0 January Secret Agent #5

TITLE: Deadline For Murder
GENRE: New Adult Mystery

This story is not about my mother.

Admittedly, she is a major player. Okay, because of her, I returned to Ellwood City and nearly got killed. But it’s not really about her.

It’s my story even though, at 23, I don’t have that much to tell except I don’t know who my father is or was.

During one of many fights over this issue, Momma let it slip that he’d been murdered. That’s pretty critical information to spur any kid to want to know more. But Francesca Torino is tightlipped about who he was, how he looked, where he lived, how they got together, whether they married and, the biggie, how he died and why.

“You became a reporter to torture me with questions.”

“I have a right to know what happened.”

“You have a right to live. It’s too dangerous to know more. So, shut up.”

“After twenty-three years? And don’t tell me to shut up. Why are you always such a prima donna?”

“Because I am a prima donna, my darling.”

And so she is _ a feisty, skinny opera singer, barely five feet tall.

She was working in Chicago where my newspaper internship had ended. I decided, job or no job, it was time to explore Momma’s Ellwood secrets. Nona still lives there.

“Try the newspapers in New York or Rome. Your Italian is good enough.”

“I found a part-time job with the Lawrence County Beacon. Someone will help me with the questions you won’t answer.”