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

forward over the table and
lowering his voice menacingly. “And DCFS doesn’t approve of families who are
willing to give their children away.”
    “Well, I’m sure
that if the authorities come and visit us about Nadia, we will be sure to tell
them about the good minister and his wife who are willing to take in a number
of wayward children,” the young man replied, coldly meeting Joey’s eyes. “They
might want to interview some of those children just to be sure everything is as
joyful as you profess.”
    Joey slowly sat
back in his chair, trying not to let the young father see the fear beating in
his heart. “I am simply concerned about Nadia,” he said, a smile spreading
across his face while he nervously smoothed his moustache. “I just want you…both
of you…to be sure you still want the responsibility of raising this troubled
child.”
    “Yes. Yes, we do,”
the young mother said, smiling at Joey. “Thank you for your concern. But we
understand now that we just needed to slow down and try to understand each
other. And you will be happy to know that if not for your intercession, we
would have never had the chance to truly understand our daughter.”
    “Well, isn’t that
wonderful, dear,” Gigi inserted before Joey could say another word. “It’s as if
we were sent to you from God to strengthen your little family. And we are so
pleased to have been employed as angelic messengers to bless your lives.”
    The young father
rolled his eyes as he sat back in his chair. “Well, bottom line,” he said.
“We’re keeping Nadia. We appreciate your offer, but the deal is off.”
    “Well, we couldn’t
be happier,” Gigi said , reaching across the table and
clasping the young man’s hand in both of hers. “I can tell by the light in your
eyes that you love your daughter, and truly, that fills our hearts with joy.”
    Pulling her hands
back, she placed her hand on her husband’s shoulder and stood up. “Well, we
shouldn’t be keeping you away from your child any longer,” she said. “God Bless
You. Come along, dear. Our work here is done.”
    “Yeah, God Bless you,”
Joey muttered, getting to his feet. “I hope your family will be very happy.”
    “We will,” the
young man said.
    Gigi slipped her
arm through Joey’s and pulled him away from the table before he could reply.
    “Little prick,”
Joey muttered as they walked to the door.
    “Shut up, Joey,”
Gigi whispered sharply. “We’ve got to get out of the damn parking lot before
they think about writing down our license plate and giving that to the cops.”
    Joey glanced over
his shoulder to see the young man watching them with suspicious eyes. “Let’s
get the hell outta here.”

Chapter Eighteen

 
    Mary tried not to
tap her fingers on the countertop as she waited for the search engine to come
up with results. The young police officer sat calmly at his desk systematically
flipping through a stack of mail and placing it in mail slots on the wall.
    “I don’t have a
good feeling about this,” Mike said.
    “I’m sure we’ll be
getting an answer in just a minute,” the desk officer said as he moved away
from her to the back of the room. “The system has been slow lately.”
    Mary nodded and
smiled brightly. “No problem,” she said. “I appreciate your help.”
    The door opened
behind her, and Mary was surprised to see two uniformed officers with their
guns drawn entering the area.
    “Whoa,” Mike said.
“I guess honesty is not the best policy.”
    Mary pressed her
back against the counter, keeping her hands in plain view. “Um, I think there’s
been a mistake,” Mary said.
    “She said that a
missing person was dead but no one else would know it,” the officer reported.
“She admitted that she killed him.”
    “I did not,” Mary
argued.
    “You asked me if I
believed in ghosts,” he said. “That means you killed him.”
    “No, that means I
saw his ghost,” Mary replied.
    “Ma’am?” one of the
officers asked.