Diva's Last Curtain Call Read Online Free PDF Page B

Mama,” she said shaking her head at the memory. “Vivianne DeArmond. She’s…she’s—” She started to sob again. Mama had had enough and grabbed her by the shoulders giving her a good shake.
    Allegra twisted free of her grasp and blurted out, “She’s dead, okay! Somebody killed her!”
    Mama gasped and stared at me.
    “Come on. We need to go inside,” I said, ushering my still-crying sister and my shocked grandmother into the house.
     
     
    Once we were all seated around the kitchen table, Allegra finally told us what happened. As it turned out, I was right to be uneasy.
    “I found a message written in the dirt on the hood of my rental car yesterday after Carl and I left the police station and I went back to Vivianne’s house. It was—”
    “Police station? What in the world were you doing at the police station?” Mama interrupted. Allegra’s eyes got big and she looked at me. Crap. I wasn’t about to let her drag me into her little scheme from yesterday. It had been her master plan, so she could explain it to Mama.
    “Allegra can explain that to you when she’s finished. Go ahead,” I said, gesturing for her to continue.
    “She better explain,” Mama mumbled.
    “Uh, anyway, like I said, there was a message on my hood. It said ‘Call me’, and there was a phone number. So, I called the number and it was Vivianne DeArmond. I couldn’t believe it! She told me she wanted to give me an interview but she could only spare me a few minutes and she didn’t want to be on camera. She told me she could talk to me this morning at eleven-thirty before she accepted her award. She said not to be late or to tell anyone about the interview.” She stopped talking and took another sip of water.
    “I got to her dressing room on time and knocked on the door. But no one answered so I walked in anyway. She was lying on floor. She was dead!”
    “Are you sure she was dead, Allie? Maybe she just fainted,” Mama said.
    “No, she had a knife in her back and there was blood on the floor and on the walls,” Allegra said. She wrapped her arms around her as if she was suddenly cold.
    “What did you do after that?” I asked, hoping maybe she’d told someone about Vivianne before fleeing a murder scene.
    “What did I do? What do you mean what did I do? The fire alarm went off and I got the hell out of there and came straight here. What was else was I supposed to do? I wasn’t going to stick around, especially after what happened yesterday.” Allegra looked at me again and Mama puffed up.
    “One of you needs to tell me what exactly happened yesterday, and I mean right now!”
    When she realized I wasn’t going to do her explaining for her, Allegra told Mama all about sneaking into Vivianne’s house and getting picked up by the police. I made sure she didn’t leave anything out. Mama sat shaking her head and was silent for along time.
    “So you just took off and didn’t even bother telling anyone or trying to get help?” Mama asked incredulously.
    “I was scared, Mama, the police will think I had something to do with it because of what happened yesterday.”
    “Oh, Allie.” Mama sighed, shaking her head.
    “What!” She huffed, looking at both of us like we were the crazy ones. Apparently, I was going to have to enlighten her.
    “How do you think this is going to look when the police find out you were there and fled the scene? I saw you leave the auditorium and I know I couldn’t have been the only one who did.” I realized my mistake immediately when Mama’s head whipped around and she shot me a venomous stare.
    “Well, why in the devil didn’t you tell me you’d seen your sister? You knew I was looking for her.”
    “I didn’t want to worry you because I didn’t know what was going on,” I said meekly.
    “Like I’m not worried now?” She leaned back in her chair dramatically and pressed a hand to her forehead like we were going to be the death of her. Anyone wondering where Allegra gets her