Model Suspect 3 by Carolyn Keene Page A

bolted firmly in place with several large screws.
    “Over here!” Bess called.
    I turned and squinted through the hazy smoke inside the cabin. She was just tucking something into the pocket of her shorts. A second later, coughing nonstop, she hoisted herself onto the windowsill and kicked out the screen.
    George and I raced over. “Go! Go!” George shouted.
    Bess didn’t need to be told twice. She flung herself out through the window, and a second later I heard a splash from somewhere below. George was alreadyclimbing over the sill, and as soon as she jumped, it was my turn.
    I swung my leg out the window and glanced around. The walkway outside the bungalow was already on fire, and I heard the faint sounds of shouts from somewhere off in the distance, telling me that someone had noticed the smoke. But there was no time to think about that—I could feel the heat on my back as I glanced down at the lagoon below. My friends had already moved aside, wading through the chest-high water toward shore.
    “Seems like I’m spending an awful lot of time in this darn lagoon, considering I haven’t even had a chance to unpack my bathing suit yet,” I muttered. Then, taking a deep breath, I launched myself through the window.
    “Butch!” Madge howled. “What are you doing? Get closer! We’re going to want as much footage as we can get of this!” She stabbed one manicured finger toward someone. “You!” she barked. “Get those three looking camera-ready. What are you waiting for?”
    I closed my eyes as Lainie, the makeup girl, hurried over, makeup brush in hand. My head was spinning after all that had happened; I hadn’t had a moment to process things since splashing down in the lagoon. Thanks to Bess and the tiny multi-tool on the keyring hanging from her wallet, we’d escaped through that window just in the nick of time. Even as the three of us were wading toward the small crowd waiting for us on the beach, the roof had gone up with a loud
WHOOOMP
, raining sparks over us.
    Now, nearly half an hour later, the fire was out—thanks to its position over the lagoon, the employees had been able to get things under control well before the local fire brigade had arrived to finish the job. The firefighters were currently stomping around through the shallow water checking for stray sparks or whatever, while most of the staff of the resort was gathered on the beach nearby watching. The honeymoon bungalow was nothing but a pile of ashes, and several sections of the walkway nearby had been destroyed as well. But the fire hadn’t spread to any of the other structures, and for that, the resort manager appeared to be grateful.
    However, one person was acting anything but grateful. Madge seemed to take it as a personal affront that the cameras hadn’t been there to capture the dramatic moment when the bungalow had gone up in flames. She was making up for it now, ordering the entire camera team around without seeming to pause for breath.
    “Chill, dude,” Bo told the assistant director as she started haranguing one of the sound people forsomething or other. “You already missed the fun stuff. So what’s the hurry?”
    I cracked one eye open just in time to see Madge glare at him. “Do you want to take over?” she snapped. “Because my job’s not as easy as you all seem to think.”
    Bo rolled his eyes and glanced over at Jamal and Akinyi, who had also turned up to watch. They both shrugged, seeming disinclined to get involved.
    I kept my one open eye trained on the couple. How quickly had they turned up at the scene of the fire? I wasn’t sure, but I knew they’d arrived before Madge and the crew. Did that mean something? I wasn’t sure.
    “Wait, what are you doing?” I opened my other eye as I felt Lainie begin to apply something thick and dusty to my forehead.
    “Sorry. Madge’s orders.” Lainie held up a makeup brush with black powder flaking off it. “She wants to make sure you guys look really dramatic, so she