Page 29 of Slumming It

But hey, I'd had a valid reason for violating his space. I told Vivian, "Technically, it was Morgan's fault."

"Morgan Fairfax?" Vivian shook her head. "Soshewas involved? But you're not even friends."

This was putting it mildly.For as long as I could remember, Morgan and I had been the exact opposite of friends. Her family owned the Diamond Resort – the poshest property in town – and she never forgot it.

Even in grade school, she'd been a condescending turd-waffle.

To Vivian, I said, "It's not like she waswithme or anything, but get this. This morning at the pancake house, I overheard her talking to Nikki…you know, her skank of a friend?"

Vivian grimaced. "You don't need to call her a skank formysake."

Vivian was wrong. After what Nikki had done to Vivian this past fourth of July, the word skank was far too kind. I smiled. "Well, Icouldcall her a ho-bag if you like that better."

The old Vivian would have laughed. This new one, weighted down with too many worries, only sighed. "Will you just drop it already? I can't help it if Jason's a nice guy."

At the mention of her boyfriend, it was my turn to grimace. "Well, maybe if he was nicer toyou—"

"Isaid, drop it." And then, in an obvious bid to keep the spotlight off her boyfriend, she asked, "You said you ran into Morgan and Nikki this morning? What were they doing up so early?"

It was a logical question. The dastardly duo had a reputation for partying late into the night. Whether together or separate, they were seldom sighted before noon.

To my sister, I explained, "It wasn't early. It was late."

Her eyes clouded with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"It was like three in the morning, so they hadn't gone to bed yet. And they were all dressed up, like they'd been hanging out at Solitaire's, you know, that fancy club at the Diamond Resort?"

"Ihavebeen there you know," Vivian said, looking a little miffed, probably because both of us were banned from the place – not officially, but the fact that we weren't welcome wasn't exactly a secret.

I cleared my throat. "Right. Anyway…I'm thinking they stayed at Solitaire's 'til closing and then went out for pancakes afterward."

Vivian bit her lip. "Were they alone?"

I hated the question because I knew the reason for it. "Well, they weren't there with Jason if that's what you're wondering."

Vivian looked down and rubbed at her wrist. "That's not what I meant. I was just trying to get a sense of it, that's all."

Yeah, right.Nikki had been chasing Vivian's boyfriend for months now, and the two of them – meaning Nikki and Jason – had this annoying habit of turning up at the same places, probably because they'd been friends in high school and ran in similar crowds.

The rich kids.

Vivian was still looking down when I explained, "They were there with a couple of guys, nobody I recognized. And the guys were totally wasted." I forced a laugh. "I doubt they recognized themselves."

Sure, it was a lame joke, but I was still disappointed when Vivian had no reaction.Had she even heard me?

I spoke a little louder. "Anyway, I'm in the bathroom stall when I hear Morgan tell Nikki that she paid someone to hide a recorder under Reese Murdock's bed inourhotel."

Vivian's gaze snapped back to mine. "She saidwhat?"

Now that I had my sister's full attention, I tried to recall Morgan's exact words. "Well, technically, she called it a listening device, but that's the same thing, right?"

"I don't care what she calls it," Vivian said. "That's a serious breach of privacy."

I gave a vigorous nod. "I know, right?"

Vivian was looking a little panicked. "But how did Morgan know that he was staying here at all? Did she say?"

I frowned at the memory. At the time, I'd been sitting in the center stall of the ladies room at the all-night pancake house where I worked part-time. Morgan and Nikki had come into the restroom after I had – not even to relieve themselves, but to touch up their makeup and gossip as usual.