Bumpy Roads - A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book 11) (The Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery Series) (8 page)

During the drive from the School District building back to
City Hall, Bradley tried to put together all of the pieces of the puzzle.
 
Julie had been able to track back and get
attendance data on all of the missing children.
 
Most of them had a long history of absences,
so perhaps it had nothing to do with the reports.
 
The superintendent rubbed him the wrong way,
but that was mostly because the guy was a pompous ass. However, he did remember
a Canadian study that suggested that short men were more likely to be sexual
predators than their taller counterparts.
 
He’d run a check on the doctor, as well as the programmer, the truancy
officer and the accountant.
 
With only
girls missing, he had to believe they were looking for a man.

Looking down at the manila folder next to him, he was once
again grateful for Julie.
 
He knew she
was bending the rules, but she copied the personnel records of all of the
people in the meeting and sent it along with him.
Just in case you need it
, she had said when she handed it to him.
He noticed she even included her own information.
 
Shaking his head, he wondered how soon people
would realize that she was the brains behind the school district and get rid of
the pretender in the superintendent’s office.

Pulling into his parking spot at City Hall, he noticed the
Roadster parked across the street and groaned. “Crap, I forgot to call Mary
this morning,” he muttered.

Hurrying up the stairs, he stopped when he saw the door to
the computer lab was open.
 
Entering the
room, he saw Mary and another woman working together at one of the older
computer stations. He smiled proudly as he watched Mary focus entirely on what
was in front of her. Whatever she was looking for; he knew she’d find it. He
decided not to disturb their work and was stepping back when Mary turned and
saw him.

“Oh, hello, Chief Alden,” she said coolly. “I didn’t see
you. Of course, there’s a lot of that happening lately.”

She must be acting
like she doesn’t know me very well for the woman’s sake
, he thought.

“Mary,” he said, with a smile. “I hope you’re finding
whatever you’re looking for.”

Mary’s smile was slightly brittle. “I’m sure we will manage
on our own,” she replied. “I am really getting used to managing on my own.”

Bradley cocked his head and met her eyes.
Yeah, this has nothing to do with anyone
else. For some reason, Mary’s upset. I wonder if something happened at the
house.

Entering the room, against his better judgment, he walked
over to the two of them. “Hello, I’m Chief Alden,” he said to the other woman.

Mary sighed. “I’m sorry, that was so rude of me,” she
apologized. “Celia, this is my husband, Bradley Alden.”

Well, at least she’s
still acknowledging me as her husband
.

“Bradley, this is Celia Rasmussen,” Mary continued. “I’m
working on a case with her.”

“Rasmussen,” Bradley mused. “Why does your name seem
familiar?”

“My daughter, Courtney, was kidnapped eight years ago,” she
replied.

Bradley’s heart dropped.
Of
course,
he thought,
I was just
reading the file this morning.

“I’m so sorry about your daughter,” he said. “I understand
how it feels to have a loved one who’s missing.”

Celia looked up at his face and realized he did indeed seem
to understand. “Thank you.”

“Um, Mary, I was wondering if you had a moment or two?” he
asked. “I wanted to speak with you privately.”

Smiling politely, she shook her head. “Oh, sorry, I can’t,”
she replied. “I’m sure you understand how work needs to take precedence over
anything else.
 
Perhaps you could email
me.”

He stared at her for a moment, trying hard to read her
thoughts, but it was useless. “Yeah, of course, I’ll send you an email,” he
said.

“Thanks,” she said, turning back to the computer screen.

“Um, okay then,” Bradley said, knowing he was just
dismissed. “I’ll just do that.”

He backed out of the room and closed the door behind him.

As soon as she heard the click of the door, Mary exhaled
sharply.

“So, you’re pretty pissed off, huh?” Celia asked, biting
back a smile.

“Was I that obvious?” she asked. “Sorry.”

“So how long have you two been married?” she asked. “And what
did he do?”

Mary chuckled. “Well, to answer your first question, we’ve
been married nearly three weeks. And to answer your second question, he missed
dinner last night, came home after I had gone to bed, fell asleep on the couch
and then got up and left before we had a chance to speak this morning.”

“Did it have anything to do with the missing girl?” Celia
asked.

“What missing girl?”

“It was all over Facebook last night,” Celia said. “A young
girl, I think she was twelve years old, is missing. There’s an Amber Alert out
for her.”

Mary felt like an idiot. “When was she reported missing?”
she asked.

“Toward the end of the school day,” Celia replied. “I
understand they were searching for her until midnight, and then they started
early this morning. I read the FBI came in early this morning to help with the
search.”

Mary pushed back her chair. “Would you excuse me for a few
minutes? I’ve got to apologize to someone.”

Nodding, Celia smiled. “Sure,” she replied. “Take your time.
I’ll keep going through the files.”

The knock on his office door was tentative, unlike Dorothy’s
sharp and demanding one. “Come in,” he called, looking up from the pile of
paperwork before him.

Mary slipped just inside the office and closed the door. “Do
you have a minute?” she asked quietly.

He stood, trying to read the new look on her face, and
approached her tentatively. “Of course, but before you say anything, can I ask
what you and Mrs. Rasmussen
are
working on?”

“Sure,” she replied. “She hired me to help her find her
daughter.”

“Why?” he asked. “And I mean that in the nicest, most
respectful way.”

Mary smiled. “She read about me and she thinks she has seen
her daughter,” she said.

“Seen her?
Where?”

“Bradley, seen her as a ghost,” Mary explained.
“On several occasions in her home.”

He closed his eyes as anger and frustration bubbled up.
“Damn it,” he said. “I wonder how many more are dead.”

“Well, we’re not sure yet,” Mary said. “I haven’t confirmed
she’s dead.
 
We’re still researching
information about the case.”

“Would you be willing to share whatever you’ve found with
me?” he asked. “I’m working on a similar case.”

“Of course,” she said eagerly. “I’ll be happy to share it
with you.”

He paused to look down on her smiling face. “Um, whatever I
did,” he began. “I’m really sorry.”

She sighed. “No, I’m sorry,” she replied.

“Really?” he asked, brightening as he got closer.
“For what?”

“For getting angry with you,” she confessed.

He pulled her into his arms and just held her for a few
moments. “This feels so good,” he murmured into her hair. “I really missed
you.”

She wrapped her arms around him and laid her head against
his chest. “I missed you too,” she said.

He leaned away slightly and gently lifted her chin, lowering
his lips to hers.
 
At first the kiss was
soothing and gentle, but Mary wanted more. She slid her hands from around his
waist, up his chest and around his neck, burying her hands in his hair and
pulling him closer.

He tightened his embrace, pulling her against him and
crushing her mouth was his. The kiss lasted for a few delightful minutes until
he pulled away. “Mary,” he whispered hoarsely. “If we don’t stop soon, Dorothy
might be slightly embarrassed when she brings me the reports I requested.”

She sighed and dropped her hands to his shoulders. “We
couldn’t just lock the door?” she asked.

He smiled broadly, enjoying the image playing out in his
mind and then shook his head. “As much as I would really love to do that,” he
said. “We’re going to have to save that fantasy for another time.
And another place.”

Grinning, she toyed with his top button. “Okay, but only if
you promise to use the handcuffs,” she teased.

He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to tamp down the
rush of desire and shook his head. “You are going to be the death of me,” he
murmured, capturing her mouth with his one more time.

She responded to his kiss for a few moments of pure bliss
and then stepped away. “You are going to be home tonight?” she asked breathlessly.

Eyes filled with passion, he nodded fervently. “Oh, yes,” he
breathed. “I’ll be home tonight.”

She took another step back, toward the door. “And even if
you’re late, you’ll wake me up?”

He smiled widely. “Yes, I’ll think of some way to wake you
up.”

“That sounds interesting, I might just go to bed early,” she
teased. “Just to see what you have in mind.”

“I love you,” he said, the teasing no longer in his eyes.

Love filled her heart to nearly bursting as she smiled back
at him. “I love you too.”

Celia looked up as Mary entered the computer lab with a
bright smile on her face. “So, the conversation went well?” she asked, biting
back a smile.

Grinning, Mary nodded. “Really well,” she said with a
satisfied smile. “I think we got everything ironed out.”

“Being a newlywed is hard work,” Celia sympathized.
“Especially when there are high-pressure jobs involved.”

Sliding into her seat next to Celia, Mary nodded. “Yes, and add
an eight-year-old daughter who was just reunited with her father to the mixture.”

“Oh, wow,” Celia said, nodding in agreement. “That does
throw a little more interest into the pot.”

“I like that, interest,” Mary agreed. “But I’m sure
everything will be great once we work out the kinks.”

“That’s the kind of attitude you need,” Celia replied.
“Don’t let a couple bumps in the road get you down.”

“So, what have you learned while I was gone?” Mary asked,
turning her attention back to the computer screen.

Celia handed Mary her notepad. “I started with the names I
had and looked up their cases, but quite a few of them had never been entered
into the database. Then I did a search on missing children through the archived
files and found four more
who
could fit our
profile.
 
If I add these new ones to the
ones I already had…Mary, there have been at least a dozen missing children
reports that seem to have similar attributes to Courtney’s disappearance,” she
said.

“A dozen?”
Mary repeated, shocked.
“How could there be a dozen missing children and no one’s connected them?”

Celia brought up the four files on the computer screen. “These
were within Freeport and they were spaced several years apart,” Celia
explained. “But the ones in the articles were either from the rural areas, so
the county sheriff handled those, or small towns with separate police
districts.”

Mary glanced through the reports. “All of them were young
women, all of them were taken during the day and none of their cases have been
solved.”

“I think most of them were considered to be runaways,” Celia
added, “because many of them had been troubled youth.”

Mary sat back in her chair, reviewing the information in her
mind.
 
“I just spoke with Bradley about
what we’re working on,” she said. “And he’d like us to share information with
him. I told him we would; I hope you don’t have a problem with that.”

“No, if the newest missing girl is linked to Courtney’s
disappearance, maybe we can help her,” Celia said.

“I’ll see what he’s learned and tell you about it tomorrow.”

“So, what’s the next step?” Celia asked, putting her files
into her briefcase.

Mary glanced down at her watch; she had another hour before
the school day was over.

“We have time for one more stop this afternoon.”

“Where?”
Celia asked.

Mary reached over and took hold of Celia’s hands. “Let’s go
visit the park.”

Mary pulled the Roadster into a parking spot near the
baseball diamonds and Celia pulled her red minivan into the next spot.
 
The sun was beginning to lower in the western
sky, but the day was still fairly mild and the ground was dry.
 
The daffodils and crocuses in the
superintendent’s garden were in full bloom and the wind brought the scent of
the spring flowers to both women.

“How are you doing?” Mary asked, walking over to Celia.

Taking a deep breath, Celia nodded. “I’m a little nervous I
guess,” she said. “I don’t know if I’m ready to face reality.”

Placing her hand on Celia’s shoulder, Mary nodded. “We don’t
have to do this today,” she said. “We don’t ever have to do this.”

“No. We do have to do this,” Celia countered. “I have to do
this.
 
Not only for
Courtney, but for myself.”

“Okay,” Mary agreed. “So, where was the picture taken?”

“Back behind the baseball field, toward the bridge that
leads out of the park,” Celia replied, pointing to a copse of trees just beyond
the baseball field. “We can cut across here.”

Mary walked slowly, taking in the scene around her and
waiting for any indication that there were ghosts in the area.
 
She started to follow Celia toward the trees
when she felt a cold shiver down her spine.
 
Turning, she saw a pretty teenage girl dressed in a softball uniform
jogging toward the road.
 
Her long hair
was bouncing behind her as she ran.

The girl turned around, waved and then turned back toward the
road, increasing her pace.
 

Mary hurried after her, staying on the road to avoid any new
obstacles, but always keeping the girl within eyesight.
 
As she entered the bridge the girl stopped
and seemed to be talking with someone. She shook her head with a smile on her
face and then shrugged and walked over to the other side of the bridge.
 
A moment later she was gone.

Mary hurried to the bridge, looking around for any other
trace of the girl. “Courtney?” she called. “Courtney, can you hear me?”

Suddenly, a movement in the distance caught her eye.
 
The image was blurry, like Mary was looking
through pouring rain into a window, but she could see it was Courtney. The
girl’s terror-filled eyes met hers as she watched the image move further and
further away.

“Mary?”

Mary jumped and gasped, and then turned to see Celia
standing next to her. “Oh, you scared me to death,” she said.

“I heard you yelling,” Celia said. “So I rushed over. What happened?”

Mary took a deep breath. “I saw Courtney,” she said. “I
watched her as she waved goodbye to her friends and jogged across the park in
the rain.”

Inhaling sharply, Celia nodded. “What happened?”

“She jogged down the road and stopped at the bridge,” Mary
continued, replaying the scene in her mind. “She was on the pavement, but she
stepped up on the curb.”

“There must have been a car coming,” Celia explained. “The
bridge is too narrow for a person and a car.”

Nodding, Mary walked closer to the bridge. “She stopped and
spoke with someone,” she said. “It must have been the person in the car.
 
She smiled at him and shook her head. Then
she shrugged, walked around the other side of the bridge and disappeared.”

“She got into a car?” Celia asked.

“Yes, but she knew the person,” Mary said. “She talked with
them and even laughed with them.
 
She
initially turned the ride down, but, for some reason, decided to get in.”

“Did you see anything else?” Celia asked.

“Yes. I did,” Mary said, nodding slowly. “I saw her image,
like she was in a car in the pouring rain, going up the road until they
disappeared.”

Celia leaned against the side of the bridge and started to
weep. She slipped down to the ground and laid her head on her knees as the pain
tore through her. “She’s dead,” she cried. “My baby’s dead.”

Mary knelt down and put her arms around the sobbing woman. She
just let her cry for a few minutes, releasing some of the grief she was
experiencing. “I’m so sorry, Celia,” she finally whispered hoarsely. “I’m so
very sorry.”

“No. Don’t be sorry,” Celia
said,
her voice catching. “At least…at least I know.”

Helping Celia to her feet, Mary placed her arm around the
woman’s waist and they walked back to their cars in silence, Celia softly
crying into her tissue. When they reached the cars, Mary stopped next to the
red minivan. “Do you want me to come home with you?” she asked.

Wiping her eyes, Celia took a deep breath. “No, but thank
you,” she said. “I need to be alone for a while. I’ll meet you at your office
tomorrow morning. Okay?”

Mary hugged her once more. “Sure. But if you need to talk,
don’t hesitate to call me,” she insisted.

“Thank you, Mary,” she said, as she unlocked her car. “I’ll
remember that.”

Watching the minivan drive off, Mary ached for her new
friend. But she understood, better than most, the best thing she could do for
Celia is
find
the person who had killed her daughter.