Read Online Going to the Bad by Nora McFarland - Free Book Online

over how the adopt-a-pet segment works.”
    She gave me a frosty look, probably because of the words we’d exchanged earlier that morning, but thanked me.
    After she’d left, Freddy said, “Just saying, dude, think about the old olive branch. It’s smart to make friends with the friend of your friends.”
    I couldn’t imagine who’d want to be friends with her, so his argument didn’t move me. “Whatever. Is the live shot ready for the noon from the scene of the sludge accident?”
    â€œTotally.” Freddy’s face lit up. “And rumor’s going around that it wasn’t sludge that spilled. I’m hearing it was some kind of secret, toxic military waste.”
    I bit into the last sugar cookie and spoke while chewing. “Weren’t you trying to convince me earlier that a giant snake escaped from the same crash?”
    â€œDude, I hear a lot of stuff. Not all of it’s gold, but I seriously got a feeling in my gut about this toxic-waste thing.”
    â€œHey, Lilly.” Callum stood in the open doorway of an edit bay. He still wore his casual vacation clothes and the beard. The hairgrowing out of his ears was longer than normal too. “I uploaded all my raw video from the scene to the server. Be kind when you look at it. The camera work isn’t the greatest.”
    â€œI’m sorry you had to give up your vacation.”
    He waved me toward the edit bay. “Come on. I’ll fill you in on what I found out. It won’t take long.”
    I followed him in and slid the sliding glass door shut to block out the Christmas carols.
    â€œHow about Freddy on the assignment desk?” Callum sat down. “I’m trying to hang back and let him get a feel for it. Don’t tell Freddy I said so, but he’s not half-bad. He’s got a real ear for the scanners.”
    He reached for the mouse. The edit bays, which previously housed decks and monitors for editing videotape, had been retrofitted with computers. Reporters could now edit their video digitally and push it directly onto the control-room playback server via our network.
    â€œI’m trying to cut some B-roll and a couple sound bites for the noon.” He clicked on a file. “It’s taking me forever because I have no idea what I’m doing.”
    He played the raw video from the scene and also what little there was of his going door-to-door on my block, which even by his own admission had been a complete failure.
    â€œThere’s some drug and gang activity in the neighborhood.” I felt awkward admitting it. Rod had wanted to move. Maybe I should have agreed. “The people who aren’t involved themselves make a point of not seeing crime for fear of retribution.”
    Callum nodded. “One of my sources at the Sheriff’s Department says it’s looking like a robbery gone bad. They figure your uncle walked in on a thief who shot him.”
    I hesitated. How much should I tell Callum? Could I trust him to keep quiet if it turned out Bud was doing something illegal? “Is that their only theory?”
    â€œI heard they’re taking molds of tire tracks from the alleybehind the house. Your uncle’s ’71 Plymouth Fury was found back there, and they think his attacker parked next to it. Preliminary word from the scene is that they’re looking for a pickup.”
    â€œGood luck with that. As Bud would say, you can’t toss a sack of armpits in this town without hitting a pickup.” I waited while Callum laughed, then stepped cautiously out onto the proverbial limb. “I think Bud was meeting someone.”
    Something in my voice got Callum’s attention. “Why? You know something you’re not telling me?”
    I decided to tell Callum about Bud’s visit to the pawnshop and subsequent call to Leland Warner. I finished with the message Bud left on my cell that morning. “I think Bud was trying to make