Read A Wrongful Drift (Seagrove 8) for Free Online

stood up and Mr. Bradshaw stood up, shook, and jumped off the chair.
    "Are you coming over for dinner after work tonight?" she asked.
    "Does it matter if it's late?" he asked.
    "Not a bit, I'm cooking a take and bake pizza. Give me a call half an hour before you leave and it will be hot when you get there." She went to step out the door.
    "Wait," he said and stood up. He came around the desk and wrapped his arms around her before dropping a kiss on the top of her head.
    "Be safe, okay?"
    "Always," she said. "Mr. Bradshaw insists on it."
    Rather than go to the shop Sadie headed straight to the sorority house. She felt bad for not asking Betty or Lucy, but sometimes it was easier to get people to open up when you didn't bring a posse. Also, she was a sorority sister, which engendered trust, while Betty and Lucy were outsiders. At least, that was Sadie's thinking.
    The sorority mother let Sadie in and led her back down to the social room where about a dozen girls were hanging out, listening to music and snacking. The house mother slipped away back down the hall and Sadie brought Mr. Bradshaw into the conversation area. He hopped onto a dark-haired girl's lap and all the girls in the room came over to see him.
    Before many minutes the word was out and there were at least twenty girls in the room, all gathered around the spot where Mr. Bradshaw was holding court. He allowed himself to be patted and passed around and Sadie vowed to herself she would give him extra treats tonight because he was behaving so well. He didn't growl once.
    "How are you all doing?" Sadie asked. "Are you recovering from the shock of losing another sister?"
    She looked carefully into their faces, not only to give the impression she was concerned, but because she was. These were her sorority sisters, the latest in a long line of connected women that strove to make the world a better place.
    There were varying degrees of emotional distress in the faces around her. A couple of faces crumpled, but those girls were folded into hugs by their housemates and no one broke down.
    "I've been thinking," the young dark haired girl who currently was holding Mr. B spoke up. "There were a couple of girls who really made a fuss when they didn't make rush. And one was really obnoxious. She stood on the sidewalk and called us names for a couple of days until the cops came and told her she had to stop. I don't know her name, though."
    "Mandy?" A tall blonde asked.
    "No, not Mandy, Randy." The group was buzzing again.
    "Yes, that's right, Randy."
    "No, remember, we called her Randy Sandy. Her name was Sandy."
    "I don't think so. It was Andy, like in Toy Story, only a girl."
    "Can we agree it ended with Andy?" Sadie asked. The girls nodded.
    "Do you all remember what she looked like?" Sadie asked, but if she thought there would be agreement on that, she was wrong. The only agreement they came to was she was Caucasian and her hair wasn't pitch black or white blonde.
    "Sadie, I don't feel safe anymore." There was nodding all round.
    "What should we do?" one of the girls asked.
    "The same things you should always do. Don't go strange places by yourself. You keep an eye out for each other. Don't meet people you don't know well by yourself unless you are in a very public place. Be honest and compassionate and don't wield power over others. After that, you just have to roll with the punches. There are no guarantees in life, but you can improve your odds by being smart." Sadie stopped and caught her breath and Mr. Bradshaw chose that moment to give one of the girls a big kiss right on the mouth.
    There was squealing and laughing, and when they had calmed down the mood had changed and they were happy young women again. But as she went to leave, the girl who'd held Mr. B first caught Sadie’s arm.
    "You'll find who killed Syl, won't you?" she asked.
    "Of course, she will." The voice was familiar but Sadie couldn't place the name. "She's Seagrove's Sherlock, only a woman."
    "I'll do my