Free Double trouble by Barbara Boswell

they headed to the parking lot. "You invited me to visit for the weekend and then you suggested we come here, knowing full well that he was going to be here! Oh, Kristina, how could you do this to me?"
    "I felt I owed it to you," Kristina said glumly. "Kayla, I don't know what happened between you and Matt last weekend—um, that is, I have a fairly good idea what did— but-"
    "I don't want to talk about it or about him ever again, Kristina!"
    Kristina was silent for a full thirty seconds. And then, she said, "Kayla, I've been hearing all sorts of weird rumors and gossip about that fund-raiser and more than one person has cast less than subtle innuendos about my style of lobbying."

    The sisters got into the car. Kayla buried her face in her hands and groaned. ''Oh Kristina. I'm so sorry! I know I should've told you what happened on Friday night, but I was so mortified and confused that I just didn't know what to say or how to explain. All week I've been worried sick about what people might be saying about you and Matt Minteer. The last thing I ever wanted was to wreck your reputation."
    ''And the last thing I ever wanted was to get us both into trouble, but I did a spectacular job of it anyway," Kristina said morosely.
    Kayla sighed. "We were both in the wrong and the way things have worked out makes us more or less even. There's a bizarre sort of justice in that. Kristina, let's make a promise right now to never, ever switch roles again."
    "I promise!" Kristina said fervently. "But Kayla, no matter how wrong we were, something good did come out of it. You did me a tremendous favor by going to that dinner and thanks to you, Boyd and I are back together. I can never, ever repay you for that. But I wanted to try. That's why I thought I'd help you straighten things out with Matt Minteer."
    Kayla's head shot up. "Let's get one thing straight, Kristina. I don't want to straighten things out with Matt Minteer. I don't want to have anything to do with him. I—I don't want/z/m.^"
    "It didn't look that way a few minutes ago," Kristina said archly. "In fact, it looked as if you were on the verge of leaving with him. If that pesty brother of his hadn't interfered, I'll bet the two of you would be on your way to Matt's place right now."
    Kayla flushed scarlet and shook her head vehemently. "No."
    "If only Matt would've said 'to hell with party polls and state funding, I have personal business that comes ahead of everything!'" Kristina lamented.

    Kayla gave a scornful laugh. "You know as well as I do that politics supersedes anything and everything in a politician's personal Hfe. Not that it matters to me what Matt Minteer does. I have an aversion to the man, Kristina. I still can't understand whatever possessed me to—" she paused, flushing and breathless ''—to be with him that night but-"
    "You were drunk," Kristina interrupted baldly. "And so was he. So was everybody there. What went on at that fundraiser is the worst-kept secret in Harrisburg."
    As they drove back to her apartment, Kristina explained what she'd heard about WINDS and their beverage-and-food spiking tactics. Kayla was shocked, horrified, humiliated and infuriated—all at the same time.
    "I want to press criminal charges. I want to sue!" she raged. "I was drugged, my constitutional rights were violated and—"
    "And WINDS is long gone," Kristina said flatly. "From what I've heard, they'd all left the state by Monday morning, and they didn't give a forwarding address. The consensus among the powers-that-be is to simply pretend that the whole mess never occurred. The official party line is that Matt Minteer's fund-raiser went as planned, without a hitch, although I've been getting quite a few sidelong, speculative looks and more than the usual number of propositions,"
    "Oh, Kristina, it's so unfair. You were with Boyd the whole time and I was the one who—who—" shuddering, Kayla forced herself to say the words "—behaved like a slut."
    "I don't believe that and