by Rose Pressey
Tom didn’t answer again. All of a sudden, he was a man of few words. He pulled out his gun and moved to the side of the car.
“Stay put, Elly,” Tom demanded.
Was I really in the middle of a gun battle right now? I had no idea if we had been the target of the gunfire or if it was meant for someone else. Either way, I wanted out of here. I was regretting the decision to pull into the parking lot. However, I wanted to help Tom. I supposed he could take care of himself though. He was the one with the gun. There were no other shots fired so far and I prayed that that was the end of it. Tom got on his phone and called for the other detectives. Another minute passed with nothing happening.
“Elly, stay here. I’m going to move in closer.”
“You can’t do that,” I said.
“It’s my job,” he said. “Just stay put and don’t go anywhere.”
My heart beat fast and I could barely breathe. I watched as he moved around from the back of the car. He was taking cover behind anything he could find. I wondered who was in that building. I saw nowhere that they could fire from without being seen. Silence filled the air as Tom disappeared into the building. I’d had no idea he was actually going inside. Yeah, I felt even more terrified being out here alone when I couldn’t see what was happening to him.
Should I sneak in as well? No, that would definitely be a bad idea. However, if I heard more gunfire I would have no choice but to go in and try to help him. Eight seconds seemed like a minute while I waited there behind the car, peeking out toward the building.
What was taking the other detectives so long? Should I call the cops too? The fact that Tom was gone so long was making me entirely too nervous and I decided I had to do something about it.
I eased my way around the side of the car, still squatting down in case I needed to dodge another bullet. I couldn’t walk all the way like this to the building though, so I would have to stand at some point.
Fear raced through me at the thought of having to stand up and be a target. I scampered over to another car parked closer to the building. Nothing would protect me once I left this car though if I decided to go all the way to the door. I debated whether this was a good idea or not. But the longer I went without hearing from Tom the more I thought it was something I had to do. Instead of looking festive, the red and green lights now cast an eerie glow over the surroundings.
On the count of three I would make my move. I inhaled a deep breath and exhaled before I started counting. One… one and a half… two. No, this was ridiculous. I had to find Tom. Obviously, he needed my help. I jumped out from my hiding spot and raced toward the door. Just as I reached the steps to the door, Tom walked out.
“What are you doing, Elly?” he snapped. “I told you to stay put.”
“I had to come find you. It had been so long that I thought something had happened.”
“I can’t believe you’d just go in there and get shot,” Tom said.
He was obviously mad at me, but I was mad at him for not appreciating the fact that I was coming to his aid. Of course, I realized this was a high-stress situation. So perhaps I shouldn’t hold it against him too much.
“Did you find the person responsible?” I asked.
“There was no one there,” he said.
“Why were you here in the first place?”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Hey, if you asked me to bake magic then I’m involved in this investigation. Therefore, I have a right to know.” I placed my hands on my hips.
He shook his head. “I had a lead that Mildred might be here.”
“Did you search everywhere in there?”
“Why do you think it took me so long? She’s not here. I think the person tricked me just to get me here and shoot at me.”
“You should have seen that one coming,” I said.
Before Tom and I had a chance to argue any longer about whether or not I should have gone to the building or if he should have seen the trap ahead of time, the squeal of tires stopped our conversation. The other detectives sped into the parking lot.
“Don’t you think you need to call the Mystic Hollow police as well?” I asked.
“Yes, we will, but I took over for this case, remember?” he said. “I just need to talk with the detectives first.”
Lenny, Conrad, and Edward jumped out of their cars and ran over to us.
“Whoever was shooting is obviously gone. No sign of Mildred,” Tom said. “I don’t know if it was someone specifically targeting me or if it was a coincidence. Maybe their gun accidentally went off.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, right.”
Tom glared at me. “Thank you, Elly.”
“No problem,” I said with a click of my tongue.
Tom turned his attention back to the detectives. “We need to look for any shell casings. That will give us a better idea of where the shot was fired from and possibly why.”
I didn’t know what to do with myself as I stood there watching the detectives search the area. I supposed now would be a bad time to offer them the gingerbread cookies. Although the spell attached would probably help them in their search. Maybe I should eat one now so that I could help. I wouldn’t disturb Tom by handing out gingerbread men, but I could take a nibble and see if I was able to help with the search.
I headed back over to the car, got the container from inside, and took a bite of one of the cookies. I hoped Tom didn’t see me doing this because he would think that I had lost my mind. Nibbling on a dessert while we had just been shot at seemed a bit odd. That would probably rank up there with one of the strangest things I’d ever done. Not the strangest, but the list was kind of long so picking out the top of the list would be tough.
There was a method to my madness. I had a plan. And I had to admit the cookie was delicious. I couldn’t stop myself from finishing it off. Though I would not go for a second one. I watched the detectives search around the building as I waited for the spell to kick in. Oddly, nothing was happening. I didn’t feel any different. I was starting to fear that maybe my spellcasting hadn’t worked again. Everything was going wrong and I didn’t know what to do to fix it.
When my phone rang I glanced down and saw Mrs. Evans’ number. I groaned. No way was I answering her call right now. I sent a call straight to voicemail. I was beginning to think that catering the festival wasn’t worth it and I should just cancel. But I didn’t want to leave all those people without food at the last minute. I would never agree to do it again.
When Mrs. Evans immediately called back I knew she would just keep trying until I eventually answered. I might as well get the call over with. How much worse could it be? Reluctantly, I answered the phone.
“Oh, hello, Elly,” Mrs. Evans said in a singsong voice.
This was weird. I expected her to yell at me right away.
“Is something wrong, Mrs. Evans?” I asked.
“Dear, I was wondering if you might like to have dinner with me.”
What was the catch? Why was she asking me?
“Are you sure you have the right number?” I asked. “This is Elly Blair.”
She giggled. “Of course I have the right number and you’re such a dear. What do you say?”
“Well, I’m kind of in the middle of something right now.”
I didn’t want to tell her that there had been gunfire. I was sure she would blame me for all the problems in town.
“Well, when is it convenient for you? I just thought we would have a chance to get to know each other. I think we can be friends.”
This was completely bizarre and I knew she was up to something. Did she want to meet me somewhere so that she could let me have it?
“We can just have a soda if you’d like? Maybe hot cocoa and cookies? The gingerbread men are scrumptious.”
“Why don’t you just come by the café and we can eat there?” I said.
I’d rather have her on my own turf if she insisted on doing this.
“All right, if you think t
hat’s best. But I really don’t want you making food for us. It’s supposed to be a time when we can enjoy each other’s company.”
It was as if she had been possessed by someone else. Someone nice had taken over her body.
“How about seven o’clock? Can you take time off?” she asked.
“I suppose that would be okay.” I surveyed the progress around me.
I really didn’t want to make dinner plans, but she had piqued my curiosity now and I would have to go through with this.
“All right, fine. I’ll see you at seven,” I said.
“Oh, that sounds lovely. I’m glad that we will have a chance to talk to each other. See you then,” she said with a cheery tone.
I ended the call and stared at the phone, wondering if that had really happened.
Tom walked up. “Is everything all right?”
“Yeah. Well, I’m so confused about everything that’s going on with Mrs. Evans. I don’t think she likes me a lot. Actually, I know she doesn’t like me, but she just invited me to dinner,” I said.
“What did you tell her?” Tom asked.
“I said yes. Should I have done that? I wonder what she’s up to.”
“If you’re suspicious then don’t do it.”
I sighed. “She said she wants to get to know me better.”
“When she gets to know you, I can’t imagine she won’t love you,” he said. “Everyone loves you.”
“You didn’t love me much earlier,” I said.
“I was worried about your safety,” Tom said.
“So what have you found out? Anything?” I asked. “Tell me what you know because you could’ve been hurt or killed. Do you really think that person was targeting you or was it just an accident?”
Tom had to give me answers now. I would demand it.
“Nothing new to report,” he said in an official tone.
“Tom, I think the fact that someone was shooting at you means that this big mission of yours is probably something concerning that I should know about. So now do you want to tell me what’s up?” I asked.
“Do I want to tell you? Not so much,” he said.
“It’s really bad, isn’t it? What’s the deal with Mildred?”
“Well, she wasn’t learning how to cook the food with the magic spells. There’s a bit more to her work.”
“And what is that?” I asked, placing my hand on my hip.
“She’s working with the organization, but I can’t say for what. I promise you when I can, I’ll tell you.”
“I just don’t understand why it’s so secretive.”
“You know how the organization is. There’s a lot of top-secret things that I can’t tell you.”
“Well, I don’t like it. But I suppose there’s nothing I can do to make you tell me.”
“I’m glad you understand that,” Tom said.
Little did he know that I was still trying to find out even if he wouldn’t tell me. There had to be another way to get this information. In the meantime, I just wanted to get out of the area where the gunshots had whizzed by my head. I really didn’t feel safe anywhere though.
“Well, I have an appointment at the café, so I suppose I have to go back. I made the gingerbread cookies for everyone. I’m not sure if they’re exactly in the mood for them right now though.” I reached into the car, pulled out the container of cookies and handed them to Tom.
“You’re in the mood. I saw you devouring one,” he said.
“You saw that, huh?” I asked.
“Well, I happened to notice, yes. The moaning kind of caught my attention.” Tom grinned.
“I was hungry. Plus, that wasn’t the only reason I was eating, thank you very much,” I said.
“What was the other reason?” Tom asked.
“I don’t know if I’ll tell you.” I folded my arms in front of my waist.
“You know you want to,” he said.
“No, I don’t,” I said, fighting back a smile.
“Come on, Elly. You know you want to tell me.”
“You’re just teasing me now,” I said.
“Of course I am,” Tom said.
“All right, if you must know, I wanted to see if the spell worked and maybe I could help out with the search.”
“I knew that’s what you were doing.” Tom leaned against the car.
“Then why did we go through all of this?”
“Because it’s funny,” he said. “I’ll make sure the guys eat the cookies.”
“I have to get out of here now. I have to go back to the café.”
Tom reached out and took me by the arms. “Please be careful, Elly. Maybe you should allow me to drive you back.”
My heart beat faster. “I have to drive my car. It’s here and I don’t want to leave it.”
“Can you wait around and let me follow you?”
I looked at the time. “I suppose I can do that. How long will it be?”
“About five minutes, okay?” Tom asked.
I nodded. “All right, five minutes.”
Chapter 15
I wasn’t sure I could handle the stress and the temptation of those cookies. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to resist eating more than just one while I waited for Tom to finish up.
As I stood there staring at the Christmas lights, I couldn’t help but wonder who had put them there. The school building was empty, and no one used it, so why would there be Christmas lights? Maybe someone just wanted to make the town even more festive. Though the fact that someone had been in there and had fired a gun made me highly suspicious.
Maybe it wasn’t the wisest decision, but I couldn’t stand there with my nervous energy. After scanning the area and realizing that no one was watching me, I headed over to the Christmas lights on the railing that led to the front entrance of the school.
Once at the lights some of the detectives noticed me but didn’t ask what I was up to and Tom was busy talking to someone else. I found the electric cord for the lights. It led away from the stairs and around the side of the building. Someone had obviously gone through a lot of effort to do this. It is a nice thought that they wanted to spruce up the building for the holidays, but it was still odd to me. The power was off in the building as far as I knew, so where was it coming from?
Glancing around again, I made sure no one was watching. I took off around the old school. My heart beat faster as the adrenaline rush set in. I followed the trail of the power cord as it snaked around the building to the back. It led away from the school now. I knew the power had to come from somewhere else. An eerie feeling surrounded me as if someone was watching me. I peered around for any sign of movement. Now I really had the creeps. The power cord went all the way to the building next door. It had an outdoor power plug.
I wondered if the business knew someone was using their power? Maybe they were the ones who had put the lights on the old school. Considering they had no Christmas lights I doubted they were the responsible party. I hurried over to the office building’s door. A sign on the front door read: closed until January 1. Now I was almost positive they weren’t responsible for the lights. I would probably never know who had added them.
Maybe snooping around the building was a bad idea. What if a detective thought I was the gunman? I needed to get back to the car before Tom found out what I’d done. I peeked around the side of the building. Thank goodness no one was watching me. I raced back over to the car and got in, thankful that I had some bit of a safe haven after being out in the open as a target.
I turned on the radio, trying to distract myself while I waited. I tapped my fingers against the steering wheel and watched the detectives. A couple more minutes and I hoped he would be finished. Loudly, I sang along with Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree. A knock sounded on the window. I screamed and jumped in my seat.
“Elly, it’s Tom,” he mouthed through the closed window.
I lowered the window. “Are you ready?”
“I’m ready. I’ll follo
w you there, okay? Are you doing all right? That’s one of my favorite songs too.”
I blushed. “I’m okay.”
Just as I started the car, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Was someone still by the building? It looked like the woman I’d seen back in town. She was too far away again. Could it be Mildred?
“I saw someone,” I said, pointing. “A woman. Maybe it was Mildred.”
Tom followed my pointing finger. “Are you sure?”
“I’m positive,” I said.
“Okay, wait here. I’ll be right back.” Tom hurried to the location I’d pointed out.
The other detectives followed him in another search of the building. Still they found no sign of Mildred or anyone for that matter.
After the sweep of the building for Mildred, Tom followed me back to the café. My thoughts shifted from wondering if I’d actually seen Mildred to thoughts of Mrs. Evans and what she could possibly be up to. Wait until Mary Jane heard about this. She would be just as perplexed as me. Maybe together we could figure out what Mrs. Evans’ game plan actually was. No doubt Mary Jane would want to give her a spell to make her spill the beans, but I would never do that unless Mrs. Evans specifically asked for it. I assumed that would never happen.
I pulled up in front of the café and shoved the car into the park. I looked around for any sign of Kris Kringle or Mildred, but I saw no sign of them. Next I checked for Mrs. Evans. I wasn’t sure if I remembered what kind of car she drove. I figured I had just a bit of time still until she arrived.
I hadn’t expected Tom to walk me to the door. When I got out of my car, he stepped up to me.
“It’s been interesting,” I said. “Let me know if the cookies work for you. I didn’t sense anything.”
“I’ll let you know as soon as I know anything. I hope your meeting goes well.”
I reached out and hugged Tom. For a brief moment he remained stiff as if he had no idea what to do next. Ultimately, he wrapped his arms around me and hugged back. The only way I could describe his embrace was warm and intoxicating.
I stepped back from the hug. “Please be safe. Until you know what happened, I worry that someone will shoot at you again.”
