Free Buried Innocence - A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery - Book Thirteen (Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery Series) by Terri Reid Page A

rather
not,” she said honestly. “But if you want me to, I will.”
    “I won’t like it,
will I?” he asked.
    She shrugged again.
“Well, it just depends on whether or not you believe in ghosts,” she replied.
    “Is honesty the
best policy?” Mike wondered aloud. “I guess we’re going to find out.”
    He stared at her a
moment longer, thought about it, sighed, and then turned back to his keyboard
and entered the information. “Deceased, unknown,” he said as he typed.
    Keeping an eye on
Mary, he surreptitiously slipped his left hand under the counter and pressed a
small button mounted on the underside of the counter. Then, in plain sight, he
moved the mouse over the search button, clicked and turned to Mary. “Now all we
have to do is wait ,” he said.

Chapter Seventeen

 
      “How long are we going to have to wait?” Joey
Amoretti growled softly as he and his wife, Gigi, sat in the run-down diner on
the edge of Clinton.
    Gigi reached across
the table, for all intents and purposes looking like a loving and concerned
wife, and placed her hand on top of her husband’s. Squeezing tightly and
embedding a fingernail into his fleshy palm, she smiled tightly. “People are
watching us, sweetheart,” she said softly, placing special emphasis on the last
word. “We don’t want to draw any attention to ourselves.”
    He returned the
smile and endured the pain. “You’re right, darling,” he replied softly. “I was
merely concerned about their safety.”
    Finally, the door
at the far end of the room opened and a young, very flustered looking couple
darted into the diner. They scanned the room quickly, and when they saw Joey
and Gigi, a glimmer of relief raced across their faces. Hands clasped together,
they hurried across the room towards the Amoretti table.
    “They didn’t bring
the kid,” Joey whispered through tightened lips. “What the hell?”
    “ Shhhh , Pastor Amoretti,” Gigi warned.
    The couple pulled
up chairs. “I’m so sorry we’re late,” the woman explained, her voice breathy.
“It’s been one of those days.”
    “Oh my dear, I hope
everything is fine,” Gigi said, a slight southern accent coloring her words.
    The woman nodded.
“Yes, we’re fine…now,” she replied. “We had another issue with Nadia, our
daughter. She overheard us discussing her re-homing, and she ran away.”
    “Ran away?” Joey
exclaimed, nearly jumping out of his chair.
    “Darling,” Gigi
said, putting her hand on Joey’s arm. “I know you’re concerned about the young
woman, but I’m sure her parents would not be here with us unless she was safe.”
    She turned and
smiled at the young couple. “He is so concerned about the youth of our
country,” she explained. “She is fine, isn’t she?”
    “Yes. Yes, of
course,” the young man said. “We found her walking towards the bus station. We
put her in the car and brought her back home.”
    Joey clenched his
fists under the table, trying to maintain his composure. “But aren’t you afraid
she’ll run again?” he asked, controlling his voice so it merely sounded
concerned.
    The young woman
shook her head. “No, because we promised her that we would postpone our
decision to re-home her,” she said. “It seems she really does care for us. She
just has a difficult time showing her true feelings.”
    “But we had an
agreement,” Joey said, his teeth clenched in a smile as he contemplated the
loss of income this young woman would have provided. “I was so looking forward
to bringing this troubled child into our fold.”
    “Well, it’s just
not going to happen,” the young man replied, protectively placing his arm
around his wife’s shoulders. “We came here to let you know that we are going to
keep Nadia.”
    Joey took a deep
breath, his face becoming slightly mottled as he tried to contain his anger.
“You do realize, young man, that the authorities don’t look kindly on people
who don’t honor their contracts,” he said, leaning