Miss Frost Cracks A Caper

by Kristen Painter

With that handled, I headed back to my office. My phone vibrated with a text. It was from Greyson. He hadn’t found a thing on the underweb. So much for that. I thanked him for checking, then called Birdie to find out what was happening with Juniper.

  “Hi, Princess. Nothing new to tell you, which is what you called to find out, I’m sure.”

  “So Juniper is still being questioned?”

  “Yes.” Birdie sounded apologetic, but I was so upset that only having Juniper back would make things right. “I’m sure it won’t be much longer.”

  I grunted in disbelief.

  “Lance is out, though.” She lowered her voice. “Hank had a deputy tail him, and he went right back to the rented apartment.”

  I already knew that. I just hoped the deputy hadn’t seen me spying. “And Lark?”

  Birdie sighed. “Lark’s been charged with felony theft. I can tell you that much. Elenora’s told us to offer her a reduced charge if she produces the jewelry.”

  I grunted again. “That’s not going to happen.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I don’t think Lark has a clue where it is. I’m starting to think she was a pawn in all this. At least to some extent.”

  “But the evidence at the apartment and the hidden compartment in her lighting equipment all point to her being guilty.”

  I walked into my office, closing the door behind me. “Makes a good frame-up. That’s about it.” But I wasn’t interested in a big discussion about anything until Juniper was free. “Has my father been notified?”

  “We tried, but his cell number just keeps going to voice mail.”

  “That’s electronics in the North Pole for you.” And why we used the snow globes. But I wasn’t going to share that method of communication with them. The news of Lark being charged could wait. Wasn’t like she was going anywhere. “Thanks for the update. I better get back to work.”

  “You’re welcome. Sorry it wasn’t better news.”

  “Me too.” I clicked off and sat at my desk, just staring at my computer and the stacks of inventory sheets waiting to be added to the system. I was too angry to work, though. My frustration with Juniper still being at the station was making it difficult to concentrate on anything else.

  And then there was Lance. I didn’t like the guy. At all. There was something about him that made me want to punch him. He was hiding something. And I wasn’t just talking about his involvement in the theft. There was something else going on with him.

  Who had he been talking to? And why was he so sick and yet there was no mark on him? I didn’t know much about the fae. That was a downfall of mine. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the safety pin holding the three remaining obsidian beans. I’d taken it off my key chain so I could keep it with me more easily. I twirled the beads around as I thought. I knew someone who could tell me more about the fae.

  I did a quick search for her phone number and dialed.

  “Illusions, this is Willa speaking.”

  “Willa, hi, you’re just who I wanted to talk to. This is Jayne Frost over at Santa’s Workshop. Do you remember me?”

  She laughed. “Of course I remember you. Hard to forget the other supernatural royalty in town. Especially when there are only three of us.”

  I smiled. Willa had abdicated the title of queen to pass it to her sister. I’d heard all about that from Birdie. “Have you talked to Monalisa lately?” I’d only met the Will O’the Wisp once before, but it had been a moment in time that was rather hard to forget. Her then boyfriend had needed help shifting into his true form. A dragon.

  “Not lately. She and Van are skiing in Vermont.”

  “How fun.” Van, the dragon in question, had ended up shifting without too much help from anyone else. Seeing a real live dragon had been quite an experience. “I was wondering if I could come over and talk to you? I have some questions that I think you might be able to help me with.”

  “Sure, you know where the shop is. I’ll be here until seven.”

  It was after five now. “I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”

  “See you then.”

  I let Buttercup know I’d be out for a bit, then grabbed one of the company bicycles from the warehouse and rode to Willa’s.

  She greeted me with a warm smile and welcomed me into the back office. There was a big orange cat asleep on her desk.

  I scratched his belly while she closed the door. “Who’s this?”

  “That’s Jasper, my baby. He’s such a slug. He’s been there most of the day.”

  “How do you get any work done with him taking up your desk?”

  “I don’t. I have to move him, which he doesn’t like. Silly beast.” She tipped her head, her incredible aqua eyes sparkling. “But you didn’t come here to talk about Jasper, did you?”

  “No.”

  She nodded. “I had a feeling I’d be seeing you.”

  “Are you psychic? Is that a fae thing?”

  She laughed. “No, but with the theft of the jewelry and there being a fae involved, I figured it was just a matter of time.” Her expression grew more serious. “What can I help you with?”

  “It’s the fae who’s involved that I want to know about. Do you know what kind he is? What powers he might have?”

  “I can’t tell just by looking. Our gifts don’t really manifest themselves in such obvious ways. I can tell you if he’s lapidus, like me. The bad news is the jewelry probably won’t get returned. Not in one piece.”

  “What does that mean, lapidus?”

  “It’s the kind of fae I am. This guy most likely isn’t one, though. Lapidus are pretty rare. In a nutshell, we have the ability to communicate with and control stones and metals.”

  “So if he was one, he probably would have taken the jewelry apart already.”

  She nodded. “That’s what I would have done. Stripped it down to individual stones and turned the leftover metal into something else. It would make everything easier to hide and move.”

  “That’s not good.”

  “Not at all. But again, lapidus are pretty rare. It wouldn’t be likely that he’d be working as a DJ’s assistant if he was one.”

  “Unless that’s just his cover.” Which was an interesting thought.

  “True.”

  “What else might he be?”

  She thought for a second. “I’m not sure. He could be a stone mover. That’s much more common. So are abilities with air, fire, and water. Our gifts tend to be based around the elements.”

  I mulled this new info over. “If he had water abilities, would he be able to produce snow and ice, the way a winter elf can?”

  “Not like what happened at the ball. Not with that sort of magnitude. I’ve never heard of it anyway.”

  I sighed and leaned against a filing cabinet.

  She frowned. “I’m sorry I can’t help you more. I left my fae life behind when I was pretty young, so it’s possible that I just don’t know enough to help you.”

  “No, you’ve been great. And I’ve taken up too much of your time already. I appreciate it. Thanks.”

  “Anytime. For what that’s worth.” She opened the office door. “Hey, how did you like the obsidian bracelet?”

  “It was stunning. Unfortunately, the thief ripped it off my wrist when they took the rest of my jewelry.” I pulled the safety pin from my pocket. “This is all I have left.”

  “Oh no, that’s awful. Sinclair was so happy about that bracelet.”

  “So was I. You did a beautiful job with it.” I started to put the pin away.

  “Wait. If the thief ripped that off your wrist, that means he or she touched the bracelet. Could I see those beads again? I might be able to help after all.”

  “Sure.” I handed her the pin.

  She closed her hand around it and shut her eyes. A few seconds later, she opened them and gave the pin back to me. “The contact was brief so the impression left behind wasn’t much. But there’s a lot of darkness there. And duplicity.”r />
  “Lies?”

  “Yes, but more than that. I don’t know how else to describe what I felt as duplicity. Does that help at all?”

  “It confirms what I was thinking, so yes. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  I left and got on my bike to ride back to the shop, then stopped, wondering if I should go by the sheriff’s department instead. I wanted to, but then, I also knew that if Juniper was still there, I might go all rabid yeti on them. Probably better if that didn’t happen. I glanced up at the darkening sky and wondered how much longer they could possibly keep her. All night? I hoped not.

  Birdie had said she’d call with any news, but I wasn’t sure she was even still working. Maybe she was because of everything going on. I checked my phone. I hadn’t missed any messages.

  Reluctantly, I rode back to the shop. I did have a business to run, after all. And not feeling like working wasn’t a valid excuse. Not when you were the boss.

  As I approached the warehouse, I slowed down and hopped off the bike so I could get my key out. Behind me, a car parked at the curb.

  I stuck my key in the lock. The light over the door was out. I made a mental note to add that to the list of things to do.

  “Jayne Frost?”

  “Yes?” I turned, and with a sharp crack, everything went dark.

  The back of my head throbbed with pain. I reached up to feel the spot that hurt the most, and both my hands moved together. It took half a second, but I realized they were duct-taped together. So were my feet. I blinked a few times, trying to clear my vision, but there wasn’t much to see except for some shapes and outlines, and they were faintly doubled. I guess from the blow to my head.

  I groaned softly, but the sound went nowhere. What was going on? Something was covering my mouth. More duct tape? It was forcing me to breathe through my nose, and the smells assaulted me. A vague oily scent. Another that was sharp, like gasoline or turpentine. More that were like cleaners and chemicals. Sort of like plastic. The ground under my cheek was hard and roughly fuzzed. Carpet. But not nice carpet. Industrial.

  The space was noisy too. And it was moving.

  I blinked again, trying to focus. A little red light leaked in at both ends of the enclosure. Everything shifted suddenly, causing me to roll forward. In that moment, everything made sense.

  I was in a trunk. Son of a nutcracker.

  I brought my hands close to my face for a better look at my restraints. There was a lot of duct tape around my wrists. I felt around my mouth. Definitely duct tape. I tried again to move my legs and felt the pressure of the tape wrapped around my ankles and just below my knees. Then I gently rolled my head back and forth. The lump on my cranium was the size of a small snowball, and I had another sore spot on the side of my neck.

  The anger I’d been marinating in, the anger that had started to dissipate after seeing Willa, was back. In force.

  I was not going to be held captive. No freaking way. This nonsense was coming to an end right now. I stretched my fingers out to produce a short blade I could use to cut through the duct tape.

  Nothing happened.

  How was that possible? I tried again. Not even a single snowflake appeared.

  I’d been hit on the head, I knew that much. But had the injury caused greater damage than just the lump I could feel? Could that even happen to a winter elf?

  I had no idea, but clearly something was going on. Using my fingernails, I picked at the tape over my mouth to lift one of the edges and slowly peel it off. At last I was able to take a decent breath. I tried chewing through the tape on my wrists, but there was a lot of it, and the jaw movement made my head scream in pain.

  As my eyes adjusted to what little light there was, I looked around the trunk for anything I might use as a tool or a weapon. My purse was still slung across my body, but it had shifted behind me, and there was no way I could reach it with my hands taped in front of me. The trunk was empty and remarkably clean. Like it didn’t get used much. I inhaled again and recognized the chemical smell I’d picked up on earlier. It was new car. Or newly cleaned car. Could this be a rental?

  I thought about the sedan that had pulled up behind me when I was getting my key out. Something about it felt familiar, but what? I’d paid so little attention to it that trying to recall what it looked like now only made my head hurt worse. The voice I’d heard had been male. I was pretty sure about that.

  If I couldn’t use my ice magic, there had to be another way. I thought about using the Santa Slide. It would work, but my head already hurt from the bump. What if the dizziness made me black out and I came to in the middle of a road? I could get run over. At the very least, I’d suffer a horrifying case of road rash. Possibly break something. Which, okay, I’d recover from that, but getting run over? Not so much.

  Maybe I could kick the taillights out and get help that way. I’d seen it done in movies. I positioned my feet as close to one of the red lights as I could, then kicked.

  With that much duct tape restricting my movements, the kick was more like a sad bunny hop.

  I tried to pull my wrists apart. The duct tape strained, but held fast. Time to suck it up and try to gnaw through it again. Whoever had tied me up understood I was stronger than an average human. Which meant they knew what I was. And probably who I was—the Winter Princess.

  A flood of questions filled my head. Was this a kidnapping? Would they be asking my parents for a ransom? No, that was too coincidental. This had to be related to the diamond heist. But how? How did kidnapping me fit into that?

  Maybe they were going to hold me hostage in exchange for safe passage out of town. Did that mean I was getting too close to the truth of what was going on?

  The car slowed and turned, rolling me to the side. The pavement changed from smooth to rough. We were off the highway. Maybe at our final destination. Sure enough, the brake lights came on and the car stopped.

  I braced myself for whatever was about to happen, and a new thought popped into my head. Was I about to die? I hoped not. Who would want me dead? I couldn’t really think of anyone.

  The trunk opened, and a dark, male shape was outlined by the backlight of a neon sign and a street lamp, making it impossible to see who the guy was. The roof line of a long building framed the rest of my view, allowing only a narrow sliver of night sky to peek through between it and the trunk edge.

  With a grunt, he grabbed the tape I’d peeled off and slapped it back over my mouth. That brought him close enough for me to see who my captor was.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” I mumbled through the tape.

  But Lance wasn’t interested in conversation. He picked me up like a baby. The air around us blurred, and the next second, we were in a cheap motel room and my head was screaming again. What kind of magic was that? He could teleport? I had no idea fae could do that.

  Then I realized why my head hurt so badly again. He hadn’t teleported. He’d carried me in. But at a speed quicker than a human—or elf—eye could follow. That’s why the air had blurred.

  I wasn’t sure vampires could even move like that, so finding out a fae could was even more surprising. No wonder Lance had been able to strip off everyone’s jewels so quickly at the ball. But that didn’t explain how he had no mark.

  He tossed me on a bed, and I landed facing the back wall. He went back out to the car at normal speed. I wriggled onto my back as best I could and took the opportunity to get a better look at my surroundings. It was a cheap motel all right. The Pinehurst Inn if I had to make a bet. But then I had no idea how long I’d been in the car either. We could be in another state for all I knew.

  A moan broke the silence. I wriggled around some more so I could look in that direction. There was a second bed, with a second equally tacky floral quilt. Someone was lying on it, turned away from me and curled in a semi-fetal position.

  What little skin I could see was pale and clammy looking. Chalky.

  I went still. Where had I seen chalky s
kin before? The ache in my head wouldn’t let me remember.

  My gaze went past the figure on the bed to the small table near the windows. There was a crumpled food bag on it. I recognized the red logo. Mrs. D’s Dairy Barn.

  A weird, panicky feeling snapped through me. Christmas on a cracker. The Dairy Barn. And chalky skin. They meant something. But what? Think. Why did those things matter? And why did I feel like I was on the verge of a panic attack? My heart was pounding, making it harder for me to breathe with the duct tape. I had to calm down, had to get a handle on what was happening. If only my head didn’t hurt so much.

  I was about to yank the duct tape off again when Lance came back in with a small duffel bag. He shut the door and locked it, then slumped down in a chair at the table and leaned forward like he was trying to catch his breath. He dropped the duffel bag, paying no attention to me. He wasn’t looking so hot. Nearly as pale as the guy on the bed. Finally, he lifted his head and spoke to the guy.

  “I’ve got her. We’re going to get you fixed up, then we’re getting out of here.”

  More moaning answered him.

  I stared at the person on the bed. He was in street clothes like he’d just walked in and lain down. A dark hoodie and dark jeans. Shoes still on.

  Fancy European sneakers.

  My pulse went into overdrive. The person on the bed was the third man. The guy who’d been in the rental apartment. The guy who’d set Lark up.

  I didn’t think I could get angrier. I was wrong.

  Lance was trying to roll the guy over and prop him up with pillows, but the guy kept sagging down. Finally, he got the man situated and came over to me.

  He yanked me upright, enabling me to see the other man’s face for the first time.

  The Dairy Barn bag made sense now. No wonder I thought I’d seen Lance there. The man on the other bed was his twin. No goatee and shorter dark hair, but the man was Lance’s double. Had the guy at the Dairy Barn been in dark jeans and those sneakers? I’d been so fixated on his face, I hadn’t paid attention.

  Lance ripped the tape off my mouth. “You did this to him. Now you’re going to fix him, you understand?”