Free Secret Keepers and Skinny Shadows: Lee and Miranda by Mary A Russell Page A

to operate while holding two opposing ideas at the same time and still retain the ability to function.
    When Lee was faced with a situation that appeared to be hopeless, he never gave up. He became more determined to turn it around. His big weakness was being a sucker for the underdog and a beautiful woman.
    At sunrise the next day perched on a stool in Miranda’s kitchen resting his elbows on the counter, Lee scanned the local morning newspaper. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Miranda standing behind the counter next to Adrian, reading the other side.
    Miranda grabbed the paper. “Give me that,” jerking it from his hands her eyes fixed on the front page.
    “What the heck Kid? Please, here, have the paper.”
    She ignored him and flopped it onto the counter. Her eyes darted back and forth on the page then she stopped, looked up at Lee while tapping her finger on a picture on the page.
    “Lee, this is the man who was here yesterday trying to buy the letters.” She turned the paper toward him. “That man, right there.”
    He gave the article the once-over, making comments while reading it.
    “It looks like James Robinson was killed on impact, hit by a train when his car stalled on the tracks at Blake’s Crossing. Sure enough, says he was the local historian in Bridgetown, had a wealth of knowledge about the area and the people.”
    Lee glanced up.
    “I guess it wasn’t my life that was in danger after all, it was his,” Miranda said.
    “At least now we know the man’s name,” Lee said, twisting a few strands of his hair while pondering this development.
    Miranda interrupted Lee’s thoughts.
    “Okay Lee, the guy was killed after coming here. Could his death be tied to his interest in the letters? And what about the people he said were watching him? Who are they and why would anyone want those letters? This gets more intriguing by the hour.” Miranda crossed her arms and leaned back against the counter gazing at Lee.
    “Listen Kid, it could be a coincidence, just a car-train accident, as the paper said. It happened at night maybe this Mr. Robinson drove onto the tracks his car stalled and he couldn’t get it started.”
    Miranda glanced at Lee with a confused look. “Okay, so why didn’t he jump out before the train hit him?”
    Lee got up from the stool and shook the kinks out of his legs. “I don’t know the answer to that one, but there must be a good reason, it looks like this is going to be dangerous to be involved in, maybe I should do this on my own. I can stay in a local hotel so you won’t be connected.”
    Miranda glared in Lee’s direction and scowled. “Oh come on Lee, this hasn’t scared me. I could protect both of us. Right now we should finish up here and get started with everything we have to do. We have a busy day ahead of us.”
    Adrian handed Miranda a glass with a red creamy smooth drink in it. She took a sip. “Hum, thank you, Adrian. It’s just the way I like it.”
    Lee watched her lips as she sipped the smoothie.
    “Don’t tell me that smoothie is all you’re having for breakfast?”
    “At my age I need to be on a diet and working out all the time. And from the looks of you, you should as well. What are you, two hundred and fifty pounds? That graying hair around your temples shows your age and working out might be good for you. Speaking of, I have to be at the gym pretty soon.”
    “Hey now, wait a minute. I’m in great shape,” Lee said as he fingered his slightly bulging belly. “I’m all lean muscle, getting a little pooch here, that’s all.”
    Miranda strolled over to the garage door. “Okay Lee.”
    Miranda had once told Lee that her family often accused her of being flighty or hyper, with the attention span of an ant, which he knew wasn’t true. He figured her family saw her this way since she took on new projects constantly and handled multi-tasking with ease. That was one of her greatest assets. She was a Pisces. She often looked and acted like she