The Puzzle Box

by CC Bridges

  Table of Contents

  Blurb

  Dedication

  Text

  About the Author

  By CC Bridges

  Visit Dreamspinner Press

  Copyright

  The Puzzle Box

  By CC Bridges

  Elementary school art teacher Cole Peters is expecting a lonely Christmas this year while his longtime boyfriend, James Carducci, is on deployment with the Army. However, a box from James contains puzzles that lead Cole on a scavenger hunt through the greatest moments of their relationship. Together with his best friend Liz, Cole works his way through each clue.

  The final puzzle could lead Cole to a gift beyond his wildest expectations.

  To CG. Thanks for dragging me to all those escape rooms.

  “JINGLE BELLS” blared out from Cole’s phone. Not bothering to leave his pillow, he grabbed the phone from his end table and tossed it across the room. Liz must have changed his ring tone again. Today was Saturday, damn it; he should be able to sleep in.

  That was when the doorbell rang.

  Right. Saturday. He was supposed to go shopping with Liz.

  Fuck.

  Cole reached for a pair of jeans, not bothering with the sniff test. Saturdays were his days to slack off. He’d stayed up way too late last night sketching out the idea for the sculpture he wanted to work on later, forgetting he said yes at work yesterday when Liz asked him to go Christmas shopping.

  She was just going to have to deal with an unshowered and half-awake Cole. He opened the door and wrinkled his nose at the sight of her. She looked far too perky for zero fuck thirty in the morning, dressed in a pair of trackpants and sneakers, which she somehow made look fashionable. Liz pushed a red sparkly to-go cup in his hand and came inside.

  “Bless you.” He took a sip and shook his head. “Mocha?”

  “Don’t worry. It’s still got enough caffeine in it to take out an elephant.” She took a sip from her own cup, decorated with silver and gold ornaments. “I know how much you hate mint chocolate, so I spared you the candy cane latte.”

  Which must be what was in her cup. Cole made a gagging noise. “I don’t know how you can drink that.”

  “Helps keep me in the holiday spirit.”

  “Bah humbug,” he muttered. “Give me five minutes. I don’t even know where my hairbrush is.”

  He left her in the living room while he went to ransack his bathroom counter. Cole had a system, and it worked during the week when he had to be up early to get to Wilson Elementary School on time. Right now he couldn’t even find his electric razor.

  That had somehow ended up on the floor—he probably knocked it over yesterday and didn’t bother to pick it up. Cole ran it over his cheeks a few times and grabbed one of James’s baseball caps. Brushing his hair wouldn’t stop it from sticking up in all directions, and now at least he looked fairly presentable.

  Liz was in the process of sorting through his fridge when he came out. “You do plan on grocery shopping at some point?”

  He didn’t see the need without James around. “The place downstairs is fine for takeout. Come on, I thought we were going Christmas shopping, not pointing out my failings.”

  She made a face. “I’m worried about you, Cole. You’ve been looking tired. And this does not inspire confidence.” She gestured to the state of the kitchen, including the sink full of dirty dishes.

  “You know how it is. Getting close to the holidays. Grades are due. Kids are hyper. I honestly can’t wait until it’s all over.” He had found his coffee cup again and started to sip at it, trying to avoid looking in her direction.

  “And it has nothing to do with James not being home for Christmas?”

  Cole went to the counter and grabbed his wallet and keys. “It doesn’t matter. Not like I can change that. I’m going to have to deal.”

  Like he’d been dealing for five years. James had been deployed overseas almost immediately after graduation. Even knowing it would take James away from him, Cole had always given James his full support. But who was he to question James’s desire to follow in his father’s Army footsteps? If he hadn’t had his mother’s insurance money, Cole might have been tempted by that ROTC scholarship, too.

  Cole knew they were solid. He loved James, and James loved him. But this was the longest they’d been apart and the first Christmas James wasn’t going to make it home.

  “You have friends, you know,” Liz said, breaking Cole out of his reverie.

  “Friends who get me up at the crack of stupid on a Saturday to hit the mall.” He grinned at her.

  “If I didn’t, you’d never get your shopping done.”

  Cole grabbed his jacket. This winter had been unseasonably warm for December in New Jersey, so much that it didn’t quite feel like Christmas except for how soon it got dark in the afternoons. The trees had died, and he didn’t even have the promise of snow to look forward to. It left him feeling depressed and out of sorts. “Let’s go.”

  He stepped out of his doorway and nearly tripped over a box in the hallway. Liz knelt down to look at it. “It appears you have a package. Early Christmas present?”

  Cole picked it up and double-checked his name and apartment number were correct. “Huh. That’s strange. I have to pick up packages in the mail room. They won’t leave them outside my door.” It wasn’t safe, as Cole’s stumble proved.

  “Maybe your neighbor was being helpful.”

  “Maybe.” Cole tucked it inside his door and locked it behind him. “Lead on. The mall awaits.”

  FIVE HOURS and two more coffees later, Cole made it back to his apartment and collapsed onto his couch, his mind still replaying “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Seriously, how many times did they need to play that song? He’d managed to get some shopping done, but unlike Liz, he didn’t have a premade list. A gift needed to speak to him. It had to match the person he was buying for. That made shopping more of a project for him.

  At least he got the staff secret Santa gift picked out—a scented candle basket for Mrs. Sharp, the science teacher. That one always weighed on him until the last minute.

  His belly rumbled, and he groaned as he sat up. They’d skipped lunch since the lines at the food court were ridiculous. Cole might have some bread that wasn’t too stale to make into toast.

  He shuffled into the kitchen and stuck the bread in the toaster. There should be some peanut butter left. He grabbed the nearly empty jar from the cabinet and winced. Liz was right. He really needed to go to the grocery store.

  He just hated grocery shopping without James. James always made it fun somehow. Doing it alone seemed boring.

  The toast popped, and he remembered his package. Cole spread the peanut butter and took his completed sandwich over to the living room. The return address was military—definitely from James, then. But this was too early to be a Christmas present—unless James didn’t think he’d get something to Cole in time otherwise?

  Cole licked the last crumbs of the sandwich off his fingers and tore open the box, ripping through the tape with his bare hands. Inside he found… another box?

  He rocked back on his heels as he pulled it out. It was a solid wooden box with a metal clasp and a combination lock keeping it shut. A Post-it note affixed to the top read, I hope you remember your high school gym locker combination.

  Cole laughed. Of course he did.

  He’d been a scrawny fourteen-year-old. Cole didn’t fill out until later, after years of working with nontraditional art materials and volunteering to do the carpentry for the theater kids. His first year of high school he kept his head down and used all his skills on being invisible to get in and out of places before the bullies noticed him.

  He was usually good about getting out of the
locker room. Cole could speed-dial the combination lock and grab his stuff before anyone else made it out of the gym. Of course he’d change elsewhere—there was an unlocked janitor’s closet a few doors down that no one but him seemed to know about.

  But one day he wasn’t fast enough.

  A bunch of guys followed him in, so they were behind him as Cole took out his clothes. He froze, knowing he wasn’t going to get away with sneaking out without changing first.

  “Oh, excuse me.” One of the bigger ones walked by Cole, shoving Cole backward into the locker behind him. The metal dug into the small of his back, and Cole winced. He didn’t dare say anything in response.

  “Do you even talk, bro?” Another blocked Cole’s path out. He was trapped between the two much taller guys.

  “Maybe he likes it.” The first guy knocked Cole’s feet out from beneath him, sending him to the floor, his stuff flying everything. “Oh, I’m sorry, did you lose something?”

  Shit. Cole had been so careful. He grabbed his clothes, considering making a run for it when he heard someone shout from the other side of the locker room.

  “Hey. I think you guys dropped this.”

  Cole looked up to see some kid standing on top of the row of lockers. He hefted a softball in one hand and threw it—hard—so hard it ricocheted off the row of lockers like a bullet. The bullies ducked for cover. “Run!” he shouted.

  Cole didn’t have to be told twice. He hopped over the bench and headed out of the locker room, following the kid down the hallway and into the janitor’s closet Cole always used. Maybe he hadn’t been the only one to notice.

  The other kid threw the lock on the door and laughed. “They won’t find us here.”

  “I know,” Cole said. He smiled. “I’m Cole. Thanks for the save.”

  “James.” Even then James was gorgeous, with his big blue eyes and dark hair. He had a sweet smile that twisted something in Cole’s belly. “I don’t like bullies.”

  “Me either. Do you think I can avoid them the entire year?”

  “I’m willing to help you try.”

  That was the first time Cole ever met James Carducci. The memory made him smile now as he stroked the rough wood of the box. “James, what are you up to?”

  Cole remembered the combo perfectly—13-25-13. He spun the dial, and the lock popped open. How James had managed to find a lock with that same number was beyond him. Had he somehow kept Cole’s old lock? Cole lifted the box, not knowing what to expect.

  Instead of a gift, he found a flashlight, a baseball, and a puzzle piece. Cole took out the puzzle piece first and frowned at the expanse of blue it showed. The ocean, perhaps? This wasn’t much of a Christmas present.

  He left the box on his couch and decided he could get some studio time in before he completely lost the day. Cole dashed off an email to James—a simple I got your package. I have no idea what it means—before grabbing his stuff and heading out. He knew it could be a while before getting a response. James didn’t always control his computer time while in the field. Cole never asked for specifics. He didn’t want to know.

  Funny, in a way his shitty high school experience helped make him a better teacher. Cole didn’t abide bullying in his classroom, and even though he was only the art teacher and didn’t see the kids all the time, he did his best to be approachable and look for things other teachers didn’t see.

  He always wanted to make James proud, it seemed. Cole left his apartment with a fond smile.

  HE GOT home late, his shirt soaked with sweat and his hands covered in white dust. Cole had been playing with stone, and he just might have gotten the hang of it. Now he had to take what he imagined and sketched and turn it into a sculpture. That was the challenge.

  His phone buzzed as he entered, alerting him to a new email. Cole tapped his email app, grinning. James. Had to be.

  Cole, it read, You’ve just received part one of your Christmas present. It’s going to require some brainpower to unravel, and I know how much you hate that.

  “Ha ha.” Cole dropped onto the couch, almost hearing James’s words as he read them.

  Honestly I hope it’s fun for you. Cole could see James’s worry there. James often had a way of second-guessing himself, which Cole had been trying to break him out of for years. If you can’t figure it out, send me an email, and I’ll give you a hint. Love you always.

  “Always,” Cole said out loud. He stared at the box again, spinning the baseball in his hand. What in the world could this mean? Maybe it would be better if he looked at everything in the morning with fresh eyes.

  Two hours later he sat up in bed, his heart racing. Cole shook away the dream, not sure exactly what had startled him. But as he hopped out of bed in the darkened apartment, something obvious occurred to him.

  Maybe he should have turned on the flashlight from James’s package. It seemed like a silly thing, but he wouldn’t put it past James to hide something within it.

  Cole stumbled over his jeans and winced as he ran into the doorjamb. Perhaps doing this in the middle of the night was a bad idea. He found the couch by feel and then patted around until he touched the box and the flashlight.

  Cole flicked it on, only to find it wasn’t a flashlight. James had sent him a black light.

  “What the hell?” Cole shook his head. “James, if this is some bullshit about making sure I bleach the sheets….” He spun the flashlight in his hand, watching what lit up around the room. The light shone the brightest on the baseball.

  The baseball.

  Cole took it out of the box and spun it around, only to find a series of numbers had been written on it. He hadn’t seen the numbers before—they were visible only under the black light.

  “James.” He went hunting for his phone, found it actually attached to the charger, and pulled up Google. Cole punched in the numbers and associated punctuation, making sure to get it right.

  Google told him they were coordinates. Cole laughed when he saw the location.

  It looked like Liz was going to get an early wake-up call tomorrow. Cole wasn’t going on this trip by himself.

  First he shot James a little note. I got it!

  “ARE YOU serious right now?” Liz greeted him with a yawn when Cole knocked on her door. She lived a few blocks away, so it wasn’t really weird to show up here. Cole had texted first. He wasn’t a complete idiot.

  He’d also brought coffee, and donuts with red and green sprinkles.

  She took a donut and bit into it. “I thought you had enough of shopping yesterday.”

  “I have. But we are not going shopping.” Cole set the box of donuts on the table, carefully shooing away Nichole’s cat from the contents. He all but bounced on his toes. “That box from yesterday? It’s like a scavenger hunt from James.”

  He turned around to find her grinning at him.

  “This is the happiest I’ve seen you in a long time. Where are we headed?”

  “Central Park.”

  “Damn it, James. All the way in the city?” She shook her head. “Do the trains even run on a Sunday?”

  Cole pulled out his phone. “I have the schedule here. Are you in?”

  Liz put down her coffee and took Cole by the shoulders. She narrowed her eyes, and she looked super serious. “Of course I’m in. But you have to promise me we’ll go grocery shopping afterward. You have to take better care of yourself.”

  She was right. Cole had gotten so caught up with work, the holidays, and missing James that he was starting to run himself ragged. “All right.”

  “And,” she said, looping their arms together, “we’re going to need a Christmas tree for your apartment.”

  “I draw the line at a real one.”

  “Spoilsport.”

  EVERYONE WANTED to be in the city around Christmastime. The tree, the store displays, ice skating at Rockefeller Center. It made for a busier train than Cole expected. The station had been hot and stuffy, and it was a relief to come out into much cooler air.

&nbs
p; “Do you know where you’re going?” Liz asked after Cole looked at his phone for the fifth time.

  “I put the coordinates into my Maps app. I’m following that.”

  He did look up enough to notice the view. Even Central Park had been decorated for Christmas. There would be lights on the water later tonight. But Cole wasn’t here to enjoy the atmosphere or get into the holiday spirit. He wanted to find whatever James had left him.

  As they continued on a path deeper into the park, Cole had a sudden memory that hit him so hard he nearly stumbled. “Did I tell you we had our first kiss here?”

  Liz grinned. “Ah, that explains the road trip. How did you manage that?”

  “Senior trip to the museums, with a picnic lunch in the park. We managed to slip our chaperones….”

  Funny how he’d forgotten about it until this moment. They had so many other firsts after that.

  It had been an awkward few months, Cole remembered. He’d just started to realize he liked guys just as much as girls, maybe more. And the guy who’d caught his eye the most was his best friend, James.

  So when James suggested they go off on their own after tossing their lunch in the trash, Cole only nodded, too lovestruck to think it might be a bad idea if they got lost.

  It was a clear spring day, with a sky as blue as James’s eyes. Heat rose on the air, feeling more intense for being in the city instead of the suburbs. James had taken off his jacket, wearing a short-sleeved shirt beneath, and Cole could not stop looking at his arms, admiring the muscles revealed and the way James’s shoulders stretched out his shirt. Cole itched to touch.

  They moved onto a shady path, and James shivered. Cole swallowed. His first instinct was to put his arms around James, to warm him up that way. Instead he balled his hands into fists to keep them at his sides.

  “So what’s the plan?”

  “Plan?” James wouldn’t meet Cole’s eyes. Cole didn’t like that. Maybe James had noticed that Cole was staring a little too much? Standing a little too close?