Free Those of the Margin: a Paranormal Suspense Thriller (Derek Cole Suspense Thriller Book 2) by T Patrick Phelps

and as something that, if true, might bring Derek and Maggie closer together.
    "Last thing, and I'm not sure this is important or not, but I ain't the only person digging into Jack Bryant's past. Seems that someone else over your way has been doing some digging as well. Not sure who it is or what he or she found out, but I do find it peculiar."
    "You find what peculiar?" Derek asked.
    "The timing of everything. You being called up to chase ghosts around the coast of Maine and someone starting to dig around Jack Bryant's past around the same time I start my digging. Peculiar."
    "Ralph," Derek said, "I can't tell you how much I appreciate your assistance. I need to have a tough conversation with my client right now so I'll have to talk with you later. Thanks again, and feel free to call me anytime if you uncover anything else important."
    "I'm here to serve."
    Derek ended his call with Ralph and stood silently in Robby's room. He pulled out his Moleskin and jotted down a few notes before heading back down to continue his conversation with Maggie.
    Maggie was sitting on the couch watching Robby who was busily engaged in his Xbox game. She didn't notice that Derek had returned from his call and was standing in the hallway, looking at her. She sat, legs crossed, one hand braced against her forehead, with a calm, loving expression on her face. Though her sight was fixed on her son, who had moved from the couch and was now sitting on the floor a few feet away from the 55-inch flat screen, Derek could tell that Maggie wasn't seeing her son. Her thoughts were elsewhere.  
    Derek's thoughts were split between the information he had just learned from Ralph and how he was feeling as he stood looking at Maggie. She was beautiful. Few would challenge Derek's appraisal. But there was something more about her that pulled him towards her. A hidden vulnerability that both called to him to come and screamed at him to retreat. A fragility that revealed itself through glimpses.
    "Maggie," Derek said softly. "You and I need to talk."

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

    "You know," Derek started as Maggie placed a cup of coffee in front of him at the dining room table, "I've interviewed a lot of people in my career. I've learned that people mix the truth with lies in order to make themselves or their stories look more believable."
    "Do you think I'm lying about what I saw in Robby's room?" Maggie asked.
    "Not at all," Derek said as a twinge of twisting nerves erupted in his gut. "I'm referring to people in general."
    Maggie sat across the table from Derek. Her coffee serving to warm her hands as she clasped the Minnie Mouse coffee mug. Her face still held a distant fear but, somehow, she felt at ease and safe when sitting with Derek.
    "I need to ask you a few questions, to clarify some things that Melissa Humphrey and Ron White told me. I need you to be 100% truthful, not that I think you would lie to me. It's just that I need to know that you are telling me everything. Okay?"
    "Of course," Maggie said, forcing a smile.
    "My first stop yesterday," Derek forced himself to begin, "was with Melissa Humphrey. I have to say that she is a very interesting person."
    "Town gossip," Maggie offered.
    "That was pretty clear." Derek swallowed hard. "While I don't think she had anything to do with putting ideas of ghosts into Robby's head, she did tell me some things that concern me."
    "Let me guess, she told you that I'm a raging alcoholic, and that I've been known to pass out drunk all over town?"
    "Well, she wasn't that descriptive, but, yeah, that was her general point. I'm sure you can understand why I found her assertions to be interesting."
    Maggie sighed and dropped her eyes towards her hands. "Alcoholic mother claims that her son is seeing a ghost. Yeah, I would understand your concerns."
    "Also," Derek continued after cleaning his throat, "as a detective, I am trained to follow up on leads to verify or to discount. I visited with Bill Jeffries at his liquor store. He