Read Online Model Menace 2 by Carolyn Keene - Free Book Online Page B

just to get the most dramatic special possible?
    “No, no,” Hans was saying now, glancing back toward the dressing room and Syd. “She’s fine now. And no further incidents, thank goodness. We’re all safe here.”
    Immediately I felt a little silly. Okay, Hans and his crew had manipulated us to get good television: that was, after all, their job. But clearly they wouldn’t commit a crime for ratings. No reputable TV company would do that.
    I pulled myself together and headed for the limo.
    I had a lot to think over.

HEART OF GLASS
     
    “I s anyone else nervous?” Bess asked as I pulled my Prius into the parking lot for Kelley Park, the gorgeous, sprawling nature preserve where Syd and Vic were to be married the next day. It was Friday night, the night of the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. It should have been a night for eager celebration, but given everything that had happened to Vic and Syd over the last few weeks, I think we were all feeling concerned about what else the wedding saboteur had up his or her sleeve.
    “I am,” I admitted. “But I also feel like we’re getting closer to a culprit. Now that Ellie and Dragon have been pretty much cleared, we’re down to Pandora, Akinyi—and Jamal.”
    “Jamal?” George asked, looking confused. “I thought we cleared him when we realized he wasn’t here for the first few attacks.”
    I nodded, but held up my index finger as I clarified, “That was before we found out he had a fling with Akinyi.” I gave my friends a meaningful look.
    “You mean they might have been working together?” Bess asked.
    “Exactly.” I turned off the car and sat for a moment, sighing, thinking of all I had to figure out before tomorrow. “I just wish I could figure out a motivation for Akinyi and Jamal.”
    George frowned. “Yeah, that’s hard to imagine. It’s the best man and the maid of honor—why would they want to stop the wedding?”
    I shrugged. “Unless something happened between them and the happy couple that we don’t know about.”
    “Akinyi has been pretty irritable,” Bess pointed out.
    George nodded. “True,” she admitted. Then a mischievous smile appeared on her lips. “But then again, she’s a model. Maybe she’s just hungry.”
    I groaned. “George!” I chided, as Bess elbowed her cousin in the ribs. “Jokes, not helping!”
    George shrugged, still smiling. “I couldn’t resist,” she said. “And you know who else is hungry? Me, right now. Let’s get this rehearsal started so we can eat.”
    Nervous as I was, I couldn’t argue with her.
     
     
    At the small beach that allowed residents to swim in a calm part of the river, the Daredevils crew had set up a white trellis that would be covered in roses for the actual ceremony, fronted with hundreds of white wooden chairs. Set dressers were busily adorning each chair with rich satin ribbons in the deep rose color Syd had chosen for her bridesmaid gowns, and a huge lighting crew was working on rigging up a complicated system of lights. A few crew members were lounging up by the trellis: cameramen, sound men, lighting guys, and a neurotic-looking Donald, who was walking in circles, flipping through a clipboard. They were no doubt waiting for the bride-and groom-to-be to arrive. Most of the wedding party and family were there already, milling around and waiting.
    Akinyi was sitting on one of the white seats, impatiently checking her watch. “They’re ten minutes late,” she announced to anyone listening. “Why don’t we ever start filming on time?”
    Smoothly Jamal stepped over from the small cluster of crew members he’d been chatting up. “Why, are you in a hurry to get back to the hotel, Miss Thang?” he asked with a sly smile. “Do you have a hot date tonight?”
    For a moment anger flashed in Akinyi’s eyes, and I wondered if she was going to snap back at him. But then her face suddenly relaxed, and she seemed to realize how cranky she’d sounded. “Maybe I do,” she