*Taken from my original book, A Christmas Murder*
As I pick up my fork and start to dig into my Christmas dinner, the phone rings. Mom walks over to pick up the phone.
"Honey, it's for you!" Mom hands me the phone, and I clear my throat. After all, it could be an actor or an author!
"Hello! Allie Jones from 32 Pine Tree Avenue speaking!" I chirp. The person on the other end clears his throat.
"Ms. Jones, do you know Ms. Skyla Brown? Her mother found her dead in her room a few minutes ago, and she says you might want to see her," the man says, and I break down into sobs.
"What? But, she was fine a few hours ago! I called her, and she was all 'Merry X-mas, girlfriend!' Is this a prank call?" I manage to choke out.
"No, unfortunately. This is Chief Carlom, from the police department. This is not a prank call. Mrs. Brown wants you to come over now. Over," Chief Carlom sighs.
I drop the phone on the floor and sob. "Skyla... she's gone! Oh, Skyla..." I sob, and suddenly, I fall to the floor, and everything goes black.
Later...
"Honey, wake up!" Mom calls, and I find myself strapped in the car. "I'm taking you to Skyla's. Her mom wants to see you. Oh, and by the way, you fainted," she informs me. I shake my head vigorously.
"No! I can't bear to see her," I protest, but Mom interrupts me.
"Too late. We're here," she says as we pull into the driveway. Mom pushes me out of the car, and she turns around and zooms off. "Be back in 10!" she calls.
I sigh and turn around, and as I walk up the steps, I hear a person yelling inside the house. "Our daughter was just killed, and you want me to pay for my insurance? Get out!" I see Chief Carlom run out the door.
"Hello, Allie. Bye Allie," he mumbles as he passes me. I walk up to the door and ring the bell. Ding Dong!
Mrs. Brown opens the door. "Good, you're here. Listen, I need to talk to you. Skyla has been killed, and-"
"Yeah, yeah. You want me to be your private detective," I cut in. Other than being Skyla's bestie 24/7, I also run a detective agency called PB and J Detective Agency.
"P" stands for Parent-Free, "B" stands for Brown (Skyla), and "J" stands for me, Jones. Together, we were a crime-busting' detective pair. But now, with Skyla gone, I wasn't sure I would be able to do it.
Mrs. Brown crosses her arms. "Well?" she looks at me. I nod.
"Ok, I'll do it. For Skyla! And I'll risk my life to do it. I PROMISE!" I shout the word "promise". Mrs. Brown pulls me into the house and shoves me into a big purple armchair that I was so familiar with. Every time I see the inside of her house, I get a nasty shock. The house was practically a full-on fashion designer closet. It looks like a fashion bomb flew in and exploded. That’s how I know why Skyla is a fashion freak. It's because it was inherited from her mother.
"I have a hunch who the murderer might be. After Skyla called you, a girl named Blair came over and pulled Skyla to this place called Club Monaco. After she came back, Skyla went up to her room. I heard a scream a few minutes later, so I ran up. When I opened the door, I saw this person in a black uniform. She was holding a knife dripping with blood, and she ran off as soon as I opened the door. That's when I found out Skyla was dead," Mrs. Brown holds back her tears. Then, she blinks them away.
"Hold up, hold up! Blair? She's, she's evil!" I cry. I jump up from the couch and run out the door. "GTG! I'm going to Club Monaco!" I whip out my cell phone and call Mom.
"Hey, Mom! I need a ride to Club Monaco, you know, the one on 35 Lakeview Str-" I am cut off by a girl.
"You need a ride to Club Monaco? Come with me," the girl beckons. She has long, wavy black hair, a grey 'I Believe in Girl Power' sweater, jeans, and Adidas sneakers. She was also chewing strawberry Bubblicious bubble gum. "The name's Layla. Layla Croft." The girl blows a bubble and opens the door to a small Toyota sedan. "Get in, girl! I ain't gonna bite!"
But I get in, I have a feeling something is about to be very wrong.
Layla steps on the gas, and we zoom off like a rocket. We swerve past trees and nearly clip a mailbox! Suddenly, Layla stops. “We’re here: Club Monaco. I heard that the rich girl Blaire Monaco and her family owns this place,” Layla gets out of the car and opens the door for me.
“Thanks, Layla! Do you want to come with me? I’m gonna accuse someone of murder soon, and I might need your help,” I ask Layla casually, and she nods.
“Sure, I guess I could come to support you.” Layla shrugs. We waltz into the club, and as I predicted during the car ride, Blair sashays right over. She was wearing a navy blue party dress and dark blue heels, topped with a rich white fur coat. Standing next to her, I look like a kid who just came from the playground.
“Heyyyyy, girls! I’m Blair Monaco, daughter of Brooklyn Monaco and Brayden Monaco. What do you want? May I suggest the lobster spaghetti? It’s very filling.” Blair curtsies.
“No time for chit-chat. Have you seen Skyla Brown around here? I need to talk to her,” I snarl.
Layla nods and tries to look menacing. Blair tosses her hair.
“Well, duh! Skyla is one of my best customers! I just brought her home a few hours ago,” Blair rolls her eyes. “What is this, a Q and A session? Brenna, get over here! Talk with these girls here. What are your names?”
“I’m Layla Croft, and this is my friend, um,” Layla fidgets, and I realize I never told her my name.
“Ahem. My name is Allie Jones, and actually, we’re leaving! Come on, Layla! Let’s leave before any more drama comes up.” I pull Layla to the door. We waltz out, and we get back in the car. “Well, that was useless. We don’t have a new lead! Blair was just being her ice-cold annoying self, and if we had pushed her further, she could have just banned us. Why don’t we meet tomorrow at my house? I live at 32 Pine Tree Avenue. We’ll meet at 9:08 am, ok?” I ask her. Layla nods, and she steps on the gas pedal, driving me back to my house.
The next day, I wake up and I see a note on my bedside table:
Hey Allie dear!
Don’t leave the house today because your little sister Alaina needs babysitting. Your dad and I have to go out to a party, and it lasts until 3:00 pm. Give Alaina mac and cheese for lunch, and if she’s hungry for a snack, give her 2-3 Oreos. Thanks, Allie!
Mom💕
I groan in frustration. Alaina was a small problem in my life right now! She couldn’t stop me from achieving my goal though. I pull on my favorite ‘California: Los Angeles’ hoodie, my most comfy jeans, and my new Stan Smith shoes. I sneak past Alaina and Avalon’s rooms and run down the stairs. Layla is waiting for me by the front door.
“Hey, Allie! What took you so long? You’re like 15 minutes late, and you live here!” Layla complains, but I can hear a hint of teasing in her voice. I smirk.
“I got caught up with babysitting. Anyway, today, we’re going to dig deep into Skyla’s friends. Skyla has 4 other friends: Aleka Russell, Lyvia Scott, Daphne Sanchez, and Zoey Foster. Let’s go to Aleka’s house first,” I suggest. We hop into Layla’s sedan and drive over to 19 Montague Hills South.
I ring the doorbell, and Aleka’s older sister Alexa answers. “Hey, pipsqueak! Oh, hey, Layla,” Alexa snarls the last part.
“I came to see Aleka? Is she in?” I ask Alexa. She shakes her head.
“No, she went with Lyvia, Daphne, and Zoey to Club Monaco. You should be able to catch them soon. Anything else? No? Well, bye!” Alexa closes the door, and we hop back into the sedan.
“Ugh! I thought we were done with Blair! Now we have to go back!” Layla moans. I pat her on the back.
“I feel you, girl!” I agree. Layla drives in silence until we reach Club Monaco. We park and get out. This time, we sashay in with a bit of flair.
“Oh, hey, Allie and Layla! Are you here to see Aleka, Lyvia, Daphne, and Zoey? They’re out back in the courtyard having strawberry smoothies. Care to join them?” Blair asks. Today, she’s wearing a rosy pink party dress, rose earrings, a gold-trimmed cardigan, and rose gold sandals. She also had a flower crown in her hair. I cross my arms and step near her. I get a whiff of her perfume. Ugh, rose. I quickly recompose my face into a still, calm look.
“Nuh-uh. Besides, Lyvia is allergic to strawberries, and Daphne is lactose intolerant! So, they can’t all be having smoothies,” I say in my formal and detective voice. Blair claps.
“Way to show off your detective skills! Bree, Breanna, Breanne, get them!” Three girls wearing matching dark blue jumpsuits jump out and gag and tie us up. We try to resist, but the 3 B’s are strong.
“Take them to the ice storage. It’ll be harder for them to breathe there,” Blair ordered. We are led out of the yard and shoved into an ice-cold room, and Layla starts to shiver. There, I see Aleka and Daphne gagged as well.
“Prepare to die, girls! Bree, ungag them so they will perish!” Bree ungags us one by one, then the 3 Bs left the room. Once my gag is gone, I blurt out, “Did you kill Skyla?” Blair cackles.
“Of course. I did it with a kitchen knife, and she was so clueless! Ahh, poor, poor, Skyla. Killed by a nick of my knife. She must be such a weak little lady,” Blair chuckles. I bare my teeth.
“Skyla was my best friend! How could you kill her like that? What did she ever do to you? All those fun days with Skyla, gone! How could you!” Tears stream down my cheek. Thinking of all the fun times with Skyla gave me the strength to get revenge on Blair. I pull against my ropes, and they snap. I pick up the nearest weapon -an icicle- and aim it to Blair’s shoulder. Perfect hit. She winces at the pain.
“Stop, Allie Jones!” Blair pulls out a knife from her pocket. She places it next to Aleka’s neck. “Make one more move, and Aleka gets it!” she threatened. I faked left, and she pressed harder on Aleka’s neck.
“Go, save the others! I’ll sacrifice myself to save the rest! Go, Allie,” Aleka whispered. I shook my head, but Aleka gave me a hard look. I knew what I had to do. I sighed sadly, and I made my move. I dive forwards and strike Blair on the leg using the rope. She howls in pain, and as blood flowed from her leg, she managed to say a little sentence.
“The real killers are coming, Allie. This is just a trial run. They’re the killers…” Blair pulled a gun from her pocket and shoots Layla, Aleka, and Daphne right in the chest. “But I am the true Monaco.” At that moment, Layla, Aleka, Daphne, and Blair all die, and I slump down and start crying over Layla, Aleka, and Daphne.
As I reach home, I think about what Blair had said and why everyone had been killed. “The real killers are coming, Allie. This is just a trial run. They’re the killers. But I am the true Monaco.” Did that mean that the entire Monaco family were killers? Or did it mean that Blair was just a little knot in the rope, that there would be more killers? And why did Blair even get killed? The rope and icicle barely did any damage. The rope did hit some blood, but then, it was only for a few seconds. And Skyla. Innocent, beautiful Skyla. Why was she killed? Why were they all killed? The only person who can solve this mystery right now is me, Allie Katelyn Jones. And as a detective, I swear that I will never stop till I find the killers. Detective’s code.
ns 15.158.61.43da2
