Free A Dead Sister (Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery) by Anna Burke Page A

toilet papered the campus on several occasions, and liberated the lab animals, some of which made their way, surprise, surprise, into locker rooms and the school cafeteria.
    At least some of the good times they shared were brought to t hem courtesy of Jessica’s prosperity. Whole days were spent at the spa. Alexis, who accompanied them on spa days and shopping trips, often coached them on how to use a product or accessorize an ensemble they had bought that day. She also supplied them with first-run movies they could watch in the media room that Hank Huntington had built into the Mission Hills estate.
    Bernadette fixed popcorn, made lemonade, and baked cookies. Even that sometimes provoked Kelly’s intermittent tirade against Jessica’s privileged life. The fact that there was a Bernadette, waiting on Jessica hand and foot, was another source of resentment. All that ambivalence hovered in the background as they finished high school at St. Theresa’s.
    It didn’t get any better after that. Kelly did well enough in her senior year to graduate from high school with them. But she decided not to go to college, at least not right away, opting to get a job instead. The fact that both Laura and Jessica started college the following fall put distance between them. That distance was more than a matter of geography. UC Irvine, where Jessica enrolled to study environmental science, was only a couple hours away. Laura, who started college at the local community college, didn’t even leave the valley. Laura tried desperately to cajole Kelly into taking classes with her at the College of the Desert. Kelly refused, adamant that there was nothing in it for her.
    The last time Jessica ever saw Kelly, they fought. On New Year’s Eve in 1998, Jessica returned home, after completing her fall quarter in college. She and half a dozen friends, including Kelly and Laura, had gone out to celebrate. Jessica rented a limo with a driver who looked the other way while she and Kelly loaded it with food and drinks. They were all more than a little tipsy, having helped themselves to well-chilled Cristal as the limo driver took them from place to place that night.
    On their way home, following a round of toasts to the last new-year of the twentieth century, Kelly’s mood turned dark. “Let’s not forget to toast our good friend, Jessica.” A cheer went up. Jessica’s friends, in their slinky party dresses and stilettos, raised their glasses.
    Kelly wasn’t done. “Where would we be tonight if it wasn’t for you, Jessica?” Her glass was still raised in a salute. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I would have been watching that fucking little ball drop on TV with my parents and my little brother.”
    Heads bobbed in agreement. “Ooh me too!” someone groaned. A ripple of nervous laughter followed as Kelly took a sip then held the glass aloft once more.
    “Thanks, Jessica, for taking time off from college to save us from that fate!” The others followed, raising their glasses again. But with less abandon this time. “What about next year? Are you going to do the same thing next year and the next?” Kelly paused, downed the champagne in her glass, and refilled it.
    “How about tomorrow, what are you doing tomorrow? I have to go to work to try to make up for the tips I lost taking tonight off. You’re probably planning to go to the spa tomorrow. I am too, but I won’t be getting pampered. Are you coming to the Agua Caliente spa so I can wait on you? Will you leave me a big tip, Princess Jessica?” She bowed, spilling a bit of the champagne from her glass filled to the brim.
    “Oops! Sorry don’t want to waste the Cristal.” She licked her fingers and giggled, sipping to lower the level of champagne in her glass.
    It had grown quiet in the back seat of the limo. Jessica was too mortified to speak. The others, stunned, angry or embarrassed, were also mute. The silence didn’t last long. Kelly lifted her head, wobbling a little