Read Model Mystery Trilogy 01: Model Crime for Free Online Page B

sign of her distinctive red hair.
    “There’s that Donald PA guy,” George said, pointing. “Maybe you should ask him where Sydney is. He seems to be in charge of keeping track of everything and everyone around here.”
    “Maybe later. He looks a little busy right now.” I grimaced, noting that Madge, the foul-tempered assistant director, appeared to be haranguing the PA again. He nodded a few times without speaking, then hurried off and disappeared while Madge stalked off in the direction of one of the camera operators.
    My friends and I wandered toward the temporary dance floor, where Pandora Peace was doing some kind of elaborate interpretive dance in her bare feet, not seeming to notice or mind that she was out there all alone. She wasn’t lonely for long, though—as we watched, Bo Champion and Dragon ran out and starting dancing with her. Bo and Pandora were soon laughing and goofing off, each of them throwing in more and more outrageous dance moves to try to one-up each other. Meanwhile Dragon stayed a little apart, dancing athletically while his eyes shot around toward the nearest cameras.
    At that moment I finally spotted Sydney. She was standing off to one side with Deb, now joined by Candy, watching the action on the dance floor.
    “There’s Syd,” I told my friends. “Let’s go talk to her.”
    We made our way toward the trio. Before we got there, I heard a commotion from the dance floor. Glancing that way, I saw Vic being pushed out onto the floor by Madge, the ill-tempered assistant director. He was laughing and protesting loudly that he didn’t feel like dancing. But Bo waved to him.
    “Get out here, bro!” he called. “Show the people how it’s done!”
    “Oh, all right!” Vic exclaimed as Madge backed off. “If you insist…”
    With that, he broke into a series of gravity-defying dance moves, jumping and spinning around to the beat. Bo and Dragon joined in, while Pandora clapped along nearby. The activity was attracting lots of attention all through the party, and people crowded closer for a better look, blocking Sydney from my view.
    The song ended and everyone applauded. “And now for something a little slower,” the DJ crooned into his mic as a slow ballad poured out of the speakers. “Miss Pandora Peace requests this dance from Mr. Valdez—for old times’ sake.”
    “What? I did not!” Pandora exclaimed, laughing.
    Meanwhile Vic was glancing off the floor, searching the crowd. “Where’s my girl?” he said, squinting against the bright colored lights pulsing toward him from the edge of the dance floor. “This dance should be for her.”
    Madge reappeared, this time pushing Vic toward Pandora. “Go on, you two,” she urged. “Just one friendly little dance. For the fans.”
    I shook my head, guessing what was going on. The TV people wanted to give their viewers what they wanted, which was a reunion of the Vic-Pandora “showmance.” And they didn’t seem to care how Vic—or Sydney—might feel about that.
    “So much for reality,” I muttered.
    “Huh?” Bess said, watching as Vic finally held out one hand gallantly toward Pandora, laughing sheepishly. Pandora gave a cute little curtsy and took his hand, and the two of them began playfully slow-dancing.
    “Come on.” I turned away. “Sydney could probably use some distraction right about now. Let’s see if we can talk to her.”
    It took only a moment to reach Sydney, who was still standing with Candy and Deb. It took even less time than that to see that she wasn’t happy about what was going on out on the dance floor.
    “Never mind,” Deb was saying cheerily. “You’re the one he’s marrying, right?”
    That didn’t seem to give Sydney much comfort. “I knew this filming was a mistake,” she said. “When the cameras are on, Vic just forgets everything else.” She sniffed. “Including me, I guess.”
    I winced. Sydney could be a little high-strung at the best of times, but this was beyond that. She