Under the Christmas Star (Crossroads Collection)

by Amanda Tru

  “No, I need to go,” Brooke said, already backing down the shoveled sidewalk and waving. “Christmas Eve is a busy day for me. Both Tylie and I are running ragged with deliveries. I’ll call you later and find out all the details about your flowers!”

  With a parting grin, Brooke raced back to her car.

  Emma shut the door and carried the flowers to the kitchen. Orion followed but didn’t offer any advice on what to do. Seeing the clear plastic fork crowned with a small envelope sticking up from the top of the bouquet, Emma reached for it.

  The doorbell rang again. Wondering what Brooke had forgotten, Emma hurried back to the front door and opened it.

  The woman on the doorstep was blonde and blue-eyed, but she wasn’t Brooke. Surprised, it took Emma a few seconds to realize why the young woman looked familiar.

  “Reese Daniels?” Emma asked, remembering the woman she’d talked to a few weeks ago in Brighton Falls.

  “Good memory,” Reese responded, a sad smile on her lips.

  “What can I—” Emma started.

  “I need to return this to you,” Reese interrupted. “I believe it belongs to you.”

  Reese held out her hand and opened it. Nestled in her palm lay Emma’s starry night ornament.

  “Where did you…? How…?” Emma accepted the ornament, tears coming to her eyes. “Thank you! Where did you find it?”

  Reese didn’t immediately respond.

  Emma finally looked up, seeing the other woman’s pretty features twisted with pain.

  “Please don’t thank me,” Reese whispered. “I found the ornament in a box that I stole. After I knocked the owner unconscious.”

  Emma’s breath came in gasps. Safety beckoned in the darkness, but she fought, willing Reese’s words to make sense in her head.

  “Emma, please don’t be scared,” Reese begged, her own panic rising at Emma’s reaction. “You don’t have anything to fear from me. I was the one Chief Jacobs arrested. I turned myself in and have since been released with full knowledge and legal approval of the court.”

  “You turned yourself in?” Emma repeated, trying to tell herself that someone who did that couldn’t be dangerous. Plus, the court released her. They wouldn’t do that if she posed a threat to anyone, right?

  Reese nodded vigorously. “I heard what happened when you were run off the road and injured. I had nothing to do with that and felt terrible, but I knew who did it. And I knew what I had done.”

  “You felt terrible?” Emma asked, incredulous. “But you were the one who hit me, knocked me unconscious, and stole my ornaments and my car!”

  “Yes, I did that,” Reese said with shame. “And I fully take responsibility for my actions. At the time I did it, though, I was trying to save your life.”

  “What?” Emma thought she’d heard Reese wrong. How could giving her a concussion save her life?

  “Those other two men I was with were dangerous,” Reese explained, tears flowing down her porcelain cheeks. “I have no proof, but I’m pretty sure they’ve both killed before. When you didn’t immediately get down on the ground, I saw the gun come out, and I panicked, afraid that they would shoot you. I did the only thing I could think of and hit you with the butt of my gun. I didn’t intend to knock you unconscious. I was actually aiming for your shoulder, intending to get you to the ground. But you moved at the last second, and I hit your head. I was afraid I’d killed you! I’ve never been so scared in my life. After you dropped, I pulled you out of the way and checked your pulse while the others stole your ornaments and got the car started. There was nothing else I could do. Later that night, after the other two had gone their separate ways, I drove by the church parking lot, but you were gone.”

  Emma struggled to sort out the truth in Reese’s tale. There was so much that didn’t make sense. “You were helping some bad men steal cars and assaulted me. When I found you in Brighton Falls, you lied, sending me to talk to Moose when you stole that ornament and sold it to the Rusty Shingle yourself. You’re obviously a very good liar, and the police had no leads on finding you. Then, you suddenly turn yourself in, and now you’re here returning a single ornament. Why?”

  Reese smiled sadly once again. “That’s a long story. Do you want the long or the short version?”

  Emma shivered, the cold air from standing in the open front door seeping in to mix with her unease. Lord, help this to be the right decision!

  She looked directly at Reese and spoke firmly. “I want the long version. The full story.” She opened the door wide. “Come inside.”

  Reese looked surprised but followed Emma inside.

  “Hi, Orion!” she greeted, bending to pet the dog at Emma’s side.

  Orion sniffed Reese then rolled over so she could better pet him.

  Orion has better people instincts than I do, Emma assured herself. If he likes Reese, then I don’t have anything to be nervous about.

  Emma perched on a chair in the living room while Reese sat erect on the couch.

  Needing no invitation from Emma to procure her confession, Reese immediately began speaking. “You’re right, Emma. I’m a very good liar. It has come with a lot of practice. But I promise you that I am telling you the truth now, and I will continue to do so. You won’t get any more lies from me.”

  She seemed so sincere, but she’d seemed sincere before in Brighton Falls, leaving Emma no hope of reading clues to determine what was true and what wasn’t. She was willing to listen to her story, though, praying that Reese Daniels was somehow a better person than she had been mere weeks ago.

  “My brother and I were raised by our grandparents until I was 10,” Reese stared, her words coming fast as if she couldn’t wait for them to make it out of her mouth. “Our mom wasn’t really a stable person, but she’d show up every once in a while, always with a different boyfriend than the previous visit. She always brought us presents, candy, and promises that next time she came, she’d take us to live with her. That next time finally arrived when both grandparents died within a few months of each other. Mom no longer had a choice, and we went to live with her. Our lives became the complete opposite of what they had been. No longer did we feel loved and cared for. Instead, we were neglected in every way as we bounced around from city to city, our home being wherever Mom could find herself a new boyfriend for all of us to live with. Emma, I’m not telling you this to make excuses but to explain my state of mind when I fell in with a bad crowd in high school. Then my brother, who was two years younger than me, found a worse crowd to associate with.”

  Seeming restless, Reese stood and walked around the room as she continued. “In high school, I was involved in some shoplifting and a few other crimes, nothing major. However, after I graduated, I wanted my life to be something more. I wanted out from my group of friends, and the easiest way to do that was to leave. I worked as a nanny for several years in New York, but I eventually moved back to be close to my brother and attend college. I got a job at an event planning company and have been working my way through school. Unfortunately, all of that isn’t nearly as happy as it sounds.”

  Emma sat riveted, watching Reese pace the room and tell her story. She didn’t want to move or interrupt for fear that she would stop, so she and Orion sat still, their eyes following as Reese did laps back and forth across the room.

  “After I returned to the Brighton Falls area, my former friends took an interest in me again, especially after I landed the job at the event planning company. I didn’t want to associate with them, but they made threats against both my brother and me. I didn’t have a choice about cooperating. Thankfully, all they wanted was for me to occasionally fence some of their stolen goods. I already regularly bought and sold to different shops as part of my job. My position provided the perfect means to sell hot items to my contacts with no one the wiser. It was easy to slip in a few things they wanted me to fence, and it felt relatively harmless. I didn’t steal the items but selling them kept us safe, and no one got hurt.”

  �
��Helping to steal cars is a little more than fencing stolen goods here and there,” Emma pointed out.

  Reese hung her head, her pace slowing. “Demands increased gradually. They wanted me to actually participate in the theft, and I refused. A few new ‘friends,’ joined the group. They weren’t local and seemed more hard-core, interested in more than the petty stuff. My refusal got my brother beat up pretty bad, and they threatened more. They also threatened my job, saying that they would implicate me in multiple crimes that would land me in jail and cause me to lose my job. It wouldn’t matter if I’d actually committed the crimes. The weekend after Thanksgiving, our group joined with another crew who planned a slash and burn of car thefts through the area.”

  “You mean they would mow through an area stealing cars only to leave and move onto another area?” Emma asked, remembering that Leo suspected as much.

  Emma nodded. “Yes. They had the equipment and resources. We had manpower and knowledge of the local area. They split up into smaller crews to cover more area and assigned me to one. My brother had made some poor decisions and found himself in a position where they used him to force my cooperation. I wasn’t supposed to actually steal the cars, but simply be another body on the crew. You were our crew’s first target.”

  “Wrong place, wrong time?” Emma asked, wondering why her.

  Finally stopping the pacing, Reese stood by the tree, studying many of the ornaments as she spoke. She nodded. “Very much so. We were headed to one of the side streets to boost one of the cars parked along the roads, but then Drake saw your car. It was the right make and model, and he thought it would make for an easy nab. I told him to wait until you left and went inside the church, but he got impatient when you took so long at the trunk. He stepped forward to confront you, and I had to follow.”

  No longer able to sit, Emma stood and joined Reese at the tree. “Drake was the one in the middle? He was the one talking?” Emma asked, remembering the three dark figures.

  “Yes, he was the leader who isn’t from around here,” Reese reached out and cradled one of Emma’s hanging ornaments in her hand, not making eye contact as she spoke. “He told you to get down, but I don’t think you heard or understood what he said. He pointed his gun at you, and I panicked. I didn’t even want to be there, and I couldn’t be an accessory to murder! I hit you so Drake wouldn’t shoot. He was not happy with me afterward, saying that he was handling it.”

  Reese let the ornament swing back to its post hanging on the tree and turned to Emma, gazing at her with both misery and sincerity. “I didn’t intend to hurt you, but I couldn’t let him kill you.”

  “What happened to my ornaments?” Emma asked, the starry night ornament still clutched in her hand.

  Reese winced. “Most of them broke. The guys only cared about the car and weren’t at all careful in handling the boxes. After they left the car at the chop shop, I took the boxes and sorted through them. They wanted me to fence anything of value in the cars. When I saw your ornaments, I worried about fencing them locally because they seemed so unique. I sold a few that I thought could remain unnoticed, like the baby Jesus ornament, and I spread them out in different shops at different locations. I didn’t feel like I could sell a few of the more distinctive ornaments, though, so when I was on an out of state trip for my job, I dropped them off at a random estate sale, not wanting them tied to me in any way. I should have just destroyed them, but I couldn’t do that to such beautiful, handcrafted work. I thought it would be safe to abandon them so far away. While I pretended interest in the items at the sale, I put your ornaments on the table. I thought no one would know where they came from, and I’d be rid of the evidence. I don’t know what happened to them after that.”

  “And this one?” Emma asked, thoughtfully gazing at the blues and greens swirled in the ornament. “I should have put that one on the yard sale table, too,” Reese said quietly, her eyes on the ornament as well. “I couldn’t do it, though. That ornament was special for some reason. I don’t even know why, but I couldn’t force myself to get rid of it. I loved it, and every time I looked at it, I felt as if I was looking into a different world, one I longed to be a part of. Against my better judgment, I kept it for no other reason than I liked it. I hung it on my tree, and strangely, it didn’t even make me feel guilty to see it there.”

  “It was on your tree when I came by your apartment?” Emma asked, marveling that she so effortlessly lied while the item in question hung so close.

  “That’s why I didn’t invite you in,” Reese replied sheepishly. “I knew that if you’d recognized the baby Jesus ornament in a random shop, you’d surely recognize the glass ball on my tree. It shocked me to see you at my door. I recognized you instantly and worried that you’d figured out I’d stolen your car and knocked you out. I fed you the best lie I could come up with, hoping that if I sent you Moose’s direction, you’d hit a dead end and give up. Moose has no clue what sits on his table. If you pick something up, he names a price, even if he’s never seen the item before in his life. However, even though I sent you to the perfect dead end, I was still so rattled that I made a horrible mistake.”

  For the first time, Reese looked like she may not continue. Her nose turned rosy and her eyes bright as if close to tears. “Emma, it’s my fault that you were run off the road. I didn’t do it, but if not for me, Drake wouldn’t have attempted to solve the problem.”

  “Drake drove the other car?” Emma asked, shivering even though the room was plenty warm.

  Reese nodded. “I worried you would tell the police about finding your ornament, and then they would investigate further than Moose’s Haberdashery. I told Drake about you recognizing the ornament and finding me. I realized my mistake as soon as I told him, but it was too late. He freaked out and said he’d take care of it. I back-pedaled and assured him that I’d sent you to a dead end, and there was no way you’d figure out the truth. He must not have believed me. Apparently, he stalked you, and when he saw you speaking with Chief Jacobs after church, he thought the worst. Drake is so unstable that he couldn’t imagine you discussing anything but the fact that you found the ornament and were zeroing in on our group. Before I could figure out what to do, I heard you were hospitalized after being run off the road.”

  Reese’s breath grew short and her eyes bright. “Emma, I’m so very sorry! I never wanted anyone to get hurt. When I heard about what happened, I couldn’t take it anymore. Drake wouldn’t stop. My friends wouldn’t stop forcing me to do work for them, and their crimes were becoming more serious. The only way I could get out was to turn myself in. So I did.”

  Hearing Reese’s side of Emma’s trauma did horrible things to Emma’s anxiety level. Trying to distract herself enough to still focus on Reese, Emma gently hung the starry night ornament on a branch and began rearranging the other ornaments on the tree. “Did you just go to the police station and confess?” she asked, moving a blue ornament down because of its proximity to another blue ornament.”

  “More or less,” Reese said, watching Emma’s hands as she worked redistributing the ornaments. “I went in and asked for Chief Jacobs, saying that I needed to confess to a crime. I told him the whole story. But it didn’t go as I expected. He got the strangest look on his face when I showed him your ornament. He seemed really agitated and ended the conversation right there. He officially arrested me, and I spent the night in jail waiting for a lawyer. After lengthy discussions, I agreed to a plea bargain with no jail time if I testified against Drake and the others. I’ve actually been in protective custody for days until they rounded up everyone in both groups of thieves. They think they’ve gotten everyone now. They’re all in jail now, so I was released.”

  “But are you sure you’re safe?” Emma asked, nervously glancing at the window that faced the street. “Even in jail, isn’t Drake dangerous?”

  “Since the arrests were made, the police have gathered more evidence. Though I will still testify, it isn’t as vital. I guess I could be in danger sti
ll if Drake is angry enough, but the police no longer feel it a high enough risk to warrant further witness protection for me.”

  “So why are you here?” Emma asked yet again, returning to her ornament organizing. “Did you come to return the ornament and tell me your story? If you’re looking for forgiveness, you already have it. I appreciate knowing your side of the story, but that wasn’t necessary for me to forgive you. I forgave you long ago. I don’t have any hard feelings toward you, and I wish you the very best.”

  Reese nodded. “I appreciate that, Emma, but that isn’t exactly why I’m here. I wanted to return your ornament and tell you how it changed my life.”

  Emma looked from the starry night ornament and then back to Reese. “I don’t understand.”

  Reese reached out to inspect another ornament, this one identical to the baby Jesus ornament she had sold to the Rusty Shingle. “After I was questioned and booked, Chief Jacobs himself drove me to a jail in Brighton Falls the next day, saying they had better facilities for women. I was very upset. At that point, I didn’t know for sure that I could make a plea deal. I thought I had ruined my life. Chief Jacobs was very kind and told me that he believed God had a plan for my life and that everything would be okay.”

  “Wait,” Emma interrupted. “Leo Jacobs took you to Brighton Falls? Are you sure? He said God had a plan?”

  “Yes, I’m sure,” Reese said emphatically. “I outright laughed at him, saying that God would never want me. I’d messed up too much. Then he said he didn’t just believe that God had a plan, he knew it. He pulled over the patrol car and handed me back your ornament they had previously confiscated as evidence. He said that Emma Sheldon had come into his office a few weeks ago and shown him a picture of that exact ornament. She said you called it the ‘starry night’ ornament and described how you prayed that the person who hung it on his or her tree would be someone who wasn’t a Christian. You wanted the ornament to make that person think about Christmas in a new way. You said the ornament reminded you of what the sky looked like on the first Christmas with the blues and purples of the sky and the gold of angels. You wanted the recipient of this ornament to come to know God and His forgiveness, giving new meaning to Christmas. Then he turned to me and said, ‘Reese Daniels, you are the one Emma prayed for.’ He told me I needed God’s forgiveness and that God had planned all along for the ‘starry night’ ornament to hang on my tree.”