Christmas Under Fire

by Michelle Karl

  Five RCMP officers were stationed at various points around the square on horseback, and some locals had hitched up their own horses and wagons to offer hayrides to families around the area. Stores, poles, signs and everything in between were decorated in red and green garlands and white lights. Tinsel wreaths of lights, stars and trees hung from the lampposts.

  The central focus, the main reason for the gathering, was the giant tree in the center of the square. It stood almost three stories tall, and every year a local community group had a friendly competition to see which one got to head out into the woods, find and decorate the tree. The men’s hockey scrimmage team had won the privilege this time, and they’d done a fantastic job. In previous years, there’d been a flashing lights show, a white-lights-only aesthetic, and a children’s tree decorated with fake candles and paper lanterns folded by kids from across the province—and every year, the lights came on after sundown at exactly five o’clock.

  “You doing okay?” He glanced at Cally. Her shoulders appeared less tense than when they’d first arrived, but her eyes still darted around from person to person. She appeared to be scanning the crowd, worriedly searching for a familiar face, but with her Uncle Zarek by her side, too, she’d begun to move away from Aaron rather than stay tucked quite so close. It surprised Aaron how much loss he felt at the simple shift in spacing between their bodies.

  “I’m actually feeling a lot better,” she said. “Ellen came up with her brother, right? I meant to arrange a meeting point with her, but got caught up in my own anxiety.”

  “I’m sure she understands,” he said. “Jamie had to set up some of the detour signs around town, so she’s probably helping him if you haven’t heard from her.” She nodded in response, but her gaze still looked distant and worried. He scoured his brain for a suggestion that might ease her mind. “Hey, let’s stand over by Leo and Zephyr. She’s a sweetheart of a horse. You can give her a scratch if you want, and I suspect Leo has some treats in his pocket. Horse isn’t one of the languages you speak, is it?”

  Cally snorted with sudden laughter. The sound warmed his insides as if he’d drank an entire vat of hot cocoa. That was what he wanted for her. Happiness, unexpected moments of joy. And despite their admission that morning that they’d begun to fall for each other, it guaranteed nothing. Would they keep in touch once she went back to Amar? Were these feelings even worth exploring? Long-distance relationships were difficult at best, impossible at worst. Even with all the social media apps available to connect through, it would make his heart ache to see her updates and photos, knowing they were so many worlds apart from each other.

  Wait, heartache? The realization startled him. Were his feelings stronger than he’d thought? Could he actually be falling...in love?

  He’d never felt for anyone the way he felt for Cally. He’d never entertained notions of the future with a woman the way he couldn’t help but do when it came to her. Even with Tricia, his heart had found excuses and reasons why a romantic relationship wouldn’t work out. With Cally, his heart and mind kept racing through ways that it could.

  If that meant he was in love, well...he needed to think about it some more. Later, when he wasn’t in the middle of protective detail after several days of intense danger. He tried to refocus his thoughts as Cally’s uncle shifted closer, looking around the crowd with almost as much intensity as Cally—and while technically Cally was Aaron’s only assignment, he couldn’t help but suspect that the spirit of his protective detail orders included her family member, as well.

  Aaron tried to help the man feel at ease. “Sir, Cally mentioned you work for the Department of Natural Resources in Amar, but that sounds like government business. Holding an international conference so close to Christmas seems unusual.”

  “It is, it is, believe me.” The man rolled his eyes. “But there’s a bill that our government is trying to push through in regard to some reserve areas and the country’s oil—I’m sure you’ve heard of our booming oil industry of the past few years? There were some experts gathering from Alberta, Texas, Amar and Saudi Arabia to do some emergency examinations of new science and new technologies that should help all of us. It’s not an ideal time of year, but we manage for the good of our countries.”

  “That’s very generous of everyone involved, I’m sure.” Aaron’s radio buzzed with the chatter of fellow RCMP officers, each person checking in at a designated time. His time was in five minutes, which meant the lighting was about ten minutes away. He needed to get in position and ensure that Cally was secure—and hopefully able to see the tree. Despite the danger and fear she’d endured so far during this visit, he could at least give Cally one positive experience by which to remember their town. Especially since the danger wasn’t over—not by any means.

  He brushed her elbow. “Can you see all right from here?” Though the tree was big enough to rise high into the air, she wasn’t a tall woman.

  “I’m fine, thank you for checking.” Her smile was gentle and sincere. “I know you said there’d be a large turnout, but I’m still impressed.”

  Her uncle huffed and clicked his tongue. “Cally, dear niece, I love you, but you’re as small as a kitten and there’s no way you can see anything but the very tip of the tree. You’re special enough to get a personal RCMP escort—shouldn’t you have a VIP view of the event?”

  She pursed her lips, and Aaron recognized the gesture as a strong effort on her behalf to clamp down a wave of frustration. “No, Uncle. That’s quite all right.”

  “Don’t be foolish. I’ll head up front with you so you can see better.”

  “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” Cally looked over to Aaron for support.

  Aaron shook his head. “No, it’s safest for Cally to remain here. If we’d organized it a few minutes ago, that’d be different, but it’s too late to rearrange—”

  Zarek snorted. “The lights are coming on at any second, yes? Surely we can go up there for a moment. Escort us up if you want. I can see a VIP area with town officials and such.”

  As frustrating as the request was, Aaron didn’t want to treat the man with disrespect. He pulled out his radio to see if there was a possibility of moving Zarek and Cally up safely before the lights came on. “Thrace to Biers, is there any way we can move two VIPs up before—”

  “Uncle, no! We have to wait—” Cally’s shout yanked his focus, but he was too late. The edges of Cally’s and Zarek’s coats disappeared into the crowd.

  “Wait, sir! Stop!” He bolted after them into the crowd, but couldn’t see either of them through the packed square. As quickly as the crowd parted to let someone through, it closed up again like water filling in the sides of a container.

  He’d nearly reached the front when a gasp arose from the crowd. The lights of the tree began to glow, bright white and gleaming in sequence as they spiraled around the tree. Instrumental carols piped into the square through speakers set up at the corners, the illumination matching the rise and fall of the music. Small globe ornaments pulsed to the beat, which would be quite impressive—under different circumstances.

  Cally’s need to escape made even greater sense now. It wasn’t that her family did these kinds of things out of malice; they just had little concept of her autonomy. It was probably made even worse by the loss of her husband—they likely saw her as vulnerable and in need.

  With everyone staring at the tree, it grew even more difficult to break through the crowd. People were reluctant to move aside because they were busy watching, and no matter how loud Aaron yelled for the crowd to make way for law enforcement, his voice battled the volume of the music coming from the speakers surrounding the area.

  After what felt like ages, he emerged at the front, anticipating a clueless Uncle Zarek and an aggravated Cally standing at the edge of the VIP section.

  But they were nowhere to be seen.

  Aaron opened a channel on his radio
. “Does anyone have eyes on Cally and Zarek? He is wearing a navy blue coat, she is wearing a puffy gray coat and white knit hat.”

  Fellow officers around the square chimed in with negative responses as the tree’s lighting sequence finished. A cry of appreciation rose up from the crowd, the applause loud and the cheers deafening. Any other year, the happiness of the townsfolk and visitors would have made Aaron smile and feel a rush of gratitude for the season and sense of community spirit.

  Right now, however, all he felt was frustration and a sinking sense of defeat.

  With the lighting sequence over and the second half of the festivities about to begin, the crowd started to disperse, clumping and moving apart like a storm surge. He got on his radio to give instructions to the other officers stationed around the square.

  Lord, help me search. Keep her safe.

  He circled the perimeter, shouting communications over the radio and listening for updates, the seconds ticking by like hours.

  No one had seen them.

  And then Aaron found himself standing in an empty section of the square, alone.

  Despite all their planning, all the officers, all the reassurances he’d given her that she’d be safe...Cally had vanished without a trace.

  His radio buzzed. With his body on autopilot, he pressed the button to answer the call.

  “Thrace? It’s Biers. I have news from Fort. St. Jacob. That Tricia woman left the hospital in Fort St. Jacob an estimated few hours ago, maybe two? The hospital has been so busy, they didn’t notice until about twenty minutes ago. She fled the ER, and the police don’t know where she’s gone.”

  The radio tumbled from Aaron’s hand.

  * * *

  Why am I so cold? Cally shivered, the side of her head pounding as if she had a migraine. But she didn’t get migraines, so why did her head hurt? She tried to open her eyes, but all she could see was a sea of black and white sparks. As her vision slowly cleared, she focused on the sound of shuffling feet and the sensation of tugging on her wrists.

  I can’t move my arms.

  The realization startled her to full consciousness. Snow swirled around her, falling from the tree branches overhead—trees that surrounded her on all sides. She was in the woods...at night?

  “Aaron?” She tested her voice, relieved to find it working without issue. “Uncle Zarek?”

  That was when she noticed movement at the edge of her vision. Uncle Zarek was beside her, tying off the edge of a rope that wound around her wrists and ankles.

  “Uncle? What are you doing?” A horrifying notion began to dawn, but she refused to entertain it just yet. “Why are you doing this? There are people after me, people who—”

  Her uncle stepped back, his work finished. His eyes glistened with unshed tears, but Cally didn’t buy his display of emotion for one second. He needed to explain himself first.

  “I have no choice,” he pleaded, palms facing up, open and vulnerable. “You leave me no other option. I promise, Callandra, I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m trying to save you.”

  She stared at him. What on earth was her uncle talking about? He made no sense. “If you’re not trying to hurt me, let me go.” She tugged at her bonds. “This isn’t going to save me. You know there are people trying to kill me, and you’ll be handing me over to them like this.”

  Had Aaron noticed she was missing? He was probably frantically searching for her. Her memories of being pulled into the crowd by her uncle were fuzzy, but she thought she vaguely recalled resisting and trying to yank her arm away when he’d insisted they leave the square.

  She wanted to ask him about it, but pain shot through her skull every time she moved her head to one side. She hissed at the sharp sensation.

  “You hit your head on one of the speaker stands,” Uncle Zarek said, anticipating her question. “I didn’t do that to you. The speaker fell over when you bumped into it, and I slipped us away when an officer came by to help set it right. Please don’t think poorly of me. I’m doing everything I can to keep you alive.”

  She was tugging on the ropes again, ready to scream for help, when he stepped forward, grabbed the sides of the chain around her neck and gave them a sudden downward jerk. The clasp snapped open and Zarek pulled the chain and locket into his palm.

  “No!” Cally strained and thrashed, ignoring the way the ropes bit into her wrists. “What are you doing?”

  “Shh!” He placed his finger on his lips. “Callandra. I need you to listen very carefully. I never intended for you to get hurt, and I need you to believe that I’m doing everything I can to prevent further harm from coming your way. I’ve been trying to keep you safe since the moment your mother told me you’d unexpectedly run off and boarded a plane bound for Canada.”

  “But—”

  “Shh!” The panic and fear that flashed across his face stunned her into silence. “Please. Keep quiet and don’t try to follow me. As soon as I’m far enough away from you, I’ll call the police and tell them where you are. I’m sure that kind officer who has eyes for you will love the chance to play the hero. But until then, please stay quiet and hidden. There are some very dangerous people on their way to meet me—well, you’ve already met them, and their actions have been outside of the boundaries of our agreement, believe me—who will not hesitate to get what they want. They appear to have some very mistaken notions regarding your involvement in my business.”

  Business? “Uncle, what are you talking about? What business?”

  “They’ve paid a lot of money for some very privileged information, and think you...” He closed his fist around the locket and squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  He turned on his heel and ran, heading through the trees. Cally thought she heard the rumbling of a car engine in the distance. Had her uncle stolen someone’s car, too?

  “Wait!” she shouted at the top of her lungs, her throat already feeling the strain. Despite his instructions to stay still and quiet, she had more self-preservation than to stand in the middle of a snow-filled forest, tied to a fence where she’d slowly freeze to death. The air already felt several degrees colder than when she’d left the Thraces’ home to head to the tree lighting, which didn’t bode well for the hours ahead.

  Why would her uncle take her locket? What was he talking about—what business? Her throat tightened and a hiccup threatened to send her emotions into overdrive.

  I need to focus. I can react later, once I’m safe and warm and no bad guys are searching for me.

  She inhaled slowly, then took a closer look at the ropes around her wrists and ankles—and noticed how poorly they were tied. Her uncle hadn’t been wearing gloves, so his fingers had likely grown cold and cramped, especially during his attempt to tie her ankles to the fence. He’d have had to plunge his hands directly into the snow.

  With a cry of triumph, Cally wiggled her arms and legs, pulling harder and twisting her wrist and ankle joints to maneuver her way out. Within seconds, she’d pulled her feet out of her boots and freed one of her hands. It took a few more seconds to free her dominant hand, pull her boots out from under the ropes and slide her frozen toes back inside.

  And then she ran.

  She found the road easily, but without lights to illuminate the way, it was difficult to see which direction she should be heading. She thought she saw the black outline of a road sign in the distance, but until she reached it, she wouldn’t know if she was actually making her way back to town or heading farther away.

  “Help!” she shouted as she jogged, mindful of conserving energy but also deeply concerned at the possibility of spending the night outside. She had to keep moving or she’d freeze.

  Her stomach lurched with anxiety as headlights appeared in the distance. Friend or foe? How much weight should she give her uncle’s words about trying to divert the people after her onto himself...or were his actions and
theirs even related? How did her uncle and Tricia know each other? What business?

  She didn’t even realize she’d started crying until the tracks of her tears turned cold.

  The car quickly came closer, and she made a decision. While staying on the road and flagging down the car might be unsafe, staying outside in the freezing temperatures overnight was a guaranteed danger.

  Okay, God. I want to learn to trust You again. Please give me strength.

  She raised her arms and ran along the side of the road toward the oncoming car, praying the driver would stop and not ignore her. The closer the car came, the more she worried that she’d made a terrible mistake—

  And then the car’s tires skidded on the snow and ice, and lights on the roof began to flash red and blue, and Cally’s relief was so immense that she started to laugh and cry at the same time.

  The driver’s-side door flew open and Aaron burst out. He ran toward her and they collided, his arms wrapping around her in the strongest hug she’d ever received in her entire life.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been so glad to see anyone,” she said, her voice muffled by his heavy RCMP jacket.

  “I could say the same.” His breath came heavier than hers, and she had a sudden realization—the man was trying not to cry.

  She leaned away and gazed up at him. “I’m okay. You’re here and I’m okay. But my uncle isn’t. This is his doing. All of it.”

  Aaron stared at her, lips parted, clearly trying to process her words. “He’s...what?”

  “He stole my locket. He didn’t explain it very well but said something about dangerous people who’d paid a lot of money and trying to protect me. That harming me wasn’t part of the deal, whatever that means.”