A Disguise to Die For (25 page)

“MARGO? ARE YOU
here? Don, the stockroom's open. Wheel me over there. Something doesn't seem right.” My dad's voice both comforted me and scared me to death. He'd come home early. I bet he'd wanted it to be a surprise when I woke up. Only now I couldn't warn him. I couldn't save us both.

Black Jack took advantage of my surprise. He leapt forward and clamped a hand over my mouth. With his other hand he grabbed the gun and then turned me around and held me back against his chest. “You or your dad,” he hissed in my ear. “Do you understand?”

I stifled sobs and nodded. I wouldn't put my dad's life at risk. Black Jack moved us to the side of the stockroom to a space between costumes. If my dad or Don looked in, they wouldn't see us. Not unless they passed the knocked-over stacks of boxes, and by then it would be too late.

Tears stung my eyes and salted my already-bruised cheek.
Had the 911 operator sent someone to check on me? Or had she written the call off as that of a crackpot? Would anybody come here to help us, or would the Tamblyn family line die tonight in the stockroom, surrounded by costumes?

Faint light shone into the stockroom. I saw the chair roll in. My dad's legs were loosely covered in a light blanket. Don was behind him. He whistled. “This place is a mess!” Don said.

My dad scanned the interior from right to left. His eyes flitted over the hanging costumes and the newly labeled boxes. His scan stopped at the dented alien head on the ground. “Looks like Margo was doing a little reorganization,” he said. “Probably wanted to surprise me. No use making her feel bad because we caught her mid-project.” He put his hands on the wheels of the chair and rolled backward. “Roll me out, Don. It's late and you probably want to get home.”

Anybody else might have thought I'd missed my window for help, but not me. My dad had seen something in the stockroom that let him know there was trouble. He was going to get help. I relaxed the slightest bit, until I felt the barrel of Black Jack's gun jab into my ribs.

Don apparently hadn't gotten the hint. He left his helm at the chair and came farther inside the room. He picked up the damaged alien head and tried to unbend the broken antennae.

“You better tell your daughter to take better care of the inventory,” he said. “This can probably be fixed, but it'll never be the same.” He looked up from the head and looked directly at me. I stood as still as I could. “Margo? Why are you hiding in the stockroom?”

Everything happened in slow motion. Black Jack released his grip on me and pointed his gun at my dad. I couldn't stand seeing a killer aim a gun at someone I loved. I grabbed
his arm with both hands and brought it down on my knee. He wailed in pain. I ran forward and pushed my dad's wheelchair backward. He rolled out of the stockroom.

Right into Detective Nichols and a team of police officers.

*   *   *

I
woke up sometime the next day. The only thing I knew was that the sun was shining brightly through my bedroom windows. Soot was on the foot of the bed, licking his paw and washing his head as if nothing particularly exciting had happened. I sat up and felt pain throughout my body. That's how I knew not to believe Soot's innocent act.

“You're awake,” my dad said. He walked into the room, using a cane. He picked up a pillow and pushed it under my head so I was half sitting up. “You really surprised me last night,” he said.

“I needed help last night. I don't know what would have happened if you and Don didn't show up when you did.”

“Detective Nichols showed up a few minutes after we did, thanks to some information you told her earlier in the night and a call you made to 911. You kept your head on straight in the middle of a very scary situation. I'm proud of you.”

I put my hand on top of his. “Everybody needs a little help taking care of themselves. But there's one thing I don't understand. I saw the look on your face when you came into the stockroom. You knew there was trouble. What was it?”

“I could tell the place had been reorganized. The shelves, the signs, the hanging costumes. If you took the time to organize it, you wouldn't have left the new costumes broken in the middle of the floor.”

“That's it?”

“That and the plastic pistol you like to wear in your holster. It was lying on the ground.”

“But what did that tell you?”

“It was dark and I saw a gun on the ground. I didn't know it was a toy. It was enough to tell me to get out of there and get help. What I don't understand is, why didn't you call out to us?”

“Black Jack told me it was me or you.” The tears from last night returned, filling my eyes and overflowing down my cheeks. “Where is he now?”

“In jail. Where he'll be for a long time, thanks to you.”

I leaned back against the pillows and thought about what had happened in the past twenty-four hours. Detective Nichols and company had taken Black Jack into custody. I'd given my statement before the police cleared out. The last of my energy had been spent scaling the steps, showering, and falling into bed.

“Do you think your job will understand if you stay away for a few more days while we wrap everything up here?” my dad asked.

“About my job,” I started. He patted my hand, and I said what had been on my mind for the past few days. “When you were in the hospital in Moxie, you said you were willing to give up the store. And everybody keeps telling me how you want to go out around the country and scope out costumes for the shop. It's what makes you feel alive.” I turned my hand over and squeezed his fingertips.

“Margo,” he said, “the heart attack changed my priorities.”

“It changed mine too. I want you to live the life you want to live, but I'm not ready to let the costume shop go. Not for a long time. I want to stay here and run the store.”

“This isn't what I wanted for you.”

“You always said you wanted me to find out what I wanted for myself. This is it.” I leaned forward and told him about my ideas for displays and marketing, about how Kirby
had approached the set designer of his school's drama club about painting backdrops for our windows, and how we could create themed party packs for people who didn't have their own ideas. I told him about Willow and the Conehead costumes and the medical uniforms that I'd learned about from the crime scene cleanup crew.

“You've really been thinking about this a lot, haven't you?”

“I'm a thirty-two-year-old woman who likes to dress in costume. I think running Disguise DeLimit just might be the perfect job for me.” Soot walked across the bed and butted his head into my dad's hand. I looked around the room, confused. “Where's Ivory?”

“Ivory is out front with his owner.”

“Ebony's here?” I asked. I threw the covers back and winced at the pain that shot through me.

“Join us when you're ready. She's not going anywhere.”

I climbed out of bed and glanced in the mirror. I had a black eye—or rather, a purple, green, and yellow eye. There was pretty much only one costume that would hide it. I dressed in a pair of black leggings and a loose white puffy shirt, and then, after brushing my hair, slipped a black leather pirate's patch over my head.

Ebony was in the kitchen with my dad. I threw my arms around her and she squeezed back tightly, as though she thought she'd never have the chance to hug me again.

“Now things can get back to normal.” She looked around and knocked on a wooden spatula. Today her Afro was pulled back into a puff on top of her head. She wore large gold hoop earrings, a latte-colored silk dress, and strappy gold sandals that laced up her calves.

“You're still missing something,” I said. I picked the medallion from the table and hung it around her neck. “
Now
things are back to normal.”

Immediately her fingers rubbed the metal. I thought about Willow's theory and knew, no matter how confident Ebony appeared to be, her medallion gave her strength.

“You never told me where you got that necklace,” I said.

“My mother gave it to me before she died,” she said. She looked at the metal, raised it to her lips, and tucked it into the neckline of her dress. “Now before you go hammering me with a hundred questions, sit down and relax.”

“Why are you both up here? Shouldn't someone be downstairs running the store?”

“Kirby's down there. He said he didn't mind watching over things as long as you were up here.”

Since everything ended last night, I couldn't stop thinking about giving up my job in Las Vegas and moving back to help run the store, but it bothered me that I hadn't bonded with Kirby the way everybody else had.

“You guys wait here. There's something I have to do,” I said.

I found Kirby by the accessory wall, restocking neon fishnets and brightly colored plastic earrings. “Can we talk for a second?” I asked.

“Sure.” He set the box down and looked at me. “Your dad told me what happened here last night. I can't believe Black Jack was holding you at gunpoint.” He looked down at the toe of his black Converse sneaker. “I wish I'd had more of a chance to get to know you.”

“You'll get that chance. I'm leaving my magician's assistant job and moving back to Proper. I'm going to work right here.”

“That's why I'm looking for another job.”

“Kirby, I know I don't have a lot of experience being the boss, but did I do something to offend you?” I asked.

“Offend me?” He seemed confused. “No.”

“Then why do you want to quit?”

“I don't. But I know there's only enough work here for two people, and I figured it would be you and Jerry.”

I couldn't believe how badly our signals had crossed. “My dad's not healthy enough to work, not yet. But when he does make a full recovery, he's going to head out around the country and look for new costumes for the store, like he did with the alien costumes from Area 51. I'm going to need somebody to help me run things here, and I was hoping that somebody could be you.”

“Really? I could use the money,” he said. His eyes lit up.

“Not just a few hours here and there, but something more regular. A permanent schedule. Do you think you could do that?”

“That would be awesome!” he said, and then, as if embarrassed by his enthusiasm, he thrust his fists into the front pockets of his baggy jeans. “Thanks, Margo. You're pretty cool,” he added.

High praise coming from a seventeen-year-old. We shook on the deal, and then he handed me a package wrapped in plain brown paper. “I almost forgot. This came in the store's mail, but it's addressed to you so I didn't open it.”

In lieu of a return address, the package said
$+∆=?
Money plus change equals possibility. Money Changes Everything.

“Anything important?” Kirby asked.

“Yes, I think it probably is.” I started back up the stairs. Halfway up I stopped and watched Kirby pick the dune buggy magazine out of the trash bin, dust it off, and open it to a dog-eared page.

I carried the package to my bedroom and shut the door behind me. I pressed my ear to the door for a few seconds to make sure I was completely alone before I tore into the paper.

Inside the wrapping was a plain white shoe box. I opened
the lid and found a furry brown teddy bear with a note pinned to his chest.

Dear Margo,

This bear needs a home.
(He also needs a costume.)
Welcome back to Proper City!

Love,

Bobbie Kay

I thought about Bobbie and her teddy bears, Tak Hoshiyama and his family's restaurant, and Ebony and Shindig. All over Proper City were people who had decided that a little desert town inspired by fairy tales and designed by city planners was the place they wanted to call home. Even the wealthy families had put down roots in Christopher Robin Crossing instead of moving to a more status-conscious city.

The people who lived here were a lot like me: friends, neighbors, people who wanted to dress up for the sheer fun of it. As long as people lived in Proper City, Disguise DeLimit would be A-OK. And maybe, with a store full of costumes at my disposal, I'd be okay
too.

Columbo

Rockford

Kojak

Nancy Drew (1930s)

Nancy Drew (1950s)

Mr. Moto

Nick Charles (
The Thin Man
movies)

Nora Charles (
The Thin Man
movies)

Ironside

Remington Steele

Cannon

Magnum, P.I.

Bob-Whites: Trixie Belden

Bob-Whites: Honey Wheeler

Bob-Whites: Jim Frayne

Bob-Whites: Mart Belden

Bob-Whites: Brian Belden

Judy Bolton

Tom Swift

Cherry Ames, school nurse

Three Investigators: Jupiter Jones

Three Investigators: Pete Crenshaw

Three Investigators: Bob Andrews

Philip Marlowe

Sam Spade

Hardy Boys: Frank

Hardy Boys: Joe

Miss Marple

Veronica Mars

Hercule Poirot

Shaft

Inspector Clouseau

Sherlock Holmes (classic)

Sherlock Holmes (BBC/Benedict Cumberbatch)

Sherlock Holmes (CBS/Jonny Lee Miller)

Sherlock Holmes (steampunk/Robert Downey Jr.)

Encyclopedia Brown

Mike Hammer

Perry Mason

Ace Ventura, pet detective