Santa's Posse

by Rosemarie Naramore

  “Miles and I… What?” she prompted.

  She winced dramatically. “Okay, like I said, I know it can’t be true…”

  “What can’t be true? Jill, spill it.”

  “People are saying that you and Miles sort of, well, had a rendezvous behind one of the circular clothing racks in one of the stores—I forget which one.”

  “What?” She was aghast. “A rendezvous? Define ‘rendezvous’.”

  “I … don’t want to,” Jill said, glancing away with embarrassment.

  “Oh, heaven help us!” Kellie cried, remembering the day before when Miles had pulled her behind the clothing rack, in hopes of escaping detection by Dolores. “Nothing happened.”

  “You mean…” She gulped. “You two did have a rendezvous?”

  “Of course not! We were walking together. He spotted Dolores and tried to pull an evade and hide maneuver.”

  “That doesn’t sound like him,” she mused. “He has the patience of a saint.”

  “You haven’t been around him when he’s sick,” she muttered.

  “Miles is sick?” Jill gave her a suspicious glance. “Wonder how that happened?”

  Kellie glared at her. “Not the way you’re imagining,” she assured her. “If you’ll remember, he and I were together, within the close confines of his truck, and on the way to your house…” Her words trailed off and she gave Jill a dirty look. “Technically, it’s your fault he’s sick.”

  “You mean, because I invited you to Thanksgiving…”

  “Yeah,” she said, knowing her argument was weak at best.

  “Okay, like I said, I didn’t believe the rumor, but, I have to admit, hearing that the two of you were hiding together behind a clothes rack, well, it doesn’t look good.”

  “You know what isn’t good?” she said pointedly. “It’s not good that people in this mall don’t have better things to do than spread rumors and engage in idle gossip. These people don’t even know me!”

  “You’re right,” Jill said. “They don’t know you, which is why you should probably refrain from hiding behind clothes racks with our esteemed commander.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right about that. But in my defense, it wasn’t my idea. And just so you know, our evasive maneuver lasted all of thirty seconds and certainly didn’t involve… Well, you get the drift.”

  Jill smiled reassuringly. “I know that. Having worked with you over the past several weeks, I know better than to believe you’d do anything to jeopardize your position as mall manager.”

  Kellie’s eyes widened in horror. “What if the mall owners believe it?” She began pacing, a worried frown on her face. “Oh, my goodness. Oh, no. Oh, no. This could mean problems for both Miles and me.”

  Jill patted her arm. “Try not to worry.

  She sighed. Being the object of so much conjecture and speculation was beginning to wear on her nerves. And it certainly didn’t bode well for Miles’ credibility with his coworkers, or mall employees. Unfortunately, people couldn’t seem to stop themselves from gossiping about them.

  Perhaps she should nip the situation in the bud. Perhaps she should stop giving them reason to gossip about the two of them. Perhaps she should stop speaking to Miles all together. As much as she hated to do that, she had to think about him too. He had a career, which could potentially be adversely affected by all the gossip.

  Since she was unsure whether or not she even wanted a relationship with him, it might behoove her to put the kibosh on further contact. Even if the two remained strictly friends, people would still gossip. But how could she manage to avoid him all together? And really, did she even want to?

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Mr. Barnes,” Kellie said, “I assure you, we’ve stepped up security in the mall lots. In fact, I just got off the phone with Doug Dell, the director of mall security, and he’s bringing in additional security officers through the end of the year.”

  He shook his head. “As much as I appreciate that, I’m afraid it won’t be enough. Several of our customers’ cars were burglarized last night, and it’s going to continue happening unless law enforcement steps up their patrol of the lots.”

  “And they have,” she assured him. “The sheriff’s office is having a meeting at the precinct this afternoon, to discuss the appropriate course of action. I’ll be in attendance. You’re welcome to come too. I assure you, between mall security and the sheriff’s deputies on-site, we have things well under control.”

  The man ran a hand through his gray hair, and then sighed loudly. “I’d like a word with Commander Blake,” he said.

  “He’s home ill,” she told him.

  He gave her a speculative look. “Well, I guess you would know.”

  Kellie gave him a speculative look in return. What exactly did he mean by the remark? Perhaps it was completely innocent, but something told her that he was privy to the rumors circulating around the mall. She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  She attempted to keep her tone professional when she spoke. “I’m sure Commander Blake will be happy to meet with you when he returns to work. If you’d like, I can set up a meeting between you and Doug Dell today. Perhaps you can make arrangements with him that will put your mind at ease. Or, as I said, you are certainly welcome to attending the meeting.”

  “What time is the meeting?”

  “Four-thirty.”

  He frowned. “I have to leave before then.” He appeared deep in thought and nodded. “I’d appreciate the opportunity to talk with the director of mall security.”

  “I’ll have my assistant call you, once I’ve spoken to Doug.”

  She left his office and strode back to her own. She decided it wasn’t her imagination that several of the staff in the stores were eyeing her as she walked by, and when she passed the clothing store, where she and Miles had hidden from Dolores, she was sure that two female employees pointed at her and actually laughed out loud.

  Not good. Not good at all.

  Forcing the thought from her mind, she checked her watch. It was nearly noon. She had told Miles she would bring him lunch. She smoothed a hand through her hair, in a nervous gesture. Should she stop by his place during the lunch hour? If someone happened to see her, it would only fuel more speculation about them. What should she do? she wondered.

  She had nearly reached her office when she spotted Daniel entering the mall, his red hair wet with rain. The little boy shrugged out of his jacket, draped it over his arm, and began walking toward the center mall corridor.

  “Hello, Daniel!” she called out, and then remembered the time of the day. “Hey, why aren’t you in school?” she asked, mock suspiciously.

  He actually smiled. “Early release,” he told her. “Thought I’d hang out here.” He glanced down shyly and kicked at a floor tile with the toe of his sneaker. Finally, he met her gaze again. “Um, I was wondering if you have any more jobs for me?”

  Kellie perked up, realizing he was the solution to her quandary about whether or not to take Miles lunch. Daniel could deliver lunch to him for her.

  “I do have a job for you,” she told him, and then glanced outside. “Darn it, though. It’s raining…”

  “I don’t care,” he interjected. “Rain doesn’t bother me. Really.”

  “Okay then. Would you mind delivering lunch to Commander Blake? He’s home sick with the flu, and I promised him I’d bring him lunch. But unfortunately, I really can’t get away right now.”

  She knew she’d just told a little white lie, but then remembered she really did need to connect with Doug Dell, in order to set up a meeting with Mr. Barnes. That might take some doing, so she hadn’t really fibbed.

  “I’ll do it,” he said eagerly.

  “Thank you so much.” She pulled a ten out of her wallet. “Would you mind ordering a turkey sandwich special at the deli? Here’s a ten, and here’s a … five for your trouble. Keep any change, okay?”

  He beamed. “Sure! I’ll get going.” He
took off in a jog, but stopped and turned. “If you ever have any other jobs for me, will you call me? I’m saving up to buy my mom a Christmas present!”

  “You bet I will,” she assured him, her heart warming. It was sweet of him to be thinking of buying his mother a special gift. “Oh, Daniel, by the way, don’t get too close to Commander Blake. He’s really sick and you don’t want to catch it.”

  “I won’t!”

  With a final wave, he dashed off, and she headed into her office. She asked Jill to attempt to reach the director of mall security, and to patch the call through to her office phone when she did.

  “Will do,” Jill said and reached him within moments.

  Kellie explained Mr. Barnes’ concerns to him. Doug promised to call him right away and to make arrangements to meet with him.

  After hanging up the phone, Kellie stepped out of her office to speak with Jill. “Hey, do you have any lunch plans? Would you like to join me?”

  “I do,” she said with an apologetic wince. “I’m meeting George at his place. He’s cooking me lunch!” she said with an enthusiastic grin. “Hey, you can come too!”

  “Oh, no I can’t!” she said adamantly. “I’m not tagging along on a date. George wouldn’t appreciate that one bit.”

  “Kellie, he wouldn’t mind in the least, and neither would I.”

  “Well, I would. You go off and enjoy your date. I want to hear all about it when you get back.”

  Jill grinned. “Let’s do lunch tomorrow.”

  “Absolutely. It’s a date.”

  When she left, Kellie felt oddly bereft. She realized she probably had wanted her friend by her side as she entered the food court, as a buffer between her and anyone who might be inclined to give her curious glances or to talk about her. Since she was starving, she decided she would just have to buck up and face the music.

  At the food court, she decided on a Cobb salad and diet soda, and after ordering, chose a small table overlooking the southern lot. Although it was a weekday, the lot was packed with holiday shoppers. As she ate her salad, she continued to watch the activity in the parking lot. Suddenly, her eyes widened. She spotted a familiar sight—or rather, a familiar person.

  Through narrowed eyes, she could just make out the outline of a figure, wearing the same oddly shaped cap she’d seen on the man last night at the condo. She couldn’t make out his face, but noted he was walking toward the mall entrance. Suddenly, he was joined by another man, who was also familiar to her. She couldn’t place him, since he was also too far away for her to identify his face.

  She watched them, and for a brief moment, they were enveloped in a crowd of mall goers, but soon disengaged themselves from the others. They stopped near a car she recognized as a high end SUV, and heads bent together, appeared to study it for a moment or two before striding away.

  Soon, the men nearly reached the mall entrance. She was finally able to make out their faces. She gasped. The younger of the men, wearing the cap, was the older teen she’d met her second day on the job—the kid who had punched another boy in the face. Although the others had been banned from the mall for a month, he had been banned indefinitely. Clearly, he hadn’t taken the expulsion seriously.

  And the other man… It was Tony Marks, the man from her condo who Miles had warned her about.

  As she watched them disappear from her sight as they had entered the mall, her mind began working overtime. She knew that law enforcement believed the car prowlers working the mall lots were involved in some sort of synchronized effort, and that there had to be several of them to hit so many cars at once. And then it hit her. What if Tony Marks was the ring leader of a gang of wayward teens? The more she thought about it, the more she realized, it made sense.

  He lived in close proximity to the mall. Miles had intimated Tony was a bad guy and someone she should avoid at all costs. He hadn’t divulged much about him, but she had taken his warning to heart. What if he was responsible for all the thefts?

  ***

  “We have both men under surveillance,” the deputy told Kellie.

  After spotting the two suspicious men, she had hurried to the precinct to inform law enforcement of her theory relating to all the auto prowls and theft occurring in the mall parking lots.

  She was presently sitting in the office of a Sergeant Manchester, who told her that Tony Marks had been a suspect in several neighborhood burglaries, and that he was also a known drug dealer.

  Suddenly, something else clicked in her mind. “Oh, there’s something else. I saw two men at my condominium complex last night,” she remembered. “…I’m fairly certain it was them.” She searched her memory, remembering the distinctive shape of the younger man’s cap. Yes, she knew she was right. She had seen them at the condos.

  Manchester arched his brows and asked for her exact address. He placed a quick call to dispatch, spoke for a moment or two, and then turned to her. “We received three complaints of auto prowls and theft last night at that location,” he said, raking a hand through his hair. “Hey, isn’t that where Blake lives?”

  She nodded. “The commander lives directly across the street from me.”

  He cocked his head, meeting her gaze. “I’m surprised Miles didn’t catch these thieves in the act,” he said. “Blake seems to have a sixth sense when it comes to crime happening—and particularly right outside his window.”

  “Well, he’s really sick with a bad flu,” she said.

  “And he’s been awfully preoccupied lately,” he observed, fighting the smile that tugged at his lips. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

  Kellie knew what he was implying and shifted uncomfortably under his scrutiny.

  When she didn’t respond, he gave a neither-here-nor-there shrug. “I think I’ll give the commander a call—apprise him of what’s happening here.” He flashed a quick smile. “By the way, good call, Miss Sanders,” he said, “putting two and two together like you did.”

  She nodded. “Thanks. I hope it pans out and you’re able to arrest these guys.”

  As if on cue, a deputy charged into the room. “Sarge, we’ve got ‘em! Out in the east lot.”

  “Let’s go,” Manchester said, jumping from his chair. “We’ll be in touch,” he directed to Kellie, as he ran after the deputy.

  She left his office and was just outside the precinct when suddenly, she felt a hand on her arm. She turned and found herself face to face with a female deputy she didn’t recognize.

  The woman extended her hand. “Hi, I’m Carla.”

  “Hi,” Kellie said, smiling uncertainly.

  “We haven’t met before, but I wanted to say ‘hello.’”

  “Oh, okay. Hello.”

  The woman grinned broadly, like the cat that had swallowed the canary. “I can see why Miles likes you so much. You’re really pretty—his type, if truth be told.”

  Kellie gave a puzzled frown. What exactly was the appropriate response to that particular observation? And from a perfect stranger.

  “Hey, do you have a minute?” the woman asked.

  She checked her watch. “I really need to get back to work, but you can walk with me back to my office.”

  Carla readily agreed and fell into step beside her. Kellie gave her a hesitant glance, unsure what this woman wanted to discuss with her.

  “Sooo,” she began tentatively, “what do you think about Miles?”

  Kellie forced back the haggard sigh that very nearly escaped her lips. Not another one, she thought. Here was yet another person bent on putting her nose in where it didn’t belong. “He seems like a nice man,” she said neutrally, subconsciously picking up her pace.

  “But…?” The woman smiled, a wide grin exposing perfect teeth. “I mean, I know I’m being nosy, but do you like him?”

  She took a deep breath and counted to three. Who was this person? Indeed, who was this person? “How do you know Miles?” she asked, turning the tables on the pretty brunette.

  She laughed l
ightly. “Oh, no worries. He’s like a brother to me.”

  “I wasn’t worried,” she muttered.

  The woman chuckled uncertainly. “He and I were hired at the department at the same time and attended the law enforcement academy together.”

  Kellie nodded, picking up her pace again.

  The woman kept pace with her, but watched her with a bemused expression. She reached out to stop her walking. “Has Miles told you much about his past?”

  “I really don’t know him very well.”

  “Oh?” the woman said, smiling. “If the rumors are…”

  “They aren’t,” she cut in tiredly.

  The humor left the other woman’s face. “Look, I don’t mean to intrude, but I worry about him. I mean, actually, I’m happy for him, but…”

  Kellie chewed her lip nervously. She felt wholly uncomfortable as she braced to hear more of his personal business, knowing if he wanted her to know the details of his past, he would have told her, or perhaps would in the future. Although, she was fast coming to the conclusion that she was probably right in her recent thinking—that she and Miles should probably steer clear of one another all together.

  “Look,” she said, keeping her voice neutral, “it’s nice having met you, but I really do have to get back to work.” She started toward her office again, when again, the woman restrained her.

  “Miles is a good guy. He likes you. I believe that particular rumor is true.”

  She didn’t bother denying it. She knew he liked her. Heck, she liked him.

  “Miles’ wife put him through hell,” the woman said bluntly.

  Kellie opened her mouth to speak, but the woman held up a hand.

  “Please, hear me out. He’s been through a lot. He’s suffered more loss than most, but he still manages to keep a smile on his face. He’s actually a pretty remarkable guy, and a catch, if you wanna know the truth. But … I’m afraid…”

  “What?” she said, and then wished she hadn’t prompted the woman to continue.

  “I’m afraid he’s still … fragile. I’m afraid he never fully dealt with his grief. Lord knows, he didn’t talk to us—his friends, that is, about his pain. I don’t think he’s dated in the years since his wife died. So…” She smiled sadly. “So, we don’t want him hurt, if you know what I mean.”