Page 15 of Promise Keeper

"I don't find it interesting," she said. "I already know that."

"Fine." There was no getting through to hard-headed, know-it-all teens.

"Come on back to the research table," Brenda said. "I'll pull some books from the shelves for you to get started with, and I'll see if I can find anything on the internet."

We got started, and I read until my eyes crossed. I opened my handbag and combed through the contents for my reading glasses. I pulled out a pocket sized bible, a trial packet of cocoa, and the remote to our Amazon Fire Stick. "That's where it went!" I said, holding it up. "We've been missing this for weeks," I told Brenda.

"I'll take that," Mia said, plucking the remote out of my hand. "We don't want it to get lost again in the other dimension that exists inside your purse." She tucked it in her jacket pocket.

"That's probably a good idea."

I found my glasses and scoured through a few more books. "I'm not finding anything," I said.

"Me neither," Mia said. "The only interesting thing I found was about the Whitewater Valley train being robbed, and even that wasn't very interesting."

"I read about that in Steve Longo's carnival," Brenda said. " Joseph Longo posted bail for the train robber and to pay him back, the man worked for him at his circus."

"Why would he post the train robber's bail?" I wondered.

"He must have been desperate for workers," Brenda said.

"Unless the guy was a freak he could show off for money," Mia said.

"That's sad, but true," Brenda said. "It's terrible how he took advantage of people who had things wrong with them."

Mia and I agreed.

"Having animals trained to perform and dragging them around in cages on a train and in trucks is just as bad," Mia said. "They don't even have a voice, or the option to quit and walk away like people do. It's enslavement."

It was times like these when I knew Mia had a good head on her shoulders and would turn out just fine no matter where she ended up. Unless it was following circuses around and breaking out all the animals and ending up in jail.

* * *

After findingnothing in Brenda's books that led us to the mystery man, I decided to send Mia home and call a meeting of the Action Agency in the Soapy Savant. The next mission had to be kept from Mia. I didn't want to compromise her standing with the Daughters of Metamora.

I sent a text in the group message to Logan and Anna and called Johnna and Roy. Within fifteen minutes we were sitting around a table with Soapy's gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, which he put on the menu only twice a year.

"Spill the dirt, Cameron Cripps Hayman," Roy said. "It's Sunday, I have places to be."

"On a barstool," Johnna said, working on another dog sweater.

"For your information, I'm assisting Steve with his group coming in on the train today." Roy sat up a little straighter in his chair.

"Is he paying you in booze?" Johnna asked.

"None of your bee's cheese." Roy ripped the corner off of his sandwich with his teeth, scowling at her.

"Anyway," Anna said, ignoring them. "What did you find out?"

I filled them in on everything Pamela had figured out, then proceeded to my hunch, leaning in to whisper. The walls had ears in this town. "Did you guys know that Fiona and Jim were putting in an in-ground pool?"

"I thought everyone knew that," Johnna said. "Fiona doesn't keep quiet about things she can brag about."

Logan's fingers went flying across his keyboard. He was already on the same page as me.

"What if the bones were dug up when they were digging the pool?" I asked. "We all know how proud the Daughters are of their heritage. This could tie into Fiona's family's history somehow."

"Are you suggestin' she ditched the bones in that trash can so that her ancestors who used to own that house don't get in trouble for murder?"

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