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

information,” Betty said.
    “Guess you’ll have to bully the registrar again,” Holly said. “It seems to work.”
    She frowned at Sadie. “You don’t think the press is going to hunt me down?” she asked.
    “I don’t know,” Sadie said. “But you can always just not answer the door. They can’t barge in without your permission.”
    “Oh. I hadn’t thought of that. Thanks.”
    She leaned down and petted Mr. B on the head. “Take it easy, Mr. Bradshaw,” she said and disappeared back into the cottage.
    “What an odd girl,” Betty said. “Brains, but no common sense.”
    “I liked her,” Lucy said. “She seems brutally honest.”
    “It’s too late to track down Samantha Vitt,” Sadie said. “Let’s pick up a pizza and take it back to the shop.”
    Mr. Bradshaw lay under the table in the back room while Lucy, Betty, and Sadie ate pizza and split a bottle of Gilroy White, a wine Sadie had picked up at the Thomas Kruse Winery in Gilroy, California on her last trip out west. The taste of the wine reminded Sadie of hot, dusty days in the central valley of California where she'd found some wonderful items in the basements and attics of the old farm houses.
    "Let's put a trip to California on our list of things to do after we get back from our Europe trip," Sadie said. “We should go in the spring or fall when it's not too warm there."
    She sipped her wine. "I need to pick up some more of this."
    "If we go to California," Lucy said, "I think we should spend some time at the beach taking a real vacation. Rooting around in dusty barns is fun and all but it's not relaxing."
    "We could do both, spend a week in the dust and then a week in the ocean washing the dust away," Betty said through a mouthful of pizza. "That would be nice. Pack everything up and ship it east, and then go put our toes in the Pacific Ocean for a while."
    "It's a plan," Sadie said. "And I can't wait. Meanwhile, should we head to Italy or Spain for our next buying trip? I want to close the shop, leave Mr. B with Zack, and have all three of us travel together. The shop can pay."
    "I think we should bring Mr. Bradshaw with us," Betty said, slipping her foot from her shoe and rubbing his belly with her toe as he thumped his tail once. "He needs some beach time, too."
    "He hates to fly," Sadie said. "Believe me, he'll be much happier here with Zack."
    "I'd be happier if he came with us," Betty said. "He's good company."
    Mr. B groaned and stretched his hind legs out straight, giving Betty better access to his belly.
    "I guess we could drive to California," Sadie said. "But it would add two weeks to our trip. The shop would be closed for a month."
    "Never mind," Betty said. "I'm sure Mr. B will be fine without us. But it will be different not having him around."
    "If that's the way you feel, imagine how Sadie feels," Lucy said. "He's practically her bodyguard."
    "What do you mean 'practically'?" Sadie asked. "He is my bodyguard."
    She glanced under the table to see him shamelessly roll closer to Betty. "Traitor," she said and smiled.
    Affection for the little creature swelled in her heart and some of the dissatisfaction of the last few days fell away. As long as Mr. B was in her life all was right with the world.
    "I feel like we're following the breadcrumbs," Lucy said. "Everywhere we go leads to another crumb of information. That leads to another, and another and none of it leads to anything substantial. It's frustrating."
    "Tomorrow I'm going to find Samantha and see where that leads us," Sadie said. "And maybe we can get Justin released."
    "I've got work to do here," Betty said. "So I'll pass. What about you, Lucy? Will you go with Sadie?"
    "I will," Lucy said. "I have to get ready for a trunk sale, but I can do it tonight and be ready to leave when you're ready to go, Sadie."
    "Ok, it's a plan, then," Sadie said. "But are you sure, Betty? It doesn't seem right to leave you here."
    "Are you kidding me? You're taking me to Spain or Italy.