I returned to the kitchen in a daze. The rumble of a Mini Cooper engine actually calmed me down. For some reason I refused to let Erica see my nerves, or at least the full extent of them. As Mom's second and best friend, Erica Plower had spent my entire life treating me like her own daughter, not always to the best effect. In fact, from the look on her face as she walked through the kitchen door, my sudden rise to power wasn't instilling even an iota of confidence in ...