Good Tidings (16 page)

Mary and Bradley nodded. “We were there when it happened,” Mary said.

“
Where were you?”

“
We were sneaking out through the freight elevator about then,” Bradley admitted. “Why?”

“
Because while the nurses were involved in the Code Blue, someone was able to slip something into your I.V., the one you should have been wearing,” he said, “if you hadn’t slipped out.”

“
What was in the I.V.?” Mary asked.

“
We don’t know yet,” Sean said. “They have it at the lab and will call me with results.”

“
How could they tell?” Bradley asked.

“
Dawn, one of the nurses we work with regularly, knew about the plan to sneak Bradley out,” Sean said. “She was going to cause a diversion if anything went wrong. She went into his room and saw the I.V. levels were higher than they should have been. She checked for tampering. Not a very professional job. Once she detected the puncture mark in the line, she sealed the room and called us immediately.”

Bradley sat down on the couch. “Well, we know one thing for sure,” he said, “the shooting wasn’t random.”

*****

”
It makes perfect sense,” Mary argued. “We go back to Freeport. It’s our turf. Anyone who doesn’t belong will be found out quick enough.”

“
I don’t like it,” Bradley said.

“
Because you’re not staying and fighting?” she asked, “Because after you’ve been shot and nearly poisoned, you’d like to give them another chance?”

Bradley ran his hand through his hair. “I can see how you might think that,” he said. “And in a way, maybe that is part of the motivation. But mostly it’s because this is where the clues are, this is where everything happened and this is where we can find whoever wants me dead.”

“
I prefer letting Sean find him and not giving whoever another shot at you.”

The ringing of Sean’s cell phone ended the conversation. Both Mary and Bradley watched as Sean stood up and paced around the hotel room.

“
Okay,” he said. “That’s it. That’s all they found? Could it have been a mistake? Okay. You’re sure. Well, I appreciate it. Thanks.”

Sean hung up the phone and shook his head. “Maybe this all was a big coincidence after all,” he said. “The lab said the only thing they found in the IV that shouldn’t have been there was penicillin. No one dies from penicillin.”

Bradley took a deep breath. “They do if they are allergic to it,” he said.

“
You’re allergic to penicillin?” Sean asked.

“
Allergic enough that a small dose, administered intravenously, would have stopped my heart,” he said. “So, they’ve got access to my medical records too.”

Mary stood up and walked to the window. “This is crazy,” she said. “Sean, Bradley was supposed to be in a secure area, with police officers guarding his room. How the hell did someone slip through?”

“
I don’t know, but I’ve already started an investigation.”

“
An investigation is not going to keep Bradley safe,” she argued. “We need to find out who the leak is in your department and fix it.”

“
Hey, Mary, take it easy,” Bradley said. “Sean’s doing all he can…”

“
Well, it’s not good enough,” she interrupted, “Not nearly enough.”

She turned away from them, staring sightlessly out the window.

“
Mary, I’ll figure this out,” he said softly, picking up his coat from the back of the couch. “I won’t let someone else take a bullet because of me.”

Mary turned around quickly. “Sean, I didn’t…”

The door closed on her words. Mary covered her mouth with her hand, tears filling her eyes. “I didn’t mean…”

Bradley pushed himself up from the couch and walked over to Mary. He pulled her into her arms. “Yeah, he knows,” he said. “He’s just as frustrated as you are. He’s doing all he can, Mary.”

“
Damn it,” she sniffed. “This was not supposed to happen.”

Bradley laid his cheek on Mary’s head. “Yeah, I know. But life has a way of changing the rules when you least expect it.”

She wiped the remnants of the tears off her face and took a deep breath. “Well, I certainly don’t want to just sit around waiting for them to try again,” Mary said, “Let’s go kick some bad-guy ass!”

Bradley laughed and then winced at the pain. “Okay, I’m in a kicking-ass mood,” he said. “But perhaps we should figure out what we want to do before we change into our superhero outfits.”

Mary chuckled softly. She stepped back and he let her slide out of his arms. She gently placed her hand in the middle of his chest. “Okay, here’s the deal,” she said with a watery smile. “You get to change into your superhero costume if you promise you won’t try to stop speeding bullets with your body. Okay?”

He laid one of his hands over the one she placed on his chest and cupped her cheek with the other one. “As long as I can still leap tall buildings in a single bound, I’m good.”

A shaky laughed escaped her lips before she could stop it. She covered her mouth with her free hand, controlling her emotions and nodded at him. “Deal.”

“
Mary, I’m not going to die,” he said firmly. “I have too much to live for.”

She sniffed. “Well, if you even consider getting hurt again, I’ll kick your butt,” she said.

“
Well, then, that settles that,” he said with a grin, “Now, about that plan…”

*****

”
No, we don’t need to check out Kevin,” Mary stated, “I’ve known him since he was eight, he’s clean.”

“
So, what’s the harm, then?” Bradley argued. “If he’s clean, then no harm no foul. Besides, he’s the only lead we can follow up with tonight.”

She shook her head. “Why are we even considering him? This makes no sense.”

“
My spidey sense tells me this guy is hiding something,” he said. “Listen, if you were a bad cop who had some skeletons in your closet, the last thing you’d want is some psychic hanging around talking up the people you’ve offed.”

“
But Kevin isn’t a bad cop,” she said.

“
Prove it.”

“
How?”

“
Let’s go chat with one of Kevin’s old partners,” Bradley said. “If nothing else, we’ll get some deep dish pizza.”

It was nearly eleven o’clock, but Pizzeria Uno was still busy.

“
We need to sit in the corner booth,” Bradley said.

“
And how are we supposed to accomplish that?” Mary asked.

“
Still got your old badge?” he asked with a smile.

She smiled. “I like the way you think.”

Within fifteen minutes they were seated together on one side of the corner booth with soft drinks and a plate of assorted appetizers. “Do you see him yet?” Mary asked, her hand linked with his.

Bradley shook his head. “Not yet,” he said, turning and casually looking around the room. “Wait. There he is, by the bar.”

“
Okay, I’ll go talk with him and invite him back to the booth,” Mary said.

As she walked from the booth to the bar, away from Bradley, the intimate pizzeria’s clientele increased substantially, but these ghostly customers wouldn’t be ordering food any longer. She saw the large, dark-haired policemen who had to be Kevin’s former partner standing at the end of the bar, trying unsuccessfully to toss Beer Nuts into his mouth.

A few minutes later, Sergeant Jack Monroe, formerly of the Chicago Police Department, was seated across from them at the booth. “So, you’re Sean’s little sister,” Jack asked in a larger-than-life voice. “Damn, you don’t look a thing like him. Lucky you!”

Jack laughed at his own joke. “Get it, don’t look a thing like him?”

Mary chuckled, “Yeah, I get it.”

“
So, did you know Kevin Brady?” Bradley asked.

Jack nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, yeah, Kev’s a good boy. We were partners,” he explained, “Always had my back.”

Mary turned and gave Bradley an “I-told-you-so” smile.

“
So, how did you die?” Bradley asked, ignoring Mary.

“
Dammed if I know,” Jack said. “One minute I’m eating all-meat deep dish, the next minute I’m watching the paramedics carry my body out the door.”

“
Sean thought you might have had a heart condition,” Mary suggested.

“
Hell no,” Jack said. “Just had a physical the week before. The doc said I was strong as an ox. Had a ticker that would go the distance. Genetic thing. My grandfather lived until he was 104, big as me too.”

“
Wait,” Bradley said. “You didn’t have a heart condition?”

Jack shook his head. “No, like I said, strong as an ox.”

“
What did the coroner say?” Mary asked.

“
Hmmmm, well, I don’t believe there was ever an autopsy,” Jack said, scratching his head. “Come to think of it, why wasn’t there?”

Mary pulled out her cell phone and called Sean.

“
Hey, Sean, I just have a random question. Remember the officer Bradley saw at Uno’s? What did he die from again? Yeah, that’s right, heart attack. Now, I remember. So, how did you know it was a heart attack?”

Mary paused and closed her eyes. “Well, of course, he was Monroe’s partner, he would have known about his heart. Yeah, makes sense. Thanks, Sean.”

She turned to Bradley, her phone still on her ear and shook her head sadly.

“
No, we were just deciding on dinner, that’s all,” she lied into the phone. “Thanks, Sean. Bye.”

She hung up the phone and turned to Jack. “Why would Kevin tell them that you had a heart condition you were covering up?”

“
He said that?” Jack asked incredulously, “That’s crazy. He knew I had just gone for my check-up.”

“
Jack, are you, by any chance, allergic to penicillin?” Bradley asked.

Jack nodded his head. “Oh, yeah, that stuff could kill…”

He stopped. “You know, now that you mention it, I was feeling a little woozy on the night I died. We stopped in here, got a couple of sodas and ordered dinner. Halfway through dinner I was feeling pretty sick, nauseous. Then, I guess I died.”

“
Did you leave the table at any time?” Mary asked.

“
Sure, after we ordered the drinks I went to the john,” he said. “Pretty much the routine.”

“
What do you drink?” Bradley asked.

“
Coke,” John said. “I love a cold glass of Coke.”

“
That could have masked the taste,” Mary said. “And the allergic reaction would have started with nausea and then finally become a full blown anaphylaxis attack.”

“
So, you’re saying someone killed me?” Jack asked. “You’re saying Kevin killed me? Why the hell would he do something like that?”

“
Well, that’s the next big question,” Bradley said. “What were you working on with Kevin at the time of your death?”

Jack pondered for a few minutes, and then his eyes filled up with tears. “I can’t seem to remember,” he said. “It seems so long ago.”

“
That’s okay, Jack,” Mary said. “It’s hard to remember things like that. Things that you didn’t think were important at the time.”

“
Jack, there was a young girl, she looked Hispanic, she used to be a prostitute,” Bradley said.

“
Yeah, little Maria Hernandez,” Jack said, “Cute as a button. We got in touch with her parents and sent her home. She was a runaway who got mixed up with the wrong people.”

“
Jack, she never made it home,” Mary said. “She died. Kevin said she was a prostitute who got caught up in a bad deal.”

“
No, no, we sent her home,” he insisted. “I bought her an airplane ticket with my own money. She was supposed to go home.”

“
When?” Bradley asked.

Jack thought for a moment. “The day I died.”

*****

”
I can’t believe this,” Sean said, running his hand over his face. “You can’t expect me to believe this. We’ve known Kev since he was a kid. He couldn’t be a killer. He just couldn’t.”

“
People change,” Mary said. “And we haven’t really kept up with Kevin for the past few years. I know you don’t want to believe it.”

Sean turned on Mary. “And you do?” he asked. “You want to believe it?”

Bradley walked between the two siblings. “Hey, if you want to get angry, get angry with me because I insisted we check it out,” he said. “Or, better yet, get angry with Kevin who not only betrayed your friendship, but killed a fellow cop.”

Sean shook his head and walked across the room. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right,” he said. “It’s just…”

“
He was your friend,” Bradley said, “And it would hurt the most to have someone you thought was a friend betray you.”

Sean nodded. “Yeah, something like that,” he said.

“
We have to assume that it was Kevin who tipped off the kidnappers,” Mary said, “And shot Bradley because he thought he could see ghosts.”

“
And it makes sense he would use penicillin again,” Bradley said. “It worked for him last time.”