Bumpy Roads - A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book 11) (The Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery Series) (4 page)

Jamming the gear shift into reverse, he quickly sped backward
down the street the moment he saw the old woman stop her car.
 
They had been perfect, two little girls.
 
He hadn’t caught two together in a long time.
 
He nearly had them, if he had only run a
little faster.

He turned down the alley and drove to the side street,
watching the girls walk toward the school, the dark car following them.
 
There was no way he could capture them
now.
 
He leaned forward and studied
them.
 
They had been afraid, not just of
him, but of being caught.
 
He knew that
look on their faces, guilt and fear combined.
 
They weren’t going to tell anyone about him because they would be incriminating
themselves.
 
Besides, he grinned, what
could they say?

He took another look at them, especially the second one who had
come out of nowhere.
 
She was different.
She looked past him, into his car and her eyes had widened. He glanced over his
shoulder to the empty seat behind him.
What
had she seen?

Shaking his head, he pressed on the accelerator and turned
the car down the street in the opposite direction of the school and the
girls.
 
He would be watching for
them.
 
If they tried to skip school once,
he was sure they would try again. And this time, he would be more ready for
them.
 
But now
, he thought with a smile spreading across his face,
I need to find the other students who have
skipped school today and maybe, another special one will be out there for me to
add to my collection.

“Why aren’t you in school?” Mike asked, appearing next to
the girls as they walked down the street toward the school.

Clarissa and Maggie both jumped when he appeared. “Hey,
something’s got you spooked,” he said. “What’s up?”

An unspoken agreement passed between the girls before either
one spoke. “You just scared us,” Clarissa said. “Why did you come anyway?”

Mike shrugged, eyeing the two carefully. “My
spidey
-sense told me you were in trouble,” he said. “What
are you two up to?”

“Nothing,” Maggie said, not meeting his eyes. “We just
missed the bus, so we had to walk to school and we’re late.”

“Wait, you missed the bus and you didn’t think either of
your mothers would have driven you to school?” he asked. “Okay, that one is not
going to fly.”

“We didn’t want to ask them,” Clarissa said, “because we
wanted an adventure.”

“An adventure?”
Mike asked. “That
comes with skinned knees and cut hands? I don’t think so.”

“Don’t tell on us, Mike,” Maggie pleaded. “It was my
fault.
 
I wasn’t looking when I crossed
the street and a car was coming.
 
Clarissa had to pull me back and the car slammed on its brakes.”

“That’s why the lady in the car is following us to school,”
Clarissa explained. “Because she wants to make sure we get there safely.”

Mike turned and looked over his shoulder at the black car
that was slowly following the girls. “Okay, that’s creepy,” Mike said.

“Not as creepy as the other car,” Maggie blurted out.

“What other car?” Mike asked as Clarissa sent Maggie a look
of exasperation.

“Oh, just a car we saw,” Clarissa said. “It was really
weird.”

“Well, stay away from weird cars,” he lectured. “And look
both ways before you cross the street. Come on, you guys aren’t kids anymore,
you should know better.”

“Yes, Mike,” Maggie said. “I’m sorry.”

“Me too,” Clarissa agreed. “We won’t do this ever again.”

Sighing, Mike walked along with them in silence for a few
moments.
 
He knew something was wrong,
especially when he went into panic mode for a few minutes.
 
He looked down at the girls, who seemed
subdued but safe.
 
Maybe it was just
because Maggie had nearly been hit by the car.
 
Perhaps he had just sensed Clarissa’s fear.
 
He sure wished he understood this whole angel
thing better.

“Okay, I’m not going to mention this to either of your
parents,” Mike finally said. “I understand what it’s like to be young and
stupid.
 
But, no more adventures like
this, do you promise?”

Clarissa stuck her hand behind her back and crossed her
little fingers. “Promise,” she replied as earnestly as she could.

Maggie looked at Clarissa, not seeing her crossed fingers,
and nodded her head. “I promise too,” she said.

They stopped in front of the school.
 
The lady in the black car leaned out her
window once more. “Now you get into that school and get to class right away,”
she said. “Understand?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Maggie replied.

Clarissa nodded sincerely. “Yes, we will.”

The black car sped down the street and the girls sighed with
relief.

“You’re not out of the woods yet,” Mike said. “You still
need to deal with your principal and with your parents if she decides to call
them.”

“Can’t you just help us sneak in?” Clarissa asked, sending
Mike a pleading look.

“Oh, sure, because that’s what angels are all about,
cheating and lying,” Mike responded. “Not! You both need to accept
responsibility for your actions. You made a bad choice and now you get to live
with the consequences.”

“But we don’t want these consequences,” Maggie complained.

Mike shrugged. “Well, then you shouldn’t have made that
choice.”

He walked them up to the door, but as soon as they put their
hands on the handle, the fire alarm began to sound.
 
Clarissa looked up at Mike. “Hey, don’t look
at me. I didn’t do it.”

The girls stood back as the doors burst open and class after
class hurried out.
 
When their class
exited, they moved in at the end of the line, as if they had always been with
the group.

“Maggie, Clarissa,” their teacher called, as she walked toward
them.

The girls both held their breaths, waiting for the worst.
“Yes?” Maggie asked.

“I thought I told everyone to leave their backpacks in the
classroom,” she said. “In an emergency the only thing that’s important is to
get to safety.
 
Your personal belongings
do not matter.”

“I’m sorry,” Clarissa said. “We didn’t hear you.”

“Well, next time I don’t want to see those backpacks.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Maggie replied.

When their teacher hurried away to deal with two boys who
were shoving each other, the girls once again breathed a sigh of relief. “Even
though you both got off way too easy,” Mike said. “I hope you’ve learned your
lesson.”

Clarissa nodded. “Yes, Mike, we have.”

Maggie agreed. “We’ll never do this again,” she said. “We
promised.”

The return bell sounded over the loudspeakers in the
playground.

“Looks like you just got the all clear,” Mike said. “Now
behave yourselves.”

As soon as Mike disappeared, Clarissa turned to Maggie.
“Next time we go, we’re going to have to figure out a better plan.”

“Next time?”
Maggie replied,
astonished. “We promised we would never do this again. We promised to an angel.”

Shaking her head, Clarissa smiled and lifted her hand with
her crossed fingers. “I had my fingers crossed,” she said. “So I didn’t
promise.”

“Well, I didn’t,” Maggie countered. “So we can’t go!”

“You can’t go,” Clarissa argued. “I still can.”

“Clarissa, we almost had a stranger take us. It’s not safe.”

“He didn’t almost get us.
 
We got away,” she said. “Besides, we’ll never see him again.”

“I’m not going,” Maggie stated firmly.

“I’ll just go without you then,” Clarissa countered.

“But you can’t see if your dad is there without me,” Maggie
said.

Clarissa stared at Maggie for a moment, her lips tight and
her hands clenched in fists. “If you don’t come, I’ll never be your friend
again,” she shouted, turning and hurrying toward the school door without Maggie.

Maggie stood alone for a moment, remembering the ghosts
inside the man’s car.
 
All of them were
pounding on the windows, tears flowing from their eyes and pleading with Maggie
to help them escape.
 
She was more afraid
than she had ever been.
 
That man was too
dangerous. “Clarissa, wait,” Maggie called, moving after her. “You have to
listen to me.”

Mary unlocked the door to her office, walked in and looked
around with a look of satisfaction on her face. She couldn’t imagine life
getting any better than it was.
 
She had
a wonderful career, an amazing husband who adored her and a new daughter who
was nearly perfect. And now, with the drama and worry of the past months over,
she could finally just live her life.

Walking to her desk, she put her briefcase down and slipped
out of her coat.
 
A quick knock on the
door had her turning around and smiling. Stanley was strolling through the
front door with a white paper box in his hands. Her smile widened as she saw
the familiar logo of Coles’ Bakery.

“So, girlie, you interested in one of these chocolate
éclairs?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

“I really shouldn’t,” she said.

“Yeah, but you want to,” he coaxed.

“I really do,” she confessed. “And for some reason, I’m just
starving today.”

Walking to her desk, he sat on one of the chairs and put the
box down. “Well, you know, you’ve been through a lot of changes in your life
lately,” he said, as he untied the twine that kept the box closed. “And that
causes stress.
 
And that burns up
calories. And that makes you hungry.”

He reached in, pulled out a six-inch éclair loaded with whipped
filling and covered with dark chocolate and handed it to her. “And that’s why
you need to eat this.”

Mary took a bite and closed her eyes in bliss as the flaky
pastry, smooth cream and dark chocolate slid over her taste buds and down her
throat. “Oh, Stanley,” she said, “This is just heavenly.”

Stanley lifted the other one out of the box and took a bite.
“Yeah, it
ain’t
too bad, is it?” he asked through a
mouthful of pastry. “Wonder if Rosie can make these?”

Mary took another bite and wiped the excess filling from her
chin. “So, why isn’t Rosie baking these for you?” she asked. “I’d bet you
haven’t stepped through the doorway of Coles’ since you got married.”

Nodding, as he took another bite, he swallowed before he
answered. “Rosie’s got some important real estate seminar in Chicago,” he said.
“So, I’m by myself for a couple of days.”

“Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?” she asked,
licking the frosting from her fingers.

Wiping his face with a paper napkin, he shook his head as he
stood up. “
Naw
, this is your first night as a normal
family,” he said. “You need to be alone. ’Sides, Rosie cooked me up a bunch of
casseroles and
iffen
I don’t eat them, she’ll be put
out.”

Mary picked up another napkin, sat back in her chair and
wiped the traces of the treat off her face too. “It’s nice to have someone
worry about you, isn’t it?” she asked.

He smiled down at her. “We done
good
,
you and me,” he said. “We found soul mates. Not everyone gets that.”

“Yes, you’re right,” she agreed, sighing with satisfaction.
“And we get to live happily ever after.”

Stanley chortled. “Girlie, you’ve read too many of those
fairy tales,” he said. “You want to know why they always end the story right
after the prince and the princess gets married?”

“Why?” she asked.

“’Cause the rest of their lives
is
just plain ugly,” he said.

“Stanley!” she scolded. “I can’t believe you said that.
 
Being married to Rosie isn’t ugly.”

“I
ain’t
saying it is,” he said.
“But the being married part, the putting two people together and trying to act
like one.
 
The making of a good marriage
– it
ain’t
purty
. It’s like
making sausage, it’s ugly, but it’s worth it.”

Crossing her arms, she shook her head. “I think you’re pretty
cynical,” she said.

“Nope, just realistic,” he replied. “After the twitterpated
part wears off, you start seeing stuff that you didn’t pay attention to
before.”

“Stuff?”

“Like he always leaves the top off the toothpaste and
doesn’t clean up after himself in the bathroom,” he suggested, his right
eyebrow lifting toward his forehead.

“Okay, well, yes, he might do that,” she said. “But I just
think it’s cute.”

“Course you do, you’re still twitterpated,” he replied. “But
when that first goofy love settles down to a real, deep love, then you start
looking at him like a partner and things start bugging you.”

Worried, she sat forward and placed her head on her hands.
“Bugging me?”

“Yeah, and bugging him too,” he said.

“There is nothing about me that would bug Bradley,” she said
instantly. “He loves me too much.”

“Now there you go, girlie, mistaking love for human nature,”
he said. “Course he loves you. Course he’d die for you. Course you’re the only
woman for him. But, you’re a woman and he’s a man, you don’t think the same way
and you don’t act the same way. There’s
gonna
be some
bumps in the road.”

“So, what do I do?” she asked.

“You
gotta
remember he don’t think
like you and he don’t see stuff the way you do,” he said, his voice softening
as he spoke. “You just
gotta
talk to him when
something hurts your feelings. Let him know how you feel. Don’t get angry with
him for being a man, he can’t help that, but explain to him how you’re feeling
about things.”

She plopped back against her chair. “So, there is no happily-ever-after?”

Stanley reached forward and patted her hand. “Sure there is,
girlie,” he said. “It just
don’t
happen by itself. It
takes two people working hard together, respecting each other and thinking
about the other person first, that makes it happen.”

“I can do that,” she said hopefully.

“If anyone can do that, you can,” Stanley replied with
confidence as he stood up. “Now, I
gotta
go to the
store and make sure those youngsters are keeping busy.”

Mary smiled, picturing the fifty-year-old youngsters Stanley
was referring to. “Don’t let them get away with lollygagging,” she laughed.

Winking at her, he stopped at the door before leaving. “Don’t
worry, you got lots of time ’fore the twitterpated part ends.
Lots of time.”