hey,” he said, opening the door
for her and helping her out.
“Hey,” she replied.
He covered her mouth with a kiss and held her in his arms,
giving himself a moment to stop worrying about what Mike mentioned.
Finally he released her. “Pumpkin?” he asked.
She grinned and reached back into the car for a half-filled
container. “Stanley decided that neither of us could do without a pumpkin shake
tonight,” she explained. “But he bought a large.
Who in the world can finish an entire large?”
“So what you’re saying is that you’re going to share?”
Bradley asked hopefully.
She nodded and handed him the cup. “Yes, I am
pumpkined-out.”
He bent over to grab her purse and briefcase, handed them to
her, then loosely placed his arm over her shoulders and walked her back to the
house.
“So, how was working late?” he
asked, sipping on the shake.
“It was an interesting combination of paranormal and good,
old-fashioned gossip,” she said. “I started reading the journal and
letters.
Kristen was there for a while,
but the memories were too much for her.”
“Find anything interesting?” he asked.
“Well, first, Polo is filled with interesting people
according to Kristen, and she has definite views on just about everyone,” Mary
said with a soft laugh. “She’s one of those people that you want to have as a
friend, because as an enemy, she would be ferocious.”
“Could that have gotten her killed?” he asked, opening the
front door for her.
Mary shook her head as she placed her purse and briefcase
down. “No, I think it was unrequited love,” she said. “She has a number of love
letters, even after she was engaged to Danny, trying to convince her that Danny
wasn’t the one for her.”
They walked over to the couch and sat down. Mary propped her
feet up on the ottoman and snuggled against Bradley.
He put his arm around her shoulders and
asked, “Was Mitch one of them?”
Mary nodded. “Yeah, Mitch and Victor,” she said. “Kristen
said Viv had a twin brother, so that must have been Vic.”
“Viv, the waitress we had today?” he asked. “The one who
said they all still hang around together.”
“Yes,” Mary said. “Kristen didn’t say a great deal about
her, but Kristen actually seemed like she would have been interested in Mitch
if things had been different.”
“I wonder if he felt that way, too, and decided to force the
issue,” Bradley mused, sucking the last drops from the bottom of the cup and
making a terrible noise.
Mary grinned up at him. “Are you done?” she asked.
He smiled at her. “I suppose it would be fairly gauche if I
took the top off and licked the rest
off
the sides?”
he asked.
She nodded. “Yes. Yes, it would,” she said and chuckled
softly. “So, how was Clarissa tonight?”
“She was great,” he said, leaning into her contentedly. “She
was working on her school project.”
“Oh, what’s it on?” Mary asked.
He shook his head. “Nope, it’s top secret,” he said. “She
wants to surprise you when you come to her class on Friday.”
“Well, I can’t wait to be surprised,” Mary said, and then
she yawned widely.
Leaning over, Bradley placed a kiss on her forehead. “Well,
first sleep and then surprise, okay?” he said, standing up and offering her his
hands.
She let him pull her out of the couch and then wrapped her
arms around his waist, laying her head on his chest. “Thanks for being my
partner today,” she murmured.
He hugged her and placed his head on hers. “Cutest partner I
ever had,” he said. “I think we make a good team.”
She smiled up at him. “I totally agree.”