by Meg Muldoon
“Pwetty,” she said a moment later.
I smiled at her in the mirror.
“That’s nice of you, sweetie. But I don’t know. I think I look kind of frumpy.”
“What’s fwumpy?”
I stared at myself for a long minute.
“A word that I hope disappears by the time you’re grown,” I said, smiling again.
Hell, maybe the word pretty should go out the window right along with it, I thought.
I glanced back at my little girl.
I hoped that when she was my age, she wouldn’t think in terms of words like that, the way so many had done in the generations before her.
I closed up my compact mirror, dropped it in my purse, and then grabbed Laila’s little hand.
“Are you excited for the parade today?” I asked.
She nodded emphatically, her eyes going wide again.
Doreen was crazy, but maybe she did have a point about the importance of keeping the Christmas in July parade for the kids.
Chapter 17
I grinned bigger than a Jack-o'-lantern and held my hand out in beauty-pageant cupped-hand fashion, waving to the hordes of families lining Main Street. Mr. Claus clutched my other hand and did some admirable acting himself considering that he smelled like he’d spent all night swimming in a vat of beer at Geronimo Brewing Co. A few times, he had looked positively green in the face, and I’d been afraid he would lose his cookies all over my Mrs. Claus costume. But Al managed to hold it together somehow.
We rolled on down Main Street in our massive, over-the-top North Pole float, passing Cinnamon’s Pies and my ornament shop. I spotted Cin and Daniel, along with Edna — who had been kind enough to bring Laila so she could see her mom in the play. My little girl looked so happy seeing me up on the float, her joyful expression alone made the entire play and parade fiasco worth it.
I tossed candy canes to kids in the crowd from a huge bucket of them as we moved on down the street. One little boy, about the age of 9 or 10, was looking particularly cute as he watched us with an expression of childlike wonder. I tossed two candy canes at him and smiled.
He looked down at the candy canes with his mouth open and then back up at me.
Then that innocent expression of childlike wonder disappeared. A moment later, a smart-ass smile drifted across his face.
Then, the little turd closed his eyes and stuck his tongue out at me before turning around and waving his behind at the float with malicious intent.
I didn’t know where his mother was, but it took everything I had to not climb down off the float and drag that little fool by the ear through the crowd until we found her.
Kids today.
It was a long two hours. But eventually, the float pulled up in the auditorium parking lot, and the entire cast stepped down and headed inside. The play was set to start in half an hour, and we had that time to freshen our makeup and dry the sweat stains from our heavy North Pole-inspired clothing.
But I had better things to do with the half-hour.
I grabbed Riley, who was looking particularly dashing today in his Santa Jr. outfit, and we headed for the back offices of the theater. I heard Bob Hamlin speaking on the phone in the office as we walked down the hallway.
A moment later, I was knocking hard on the office door.
“Yeah? Who’s there?”
“It’s Kara and Riley,” I said in a strong voice.
A moment later, the door to the office opened. Bob looked at us with a pissed-off expression that was almost a dead ringer for the one he’d given me when I’d overheard him fighting with his wife.
Looking at him now, it wasn’t such a stretch to believe that he was the one behind all of this.
Not only was he registered for the ballroom dance competition, as Riley had discovered after studying the roster, but he also had easy access to many of the contestants here at the theater. He could have been the one to rig the light fixture to fall, which I imagined must have been intended for Riley. Same for the pair of scissors left out on the stage that Valley nearly stepped on. And as for June, it wasn’t such a stretch to think he could have stalked her, waiting for her outside the Pine Needle Tavern. Same could have gone for Gertrude. A person capable of hurting all of these people probably wouldn’t have thought twice about breaking in and entering someone’s home.
I was sure the ballroom dance competition’s $20,000 top prize would have helped save the theater. And additionally, by hurting all the actors, it created a double motive for Bob Hamlin. Getting the Christmas in July Parade and Play cancelled would cut down on the theater’s losses.
When you looked at it that way, it seemed almost a sure thing that Bob Hamlin had done all of this.
“We need to talk to you,” Riley said in a tone that was as serious as a nine car pile-up on the highway.
“About what?” Bob said in a defensive tone.
“Gertrude Baxter,” I said. “Valley Corson. June McKinney.”
“And Riley Dugan,” Riley said, his muscles seemingly puffing out like the feathers of a peacock.
Bob looked from me to Riley.
“Look, I don’t got time for this,” he said, sliding his phone into his pocket. “And correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t the two of you have something more important to do right now?”
He nodded toward the stage.
Then he brushed past us and headed down the hallway.
I glanced at Riley and realized we were both thinking the same thing.
Bob Hamlin couldn’t get out of this so easily.
We ran to catch up with him as he took a sharp left down another hallway that led to the alleyway behind the auditorium.
“We know the theater’s failing,” I said after him. “Without some big payday, the theater’s going to go under and you and Doreen are going to lose your retirement money.”
Bob picked up the pace, getting to the metal door and pushing it open.
We quickly followed him out into the bright sunshine of the alleyway. He walked angrily, heading for the parking lot at the other end.
“Bob — we know why you did it,” I continued. “Why you hurt so many of the actors. You saw that $20,000 top prize of the ballroom dance contest as a way out. All you had to do was to make sure some of the competition dropped out and you would have a shot at winning it.”
Bob turned around, fire in his eyes.
“Look — I don’t for the life of me know what you twos are talking about,” he said between gritted teeth. “The only reason I signed up for that stupid dance competition was because my mother didn’t have a partner. She’s the one who wanted to enter, not me. And if you’d seen either me or her dance, you’d know that hell would freeze over before either of us won.”
He glared from me to Riley. Then he jabbed me hard in the shoulder.
“And as for the theater goin’ under, that ain’t none of your business, missy. That’s personal, and you ain’t got no right to—”
“Hey! Get your hands off of her,” Riley said, pushing Bob back. He wobbled for a long moment, then regained his footing.
“Don’t you touch me!” Bob said, coming back at Riley. “Don’t you—”
But the rest of that sentence was drowned out by the sound of an engine revving and tire wheels screeching on asphalt.
Chapter 18
“Riley! Watch out!”
I watched in horror as the dark SUV flew down the alleyway, heading directly toward us. It was coming so fast, I didn’t even have a chance to see who was behind the windshield.
Before I knew what was happening, I was running, pumping my legs hard against the asphalt, pushing Riley with all my strength.
He was a lot bigger than me, but I hit him with enough force to send both of us several feet across the alleyway.
I let out a short cry of pain, landing on top of his big frame. A split second later, I felt a whoosh of air as the SUV came within inches of hitting us.
Shortly after, there was the scream.
It was high-pitched, like a wild animal caught in a trap. The next sound was even worse.
A snapping sound. So sickening and unnatural, I felt the maple granola cereal I’d had for breakfast climb up the back of my throat and try to make its way out.
I looked over, watching as the car sped down the alleyway, fishtailing before hooking a right into the parking lot.
Bob writhed on the ground, groaning. I started getting up, but Riley held me in place against his chest, not letting me go.
“Wait, Kara — are you okay?”
He reached up to my cheek, peering at me for a long moment.
I paused before nodding, making sure I really was. My body hurt from the impact of falling, but the pain wasn’t unbearable.
“Thank God,” he said, looking into my eyes.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He nodded.
I stood up and helped him to his feet. A moment later, we ran over to Bob.
There was blood on the pavement and his leg was bent in an unnatural angle that caused the granola to come up the back of my throat a second time.
But Bob was speaking, muttering obscenities in between screams.
Riley knelt down and applied pressure to the wounds.
“Call 9-1-1, Kara,” he said.
I pulled out my phone and quickly dialed the number.
“It all happened so fast,” Riley muttered. “I didn’t get the plate numbers of the car. Did you?”
“Yeah,” I said, holding the phone to my ear and squinting into the bright light of midday. “I got the plates. And then some.”
Riley glanced back at me for a moment.
I listened to the operator asking what the emergency was, feeling sick to my stomach.
Chapter 19
There was no play that afternoon.
Doreen rode in the ambulance with her husband to the hospital, meaning the play had no director. And given the disturbing circumstances, the actors collectively decided that the only right thing to do was to cancel the play.
The turn of events disappointed many of the residents and tourists of Christmas River. But I wasn’t thinking about them that afternoon.
I drove behind Daniel’s Sheriff’s truck, steadying my hands on the wheel as best I could. Riley had offered to drive us, but I insisted on doing it, though I didn’t know why.
Because if I was being honest, the incident in the alleyway had shaken me pretty bad.
In the moments that the SUV was careening toward us; I saw my life flash before my eyes. I saw John and Laila and Cinnamon and my mom and Daniel and my shop assistant Geena and Tiana and Tobias and all the people that had made my life so meaningful over the years. And I’d been overwhelmed with such a feeling of profound love and peace, I felt as if my heart almost couldn’t hold it.
But then, as the car came closer, that feeling of love had dropped away and been replaced with such fear at losing all of it, I’d let out that scream and somehow pushed a man nearly twice my size out of harm’s way.
“What you did back there, Kara? The way you reacted so fast? That was… that was amazing,” Riley said.
I could feel his eyes lingering on me, but I kept mine dead ahead on the road.
“You saved my life,” he said in a serious tone. “That car would have killed us both if you hadn’t…”
He trailed off.
I guess he’d been a little shaken by the whole thing, too. Which spoke to how close we’d come to the edge, considering he was a fireman and often found himself in all sorts of danger for a living.
“Well, you saved my life, too, the other day. I guess that makes us even now,” I said, slowing down and following the Sheriff’s truck into the dance studio parking lot.
Chapter 20
“Judith Duncan? You’re under arrest for the attempted murder of Bob Hamlin, for fleeing the scene of a crime, and for…”
We watched as Sheriff Brightman continued with a long list of crimes and slapped a pair of shiny cuffs on Judith Duncan’s thin wrists. He walked her through the dance studio’s parking lot. There was a look of horror and confusion on her face, as if she had no idea what was happening.
But it was too late to play dumb.
Because the Sheriff’s Office had gotten a hit on the SUV’s plates twenty minutes earlier.
The car was registered in Judith Duncan’s name.
And even more damning, in my opinion, had been what I’d seen earlier in the alleyway as the car came careening toward us.
Though I hadn’t been able to see the driver’s face behind the windshield, something else had caught my eye.
Something shiny hanging from the rearview mirror.
A crystal.
Rose quartz to be exact.
The same type of crystal that had been hanging everywhere in Judith’s dance studio.
It couldn’t have been a coincidence.
Judith had done it. She’d run down Bob and had hurt all the actors. I hadn’t figured out her motive for it all yet. But I was sure that would come to light during Daniel’s questioning back at the Sheriff’s station—
“Oh, no,” Riley said suddenly.
I glanced over at him. His eyes were fixed on the road in the distance.
I followed his gaze, my blood turning to ice when I saw what he was looking at.
It was the black SUV. Barreling down the road like a train off the side of a mountain pass. Heading right for all of us again.
I looked over at Daniel. He’d already seen it and was pulling Judith back toward the safety of the studio.
“C’mon!” he yelled at us.
Riley grabbed my hand, and we ran for shelter. Panic coursed through my veins.
Daniel pulled out his service weapon, aiming for the car. The SUV swung into the parking lot with such force, it nearly tipped on its side.
Riley and I made it to the door of the studio and stood behind the Sheriff.
“Stop right there!” Daniel’s voice boomed. “Stop right there and get out of the car!”
The car came to a screeching halt and idled for a long moment.
Daniel aimed the gun at it and I held my breath.
“Don’t shoot!” Judith screeched. “Please, please, please… don’t shoot.”
The last part came out as a desperate howl.
A moment later, the car’s engine died.
“Come out slowly!” Daniel shouted. “With your hands up!”
The driver’s side popped open. A pair of jean-clad legs emerged behind the car door.
Then, she stood up so we could see her.
I gasped, recognizing her immediately.
She was the young woman who’d been at the hospital. The one with blond hair who had been in June’s room.
Only now, she wasn’t smiling anymore.
“I did it!” she said, holding her hands over her head and stepping away from the car. “It was me! My mom had nothing to do with it. Let her go.”
A small shriek of pain came from Judith’s lips at that. Then more desperate words.
“No, baby. You couldn’t have done this. You couldn’t have…”
But the young woman just nodded her head in shame and started crying.
A few moments later, Daniel was slapping another pair of cuffs on Judith Duncan’s daughter.
Riley and I could only look on in shock.
Chapter 21
“The things people do for money,” I said, shaking my head before adding a thick layer of glitter paint to the wooden ornament’s wintry landscape.
Cin took another sip of her Huckleberry latte, which she brought from the Christmas River Coffee Hut. She’d brought me one, too, although in typical fashion, I’d finished mine long before she’d even had a few sips of hers.
I guess that spoke to our personalities. Cin liked to savor things and take them slow. Meanwhile, I liked getting to things quick and not lingering too long if I could help it.
It had been sweet of her to bring me the coff
ee. And it wasn’t the only thing she’d brought, either.
A few days had passed since Riley and I had been almost mowed down by Alicia Duncan. And though there were still some unanswered questions in the case, Cin had come by to tell me all the details, learned directly from the Sheriff himself.
It turned out that Riley and I had been right — the ballroom dance competition’s $20,000 prize had been the motive all along. Alicia was registered for the competition with her boyfriend — though their names had been left off of the rosters that Judith Duncan had given us. Daniel theorized that though Judith probably didn’t know the full extent of her daughter’s crimes, the fact that she’d deleted her daughter’s name from the roster showed she had suspicions that Alicia was involved somehow. Daniel thought Judith was most likely trying to protect her.
Alicia Duncan, a recent graduate of Christmas River High School, had gotten into a very prestigious dance school back east. However, the Duncan family was short on money to send her there, and although Alicia was talented, her grades had been poor and she’d been unable to secure any big scholarships to offset the costs. Alicia had a history of mental illness, and during questioning, she told Daniel that she believed if she could win the competition, she’d have enough money to go to the school of her dreams. Only, Alicia was paranoid. She went after the people she thought would pose a threat to her chances of winning — namely Riley, Valley, and even her own best friend, June. Many of the actors confirmed that she’d come to the rehearsals a couple of times with June and had been seen hanging around backstage.
After Riley and I had asked for the dance roster from Judith Duncan, Judith had told her daughter we’d stopped by and had asked whether she knew anything about the accidents. Alicia lied and told her no, but knew from that conversation that we were on to her.
Which was why she tried to run us down in the alleyway the next day. Bob Hamlin had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The whole thing was so wild and out there, I almost couldn’t believe any of it was real.