Beware The Babysitter (Sweet Valley High Book 99) Read online

  BEWARE THE BABY-SITTER

  Written by

  Kate William

  Created by

  FRANCINE PASCAL

  Copyright © 2015, Francine Pascal

  Suddenly, Elizabeth saw herself standing on the shore of Secca Lake in the brittle sunshine. A girl glided toward her in slow motion—a girl who might have been Jessica, except for a cold, hard look in her bright blue eyes. The girl pulled off her hat, and shoulder-length dark hair tumbled out. She whipped out a butcher knife, and . . .

  Elizabeth shook her head to clear it of the memory. It was the recurring nightmare she'd had for weeks after the accident.

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 1

  Enid Rollins lay on her stomach on a beach blanket and watched as her best friend, Elizabeth Wakefield, emerged, dripping, from the surf.

  Elizabeth waved as she began strolling up the beach toward Enid. The warm, California sunlight sparkled on her wet shoulders, casting a small shadow on the sand at her feet. Her new blue maillot looked great—sexy, but in an understated way.

  Enid sighed, only a little bit enviously. Mostly, she was just happy that things were finally beginning to work out for her friend. Elizabeth had been through so much in the last few weeks—ever since the night of the accident in which Sam Woodruff had been killed.

  Most people in Sweet Valley—even Elizabeth's own twin sister—had initially held Elizabeth responsible for the accident. Elizabeth herself still couldn't remember much of what happened that night. The police said she had been driving the Jeep home from the school's Jungle Prom, with her sister's boyfriend in the seat beside her. Sam had died instantly in the crash, and both teenagers' blood-alcohol levels had measured well above the legal limit.

  Thankfully, Elizabeth had been cleared of involuntary manslaughter—but only after the driver of another car had come forward during the trial and admitted that the accident had been his fault. The mystery that remained was the question of how Elizabeth had gotten drunk in the first place. Enid knew her best friend pretty well. Elizabeth Wakefield, the most responsible member of Sweet Valley High's junior class, did not drink—let alone drink and drive.

  Enid raised herself on one arm and cupped her chin in her hand. Maybe they would never know what had really happened that night. But it was wonderful to see Elizabeth looking happy and normal again.

  "I honestly don't know what to do about Elizabeth," Jessica said, playing listlessly with her avocado-and-tomato sandwich. It was just after noon on Saturday, and she and her new boyfriend, James, sat on a blanket in a picnic area in the mountains, an hour outside of Sweet Valley.

  James touched her hand sympathetically. "Have you tried talking to her?" he asked.

  "Of course I've tried—well, sort of. I just don't know where to begin. And I'm not sure Elizabeth wants to talk to me."

  "What were things like between you and Elizabeth before all this happened?"

  "Things were wonderful," Jessica said. She leaned back on the picnic blanket and stared at the treetops. "Elizabeth and I have always been more than sisters, James—we've been each other's closest friends."

  "So you always got along perfectly?"

  Jessica laughed. "Not exactly," she admitted. "In fact, we were at each other's throats half the time! But we've always, always been there for each other. It's funny. We look so much alike that our brother calls us Clone One and Clone Two. But as soon as we open our mouths, we're about as different as two people can be."

  "How are you different?" asked James, handing her an apple fritter.

  Jessica shook her head. "You are the sweetest guy in the world to let me talk your head off like this. But you can't possibly be interested in hearing me babble on for hours about myself—"

  James gently took her face in his hands. Beneath his longish light-brown hair, his eyes were as blue as the California sky. Every time Jessica looked into them, she felt a thrill.

  "I can't think of anyone I'd rather hear about than you, Jessica," he said quietly. "In fact, I want to know everything about you—and I want to help you patch things up with your sister, if that's what you want. I can't bear to see you unhappy."

  Jessica felt something inside her melting as James reached out with one hand to wipe the tear that had begun to roll down her face. He's too good to be true, she thought. I don't deserve him after what I did to—after what happened to poor Sam.

  "It was Elizabeth's fault!" she said suddenly, her turquoise eyes blazing. "It doesn't matter where she got the alcohol. She shouldn't have been with my boyfriend in the first place!" She stopped as James put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, James," she murmured. "I'm sorry."

  "It's OK, Jessica," James reassured her. "You don't have to be ashamed of being angry. You know you can tell me anything."

  "You're so nice. I don't deserve it."

  "You deserve to be treated like a queen," said James. "I hate to see you so upset. You'll feel better if you talk about it. Tell me about Elizabeth. You say that the two of you have nothing in common—except that you're the two most gorgeous girls in California. How are you different?"

  "Elizabeth has always been the perfect one—quiet and smart. She's just the opposite of me. She's on the honor roll, her room's spotless, she's never been late to anything in her life, and she never gets into trouble—"

  "Until recently," James interjected.

  Jessica nodded solemnly. "That's for sure," she said. "I think Liz has always been a little boring, really. I'm the one who knows how to have fun—I'm always the life of the party!" She sighed. "But not so much, these days."

  "I can't think of anyone who would be better company," James said simply. He leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips.

  Jessica smiled at him for a moment before continuing. "Lately, I hardly know myself," Jessica said. "I'm not used to being so scared and unsure."

  "You never have to be scared when I'm around, Jessica," James said, beginning to clear away the paper plates and napkins. "But now I've got a cure that's guaranteed to make you feel better."

  "You already have made me feel better," Jessica told him. "You've taken me out here to the mountains where everything is so pretty. You packed a gourmet lunch. And you're putting up with me blabbing on like this. What could be next?"

  "Next, I take you up there," he said, pointing through the treetops to a rocky outcrop on a nearby peak. "We're going hiking."

  "All right," she agreed. "I warn you—I've never been the outdoorsy type—unless you count sunbathing. But I'd follow you anywhere."

  "Life is great!" exclaimed Elizabeth, smoothing back her wet hair as she plopped down on the beach blanket next to Enid, her blue-green eyes twinkling.

  "Speaking of great, so is that new bathing suit I helped you pick out!" Enid said, turning onto her side to get a better look at her friend. "You look fantastic! You're lucky to have a best friend with such marvelous taste in clothes."

  "I'm lucky to have you for a best friend, period," Elizabeth declared. "Really, Enid, I don't know how I'd have made it through the last few weeks without you."

  "Oh, I'm sure you would have muddled along somehow," said Enid, pushing her unruly, reddish-brown hair out of her eyes.

  "No, I wouldn't have," Elizabeth said. She shook her head so firmly that her golden blond hair—darker now that it
was wet—flew out around her face, sprinkling Enid with sparkling drops of salt water. "And now, Enid, the ordeal is over, it's a beautiful Saturday, and I feel like a new person!"

  Enid raised her eyebrows. "I'm surprised to hear that from you so soon," she said. "Glad, but surprised."

  "You're going to hear it a lot from now on," Elizabeth vowed.

  "Well, you certainly look wonderful," Enid said. "Every guy on the beach is probably scoping you out right now."

  Elizabeth bit her lip, thinking for a moment of Todd Wilkins, her boyfriend. Then she shook her head. Make that ex-boyfriend.

  Enid touched her arm. "Todd?" she asked.

  "Yeah," Elizabeth admitted with an uncertain smile. "You always know exactly what I'm worrying about, Enid. You know, I really thought there was a chance at Lila's parents' wedding. When I danced that one dance with Todd, for a few minutes everything was perfect again. I thought he felt it too, but I guess I was wrong. He didn't say anything. He hasn't tried to talk to me at all." She shrugged. "Well, I can't hang on to that relationship any longer. It's over with Todd. I've finally faced the facts."

  Enid smiled sympathetically. "Are you sure?" she asked. "You two were so much in love."

  Elizabeth nodded. "Yes," she said decisively. "Now that I've got my self-respect back, I refuse to lose it over a guy—even if it is Todd." She rolled her eyes. "At least he isn't going out with my sister anymore!"

  Enid nodded. "Jessica and Todd did seem like an odd match-up," she admitted. "I'm sure she was only dating him to get back at you, but I don't know what motivated him."

  "Me neither," Elizabeth admitted. "But it doesn't matter now. Jessica just started dating that dirt-bike racer, James, and already seems head over heels in love. I'm really glad for her, Enid. Jessica's been through so much."

  She reached for a towel. "Of course, I wish things were patched up between Jessica and me. I don't think we'll ever be really close again, but at least Jessica has stopped acting like she hates me. Now I'm going to get on with my life. I can do it—even without Jessica."

  "And without Todd?" Enid asked.

  "Without Todd."

  Elizabeth smiled mischievously, wrapped the towel around her wet head, and began furiously rubbing at her hair. "I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair!" she sang, realizing as she did that it was the kind of outburst people would expect not from her but from her more outgoing sister.

  Enid laughed. "Speaking of men, Hugh has to go to his cousin's bachelor party on the night of Olivia Davidson's costume ball. How about if we two single girls go together?"

  "It's a date!" Elizabeth said. "In fact, I can't wait. It sounds like it's going to be a wonderful party. Olivia's new boyfriend, Harry, seems like a lot of fun. She said the whole party was his idea."

  "He does have a flair for the dramatic!" Enid agreed. "Olivia's lucky. No guy has ever wanted to meet me enough to make up a phony arts foundation and invite me to speak at it—just to get me to come to his house!" She reached for the suntan lotion. "But what about Winston Egbert?" she asked jokingly. "After all, he was your date for the Fowler wedding. Will I be breaking his heart if I go with you to the costume party?"

  Elizabeth placed the back of her hand against her forehead in mock despair. "It's all over between Winston and me," she said dramatically. "His girlfriend Maria Santelli got back to town the day after the wedding, and that was the end of our torrid affair."

  Enid laughed. "I never thought of you as the boyfriend-stealing type."

  "Seriously, Winston's been a good friend through all of this," Elizabeth said. "I should think of some way to thank him for sticking by me."

  "Oh, I don't think Winston needs much of anything this week!" Enid said.

  "I forgot," Elizabeth admitted. "He's been bragging to everyone about the wild and crazy time he's going to have with his parents out of town—"

  "Oh my gosh . . ." Enid interrupted in a whisper. She was staring intently at something—or someone—down the beach.

  Elizabeth followed her gaze. "What is it?"

  Enid blinked her eyes. "She's gone now," she said slowly, still staring.

  "Who?"

  "It was the weirdest thing, Liz," Enid said. "There was a girl down the beach a few hundred yards away, and she looked like she was staring straight at us. It really gave me the creeps. Maybe the sun's playing tricks on my eyes, but I could've sworn it was Jessica—or you—except that she had dark hair. It was uncanny!"

  Suddenly, Elizabeth saw herself standing on the shore of Secca Lake in the brittle sunshine. A girl glided toward her in slow motion—a girl who might have been Jessica, except for a cold, hard look in her bright-blue eyes. The girl pulled off her hat, and shoulder-length dark hair tumbled out. She whipped out a butcher knife, and . . .

  Elizabeth shook her head to clear it of the memory. It was the recurring nightmare she'd had for weeks after the accident.

  She forced a laugh. "You're imagining things, Enid! Jessica's miles away from here. James took her for a picnic in the mountains. And this town sure isn't big enough for three Wakefield twins! It must be sunstroke. You've been out in the sun too long!"

  Enid nodded, but Elizabeth saw her glancing nervously down the beach.

  The noontime sun was warm, but Elizabeth shivered.

  After an hour of hiking, Jessica peered over a low stone wall. Directly below the rock ledge where she and James were standing, a craggy ravine carved a deep gash in the rugged landscape.

  "The view from up here is incredible!" she exclaimed. "I had no idea we were this high!"

  "It's one of my favorite places," James agreed. "And you know, this is the first time I've really wanted to share it with someone. Nobody else has ever been special enough to bring to such a special place."

  Jessica smiled warmly at him, and then gazed out again over the edge of the steep cliff. "This rock ledge juts out so far that I can't even see the wall of the cliff below us," she said. "It almost feels like we're flying!"

  Sunlight reflected off the rocky ledge where Jessica stood. She shielded her eyes from the glare and peered into the murky depths, where the afternoon sun couldn't penetrate the steep banks. The narrow ravine was torn by dark, jagged boulders and punctuated here and there by solitary pine trees.

  Jessica shuddered. She turned, embarrassed, to see if James had noticed her irrational fear, but he was staring into the ravine.

  Suddenly, he grabbed her arm. "Look at that, Jessica!" he whispered, pointing over the wall to a spot almost directly below their rock ledge. "Do you see it?"

  Jessica leaned over the stone wall and stared into the ravine. "Do I see what?"

  "There's a deer down there," James said. "It's a fawn, standing right by that big pine tree."

  "I don't see any deer," Jessica said, climbing onto the stone wall. "Are you sure you're not making it up?"

  "No, honest!" James insisted. "It's way down there. Look closer to the side of the cliff."

  "I still can't see it," Jessica complained. "It's not fair. You're taller than me."

  She inched her body along the width of the wall to look out over to the very edge of the outcropping. Then she leaned over the edge and peered into the dark ravine. "Now I really feel like I'm flying," she said, with an uncertain laugh. "But I still don't see the deer. Are you sure it's still there?"

  "Oh, it's there, all right," said James. "But don't lean out so far—it's not safe."

  Jessica was about to agree, but then she thought she saw something move in the darkness below. She extended her body as far off the edge of the wall as she dared, and peered deeper into the gully.

  The black, spindly pine trees stood up like needles among the sharp boulders. The only movement Jessica could see was in the trees themselves, rising up like stalagmites to meet the ends of Jessica's sunlit hair. The trees tilted. The ravine whirled below Jessica as she felt James's hand on her back. She cried out and groped for the edge of the stone wall.

  Then Jessica was sitting back from
the edge of the wall, clutching it with both hands. She stared wide-eyed at James, remembering the feel of his hand on her back as the jagged boulders and black trees tilted wildly beneath her. Suddenly, she wanted to run right past him and scramble down the trail.

  "You almost fell," he said quietly. "I had to grab you."

  Jessica shook her head. She stared wordlessly at James, breathing heavily. Then she climbed off the wall and walked past him—away from the ravine.

  "You're white as a ghost," James said. His blue eyes were full of concern as he stepped forward and took her in his arms. "But I would never have let you fall. You know that, don't you?"

  Jessica buried her face in his shoulder. "I know you wouldn't," she whispered. But she couldn't forget the pressure of his hand on her back as the dark trees swayed beneath her.

  Chapter 2

  "Free at last!" Winston Egbert exclaimed loudly to the empty house. "It's Sunday noon, the parental units are visiting Aunt Sarah for an entire week, and I am totally free!"

  Winston pulled a jar of peanut butter from the kitchen cupboard, waltzed to the counter with it, and began making his favorite sandwich.

  "This is incredibly awesome," he said aloud. "No parents around to be grossed out by a perfectly good peanut-butter-and-sardine sandwich!"

  He put the finishing touches on his creation and was about to pull out a chair at the kitchen table.

  "The kitchen table?" he asked himself. "What am I thinking? House rules are off! I can eat in the living room, if I want to—in front of the television set. And I don't even have to take a napkin!"

  He sauntered into the living room, jumped onto the white couch, and put his tennis shoes on the glass-topped coffee table. "Ah," he sighed. "This is the life. This is going to be a truly radical week!"

  Winston took an enormous bite of the sandwich. As he reached for the television remote control, he heard a knock at the door.

  "Cmmmggh!" he yelled, his mouth full of peanut butter and sardines. He jumped up from the couch, ran to the door, and opened it, still chewing.