Free Bumpy Roads - A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book 11) (The Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery Series) by Terri Reid Page B

because I was afraid he would say yes,”
she said softly.
    “Isn’t it better to know?” Maggie asked. “That way you can
make plans?”
    A single tear slipped down Clarissa’s cheek and she brushed
it away quickly. “I guess,” she said. “But he loved me before he and Mary got
married. He always had time for me then.”
    Maggie stuck her legs straight out so her swing slowly lost
altitude. “Maybe stuff changes when people get married. My parents aren’t all
goofy and lovey-dovey like Mary and Bradley.”
    “Maybe. And maybe if they weren’t
married any more he wouldn’t want to abandon me,” Clarissa said. “Maybe he’s
just tired of Mary.”
    Shrugging, Maggie hopped off the swing as the end-of-recess
bell rang. “I don’t think so, besides there’s nothing you can do about that,”
she said.
    Clarissa took her time sliding off the swing, a
contemplative look on her face. “Well, maybe there is,” she whispered to
herself.

Chapter Twenty

 
    Bradley hurried down the hall to the board room at the
school district building.   The walls
filled with art from students throughout Freeport, were incongruous with the
thoughts racing through his mind. Each of the children recorded in the FBI
reports had been students in the Freeport School District, even though they had
been from not only the city of Freeport, but also the surrounding small towns.
And, except for Courtney Rasmussen, all of the children were also reported
absent on the day of their disappearance. Although that could just point to a
kidnapper who snatched children on their way to school, he had to wonder if it
didn’t have something to do with the school district itself.
    The board room door was slightly ajar and Bradley entered
without knocking. He had always felt that during an investigation he needed to
place himself in a position of power and then watch the reaction of the people
in the room.   He noted, however, that the
superintendent had the same idea about power, as the chair at the head of the
table was filled by the superintendent and the one to his right, the
subordinate seat, was left for Bradley.
    Well, hell, Bradley thought, good move, Nick, but I don’t really need a seat.
    Striding to the front of the room and stopping in front of
the large whiteboard, Bradley nodded to the eight people around the table.
“Thank you all for being so prompt,” he began. “Let’s begin this meeting
without delay.”
    Everyone but Nick Sears, the superintendent, had a good view
of Bradley and the whiteboard, but Nick had to crane his neck in order to see.
    “Nick, why don’t you take the chair next to you, so you can
get a better view of the whiteboard,” Bradley suggested, biting back a smile.
    Slightly disgruntled, Nick moved to the subordinate seat,
sending Bradley a look of impatience. “Well, Alden, we don’t have all day,” he
snapped. “Would you like to tell us why you’ve pulled us all together?”
    “Julie, would you close the door?” Bradley asked.
    Julie Quinn, the head of human resources, jumped up and
closed the door.
    “Thanks,” Bradley said. “The information I share with you
today is confidential and normally I wouldn’t be speaking with such a large
group, but it is essential that we work together. As you know, another child
was kidnapped yesterday.   A child from the Freeport School District.”
    “Well, yes, but really the school district has nothing to do
with the kidnapping,” Nick said, dismissing Bradley’s comment.
    “Actually, Nick, it does,” Bradley said. “And I’ll explain
that correlation in a moment.”
    He paused, trying to decide how he was going to share
information with the group without giving away too much.   He suddenly realized that the kidnapper might
be one of the people sitting in the meeting.
    “But, before I go any further, I’d like each of you to
introduce yourselves and tell me how you interact with the attendance records
for the district,” he said. “Let’s