2 Dead & Buried Read Online Free Page B

mortgage. Otherwise they wouldn’t be able to afford to keep the house.
    Celeste laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure there’s a bunch of pirate treasure just buried all over our yard and no one found it in the three hundred some odd years people have been living there.”
    “So who are these people that search for treasure. Do you mean like that guy who has the boat that looks for old shipwrecks?” Morgan rubbed her forehead. What was that guy’s name? She snapped her fingers. “Ballard.”
    “Sort of. Except these guys aren’t nearly as nice. Ballard is legit. The guys I am talking about do it under the radar. They want to steal the treasure and keep all of it, without paying taxes or giving any to the rightful owners it was originally stolen from. And they’ll do whatever they have to do to keep from getting caught.” Cal’s blue eyes drilled into Morgan’s. “They are very dangerous people.”
    Morgan felt her stomach clench. “But he’s dead now, so we probably don’t have to worry, right?”
    Cal shook his head. “I wish. But they usually travel in groups. There are probably others and if that guy thought your property had treasure, then the others might too.”
    Morgan and Celeste exchanged worried glances.
    “When was your house built?” Cal asked.
    Morgan wrinkled her brow and looked at Celeste uncertainly. “I don’t know, sometime in the early 1700s I think. At least that’s when the first part was built and then they added to it over the years.”
    “Did your family own the land before that? There were pirates back in that time … maybe …”
    “You don’t really think there would be pirate treasure there do you?”
    “You never know.” Cal shrugged. “What did you say your ancestor that build the house did for a living?”
    “He was a merchant,” Celeste said then her eyes went wide. “A sailing merchant.”
    Cal raised his eyebrows. “Didn’t you guys find some old journals of his in your attic?”  
    “We found old journals, but we’re not sure what year they are from,” Celeste said. “They did look very old, but I don’t know if they could be 300 years old.”
    “Well, maybe it’s worth going up there and taking a look. Who knows? You might find an old treasure map or something.” Cal winked at Morgan.
    “A treasure map would be great.” Morgan laughed, “but even if he was there looking for treasure, which I highly doubt, how did he end up dead?”
    “Well, you said he had that black mark on his hand. Legend has it that when a pirate woke up with that mark on his hand, he’d better watch out because it meant he was marked for death. And that’s exactly what happened to him.” Cal wiggled his eyebrows at Morgan and Celeste. “So you see, it makes perfect sense.”
    “Pfft.” Morgan waved her hand in the air. “I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for all of it. There has to be, because believing a pirate ended up dead on our cliff because of some old curse is just too crazy for anyone to believe … even me.”

Chapter Six

    “All this pirate stuff is nonsense, don’t you think?” Morgan asked as they left the pawn shop and headed down the sidewalk.
    “It is rather fanciful, but anything is possible, Morgan.”  
    Morgan sighed. Leave it to Celeste to believe in something like pirates and curses.
    “Hey, you wanna stop in at Riley’s for lunch?” Morgan glanced at her watch. “Fi isn’t expecting me back at Sticks and Stones until noon and all this pirate talk made me hungry.”  
    “Sure. I love their veggie burgers.”  
    They took a right down the side street that was a shortcut to Riley’s —one of the city’s most popular burger places.   The route wasn’t the most scenic and would take them through an undesirable section of town, but it cut a half mile out of the walk so it was a good trade off.
    An uneasy feeling came over Morgan as they walked—like a heavy feeling of doom deep in the pit of her stomach. Probably all this pirate