Stage Fright (Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Book 6) Read Online Free PDF Page B

wrong. She stood up.
    “I’m going to be sick. Oh no!”
    She clapped a hand over her mouth and ran toward the bathroom. Damien looked as if he were going to cry.
    “No! Ms. Cleveland, come back!”
    “What is the problem here? Damien! Where is my star?” Linden appeared, his face an angry red.
    “Mr. von Louden, she’s sick. She just ran to thebathroom. Should I go see what’s wrong?” Damien wrung his hands in worry.
    “There’s no time. Get Madonna in costume and put her on the stage. We’re live in three minutes. I thought Claire was never sick!”
    The last part was yelled generally at the stage crew as Linden stalked off. Damien ran off, his face set in a terrified expression.
    Gone was the suave, cool, and collected Linden we’d met earlier. Now he was raging backstage, exactly like everyone I’d ever seen play a director in the movies. Or a crazy person. Was it just preshow jitters? Or did someone have an anger management problem?
    “I’ll check on Claire,” volunteered Frank.
    “I’ll keep an eye on things here,” I said, throwing one leg up on his chair. I was definitely enjoying this mission.
    A young girl raced by wearing Claire’s costume. As the orchestra played the opening notes, Damien handed the girl a wig and she took her place in the wings. I recognized her from our ATAC briefing. She was Madonna de la Varga, Claire’s understudy.
    “This is unheard of,” whispered Damien under his breath. “Wow!”
    “What is?” said Frank, sliding back into his chair. To me, he whispered “Stomach bug. She seems fine.”
    “Claire has only missed one show in her entire life, an afternoon matinee when she was nine. She brokeher arm, but she was back in time for the evening show. There’s a mini-documentary about it on YouTube.” Damien paused for a second. “I made it,” he whispered with pride.
    The tone in Damien’s voice indicated an emotion I’d witnessed on a dozen cases before: obsession. The hair on the back of my neck rose. I looked at Frank, and he nodded. He’d noticed it too. We’d definitely be keeping an eye on this guy.
    Madonna stepped out onto the stage, and the applause began. Damien scurried off to work on something, and Frank and I sat back to enjoy the show.
    Or I should say, endure the show. Without Claire, the performance had as much sparkle and fun as a chunk of concrete. The dancers limped around the stage. Madonna forgot her lines twice. Whatever they’d done to get the burned plane down had disabled the other two, leaving them hanging motionless over the audience for the entire show.
    It was so painful that it was a relief when Madonna readied for the last number before the intermission. This was her big emotional ballad, and as she stepped into the spotlight she raised her hands up in the air and prepared to make the most of it.
    Then she opened her mouth, stepped forward—and fell right through a hole in the stage!

CHAPTER 5
    NANCY
    MOBBED!
    “Okay, tell me what they told you again?” Bess asked.
    She popped her gum and slumped back in her seat, a jittery expression on her face. Next to her, George tapped away on her phone. We’d been stuck in traffic for forty minutes now, and if we didn’t get off the West Side Highway soon, one of us was going to lose it.
    “Apparently, they’re working on a new case that involves this show on Broadway called Wake . The lead actress, Claire Cleveland, has been receiving death threats. Two days ago her understudy broke her leg in an accident that Joe says was almost certainly meant for Claire.”
    “Claire Cleveland,” said Bess, her voice dreamy. “I love her TV show!” She launched into the chorus of thetheme song, and the man in the car next to us made a big show of rolling up his windows. Bess had many talents, but singing wasn’t one of them.
    “So they want you to be her understudy?” said George loudly, trying to talk over Bess.
    “Yes. But they’ve promised me I won’t have to go onstage.