Santa' Wayward Elf

by Paige Tyler

  “I’m going to need your name and address,” the cop with the notepad said.

  He’d introduced himself and his partner when they’d sat down, but Sosie didn’t remember their names. She was so numb right now, she could barely remember her own.

  “It’s Sosie.”

  “Sosie what?”

  “Just Sosie.”

  He eyed her suspiciously. “You must have a last name.”

  Sosie shook her head. Elves didn’t have last names. She couldn’t tell the cop that, and she was too exhausted to make one up. Fortunately, Aaron stepped in.

  “Drop it, okay? She said she doesn’t have a last name.”

  The man’s eyes narrowed behind his glasses. “Then I’m going to need to see some ID.”

  “She doesn’t have any on her,” Aaron said firmly. “The girl’s been through hell tonight, so forget about what her name is for now and ask your damn questions about what happened at Saldino’s place, or get the hell out of here.”

  The other cop glowered at Aaron for so long Sosie thought the two men might get into a fight, but to her surprise, he let it go, asking her what had happened at the restaurant instead.

  Sosie wasn’t sure where to start, so she explained about going to see Sammy Saldino and her plan to get him to admit he’d set Derek up at the warehouse. The cop with the notepad raised an eyebrow at that, but wrote down what she said.

  Then she told them about sneaking into the restaurant and about Saldino shooting the guy on his knees, then about Derek’s captain being there, and finally about the other “gang” who’d shown up to fight with Saldino’s men. She didn’t mention Mendike was an elf. They would figure it out soon enough when they saw his ears.

  “And what’s your relationship with Detective Clayton?” the cop asked when she got to the part about Derek showing up to rescue her.

  “I’m…” She swallowed hard. “I’m his girlfriend.”

  It was the first time she’d said it out loud. She prayed it wasn’t the last.

  “What happened when Detective Clayton got there?”

  “He rescued me from Saldino. We were trying to get away when his captain shot him.” A tear trickled down her cheek and she reached up to wipe it away. “I tried to warn Derek, but it was too late. The captain would have killed me, too, but Derek shot him before he could.” Another tear made its way down her cheek. This time she let it go. “I-I don’t remember much of what happened after that.”

  It was a lie. She remembered all of it—every hateful word Mendike had said about Derek. To her relief, the cop with the notepad didn’t press for more. Instead, he thanked her, offering some words about hoping Derek recovered, then led Aaron and Tony down to the far end of the hallway to ask them questions.

  Sosie was glad when they left. She wanted to be alone so she could bury her face in her hands and cry without Aaron or Tony trying to comfort her. They couldn’t comfort her. No one could.

  Inevitably, someone sat down beside her a few moments later. She kept her face in her hands. Maybe if she ignored them, they’d go away and let her be.

  It didn’t work. The person beside her cleared his throat.

  She lifted her head to tell whomever had sat down beside her to go away and found herself gazing into the gentle, blue eyes of the big guy himself—Santa. He was exactly the way the BPs imagined him. Chubby, with frost-reddened cheeks, a white beard and mustache, and a big belly.

  Sosie reached up to wipe the tears out of her eyes so she could make herself presentable, but ended up throwing herself into his arms instead. Santa didn’t say anything as she sobbed, but only held her close. His jacket was cold underneath her cheek, as if he’d come from outside. He’d probably cancelled his post-Christmas vacation to come deal with this fiasco. For some reason, that made her feel worse. She was the one who’d decided to run away not only from life in the North Pole, but her life as an elf. She should at least act like an adult. Instead, she was dribbling tears and snot all over Santa’s clothes.

  He patted her back, waiting until her sobs had all but disappeared before setting her away from him to gaze down at her with kind eyes. “You really love him, don’t you?”

  Sosie wiped her nose with a tissue. She didn’t have to ask how he knew about Derek. He was Santa Claus. He knew everything.

  “I thought as much.” Santa smiled. “You’re just like your mother. She had too much energy to stay cooped up in the workshops, too. Only she didn’t try to run off to the South Pole. She slipped off a broken-down transport sled in the middle of the Dakota Black Hills while on a supply run. She never told a soul what had happened during the two months she was gone, but when you came along, everyone knew.”

  Sosie frowned. Her mother had never told her anything about being stranded in the land of the big people. “I don’t understand.”

  “Sosie, dear, your father wasn’t an elf. He was one of the big people.”

  Her frown deepened. “One of the big people? B-but I thought…”

  “That he was an elf who’d gotten killed in a transport accident. I know. Your mother thought it would be better that way.”

  Sosie swallowed hard. All the elves who’d teased her when she was a kid had been right. Her mother had slept with one of the big people and gotten pregnant. “How could lying to me about who my father was be better for anyone? Unless she was ashamed.”

  “Your mother wasn’t ashamed, Sosie. Of you, or your father. In fact, she loved him very much.”

  Sosie tried to wrap her head around that, but couldn’t. “If my mother loved him that much, why did she go back to the North Pole instead of staying here with him?”

  “Because she wanted you to be around other elves and your elfin heritage.”

  “But I would have been as happy living here among the big people.” Sosie shook her head. “My mother sacrificed her happiness—her life with the man she loved—for me.”

  “Yes, she did. But she didn’t see it that way. And neither did your father. He understood why she wanted to come home. Which was why he waited for her to go back to him.”

  “What do you mean?”

  The corner of Santa’s mouth curved. “That’s something else I’m afraid your mother fibbed to you about, Sosie. She didn’t move to the elfin retirement village when she left. The driver of the transport took a detour to South Dakota and dropped her off, figuring no one would ever know.”

  “But you knew?”

  “Of course.” His smile broadened. “No one can keep a secret from me. I’m Santa.”

  Keeping secrets from him was rather difficult, she supposed. “If you knew, why didn’t you send someone like Mendike after her to bring her back?”

  He frowned at the mention of the security chief. “Back then, when I was more involved in day-to-day operations, there weren’t any elves like Mendike. I’m sorry there are now. It’s one of the first things I’m going to change as soon as I return to the North Pole.”

  At least something good would come of what had happened. “Thanks to Derek’s friends, you won’t have to worry about Mendike anymore.”

  “So, I gathered.” Santa’s frown deepened. “Sosie, there’s something else you should know. Mendike was very much in love with your mother. He was sweet on her for decades, close to a century in fact, but she didn’t return his affection. When she chose your father over him, it changed him, filled him with hatred not only for the man she fell in love with and the rest of his kind, but for you, too.”

  That explained why Mendike had said the things he had. Sosie studied the wadded up tissue in her hands. “Does my mother still live in South Dakota with my father?”

  Santa let out a heavy sigh. “Sosie dear, your mother left the North Pole to be with your father almost sixty years ago. They’ve both passed on now.”

  “Passed on?” She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

  “As soon as your mother left the North Pole and gave up her elfin life to be with your father, she started aging as a huma
n ages.” He reached out to cover her hand with his big mitten-covered one. “But she and your father had a long, happy life together, Sosie, and she never regretted what she had to give up.”

  Sosie nodded, but the tears came all the same. Learning her mother was gone on top of losing Derek was almost too much to deal with.

  Santa slipped his fingers beneath her chin and gently lifted her chin. “Would you do that for this man Derek, Sosie? Would you be willing to grow old and die with him? Would you give up all the things that make you an elf?” He reached up to brush the hair back from her ears. “Like these cute pointed ears of yours.”

  “Of course, I would,” she said. “I would give anything to spend one more hour with him. But it doesn’t matter what I’d give. Derek is so badly hurt, and though the doctors haven’t said anything to me, I know he’s not going to make it.”

  Just saying the words out loud brought fresh tears to her eyes. One trickled down her cheek and Santa lifted his hand to tenderly wipe it away.

  “I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” he said.

  “W-what do you mean?”

  Santa didn’t answer. Instead, he leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead. Then he put his finger to the side of his nose and gave her a wink. “Elfin magic, Sosie. Don’t ever forget it.” He stood up, getting to his feet faster and more nimbly than he should have been able to for a man his size. “I’ll miss you up there in the workshop.”

  Sosie looked up at him, bewildered by his words. “I don’t understand.”

  But Santa was already walking down the hallway.

  She would have chased after him, but right then the door to the operating room swung open and one of the doctors came out. Even though she feared the worst, Sosie hurried over to stand with Aaron and Tony so she could hear what the man had to say.

  “How is he?” she asked.

  “It was touch-and-go in there for a while considering he lost a tremendous amount of blood, but we’ve got bullet out and the bleeding stopped.” The doctor’s mouth curved into a tired smile. “He’s not out of the woods yet, and he has a long recovery ahead of him, but I think he’s going to make it. It’s nothing short of a miracle.”

  Sosie didn’t know why, especially since she was so incredibly happy, but at the man’s words, she burst into tears again. After all the crying she’d done, she wouldn’t have thought there were any left. Suddenly remembering what Santa said about elfin magic, she turned to see if he was still around so she could thank him, but he was nowhere to be seen.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Sosie had to restrain herself from jumping on the bed and smothering Derek with kisses when he finally woke up the next day. She knew he was still too weak for that, so instead she hurried over to the side of his hospital bed and took his hand in hers.

  He blinked up at her with sleep-laden eyes. “Sosie.”

  Even dry and hoarse, his voice was the most beautiful sound she’d ever heard. Tears of happiness stung her eyes and she blinked them back as she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “I’m right here, sweetheart.”

  He looked around, his eyes clouding with confusion as he took in the drab walls and dingy curtains. “Where am I?”

  “You’re in a medical facility.” She sat down on the side of the bed. “You were shot.”

  His frown deepened as if trying to recall what had happened the night before. “By the captain, right?”

  She nodded. “You don’t remember?”

  “I remember hearing him admit to being a dirty cop and trying to kill you, but I don’t remember much after shooting him. Not much of anything that makes sense, anyway.” He shook his head. “I remember someone saying something about elves, of all things. Elves and the North Pole. I must have been hallucinating, I guess.”

  The way Derek was looking at her made Sosie think he was silently asking her to tell him he wasn’t crazy. She could have agreed with him, told him he’d been delusional because of the gunshot wound. He would have laughed and that would have been the end of it. But not telling him the truth when she’d had the chance earlier had almost cost her everything. She wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

  “Sosie, honey, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong.” She tried to give him a reassuring smile, but couldn’t quite manage it, so she caught her lower lip between her teeth instead. “I need to tell you something, but I’m afraid.”

  He frowned again. “Afraid? Why?”

  Tears clogged her throat and she swallowed hard. “I’m afraid if I tell you, it will ruin everything between us, and I couldn’t handle that. Not after almost losing you.”

  He reached up to cup her cheek. “Honey, you could never ruin what we have together. I love you.”

  A tear escaped to trickle down her cheek at the tenderness in his voice. “I love you, too. That’s why I’m so afraid.”

  “Honey, please. I hate to see you cry.” He wiped away the wetness on her cheek with his thumb. “You can tell me anything, you know that. I don’t care what that guy said about you in Saldino’s restaurant. I don’t care what crimes you’ve committed or who you worked for before you met me. All that’s in the past. What matters is what we have right now.”

  Sosie chewed on her lower lip. He thought she was a criminal. It’d be so much simpler to go ahead and admit to that. Certainly a lot easier for him to believe. But she couldn’t lie to him anymore.

  “I’m an elf.”

  The words were out before she realized she’d said them. She held her breath, waiting for him to say something, but he only looked confused. Then he chuckled.

  “An elf? Right. That’s a good one.”

  Sosie frowned. He thought she was joking. “Derek, I’m being serious. I’m an elf. As in one of Santa’s elves. From the North Pole.”

  Derek grinned. “Like the kind of elves I hallucinated about in the alley, right? Aaron and Tony heard me talking in my sleep and put you up to this, didn’t they?”

  Figgy. He still didn’t believe her.

  “You weren’t hallucinating, Derek. I’m an elf. A real honest-to-goodness elf from Santa’s workshop. I was on my way to the South Pole when the transport sled broke down across from the club where you were working. I heard the music and decided to do some exploring while they were fixing the transport. I was having such a good time dancing that I forgot all about my fellow elves and by the time I ran outside, the transport had left. I fully intended to go back home when they sent a rescue party for me, but then I met you and I fell in love, and I didn’t want to go back anymore.”

  Derek laughed again. “Okay, babe, I like a good joke as much as the next guy, but you can stop now. You can tell Aaron and Tony that they got me.”

  Sosie had known he’d be skeptical, but she hadn’t expected him to think she was playing a practical joke on him. There was only one thing to do. Reaching up, she pushed her hair back to reveal her pointed ears.

  Derek didn’t seem shocked by them, or even surprised. “Okay, you have pointed ears.”

  “Elves have pointed ears.”

  He shrugged. “So do a lot of people.”

  “No, they don’t. Only elves have pointed ears.” She sighed, frustrated. “Derek, don’t you remember when you first met me, and how I said and did all those strange things, like talk to the horses in Central Park? I didn’t know what a nightclub or a cab or a hotel were. I’d never been on a subway before and I had no idea what you were talking about when you told me you were a detective. Figgy, I didn’t know what any of the food at the Christmas party was, or what beer and soda were. Derek, I didn’t know anything about your world, except what I learned on The Polar Evening News, and most of that wasn’t accurate.”

  Derek didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. The range of emotions that crossed his face spoke volumes. Amusement was slowly replaced by confusion, which gave way to amazement and finally realization.

  “You’re not joking, are you?”

  She shook her head.

&
nbsp; “You’re really an elf?”

  She nodded.

  “I’ll be damned.” There was awe in his voice. “When I saw your ears the other night, I never dreamed you were an elf. Hell, I didn’t know elves existed.”

  She covered her ears with her hair again, suddenly self-conscious. “You saw my ears?”

  “When you fell asleep on the couch waiting for me to come home the other night. I pushed your hair back to kiss you and saw them.”

  “They didn’t disgust you?”

  “Of course not.” His mouth curved. “I think they’re cute.”

  She blushed. “I was afraid you’d think they were ugly. I’m glad you don’t. Not that it matters, since they won’t be pointy for much longer.”

  “What do you mean? You’re not planning to get plastic surgery or something, are you?”

  “No, of course not. Why would anyone get surgery done with plastic? Santa said if I stay here with you, I’ll have to give up everything that makes me an elf, including my pointy ears. After a while, they’ll be as round as everyone else’s.”

  Derek let out a breath. “Santa, huh? Knowing elves are real is one thing, but knowing he’s real is going to take some getting used to. That’s who the short guy at Saldino’s restaurant works for, isn’t it?”

  “He did.”

  “From what he said, Santa doesn’t seem like the jolly, old elf the stories make him out to be.”

  She couldn’t help but smile at the description. Santa wasn’t an elf, but she didn’t correct Derek. “Actually, he’s as jolly as the stories make him out to be and more. Mendike—the elf you saw at the restaurant—was acting on his own. He had reasons for wanting me back that had nothing to do with Santa.”