Ник Сайнт: Purrfect Sidekick. Purrfect Deseit. Purrfect Ruse [calibre 5.14.0]

The moment she was gone, the four remaining members of the Poole family all shared startled looks.

“You don’t really think she’ll do it, do you?” asked Dad.

“I’m afraid she just might,” said Mom.

“But I don’t want to own a bunch of apartments,” said Dad. “I just want to have my own home back, just the way it was before it got destroyed.”

“And you will,” said Mom. “No way is she going to get permission to build an extra couple of floors. And besides, even if she did, we’re the owners, honey. My mother can’t apply for a permit without our permission.” She cast an uncertain look at her daughter. “Can she?”

“I’m not sure,” said Odelia. “She’s not a co-owner, is she?”

“No, she’s not,” said Dad decidedly. “She may live with us, but we never signed anything over to her. We’re the owners, so she doesn’t have a say in this—none.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” said Chase, always the voice of reason in any family crisis. “First off, she’ll never get permission, not without the say-so of the owners of the house, and not without the council breaking its own zoning laws, and secondly, if by some small miracle she does manage to get a permit somehow, you’ll simply put a stop to it as soon as she does.” He shrugged. “Who’s paying the bills for this renovation? You or she?”

“Why, we are, of course,” said Dad, looking a little less glum already.

“See? Problem solved. It’s the person who controls the purse strings who decides.”

“Though it would be nice to make some extra money,” said Mom suddenly, causing her husband to give her a startled look.

“Not you too!” he cried.

Mom smiled and patted her husband on the arm. “Don’t worry, honey. I’m kidding!”

Dad put his hand to his heart and said, “I think I just had a heart palpitation.”

“Do you want me to get you a doctor, Dad?” Chase quipped.

But Dad wasn’t smiling. In fact he looked like he always did when Gran came up with another one of her cockamamie ideas. And somehow Odelia had a feeling the fever hadn’t yet passed. And it wouldn’t pass until the house that Mom and Dad were building had actually been built—which hopefully would be very soon!

Chapter Three

We were in Odelia’s office, far removed from the hubbub that tends to engulf the Poole family. Usually Harriet and Brutus were also in there with us, but unfortunately the white Persian and her black mate had left us for calmer climes in the form of the home of Marge and Tex’s next-door neighbors the Trappers, and now resided with them—or at least I think they did, as I hadn’t seen much of our two friends since they’d moved on.

Odelia was slaving away at her computer as usual, working on some article for the Hampton Cove Gazette, and Dooley and I were resting peacefully in a corner of the office, where Odelia had organized a fun cozy little nook for us to do what we do best: nap!

Suddenly the door to the office opened and a woman entered whom I’d never seen before. She was stylishly dressed, stylishly coiffed, and was also very tall, with long legs clad in nylon stockings under a short black skirt. All in all she reminded me of a model.

Odelia looked up from her computer and gave her new visitor a smile. “Hi, there. What can I do for you?”

“I’m not sure,” said the woman, and laughed an uncertain laugh, then took a seat at the desk. “A friend of mine says you’re the person to see when you find yourself in some kind of big trouble—and I’m definitely in big trouble.”

“What trouble would that be, Mrs…”

“Barn. Erica Barn, though for the last three years I’ve gone through life as Erica Strauss.”

Odelia blinked. “Strauss as in…”

The woman nodded. “I’m Carl Strauss’s wife.”

“He’s a golfer,” I whispered for Dooley’s sake.

“A golfer? You mean like Gran?”

“Exactly like Gran. Though I don’t think Gran is in Carl Strauss’s league. Mr. Strauss is a professional golfer, which means he plays golf for a living.”

“Is he any good?”

“He’s the best. At least when he’s not running around cheating on the woman he happens to be married to at the moment.”

We both turned to Mrs. Erica Barn, who appeared to be the latest Mrs. Strauss—or rather the soon-to-be ex-Mrs. Strauss if I interpreted her words correctly.

“I want to divorce Carl,” said Erica Barn, “only he doesn’t want to.”

“Your husband doesn’t want a divorce?” asked Odelia, obviously surprised.

“He says he still loves me and wants to give our marriage another chance. Only I don’t want to give it another chance. As far as I’m concerned I’ve given it too many chances already, and every time Carl has let me down. So I’ve decided that enough is enough.”

“I think if you really want to divorce Carl there’s nothing he can do to stop you.”

“He can make it very difficult for me,” said Erica, “and that’s exactly what he’s doing. He told me he’ll fight me every inch of the way.”

“Look, if you want out, you get out. It’s that simple. Nobody can force you to stay married against your will.”

“I know, but at what cost? He’ll try and drag my name through the mud. He’s going to destroy my career if I let him. And then he’ll take me to the cleaners and make sure I’m left with absolutely nothing. I’ll leave the marriage with only the clothes on my back.”

“What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a model,” said Mrs. Barn. “Only I haven’t modeled since I married Carl, and I’m not getting any younger, so if I want back in, it’s going to be tough going. And with Carl talking every modeling agency into blackballing me, it’s going to be even harder.”

“I see,” said Odelia. “I’m very sorry about that, Mrs. Barn.”

“Erica, please.”

“But I don’t see what you want me to do. I’m a reporter, not a lawyer, so…”

“I know, but I was thinking that maybe you could go and have a word with Carl? Someone needs to get it through that thick skull of his that this marriage is over, and that I’ll never go back.”

“You want me to talk to Carl.”

“Carl is not an unreasonable man. He’s simply surrounded by a lot of unreasonable people. Someone needs to get through to him. Someone who’s on my side.”

“And you want me to be that person for you.” Odelia looked understandably skeptical.

Erica nodded. “Look, I understand that this is a very unusual request, Miss Poole.”

“Just call me Odelia.”

“But frankly I’m desperate. Carl has canceled all my credit cards, he’s cut me off from my own bank account—I’m currently staying at an Airbnb in town, paying with what little cash I have left, but if I don’t go back to work soon I’ll be broke. Only I’m in some kind of limbo right now. The agency that used to employ me also works for Carl—for his line of clothes and his line of footwear. So they don’t want to hire me as long as this divorce thing isn’t settled. You see what kind of predicament I’m in right now? Carl is a very influential person, even in my industry. He’s worked as a celebrity model, and knows all the key people. So I’m persona non grata as long as Carl doesn’t let me go.”

Odelia clearly took pity on the woman, for she nodded. “Where is Carl staying?”

“He has a house near the beach,” said Erica, looking extremely relieved. “Oh, Odelia, you don’t know what this means to me.”

“I can’t promise you I’ll succeed. But I’ll have a word with your husband, and I’ll do my best to convey the message that he needs to accept that the marriage is over.”

“He cheated on me, you know. That’s why I left him. And it wasn’t the first time either. He keeps hooking up with all these different women. I know he thinks I don’t know. That he can do this behind my back. But I know. Of course I know. I mean—everybody knows.”