Read A Wrongful Drift (Seagrove 8) for Free Online Page B

allowed to eat human food. It’s not good for him.”
    She wagged her finger at him. “He’ll get fat.”
    “I’ve never seen a less fat dog,” he said. “One tiny piece of crust won’t hurt him once in a while. It’s not like he gets it every day.”
    “Humph,” she snorted.
    “Says you.” But she didn’t reach under the table to take the crust from Mr. B. You had to know when to make a big deal of something, she thought, and this wasn’t it.
    “So what’s your plan for tomorrow?” he asked. “Sleuthing, or planning for your trip to Europe?”
    “Sleuthing. I’m on a crumb trail.” She wiped her face with a napkin and tossed it into the compost bin.
    “First I’m going to see Justin, and tell Steve Ryan he’s wrong. Then I’m going to the college to see if I can find Sandy, Randy or Mandy. Maybe it’s just plain Andy, I don’t know.”
    “Andy?” Zack looked puzzled.
    “Apparently a pledge who didn’t make it in and who was mad about the hazing. Not that I blame her, but I draw the line at murder. Anyway, her name was something like Randy or Sandy. The girls couldn’t remember for sure. She made a big stink when she didn’t make the cut. She protested out on the sidewalk until the cops made her stop.”
    “Sounds promising,” Zack said. “If you can find her. There could be an awful lot of girls whose names end with Andy. It’s a big school.”
    “We’ll see.” Sadie shrugged. “What are you up to tomorrow?”
    “More of the same, mostly,” he said. “I’m going out to the art co-op in the morning. I’d ask you to come along, but it sounds like you are busy.”
    “I’d love to come another time,” she said. “But for now, I have to make Justin my priority.”
    “You are a good friend, Sadie Barnett,” he said, reaching out and holding her hand. “He’s lucky to have you.”
    “I feel more like a parent than a friend. Or some kind of guardian of justice. Professor Ives is like a child who needs to be protected from himself. Just when I thought he was pulling himself together, this happens. I realize he’s not much older than his students, but you’d think he’d have more sense.”
    “It’s hard to keep your wits about you when faced with a pretty girl,” Zack said. “I should know.”
    “Flatterer,” she said, but she couldn’t keep the smile from her face.
    “Not at all, I just speak the truth. I’ve broken all kinds of rules because I like having you near me.” He squeezed her hand and let go. “But now I’d better go home. Otherwise, I’ll find myself sleeping on your couch.”
    “You won’t stay for a movie?” she asked, but she knew it was late for him. He got to the station house at an ungodly hour in the mornings.
    He shook his head and kissed her on the top of the head before patting Mr. Bradshaw and heading down the staircase.
    “I guess it’s just you and me for the movie, Mr. B,” she said.
    Mr. B barked once and joined her on the couch, but she had fallen asleep before the title credits had finished running and only woke up when the movie ended.
    “Well, that was a waste,” Sadie said. “Come on Mr. B, it’s time for bed.”
    When Sadie and Mr. B walked into the police station in Hillside, she was looking a lot more confident that she felt. She would have much preferred that Zack make her case with Officer Ryan, but she understood why he wouldn’t and she respected him for it. Still, she was quaking in her boots on the inside.
    She walked up to the desk sergeant and told him she wanted to see Justin Ives and speak to Officer Ryan. The desk sergeant wrote it all down and asked her to have a seat. She sat on a bench against one wall and Mr. Bradshaw jumped up and curled up on her lap and they waited. And waited. And waited some more. Sadie was beginning to despair of ever seeing Justin when a door opened.
    "Ms. Barnett, please come this way," the female officer said and turned and walked away.
    Sadie scurried to the door, afraid it