Read Model Mystery Trilogy 01: Model Crime for Free Online

trust me when I say I’d do anything to make Sydney happy.”
    “Vic!” someone shouted from nearby. “Hans wants you for some close-ups.”
    “Coming!” Vic called back. Throwing his arm around Sydney, he leaned over and planted a kiss on top of her head. “Be back soon, love,” he said, then disappeared into the crowd.
    Sydney gazed after him with a sigh. “Isn’t he great?” she said. “Having him here makes this whole crazy wedding-planning thing a little less…”
    “Crazy?” Bess supplied helpfully.
    Sydney shrugged. “I was going to say aggravating,” she said. “But crazy works too!”
    Soon one of the TV people dragged Sydney off too, leaving the three of us to fend for ourselves. “Now what?” George said.
    “I was thinking I’d call Tonya,” I said, referring to the switchboard operator at the local police HQ. “I want to find out what kind of tip they got about that plane. It must’ve sounded pretty serious if it sent Chief McGinnis running out here in person.”
    “Don’t be so sure about that,” George said, swaying to the song the DJ had just put on, a fast-paced hip-hop number. “Even Chief McGinnis isn’t clueless enough not to know about this whole TV-production thing.”
    “Of course not,” Bess put in. “Syd mentioned that they had to get all kinds of permits to shoot here in town.”
    George ignored her. “Anyway, my guess is he was hoping to get his ugly mug on TV too. For all we know, he made up the whole story about that tip!”
    I doubted that. Chief McGinnis might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was pretty honest. And like I said before, he takes his job very seriously. He wasn’t going to change that for a few minutes of TV fame.
    Sticking my hand in my purse, I realized my cell phone wasn’t in there. Drat. I belatedly remembered that I’d never put it back after charging it the previous night.
    Before I could ask my friends if I could borrow one of theirs, I noticed Sydney’s two model friends, Akinyi and Candy Kaine, hurrying toward us. Candy was in the lead, a big smile on her pretty face.
    “Hi! Are you guys the other bridesmaids?” she asked, raising her voice to be heard over the pounding music.
    “That’s us,” Bess replied. “Three of them, anyway. There’s one more floating around here somewhere. I’m Bess, and this is George and Nancy.”
    “Nice to meet you. I’m Candy, and this is Akinyi.”
    “Hello,” Akinyi said, though she seemed a little distracted. Close up, she was more impressive than ever. I tried to estimate just how tall she was—six two? Six three?
    Candy elbowed her in the ribs. “Chill out, Kinnie,” she said cheerfully. Then she rolled her eyes at us. “She’s been worried about the lighting since we got here.”
    Akinyi frowned at her. “Do not mock me, girl. The lighting in here is atrocious!” she said in a voice lightly tinted with some kind of exotic accent. Now that I thought about it, I vaguely remembered Bess or maybe Sydney mentioning that Akinyi had been born somewhere in Africa before coming to the U.S. as a child. “I’ll be lucky if I show up on camera at all.”
    “Don’t pay any attention to her,” Candy told us jokingly. “She’s just cranky because she had to fly straight through from her shoot in Bermuda.”’
    “Yeah,” George said. “I can see how traumatic it must be to be forced to go to Bermuda.”
    Akinyi shot her a strange look, not seeming to get the joke. “My skin tone doesn’t work well in low light,” she said. “I’ll probably look terrible in this dark place!”
    “You’ll look fine,” Candy reassured her. “I’m the one who should be worried. I’m so pale, I’ll probably look like a ghost who’s haunting the party!”
    We all chuckled, and even Akinyi cracked a smile. It made her look slightly less exotic but a whole lot prettier. “My friend is right,” she said, sounding a bit more relaxed. “Never mind me. I’m sure Syd has already told you