Broken Promises (25 page)

“They look so great,” Mary said, glancing at them as she and Bradley spun slowly around the dance floor.

“Yeah, there were a couple of minutes there when I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Bradley admitted.

Mary grinned. “You mean when Stanley forgot he was supposed to say, ‘I do?’” she asked.

Laughing, he nodded. “Well, that one too,” he acknowledged. “But all it took was a slight elbow from his best man…”

“You were amazing,” Mary said, reaching up and placing a kiss on his cheek.

“It’s nice to feel like everything’s getting back to normal,” he said. “The trial is finally over and Rosie and Stanley are married.”

“And with Copper in prison, maybe Becca will feel like she can return to Freeport with Clarissa,” Mary suggested.

“Yeah, well, that’s next on our agenda,” he said. “We need to go into Chicago and find her.”

The music stopped and Bradley led her back towards their table. “I got a call from Bernie,” he said. “He said his daughter is following up on some leads. They think they might have found someone, a gypsy, who’s seen Clarissa.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful,” Mary said. “We can drive in tomorrow.”

Bradley pulled out Mary’s chair for her and was about to sit down when his phone rang. “Alden,” he answered, then his face turned pale and he slowly took his seat. “Why was he allowed out of his restraints? When did they discover he was gone? Well, hell, he’s got a half day’s lead on us.”

Mary put her hand on Bradley’s arm, her blood turning cold. He turned to her, his face grave and nodded. “Copper has escaped and Thanner is dead.”

Clarissa woke up from her nap and looked around in confusion. Suddenly she remembered they were in the bus station. She turned to her mother, but her mother’s eyes were closed. Clarissa smiled, she must be sleeping too. Remembering how frequently her mother had been coughing just before she fell asleep, she was happy to see that she was finally resting peacefully.

She looked up at the clock and saw that it was almost midnight. Her daddy used to tell her that was the magic time. Clarissa wondered if she would see any magic in the bus station. She looked around and saw some people watching her. She pulled her backpack closer to her and slipped her arm through the strap. She didn’t want anyone to take their money. It was her job to keep it safe.

Her stomach growled again. She wondered if her mother had any more crackers in her purse. Keeping one arm firmly around her backpack, she reached over to the purse situated between her mother and the end of the bench. Her mother’s arm was slung through the handle to protect it, just like Clarissa was doing with her backpack.

She peeked up at her mother. Her eyes were still closed and Clarissa didn’t want to wake her. Carefully, she lifted her mother’s arm up and slid the purse handle forward, so she could reach inside. But the purse was hanging off the side of the bench and it started to slip to the ground. As she grabbed for the purse, the backpack swung around and bounced against her mother.

Immediately regretful, she pushed the purse back in place and turned to apologize for waking her up. But when she turned, her mother’s eyes were still closed.

Clarissa sat up on the bench, her heart pounding against her chest. She lifted her mother’s arm, the one that had been around her shoulders, and let it go. It dropped with a thud against the bench and her mother’s eyes still did not open.

“Mommy?” she whispered. “Mommy, it’s time to wake up.”

Her mother still didn’t move.

Clarissa looked around; no one seemed to be watching them. She sat up on her knees and placed her face against her mother’s cheek.
Please breathe, Mommy
, she prayed.
Please breathe.

But as soon as she felt her mother’s cold, stiff cheek, she knew the truth. Her mother was dead.

She buried her face against her mother’s neck, as she wept soundlessly.
What can I do now? Where am I supposed to go? Why aren’t there any angels?

A noise startled her and she turned around. The man that stood in front of the bench just stared at her for a moment. Then he looked beyond her and studied her mother for a moment. Finally, he smiled and squatted down, so he could see her face. “Hello Clarissa,” he said. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”

Clarissa scooted back on the bench, as close to her mother as possible. She wiped the tears from her eyes and took a deep breath. Maybe the man couldn’t tell her mother was dead. Maybe he wouldn’t realize her mother was dead. “My mom’s just asleep,” she lied, “So…no one better think about taking anything.”

“You’ve had a pretty rough day, kid, haven’t you?” the man asked, then he shook his head. “Let’s be real, you’ve had a pretty rough life.”

Looking around at the bus station, it seemed that they were suddenly alone. There was no one around who would come running if she screamed. Clarissa shook her head. “Are you the bad man?” she asked, her voice shaking.

“Oh, no, Clarissa,” he replied. “I’m a friend of your dad’s. My name is Mike and I’m your guardian angel.”

About the author: Terri Reid lives near Freeport, the home of the Mary O’Reilly Mystery Series, and loves a good ghost story. She lives in a hundred year-old farmhouse complete with its own ghost. She loves hearing from her readers at
[email protected]

Other books by Terri Reid:

Loose Ends – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book One)

Good Tidings – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Two)

Never Forgotten - A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Three)

Final Call - A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Four)

Darkness Exposed - A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Five)

Natural Reaction – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Six)

Secret Hollows – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Seven)

The Ghosts Of New Orleans -A Paranormal Research and Containment Division (PRCD) Case File