A Kiss Before Dying Read online

  A KISS BEFORE DYING

  Written by

  Kate William

  Created by

  FRANCINE PASCAL

  Copyright © 2015, Francine Pascal

  To Cassity Nicole Phillips

  "Oh, look, there they are," Enid said, pointing to the area near the back of the Patman Mansion.

  The guys were standing in a huddle with Christian in the middle. He looked so vulnerable standing there alone, surrounded by the Sweet Valley High and Palisades High gangs. But at least he was all right.

  "I see Christian," Elizabeth said. "But where's Todd?"

  "He's standing near the bushes," Enid said.

  "Oh yes, I see him." Elizabeth slumped back in the car seat and exhaled a long, shaky breath. "I was so scared we'd find a disaster here, but it looks like they're finally talking."

  "Guess the guys are smarter than we thought," Enid said with a wry smile.

  Jessica sniffed. "Yeah. Maybe they've decided to grow up at last." She popped open the glove box and rummaged through the contents for any makeup odds and ends she could find. "I just want to get Christian out of there and leave. This whole situation has been one big nightmare and I'm sick of—" Suddenly Elizabeth and Enid screamed.

  "What—" Jessica looked up and gasped in horror. A huge fight had broken out, as instantaneous as a flash of lightning and worse than anything she had ever imagined.

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Epilogue

  Chapter 1

  Elizabeth Wakefield was trapped in a nightmare of flashing lights, police sirens, and angry shouting. All around her, guys with bruises and bloodstained faces were being handcuffed and pushed into police cars. Her own boyfriend, Todd Wilkins, had been arrested and was on his way to jail. Right next to her, a policeman's radio switched on, startling her with a sudden burst of crackling static.

  Elizabeth wrapped her green sweater tighter around herself, overlapping its front edges, and then folded her arms over her chest, as if to protect herself from the chaos. Someone bumped her from behind. She turned to see a tall, scowling police officer pushing two handcuffed guys ahead of him, one whose neck was bleeding profusely.

  A few yards away, Bruce Patman was lying face-down on the ground as a female officer stood over him, reading him his rights. Elizabeth had known Bruce since childhood. He did have a hot temper and a reckless side, but it shocked her to see him treated like a dangerous criminal.

  Elizabeth had called the police because she suspected something terrible was going to happen tonight. And she had been right. It'd been every bit as terrible as she'd feared.

  Enid Rollins, her best friend, stepped up beside her. "This is so awful," Enid said, a look of horror on her face. "How could an argument over a football game escalate into an all-out riot?"

  "It's unbelievable, isn't it? I don't think Todd is ever going to forgive me for calling the police."

  "I'm sure Todd didn't mean what he said to you, Liz."

  "Didn't he?" Elizabeth whispered, overcome with a feeling of sadness. She had offered to go to the police station to help him, but Todd wanted nothing to do with her. His parting words as the police officers had pushed him into the backseat of the cruiser echoed in her mind: "Don't do me any favors!" Elizabeth exhaled a shaky breath, a dark heaviness squeezing at her chest. "I don't know what to believe anymore."

  "He'll calm down soon enough," Enid mumbled.

  Elizabeth wasn't convinced, but she appreciated the reassuring gesture anyway. She knew Enid was trying to be supportive.

  How could an argument over a football game turn into this? Elizabeth wondered. A few weeks ago, their school's football team, the Sweet Valley High Gladiators, had lost a game against the Palisades High Pumas, who had played dirty. Since then, the guys of both schools had been locked in a vicious rivalry, with aggression and retaliation bouncing back and forth between them like Ping-Pong balls.

  Tonight, the guys from Palisades had tricked the SVH class clown, Winston Egbert, into driving out to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Sweet Valley. The guys from SVH had learned of the deception and rushed to Winston's rescue—but not before Winston had been seriously beaten.

  Elizabeth, Enid, and a few other girls from Sweet Valley had arrived at the warehouse a short time later to find a battle raging like a scene from a cheap adventure movie—guys punching, shoving, brandishing sticks, staggering, blood dripping from their noses and cracked lips. Elizabeth shuddered, remembering. She would never have imagined Todd being capable of violence. But tonight she had seen a side of him that terrified her—a dark, vicious animal had replaced the sweet, gentle guy she loved.

  "I'm going to go look for Maria and Winston," Enid said, breaking into Elizabeth's thoughts. "Will you be all right?"

  Elizabeth nodded. "Go ahead. I'll catch up with you guys in a minute. I want to look for Jessica. I thought I saw her standing in the shadows on the other side of the building a little while ago."

  Enid walked away without making a disparaging comment at the mention of Jessica's name, for which Elizabeth was grateful. It wasn't any secret that Enid and Jessica didn't like each other. Enid considered Jessica to be shallow and self-centered, and in some ways the labels fit. Jessica and Elizabeth were identical twins, but only in appearance. Their personalities were miles apart. Unlike her sister, Elizabeth was a conscientious student and set high goals for herself. Although she and Jessica were only in their junior year of high school, Elizabeth already knew that she wanted to be a professional writer someday. She was actively involved in her school's newspaper, The Oracle, as a reporter and as the writer of a weekly column. During her free time, Elizabeth enjoyed reading poetry, watching old movies, hanging out with Enid, or going on quiet, romantic dates with Todd.

  Jessica lived for the moment. The most important goal in her life was having fun, which for her meant shopping, dressing up, partying, flirting, and competing for attention. And Jessica thought Enid was the most pathetic nerd she'd ever met and couldn't understand why Elizabeth allowed herself to be seen with such a loser.

  Even under normal conditions, Elizabeth found Enid and Jessica's attitude toward each other to be somewhat irritating. But tonight, with so much free-floating hostility already in the air, Elizabeth couldn't bear to deal with personality conflicts as well.

  While Jessica took life to be one great adventure, Elizabeth hung back, giving serious consideration to her actions. Although she had been born only four minutes before Jessica, Elizabeth was clearly the older sister. The job seemed to require a certain amount of worrying about Jessica, who rarely gave a thought to caution or common sense. Elizabeth had saved Jessica from more tight spots than she could count.

  Jessica had been acting mysterious lately and Elizabeth knew that was a bad sign. Something was up with her younger sister and that could only mean trouble.

  Lila Fowler and Amy Sutton, two of Jessica's best friends, were sitting on the hood of Lila's green Triumph, which was parked across the street. Elizabeth crossed the narrow gravel road and walked over to them.

  Lila, Amy, Elizabeth, Enid, and Maria Santelli had rushed to the scene that evening in a desperate attempt to stop the violence. They'd all been at the Dairi Burger, a popular hangout in Sweet Valley, when they'd heard the news that Winston had been trapped by the Palisades guys.

  Lila and Amy had spread a Persian rug over the car, probably so that Lila wouldn't soil her designer silk skirt. They appeared to be watching the goings-on with detached interest, as if they had the best seats at a sporting event.

  "Have you seen Jessica?" Elizabeth asked.

  "Yes, she was standing right there," Lila said. Her gold bracelet sparkled as she pointed to a grassy spot a few yards up the street. "We called her, but she ignored us," she added, her voice bitter. "Jessica has been acting so weird lately. I'm getting sick of it."

  Amy's slate gray eyes flashed with anger. "So am I," she said. "Who does Jessica think she is, anyway?"

  "Where did she go?" Elizabeth asked, ignoring their commentary.

  "She took off in a blue Volkswagen bus," Amy said. "I have no idea who she was with. I couldn't see the driver and I didn't recognize the vehicle."

  Elizabeth felt a gnawing urgency growing inside her. "About how long ago was it?"

  Lila and Amy looked at each other and shrugged. "I don't know," Lila answered, "twenty minutes, maybe."

  "That's about right," Amy agreed. "But I still can't believe she just took off without saying one word to us. Wait till I see her. This mystery act of hers is starting to get on my nerves."

  "If she comes back, tell her I'm looking for her," Elizabeth said, wishing desperately that she knew where Jessica was. The hopeful thought that she might already be safe at home occurred to Elizabeth. But years of experience warned her that it was more likely Jessica had gotten herself into another one of her infamous jams.

  "Okay, but how long do we have to stay here?" Amy said impatiently. "The action seems to be dying down and I'd like to leave soon."

  Amy's callous remark annoyed Elizabeth, and Lila too, it seemed. She glared at Amy, then turned to Elizabeth. "The thrill is gone, I guess," Lila said sarcastically.

  Gazing at the scene across the street, Elizabeth reluctantly
admitted to herself that there didn't seem to be much reason to stay. Most of the cars had cleared out of the lot and only two police cruisers remained. "I guess there's nothing left to do here," Elizabeth said. Jessica was probably long gone and wouldn't be coming back. "I'll go find Enid and Maria."

  Jessica Wakefield sighed contentedly as she watched the shadows move across Christian Gorman's face as he drove. He steered the van with one hand, the other one loosely entwined with hers in the space between the bucket seats.

  They'd left the scene at the abandoned warehouse nearly an hour ago. After a long, aimless drive along the California coast, they were headed back to Sweet Valley. Neither one had spoken much, but words weren't necessary between them. The touch of Christian's hand and the look in his eyes when he glanced sideways at her communicated louder than words ever could. A feeling of love swelled in her heart. She was struck with the awesome awareness of being more alive than she'd ever felt in her life.

  She only wished the dark, warm cocoon of Christian's van could shelter them forever. "I never want to go back to Sweet Valley," she said, breaking the silence.

  Christian's lip twitched with the hint of a smile, but he said nothing.

  "I mean it," she said.

  He responded with a gentle squeeze of her hand. She smiled softly and turned to gaze at the passing scenery. The ocean shimmered in the moonlight, its vastness tugging at her heart. It was the ocean that had brought her and Christian together.

  Jessica had been trying to teach herself to surf for an upcoming competition that she was determined to win. Her first attempt had turned out to be a disaster. She had wiped out badly and had lost her surfboard in the process. After she'd nearly drowned, she had washed up on the shore, sputtering and coughing.

  A shadow had fallen over her as she lay there feeling sorry for herself. When she'd looked up, she had seen the most incredible, gorgeous hunk standing over her with his arm around her surfboard.

  Was it really only a few weeks ago? she wondered in amazement. She turned and studied Christian's movements as he downshifted for a turn. The muscles in his arms were rock-hard, she knew, and his skin was smooth and golden. It hardly seemed possible that she'd known him for such a short time.

  He had offered to teach her to surf and Jessica had marveled at her luck. As they began meeting at the beach in the early hours of the morning to practice, their feelings for each other quickly deepened, blossoming into something more than either of them had expected. Jessica had never experienced anything so wonderful in her entire life.

  There was just one problem. Their timing stunk.

  Jessica already had a boyfriend. She'd been dating Ken Matthews, the Sweet Valley High Gladiators' football captain, for some time. She and Christian had decided not to talk about what they did and who they were away from the beach. By telling each other only a few sketchy details of their lives, it had seemed as though their relationship existed apart from their everyday world. That was how Jessica had fooled herself into believing that seeing Christian behind Ken's back wasn't quite so bad, that she hadn't been exactly cheating on her boyfriend. Christian had been a fantasy, a sort of "mini-vacation" from reality.

  Trouble was, reality had crashed into the fantasy, like an angry tidal wave smashing against a sand castle. A feud had broken out after a football game between the Sweet Valley High Gladiators and a rival team from a nearby town, the Palisades Pumas. Jessica and the other SVH cheerleaders had been horrified at the dirty tricks the Pumas used to beat the Gladiators. Several key members of the Sweet Valley High team had suffered injuries and in the final seconds of the game, the Pumas' quarterback had kneed Ken in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him as he was about to make what could have been a winning pass.

  As Ken became more involved in the battle between SVH and Palisades, Jessica spent more time surfing with Christian. But their individual worlds, which they'd tried to keep apart, soon collided. In a cruel stroke of irony, Christian Gorman turned out to be the leader of the Palisades High gang.

  Jessica closed her eyes and groaned. Only a few hours ago, she'd been flying high with excitement in anticipation of her and Christian's first nighttime date. She'd carefully selected her outfit—a sheer and utterly sexy, gauzy green dress. She'd dabbed on her favorite perfume, Rendezvous, which she'd borrowed from Elizabeth. It was supposed to have been the most romantic Saturday night date of all time.

  But everything had fallen apart so fast, it made her head spin. Ken had followed them to the Beachcomber Cafe, a seaside restaurant where she and Christian had planned to have an intimate, romantic candlelight dinner. Christian had been worried that something bad was going to happen that night, but Jessica had brushed aside his concerns and assured him that when they reached the restaurant, she'd give him a kiss that would drive everything else out of his mind.

  She had been delivering on her promise in the foyer of the restaurant when Ken arrived. One minute, she was lost in the delicious sensations of a deep kiss—the next minute, she was looking up at Ken, his face pale with shock.

  Jessica closed her eyes again, squeezing them shut. The image of Ken's stricken face tortured her. Their relationship was over, she knew that, but she cursed herself for not being up front with him from the start. Ken had been her friend before they started going together. He deserved better from her. What a mess she'd created!

  "You don't think I'm serious, but I am," she said, glancing at Christian. "I really don't want to go back. Ever."

  "We have to," Christian said, keeping his gaze focused on the road.

  "No, we don't. Let's keep driving down the coast until we get to Mexico," she said, her words tumbling out with excitement as her mind painted a marvelous fantasy. "We'll find ourselves a secluded beach where no one will bother us. It would be so romantic, Christian. We could live in the van, surf every day, feast on tropical fruit and fresh fish . . ."

  "I like fish," Christian said, playing along. "But no eels; I refuse to eat eels. And I'm allergic to shellfish."

  "That's perfectly okay," she said. "You get to decide what we have for dinner,"

  "Really?"

  "Yes of course," she said.

  He looked surprised. "That's very nice of you," he said.

  "Seems only fair," she said, turning to him with a look of mock innocence. "You're the one who'll be doing all the cooking. It's my fantasy, remember."

  He chuckled, a low sweet sound that she found irresistibly sexy. "You're something else, Jessica."

  "Thanks, I think." She sighed wistfully, tears gathering in her eyes. "It would be heaven if we could always be together."

  Christian brought her hand to his lips and kissed her. "I wish we could," he said. "Being with you, Jessica—" He paused, taking in a deep, shaky breath. "We have to do things right," he said. "I don't want to mess up the best thing that's ever happened to me."

  "I feel the same way," Jessica said. She knew the time for fantasies and games was over now. They had to return to reality and face it head-on, whether they wanted to or not.

  "Come on, pal, get in there." A white-haired police officer with thick arms and enormous hands shoved Todd Wilkins into a jail cell and slammed the door shut. The metallic clanging sound echoed through Todd's head, which already hurt more than he'd thought possible.

  A sharp stab of panic shot through him as he realized what was happening. He was being locked up, caged like a wild beast. The dingy gray walls and dim light seem to reflect and magnify his feeling of hopelessness. He wanted to scream, or weep—anything to stop the raging storm in his brain.

  The policeman was standing on the other side of the bars, his legs spread out, his thick fists pressed against his lumpy hips. He was glaring at Todd with eyes as brown and cold as dirt. Todd suspected he had a mean streak larger than the gut that hung over his gun belt. "Now let's see if you smart boys know what's good for you," the policeman growled. "If there's any fighting—or anything that even looks, sounds, or smells like fighting, I'll get mad. And trust me boys, you don't want to make me mad."

  Todd watched him walk away, wondering what he'd meant. Then he heard a sound behind him and turned around, discovering he wasn't the only one in the cell. Three other guys were in there with him. Bruce Patman was sitting on the floor in a shadowy corner, his back against the wall. Two guys from Palisades were sitting on a wooden bench on the other side of the cell. They were staring at him, whispering to each other and laughing.