by Rose Pressey
She chuckled and batted her eyelashes. “I certainly will.”
“See, Elly, I told you she was a lovely woman,” Tom said.
My mouth dropped open. Now it seemed as if I’d told Tom how cranky she was.
“I am lovely,” she said with a glare.
I shook my head.
“Do you mind leaving the door unlocked? I’ll have someone else come by here soon and check for anything out of the ordinary, if that’s okay with you?” Tom asked.
“That’s completely fine,” she said in a sweet voice.
She wouldn’t have done that for me, but I digressed. She waved as she walked back to her office.
“Now what do we do, smooth talker?” I asked.
“I can’t help it if I have a way with people.” Tom wiggled his eyebrows.
“You certainly do,” I said with my heart beating a bit faster.
“I think we should head over to that hotel immediately and see if that man is there.”
“I think you’re right,” I said.
Tom and I got into the car and headed out toward the hotel. I’d been to this hotel with him before. But not in that kind of way. It was early on when we’d just met, and I’d gone to visit him to discuss the closing of my café because of my bad magic spells. I guessed people would say we’d come a long way since that visit. But I’d had no idea we’d be making a trip to this place again.
Tom focused his attention on the road ahead. He seemed lost in thought. I wanted to ask again for more details about Mildred. But he seemed so focused on his thoughts that I figured I would give it a little bit more time.
Soon we arrived at the hotel. Tom pulled the car into the lot. The place hadn’t changed much since the 1950s. It now had quite the retro vibe. Tom pulled the car up close to the office.
“How do you think you’ll find this guy?” I asked.
“I’m going to tell the owner that this is official police business and if the man is staying here then I need to know which room.”
“Yeah, well, I suppose that would work,” I said. “As long as you use your ‘charm.’”
“It had better work or I don’t know what we’ll do,” he said as he got out.
Chapter 9
I hurried out of the car to join him in the office. He probably wished I would stay behind in case I started asking questions again like I had for the innkeeper. We stepped into the tiny office space and up to the counter. No one was there so Tom rang the bell.
“I hope they’re not missing too,” I said.
Just then a shuffling noise sounded and a man came from around the corner.
“May I help you?” he asked.
Tom pulled out his badge and flashed it at the man. The man didn’t seem impressed. He just stared at Tom.
“We’re looking for a man who may be staying here. We’re not sure of his name, but we have a description,” Tom said.
“What does the man look like?” the hotel owner asked.
“He’s about five foot seven, beady-eyed, and balding,” I said.
“He would’ve checked in probably yesterday,” Tom said.
“Yes, we had someone check in fitting that description.”
“Can you tell us which room he’s in?” Tom asked.
“Well, I could tell you but he’s not here now,” the man said.
“He checked out already?” Tom asked.
“He sure did. Early this morning. He seemed to be in a hurry too.”
“Did he say where he was going?” I asked.
“No, he had no reason to tell me that.”
“Was anyone else with him?” Tom asked.
“Yes, there was a woman with him when he left. She wasn’t with him when he checked in though,” the hotel owner said.
“Was she blonde with a ponytail and black eyeglasses?” I asked.
“Yes, that was her.” He nodded.
“Oh, my gosh. He kidnapped her. We have to call the police right away,” I said in a panic.
The hotel owner stared at me with wide eyes.
“Do you have any surveillance video that would show that?” Tom asked.
“I don’t think that they were ever in the area where the camera is pointed. I can check though,” the hotel owner said.
“Thank you. I appreciate that,” Tom said.
The man went around to the back to work on getting the footage.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
“You call the police and tell them what we know. I’m going to call more investigators,” Tom said.
I wasn’t sure what good calling the police would do, but if that was what he felt was necessary… After all, he was the expert in this situation. I pulled out my phone and dialed the police.
“I need someone to come to the hotel right away,” I said when the officer answered. “I have proof now that my friend didn’t leave on her own.”
“And what is this proof?” the officer asked.
“The hotel manager saw her with a man here at the hotel.” I rushed my words.
“Sounds pretty much like she left on her own if you ask me. Was she screaming? Or trying to get away from him?”
“Well, I’m not sure,” I said. “I didn’t ask that.”
“Maybe you should’ve gotten all the facts before you called me,” he said.
This guy was really making me angry.
“Look, if she was leaving with him she wouldn’t have left her belongings. I demand that you come over here and do something.”
“I can’t do anything,” he said and hung up the phone.
“What did the police say?” Tom asked when he noticed I was off the phone.
“They refused to do anything because they think she left on her own.”
“That’s fine, but I’m taking over jurisdiction of this area. The Organization will supersede them,” Tom said.
“That’s probably for the best,” I said. “So what’s the plan now?”
“We’re heading back over to the cottage to look for fingerprints and we’re going to check out the surveillance video here as soon as the owner gets it.”
The owner poked his head around the corner. “Sorry, folks, it’s going to be a bit before I can get that video. Computer’s not working.”
This wasn’t the news we’d hoped for.
“Sure,” Tom said. “Let me know if you can’t get it to work. Maybe I can have someone look at it for you.”
“It always does this. I’ll get it going soon,” he said.
“One more thing,” Tom said. “What was the man’s name?”
“Oh, yes. I’ll never forget it. Kris Kringle.”
Tom and I exchanged a look.
“As in Kris Kringle otherwise known as Santa Claus?” I asked.
“That’s the name he gave,” the hotel owner said before disappearing around the corner again.
“That can’t be the man’s real name,” Tom said.
“It certainly doesn’t help us much. What should we do now?” I asked.
“Perhaps we need some magic to help us get through this. Could you get us something with some spells? We need all the help we can get.”
“I can do that,” I said. “I can whip up something and come back over to the cottage.”
“Sounds like a good idea. I’ll drive you back over to the café.”
Tom and I stepped out of the hotel lobby. As I headed over toward the car I stopped in my tracks. Rory had pulled into the parking lot. I recognized Rory’s truck right away and I realized that he was staring right at me. The fact that I was at a hotel with Tom would not look good. I wasn’t even sure if Rory would stop and talk to me. I waved to him but he didn’t wave back.
“That didn’t look good,” Tom said.
Rory turned his truck around in the parking lot and then pulled back onto the road.
“I think he is really upset,” I said.
“It didn’t look good, huh?” Tom said.
I pulled out my phone and sent Rory a text
message.
Tom and I are investigating. It’s not how it looked.
I didn’t want him to answer while driving though. Yet I desperately wanted to hear from him.
“Just take me back to the café,” I said as I got into the car.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Tom asked.
I shook my head as I buckled my seatbelt. “Not really. I just need to focus on the magic right now.”
I would have to explain to more to Rory later. Surely he would understand when he heard all the facts. Why was he even here in the first place?
Soon we arrived back at the café.
I unbuckled my seatbelt. “I’ll call you as soon as I have the magic prepared.”
Tom nodded. “If I can’t come back and get you I’ll send somebody for you.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I hope you explain to me what this is all about soon.”
“As soon as we have everything worked out you’ll know everything.”
I shook my head and got out of the car. Tom watched as I walked to the front door. It would be difficult to work in the magic for this when I knew I had the lunch crowd coming soon. I looked around for anything out of the way, but I didn’t see Rory’s truck. I still wanted to know why he had been at the hotel. Had he known that I was there? Or had he just happened to drive by and see us? Tom waited until I walked into the café. Mary Jane ran over to me.
“I was beginning to panic and think that you weren’t coming back,” Mary Jane said.
“Everything is okay, I suppose,” I said around a sigh.
“I know that answer isn’t true. What happened?” she asked.
I peeked out the window and saw that Tom was pulling away from the curb.
“Well, Mildred isn’t there and we can’t find her. Even worse is we’ve managed to track down the strange man, and apparently, she was with him. His name is Kris Kringle.”
“The actor?” Mary Jane frowned.
“Same name, different man. We assume he gave a fake name,” I said.
“Apparently,” Mary Jane said around a chuckle.
“We don’t have any specific proof that Mildred left with him on her own. It seems that way though. We’re trying to find it now.”
“Wow, I can’t believe it,” Mary Jane said.
“I came back so that I can make some magic to help out.”
“Well, I suppose that will help some. I just hope that she’s okay.”
“Me too,” I said. “Plus, I don’t know exactly what spell I need to cast and what food to make it in.”
“I can’t help with that, but I wish I could,” Mary Jane said.
“There’s something else that happened,” I said as I walked back toward the kitchen.
“What’s that?” Mary Jane asked as she rushed behind me.
“Rory saw me at the hotel with Tom,” I said as I pushed the door.
“Oh, no!” Mary Jane said.
“Exactly,” I said with a click of my tongue.
“What happened?” Laura asked as she peeked in the tiny order window.
I hadn’t realized that she had heard my conversation with Mary Jane. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to fill her in on my situation with Rory.
“I need to make magic to find Mildred,” I said, changing the subject.
“Can I help you?” Laura asked.
I hated to tell her that this was one time she probably needed to stay away from the magic spells.
“Thank you for the offer,” I said. “If I need any help I’ll let you know. Right now, if you two could just take care of the café that would help a lot. I have to hurry up with the magic and get it to the detectives.”
“How many other detectives are there?” Mary Jane asked.
“They’re on their way, so I’m not sure. But I think quite a few will show up,” I said.
“This is more action than Mystic Hollow has seen in a long time,” Mary Jane said.
I hurried around the kitchen as I slipped on my apron. This was a lot of pressure. I hoped I didn’t make a mistake. When I was under pressure I had a tendency to get a little clumsy with things. And now was not the time for that. I hurried over to my spellbook. Surely I could find something that would work well for the situation. This was one time that I definitely didn’t want to take a chance on winging it.
I pulled the giant book down from the shelf. My legs and arms wobbled from the weight of it. I plopped it down on the counter with a bang. Flipping open the cover, I frantically searched for something, hoping that the right one would jump out at me. I leafed through the pages, but nothing was right. Everything was just too vague. I needed something more specific. If only Grandma Imelda were here. She would know exactly what to do. Maybe I could call her.
She was probably relaxing on the beach sipping a piña colada right now. At least that was what I envisioned. Most of the time she was on the golf course or hanging out with her friends. I was glad she was having fun.
She totally deserved it after running the café for so many years. That was why I didn’t want to bother her right now. I could handle this. I could figure it out on my own. Taking in a deep breath, I tried to calm down. If I focused and concentrated on the spells, I was sure that the right one would come to me. Hoping that this would speed up the process, I closed my eyes and thought about what needed to happen. When I opened my eyes, the pages were moving as if being flipped by unseen hands.
I watched in awe for several seconds until finally they stopped on a spell. I studied the page. The spell didn’t look familiar. Maybe I’d just overlooked it in the past. The spell didn’t specify exactly what it was for, but I assumed that somehow or some way I had been led to it. This was the one. I just had that feeling deep inside.
I had to put this spell in the food. The spell instructed that it would be best if baked into a cake. That seemed perfect because I knew all the detectives would love my spiced double chocolate fudge cake.
Apprehension bubbled inside me. This baking project was important, and I simply couldn’t make a mistake. I rushed around the kitchen grabbing the ingredients and a huge mixing bowl so that I could get started right away. Adding all the ingredients for the cake came first. The magic spell would be the last thing that I would add.
I took my time mixing so that the ingredients would be perfect to add the magic to. Even though I was in a hurry it was extremely important that the magic was in there correctly. I peered down at the batter. With chocolate that looked like silk, I knew that it looked just right. It was time to add the magic spell.
I walked over and grabbed the correct spices for the spell—a dash of magical cinnamon and a pinch of enchanted nutmeg. One by one I added them to the mixture. Taking out my favorite magic-producing wooden spoon, I began stirring. Now it was only a matter of minutes until the spell would start working. The sparks would catch fire.
Sure enough, after a minute, lights flashed around the room—red, blue, green, and yellow. The wind picked up. Everything was working just as I had hoped.
Soon the sparks and wind died down and I knew it was time to put the cake into the oven. I picked up the pans and hurried over to the oven. Once it was inside the oven, I wiped my hands on my apron and surveyed the room. I smiled at my accomplishments.
Laura was at the grill making burgers. She seemed a bit frustrated with the amount of food that she had to get ready.
“I don’t know what to do about the spells,” she said in a panic.
“I have everything made out for all the burgers and you just have to put the spells on the food. Everything is marked in the containers right there.” I pointed beside the grill.
“Are you sure that will work?” Laura asked.
“Well, for the spells it will. Things like cake, pies and everything has to be baked in.”
“If you say so,” she said.
“Just trust me.”
Laura set the plates of food on the order counter and I pulled the cake out of the oven. Once it cooled I would add
the icing. Though I doubted making the cake perfect was Tom’s top priority right now. He just wanted the magic spell to help find Mildred. I hoped it worked.
I felt bad for leaving Laura and Mary Jane to handle all of this on their own. Maybe I could have Tom pick up the cake and then I could stay. I wanted to see if they’d made any progress with finding Mildred, but it was more important that I help Mary Jane and Laura.
I tried Tom’s phone, but he didn’t pick up. “Tom, the cake’s done. Can you come pick it up?”
Mary Jane stepped into the kitchen. “Wow, you look frazzled.”
“I need to get the cake to Tom, but I don’t want to leave you all here either,” I said.
“We’re just fine here, Elly. Lunch is over now. Please go there now. Tom needs you,” Mary Jane said.
I sighed. “Okay. You’re right. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Once the chocolate icing was on the cake, my phone rang. Tom’s number was on the screen. Thank goodness.
“Are you ready for me to pick you up?” he asked.
“Did you get my message? I thought maybe you could just come by and get the cake. We’re really busy here and I thought I should stay.”
“We’re not busy.” Mary Jane leaned close and spoke into the phone so Tom would hear.
“But I need your help, Elly,” Tom said.
“Why do you need my help? I just figured I’d bake the cake and that would be it.”
“That’s not the case at all,” he said.
This was very strange. Why did he need my help?
“Can we wait until the crowd dies down?” I asked.
“There is no crowd,” Mary Jane said into the phone again.
I swatted her away.
“Oh, there’s no time to wait,” he said. “We have to do this right away.”
“But there’s a lot of people out there.” I opened the little window and took a peek into the dining room.
“Mary Jane said there weren’t customers right now,” Tom said.
Only a couple of customers remained. That was odd for everyone to be gone already. Usually they lingered longer.
“Where did everyone go?”
“What do you mean?” Mary Jane asked from over my shoulder.