Miss Frost Solves A Cold Case

by Kristen Painter

  Even so, his shaggy white brows pinched together as he stared at me. We were ten minutes from opening, and he was clearly wound up about the day. “You sure you’re all ready for Snowy Saturday?” he asked.

  Juniper nodded unconvincingly so I chimed in with a loud, “Positive.”

  Toly studied me. “You really think you’re going to be able to handle it? I’d like very much to get these reports done, but if you can’t say so now. I can’t risk having anything go wrong.”

  Juniper moved slowly away.

  “It’s no big deal.” I wiggled my fingers. I could do this in my sleep. “This sort of shimmer is right up my alley. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

  Juniper looked up from straightening a display by the front window to shoot me a look that said she wasn’t sure why I was being so up front about my skills.

  “I don’t usually leave such an important job in the hands of an employee I haven’t personally vetted—”

  “You’ve read my file. I can do it.”

  At last, he smiled. “All right, all right. But you call me if you need help. Owen will take over when he gets in so it’s not like you have to run the shimmer all day.”

  “Got it.” The guy was seriously concerned about this.

  “I’ll be in my office doing paperwork if you need me.” He started for the back, then stopped and turned around. “When I say no problems, I mean I expect things to go smoothly. No accumulated snow. No puddles. No damage to the—”

  “Toys. I know. It’ll be perfect. Promise.” I channeled my magic and started the snowfall to show him. Big fat flakes floated down from the ceiling to disappear right before they touched the floor.

  He watched for a moment then nodded approvingly and left. That was about the right response. There was nothing negative he could say. Outside of my family, no one could touch the quality of my magic.

  Juniper joined me at the register. “You were awfully eager to prove you could handle the shimmer. Mark my words, you’re going to be in charge of it every Snowy Saturday now.” She shook her head. “Buttercup and I warned you.”

  “I was trying to get rid of him.”

  “Well, good job.” She reached out and caught a flake. “Nice snow, by the way. These are gorgeous. And fluffy. Oh yeah, he’s definitely putting you on the schedule for every Snowy Saturday.”

  I shrugged. Toly could put me on the schedule for whatever he wanted. I only was here until I figured this thing out. Which reminded me of why I’d been trying to get rid of him in the first place. “Hey, before the madness begins. What do you know about the cleaning service Toly uses?”

  She raised her brows. “Um…like what?”

  “How long have they been the cleaners here?”

  She squinted. “They started not long after I arrived.”

  So way more than a month. “How do you know?”

  She tipped her head like she was thinking. “I’m not sure I would have known except the smell was different. With the first company, my apartment always smelled like lavender on cleaning day. Now it always smells like lemon.”

  I nodded. I’d noticed the lemon scent. “Does this company clean better than the other one? Could that be why he changed companies?”

  “Not sure. They seem the same to me. I’m not really a messy person, though. And no one else has been here long enough to have had the other cleaning service except me. Why the interest?”

  I really wanted to confide in Juniper, but I also didn’t want to put her in a position that might require her to cover for me should Toly figure anything out. “I just…I can’t stop thinking about all the employees that have quit.”

  Her mouth bent in an incredulous grin. “And you think the cleaning service might have something to do with it? Like they might have accidentally sucked our workers into their industrial vacuums?”

  It did sound unlikely when she put it that way. “Not to that extreme, but maybe they’re in on it somehow. They did clear out Bertie’s apartment.”

  “Sure, but Toly probably had them do that so the apartment is ready for the next new hire. Bertie’s stuff is most likely in storage.”

  Huh. I hadn’t thought of that. Suddenly all my conjecture seemed silly. I was making mountains out of molehills, all in the name of solving this thing.

  Didn’t explain the change in cleaning services, but it didn’t implicate the new service either. Maybe the new cleaning service was cheaper. Maybe Toly was pocketing the difference. I had no idea. My head hurt from how much I didn’t know.

  Fortunately, we were swamped with customers coming in to gawk at the snow. Very few of them left without buying something, which meant Juniper and I were hopping. When Buttercup came in at noon for the overlap shift, we needed the help. Neither one of us took lunch until after two.

  By five, I was wiped out. Handling the shimmer while also taking care of customers and keeping the shop in order was more work than I’d been used to in a long time. Frankly, I could see why Toly needed the break.

  Owen took over the shimmer, and Juniper and I clocked out.

  In the elevator, I leaned against the wall.

  “Tired?” she asked.

  I nodded. “And my night’s not over yet.”

  “How come?”

  I smiled despite my lethargy. “I have a date with a certain vampire.”

  “You don’t.”

  “I do. We’re going to dinner.” And if I was going to get through it, I was in desperate need of a hot shower, a little caffeine and some sugar. Preferably at the same time.

  Juniper shook her head. “Well, you have fun. But be careful.” Then she grinned. “Pete’s coming over with Thai and a movie.”

  The doors opened and we got out. “That sounds perfect.”

  We stopped at our respective doors, both digging for our keys. She got hers in the lock then looked at me. “You could always do the same with Greyson. Have him over, I mean.”

  I pushed my door open. “You think Toly would approve a vampire?”

  She laughed. “I have no idea, but I’d like to see his face when you ask.”

  “Tell me about it. Have fun tonight.”

  “You too.”

  About ten minutes after I got into the apartment, I hit the shower, Dr Pepper in hand. The combination did wonders. Thinking about Greyson didn’t hurt either. For the half an hour it took me to get ready, I was able to push the problem of the employees to the back burner.

  But at some point, the two collided, and I started practicing a speech that would charm Greyson into telling me about the elevator. A speech that involved me promising him things.

  Of course, then I’d have to deliver if he came through. I liked the guy. A lot. But maybe not so much that I was willing to sleep with him to gain access to secret areas. Not yet anyway.

  Or would he rather bite me? There was a thought that hadn’t occurred to me earlier, but the man was a vampire.

  Maybe I could agree to that. One small bite. Body part of my choice. Although maybe I should do some research on vampires before agreeing to anything that involved fangs. You know, just in case one small bite wasn’t enough for most vamps.

  I ran a slick of raspberry gloss over my lips and stepped back to take in the whole picture. Not bad. He’d said a nice dinner, so I was in a little black dress and heels that would have been sensible if they’d been a half inch shorter. Unlike my evening with Cooper, tonight I was going for sexy.

  Irresistible, actually. That way Greyson would be unable to say no to me when I asked him about the elevator again.

  I brushed a piece of lint off my dress and went out to stock Spider up on food before I left. I gave him some love as he chowed down, then grabbed my small evening bag and my leather jacket and went to meet Greyson by the warehouse door.

  There was no sign of him as I stepped onto the sidewalk.

  Then I heard a long, low whistle. I turned toward the sound and saw him walking in my direction.

  He wore a dark suit with a c
risp white shirt open at the neck. The image of this wild, untamed man in a restrained suit was the most delicious thing I’d seen since the day I’d walked into Delaney’s.

  The suit fit him perfectly and had no doubt been made for him, but there was something about him in it—maybe the too-long curls or the dark stubble shadowing his face, or the out-of-place excess of silver jewelry—that gave him an air of dangerous, rebellious bad boy.

  Or maybe that’s just how vampires looked when they dressed up.

  He took my hand as soon as he was close enough to reach me, wrapped his strong fingers around mine and lifted them to his mouth for a kiss. His lips lingered there as he spoke. “You look good enough to eat.”

  A shiver ran through me and I knew he saw it. I tried to play it off. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

  “I don’t date girls. Just women. And even then, not very often.” He held on to my hand as he brought it to his side.

  “Are you trying to flatter me?”

  “No.” His eyes flashed silver. “If I was trying to flatter you, I would tell you that you are the most radiant creature I have ever beheld, and that seeing you looking so beautiful this evening fills me with the desire to spoil you in ways you’ve not yet imagined.” He pulled me closer. “I might even say that while our evening has just begun, I already dream of when I might next have the honor of your company and the pleasure of your hand in mine.”

  I stared at him, feeling like the elven equivalent of infatuated mush. I was so overcome with feelings I couldn’t name that English had become a foreign language. I might have mumbled something. Or maybe I just made a noise.

  Either way, he leaned in and brushed a kiss across my mouth. “Good evening, my darling Lilibeth. I trust your day has gone well.”

  I nodded. Good, I still had movement. I cleared my throat and tried for words. “It was busy.”

  “Would you rather not go out then?”

  “No.” I smiled. “I absolutely want to go out.” We could stay in another night when we didn’t look this hot.

  He returned my smile and slipped his arm around my waist. “Then off we go.”

  We took our time on the walk to the restaurant. Maybe that was Greyson being mindful of my high heels or maybe it was because we were wrapped up in conversation, but either way I was happy for the fresh air.

  And the outstanding company.

  We even came upon a pet store and got a new tag for Spider. Greyson bought him a little fluffy catnip toy, too, insisting I give it to him when I got home.

  If the man was trying to cement a place in my life, he was doing a pretty good job.

  I had to admit, Greyson was an experience unlike any I’d had before. As the Winter King’s daughter, I’d attended many formal events where I’d been plied with elegant words meant to flatter and turn my head. Most, if not all, of those men had been trying to sway me to buy favor with my father.

  But Greyson was just being Greyson. A man who had no reason to be anything other than what he was. It was so refreshing that being with him was like seeing the Northern Lights for the first time.

  I was seriously on the verge of falling into deep like with this guy. That worried me a little. Mostly because one of us could end up hurt when I left. And by one of us, I meant me. I hadn’t counted on developing feelings for anyone. I hadn’t even thought I’d be dating!

  But that bridge had been crossed. Now I just had to find an adult way to handle what was happening. I mean, bringing a cat back to the North Pole was one thing. Bringing a vampire home? That might not go over as well.

  Of course, I was assuming Greyson would even be interested in visiting. Maybe being with me was just him having fun. Maybe it meant nothing to him.

  Maybe that’s what I should go with.

  Because the last thing I wanted was to get my heart broken again. I’d had enough of that with Cooper.

  Dinner was at a little French place called Café Claude. It was dark and intimate and lit primarily by candles and a few dim chandeliers that cast soft prisms of light over everything. Pristine white cloths, gleaming silverware and sparkling crystal adorned the tables. Soft violin music played in the background. If you’d told me we’d suddenly been transported to Paris, I would have believed you.

  I couldn’t imagine a more perfect spot for dinner with a vampire.

  After we were seated and drinks ordered, Greyson took my hand across the table. “Do you like it?”

  “It’s lovely.”

  “They just opened a few weeks ago. The owner, Jacque Baptiste, has been a friend of mine for many years.”

  “Is he a vampire?”

  “No. He is a voyante.”

  Greyson’s French accent sent a trill down my spine. His normal Irish one was tempting enough, but the French? Dangerous. “I don’t speak French, so I don’t know what that means.” But he could say it again as many times as he liked.

  “A voyante is a clairvoyant. Jacque gets glimpses of the future. It’s not something he can always control, though.”

  That gave me a moment of pause. “How does that work? Does he have to touch people? Or something they’ve touched?” Because either way, I might get burned.

  “No, they’re just visions that come to him. No touching involved. And since he can’t control it, the gift does him very little good as far as making money.” Greyson smiled. “Fortunately, he’s also a very talented chef.”

  I smiled back in relief. Seemed like I was in the clear. “This town never ceases to amaze me. So who’s Claude then?”

  Greyson laughed softly. “His little white terrier. The French love their dogs.”

  Before we got deeper into our conversation, a short wiry man with bright black eyes came to the table. He held out his arms to Greyson and rambled excitedly in French. Jacque, I was guessing.

  Greyson answered him in French. I closed my mouth to keep from drooling. Then he broke into English and introduced me. “My lovely companion, Lilibeth Holiday.”

  Jacque kissed my hand and smiled brightly. “Lilibeth, it is my pleasure.”

  “Mine as well.”

  He released my hand and snapped upright like a soldier awaiting orders. “I will make anything your heart desires.”

  How sweet. “That is quite the offer. What do you suggest? I’m not picky. In fact, since you’re the chef, I leave the decision up to you. I will eat whatever you put in front of me.”

  He put his hand flat to his chest and sighed. “I am in love.” Then he smiled at me. “I will bring you the best dish.”

  “What about me?” Greyson said.

  Jacque fluttered his hand at Greyson. “You will get what you get.”

  I laughed. “I like this guy.”

  Jacque took off for the kitchen, and our server showed up behind him with our drinks: wine for Greyson, sparkling water for me. I needed my head clear.

  The server left and we were alone again.

  Greyson swirled the wine in his glass. “How was your spaghetti dinner last night?”

  “Good. Fun. I won one of the raffle baskets. It’s a whole spa package.” I’d promised to take Juniper, but now I was thinking I might send her with Buttercup in my place. After they found out who I really was, it might help smooth things over.

  “Very good. So you’re enjoying Nocturne Falls then?”

  “I am. This is such a great town.”

  He swallowed a sip of wine. “It is. There are so few places that people like us can live our lives in the open. This place is a gift.”

  Too bad I was going to have to return it. “Is that why you work for the town then? Because you want to give back?”

  “That, and I want the town to remain successful. Entertaining the tourists does that.” He smiled into his wine. “The Ellinghams are also very generous employers.”

  That perked me up. “What do you mean?”

  He shrugged. “They compensate their employees very well. Housing allowances, substantial salaries, discounted store rents, what
ever it takes to put the right people in the right positions.”

  My mind was working faster than I could put into words. “So if they wanted you to work for them, they’d put together a package that would be hard to turn down?”

  He nodded. “Absolutely.”

  Which meant they were very capable of hiring away the store’s best employees. But then wouldn’t those employees still be traceable? From what my father had said—and the census supported—they had all seemed to disappear. Or was that something the Ellinghams had arranged? A way of protecting the workers they’d poached from being poached back?

  But then why would they have said anything to my father about the issue? Unless that was just a way of covering their backsides.

  I was so confused. But I also felt like I might be on to something. Something I needed to dig into a little more. “Are they hiring?”

  His brows lifted. “Looking to change jobs already?”

  “Hey, no reason not to keep my options open, right?”

  “Fair enough. You want me to set something up for you?”

  “You’d do that?” If I talked to the Ellinghams and showed them what I could really do, like the full extent of my magic, they might make me an offer. I could see for myself if they were behind our missing elves.

  “Of course.” He smirked. “So long as you’re really interested and not just trying to get access to that damned elevator.”

  “The thought hadn’t even occurred to me.” It really hadn’t. But now that Greyson had mentioned it, this plan had even more merit.

  Jacque and the server arrived with our meals. Jacque placed my dish in front of me first. He removed the silver cap with great flourish. “For you, wine-poached salmon with truffles and roasted potatoes.”

  “Sweet fancy Christmas. It looks and smells amazing.” My mouth was watering. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until just now. “I can’t wait to taste it.”

  The server put Greyson’s plate before him and backed away. Jacque took the cover off and announced, “For you, steak frites.”