Never Forgotten by Terri Reid

how to react to her. Surely she couldn’t be coming on to him. “Really, it’s no bother.”
    She smiled up and him, then gently pushed him away. “Go sit down and I’ll make us both some more tea,” she said.
    “I really would prefer water,” he said, trying to reach for the bottle in her hand.
    She placed it behind her back and looked up at him with a crestfallen face and tears glistening in her eyes. “But, I thought you said you like my tea,” she whispered.
    Good grief, this is ridiculous. What the hell is the big deal?
    “Tea would be great, Angela,” he said. “I would love tea.”
    He turned away, rolled his eyes and sat back on his side of the desk. He busied himself with looking at the messages Dorothy had placed on his desk while he was away from his office, there was nothing there that couldn’t wait until tomorrow. Finally he picked up his voice mail, one message.
    “Well, hello there, Police Chief.”
    Mary’s voice made him smile.
    “Just wanted to let you know that Stanley and I are not locked up in some farmer’s basement. The trip was fairly uneventful. I got into the house - it wasn’t breaking and entering, the door was unlocked - but, other than a wedding photo, there was no sign of our ghost. I did, however, meet another ghost, which added a twist to this investigation. I’ll tell you about it when I see you.
    I really hope you can make it tonight. I miss you. By the way, when you’re meeting with that stunningly attractive coroner, just remember who loves you.”
    He hung up the phone slowly, the cares of the day washed away with that simple message. Yeah, he’d hurry through this meeting as fast as possible. He missed her too.
    His thoughts were interrupted by Angela placing a steaming cup of tea down in front of him. He smiled at her, moved the tea to the side of his desk and opened the file with the information for their meeting. “So, what I’m interested in doing is having my officers trained on some of the basic forensic information they should be gathering when they come across a body,” he said. “Because we’re finding that important evidence is lost when we delay things.”
    She nodded and took some notes. “Do you want them trained with special equipment?”
    Shaking his head, he handed her a budget, “As you can see, we barely have enough budget for the training, much less equipment for each squad car. We could probably have a thermometer in each car, but that’s about it.”
    She jotted down some more information. “You’re not drinking your tea,” she commented.
    He shrugged, “Yeah, I guess I wasn’t as thirsty as I thought. Besides, I’m sure we both would rather be someplace else than stuck in a meeting tonight.”
    She shook her head with a smile. “I enjoy being in your company, Bradley.”
    She slid her hand across the table and covered his. “I don’t mind being here with you in the least.”
    Whoa! Where did that come from? Bradley wondered.
    He had to move his hand and do it in a way that looked natural, not insulting. He pulled his hand out from under hers, reached for his tea and took a sip. “You’re right, it is good.”
    She pulled her hand back and studied her notes. “I think I could fit in some training modules beginning next month,” she said. “We could have a new module each quarter. I can offer two or three different times per module to work around shifts. Will that be acceptable?”
    “Yeah, that will be great. Thanks. When do you want to start?”
    She reached into her purse and pulled out a calendar. Flipping through the pages, she finally stopped, “Well, perhaps mid-February. Will that work?”
    Bradley nodded. “Yeah, it will give us a chance to get the word out and schedule it. That will be great. Do you want to arrange a room, or should I?”
    “I’ll see if I can get a meeting room at the hospital,” she offered, “If that doesn’t work, I’ll let you know.”
    “Excellent,” he said. “Thanks for staying