Yuletide Blend

by Kennedy Layne

  If Liam had asked the elf to bring me a present, it was a sweet gesture. My smile continued to grow the more I thought about such effort being put into my gift, ignoring the fact that there were still fourteen days before the big event. I wasn’t much on surprises, anyway.

  This better be an appropriate gift to give someone in public.

  Leo hopped down, albeit ungracefully, leaving the red bow flattened against the wrapping paper. He then sat back on his haunches, having a front row seat to the unveiling.

  “I wish I could say that was from me, but yours is safely tucked under the Christmas tree at home,” Liam said, frowning as he glanced down at the present. “You said the same elf who I ran into earlier gave you the present?”

  “Yes, and she did so with a message about it being able to save your annual budget.” In retrospect, I realized what it could be and quickly knelt down to unwrap the gift. “Liam, I think—”

  “Don’t open it,” Liam warned, but he was a smidge too late. I’d already ripped the side of the paper without thought to the ribbon still secure around the box. “Is that an actual drone?”

  Liam quickly knelt by my side and joined me in untying the ribbon and took the rest of the wrapping off. Sure enough, we were looking at a drone set with all the trimmings.

  Hey, Raven. I know my short-term memory has been iffy these last two days without getting my steady supply of tasty edibles, but didn’t that elf say that the jolly red giant gave you that present?

  I quickly glanced over my shoulder to find that Santa Claus was indeed staring directly at us. The streetlamp above him must have caught his glasses just right, because there was no way that I should be able see the twinkle that practically sparkled like a diamond in his eye from our location.

  I would definitely call that a twinkle, Raven. There’s only one way good ol’ Kris could have known about your conversation regarding the drone, which has me changing my mind about everything. I mean, this is a revelation. That twinkle is proof…and right before our very own eyes! I’m now a full believer, and I need to write out my wish list for Christmas morning. Oh, this means you might want to go and have another conversation with the former sheriff’s wife. She’s definitely a reindeer serial killer, and she needs to be stopped.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “I spoke with Mr. Nickels,” Liam insisted, handing me a steaming cup of coffee that he’d poured from a thermos. “It’s one thing to believe in the supernatural, but Santa Claus? I’m telling you, he was a nice gentleman who didn’t hesitate to show me his driver’s license. There doesn’t seem to be anything unusual about him.”

  Am I the only one who thinks we look like idiots camping out in the petting zoo and attempting to blend in with the antlered brutes? Not to mention this place smells worse than my litter box, and I like myself. I shouldn’t have skipped tonight’s poker game. Remind me again how I allowed you to talk me into this charade?

  “Does the name not strike you as odd?” I asked wryly, gratefully taking the hot beverage. The bale of hay we were sitting on was actually quite warm, and the wooden structure meant for the reindeer did provide adequate protection from the wind. Leo was on top of a small straw bed that Barry must have spread out for the caribou. “And I’m pretty sure we said that the guilty party could bring Randy back with no consequences, so we’re technically going against the accord.”

  “That’s not what we’re doing here, Raven. Besides, Mr. Nickels comes across as one of those men who gives insight to his wisdom.” Liam carefully turned in the small wooden edifice, careful not to spill his own coffee. “Scoot.”

  I managed to inch over to make enough room for him, but apparently not as gracefully as Liam. A bit of coffee sloshed over the rim of the plastic cup and onto my glove.

  Liam and I had taken the drone and stored it inside the tea shop for safekeeping. We couldn’t use it at night, so we’d have to wait until morning to break it out in order to have an aerial view of the town. Meanwhile, the batteries were charging the required eight hours before first use.

  With a little prodding, Liam had sought out Mr. Nickels to get clarification on the gift, but all the man said was that this time of year was magical and we should be thankful for what gifts we receive. I could see where Liam would consider advice such as that wisdom. After all, there was a lot of truth behind his adages. As for the elf, she’d apparently gone home early because she was nowhere to be found.

  Shhhh. I’m already thinking about my wish list. It’s the only thing that’s keeping me sane now that Ted might actually win the pot tonight. Do you think the Alaska catnip farm is better than the one in Honduras? It’s hard to make a decision when I haven’t tasted either of those delicious edibles in over three hours.

  Basically, the rest of the evening had been uneventful. Upon Mom and Beetle calling it a night, Heidi had done the same with the promise to rejoin the search come morning, if needed. We were all still hoping that someone would take the mayor up on his public offer to bring Randy back to his pen without any consequences. It was when I’d gone to say goodnight to Liam that I’d discovered his intention of staking out the pen tonight.

  “First off, the man’s full name is Steven Nickels.” Liam held up a hand when I rolled my eyes at the similarities in the initials. One of the streetlamps afforded us enough illumination to see one another. “I have his home address. To be sure and to alleviate your concern, I’ve already sent the information to Jack. I asked him to run Mr. Nickels through the database to make sure that he is who he says he is. In the meantime, I’m not sitting on this pile of hay in hopes of making an arrest. We made a promise to the public, and I stand by our word.”

  Wait just a frozen snowflake! What am I doing asking for a catnip farm when I could actually ask for a winning battle plan against the squirrelpocalypse? I’m a genius! This might actually be worth missing tonight’s poker game.

  “Staking out the pen to see who returns Randy doesn’t actually feel as we’re standing by our word,” I pointed out, taking a sip of my coffee to find that it had the perfect mixture of cream and sugar. I closed my eyes in enjoyment, not having a lot of moments like this one today. There were times I drank my coffee black, but that was when necessity came into play. “It seems more like a trap.”

  Yes, yes. A battle plan with a trap. Keep going, Raven. You’re on a roll.

  “We’re not here to arrest anyone, Raven.” Liam transferred his coffee to his left hand so that he could put his right arm around me for some additional warmth. “I promised Barry Mina that I would keep a close eye on the other eight reindeer. They still refuse to leave the pen.”

  “So, what will you do if someone returns Randy?” I asked, feeling a lot better now that I had some coffee in my system. I could see one of the reindeer walking toward us through the opening. “Just pretend that we’re not here?”

  “Exactly,” Liam replied, settling back against the wall to get comfortable. It was like he’d done this before. Then again, he’d been employed by the NYPD earlier in his career. He’d probably been on a few stakeouts in his time. “Besides, no one can see us in here. The reindeer’s excitement over the return of Randy will provide us cover.”

  Uh, what is that antlered brute doing hanging around the entrance of our temporary abode? Does he not know we have this space reserved for the night? The good ol’ sheriff should have run this stakeout by those eight giant creatures who live here. They can squish me without blinking an eye, you know.

  Sure enough, and almost as if to verify that Liam was telling the truth, one of the reindeer began to make his way into the wooden structure. They were magnificent creatures, with their large antlers and their brawny bodies. There was also almost a sadness in those dark brown eyes, and it was all I could do not to throw my arms around his neck and tell him that his best friend would be okay.

  I wouldn’t do that if I were you. We’ve already established that if Santa Claus is real then the former sheriff’s wife might have done something unspeakable
. Let’s face it. Who better to have the Serial Killer Handbook than someone who is married to a former police officer? It’s genius, really.

  “What are you and Leo talking about?” Liam asked, his words more of a soothing murmur as he settled in for the night. He was definitely in his element. “I can always tell when the two of you are conversing. His longest whisker twitches.”

  It’s a good thing that the good ol’ sheriff isn’t part of our supernatural poker game. He wouldn’t have a dime to his name. Come to think of it, maybe I can talk Ivan into letting that actually happen. I could make a mint.

  “Leo’s whisker actually twitches when he’s annoyed.” I paused for a second, realizing what I’d said. It was kind of funny now that I thought about it. “I guess I do annoy him most of the time, but right now he’s worried that you didn’t run this entire stakeout thing past the reindeer. One of them looks set to join us.”

  “Leo, these reindeer are the gentlest of animals,’ Liam said reassuringly, lifting the plastic cup of coffee to his lips. He finished speaking before taking a drink. “I promise that they won’t hurt you.”

  “Leo also thinks that Karen Finley is a reindeer serial killer.”

  Liam immediately inhaled the coffee upon hearing such a ludicrous statement, sending him into a coughing fit. He leaned forward and pressed the back of his glove to his mouth as he tried to recover.

  Ludicrous statement? Wasn’t it you who was convinced that the former sheriff’s wife was involved in the reindeer-napping caper?

  “In Leo’s defense, I did believe that Karen might have been involved in Randy’s disappearance,” I confessed, not able to throw Leo under the bus like that. Liam was finally able to draw in some oxygen, but he was still unable to talk. That was probably a good thing until I explained myself a bit more. “You see, it all started when we were at Wilma’s house checking to see if she’d noticed anything unusual in her yard. She has a ton of those bird feeders outside of her kitchen window. I was hoping that Randy had walked through her yard or something. Anyway, as Leo and I joined Mom on the sidewalk, Karen was pulling into her driveway…and she didn’t even bother to wave.”

  Had we been talking about anyone else, I’m pretty sure neither one of us would have thought anything of the small slight. With that said, Liam understood very well that it wasn’t in Karen’s nature not to acknowledge somebody.

  “I’ll admit that doesn’t sound like Karen, but I’m confused as to how you and Leo could go from a distracted individual to an all-out serial killer,” Liam said once he’d semi-recovered. He attempted to clear his throat once more before continuing. “I’m sure that Karen didn’t see you standing across the street. Besides, she was pretty busy today running around getting Otis’ Christmas gift.”

  “That’s the thing,” I admitted, knowing that Liam wasn’t going to like what we’d done. “She did see us, but she was just in a hurry. Unfortunately, I didn’t know that she was preoccupied. When I was at the diner, Paula mentioned that Karen had been into the diner to see if they had any stale bread. We made an assumption and thought maybe she’d gotten it for Randy. On top of that, Karen didn’t acknowledge me again when I was standing in front of Mrs. Salisbury’s residence. I hopped in my car to follow Karen, but I lost her.”

  “You lost her?” Liam asked, skepticism lacing his tone. “How can you lose sight of someone on the side streets of Paramour Bay?”

  “Exactly,” I said, glad that Liam was starting to see things my way.

  I wouldn’t say the good ol’ sheriff is coming round to our way of thinking, Raven. I do believe he is wondering how we make it through a day without tripping over our own feet and paws. Hearing you tell the story also has me marveling at our survival instincts. This doesn’t bode well for the squirrelpocalypse.

  “I thought it was suspicious enough to warrant further investigating, so Leo and I decided to go take a peek inside Otis and Karen’s garage.” I held up my hand when Liam’s jaw fell open an inch. Saying all this aloud did have me rethinking some of our decisions, but Leo and I had determined that is was always those we least expected in times like this. “It’s not like we actually thought she did something horrible to Randy, but more like she was attempting to help him. Remember when Otis and I talked in your office about the fact that a lot of people didn’t realize the story behind the reindeer? Well, I thought maybe Karen had believed she was helping them. Does that make sense?”

  I don’t think you should have ended that explanation with a question, Raven. You should…um, we definitely have a nightly visitor. Shoo. Go away now. Skedaddle, antlered brute.

  “Just look at him, Liam,” I whispered, holding out my hand to our curious visitor. I was ecstatic when the reindeer inched closer, his nostrils flaring as if to sniff out any danger. He must have decided that we were okay, because the caribou leaned his nose down for me to pet. “They’re magical in their own right, and I can see where somebody didn’t understand their history or how they came to be with Barry.”

  Don’t squish me. Don’t squish me. Don’t squish me.

  Leo had his eyes squeezed closed as he repeated that little prayer in his head, as if this gentle reindeer would do anything of the sort.

  “I can understand why you would have thought Karen would want to help, but all you had to do was ask me about Karen. I would have told you that she was trying her best to get her errands done before Otis got home. He tends to always know what she gets him, but she has a plan in place this year.”

  Speaking of plan, do we have one to get this antlered brute to leave before he decides to lay right down on top of me? I’m all for losing a pound or two, but not in the form of a flattened pancake.

  We all startled when the reindeer snorted and suddenly turned around, heading back outside to the pen. Leo might have eked out a squeak of terror when one of the reindeer’s hooves came awfully close to his head, but I couldn’t be sure over the sounds of the eight reindeer.

  Stampede!

  There was no stampede, but the reindeer had become anxious over something. The question was had someone decided to take the mayor up on his public offer or was Liam going to have to make an arrest before another reindeer-napping occurred right in the middle of town square.

  I was just giving you fair warning. It wasn’t like I was panicking or anything. Tell me again why I had to cancel my poker game tonight?

  “Looks like we finally have a visitor,” Liam whispered, using his right hand to grab ahold of my arm. He’d already set down his coffee in anticipation of what was to come. “We remain silent in here in case someone is returning Randy. If there are signs that somebody is here to try and take another reindeer, I’ll go out and take care of the situation.”

  I nodded my understanding, though I wasn’t too worried that someone was here to do harm to us or these animals. The palm of my right hand wasn’t warm in the least. With that said, I still tensed in anticipation as Liam leaned forward on the bale of hay in expectation that someone was heading in our direction to have another go at a reindeer-napping.

  Haven’t we already agreed that you’re having a slight malfunction in that area? It’s due to the genuine article in the red suit whom I must befriend now that there’s a way to get that Alaskan catnip farm come Christmas morning. I’m a believer, Raven, which means this reindeer-napping has to be stopped at all costs!

  Chapter Sixteen

  “You look like—”

  “Not another word,” I warned Heidi, who had just entered the tea shop. As a matter of fact, the echo from the bell above the glass door was still resonating in my ears. I took another sip of my much-needed coffee. “I got home around two-thirty in the morning, and I didn’t get to sleep until three. I need a bit more caffeine before we head out.”

  Neither scenario that Liam or I had predicted had come true last night. No one had shown up to return Randy, but neither had anyone stopped by the petting zoo to take one of the other reindeer. The person who had raised such a commotion with th
e caribou had been none other than Barry Mina. He hadn’t been able to sleep, too worried about Randy and the others.

  “Barry showed up at the petting zoo last night,” I divulged, carefully taking a seat on the stool behind the counter. I’d opened up the tea shop a little earlier than usual, so I didn’t expect Beetle to show up for another ten minutes. I honestly wasn’t sure what I would do without him. “You should have seen him with those reindeer, Heidi. He adores them and vice versa. He is definitely off the suspect list.”

  Heidi had tiptoed over to Leo, who was currently sacked out on his pillow in the display window. All four paws were sticking up in the air, and his tongue was hanging from the side of his mouth as a slight snore occurred with every breath.

  “Poker?” Heidi asked softly, making her way over to the coffee station. I’d just finished brewing all the tea samples, as well as creating the perfect carafe of Columbian coffee. “Ivan and the rest of the group are going to have to start monitoring his edible intake.”

  “Not poker,” I replied with a smile. “I talked Leo into helping me and Liam keep watch over the reindeer last night. He wasn’t too happy, but he now fully believes in Santa Claus. He’s been busy making his wish list.”

  “Are you really going to buy him a catnip farm in Alaska?” Heidi had taken off her gloves so that she could make herself a cup of coffee. I’d already put one of my travel mugs out that I’d brought from home, knowing that she’d want to take it with her when we headed out this morning. “I can’t believe you even researched them.”

  “Believe it or not, I reached out to an owner who said he would actually be willing to draw up a contract that states Leo owns one percent of the farm,” I whispered, having already cast an itsy-bitsy spell to ensure that Leo couldn’t read my thoughts on this particular subject. “I made a deal with the pet shop here in town. Thelma, the owner, agreed to sell the catnip brand from this particular farm in exchange for free tea leaves.”