The Advocate (The Advocate Series) Read Online Free

I’m not sure what it is, but there’s definitely something wrong. Alexis appears to be afraid of something. By the way, does Peggy have any drug history?”
    “I don’t know. We’re still waiting on the records from Atlanta.”
    “What about Murdock?”
    “Nothing on him yet, either. Same story; we’re still waiting. You’d think, in this information age, we could obtain things a little quicker. If we don’t come up with something before the next hearing, we aren’t going to be able to keep those kids in the system. Maybe we shouldn’t – maybe they’re safe at home – but I sure couldn’t stand to see one of them end up in the morgue like . . . ” She stopped mid-sentence, pain evident on her face.
    “Marla, you have to quit blaming yourself for the death of the Sanders boy. It wasn’t your fault. There’s nothing you could’ve done.”
    “But I made a home visit the day before, and I didn’t remove those boys. I keep thinking that little boy would be alive today if I’d made the right call.”
    “You made the only call you could. You didn’t have a legal basis to remove those children at the time. You had no way of knowing the parents had a meth lab in their van and it would blow up and kill him. The police didn’t even know. How were you supposed to? Everyone, except you, realizes you’re not at fault. The investigation by the Department completely cleared you. You need to stop beating yourself up.
    “Anyway, this case is totally different. We have these children now, and we’ll keep them safe. When we have all the puzzle pieces, we’ll figure out this family secret, if there is one, and we’ll make the best decision we can. You know you can’t return the children without my concurrence, and I’m not giving it until I know it’s safe. So if you have a problem with your department head, or with the parents, just blame it on me.”
    “I may just do that.” Marla smiled. “So do you think you can get through to Alexis?”
    “I’m not sure. She did tell me her father didn’t hit Peggy that night. She said they argued about Peggy using drugs and Peggy came after him with a soup ladle. When he tried to take it away from her, she fell and hit her head. It’ll be interesting to see what we find in the police report from Atlanta. I’m going to put in a call to them and see if they can help.”
    “Sounds good. I’ll follow up with what Alexis said. If Peggy uses drugs, it’s interesting Murdock didn’t tell us or the police about it. Please keep me informed if you hear from Atlanta, and I’ll do the same.”
    “Will do. Listen, Marla, you take care of yourself. If you ever need someone to talk to, I’m a good listener.” Sabre gave her a hug and headed down the hallway between the cubicles, toward the exit, greeting other workers as she passed. She knew almost everyone in the building, most of them diligent workers who really cared about their clients, but few as dedicated as Marla.
    Sabre drove back to her office to catch up on some paperwork and the slew of phone calls she knew she’d have to respond to.
    When her cell phone rang, Sabre looked at her watch. It read 3:03 p.m. “Hi, Mom. I’m glad you didn’t give birth to me in the middle of the night,” Sabre said as she answered the phone. Her mother always called exactly on her birth minute.
    “Happy twenty-eighth birthday,” her mother said. “I hope you plan to do something fun today. Remember, this is your special day.”
    “Yeah, Mom. I’m going out with my friends this evening,” she lied. In reality, she never told anyone her birth date except her best friend, Bob, and she made him promise not to make a big deal of it. Sabre hadn’t celebrated her birthday for the last five years. Birthdays had always been such a family affair, but things were different without her brother Ron. It had been bad enough when he had moved to Dallas, but his disappearance was almost unbearable.
    Back at the office, Sabre dialed the