Free Murder of a Sleeping Beauty by Denise Swanson Page A

knees.
    Abby greeted Skye as she entered the room with, “I’m never doing this again. My throat hurts, and my head is pounding.”
    “It really was a lot harder than you said, Skye,” Trixie chimed in. She ran her fingers through her short brown hair. “We don’t have the training.”
    “Well, I really appreciate your pitching in. And I understand how hard it is. But unfortunately . . .”
    Abby straightened, her aquamarine eyes narrowed. Trixie jumped down from the counter. They both said, “What . . .”
    “Sorry.” Skye ran a finger around her suddenly tight collar. Trixie and Abby didn’t know the half of it . . . yet. “But we’ll need to draw up a crisis strategy. Now that you two have some experience, it’s logical for you to be included in that plan.”
    “How could you do that to us?” Abby advanced on Skye. “We only did this as a favor to you.”
    Trixie closed in from the other side. “You wouldn’t do this to your best friend, would you?”
    “Sorry. Trying to make me feel like this is my fault won’t work. You both know my mom. May is a certified travel agent for guilt trips. In comparison to her, you two haven’t even gotten your learner’s permits yet.”
    Abby and Trixie muttered ominously under their breath and moved closer to Skye.
    When she realized she was being backed into the circulation desk, Skye offered words of appeasement. “Don’t worry. You won’t be in this alone. Scumble River High has a lot of caring teachers who often aren’t noticed because the bad ones get all the attention. I’m sure we’ll get plenty of volunteers, so no one will have the entire responsibility on his or her shoulders.”
    “You’d better be right.” Trixie was now knee to knee with Skye. “Because if I have to go through this again, I’m putting that picture of you and the goat in the school paper.”
    Skye cringed. She knew the photo Trixie meant. When they were twelve their Girl Scout troop had visited a petting zoo, and a huge goat had developed a crush on Skye. He had followed her everywhere, finally butting her to the ground and standing guard over her so she couldn’t get up.
    “And I have a picture Vince gave me while we were dating. It’s you and him attending your junior prom. How would you like everyone reminded that the only escort you could get to the dance was your brother?” Abby leaned in from the other side until they were nose to nose, and said, “Now, you were saying that Trixie and I had done our part, and you’d get someone else for the next crisis, right?”
    “Right,” Skye mumbled.

CHAPTER 6
    Sweetness and Slight
     
     
     
     
    M s. Denison, Ms. Denison.” A high-pitched fake-sounding drawl shot through Skye’s aching head. Her hand was inches from the knob of the office door when she turned. “Yes? May I help you?”
    “I’m Priscilla VanHorn, Zoë’s mother. Do you have a minute?” The overblown redhead wore a dress that looked as if it were made out of leftover wallpaper that had been poorly hung.
    “Sure. Let’s use the health office.” Skye ushered the woman through the main door and into a small room to the left.
    Skye took the seat behind the desk, forcing Mrs. VanHorn to perch on the vinyl cot. “Now, what can I do for you?”
    “I’m concerned about my daughter. I understand you were with her when that awful police chief interrogated her?” The woman raised her voice at the end of her statement, making it sound like a question.
    “Yes, but I wouldn’t say he interrogated her. He asked her a few questions—mostly trying to get a picture of Lorelei’s last few hours.” Skye wasn’t sure where this was going.
    “Well, Zoë was very upset by the whole ordeal.” Mrs.
    VanHorn rummaged in her purse and pulled out a lace-trimmed hankie. “Zoë and Lorelei have been best friends forever. They’ve been together in every pageant, play, and performance. They’re in the same clubs and have been cheering together since junior