New Year's Eve Murder Read Free Page A

older, Mom.”
    Lucy signaled and eased the Subaru back onto the road.
    “We’re not going back for water. You can get some at the airport.” She turned onto the ramp.
    Elizabeth’s eyebrows shot up and her voice became shrill. “But I bought a gigantic bottle of Evian. That’s what the models drink, you know. It cost a fortune, and those weasely little worms will drink it.”
    “Please don’t refer to your sisters as worms.” Lucy checked her mirrors: not a headlight in sight. The road was clear and she accelerated, speeding down the empty highway as fast as she dared. “And why would they drink your water when there’s perfectly good tap water?”
    “Just to spite me.”
    “It would serve you right for wasting money like that. Our water comes from our own well, you know. It’s perfectly pure and good.”
    “It’s not Evian.”
    “It’s probably better.” Lucy sighed. “Besides, I’ve heard they won’t let you carry liquids onto the plane. There are all these new security rules, you know.”
    “That’s ridiculous! Water’s harmless.”
    “So are nail clippers and tweezers, but you can’t have them, either. And how are they supposed to know it’s really water? It could be some explosive or poison, cleverly disguised in a water bottle.”
    Elizabeth yawned. “You’re getting paranoid.”
    Lucy checked the speedometer and slowed to a speed ten miles above the legal limit.
    “I’ll tell you what I’m paranoid about,” she said, lowering her voice. “I’ve heard they actually have machines that can see through your clothes. And sometimes they do strip searches.”
    Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Mom, nobody is going to strip search you .” Lucy was wondering what exactly she meant by that when Elizabeth chuckled. “But they probably will confiscate that lobster watch. They’ll call the fashion police.”
    “Very funny,” said Lucy, flipping on the windshield wipers. “Do you believe it? It’s snowing. Again.”
     
    When they arrived at the airport they discovered all flights were delayed due to the weather. The snow was accumulating fast, and the runways had to be plowed and the wings de-iced before any planes could take off.
    “How long is this going to take?” fumed Elizabeth.
    “As long as it takes,” said Lucy. “It’s never the thing you’re worried about, is it? I was worried about getting through security but that was a breeze. I never gave a thought to the weather.”
    “How come they can send robots to Mars, but they can’t get our plane in the air?”
    “Dunno,” said Lucy, propping her feet on her carry-on suitcase and opening her book. “There’s nothing we can do about it so we might as well relax.”
    For once, Elizabeth was taking her advice. She was already slumped down in the seat beside Lucy, resting her head on her mother’s shoulder. Lucy decided it was as good a time as any to break the news about the increased tuition.
    “Chamberlain sent a revised financial aid statement along with the tuition bill,” she said, getting straight to the point. “It came Christmas Eve.”
    Elizabeth sat up straight. “What did it say?”
    “That we have to pay sixteen thousand dollars for next semester.”
    “That’s crazy!”
    “You don’t have to tell me,” said Lucy, checking the flight status monitor hanging above them. Their flight was still delayed. “I’m going to call the financial aid office and beg for more help, but there’s a real possibility we can’t afford to send you back. They cut your aid by ten thousand dollars, and we just don’t have it. To tell the truth, the six thousand I was expecting to pay will pretty much wipe out our savings.”
    Elizabeth was frowning, concentrating on her Ugg boots. “You might as well not bother calling. People always try, but they never get anywhere.”
    This was heresy to Lucy. “Of course I’ll try. A lot of it depends on federal guidelines and stuff. Now that your father’s not working we probably