Playing with Fire (11 page)

Kelly scowled as she stepped past the butler into her grandmother's mansion. Yesterday had not gone as well as she had hoped, but today was a complete disaster. Nobody had noticed her new sweater and skirt—not even Chad, who seemed even more wishy-washy than usual. Alison was already acting like the photo incident had never happened and, even worse, so was the rest of the school. Her cousin was like Teflon—nothing stuck to her. Nobody was talking about Alison anymore, and some of the kids were even talking
to
her. Even the Zoey rumor had blown over too quickly. It made Kelly's blood boil.

And now, to top it all off, she had to sit through another tedious dinner at Her Highness's palace in honor of Aunt Christine's last night in town. Alison would be there, of course, and everyone would be fawning over Little Miss Perfect. The whole thing made her want to puke.

Kelly stepped into the grand foyer and was nearly accosted by her grandmother. “On time, for a change,” Tamara said snidely, waving her gold cane. “I'm glad to see that you are finally learning the importance of promptness.” She stared at Kelly and leaned slightly on her new unconcealed weapon.

“I didn't want to be late for dinner, of course,” Kelly said sweetly. She scanned her grandmother for something she could compliment her on. It had to be just the right thing or she would be accused of brownnosing. “Is that a new scarf, Grandmother?” she asked sweetly. “It looks lovely with your heather suit.”

“Thank you,” Tamara replied. Kelly couldn't tell if she had annoyed her or not. Sometimes it was best to just keep quiet.

“Is Aunt Christine here?” Kelly asked.

Tamara nodded. “She's upstairs. She should be down any minute. Your parents are in the parlor, and Alison—”

“Just had a lovely swim in the pool,” said a voice from the other end of the hall. Alison came up to them, fully dressed but still shaking the water from her ears. She smiled broadly at Kelly. “Too bad you didn't get here sooner,” she said. “The water was absolutely perfect. You never know when it's going to turn chilly. That might just be the last swim of the season.”

Kelly smiled back.
Too bad there wasn't an accidental drowning,
she thought. Alison always was too good a swimmer.

Just then the cook came into the hall to announce that dinner was ready.

“I'll go tell Aunt Christine,” Kelly said, taking a step toward the stairs. She was suddenly feeling like her aunt was the closest thing to an ally she was going to see all night.

“No, she'll be down in a moment,” Grandmother Diamond said, shaking her head. “Why don't you go tell your parents instead?”

Tamara let Alison take her arm and lead her into the dining room. Kelly could hear them
whispering to each other as they exited the hall. Disgusting.

Kelly rushed into the parlor. “Dinner's ready,” she called to her parents without even greeting them. Since the pool bust she'd been avoiding them even more than usual. Her mother's permanent look of disappointment was too irritating for words.

Kelly rushed back into the dining room and sat down at her seat. The less alone time Alison and her grandmother had together, the better.

The cook was halfway through serving the soup when Aunt Christine stomped into the dining room, eyes blazing. “My diamond earrings are missing,” she announced, her gaze moving from Kelly to Alison and back to Kelly again. “Missing. Gone.” She paused for dramatic effect, and then: “Which one of you girls took them?”

Kelly sucked in her breath.

Alison looked innocently across the table at her aunt. “Which diamond earrings?” she asked. “Oh, the ones Kelly said would be perfect with her slinky dress? What did you end up wearing to the dance, Kelly?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Kelly saw her grandmother smile. Or was it a smirk? Either way, it was totally unfair!

“I said they'd look good,” Kelly said evenly. “But I'm not the family thief…Al.”

“Kelly!” her mother cried.

Kelly glared at her and her tightly pursed lips. Didn't she know when to keep quiet?

“What an awful thing to say,” Phoebe chastised.

Ignoring her aunt, Alison raised an eyebrow. “Oh,
you
don't have a stealing problem? Did you black out during the part when you stole my boyfriend?”

“Chad is a person with his own free will,” Kelly retorted. “You can't steal a person—just things. What's the word for your little problem?” she asked, waving her soupspoon in the air. “Oh, yes, kleptomania.”

“Hmmm…” Alison replied. “Which do you suppose is worse, kleptomania or egomania?”

“Girls, girls,” Grandmother Diamond said, raising a hand in the air. She looked oddly amused—and proud. “Enough. We will settle the matter of the missing earrings after dinner.
Christine, Kelly will help you look for them. Right now it is time to eat.”

Kelly glared across the table at Alison. The matter was going to get settled all right. And how.

Alison turned off the gold faucet and checked her hair in the mirror. Dinner had been…interesting. She hadn't expected the earrings to come up so fast, or for Aunt Christine to be
so
angry. But she was pleased with the way things had gone. She could tell Grandmother Diamond was on her side, as usual. It was nice to have a powerful ally.

So far, so good
, she thought as she opened the door…and found herself face-to-face with Kelly.
Or not so good
, she corrected herself.

“I know you did this,” Kelly hissed, just inches from her face.

Alison's heart fluttered. Even here, on home
turf and with Grandmother Diamond in her corner, Kelly was scary. She had no mercy, no shame. And she drew no lines.

Alison stared her cousin in the face. She was part of this family, too. She and Kelly practically had the same blood pumping through their veins. She could take it. And she could dish it out, too.

“You started this war when you stole Chad and humiliated me in front of the entire school,” Alison said plainly. “When you abandoned me at my lowest moment, then tried to ruin me…just for the fun of it.” Her voice was steady, even as her heart pounded in her chest. “But guess what? I'm still standing. Tall, in fact. And when all of this is over, you're going to be the one lying on the ground. You started this war, but you're not going to win it.”

Before Kelly could think of something to say, Alison pushed past her cousin and retired to the parlor to have tea with her grandmother.

Kelly got down on her stomach and searched under the bed for the missing earrings. They weren't there, of course. Alison had probably already sold them to a pawnshop by now.

“They're not here,” she grumbled, getting to her feet. She turned to face her aunt, who was brushing her hair and looking at her own reflection in the mirror. “I didn't steal them,” Kelly insisted. “You have to believe me. I know it was Alison.”

Aunt Christine looked hard at Kelly, then turned back to herself. “I didn't say you did,” she said slowly. “But no matter what happened,
you managed to put yourself in the middle of this.” Her eyes met Kelly's in the mirror. “You should not have allowed yourself to become the victim. You should have seen this coming.”

“But you're the one who accused me!” Kelly replied hotly. “You should have been defending me down there, and instead you watched Alison and me go at it like you were at a tennis match.”

Aunt Christine smirked. “Interesting analogy,” she said. “It was a pretty good volley, wasn't it?”

Kelly was not amused. “It's not funny!” she bellowed.

Aunt Christine dropped the hairbrush onto the dressing table with a clatter and turned on Kelly. “Stop whining,” she ordered. “I don't care if I hurt your feelings or if you looked bad in front of your grandmother. It's
your
job to win her respect, not mine. I simply want those earrings back. They were on loan from a jeweler and they cost a fortune. You have to get them for me.”

Kelly stared at her aunt. Was she kidding? “Suppose you tell me how I'm supposed to do that?” she demanded.

“Go make up with your little cousin and find out what she did with them,” Aunt Christine said logically.

The word “little” grated on Kelly like nails on a chalkboard. “No,” she said flatly.

“Kelly, I need to return those earrings.”

“So buy a new pair and give them those,” Kelly said. “How hard can it be?”

Christine's eyes narrowed and she stepped closer to Kelly. Kelly resisted the urge to take a step back. “I can't afford to,” Aunt Christine explained evenly, “because I'm spending half my income supporting your family.”

Kelly stared at her aunt. “What do you mean you're supporting my family?”

Aunt Christine just looked at her. “There are many things you don't know, Kelly,” she said dismissively.

“Like what?” Kelly demanded. “What don't I know?”

“Plenty,” Christine replied. “But I didn't call you up here to trade secrets. You have to get those earrings back. Apologize to Alison.”

Kelly's face was starting to feel warm. She
could feel her heart pounding in her chest. “I won't do it,” she said flatly.

“Yes, you will.”

“No way.”

Aunt Christine's eyes looked like they were on fire. “You will do this. For me. And for your family.”

Kelly stared at her aunt. There was no way she was going to kiss up to Alison. Not now, not ever. “I can't,” she said quietly.

“You can and you will,” Aunt Christine replied evenly, as if the subject were closed. She had returned to the dressing table stool and was once again brushing her hair.

Kelly wanted to rush forward and rip the yellow tresses out of her aunt's skull. She could already see piles of it lying on the red carpet at their feet. “I won't!” she screamed. “And you can't make me! You're not my mother!”

Aunt Christine turned away from the mirror and looked Kelly dead in the face. “What makes you so sure?” she asked calmly.

Out in the hallway, Alison almost laughed out loud. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand. She didn't want Kelly and Christine to hear her.

“What does that mean?” Kelly demanded.

“Nothing,” Aunt Christine replied softly.

“What do you mean, nothing?” Kelly shouted. “Stop talking in riddles!”

Too bad I can't see her face,
Alison thought.
That would be priceless. No, I wish I could have told her myself.

“Never mind,” Aunt Christine replied. “I shouldn't have said anything. It's complicated, Kelly.”

“Complicated?” Kelly screamed. “Complicated?”

“Pull yourself together, Kelly,” Aunt Christine said sternly. “Do you want the whole house to hear us?”

Alison heard footsteps approaching the door. Quickly she stepped away and hurried noiselessly down the hall. She hated to miss the rest of the conversation, but she didn't want to get caught. Together Aunt Christine and Kelly had the strength of a hurricane.

Alison slowed her pace when she got to the stairs. She'd guessed Aunt Christine's secret when she'd seen the picture in the photo album, but she'd had no idea Christine would drop the bomb on Kelly. Why now?

Alison tiptoed downstairs, where things were surprisingly quiet. She was looking for Her Highness. She had some questions. The only sounds were of the cook clearing the table. Alison went into the parlor but it was empty. Walking toward the back of the house, she spotted Tamara through one of the picture windows, walking by the pool.

Alison waved but her grandmother didn't see
her. She headed for the doors. She was about to call out, but her grandmother disappeared into the pool house.

And then a huge boom thundered through the room. Alison screamed and ducked as debris flew toward the mansion and giant flames shot toward the sky. The entire pool house was on fire!

Alison yanked open the French doors and was jolted by a wave of intense heat.

“Grandmother!” she screamed.

There was no response. And then a second explosion shook the house and a fresh tower of flames erupted from the burning building.