A Wrongful Drift (Seagrove 8) Read Online Free

her. Not that they saw each other often.”
    “Why not?” Lucy asked. “Didn’t they both live here?”
    “No,” This was a plump blonde whose mascara had run down her face. “Holly moved out. She couldn’t stand to be in the same house with Syl.”
    “That’s not it,” a slender redhead in sweats and a tank top chimed in. “Holly hated always being second and Sylvia was first at everything.”
    “That’s true,” said a serious-faced woman sitting stick straight on a ladder-back chair. “Holly and Sylvia always were competing for top place. And Holly was very frustrated that she never could pass Syl. She thought maybe there was cheating going on – Oh, and she caught Sylvia with one of her professors.”
    “Where?” the redhead said, her face suddenly lively.
    “Holly wouldn’t say,” the serious-faced girl replied. “She just went on about how it wasn’t right that Syl was using the professor.”
    Lucy looked at Sadie with her eyebrows raised. “Later,” Sadie mouthed.
    She obviously knew who the professor was, but she wasn’t going to discuss it here. That would be the end of Justin’s career for sure. And Steve Ryan might think Justin was a murderer, although Mr. Bradshaw said otherwise.
    "That can't be right," called a voice from the back, Sadie couldn't see who was speaking but whoever it was clearly was nearly hysterical. "She would never sleep with a professor to raise her grades. Syl wasn't like that."
    "She was really competitive," another voice chimed in. "Maybe she felt like she needed an edge."
    After that, it was complete bedlam. Voices were raised, accusations rang out across the room and it seemed as if there was a solid division between Sylvia supporters and Holly supporters. Sadie looked at Lucy and nodded toward the door. They slipped out and walked back to the car.
    "That was wild," Lucy said, "how they all turned on each other at the end. Scary."
    "It was never like that in my day," Sadie said sadly.
    "In a case like this, the house mother would sit the girls down and there would be discussions; many discussions until we were so tired of talking that we pretended to like each other. Before long, liking each other was our default position and by the time we graduated, we genuinely did."
    "Now that's a good house mother. This one seems a bit in over her head," Lucy said. "They should get training."
    "It's a different time," Sadie said.
    "They don't do things like we did back then. I don't think they believe in making people like each other. Or maybe they do, but kids haven't been raised to believe they have to get along. It makes life unnecessarily hard for them, in my opinion."
    "What are we going to do now?" Lucy asked, slipping into the car.
    "Now we are going to visit Holly Rigby," Sadie said. "And see what she has to say for herself."
    It took them some time to convince the registrar to give them Holly's contact information, but a call to the Dean of Students finally got results and they waltzed out of the building with both her phone number and address.
    "Should we stop and get Mr. B before we go see her?" Lucy asked. "He's really good at breaking the ice."
    “Sure,” Sadie agreed. “And anyway, he probably needs to get out for a walk.”
    At the shop, Betty looked at Sadie with puppy dog eyes. So they locked the shop and, after a walk in the park, piled into the car.
    “You know,” Sadie said as they drove past the town limits, “I think Holly lives near Faraway Lake.” She looked to see Betty frowning.
    “That’s where Zack and I found Sylvia.”
    “Oh, that’s ominous,” Betty said.
    “It is,” Lucy said, “But I think we are trying not to jump to conclusions.”
    “I can keep an open mind,” Betty said. “But still.”
    “I know,” Sadie said. “It’s creepy. I don’t even like driving back into this area. But look,” she pointed to a dirt lane leading off Main Street, “that’s her road.”
    They found the address – a small cottage set back