2 Dead & Buried Read Online Free Page A

hadn’t ruined the special friendship he had with the Blackmoore girls by getting romantically involved with any of them. Cal’s romances never lasted very long.
    “What brings you guys here?” He asked, coming out from behind the case to envelop them both in a big hug.
    “We need a history lesson,” Celeste said.
    Cal raised an eyebrow and looked from Celeste to Morgan. “About what?”
    “Pirates,” Morgan offered.
    “Pirates?” Cal cocked an eyebrow at Morgan. “What’s going on?”
    “Well, you heard about the guy on our cliff, right?” Celeste ventured.  
    “What? No. I just got back from Barbados.” Cal stared at her, concern clouding his deep blue eyes. “What guy?”
    Morgan sighed. “A guy ended up dead on the cliff in our backyard. I discovered him yesterday morning.”
    “How did he die?” Cal alternated his gaze between Morgan and Celeste. “What was he doing on the cliff?”
    “That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Celeste said.  
    “And you have no idea who he is?”
    “Nope and Overton can’t seem to figure it out either.”
    Cal snorted. “I’m not surprised. Overton’s an idiot. It’s a miracle he can find his way to the police station every morning. No wonder you guys have to investigate it on your own.” He rubbed his chin then narrowed his eyes at Morgan. “But how do pirates figure into it?”
    “The only clue we have is that the guy had a large black circle on his hand. Jolene looked it up and it’s supposed to be some kind of pirate sign of doom or something.” Morgan laughed. “I know it’s silly. There’s no such thing as pirates anymore, but we figure it was worth talking about. Maybe it will tie in to something useful … and we always like to have an excuse to come and talk to you.”
    “Aww, you guys know you don’t need an excuse to see me. But the pirate angle might not be as farfetched as you think.” Cal leaned back against the display case.
    “Really?” Morgan’s brow creased, her stomach fluttering.
    “Well, there are modern day pirates, but I don’t think that would tie into your dead guy. Modern pirates hijack cargo ships and steal the goods or hold them for ransom. But they don’t do that around here.” Cal walked over to one of the bookshelves that lined the store and pulled out a thick leather bound book, then leafed through it. “The black mark really is a pirate warning. I believe it’s mostly fictional though. It was used to mark a pirate for death—a warning of sorts.”
    “Well, the guy on the cliff sure did end up dead,” Celeste said looking over Cal’s shoulder at the page of the book he was holding open.
    “I still don’t get what that has to do with us,” Morgan said.
    “It might not have anything to do with you, but it could be that the guy thought your cliff was a likely place for pirates to have buried their treasure.”
    Morgan laughed. “What? They only did that in the Caribbean. There’s no pirate treasure around here.”
    Cal shook his head. “Legend has it many pirates buried treasure all over the Maine coast. The most Famous is Capt. William Kidd, but there were others. In fact, a cache of gold and silver Spanish coins were dug up just over in Biddeford, in the 1930s that many believe was buried there by pirates.”
    Morgan felt her eyes grow wider. “Seriously? But, why our cliff?”
    Cal shrugged. “Who knows? I do know there are people who make a living out of trying to find this type of treasure. Maybe someone’s research led them to your location.”
    Morgan looked at Celeste. “Boy, finding a chest full of pirate treasure would sure solve all our money problems.”  
    Morgan and Fiona made a modest living with Sticks and Stones and Celeste did fairly well with her yoga studio, but it was barely enough to put food on the table and pay the taxes on their property—which for a waterfront mansion was a small fortune. The house had been built generations ago so, luckily, they had no