“Wait until you see the skiers on the slopes,” Liam said as they pulled into The Snow Zone’s parking lot. There was only a smattering of trucks and SUVs so early. The slopes didn’t open until nine, so Hannah had a good half hour for Candy Lee to train her on what to do and what not to do. They’d agreed last night that when the shop was empty, Hannah would use the time to continue reading over the applications. Liam had sent her forty-seven, and she’d gone through three of them already. At this rate, she’d be reading them every spare minute she had. She wanted to find out who was stealing from Max and why. She did not like thieves and enjoyed catching them when she had the opportunity.
Liam parked the Hummer next to a black one. “Patrick’s here.” Liam pointed to the Hummer. “Max says he’s the king of Hummers.”
“Good to know,” Hannah replied.
“Yep, it is.”
“As you said, let’s get this show on the road. We’ve got a thief to catch.”
“Hannah, wait a minute,” Liam said. “I know we’re here as professionals, and there isn’t time to . . . play around, but if we have an extra hour or so, would you ski with me? I haven’t skied in years, and I can’t imagine enjoying it with anyone else but you.”
She hated cold weather. Hadn’t she made that clear? She was not cold now. The ski clothes kept her extremely warm. She did not know how to ski, but right now, she was willing to learn. “You know what, Liam McConnell? I detest cold weather and snow, but I’m so warm right now, I am going to have to take you up on your offer. Just to see if this ski stuff really does keep me warm all day.” She was grinning from ear to ear when she spoke, so she was sure Liam knew that she was fine with skiing. “But you need to know: I have no clue how to ski.”
“Listen, I was taught by the best. I’ll show you a couple of moves. If you don’t catch on, we’ll have a hot toddy. Sound reasonable enough to you?”
She wanted to tell him it was the best offer she’d had in years but didn’t want to come off as hard up and desperate. She was just picky, that’s all.
“It sounds like a plan. Now, let’s go introduce ourselves to Candy Lee.”
They were greeted at the main entrance by Patrick. They still had half an hour before the shop opened to the public. “That suit looks great on you,” Patrick said as soon as he saw her.
“I like it. And red is my favorite color,” Hannah said. She was so excited, she just couldn’t keep it out of her voice. She probably sounded like a teenager, but she was happier than she’d been in a very, very long time. And it had something to do with Liam, of that she was sure. Not lust. Well, yes, lust, just not full-fledged, knock-you-down, drag-you-to-bed lust. She didn’t know him that well, and she had never been a bed hopper.
Inside the shop, they were greeted by the pleasant scent of pine mixed with cinnamon and chocolate. Christmas music was playing in the background. A giant spruce was centered in the middle of the store. Hannah walked over to the tree and touched a delicate glass ornament in the shape of a mitten. And it was red, too. She laughed. “This tree is beautiful.”
“I decorated it myself. I do it every year. Or at least every year since I’ve worked here. You must be Hannah, the fashion model. That suit fits you like a glove. You’ll have the guys crawling over you like spit on snow.”
“Candy! For crying out loud, do you always have to be so gross?” Patrick asked.
Hannah and Liam laughed.
“It’s okay, Candy. In my business, I’ve heard much worse,” Hannah informed her.
“And you’ll hear more today, trust me. The ski bums cuss like sailors and the snow bunnies eat it up. Disgusting, don’t you think?”
Again, Hannah laughed. “I promise I won’t be offended and yes, it is disgusting. Now, why don’t you tell me a bit about this ski suit I have on, just in case one of the bums or bunnies asks.”
“Okay, listen up. This particular jacket you’re wearing is one of the latest styles. Made for a woman, girl, whatever, the cut is slim. Some girls really want to show off their figures when they’re skiing or snowboarding. The jacket is lightweight; the insulation is synthetic. It has a great warmth-to-weight ratio, meaning it’ll keep you nice and toasty without all the bulk. You’ll appreciate this when you have to pee, too. Easy to get into and out of. The pants, I meant. They have thigh vents that help to release excess heat.” Candy Lee stopped and smiled at Patrick.
He rolled his eyes. “Knock it off, Candy.”
“That’s what it says on the label, trust me. I have it memorized. Basically, all you need to do is shake your booty a bit, smile, and leave all the details to me.”
Hannah let out a deep sigh. “It’s been awhile since I’ve flirted, but I’ll do my best. Now, is there someplace I can set up my laptop so I can do a little brain work when I’m not shaking my booty?” Hannah asked.
“In the office; I cleaned the desk for you. It was covered with empty donut boxes and People magazines. I can’t imagine what Stephanie would say if she saw how messy her office was.” Patrick narrowed his gaze at Candy Lee.
“I’ve been too busy to clean up. By the way, some man keeps calling here for Stephanie. He’s rude, too. I told him she was away on maternity leave, but he keeps calling anyway.”
Patrick, Liam, and Hannah instantly became alert.
“Why didn’t you tell me this?” Patrick asked.
“Men call here for Stephanie all the time, Patrick, you should know that by now. Just because she married you doesn’t mean other men don’t find her attractive. I’m still trying to figure out what she saw in you.”
“Enough, Candy, and I mean it. This isn’t the time or the place. You know we’ve had some serious theft going on here. If Max hadn’t vouched for your character and honesty, Hannah and Liam would probably be running a background check on you right now.”
Candy’s mouth dropped open like a treasure chest. “Do you think I have something to do with all this theft, Patrick? Because if you do, I am quitting right this very second. You really are an asshole, you know that!”
“Candy, wait!” Patrick called out, but she was already heading for the back of the store.
“I shouldn’t have said that. Candy Lee is one of the best employees we have. Excuse me while I go to apologize.”
“Don’t bother, I heard you,” Candy Lee called out from the back of the store. “I’m telling Max, too, just so you know,” she said as she made her way back to the front of the store.
“Seriously, Candy Lee, tell me about this man you said was calling Stephanie.”
“Yes, you should. It might be something, or not,” Hannah said as kindly as possible. The young girl’s feelings had been hurt. She felt bad for her and would try to make it up to her later. Patrick was a bit of an asshole, but she knew he was good at his job. His relationship with Candy Lee was rough, but one could tell that they really did like each other. At least that was Hannah’s current assessment of the situation.
Liam whipped out his ever-present iPad. “Can you remember how long ago this particular man began calling?”
Candy Lee took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. It was a calming technique Hannah recognized.
“About a month ago. I remember because he called like three times in one day. He was rude, but then I got rude back, and he started acting all ass-kissy with me. I tried to explain to him that I didn’t know when Stephanie was coming back to work. She’d just had a son, I told him. She wants to spend as much time with her baby and the girls as possible. He hung up on me that time.”
“I’ll get the phone records, though I doubt it will do any good,” Hannah said. “Unless you can be as specific as possible with dates and times.”
“He usually calls in the morning, that much I know. Right after we open. I think he’s probably some perv who saw Stephanie in the shop and is getting his kicks by calling all the time.”
“Okay, it’s time to open up. Candy Lee, you make sure to show Hannah the ropes. If anyone, and I mean anyone, lays a
finger on her while she’s prancing around, she has Max’s and my permission to knock the shit out of him.” Patrick grinned at Candy Lee, and she grinned back.
“Can I add a punch, too?” she asked eagerly.
“If you have to. What I need from you more than anything is to monitor the phone. If this guy calls, I want you to write down the exact time he called, and look at the caller ID. Shit, why didn’t I think of that?” Patrick asked.
“I already did. It comes up as a private number,” Candy informed them.
“Then I’ll need you to record the exact time. Try to remember exactly what he says. Get a feel for him; ask him a question. Come on to him if you have to, or say something to piss the guy off. His tongue might loosen a bit,” Patrick indicated.
“He’s right, Candy,” Hannah said. “Try to get friendly with him, see what he says. Now, I’m going to set up in the back office. Patrick, you want to show me around?”
Hannah hated walking out of the room without telling Liam ’bye, or see you later, but the doors opened, and a crowd of skiers piled in.
And they were all wearing red ski suits.
Chapter 12
Hannah managed to get through twelve of the applications in between strutting her stuff and acting like an airhead. Candy Lee sold six of the ski suits at fifteen hundred bucks a pop. No wonder Max’s sales receipts were off the charts. Maybe she should invest in a ski resort herself. It was almost four o’clock by the time Candy Lee told her the doors were locked. “That guy didn’t call today. I wish he would. I want to help catch him. I wish I’d paid more attention.”
“That’s okay; you didn’t know. I sent my associate a printout of the phone bills for the past three months. She’ll find something. She’s good.” Max had e-mailed her copies of all the bills and she’d sent them to Camden, explaining about the modeling job that kept her out on the floor. Camden said she wanted overtime pay. Hannah agreed, and remembered to ask her to call as soon as she returned from her Hanukkah date with Art.
Hannah had hoped Liam would stop by, but he hadn’t. They were here to work, and she had to remember that. If time permitted, maybe she’d invite him for a drink tonight. In her condo. She’d invite him for a working dinner. She would cook. She loved to cook. While she made dinner, he could go through the files.
No! No! No!
She had to forget about spending time with Liam, at least until they finished this job. She was ashamed at her own thoughts.
“That dude is out back in the yellow Hummer waiting for you,” Candy Lee said. “He’s been there for about thirty minutes.”
“Let me get my laptop,” she said, hurrying to the back office and grabbing her purse and computer.
She was about to leave through the back door when Candy Lee stopped her. “Wait! You need tomorrow’s ski suit. I’ve spent quite some time looking you over today. I think we need to put you in something tighter, not so warm. So, this is what I want you to wear tomorrow.” She handed her two large shopping bags. “Don’t worry, I’ve got all the right sizes. You’ll like this outfit, too. It’s partially red. Now, go on so I can lock up.”
Hannah gave the girl a hug. She really liked Candy Lee in spite of the tough exterior she showed the world. “I’ll see you tomorrow at nine o’clock sharp,” Hannah said before hurrying out the door.
Liam waited in the Hummer. Hannah knocked on the window before opening the passenger-side door. “Didn’t mean to startle you. Candy Lee said you’d been out here for a while. You should’ve come inside. The kid makes a mean hot chocolate.” She put the bags on the backseat, then fastened her seat belt. She looked at Liam. He wasn’t wearing his seat belt.
“Buckle up,” she said as he backed out of the parking place.
“Yes, ma’am. Bad habit, I know.”
“So, did you work on the system? Any chance you found the thief who’s stealing Max’s money?”
“I have a couple of hits, but nothing is one hundred percent yet. All the hits were at one of the five or six local Internet cafés. That doesn’t make it easy, but it’s not so difficult that I won’t catch them. They were all in the late afternoon, so whoever is doing this is probably a local. Goes to one of the cafés when he knows most of the locals are either working or on the slopes. There is no obvious pattern as to which of the cafés they go to on a given day. With only fifteen transfers so far, it could take months before an outsider could find the pattern. And it could be a function of the traffic at the cafés.
“It’s not much, but it’s something. I called Max. Told him what I’d found. I also told him about the calls Candy Lee’s been getting. His antennae went up immediately. Did you get anything back on the phone records?”
“I haven’t checked my e-mail yet. If there was something significant, Camden would’ve called. So I guess that means no.” And her heart leapt with joy. She’d get to work another day at The Snow Zone, prancing and probing. Never in a million years had she ever had even the slightest thought that she would enjoy spending time at a ski resort, much less modeling for an appreciative audience. Never say never, her dad had always said. And damned if he wasn’t right.
“So we spend the rest of the night going over more of the applications,” Hannah said.
“Actually, Max gave me the night off,” Liam said.
“Lucky you,” Hannah replied sullenly, like a pouting child.
“And lucky you, too, if you accept my invitation.”
“Okay, where and what time?” Hannah said a bit too quickly.
Liam chuckled. “Anxious for a night out on the town? Even though it’s supposed to drop way below zero tonight?”
“I’ll wear this jacket. I kid you not, I haven’t been cold at all today. Whatever this stuff is made of really does work.”
“I can guarantee that if it didn’t, there wouldn’t be as many skiers out in this crazy weather.”
“I believe you.”
“A friend of Max’s wife is directing a Christmas play tonight at the local high school. He asked us to join him. Said to tell you Grace and Ella would be there, and Stephanie and her girls, plus a few others he wanted you and me to meet. Are you game?”
She’d never been to a Christmas play in her life. Of course she was game. She’d spend the night out in the cold if Liam McConnell were beside her.
“Sure, it’ll be a fun way to kill some time. When should I be ready?”
“The play starts at seven, so say, six thirty?”
“Six thirty it is,” Hannah said.
Thirty minutes later, she was soaking in the tub and singing at the top of her lungs.
“ ‘Jolly old Saint Nicholas, lean your ear this way . . .’ ”
Chapter 13
The school gymnasium was packed as it was opening night for A Christmas Carol. The play was being directed by Angelica Shepard, a former Broadway star who’d recently married Dr. Parker North, a trauma doctor from Denver. This information was included in the program they received as they made their way to the front row, where Max had reserved two seats for them. They’d made a few wrong turns trying to find Telluride High, which had cost them precious time. They’d planned to meet Max’s other guests before the start of the show, and they still would, but not until afterward.
Hannah wore a pair of slim-fitting black wool slacks with her black boots. She wore the purple, red, and black ski top Candy Lee had given her for tomorrow and its matching jacket, hat, scarf, and gloves. Her legs were a bit cold, but her upper body was warm and toasty, just as Candy Lee had explained.
They settled into their seats. The crowded gymnasium was completely silent except for the sound of a baby with the hiccups. A few soft laughs could be heard, then all went silent as the deep maroon curtains were opened.
Hannah watched in fascination as the young actors and actresses performed the story of Ebenezer Scrooge. The stage was set to resemble an old house in need of repair. The young student in the starring role performed as though Charles Dickens’s tale of Scrooge had
been written for him exclusively. When Scrooge was later visited by the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley, the audience oohed and ahhed. A couple of small children cried and were taken out of the gymnasium.
Hannah couldn’t take her eyes away from the stage. She was so caught up in the action, she didn’t realize that Liam had taken her hand in his until he gave her a squeeze when the Ghost of Christmas Present took Scrooge to visit the impoverished Bob Cratchit, where he was introduced to a very ill Tiny Tim, who might die because Scrooge was too cheap to pay Bob Cratchit a decent wage. In Act Two, when the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come frightens Scrooge with visions of his own death, and former associates will only attend his funeral if lunch is served, Hannah gave Liam a return squeeze. In the final scene, when Scrooge was transformed on Christmas morning, with love and joy filling his heart, Hannah’s eyes filled with tears. This was her during Christmas, minus all the mean stuff.
The audience gave the kids a standing ovation, and the clapping lasted so long that Hannah’s hands were beginning to sting. She’d never been so touched by something so simple. Though she knew the story, she’d never really connected its true meaning to herself, but this was so her. She’d even referred to herself as Ms. Scrooge. No more. She wiped the free-flowing tears from her face and sat down when the director, Angelica, came out onto the stage. She thanked her students, the parents, the volunteers, and the art department at the local community college. And once again, there was a standing ovation.
When all the excitement had simmered down a bit, Max said he wanted to introduce Hannah and Liam to the guests they were supposed to have met before the play.
“They’re serving cookies and punch in the cafeteria. Let’s meet up there; we’ll be able to hear better.”
When the Snow Falls Page 7