Carolyn Arnold - McKinley 04 - Politics is Murder by Carolyn Arnold

it.”
    “Don’t worry about it, Justin.” Sara crossed her legs toward him. “So, Halie…tell us about her.”
    He took his books back from Sean. “You’re really interested in her, aren’t you?”
    “Honestly? We came here for her.”
    Sean glanced at his wife. Smooth.
    “I should have known.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Oh, she has luck on her side. Always has.”
    Sean studied the kid’s eyes. Did he really have no idea her luck had changed?
    “Why do you think she’s lucky?” Sean asked.
    “She’s the daughter of a politician. Enough said?”
    Sean nodded as if he understood the implication.
    Justin didn’t seem satisfied, and he continued. “He’s a wealthy man, hence, she gets to come to a school like this.”
    “You’re at a school like this.”
    “Yes, but that’s different. It’s not that I really had anything against her.”
    Sean picked up on the past tense but let it go at this juncture. “Do you know of anyone who didn’t like her?”
    “I know of a few, yeah. She was always praised for her work.” He waved a hand in the direction of the lectern. “Professor Harland’s pet student.”
    Sean followed the direction where Justin implied and noticed that Harland had left the classroom. “Sara?” He almost said darling , as he butted his head forward.
    Receipt of the message dawned in her eyes, but she carried on with Justin anyhow. “That wouldn’t have made her very popular with the other students.”
    “One would think that, but then, you know who her father is.”
    “So that swayed people’s affection for her?”
    “It bought their votes.” Justin laughed at his joke, while Sean and Sara smiled. “It probably would have made her the winner in the writing contest that is going on right now too.”
    “What contest?”
    “The entrants need to be approved of by Professor Harland, and then they are passed on. It’s something he handles through a publishing house he runs.”
    Sean turned to Sara. “Busy man. A professor and a publisher.”
    “Yes, I’d say.”
    “So, did Halie enter this contest?”
    “I’m not sure. We weren’t what you’d call close.”
    “All right, Justin, while it’s been nice talking to you, we really must get going.” Sean got up and Sara followed his lead.
    “You don’t think anything bad happened to her, do you?” Justin asked.
    A response almost slipped from Sean’s mouth. The kid was good. Instead, Justin left without an answer, and, with him out of earshot, Sean turned to Sara. “He knows we’re not literary agents.”
    “Is that all he knows?”

 
     
     

     
    Blast To The Past
     
    ROAMING THE HALLS OF A university lay outside of Sean’s comfort zone. He didn’t like school the first time around and had done the bare minimum to make it through local college, while loathing every moment behind a desk with his nose buried in a book. He admired Sara for having graced a university with her presence and, from the sound of it, excelling under the pressure.
    His mind skipped from his own discomfort to Justin. While the kid seemed to blend in academically, he didn’t appear to relate to the average student. Sean remembered what had struck him from their conversation with him. “When we were talking about Halie, Justin said that he didn’t have anything against her, but he used the past tense had anything against her.”
    Sara stopped walking, the clicking of her heels ceasing and bringing silence to the hall. “I noticed the same thing, but do you think he’s involved with her disappearance?”
    “I’m really not sure. It’s too soon yet.”
    Sara nodded and resumed walking. “Hopefully more things come to light soon, because it almost seems to me like Miss Responsible needed to break away for a bit.”
    “You think she left on her own?”
    “Well, it is a possibility.”
    “Here it is, darling.” Sean stopped in front of the door with the lettering Professor Harland on the glass.
    Sara knocked.
    “Come in,” the