“But I already told her you’re a policeman,” Trish pressed. “I know you’re not on duty right now, but she’s so scared, Nicky. Put yourself in her place. It’s Christmas Eve and her little boy is lost. They just moved here, so she’s all alone. It’s no wonder she’s freaking out. Please, you have to do something. Go into your professional mode. Ask the right questions, organize the search. That will calm her down until security can find her son. I’m sure it won’t take that long.”
Nick wasn’t nearly as optimistic as his sister. In a crowd like this, with everyone focused on last-minute shopping, how many people would even notice a little boy on his own? His stomach continued to churn. He poked a hand in his pocket in search of the antacids he usually had with him. Unfortunately, he hadn’t transferred them to Santa’s costume.
“What about the line?” he asked, preferring even another hundred kids to one desperate mom whose child had gone missing in this mob scene.
“I’ll tell them Santa has to take a break,” Trish said at once. “It happens. They won’t freak out or anything.”
She regarded him with that same imploring look that had lured him into doing whatever she wanted when they were kids. It might work a hundred percent of the time on Stephen, but Nick was pretty much a sucker for that look, too.
Even in the face of his continued silence, Trish didn’t let up.
“Security will be here any minute, but I need a real cop in charge, Nicky. You said it yourself. Please,” Trish begged.
He compared his own credentials with those of the average mall security staffer and resigned himself to the inevitable. Even if it weren’t his sister’s neck on the line, he only had one choice. He’d been brought up to help anyone in need. His police training had ingrained the concept. Just because he was a burned-out mess, that hadn’t changed.
“You get me out of here without all hell breaking loose and I’ll calm this woman down and help her look for her kid.” He gave Trish a fierce look. “If we don’t have any luck in the next half hour, I want every cop in Charlotte combing this place, okay? I don’t care what kind of PR nightmare it creates.”
Trish threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Nicky. I’ll make the announcement about your break right now, then I’ll take you to her.”
Nick figured his good deeds for the day ought to be racking up big points by now. Maybe his debt to Trish was paid. Maybe with any luck, as soon as he’d located the boy, he could scamper right on out the back door of the mall without one more ho-ho-ho.
Just as that cheerful prospect occurred to him, he caught a glimpse of the restless parents and disappointed kids as they were greeted with the news that Santa was taking a break and knew that plan was out the window.
He might be the lousiest Santa in the history of Christmas, but he was all these kids had. Heaven help them.
CHAPTER THREE
WHILE SHE WAS WAITING for that woman—Trish something-or-other—Amy called for Josh until she was nearly hoarse, even though Maylene Kinney told her she was only hurting her vocal cords.
“Kids only hear what they want to hear,” Maylene admonished. “You save your voice so you can tell him how much you love him the second he turns up.”
“Right now I just want to kill him,” Amy said, though she knew the older woman was right. No matter how terrified and furious she was, she could hardly wait to hold Josh in her arms again.
How could she have lost him so quickly? She’d known precisely where he was headed—to see Santa. He had to be somewhere in this mob scene of frantic shoppers and impatient children right around Santa’s village, but there’d been no sign of him for what seemed like an eternity.
Finally the harried-looking young woman who’d spoken to her a few minutes earlier returned with Santa in tow. He was tall, at least six feet, and well rounded, thanks to plenty of fake padding. She couldn’t guess his age, because of the fake white hair and beard, but if he and Trish were brother and sister, then surely he wasn’t that old, late twenties or early thirties, maybe. Right around her age. Maybe he even had children of his own and would be able to empathize with her distress.
“Ma’am, this is my brother,” Trish told Amy. “Don’t be put off by the costume. He’s really a terrific detective. He’ll help you find your son. You’ll be back together in no time.”
Amy gazed into Santa’s dark blue eyes behind their fake, round little glasses and felt an odd zing that was totally inappropriate under the circumstances. She had the oddest desire to fling her arms around this man who was offering to help her find Josh and hold on for dear life. After all, Santa Claus represented all that was good and hopeful in the world. Add to that the fact that this Santa was an experienced detective and he was everything she needed in this particular crisis.
“I’m Nick DiCaprio,” he told her, his somber expression far from the jolly persona usually expected from Santa.
Her mouth dropped as the irony struck her. “St. Nick?”
His face relaxed and a faint smile touched his lips, then vanished. “Hardly. Trish had a last-minute emergency and, after a lot of sisterly persuasion and blackmail, I agreed to fill in for Santa. Trust me, no one would confuse me with any kind of saint.”
The young woman beside him nudged him in the ribs. “Don’t be modest, Nicky. You have a few saintly traits.” She smiled at Amy, then gave her an oddly speculative look. “For one thing, Nicky is one of the last genuine good guys. You can’t tell it now, but he’s really handsome. Hot, even. And he stays in great shape.”
Santa—rather Nick—frowned and cut her off before she could cover any more of his masculine attributes. “I think maybe she’s more interested in my professional qualifications, Trish.”
“I already told her you’re an excellent policeman,” she said quickly, then turned to Amy. “He has lots of commendations. If anyone can find your son—”
“Why don’t you tell me about your son,” he interrupted, his tone gruff. He still seemed uncomfortable, even though his sister’s unsolicited praise had turned professional. “Trish, let me borrow your clipboard and notepad.” He glanced back at Amy. “What’s your name?”
“Amy Riley.”
“And the boy’s name?”
“Josh Riley.”
“Age?”
“He’s five.”
“Height? Hair color?”
Amy rattled off the statistics, growing more impatient by the second. She knew he needed the basic information but why weren’t they looking already? By now Josh could have been swept along to the other end of the mall.
“What’s he wearing?”
Increasingly exasperated, she tersely described the bright red jacket, jeans and Spiderman T-shirt Josh had put on that morning and the red and green scarf he had around his neck.
“I know you think we’re wasting time, Mrs. Riley,” Nick said as if he’d read her mind. “But with thousands of kids running around the mall today, it’s best to know exactly what your son looks like. Giving a good description to the security staff will save a lot of time in the long run.”
“I have a picture,” Amy said, hurriedly pulling his last school picture from her purse. It had been taken just a couple of months before they’d left Michigan. She choked up at the sight of Josh’s precious gaping smile and that untamed cowlick of brown hair that refused to stay put no matter how much gel she used to slick it down.
Handing the picture to Nick, she said, “He needs a haircut now, but this was taken not too long ago.”
“Cute kid,” Nick said, then turned to his sister. “Trish, how far does the sound from that PA system travel?”
“It’s just for the immediate vicinity,” she told him. “Some of the department stores have their own. I could write up an announcement and ask them to make it ASAP.”
“Do that, and we’ll give this one a try, in the meantime. Keep it simple, Trish. Ask Josh Riley to come to see Santa.” He glanced at Amy. “Think that would get his attention?”
> “Oh, yes,” Amy said eagerly. “He was so anxious to see you, I mean Santa. That’s why he took off in the first place. I wasn’t moving fast enough to suit him. He wanted to see you up close, then get in line.”
“Have you checked the line?” he asked.
“Front to back,” Amy confirmed. “He’s not in it. I just don’t understand why he would have wandered away.”
“Because that’s what little boys do,” Nick offered. “They’re easily distracted and often far too fearless for their own good. Trish, let’s try the PA and see what happens, then do whatever you have to do to get the cooperation of the stores.”
But even after several announcements, there was still no sign of Josh. Amy gazed up at Santa. Despite the beard and makeup designed to give him a jolly look, there was no mistaking the fact that his expression was troubled.
“He really is lost, isn’t he?” she whispered, her voice choked.
Nick nodded, but he took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “Don’t you dare lose it on me now, Mrs. Riley.”
“Amy,” she told him.
“Okay, Amy. Hang in there. We’re going to find your boy.”
“Of course, you will,” Maylene added.
It was the first time she’d spoken since Nick’s arrival. Amy knew she’d stayed close by in case she was needed, but she hadn’t intruded. Amy was grateful for her presence. With Maylene around, she didn’t feel quite so alone.
“I believe I know your mother, Nick,” Maylene continued. “We belong to the same Red Hat Society.” She beamed at Amy. “Laura DiCaprio is always bragging about her son the policeman.” She smiled at Nick. “Your mother is very proud of you.”
Nick seemed as surprised by that as he’d been put off by his sister’s glowing comments.
“Weren’t you involved in a high-profile case just recently?” Maylene asked, her brow furrowing as she apparently tried to recall the details.
“Let’s not get into that,” Nick said curtly.
Maylene looked taken aback by his sharp tone, but then something must have come to her because she nodded. “I’m sorry. You’re absolutely right,” she said hurriedly. “I don’t know what I was thinking. You need to be concentrating on finding Josh.”
“That’s exactly right,” Nick said, his sympathetic gaze pinned on Amy. “You okay?”
“I’ll be a lot better when we find Josh.”
“It won’t be much longer,” Nick reassured her. “I can see some of the security guys coming now. We want to get this search organized the right way. Once security fans out through the mall, it shouldn’t take any time at all.”
Oddly enough, Amy believed him. There was something solid and reassuring about a detective who would be willing to take the time to play Santa in a mall filled with last-minute shoppers and hyperactive children. It said a lot about his character that he’d helped out his sister, when most men wouldn’t have wanted to be within a hundred miles of the mall today. Of course, he had mentioned something about Trish needing to blackmail him to get his cooperation, but still…
With his warm, comforting hand wrapped around hers, Amy finally let herself start to relax. Nick might be a reluctant substitute for the real Santa Claus, but perhaps he was capable of performing at least one minor miracle and reuniting her with her little boy.
BY THE TIME NICK ACCEPTED the fact that Josh Riley was nowhere near Santa’s village, a dozen mall security officers including the less experienced extras hired during the holidays, had arrived. Familiar with the mall’s various wings, Nick hastily organized them into an efficient search party, showed them the picture of the boy, gave them a description of his clothes, and sent them to the areas of the mall most likely to draw an adventurous five-year-old.
All the while, he was aware of Amy regarding him with her big, soulful eyes that were shadowed by fear. Tyler Hamilton’s mom had looked at him exactly like that, trusted him to bring back her boy. Nick shuddered at the memory of those harrowing hours, which Maylene Kinney had almost revealed at a most inopportune moment. Thank goodness the woman’s memory had temporarily failed her. When the incident had come back to her, she’d covered well. Meanwhile, Amy seemed too distracted to notice the byplay between them. He didn’t want her to start asking a lot of questions about why Nick had been in the news recently.
None of them could afford to go back and think about that tragedy right now. Amy needed to believe in him. And he had to stay focused on this mom and this boy. He refused to consider the possibility that this was anything more than a missing child. Anything else took him down a road he couldn’t bring himself to travel.
That didn’t mean that he didn’t understand the urgency of finding Josh before his mom freaked out completely or before the situation turned into something worse. Any location that attracted a lot of children also had the potential to draw those who preyed on them.
With the security staff fanning out, he turned back to Amy.
“Let me take the baby, okay? Then we can leave the stroller here with Trish,” he said lightly. The little sweetheart with her blond curls and pink bow in her hair immediately beamed at him in a way that made his heart ache.
“Who’s this angel?” he asked, responding to that smile with one of his own.
“Her name’s Emma,” Amy said. “She’s eleven months old. Are you sure you want to hold her? I can keep her.”
“I don’t mind. I have a niece who’s not much older,” he told her.
He gently patted the baby’s back till she settled down again. She felt good in his arms. There was something about holding an innocent baby, smelling that powdery scent, feeling that weight relax against his chest, that always affected him and made him yearn for something that he rarely acknowledged was missing from his life.
Feeling the start of that yearning somewhere deep inside, he snapped his attention back to the current crisis.
“Is there any store in the mall that your son especially likes?” he asked.
She shook her head. “We’ve never been here before. We just moved to town a couple of weeks ago and we’re getting settled. I wasn’t even sure exactly where the mall was. I got lost getting here. We probably shouldn’t have come, but it’s been a family tradition to see Santa on Christmas Eve and I didn’t want to disappoint Josh. It’s hard enough on him since his dad’s back in Michigan.”
“You’re divorced?” A glance at her ring finger confirmed the absence of a wedding band.
She nodded and Nick’s sense of dread magnified.
“You’re absolutely sure your husband’s in Michigan?” he asked, his voice filled with tension.
Amy regarded him with confusion. “Of course. Why?”
“What were the terms of custody?”
“I have full custody. Josh will spend summers with his dad. What does that have to do with anything?”
“And your husband agreed to that willingly?”
“He was eager to have us leave,” Amy explained. “Why are you asking all these questions about my ex-husband? He has nothing to do with this.”
Nick regarded her with a penetrating look. “Are you sure about that? He wouldn’t try to snatch Josh away from you?”
“No. Never,” she said fiercely. “I told you, he was glad we were leaving, so he could move on with his new wife. I don’t understand what you’re trying to get at.”
Nick recalled that Mitzi Hamilton hadn’t believed her ex-husband was capable of taking their son, either. They’d wasted precious time searching for a stranger, only to determine that Tyler had been taken by his own dad, a man intent on revenge. How the hell was Nick supposed to know if Amy Riley was telling him the truth about this situation?
He looked into her eyes and tried to read her expression. She looked a bit confused, maybe even troubled by his questions, but she seemed totally sincere.
“You’re absolutely certain your ex-husband wouldn’t change his mind, come looking for Josh?”
“Not a chance,” Amy said. She pulled
a cell phone from her purse. “I could call him, if you want.”
“Do it,” Nick commanded. “At home, not on his cell phone.”
“Why?”
“If you call his cell phone, he could be anywhere. I want to know for a fact he’s in Michigan.”
She looked shaken by his persistence, but she dialed. “Ned,” she said eventually. “It’s Amy.” Her gaze locked with Nick’s. “I…” Her voice trailed off, as if she’d suddenly realized that she needed an excuse for calling. Clearly she wasn’t anxious to tell her ex-husband the truth, that their son was missing. After a noticeable hesitation, she said, “I was just wondering if you’d sent a gift for Josh. Nothing’s come yet.”
Nick sagged with relief at the evidence that Josh’s dad wasn’t involved in his disappearance. He barely listened to the rest of Amy’s brief conversation.
When she’d hung up, she frowned at him. “Satisfied?”
He nodded. “Sorry. I had to be sure, Amy.”
“Something tells me I need to know why all of this mattered so much.”
He shook his head. “Just covering all the bases.”
“I’m not sure I believe that,” she said, studying him intently.
Nick hated seeing the doubts in her eyes, but he knew there would only be more if he explained. “Just trust me, okay?”
“I don’t have much choice, do I?” she muttered wearily. She met his gaze. “Now what?”
Nick tried to think like a five-year-old boy on the day before Christmas. “Would Josh go to a store to buy a present for his dad?”
Amy frowned. “I don’t think so. We sent a present last week.”
“What about you? Would he want to find a last-minute gift for you?”
Her eyes, an unusual shade of amber, shimmered with unshed tears. “I don’t think so. I don’t think he has any money. All he wanted to do today was see Santa. He didn’t even want to waste time looking in the windows at the toy store. He was so upset this morning when I didn’t feel well and said we couldn’t come. I felt so awful about letting him down that I got dressed and came anyway.” The tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks. “We should have stayed at home. I should have known something bad would happen.”
Romancing the Holidays Bundle 2009 Page 11