Good Tidings (13 page)

She sat up and stretched.

“
Hey, sleepyhead, ‘bout time you woke up,” Sean’s voice rang across the room.

She turned; disappointed it wasn’t Bradley greeting her.

“
Well, we had a little excitement last night,” she said. “So, I suppose Bradley let me sleep in.”

Sean nodded. “Yeah, he told me about it,” he said.

Everything?
Mary wondered.

“
I’m sorry Mary, I wasn’t thinking when I booked you into this hotel,” he said, walking across the room and sitting on the back of the couch. “I didn’t realize you could see how people became ghosts.”

He shrugged. “I guess I wasn’t thinking at all,” he continued. “Seeing two people murdered in your bed must have been frightening.”

Not everything,
Mary breathed a sigh of relief.

“
Actually, Bradley got me out of there just before the gun fight,” she said, “so I didn’t have to see the worst of it.”

“
I don’t know, I think what you saw was pretty frightening,” Bradley said, slyly winking at her as he walked over to the small kitchenette and pulled a diet soda out of the refrigerator. “Breakfast?”

She grinned. “Yes, thank you,” she answered. “How did you sleep?”

He twisted the cap off the bottle and brought it over to her. “Best sleep I’ve had in ages,” he said, “except for some incessant snoring that I’m assuming must have been supernatural.”

She blushed. “Snoring?”

“
Could have woke the dead,” he teased. “As a matter of fact, I think it did.”

He cocked his head towards Mary’s bedroom. “Your new pet cleared the room last night and promptly made himself comfortable on your bed,” he said, sending her a teasing smile. “What? Did you think I meant you?”

She shook her head and stood up. “You are such a jerk,” she said with a chuckle. “I’m going to go get dressed.”

Once she closed the door behind her, Sean turned to Bradley. “Does she know about your wife?”

Bradley walked back to the kitchenette and pulled out another diet soda, opened it and took a swig before he felt calm enough to answer Sean. “Look, I understand you’re her big brother,” he said, “but where do you get off investigating my background?”

Sean shrugged. “She’s my sister who died in my arms,” he said, “On a stake-out I sanctioned. Taking a bullet meant for me. That’s where I get off.”

Bradley dropped into the nearest seat. “Wow. Okay, she didn’t tell me that part,” he said.

Sean shook his head. “She never does,” he said. “She just says she got shot, wrong place, wrong time.”

Bradley nodded.

“
Well, if you throw yourself between a gunman and your brother, it’s not really considered wrong place, wrong time,” he said softly. “It’s called…

His voice cracked.

“
It’s called giving everything for the people you love,” Bradley said.

Sean nodded, unable to speak.

“
She knows about Jeannine,” Bradley said. “She knows as much as I do. I told her on the way in.”

“
Thanks,” Sean said. “Does she know you love her?”

Bradley stood up. “That’s none of your damn business.”

Sean grinned. “Yeah, but you answered my question,” he said. “Take care of her. She may not look like it, but she has a tender heart.”

“
I will do everything in my power to make sure she is never hurt,” Bradley said, “Which might entail never letting this relationship go beyond friendship.”

“
I suppose that’s good enough for now,” Sean said, standing and offering Bradley his hand.

*****

”
Okay, you are supposed to look like a devoted husband and a man who is looking forward to becoming a father,” Mary explained, her breath coming out in puffs of steam as they walked down Michigan Avenue in the sub-freezing weather, “Not like a bad-ass cop who is going to rush in and save the day.”

“
But I am a bad-ass cop who’s going to rush in and save the day,” Bradley responded with a grin. “Besides wouldn’t Josh be a little skeptical?”

Mary nodded. “Yes, a little,” she said. “But he wouldn’t let it show too much for Abby’s sake.”

“
Okay, so I’m slightly skeptical, but willing to forgo that for the woman I love?” he asked.

“
Pretty much,” Mary said, “Think you can handle it?”

Bradley stopped walking, turned to Mary and placed his hands on her upper arms. “You mean everything to me,” he said softly, searching her eyes. “You are my heart, my soul and the reason I look forward to each day. You are simply the reason I live and breathe.”

Mary swallowed, nodded her head and tried to quiet her wildly beating heart. “Okay, yes,” she whispered. “You can handle it.”

“
Not done yet,” Bradley said, pulling her closer.

He bent his head so their foreheads touched. “There is an elderly couple just getting out of a cab in front of the Art Museum,” he said, “What do you think?”

Like I can think
.

Mary peered around him and saw the couple. Then she saw Joey appearing next to them. “Joey just showed up,” she whispered back. “I think we have our couple. The creeps.”

Bradley smiled and rubbed his hands up and down Mary’s arms, then pulled her close. Arms wrapped around her he bent his head and whispered into her ear, “Remember, you’re devoted wife who wants a baby and not a bad-ass private investigator ready to kick some kidnapper butt.”

Mary chuckled into his shoulder. “Shut up.”

He laughed. “That’s my girl.”

They walked, hand in hand, into the museum, paying no attention to the elderly couple eyeing them. They stopped, a few feet away from the couple. Mary turned her face up to Bradley’s and sent him a watery smile. “I can’t believe we’re going to meet our baby,” she cried.

Bradley traced a finger gently across her cheek, wiping away a stray tear. “It’s a happy day,” he said, “you’re not supposed to cry.”

“
Tears of joy,” she said, raising up on her toes and brushing a soft kiss across his lips.

Bradley caught her and held her for a moment, exhaling slowly while he searched her face. “Let’s go get our baby.”

They walked up the massive marble stairs to the second floor and followed the signs to Gallery 240. They stood in front of the massive painting of a day in a French park, waiting for the elderly couple to make contact with them. They didn’t have to wait long.

“
Are you the Martins?” an elderly woman asked. Had Jeremy’s mother been there, she would have recognized the woman as the helpful grandmother from the store.

Mary quickly turned around, smiled brightly. “Yes! Yes, I’m Abby Martins and this is my husband, Josh. Are you from the agency?”

The woman nodded. “Yes, dear, we just have a few more papers to sign and details to go over.”

Mary looked around the gallery. “But where is the baby?” she asked. “I thought we would be getting the baby today.”

The woman shook her head. “No need to worry my dear,” she said. “Since the weather was so brutal and we still had these last details to attend to, we thought it best not to bring the baby out. As soon as we take care of these things, we’ll bring you the baby.”

Mary let her eyes fill with tears and she clasped Bradley’s hand, turning her face into his shoulder. “It’s okay, darling,” he said, “I’m sure it’s just a formality.”

He turned to the woman. “Is there a problem? Because if there is, I wish you had told us about it yesterday when we were on the phone with you,” he said. “This is really hard on my wife.”

The woman smiled, “Oh, no. No problem,” she said. “You’re exactly right, merely a formality. Now, our records show we never received the $10,000 processing fee. Do you know if that was paid?”

Bradley shook his head. “I never heard about a processing fee,” he said.

“
Oh, dear, I don’t know how that could have happened,” the woman said, shaking her head. “You didn’t receive the letter requesting the fee?”

Mary turned back and shook her head. “No, we didn’t,” she said. “Oh, is that a problem?”

The woman smiled sweetly, but Mary could see the avarice in her eyes. “Well, my dear, normally it would mean the baby should go to the next family on the list,” she explained.

Mary crumpled against Bradley and he folded her into his arms.

“
Listen, I can write you a check right now,” he said urgently. “We have to have this baby. Abby has waited too long for this to happen.”

The woman nodded. “Well, I’m not supposed to do this,” she said. “But you seem like such a nice couple. Yes, if you can write me the check today, written on a local bank, we can get the baby to you this afternoon.”

Bradley nodded and pulled out the checkbook Sean had provided for them. The checkbook fell from his hands onto the floor next to the woman. She smiled and picked it up, handing it back to Bradley.

He smiled and nodded. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

He opened the book and wrote the check, taking care not to touch the checkbook where she had. “There,” he said, handing it to her.”Is there anything else you need from us?”

The woman pulled out a few forms and requested their signatures, explaining the forms would be filed with the Secretary of State to insure the baby was legally theirs. Both Bradley and Mary filled out the forms as the Martins. In a few moments, the transaction was over.

“
Once we have verified funds for your check, I’ll call and let you know where we can meet,” she said. “Do you have any questions?”

“
Oh,” Mary gushed. “I brought a gift for him. Could you give it to him, from us?”

She pulled out a plush teddy-bear and handed it to the woman.

“
That was very thoughtful,” the woman said, placing the stuffed animal in her bag. “I know he will love it. I’ll be in touch.”

She turned and walked out of the room. Mary once again turned herself into Bradley’s arms and was held close. “I wanted to scratch her eyes out,” Mary muttered.

Bradley laid his head on top of Mary’s. “That’s the kick-ass private investigator we all know and love,” he chuckled. “I was getting worried.”

“
That I was going soft?” she asked.

“
No, that you were going to lose it and take her out.”

She laughed softly. “Yeah, well thanks for letting me take out my frustrations on you,” she said. “Did I hurt you when I squeezed your arm?”

“
I’ll never play the violin again,” he shrugged.

She looked up at him and raised one eyebrow. “But you never played it before, right?” she said.

He winked. “Caught me.”

He looked over her shoulder, through the open doorway and at the lobby one story below. “Looks like they are leaving.” he said, “but we should stand here for a few more minutes, just in case.”

“
In case of what?” Mary asked, placing her head against his shoulder enjoying the solid strength of it.

In case I never get another reason to hold you like this
, Bradley thought.

“
In case they come back,” he said, tightening his hold on her.

“
You two done hugging?” Joey asked.

Bradley looked over Mary’s shoulder to Joey and replied, “No, I’m not. Go away.”

Joey grinned. “I know you’re just teasing me, Chief Alden. So are we going to get Jeremy now?”

Mary regretfully slid out of Bradley’s arms and turned to Joey. “Well, we want to do this carefully so they still think we want Jeremy,” she said. “But we put a tracking device in a toy I gave her for Jeremy, so the police know where they are going.”

Joey smiled. “So, the police are going to crash in the door and grab Jeremy?”

Bradley, his hand on Mary’s shoulder, shook his head. “No, we want to catch all of the people who did this to Jeremy and to all of the other babies,” he said. “So we are going to watch their apartment and see who else is involved.”

“
But, we should have Jeremy safely delivered to us this afternoon,” Mary added, “and then we can bring him back home to your mom.”

Joey smiled. “I knew you could do it,” he said. “I knew you would save Jeremy.”

“
Well, he isn’t safe yet,” Bradley cautioned. “So we need you to stay close and let us know if anything changes. Okay?”

“
Okay, I’ll let you know,” he said, then faded away.

“
I love that little boy,” Mary said, rubbing a real tear from her face.

“
Careful,” Bradley said. “You’re ruining your kick-ass reputation.”

She laughed. “I think my secret is safe with you.”

“
Always,” he said, placing his arm over her shoulders and guiding her out of the gallery. “Always.”