Malibu Mayhem Trilogy 02: Mystery At Malachite Mansion Read Free Page B

Beach with his mom and sister,” Alice said, her voice still low. “When I found out he was volunteering to help the beach, I thought it was so cool.”
    “My sister Maggie’s also an extreme fan,” Bess said. “She even named her gerbil Austin.”
    Austin leaned back in his chair, but his eyes were no longer on the grapes or the cheese platter.
    “Hey, Bess,” George teased. “Don’t look now, but Austin Gruber is checking you out.”
    “Stop,” Bess said. But she glanced over at him anyway. As their eyes met, they both blushed.
    Bess Marvin had practically written the book on flirtation, so it was funny to see her act shy, but no guy had ever been Austin Gruber!
    “Meeting’s starting,” Alice said excitedly as Mandy tapped a glass for attention. As organizers of the meeting, the Casabians sat at the head of the table. “Next we’d like to thank Don for the use of his house,” Mandy said with a nod to the director. “Thank you, Don!”
    “No problem!” Don boomed. He gestured to the overflowing cheese and fruit platters on the table. “Please, help yourselves. The Scandinavian moose cheese is excellent.”
    “Did he say
moose
cheese?” I whispered.
    “I’ll stick to the cheddar,” Bess whispered back.
    The meeting was turned over to a silver-haired actress named Joanne Stonestreet.
    “Okay, everybody,” Joanne said. “We’re all here for the same reason. Our beloved beaches have been damaged by an unfortunate environmental disaster.”
    “Tell me about it,” said another Malachite resident. “Dead fish covered my beach.”
    “The smell is unbearable,” a nighttime talk show host added. “It’s making my son’s asthma worse.”
    “Not to mention what this will do to the value of our houses,” Don said. “Leonard Stamp will never build those mansions he was planning on Malachite Beach.”
    “Well, then,” Stacey said with a half smile. “Mr. Stamp will just have to build elsewhere.”
    The name Leonard Stamp definitely rang a bell. He was a real-estate mogul, a celebrity in his own right. I wasn’t surprised he had plans to build on Malachite, one of the trendiest and wealthiest areas in the United States.
    “What we need to do is move forward to rescue our beach and the wildlife,” said Mia.
    “Yes, but it’ll take tons of money to clean up the beach, people,” Stacey said. “We’ll need booms, skimmers—”
    “We’re rich,” Mallory said, tossing her hair. “Like … aren’t we?”
    “Not that rich,” Stacey said. “Since this is a man-made disaster, we’re not eligible for government support.”
    All eyes turned to Stacey. She was still skeptical about saving the beach, although I had to admit she seemed to know what she was talking about.
    “Well, then,” Don said. “We’ll have to find a way to raise money.”
    “How?” Mandy asked.
    A bunch of ideas were thrown out—a fashion show, a telethon, an auction—until Alice’s hand shot up in the air. “How about a party?” she said.
    “A party?” Stacey repeated.
    “This year in school we had a party in the gym to raise money for new computers,” Alice said. “Everyone who came made a donation. Not only did we get some really cool computers for the school,” she continued, “we had enough money left over for a frozen yogurt machine in the cafeteria!”
    “Come to think of it,” I said, “we did something similar in our high school when we were juniors.”
    “Except we raised money to buy new sports equipment,” George said.
    “This isn’t middle or high school, girls,” Stacey said frostily. “And it certainly isn’t River Heights.”
    “Exactly,” I said. “This is Hollywood, so you can invite A-list celebrities and entertainment executives. I think Alice has a great idea.” And I reached across the table to give her a high five.
    Don smiled and said, “I like it. I think I like it.”
    “So do Mallory, Mia, and I,” Mandy said excitedly.
    “Excuse me, excuse me,” said Stacey,