Never Forgotten (13 page)

“So, what’s the next step?” Mary asked.

Dr. Thorne closed the file and shook her head. “Well, all we can do is monitor your levels and try to determine what’s causing them. All Bradley can do is rest.”

“Wait, Doc, no disrespect intended, but I have a police department to run. I can’t be lying on my back while you folks try and figure out what’s going on inside of me.”

“While I appreciate your concern is the safety of the city of Freeport,” Dr. Thorne replied. “My concern is the safety of my patient. With your elevated levels, if you push too hard you could cause permanent damage to your liver. As it is, we don’t know how much damage you’ve already done. You are on strict bed rest, at least until your levels look better. You can come back in two days and we’ll check your levels again.”

As soon as Dr. Thorne left the room, Mary turned to Bradley. “Well, one thing’s for sure; you can’t go to your place and be by yourself. What if this attack happens again?”

“Great! So take me back to my office, there are a lot of people there.”

“Good try, but no deal. You’re coming to my house.”

He took her hand in his. “Mary, you have
work
to do. I can’t let you sit around babysitting me.”

She grinned. “Oh, I won’t,” she said. “I’m calling Rosie to come over. She’ll fix you up.”

Bradley rolled his eyes, “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

The door burst open and Angela walked in. “Bradley, I heard you were being released and I thought I’d offer my…,” she stopped when she saw Mary standing with her hand in Bradley’s. “Oh, hello, Mary, I didn’t realize you were still here.”

“Hello, Angela,” Mary replied, hating the fact that she looked like she had slept in her clothes and Angela looked fresh and stylish, “Nice to see you too.”

Angela smiled briefly at Mary and turned her attention back to Bradley. “As I was saying,” she continued. “I would be very happy to offer you my services to help you feel better.”

“I don’t think he’s feeling quite well enough for those kind of services,” Mary muttered.

Bradley choked.

“Excuse me? I’m sorry, Mary, I’m afraid I didn’t hear you.”

“I said…that was very kind of you,” Mary improvised, “but Bradley will be coming to my house to recover.”

Angela slowly looked at Mary, taking in her house slippers, sweats and mussed hair and makeup. “Surely not,” she said with obvious disdain.

Bradley wrapped his arm around Mary, mostly to prevent her from taking Angela out in the middle of the hospital, but also to demonstrate to Angela that he was in a committed relationship. “Yes, Angela, I really appreciate your offer, but Mary’s place is like a second home to me anyway,” he said, lifting Mary’s hand and placing a kiss on her palm.

Angela’s hiss of anger was audible. “Well,” she huffed. “I just wanted to be sure you were taken care of. Obviously you are.”

She walk across the room and handed a paper sack to Mary. “Since he’s going to your house, let me offer you some of my tea,” she said. “It should help take care of him.”

She turned, started to leave the room and then stopped and looked back. “Oh, Mary,” she said with a smile. “Please be sure to try it yourself. I’m sure you’ll find it very refreshing.”

She left the room, closing the door firmly behind her.

“Now I feel like a bug,” Mary sighed, turning to Bradley. “I really didn’t mean to be unkind.”

“You weren’t unkind…okay, maybe the comment about services,” he snickered, pulling her close, “but she didn’t hear that, only I did. Besides, I think she was coming on to me in my office last night.”

“What?”

“Maybe I was reading things wrong,” he admitted. “She
slid
her hand over mine, squeezed it and then told me she didn’t mind being there with me in the least. Maybe she was just being nice.”

“Nice my…,”

“Foot?”
Bradley suggested.

Mary grinned. “Of course that’s what I was going to say. And while I’m saying things, does our dear Angela the Coroner give out creepy vibes to you, or am I just being an overwrought, jealous girlfriend?”

“I really wish I could agree to the jealous girlfriend,” he said, “but I get the creepy vibes from her too. I don’t quite know what it is…”

“Wednesday Addams.”

“What?”

Rolling her eyes, Mary explained. “She gives out the Addams Family daughter, Wednesday, vibes. A little dark, a little macabre, and a little…”

“Psycho,” Bradley added. “Although I don’t think she has a corpse in the upstairs of her house.”

“More likely her basement,” Mary quipped. “No, I’m just being rude. I’m sure she’s just a little socially awkward. I mean, how can I blame her for being attracted to you?”

He yawned widely,
then
smiled sleepily at her. “Yeah, you have to admit that I’m pretty irresistible.”

“And don’t forget modest,” she leaned over and kissed him on his forehead. “Get some sleep. I’ll call Rosie and get things arranged so you can recuperate at my house, Mr. Irresistible.”

Leaving his room, Mary met Ashley in the hall. “I found those names you wanted,” Ashley said, handing Mary a sheet of paper. “I think that’s all of them. Is there anything else I can do?”

Mary paused for a moment. “If it wouldn’t be a problem,” she said. “I would feel much more comfortable knowing that someone was keeping an eye on Chief Alden’s room.”

“Do you think someone is trying to kill him?” Ashley asked, surprised.

“Well, since we don’t know the cause of the curse,” she replied, “we don’t know what or who we are facing. I think being careful is better.”

Ashley nodded. “Yes, that makes sense,” she said. “Sure, I can watch things here.”

“Thanks, Ashley, I appreciate it.”

Mary took the list and walked out to the parking lot. The officer had returned her keys last night and told her where he had parked her car. She unlocked the door and slipped inside the car, turning it on and praying that it would heat up quickly. While the defroster worked to clear the windshield, Mary pulled out her cell phone. She dialed a number.

“Hello, Rosie, it’s Mary. I’m calling from the hospital. Bradley had some kind of attack last night,” she paused for a moment. “Yes, he’s doing better, but the doctor says that he needs rest and supervision. Do you think you can help?”

Mary smiled as Rosie listed all of the things she was going to bring to get Bradley back on his feet and knew there was no one she would trust more than Rosie.

“Rosie, you’re an angel. Can you meet me at my place in about thirty minutes? Thanks!”

After hanging up with Rosie, Mary dialed another number. “Hello, Linda, it’s Mary. How was your Christmas vacation?”

She paused and listened, a smile growing on her face. “I am so glad it worked out. You and Bob seem like the perfect couple. Listen, I have a favor to ask, but I need this to be kept just between you and me. I need you to pull the Coroner files on some people. I’ll be by this afternoon to pick them up. Do you have a pen? There’s a list of about twelve names. Okay, the first one is Sam Rogers…”

“Daddy!”

The scream echoed through the house. Angela stormed through the door, tossed her purse on the couch and stomped through the kitchen and down the basement stairs. “Daddy!’ she called out as she half-ran through the basement, “He loves someone else.”

Through tear-filled eyes, she found the key on the post and struggled to put it into the lock, ineffectually wiping her face. Sniffing loudly, she took a deep shuddering breath and threw the ramshackle door open. She blindly reached for the overhead light’s pull-string and snapped it on. Throwing herself to the ground at the feet of the mummified corpse, she put her head in her hands and sobbed.

“He lied to me. He used me. He doesn’t want me. He wants her.”

She turned her face up to look at the eyeless sockets, mascara running down her face in rivulets. “Why did he
lie
to me, daddy? Why didn’t he want me?”

She placed her head against the leathery knees, poking through the worn khaki pants. “She was the one who did it,” she said, wiping the last of the tears from her face. “He wanted me, but she was the one who did it.”

She smiled. “I can still have him. I just need to take him when she’s not there. Once he’s alone with me, I know he’ll love me better.”

She sighed and closed her eyes, exhausted by her tears. “I’m tired now, Daddy.”

She snuggled closer to the corpse and fell asleep.

The skeletal hand lifted and brown, leathery fingers stroked her hair tenderly. The skull shifted position and looked down on the sleeping woman. Sleep now, baby, Daddy will take care of you.

“I don’t need a wheelchair,” Bradley grumbled as he was wheeled from his recovery room to the main entrance, where Mary’s Roadster waited.

Mary grinned at the orderly who had the honor of pushing the ill-tempered Chief of Police. “Better behave or the next time you’re here, they’ll use a dull needle.”

“I can walk,” he insisted. “Mary, tell them I can walk.”

She winked at the orderly. “It’s true; I have seen him walk, on occasion. Of course, I have also seen him fall flat on his face on occasion too.”

“You’re not helping matters,” Bradley said.

Mary laughed. “Oh, you wanted me to lie for you? Sorry.”

They approached the door where two of Bradley’s officers waited. Mary knew one of them, Cory Jackson. He was a tall, powerfully built African-American who, despite his intimidating stature, was Officer Friendly at the local schools. Mary decided the other officer must have been a rookie by the tension in his stance and his crisp new uniform.

“Officers Jackson and
Killoran
, I need your help,” Bradley said. “I’m being taken against my will.”

The rookie looked immediately concerned and started to step forward, but Cory placed a hand on his shoulder to hold him in place. “Seems like a dangerous situation, Chief,” he said. “Miss O’Reilly, what is your intent concerning Chief Alden?”

Mary grinned. “I intend to take him to my house and shower him with care and affection until he’s recovered enough to go back to work.”

“Damn, Chief, that does sound bad,” he said. “You want me to arrest her?”

Bradley looked up at Mary. “Well, rather than arrest her, I suppose I could take it upon myself to rehabilitate her and make her an asset to the community.”

“Chief, you always did take all the hard jobs,” Cory laughed. “Miss O’Reilly, you sure you want to take this guy with you?”

Mary sighed loudly. “It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.”

Mary turned to the new officer and extended her hand. “Hi, I’m Mary O’Reilly; I don’t think we’ve met.”

The rookie blushed and shook her hand with a damp palm. “I’m Tommy, I mean Tom
Killoran
,” he said, his voice cracking slightly. “I just started with the force last week.”

“Nice to meet you Tom,” Mary said. “I’m a former Chicago cop and my dad and brothers serve there now, so I have a great deal of admiration for anyone who wears a badge.”

“Wow,” he said. “I mean, thank you ma’am.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, with a smile. “Good to see you, Cory.”

“You too Mary,” Cory replied. “Don’t let the Chief give you too much trouble.”

“What do you mean?” Bradley huffed. “I’m the model of a cooperative patient.”

Cory and Mary rolled their eyes. “Sure you are,” Mary said, pushing Bradley through the open doors and out to the driveway.

A few minutes later, Mary and Bradley were traveling down Stephenson Street towards Mary’s house. “Have you ever heard of a local curse?” she asked him.

“A curse?” he replied. “What kind of curse?”

“Well, according to Ashley Deutsch, there has been a series of unexplained deaths of law enforcement officers throughout Stephenson County and they all start with symptoms similar to yours.”

He shook his head. “No, I’ve never heard of it, and, just for the record, I don’t believe in curses.”

“Good,” she said with determination, “Because I don’t plan on letting you die of one.”

They pulled into her driveway and Mary went around the car to help Bradley out. “I feel like such a wimp,” he said.

“Fatigue is just one of the symptoms of liver problems,” Mary said, helping him across the yard to the front porch.

Rosie met them at the door. “Well, it’s so nice to see you, Bradley,” she said, slowly and clearly. “I’m so happy to be able to help take care of you.”

“Rosie, he has a bad liver, his hearing and his brain are functioning just fine,” Stanley grumbled from behind her.

“Oh, sorry, Stanley, I forgot I was talking to Bradley, not you,” she snapped.

“Listen to me, girlie, you better not take that tone with me. I’m not one of those fancy boys you tote around by their noses,” Stanley said.

“By their noses?”
Rosie replied, enraged. “Why Stanley Wagner, I knew you were a number of things, but…”

Bradley turned to Mary. “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but…”