Hide and Snoop (The Odelia Grey Mysteries) (19 page)

I found Mother waiting
for me in the lounge area. She was seated on a wicker chair, sipping something from a Styrofoam cup. The ladies seated there earlier were gone.

“They have this wonderful earthy tea here.” She gestured with the cup towards a small kitchenette I hadn’t noticed before. “It’s right over there. Make sure you grab a cup before you leave. It’s very cleansing.” Next to her were two bottles of water. “Here,” she said, handing me one. “They only have a drinking fountain for water, so I always bring my own. The place isn’t fancy-ass like other spas, but I guarantee you’ll be a new woman when you leave.”

The robe barely covered my bulk. With one hand, I held the front together. With the other, I took the water. “Just so I leave alive.”

Mother fixed me with steely eyes. “If you die here, it won’t be by my hand.”

She led me through the steamy glass door. Once on the other side, I felt as if I’d entered a different world—someplace foreign and primal. The bowels of the spa weren’t large or fancy, but the beige wall tiles and floor radiated cleanliness. There were very few people.

To my left, two hot tubs were sunk into the granite floor. The whirlpool jets made them look like soup cauldrons bubbling over a medium flame. Open showers, divided only by small partitions with no doors, were in an alcove just behind the tubs. To my immediate left and to my right were chest-high walls. Behind them were massage tables. On one table, a naked African-American woman was lying facedown while her body was scrubbed hard by a Korean woman wearing nothing but a black bra and black boy-cut
panties
. On another, a bulky blond was on her back, receiving the same treatment from a different attendant. Nearby, other attendants, dressed the same, stood ready.

Mother nudged me and indicated the scrubbing process. “You should try that sometime. It can hurt like hell if you’re not used to it, but when they’re done, your skin feels like a newborn’s ass.”

Up ahead and to the far right was another pool, but no steam came from this one. Straight ahead were two rooms with glass doors and windows, which I took to be steam rooms or saunas. Running down the middle of the entire area was a low granite trough with faucets at the end. Next to one, a small, naked, elderly Asian woman sat on a low plastic stool and scrubbed herself. While I gawked, she put down the scrubber and picked up a plastic bowl. Filling the bowl with water from the trough, she splashed it over her body. The water ran off her onto the floor, where it disappeared into one of the many floor drains. The place was heavy with humidity and a natural earthy odor.

“Shut your mouth, Odelia, or you’ll catch flies.”

The words startled me. For a moment I’d forgotten I was with Mother. I snapped my gaping mouth shut with an audible thud.

“Put your robe and water here,” she directed, pointing to a set of cubes, each with numbers corresponding to our keys. “But take your large towel so you’ll have something to sit on in the steam room. And you might want the smaller towel for wiping your face. The key ring goes on your wrist or ankle.”

Without hesitation, Mother stripped off her robe. She wasn’t as large as I was, but her torso was plump and without much definition, like a fire plug of soft cream. She walked away from me and headed for the showers without so much as a pretend blush, but not before I noticed a long, jagged scar running along her right side from her breast to the back of her waist.

Everyone was naked, except for the attendants … and me. I’d never been naked in a public place before. It even took me a while to get used to being naked under a sheet while getting a massage. Then again, the robe I was wearing wasn’t exactly meeting in the front, so it’s not like I wasn’t already offering up a peep show. After slipping the key ring around my wrist and clipping my hair up, I yanked off the robe, stashed it in the cubby marked with a 52, and followed Mother before I could change my mind. She said she had things to tell me—life and death things.
My
life and death things. Now was not the time to succumb to body issues and modesty.

After we showered, Mother stepped into one of the hot tubs. Holding the railing, I stuck a toe in. It was super hot and smelled funny—not bad but organic, like rotted leaves in the woods. I wrinkled my nose.

“It’s a special tub,” Mother told me. “The water is infused with mugwort tea. It’s very cleansing and good for all kinds of things. The other is a mineral hot tub.”

I glanced over at the other tub. Sitting in it were the two women who’d been in the lounge area upon my arrival. I took a few more steps down into the bubbling hot water, followed by a quick plunge, realizing the sooner I was under water, the less public my body was.

“Okay,” I said once I was seated on a submerged ledge next to my friendly neighborhood contract killer, “what’s this cloak-and-dagger stuff about?”

Mother glanced around to make sure no one was within earshot. “A new assignment hit my desk yesterday,” she told me. “One I think you should know about.”

In spite of sitting in a boiling pot of tea, a chill ran down my spine. “Someone after Steele again?”

“No, not him.”

“Dev Frye, the Newport cop?”

She shook her head.

I racked my brain. “It’s not William Proctor you’re after?”

Again with the slow back and forth of her head. “Think closer to home.”

I squeezed my brain together to get some juice out of it. Then panic struck. “Please say it’s not my husband.”

Mother slapped the water with the palm of her hand. “For God’s sake, Odelia, I thought you were smarter than this, much smarter. But you’re either dumb as a post or living in denial. It’s
you
, you little ninny,” Mother hissed above the sound of the bubbling water. “Someone hired me to kill
you
.”

twenty-two

My natural instincts were
confused. They didn’t know whether to choose fight or flight. Instead, I simply slid under the hot water, hoping it was all a bad dream. When my need for oxygen outweighed my need to forget, I emerged, sputtering and gasping for breath. Mother was still beside me. She rolled her eyes as I wiped the water from my face with a hand.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to harm me!” I finally squeaked out.

I edged away from her, wondering how fast I could haul my big ol’ behind out of the deep hot tub. Suddenly, being nude didn’t bother me. To save my skin, I’d be willing to run bare-ass naked down Olympic Boulevard all the way to downtown LA. Then again, being naked was as helpful to me as it was to her. There was no place Mother could hide a weapon that wouldn’t be inconvenient or painful. She could try to drown me, but there were people just a few feet away.

“If I were doing my job, you’d be dead already.”

She moved towards me. I flinched.

“Relax,” Mother said, moving past me in the tub. “Let’s cool off and hit the steam.” She caught my eye. “Unless you prefer the dry sauna.”

I had trouble finding my voice but finally managed to push out an answer. “No, I prefer steam.”

“Good, me too.” As she got out of the tub, Mother pointed to the tub on the far side, the one not steaming. “The tub over there is a cold water plunge,” she explained. “But I prefer to cool off under a shower. That one is difficult to get in and out of with aging knees.”

I nodded in understanding. My knees weren’t bad, but they were not as sturdy as they used to be. Together we returned to the showers, this time taking cooler ones. After, I grabbed my towel and trailed after Mother as she led the way into the steam room.

I love steam rooms. I could have really gotten into this place had it not been for the worry of death hanging over me like an anvil suspended with thinning rope.

The steam room was empty. We put our towels down on the tile bench directly across from the door and put our butts on them. I noticed Mother never took her eyes off the door. It reminded me of Willie. Like Mother, he was always aware of his surroundings. I guess being a criminal will do that to you.

Mother got the ball rolling. “Seems, Odelia, you’ve stuck your nose into something you shouldn’t have. But that’s the norm for you, isn’t it?”

I shot her a worried look.

“Don’t be so surprised,” she said. “After what happened the last time we met, I’ve kept a casual eye on you and your shenanigans. I didn’t want you messing up my business again.” She chuckled. It was deep and came from a dark place. “Frankly, I’m surprised no one has put a hit out on you before. Must be common knowledge that Proctor watches over you.”

Her terrifying words were warring with the relaxing nature of the herbal steam. My body didn’t know whether to slum into a tranquil stupor or break out in hives. I mopped the sweat from my face with the small towel. “Who wants me dead?”

“I can’t tell you that, but I will tell you that I’ve decided not to take the job.”

“Because of Willie?”

“For starters. I have no desire to tangle with him. He said he’d hunt me down if any harm came to you the first time we met. I’m playing it safe and assuming that threat is nonperishable. Besides, I like you, and I try only to take jobs that make the world a better place. Can’t see where that applies to you and your nosiness.”

“Why are you telling me this if you’ve decided against the … um … assignment?”

“Because I wanted to warn you.”

“Then tell me who wants me dead.” My voice started to climb like a child reciting scales.

Mother turned her eyes from the door and fixed them on me. “If it got out that I told you the name of my client, how long do you think I’d stay in business? Confidentiality and trust are major parts of my reputation.”

She leaned close to me. Our bare, wet shoulders touched. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t point you in the right direction and let your busybody nature take its course. It’s someone mixed up in this mess you’re in right now, not someone from the past.”

I took several deep breaths of the hot, muggy air, hoping it would clear my head as well as my sinuses. Next to me, Mother remained quiet. My life had been in danger before, but if someone was willing to hire Mother and her band of henchmen, what would stop them from finding another hit man to finish the job? Mother’s warning wasn’t stopping anything, just postponing it. And if they had killed the Holts, why were they outsourcing my death? Were they too close to me? Too easily suspected? Or…?

Without turning to Mother, I asked, “Did you kill Connie and Hank Holt?”

“I had a job to do.”

My rising hackles overpowered my personal fear. I looked Mother straight in the eye and nearly spit on her. “Turning a small child into an orphan is not a job.”

“There were two parts to the job I turned down.” Mother didn’t seem at all put out by my indignation. “I was to kill you
and
the child.”

My heart almost stopped. I placed a hand over my chest and took several deep breaths. The thick air wouldn’t go down. I needed to get somewhere cooler. I stumbled out of the steam room into the hot tub room, but it still felt claustrophobic. I felt someone take my arm and guide me towards the showers. It was Mother.

There were a couple more women taking baths than when we had gone into the steam room. They looked at me with curiosity but kept to themselves.

Mother stuck me under a shower nozzle at the far end of the shower area and turned on the water. It was ice cold against my hot skin. I jumped out of the way of the spray, but she pushed me back in and adjusted the water so it was cool but not cold. One of the attendants in a black bra and panties approached us.

“The lady, she okay?” she asked.

“She’s fine,” Mother assured her. “I think it was a bit hot for her in the steam room.” After receiving a small smile and nod from me, the woman bowed and left us.

“Listen to me, Odelia,” Mother whispered with urgency. “Listen to me if you want to live and save the child.”

When she saw I was listening, she shut off the water. “Here’s your towel. Dry off. I’ve got more to say.”

Following orders, I dried off, grabbed my robe and water, and followed Mother back out to the lounge area. She directed me into a corner of the stage area with the jade floor. I slid down the wall to the floor, which was warm and toasty but not hot, and drank down half the bottle of water in one go. Mother left and returned with two cups of the tea. We were the only ones around.

“Here,” she said, handing me one of the cups. “This will help.”

With shaking hands, I raised it to my mouth. It was hot and tasted like it had been steeped with potting soil, but I took several sips, one after the other. There were a bunch of blankets and small square pillows stacked against a nearby wall. Mother grabbed one of the blankets and placed it over me.

“It will be too hot,” I protested.

“Trust me, you’ll love it. It’s like returning to the womb.”

Obviously she’d never met my mother.

Once I was covered, Mother slid down to the floor, her back to the wall, next to me. There was something unsettling about being taken care of by a killer, but I didn’t raise a fuss. She had more to tell me, and my panic over her news had settled enough to understand that the better I listened, the more likely Lily Holt would live. I undid my hair clip and combed through my wet hair with my fingers, waiting for more information.

Mother sipped her tea before starting. “The Holts are not who you think they are. They’re definitely not that girl’s parents.”

“I know that. Lily was adopted.”

“I’m not so sure about that either.”

The tea in my cup sloshed. “What are you saying? That Lily was kidnapped by the Holts?”

“Not by them specifically, but she’s the key to something sinister. Why else would someone want a three-year-old dead?” Mother looked into my eyes. “I don’t kill kids, Odelia. I got an order to take the Holts out. After doing some due diligence on them, my crew did just that.”

“Did you also ransack their house?”

Mother looked surprised. “The Holt house? No. Might have been the people who hired us.”

“What about Erica Mayfield?” I took more tea. Mother was right—it was soothing, and my body was as relaxed as a noodle, even if my brain was buzzing like a downed power line. “Were you supposed to kill her, too?”

“Yes, but she disappeared. We were watching the Mayfield house in case one or both showed up there. The Holt woman finally did on Friday night. She let herself into the house, and that’s when we got her. The sister, or anyone else, was nowhere in sight. We did the job and left. Then Saturday evening I got a call to take you and the kid out—two job orders that didn’t set well with me.”

“I’m the one who found Connie’s body.”

She studied my face. Her own remained impassive. “Must be why they want you out of the way. They’re probably afraid you know something.”

“All I know is Connie dumped Lily on Erica and took off. Then Erica dumped the kid on
me
and took off. No one told me why or for how long.”

Mother indicated my cup, which was now empty. “Want a refill?” I held it out to her. With a labored grunt, she got to her feet and went to the kitchenette. While she was gone I tried to piece things together, but I couldn’t. It was just too bizarre.

“But here’s the really odd thing,” Mother said, holding out my refill to me. “I was about to turn the job down when another order came in on Sunday afternoon. This was just for you. They said to forget about the kid. They’d take care of her.”

I threw off the blanket and struggled to get to my feet. It’s not that I was drugged or anything, but I’m not very agile. Once on the ground, it took an effort to right myself. Think big turtle on its back, with four limbs flailing about. Finally I was on my feet and hurrying for the lockers, not caring that my hair was wet or that my robe was flapping open.

It took me several frustrating tries to get the key into the lock on my locker. I finally managed by holding the hand with the key steady with my other hand. I stripped off the robe and dressed as fast as I could. Mother opened a locker a few doors down and did the same.

“You have to tell me who hired you,” I said to Mother as I struggled into my clothes. “I don’t give a damn about your reputation.” My voice was rising again. Mother flapped a hand in my direction, indicating for me to tone it down.

I looked around inside the small locker. “Where in the hell are my shoes?”

“In another locker,” Mother reminded me. “You can’t wear them in this part of the spa.”

I shot her a dirty look before I started to root around in my bag for my cell phone. I had to call Zee. “Are you going to tell me the name of your client or not? Lives are at stake here.”

“I’ve done my good deed for the day.” She started to leave.

Crazed with urgency, I pulled a sharp nail file from my bag. Grabbing Mother by the arm, I slammed her against a locker and held the sharp point to the hollow in her throat. “Tell me who hired you.”

She looked into my eyes and presented a slow smile of nasty teeth. Then it disappeared and I found myself on my knees, holding my throbbing wrist. The nail file was now in Mother’s hands. I never saw it happen.

“You see this?” she said to me, her voice low and dripping with venom. She lifted her sweater and indicated the large scar I’d noticed earlier. “Fourteen years ago, my husband gave me this with a hacksaw. A year later, he was dead, and my career as a cleaning lady began.” She threw the nail file to the floor. “I gave you a second chance at life, Odelia. I am giving you a chance to save that child. Don’t bite the hand of the killer who set you free.”

I pulled myself to my feet and shook out my wrist. It was bruised but not broken or sprained. “Lily’s with a friend of mine. If they go after Lily, they might harm them both.” I choked down bile. “They might kill them both.”

“Then do something about it.”