Killing Santa

by Stacey Alabaster

  He shook his head softly. “So that’s the only reason you asked me to stay?”

  I reached over and placed my hand over his. “No. I do want you to stay, Jarod. It’s just, we need to save Christmas first.”

  The following day, we had to set up at five in the morning. Christmas Village had taken on the same hours as the bakery. And Christmas Eve was crazy—the mall was already full of last-minute shoppers by eight-thirty. “I can’t believe how busy we are already,” Pippa said, holding the camera with hands shaking so much that I was sure she was about to drop it and break the lens.

  “Well, buckle up, little elf,” I said, giving her a pat on the shoulder. “Because Christmas is all on your shoulders.”

  It was on Jarod’s as well. He was a champion, pumping through the photo sessions without complaint, as we tried to put a dent in the line that just kept growing. But even Santa needed to take a break to eat a sandwich and take a drink of water.

  He stayed in his cave. There was no time to leave and get changed. From the doorway, I stared at him. I just wished I could make things all right with us.

  “You’re doing a really great job,” I said brightly as I checked the computer monitor. “A relatively low amount of screaming toddlers and babies today.”

  Jarod shrugged a little. He even managed what could loosely be called a smile. “Maybe I am just getting the knack of it.”

  “You actually do have a talent for it,” I said wistfully. “You might not look exactly like Santa, but you have a better way with the kids than the ones that do. Please don’t grow up to be as old and bitter as some of them are.”

  He sighed. “It’s just too bad that this job ends today.”

  “You know…I always need staff down at my bakery…”

  He looked down at the floor. Had I said the wrong thing?

  “It’s not that I need a job,” Jarod said. “I have plenty of painting work. It’s that I need a fresh start.”

  I gulped. “And that fresh start means going back home?”

  He nodded. “I don’t expect you to understand, Rachael. There are a lot of mistakes that I made in the past. I’m not trying to run away from them… I’m trying to go back home, back to the start, so I can make amends.”

  I nodded. “I do understand,” I said gently. “It’s just that I’ll be sorry to see you go. Very sorry.”

  “I didn’t expect that.”

  There was an issue I needed to clear up before he went or it would weigh on me forever. “Jarod, please tell me that you weren’t stealing from Sue’s gallery.”

  I could see him grit his teeth a little. “You still think that’s what I was doing? Even after what I just said to you.”

  “I just want to hear your explanation,” I said gently, as the sounds of Silent Night piped in through the speakers. “You said you had one. And I know I refused to hear it before, but I am trying to make things right as well. I want to hear what you have to say.”

  Pippa pulled the curtain back and peered in curiously. What I wouldn’t have given for a backup Santa right then.

  “Can you just give us two more minutes?” I asked. “Please.”

  “I know you are not going to believe me, but I was there because I saw someone else breaking in,” Jarod said when we were alone again.

  I had to fight the urge to scoff. I had to remember that I was trying to make things right between us, I wasn’t trying to be antagonistic. I decided to listen to his explanation with an open mind.

  But I could hear the skepticism in my voice when I spoke again. “So…you just happened to be randomly passing by the gallery when you saw someone breaking in? That seems kind of like a huge coincidence, Jarod.”

  He looked a little uneasy. “No, I wasn’t randomly passing by,” he had to admit. “After you told me about it, I decided to go and check it out. I know you said that your roommate is away until after New Year’s, but I thought I’d still be able to look through the windows. See what kind of art they hang in there, you know?”

  “Sure,” I said, seeing Pippa start to pull the curtain back again

  Only, it wasn’t Pippa. It was a parent. And Jarod had his beard off. I raced over to him and quickly pulled it up. “Almost ready!” I said to her, gently pushing her back out into the hallway.

  “What happened when you got to the gallery?” I asked frantically, now that we didn’t have much time.

  “Well, I was disappointed to find that it was dark, that there were no lights on,” he said. “Seeing as I’d come to look at the artwork, that wasn’t going to help me much. But I still got out of my car and started to walk over, thinking I could use the flashlight on my phone to look in.”

  Well, that wouldn’t have looked suspicious at all.

  “But as I got close to the gallery, one of the lights got flipped on. At first, I thought your roommate must have come back early, or you got the dates wrong or something.”

  I still wasn’t sure that I believed him. I really, really wanted to believe him, but it was all sounding so made-up.

  “I wanted to speak to her, so I started walking faster.”

  I frowned as I listened. “Then what happened?”

  “I went inside. There was a male figure in there, so definitely not your roommate. I didn’t know what he was doing, but it looked like he was trying to take a painting. I tried to stop him, but he ran out. I had to hang the painting back up. That’s when you walked in.”

  So maybe Jarod wasn’t so bad after all. Maybe I was just trying to find something wrong with him, like I did with every guy. If what he was saying was true, he had actually stopped someone from stealing a painting at the art gallery. Sue would definitely be appreciative of that…and so should I.

  I had my heavy coat on, ready to leave the caves, when a familiar face with a very real white beard walked in, looking sheepish.

  Santa Number Two.

  “Oh, what are you doing here?”

  “I came back to work,” he said. “Please. It’s Christmas Eve. My last chance to be Santa this year.”

  I shook my head. It was time to put my foot down. “If you are here to work, really work, then you can’t be a diva. No more demands, no more changing rooms.” I started to push him toward the black curtain. “And you are going to Cave Number One, which is already set up. There is going to be no more arguments about it!”

  “Let’s go” I said, grabbing Jarod’s hand without even realizing I was doing it. There was another Santa who could cover him, so he was coming with me.

  He gripped mine back. “Where are we going?”

  We were going to find Santa’s killer. But as we exited the caves, I gasped as I spotted a familiar silhouette dart toward the fuse box, open it, and cut both the music and the lights. There were gasps and shrieks all around us.

  I gripped Jarod’s hand harder. He looked down at me and pulled me closer. “Looks like we found Andrew.”

  “What do you think he’s doing?” I whispered as we crept around the dark toy department.

  With the whole place in a blackout, and terrified parents and children filling the place, there was the danger of a riot. Protecting them all had to be my priority, even if Andrew got away.

  “I bet he’s going to Cave Number Two,” Jarod said, pulling me in that direction.

  “He must have figured out that the files weren’t permanently deleted,” I said, slapping my hand to my forehead as I realized he must have seen the text I sent to Pippa. He was here to steal the hard drive.

  “I’m going to go in.”

  Jarod tried to insist on coming in with me, but I told him to stay outside and make sure all the children were okay. It was more important that he protect them than follow me into the cave. Besides, I was starting to feel like this was something I had to do on my own.

  Andrew was dressed all in black, but the silver of the camera hanging around his neck caught the small amount of light coming from the computer monitor. He spun around. “Stay away, Rachael.”

&nb
sp; “Stop right there,” I said, moving toward the curtain to block the way. But he had already grabbed the computer hard drive and he was not going to let me stop him from escaping.

  I wondered if the look I had in my eyes right then was the same look Santa had when he’d stared into the camera lens for the final time.

  Andrew backed me into the wall and brought the computer up above his head, like he was about to bring it down on my skull. I supposed that was one way to dispose of the evidence—destroy the hard drive and get rid of me as well.

  “Why did you do it?” I asked Andrew, figuring I could at least try to get some reason out of him before he brought the computer down on my skull.

  “I’m too good for this job, for this place,” he said, glowering at me. “Putting up with these Santas and their diva antics all day! They were always fighting with each other, barging into each other’s caves! All they cared about was the attention. Not about the art. Not about the photos.”

  I was trying not to shake. “So, you snapped and killed Santa? It wasn’t his fault you were stuck here taking Santa photos. This place is about bringing joy to people, Andrew. Not horror.”

  It was like he was moving in slow motion, but some deeper part of me knew that he was bringing down the computer drive very quickly. This was it. I was going to die in Cave Two just like Santa did.

  But then the curtain pulled back and a large, jolly man all in red barged in, yelling, “Ho ho ho!” He grabbed the computer from Andrew and hit him on the head, causing Andrew to fall to the ground.

  “I know you told me to stay out of Cave Number Two, but I figured this was an exception,” Santa said as he helped me to my feet, smiling at me.

  I felt a little sheepish. “Yes. This is definitely an exception. Thank you, Santa,” I said as I leaped up to give him a hug. He seemed very surprised and hesitated a moment before wrapping his arms around me.

  There was another Santa waiting for me outside, along with the police cars and the blue flashing lights. A tall, young one with blonde hair. “I’m glad you’re all right, Rach.”

  He gave me a hug and checked that I was all right, before I pulled away and made sure that none of our customers had been hurt. All in one piece, I was assured. Christmas had been saved. Not a single person hurt. And if Santa Number Two kept on his good behavior, then everyone in the line would be going home with a portrait that evening.

  “Do you really have to go?” I asked Jarod, holding his hand for a few more minutes.

  He nodded, pulling the sack over his shoulder and pulling up his fake beard. “It’s been fun, Rachael, but my journey here in Belldale is done.”

  “Merry Christmas,” I called out softly.

  “Merry Christmas, Rachael.”

  Epilogue

  “Now, make sure it’s on tight,” I said, referring to the blindfold around Pippa’s eyes as I tried to help her step over the threshold.

  I held my breath for a moment, wondering if the smell was going to give away the surprise before the blindfold was off. If I could smell the fir needles, surely Pippa could too.

  “Okay, you can take it off,” I said, stepping back as Pippa yanked off the blindfold and stared up at the Christmas tree. Unlike the giant one she had brought in several days before, this one actually fit the space. Pippa’s face lit up and she threw her arms around me.

  Lolly was clapping her hands together, trying to get to her mommy. She had a Christmas present for her mother that year, her first one: Santa photos.

  The photos were perfect. “I just wanted them to be a surprise,” Marcello said. “That’s why I didn’t tell you that I was in Christmas Village. But of course, the surprise was ruined.”

  I almost had to laugh. I wasn’t sure how many times Pippa and I had seen the photos by that point.

  “I love them,” Pippa reassured Marcello, pulling him close.

  Pippa, still in Marcello’s arms, admired the tree. Lolly reached up and Pippa bent down to pick her up.

  I watched my best friend, surrounded by her little family, smile as she stood in the glow of the tree. I might have started the Christmas season as a Grinch, but now, as I stood there, surrounded by so much love, I could feel my heart grow two sizes. What had started out as the worst Christmas ever had just turned into the best one yet.

  Thanks for reading Killing Santa. I hope you enjoyed the story. If you did, it would be awesome if you left a review for me on Amazon and/or Goodreads.

  If you would like to know about future cozy mysteries by me and the other authors at Fairfield Publishing, make sure to sign up for our Cozy Mystery Newsletter. We will send you our FREE Cozy Mystery Starter Library just for signing up. All the details are on the next page.

  Lastly, at the very end of the book, I have included a couple previews of books by friends and fellow authors at Fairfield Publishing. First is a preview of Up in Smoke by Shannon VanBergen - it’s a fun (and funny) story about vigilante grannies in a retirement home who solve crimes and stir up all kinds of trouble. Second is a preview of Croissants and Corruption by Danielle Collins - it’s the first story in the popular Margot Durand Cozy Mystery series. I really hope you like the samples. If you do, both books are available on Amazon.

  Get Up in Smoke here:

  amazon.com/dp/B06XHKYRRX

  Get Croissants and Corruption here:

  amazon.com/dp/B06X9C3G5T/

  FAIRFIELD COZY MYSTERY NEWSLETTER

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  After you sign up to get your Free Starter Library, turn the page and check out the free previews :)

  Preview: Up in Smoke

  I could feel my hair puffing up like cotton candy in the humidity as I stepped outside the Miami airport. I pushed a sticky strand from my face, and I wished for a minute that it were a cheerful pink instead of dirty blond, just to complete the illusion.

  “Thank you so much for picking me up from the airport.” I smiled at the sprightly old lady I was struggling to keep up with. “But why did you say my grandmother couldn’t pick me up?”

  “I didn’t say.” She turned and gave me a toothy grin—clearly none of them original—and winked. “I parked over here.”

  When we got to her car, she opened the trunk and threw in the sign she had been holding when she met me in baggage claim. The letters were done in gold glitter glue and she had drawn flowers with markers all around the edges. My name “Nikki Rae Parker” flashed when the sun reflected off of them, temporarily blinding me.

  “I can tell you put a lot of work into that sign.” I carefully put my luggage to the side of it, making sure not to touch her sign—partially because I didn’t want to crush it and partially because it didn’t look like the glue had dried yet.

  “Well, your grandmother didn’t give me much time to make it. I only had about ten minutes.” She glanced at the sign proudly before closing the trunk. She looked me in the eyes. “Let’s get on the road. We can chit chat in the car.”

  With that, she climbed in and clicked on her seat belt. As I got in, she was applying a thick coat of bright red lipstick while looking in the rearview mirror. “Gotta look sharp in case we get pulled over.” She winked again, her heavily wrinkled eyelid looking like it thought about staying closed before it sprung back up again.

  I thought about her words for a moment. She must get pulled over a lot, I thought. Poor old lady. I could picture her going ten miles an hour while the rest of Miami flew by her.

  “Better buckle up.” She pinched her lips together before blotting them slightly on a tissue. She smiled at me and for a moment, I was jealous of her pouty lips, every line filled in by layers and layers of red.

  I did as I was told and buckled my seat belt before I sunk down into her caramel leather seats. I was exhausted, both physically and mentally, from the trip
. I closed my eyes and tried to forget my troubles, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly to give all my worry and fear ample time to escape my body. For the first time since I had made the decision to come here, I felt at peace. Unfortunately, it was short-lived.

  The sound of squealing tires filled the air and my eyes flung open to see this old lady zigzagging through the parking garage. She took the turns without hitting the brakes, hugging each curve like a racecar driver. When we exited the garage and turned onto the street, she broke out in laughter. “That’s my favorite part!”

  I tugged my seat belt to make sure it was on tight. This was not going to be the relaxing drive I had thought it would be.

  We hit the highway and I felt like I was in an arcade game. She wove in and out of traffic at a speed I was sure matched her old age.

  “Ya know, the older I get the worse other people drive.” She took one hand off the wheel and started to rummage through her purse, which sat between us.

  “Um, can I help you with something?” My nerves were starting to get the best of me as her eyes were focused more on her purse than the road.

  “Oh no, I’ve got it. I’m sure it’s in here somewhere.” She dug a little more, pulling out a package of AA batteries and then a ham sandwich.

  Brake lights lit up in front of us and I screamed, bracing myself for impact. The old woman glanced up and pulled the car to the left in a quick jerk before returning to her purse. Horns blared from behind us.

  “There it is!” She pulled out a package of wintergreen Life Savers. “Do you want one?”

  “No, thank you.” I could barely get the words out.

  “I learned a long time ago that it was easier if I just drove and did my thing instead of worrying about what all the other drivers were doing. It’s easier for them to get out of my way instead of me getting out of theirs. My reflexes aren’t what they used to be.” She popped a mint in her mouth and smiled. “I love wintergreen. I don’t know why peppermint is more popular. Peppermint is so stuffy; wintergreen is fun.”