Odds Ball
(Margot and Odds Mystery – Book 3)
Copyright © April 2015, Audrey Claire
No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, distributed, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without express written permission from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.
This book is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, or any events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story line are created from the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously.
OTHER WORKS AVAILABLE:
Margot and Odds Mystery
Odds and Ends
Odds Against
Odds Ball
A Libby Grace Mystery
How to Be a Ghost
How to Blackmail a Ghost
How to Kill a Ghost
A Makayla Rose Mystery
Depth of Field
Multiple Exposures
Distortion Control
www.authoraudreyclaire.com
Chapter One
“Oh, Nancy, honestly,” Margot complained. “What are we going to do now?”
Nancy dropped her forehead on Margot’s shoulder and clutched Margot’s fingers so tight any second they would pop off. Margot tried freeing herself of the grip, but Nancy wasn’t having any of it. Her friend’s shoulders shook along with the rest of her she was so nervous. Margot felt her impatience fade a little, but not by much. After all, she had advised Nancy coming to the hotel for her first trip out of the house was not a good idea.
Nancy whimpered, and Margot patted her back. “There, there, dear, we’ll get you back in the room. Then maybe I can call you a taxi to take you home.”
“No!” Nancy shrieked right beside Margot’s ear, and Margot winced. Her friend sniffed and raised her head. “I can’t go in my unmentionables, Margot. What would everyone think of me?”
Margot fought hard and managed to get her fingers out of the woman’s grip. The way they throbbed, she thought they might be twice their normal size, but no, they were just red as the blood rushed into them. Focusing on Nancy’s worry, she took in the sight of her friend and frowned, shaking her head. “You’re hardly in your unmentionables. That slip covers everything—almost. Plus, I meant we’ll go back to your room first so you can get dressed.”
“How?” Nancy sobbed.
Margot chewed her lip and then squeezed around Nancy’s plump form. With the two of them stuck in a closet, lined with shelves of linens and towels, buckets, mops, and even a cart, it wasn’t easy to maneuver.
“Let me check the hall. Maybe those guests we saw earlier are gone now. There might even be a maid nearby we can ask to open your door for you.”
Margot moved toward the door, but a ball of fluff curled around her ankle, impeding her progress. “Shoo, Odds. Get out of the way.”
He poked his nose at the narrow gap between the door and the jamb as if waiting to escape. Margot scowled at him.
“If you hadn’t run into the hall like the naughty cat you are, we wouldn’t be in this mess!”
“Don’t blame me for crazy,” he shot back.
“She’s not—uh—” Margot cut her eyes to Nancy, who stared between Margot and the mouthy cat. Nancy had long since stopped being surprised that Margot talked to Odds. She believed Odds truly did talk back, even if she also described Margot as her “sweet but crazy friend.” The idea that the pot would call the kettle black, Margot thought, was preposterous. Then again, their mental faculties might be why they got along so well.
“Is he blaming me, too, Margot?”
“No, dear, he’s just worried about me getting downstairs to work on time.”
Nancy squeaked in alarm.
Margot eased the door open a crack. “I’m going to go look for a maid. You stay here, Nancy.”
“You can’t!” Nancy was spry for an older lady of her size. While they were both in their sixties, Margot couldn’t help being impressed—and wearied—when Nancy wrapped her arms around Margot’s arms and dragged her back from the door. “I can’t stay in here alone. It’s too closed in. What if I have another attack? I might die alone. I can’t die alone, Margot.”
“And we’re breathing, Nancy,” Margot announced and raised her hand, fingers drawn together as if she were about to get into the stance for meditation. “In…out…”
Nancy breathed, if a bit erratically. Her grip didn’t lessen on Margot’s arm. Margot faced Nancy and held her hands down by her sides.
“Nancy? Your attack was just panic not a heart attack. Did you take the medicine your doctor prescribed for you?”
Nancy wrinkled her nose and turned up her thin pink lips. “I don’t like them.”
“What’s there not to like? They help you to stay calmer. Isn’t that why you felt you could come out tonight? This is your first journey away from your apartment in years. It’s exciting, and you should be enjoying yourself.”
“Well, I’m not taking them, and that’s that, Margot.”
“What’s gotten into her? Has she flipped? Because it’s her fault we’re locked inside this closet.”
“Shush, Odds,” Margot scolded. “Nancy, dear, can you tell me why you don’t like the medicine?”
Nancy’s cheeks pinked, and her eyes rolled around in her head. At first Margot feared she was having an episode of some sort. Then she realized Nancy avoided looking her in the eyes.
“Nancy.”
“Oh! Margot, you’re very pushy.”
“I have to be. Now tell me this instant.” A threat to leave Nancy in the closet if she didn’t answer hovered on Margot’s lips, but she figured that would just backfire, so she waited. Tapping her foot got Nancy twisting her hands together, eyeballs still rolling around.
Finally, Nancy glanced at Odds and leaned in close to Margot with a hand cupped beside her mouth. “I don’t like the side-effects.”
“Headache? Nausea?” Margot whispered back.
Nancy peeped at Odds again and lowered her voice even more. “Loss of sex drive.”
Margot blinked at her, and Odds made a distinct sound that must be the cackle of an amused feline.
“She’s still on about finding a boyfriend. I don’t like the images she’s putting into my head. Let me out of this closet!”
“Nancy,” Margot began, fighting to order her own thoughts, “that’s not anything you or I should be worried about right now.”
Nancy straightened and lifted her chin, although the red had spread from her cheeks to her entire face and neck. “You don’t, Margot, but I might find husband number two…”
“Three.”
“…in this hotel this weekend. A woman must always be prepared. That’s why I’m wearing the good unmentionables.”
Margot gasped. “You weren’t planning to do anything with someone you meet over the next two days, were you, Nancy? That’s a little fast even for the young people.”
A strangled sound escaped Nancy’s throat. “I’m not some kind of floozy!”
“Well, you said…the unmentionables were the good ones.”
Nancy waggled a finger at her. “The same way you never leave the house without clean underwear just in case, you don’t go on a date with raggedy ones either. I might trip and fall. He might have to catch me. My dress could rise, and I’m saying accidents happen.”
Margot nodded. “That sounds reasonable to me.”
“What planet are you ladies living on?” Odds yawned big and scratched a paw behind his ear. When h
is actions didn’t match the voice she heard in her head of his snide remarks, Margot always questioned her sanity. That might be another ploy of the cat though, to drive her to the funny farm.
In all honesty, Margot didn’t know what she would do without Odds. He kept her on her toes, kept her moving and living. Deep down, she thought if she hadn’t met him the day she left her mansion and moved into a tiny apartment, she might have fallen into depression. Her Lou was gone, and on bad days, she still missed him something fierce. On good ones, she hoped the young woman he ran off with left him in his unmentionables with not a penny to his name. That would be justice.
“Well, soon it will be time for me to work, so we have to do this,” Margot insisted. “Either you stay and wait for me in here or you come along. If you stay, I’ll leave Odds with you to keep you company. I won’t be but a minute.”
Nancy heaved a sigh and squared her shoulders. “All right. I’m a woman about the world. It’s easy. I’ve come this far. I had my hair done, and it’s looking very nice, isn’t it, Margot?”
Margot glanced up at the silvery locks, curled to perfection, and agreed. “Yes, Wanda did an excellent job. You look beautiful.”
Wanda was their neighbor from the first floor of the apartment building, and in honor of Nancy’s decision to go out into the world, she had used one of her rare days off from work to wash and style Nancy’s hair. Margot had to admit it was nice not to see Nancy in her perpetual pink hair curlers.
Nancy blushed at Margot’s compliment and patted her hair. Margot dragged her hand down and turned them both toward the exit. “Okay, we’re going. Just stick close, and if we see anyone, you can duck behind me, Nancy.”
When Margot got the door open, a breeze blew in, cooling her flushed face. Odds wiggled past her ankles and scampered down the hall. No amount of calling out to him as loud as she dared got him to come back.
“We’ll find him later,” Margot said, worried because pets weren’t allowed at this hotel. Odds might get himself thrown in the pound, and who knew what could happen after that. Margot kidded all the time that she would get rid of him and offered everyone she met the chance to take away the naughty cat, but she would never get rid of him.
“M-Margot,” Nancy squeaked, reminding Margot that she was behind her. “Are we going to go?
“Right. Yes.” Margot took a step into the hall with Nancy clinging to her back. When Margot glanced down, it looked like she had four feet and legs the way Nancy held on. They shuffled forward in baby steps, then sideways. Nancy seemed determined to stay behind Margot as she had suggested. “Maybe we can move a little faster, Nancy?”
“No, no. This is good.”
Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle.
Margot glanced down the hall. No one was coming their way, but Nancy’s room was still three doors away. They didn’t have a way in since Nancy had let the door close with all of her things inside. However, Margot recalled there was a phone across from the elevators. She could use it to dial the front desk.
“Nancy, do you remember which direction the elevators are?”
Nancy pointed over her shoulder. “Down there and around the corner.”
Past Nancy’s room. Margot groaned. Then the worst happened. A bell dinged, and Margot knew what that meant. Someone was coming off the elevator. They would end up right where they started. After Nancy locked them out of her room, guests had come along the hall, and Nancy had run into the open closet, dragging Margot right along with her. Margot huffed. She refused to hide until she lost the highest paying job she had managed to get over the last few months.
“Nancy, you stay here. I’m going to head those people off and keep them from coming around the corner.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“That defeats the purpose, and you’re moving too slowly.”
“I’ll speed up!”
The voices grew louder, too loud, Margot thought. She ducked Nancy’s death grip on her shoulders and took her hand. Then she tugged her friend down the hall. Pulling Nancy was no easy feat. Nancy had declared she wanted to go, but she resisted all the way. Margot wondered how she would ever get through the night’s ball standing on her feet after all this. Well, she had been through worse, she supposed.
At last, they drew close to the corner, and Margot realized why the people who had gotten off the elevator hadn’t reached the corner before them. The raised voices told her whoever it was argued, and they didn’t care who they disturbed in the process.
“Who is Zabrina fighting with?” Nancy mumbled.
“Huh?” Margot gazed back at her. “Zabr—”
Nancy’s fear, no matter how great it was, couldn’t stop her endless speculation over another of their neighbors, Zabrina Fague. Nancy was of the strong opinion that Zabrina was a secret agent working undercover for the government.
Margot paused at the end of the hall and peeked around to the adjoining one. Sure enough, there was Zabrina in her high heels, scandalous dress, and white-blond hair, pointing a finger at an older gentleman with a deep frown on her face.
Nancy bent to have a look as well and touched a hand to her chest. Pink tinged her cheeks as her interest had gone straight to the gentleman rather than to Zabrina. “Oh, my, who do you think he is, Margot? Do you think he’s staying in the room next to mine? Maybe he’s single.”
“Shush, Nancy. How can we learn anything with your questions?”
Nancy bit her bottom lip like a schoolgirl with a crush, and Margot craned her ears to pick up every word the couple spoke now that they had stopped shouting.
“I told you I never wanted to see you again,” Zabrina said. “And here you are. How did you find me?”
The older man smiled, and Margot shivered. She had seen his type on many occasions back when she had lived with Lou. Cold and calculating behind a false smile. “Why wouldn’t I find you? I love you, and you belong with me.”
Nancy moaned. “He’s already in love with her? How can I compete with Zabrina?”
Margot rolled her eyes, but then she noticed the table across from the elevators and the phone sitting atop it. Just beyond the phone was a ball of silver, watching the argument take place with a slowly swishing tail.
“I see now running isn’t the answer with you,” Zabrina said. “Not anymore.”
“There was never a reason to run, my darling.” The man reached to touch Zabrina’s cheek, but she smacked his hand away. In that moment, Margot saw that the hatred in Zabrina’s eyes was just as scary, maybe scarier, than the coldness in the man’s. The next instant, her back gave out, and she landed spread eagle on the floor with Nancy on top of her.
Chapter Two
“You smell like Ben-Gay,” Margot’s supervisor, Belinda, complained. “It’ll disturb the guests.”
Margot set the platter of food she held on the table and tried stretching a little. “I’m sorry, Belinda. I had a small mishap earlier today, and I came in anyway because I didn’t want to let you down. I know the ball is a yearly event, and that it is very important.”
The younger woman placed a hand on her hip. “You came in because you need to be paid. Just like I need this thing to go off without a hitch. Margot, do you know what it means to be selected as the caterer for the Peach Blossom Ball?”
“It means you’re no longer rich enough to be on the guest list.”
Margot whirled away from her boss and scanned the ballroom for Odds. He couldn’t be in there. If someone saw him, it would be over for Margot, and she had been looking forward to seeing all the gowns and tuxedos.
“Margot, are you listening?”
Margot faced her boss and clutched her hands together as she smiled. Sure, she was listening. She was old enough to be this young woman’s mother but because Belinda was lucky enough to start her own business, she took it as a license to disrespect her elders.
“I—” Margot began.
“Ouch! Something scratched me. What was that?”
Belinda snapped her fingers
at one of the waiters, and he seemed to materialize at her side. Margot gaped in shock when the man turned out to be Jimmy of all people. Surely the world wasn’t so small she would run into every person from her apartment building tonight?
Of course Nancy and Margot had talked about the hotel where they had heard Zabrina would attend a ball. Nancy had pushed Margot to see about a job there to learn more about Zabrina, but why would Jimmy work as one of the waiters? He was Zabrina’s boyfriend. Did he trust her so little among the wealthy guests that would attend? Maybe so given Jimmy wasn’t the brightest bulb, and he had gotten into trouble with his schemes in the past. Margot would enjoy telling Nancy all about Zabrina’s reaction when she found out.
“Jimmy,” Belinda said, “check under that table and see if there’s something there. If one of the guests is hurt, I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“I’ll look,” Margot hurried to say, thinking Odds had scratched Belinda’s ankle. He must be hiding beneath the table, and Jimmy for one didn’t like Odds. Margot started to kneel, but Belinda caught her arm.
“No, you go wash off that scent.”
“What scent?” Jimmy asked, his eyes glittering with amusement.
Belinda ignored Jimmy. “And get back here as soon as possible. I need every body I can gather.”
Margot moved a few steps away from her, and both the caterer and the waiter knelt down to lift the tablecloth. Margot held her breath and shut her eyes.
“I don’t see anything,” Jimmy said. “You sure it’s not in your head?”
“I didn’t scratch myself!”
Jimmy peered past her at Margot as the amusement turned to suspicion. She willed him not to mention Odds, and he stood on his feet, brushing off the knees of his pants. “Maybe it was your shoe.”
“Maybe. Margot, get moving!”
Margot scurried off or tried to given the pain in her back. After she and Nancy had fallen onto the floor for Zabrina and the older gentleman to gape at, a maid had arrived on the scene. Where she had been all that time, Margot didn’t know, but her timing stunk to high heaven. Nancy had flushed to the roots of her styled hair as Margot mumbled excuses. Soon they were both inside Nancy’s room while her friend took to bed, deciding the excitement of Margot’s life was too much for her.
Odds Ball (Margot and Odds Cozy Mystery Book 3) Page 1