Covert Exposure, a Nick Spinelli Mystery

by Valerie J. Clarizio

  A soft feminine voice rang in his ears, “Good afternoon, Santa. How are you today?”

  Spinelli glanced in the direction of the voice to find Shannon, his little Santa’s helper. The sight of her caused his heart to beat out of control. Never in his life had he seen anything as beautiful as the sight he saw now. He slowly eyed her from top to bottom starting with the big candy cane striped bow that held her thick long wavy ponytail in place. Some of her loose red curls dangled down over the side of her face and around her neck, resting softly on her shoulders. The white furry trim of her scoop neck velvet dress lay upon her chest just low enough allowing him to catch a glimpse of the tops of her small pale breasts. A wide black belt equipped with a big shiny gold buckle snuggled her dress to her slim waist, causing him to take note of her hourglass figure. Lowering his eyes further, he saw how the white furry trim on the bottom of her dress fell several inches above her knees exposing her slim but shapely legs.

  He raised his eyes to meet hers. He locked in on her gaze. She took a step toward him, pulled a frown, and squinted as if trying to figure out his identity. He quickly released his gaze. He suddenly felt the need to keep his identity a secret from her.

  Spinelli watched as Shannon approached the line of children. She extended her arm toward the first little boy in line and he took her hand. “What is your name?” she asked the boy as she walked with him toward Spinelli.

  “Matthew.”

  Shannon and Matthew walked up to Spinelli and stood right in front of him. Matthew looked up at him with his big brown eyes. Spinelli easily detected the fear in them. With as scared as Matthew seemed, Spinelli knew Matthew’s fear level couldn’t begin to compare to his own as he realized he didn’t know the slightest thing about playing Santa or what to do with Matthew and the other fifty kids in line behind him. Spinelli flashed his confused gaze in Shannon’s direction and almost as if she read his thoughts, she took charge of the situation. She looked down at Matthew. “Do you want to climb up on Santa’s lap and tell him what you want for Christmas?”

  Matthew nodded his little head. Shannon reached down, scooped him up, and placed him on Spinelli’s lap then she crouched down in front of them and kept her eyes aligned with Matthew’s. Spinelli still wasn’t sure what to do. He could feel the sweat beading up on his upper lip and temples. His perspiration caused his face to itch even more under his strap-on beard. It took every bit of strength he could muster not to tear the beard off his face and scratch his chin raw.

  Shannon shifted her gaze from Matthew’s to Spinelli’s and quietly mouthed, “Ho, ho, ho.”

  Shear panic ran through his veins as she coaxed him along. He looked down at Matthew, sucked in a deep breath, and let it out with a mighty and cheerful “Ho, ho, ho.” The authenticity even surprised Spinelli. Matthew’s eyes went wide and a smile grew across his chubby little face as he began to rattle off his extensive Christmas list.

  Four hours later, the mother of the last child in line worked desperately to coax her daughter to climb up on Santa’s lap, give him her Christmas list, and get her photo taken. After several failed attempts, the woman simply scooped her daughter up and planted her on Spinelli’s lap. The little girl shifted her terrified blue-eyed gaze to Spinelli’s and upon contact, she immediately started wailing. She slid down his leg to get off his lap but not before she peed her pants. Spinelli sprang to his feet as he realized what happened. The wetness penetrated through his plush red velvet pants causing his pant leg to stick to his skin. He wanted to swear a blue streak but contained himself in front of those who remained in the Santa village.

  Chapter Ten

  Spinelli sauntered toward the employee locker room. Though anxious to lose the hot, itchy, and wet Santa suit, he slowed down to trail the elves and eavesdrop. Maybe he’d hear something he could use to nab the killer. But no, they droned on about semester finals and griped about having to work at the mall for the holidays. Poor kids, he thought as he did a mental eye roll.

  Once in the locker room, Spinelli kept listening while he peeled off the Santa suit. Still nothing important. He glanced at the soggy trousers. Damn this is disgusting. What the hell is wrong with kids today? With any luck, the drycleaners would be open in the morning and he could get the urine-polluted Santa suit cleaned before his shift tomorrow night.

  He stuffed the suit into his duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder. He rounded the corner of the locker row to find the elves and a couple of security guards still talking among themselves. They stopped talking when they saw him looking at them. “Need something?” one elf asked.

  Spinelli eyed each elf again while his mind worked to place each of them in their respective spots in the photo Shannon received in the mail. He needed something from them all right. He needed to know what they knew about the murders of Hudson and Reed.

  Spinelli shrugged. “No, not really. Just on my way out.”

  “You’re a little young to be playing Santa Claus, don’t ya think?” one of the young security guards teased.

  He shrugged again. “A job’s a job. Just need a little extra cash.”

  “Well, you must be desperate for cash to take a job as Santa,” one elf said.

  Spinelli tilted his head to the side and cocked a brow. “Why do you say that?”

  “Well, it’s not like you enjoy it. You’re the worst Santa I’ve ever seen,” the elf commented as he chuckled. “You looked stiff as a board all day and when that kid peed on you I thought you were going to have the holy big one.”

  Spinelli chose to ignore the elf’s comments, chuckled, and continued to chat with them and the security guards. He wanted to get to know them a bit and find out if they knew anything about the murders of Hudson and Reed. As he probed them, he couldn’t help but notice the nervous glances being exchanged between the elves and security guards, as if trying to communicate a pact of silence. Finally, one of the security guys broke off. “We need to get back on watch. See ya’ll later.”

  Spinelli followed the security guards and the elves out of the locker room to find Shannon waiting outside the door. She waited for the others to pass by before she spoke to him. “What are you doing here?”

  “Playing Santa.”

  “Yes, I see that. But why?”

  “Because I want to and it’s fun being with all the children,” Spinelli choked out.

  Shannon rolled her eyes. “Yeah right. You really looked like you enjoyed yourself and knew what you were doing today,” she commented sarcastically.

  Shannon stopped talking and eyed Spinelli. He watched her as her pale cheeks turned even whiter and as her eyes began to flood with tears. Her breaths grew quick and shallow. “Oh my God,” she whispered. Then she threw her hand over her mouth.

  He took a step toward her and she quickly stepped back. He took another step toward her and again she stepped back, pressing her back against the wall.

  “Stay away from me! Just stay away.”

  “What? What’s the matter?” he asked.

  “You’re here to keep an eye on me, aren’t you? You and Detectives Marsh and Walker still think I had something to do with the murders, don’t you? They were my friends. How could you even think that?”

  “No, that’s not it at all. Just let me explain,” Spinelli said as he took another step closer to her.

  Shannon lifted her hand and placed it on his chest, stopping him from stepping any closer to her. Her lips quivered and the tears that flooded her eyes began to roll down her pale cheeks. “Don’t.”

  Shannon’s knees grew weak and she slowly slid down the wall until her butt rested on the floor. She wrapped her arms around her knees and buried her face between her chest and knees smothering her sobs.

  Spinelli dropped his duffel bag to the floor and took a seat next to her. He slung his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his side. He didn’t know what else to do. Comforting crying women did not come easily to him.

  After several minutes of uncontrollable crying, sh
e appeared to pull herself together. She lifted her head and used her sleeve to wipe away the remaining tears that clung to her cheeks.

  Without a word, she rose to her feet and began walking away from Spinelli. He sprang to his feet, slung his duffel bag over his shoulder, and kept pace at her side. ”Let me walk you to your car.”

  “I didn’t drive here.” Her eyes focused ahead, not on him.

  “How did you get here?”

  “Bus,” she replied coolly.

  “The bus,” he repeated.

  Shannon stopped in her tracks, perched her hands on her hips, and stared at him. “Yes, the bus. You can never get a parking spot in the ramp this time of year so it’s just easier to take the bus to the front door. Is that okay with you, Detective Spinelli? Are you finished with the inquisition? Can I go in peace now?” Her tone was so sharp it made his blood run cold.

  Spinelli found himself stammering. He’d never known a woman to push him to the state of mumbling before and he didn’t like it. He didn’t like it one bit, yet though she appeared to want nothing to do with him, he felt a compelling need to make sure she got home safely. “You know what...can we just start over? All I want to do is make sure you get home safely. Something is going on here and until I get to the bottom of it I just...I just want to make sure you’re safe so I’d like to drive you home, okay?”

  Shannon pressed her hand over her mouth. She inhaled deeply and stared down at the floor. Then she lifted her gaze to meet Spinelli’s, dropping her hand to her side. “I’m sorry I was so rude. This whole thing is just a little more than I can handle right now. I really liked Roland. He was such a kind and sweet old man. I can’t think of any possible reason why someone would kill him. It just doesn’t make sense. He was kind to everyone.”

  Spinelli absently pressed his fingers to his chest as if trying to shield his heart from the stabbing pain penetrating from Shannon’s grief-filled eyes to his. “I’ll get to the bottom of this. We’ll get the answers. But for now, please just let me drive you home.”

  Shannon nodded and walked along with him toward the mall’s parking ramp. Silence and darkness filled the mall. Only a few store attendants lingered about as they put the closing touches on their stores. Spinelli eyed them all as he walked by wondering if any of them knew anything about the murders or if they, themselves, had anything to do with the murders of Hudson and Reed.

  From the second floor balcony, Spinelli looked down toward the Greek restaurant on the first floor. A Closed sign hung in the window. The two elves and two security guards he talked to earlier appeared to be waiting by the retractable metal security gate blocking the entrance to the restaurant. He slowed his pace and watched the men and the entrance to the restaurant. He took in every detail. After a moment, the gate opened, exposing a heavy-set dark haired, dark skinned man. Spinelli figured the man stood about five-foot-ten and weighed about two-hundred and fifty pounds. He placed his age at about fifty-five or so. A little muscle trailed the heavy-set, dark-haired man. The muscle consisted of two tall well- built younger gentlemen dressed all in black, maybe in their early thirties. Both men appeared to be of the same descent as the older gentleman, perhaps Mediterranean. The elves and security guards entered the restaurant and the musclemen closed the gate behind them.

  “That’s Loukas the Greek. He owns the restaurant,” Shannon said as Spinelli continued to stare down at the restaurant entrance.

  Spinelli shifted his gaze to Shannon. “What?”

  “That guy you were staring at is Loukas the Greek. He owns the restaurant,” she repeated.

  “Oh. I wonder what they’re doing in there after hours.”

  Shannon glanced down toward the restaurant. “They play cards.”

  “Really?”

  Shannon shrugged. “I’ve heard the security guys talk about how they play poker in there after hours.”

  “Hmm,” Spinelli replied as he continued to walk toward the parking structure. He desperately wanted to check out their game, their business, but he put that on hold to deal with his immediate priority, Shannon, and getting her home safely.

  Chapter Eleven

  Spinelli parked his truck in the only vacant stall in the parking lot of Shannon’s apartment complex. He cut the engine and glanced about the area surrounding the two-story brick building. When he deemed it safe, he turned his attention to Shannon who sat silently in the passenger seat staring through the windshield.

  “Shannon,” Spinelli whispered.

  The second he said her name her body flinched and she gasped for air.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, but you’re home.”

  “It’s okay. Thanks for the ride,” she replied as she nervously reached for the door handle.

  Spinelli flung his door open and slid out of the truck. He raced to the other side of the vehicle and reached Shannon’s side just as she shut the passenger door. “I’ll walk you to your door.”

  “Thank you, but you don’t need to. I’ll be fine,” she ensured.

  Spinelli simply ignored her and continued to walk with her. When they reached the front door Shannon ran her fingers over the numeric touchpad and the door unlocked. He followed her through the doorway and the common area, which housed a wall of mailboxes. He continued to follow her, as she turned left in the long narrow corridor. She paused and looked back at him. “I’m fine. You don’t need to bother yourself any longer. I think I can manage from here.”

  He strapped on his lady-killer grin. “It’s no bother.” He continued to follow her to her apartment door.

  Shannon fumbled with her key. Her nervous hands struggled even more as she tried to insert the key into the slot.

  Spinelli reached over and took the key from her hand. “I’ll get that for you.”

  The soft quick brush of her hand against his caused the blood in his veins to heat up just short of boiling.

  Spinelli turned toward the sound of a door opening behind him to find a little old lady standing in the doorway of the apartment directly across the hall from Shannon’s. “Is that you dear?” the woman asked.

  Shannon spun around to face the woman. “Yes, Mrs. Finch, it’s me.

  We didn’t wake you, did we?”

  “Oh no dear, me and Sister are just watching the news. Well, Sister’s watching, and I’m listening. I heard you come home so I thought I’d just give you my grocery list tonight and see how your day was at the mall. Were there lots of children visiting Santa today?”

  Spinelli watched Shannon smile as she spoke with Mrs. Finch. “Yes, the mall was packed and the line of children was endless for a while.”

  Mrs. Finch smiled. “Oh, what fun, I love this time of year.”

  The conversation paused and Spinelli continued to look at Mrs. Finch as she stood in the doorway in her pink bathrobe belted at the waist. Small black curlers held her steel-gray hair in place. Mrs. Finch’s eyes widened and her face lit up as if someone turned a light bulb on within her. She stepped out of the doorway and into the hall and turned her head from Shannon to Spinelli. “Did you say ‘we’ dear?”

  Before Shannon could reply, Mrs. Finch turned her head back in the direction of her apartment and yelled with her fragile voice. “Sister, come quick. Shannon’s got company and he smells like a hot one.”

  Spinelli couldn’t help but smile at Mrs. Finch’s comment and when he flashed his eyes in Shannon’s direction, he caught her eye roll. The shuffle of feet drew his attention back toward Mrs. Finch’s apartment door. Another little old lady surfaced in the doorway. Not only did she look just like the first little old lady, she dressed the same as well.

  The second little old lady flashed a smile in his direction and then looked at Shannon. “Who’s your friend, dear?”

  Shannon gestured toward Mrs. Finch and her sister and looked at Spinelli, “Nick Spinelli, these are my neighbors, Sally Finch and Sarah Knight. Mrs. Finch and Mrs. Knight, this is Nick Spinelli.”

  Mrs. Finch reached toward Spinelli and he
took her small cold boney shriveled hand in his. “I’m pleased to meet you, Mrs. Finch.”

  Mrs. Finch’s smile grew, nearly stretching from ear to ear. She let out a giggle and turned her head toward her sister. “Large warm hands, smells good, does he look as hot as he feels and smells?” she asked in a stage whisper.

  Mrs. Knight flashed a wink in Spinelli’s direction, smiled, leaned toward her sister, and whispered, “Oh, he’s a looker alright, tall, dark and handsome. Mysterious eyes, the kind a woman can get lost in. Looks to be pretty fit too, Sister. Too bad you can’t see this one, he’s a delight.”

  Spinelli kept most of his attention focused on the sisters but he took a glance at Shannon out of the corner of his eye. A bright shade of red began consuming her pale colored skin rising upward from her neck.

  “Come on, Sister, let’s leave these kids alone to go about their business.”

  “We don’t have any business,” Shannon immediately piped up. “I mean Mr. Spinelli just gave me a ride home from work. We’re not really...”

  Mrs. Finch interrupted Shannon mid-sentence. “Shannon, dear, why don’t you share some of those delicious gingerbread cookies you baked with your friend? She’s an excellent baker, Mr. Spinelli.”

  He couldn’t help himself, “I’d love to try them. Gingerbread cookies are my favorite.”

  Spinelli wished the ladies a good night and turned to follow Shannon into her apartment.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Shannon asked him. “I’m getting my cookies.”

  He reached for the door behind him and heard the sisters whispering.