This had to be Toly’s work. And based on the amount of selfies being taken next to the biggest clump of icicles, I’d say those real icicles were quite the tourist attraction. I’m sure they thought there was some kind of chiller system built into the place.
I got closer and waited for a kind soul to hold the door, then dragged myself and my worldly possessions inside.
The spacious store smelled of pine, snow (yes, that’s a smell), and peppermint. The combination reminded me of home. The shelves were packed with toys. A big room in the back provided a place for kids to play with any toy in the store they wanted to. Twinkling fairy lights covered the ceiling, bins on the floor held more toys, and magic seemed to glitter in the air.
Maybe that was just something elves could see, but the looks on the customers’ faces could only be described as enchanted. The place was pretty amazing.
And despite the crush of tourists wandering through the store, Toly wasn’t hard to pick out.
Winter elves are as diverse as any other kind of supernatural. We’re tall, short, thin, fat (despite the metabolism, it does happen to some of us as we get older), light-skinned, dark-skinned, even blue-skinned on occasion. Our hair and eye colors have the same variations as humans, although, our hair can also run in shades from silvery white to deepest blue, but those colors tend to signify greater magical powers.
In general, we tend to be a fairly elegant bunch. More Lord of the Rings than cookie-bakers in trees, if you get my drift.
Toly, however, was pushing cookie-baker pretty hard. Most tinkers seemed to go that way. He was short and plump, with tufts of white hair that ringed his head leaving a shiny bald spot on top. The half-moon glasses perched on the end of his round nose did nothing to hide his twinkling eyes. He was talking to a little boy near the toy trains, and he hadn’t stopped smiling since I’d spotted him.
His rosy cheeks were probably always that color.
In short, Toly was the winter elf equivalent of a Hallmark grandpa. He handed the little boy a train, patted him on the head and looked up.
His eyes met mine, and his jolly smile somehow got bigger. He headed toward me, hand out. “You must be our new salesperson.”
I dropped the handle of one suitcase to shake his hand. It was warm and firm and comforting. “That’s me.”
“Well, hello there. And welcome to Santa’s Workshop. I’m Tolliver Featherstone, but you probably already know that.”
“Everybody knows who you are. I’m…” I remembered the dossier I’d studied on the way down. With my magic bracelet firmly in place, I wasn’t Jayne Frost anymore. “Lilibeth Holiday.”
Lilibeth was my middle name and Holiday was the most common last name among winter elves. Like Smith for humans. My dad had done well coming up with an identity that would be easy for me to remember and difficult for anyone else to deduce as false.
I guess being the Winter King also made him pretty sharp.
Toly put his gnarled hands on his wide hips. “Hi there, Lilibeth. Good to have you. I must say, you’re a day earlier than I expected you, but that’s fine, that’s fine. I’m sure you’ll want to get up to your apartment, then probably take a rest. It’s a long trip.”
“Yes, it was.” Eighteen hours to be exact. And not in first class. At least I’d slept on the flight from Anchorage to Denver. After that, I’d gone into study mode, learning my new identity and those of the workers who’d quit.
Six workers over the last two and a half years was no big deal, except that the last two had left this year, and this year was only four months old.
Toly nodded, his expression going from jovial to concerned. “Well, we’re glad you’re here, but we don’t want you worn out. And I imagine you’ll want to see the town.”
I did, and not just because it was part of my directive, but getting to meet my fellow employees seemed more important. “Don’t you need me to get started right away?”
“Oh no, not today, dear. Tomorrow is soon enough. Better you’re rested anyway.”
“Well, I’ll be good to go in the morning. I’m sure of it.”
He nodded again. “Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, very good. Let’s get you to your new apartment then. Right this way.”
He didn’t offer to take my bags, which was fine with me considering they were almost as tall as he was. He led me to a door marked Employees Only and pushed through it, holding it open until I and all my stuff passed by.
The space I walked into was drastically different from the shop. Cavernous and filled with row after row of metal shelving and two small, sectioned-off rooms, the area lived up to the Employees Only sign. This clearly wasn’t a space for customers.
He waved a hand. “Welcome to the warehouse. It holds our Santa’s Bag, the employee breakroom, and my office, but you can see all that tomorrow.”
“Thanks.” I wasn’t sure what else there was to see, but I’d find out in the morning.
He pointed to a rack of three forest-green bikes parked against the far wall. “Those bikes are for employee use. So are the umbrellas in the stand there.”
They were the same bikes we used in the NP to travel through the Factory. In a place that big, you needed an efficient way to get around. “Corporate thinks of everything.”
“Yes, they do, yes, they do.” He shifted like he was trying to make himself taller. “When you come and go from your apartment and you’re not working, that vestibule will take you outside without having to go through the shop. Your key works in that door as well.” He pointed to a large door with a glass window that took up about half of it. It opened into a small lobby with another door, this one solid and heavy-looking with a small, wavy glass transom. “That leads out to a side street.”
“Okay.” There was an elevator in front of us, but through the vestibule door I could see another one. “Is that the elevator to the apartments or is it this one?”
His brows shot up, and his face took on a worried expression. “Oh, the elevator in the vestibule is not for us. We leave that be at all times. That’s only for Nocturne Falls employees. This one in the warehouse takes us up to the apartments.”
He leaned in and pushed the up button, his stubby finger covering the entire thing. “Won’t be but a second.”
I nodded, hoping he’d understand I was clear on leaving the other elevator alone. “Aren’t we all kind of Nocturne Falls employees?”
He made a face as the elevator chimed and the doors slid open. “Oh no, dear. Technically, we’re third-party vendors. Most of the real estate in this town is owned by the family who revived it. The Ellinghams. A nice enough bunch, considering.”
I waited for a second, but he didn’t elaborate. “Considering what?”
He waddled onto the lift, holding the doors until I got all my stuff on. Once I was in, he took his hand away and the doors slid shut. Then he answered my question, and when he did, his voice was low and conspiratorial. “They’re vampires.”
“Are you snowing me? That’s cool.” It honestly was. The North Pole is all elves all the time. Meeting some other kinds of supernaturals would be a lot of fun.
He frowned. “No, I’m not snowing you. They’re really vampires. Old ones. Very powerful.” He leaned in again, this time with a slight edge to his voice. “There are all kinds of creatures in this town. You have to be careful. Some of them are dangerous.”
“Good to know. Thank you for sharing that with me.” I wasn’t worried. I could put a solid-as-steel icicle through a target at fifty paces. But could that be what was happening to the shop’s workers? Were they being done in by some rogue supernatural who was killing them off then forging goodbye notes to make it seem like they’d simply left town? It was as plausible as any other explanation. It sure gave me another angle to consider.
And another reason to get to know more about the town and its citizens.
I kept up the conversation with Toly in hopes of getting a better read on him. “What happened to the employee I’m replacing? Did they get a promoti
on?”
Toly’s brows lifted a moment, then scrunched back down. “No, no. The man quit.”
“That’s odd. Getting employed at Santa’s Workshop is a pretty big deal.”
Toly just nodded and mumbled something I didn’t catch, and the elevator doors opened again, putting an end to that discussion as he announced we’d arrived.
We got out on the second floor. I followed him to the last door on the left. He dug into his apron pocket and pulled out a ring with two keys on it. “Your apartment is right here. 2D. This floor has four apartments, and the upstairs has three. Those apartments are a little bigger, but the largest is reserved for visitors from corporate.”
Like my father or my uncle. I took the key ring Toly offered. “Does corporate send people frequently?”
He shrugged. “Once in a while. Same as most stores, I’d imagine.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t sure what else to say to that. “I guess I’ll get settled in. Which key is for the apartment?”
“The brass one. The silver one is for the store and the warehouse door. That key contains a little magic that acts as an identifying chip. It eliminates the need for our employees to have a keycard or anything extra. Wi-Fi is SantaNet, password is Reindeer, but if you forget, it’s written on the back of the TV remote.”
I could see a blue shine on the silver key when I tilted it. More elf magic. “Perfect.”
He smiled. “Housekeeping comes once a week, which is tomorrow. They take care of linens too.”
“Nice.” I hadn’t counted on that. Not that I’d necessarily be here that long. “Makes life easier, huh?”
“It does, it does. We’re well taken care of.”
So why were employees leaving?
He smoothed his apron. “I’ll let you be then. We open at ten in the morning, so if you could be downstairs ready to go at nine, that would give me plenty of time to go over everything with you.”
“Sounds good.”
He started to leave, then stopped and turned back around. “Also, no visitors allowed in the building unless they’re approved first by me.”
“That’s kind of…stringent, isn’t it?” Also, it was none of his business who I invited over.
Toly stood his ground. “I have to have a record of everyone coming through the warehouse. It’s a security thing. Company policy.”
“Okay, got it.” I was supposed to be the happy new employee, not the difficult new employee, so what else could I say? Besides, I couldn’t imagine what visitors I’d be having anyway.
“All right then.” He waved and headed off. “You need anything, you let me know.”
“Will do.” As he headed back to the elevator, I unlocked the door and hauled my stuff in. I got the door shut, dropped my bags, then looked around.
As free, one-bedroom apartments went, it was nice. Really nice. Hardwood floors, granite counters in the kitchen that was part of the big open living room/dining room setup, and sleek, modern cabinets. I walked through another door and saw a big bedroom with a walk-in closet and full bathroom, also with a granite countertop.
And a large soaking tub.
Okay, this place was exceptionally nice. And it was included as part of the deal for working at the shop. I had to assume the rest of the apartments were similar. After all, Toly didn’t know I was North Pole royalty. I’d been given this apartment based on being Lilibeth Holiday, not Jayne Frost.
You’d have to have some pretty strong motivation to walk away from a place like this. If another company was poaching the shop’s employees, they had to be offering up a significantly cushy deal. But poaching alone wouldn’t cause North Pole citizens to disappear altogether. Something else was going on. Obviously.
Unless they were being poached to join some super-secret shadow agency of supernaturals. Or maybe I’d been watching too many superhero movies.
The place was fully furnished with everything necessary, from what I could see. A leather sofa with a matching side chair, a flat-screen TV, dining table and four chairs, all the good stuff. I checked the kitchen cabinets. More than enough pots, pans, bowls and plates for a girl to cook up a storm, if she wanted. My cooking mostly consisted of warming up frozen pizzas and microwaving Hungry Man TV dinners. Yes, Hungry Man. Because there was no Hungry Elf brand. Which would probably just be an assortment of pies and cobblers. Also, I could heat up soup like nobody’s business.
But what I needed to do right now was get unpacked and check in with my dad. Time to see if the snow globe had survived the trip and if it was really going to work. I rolled my big bag into the bedroom, hoisted it onto the bed and unzipped it.
The snow globe was in a box, swathed in bubble wrap and totally in one piece. I unwrapped it and sat cross-legged on the bed, then gave it a shake.
The snow swirled in a mesmerizing way. I stared into it, losing myself in thoughts of home. Did anyone miss me outside of my family? Probably not. My dad had come up with the cover story that I was taking a break from monitoring the N & N list to help my mother inventory our personal Christmas decorations.
It was a good cover. Our Christmas paraphernalia was housed in two separate outbuildings on some back acreage of my parents’ property (technically the Winter Palace). It would take weeks to inventory that much stuff. When the Winter Palace was done up for the season, there was no mistaking that Christmas was on its way.
My dad’s face appeared in the snow. “You made it. How was your trip?”
I could see from his surroundings that he was in the palace living room. “Good. Long.”
“I’m sure you’re tired.”
“Not too bad. I slept part of the way. But I also memorized the dossier you gave me.”
My mom peeked over his shoulder. “Hi, honey. How’s Nocturne Falls?”
“So far so good. I found a place that has great pie. Not as good as yours, but it’ll do until I get home.”
She waved. “Love you. Miss you. Take care of yourself.”
I waved back. “Thanks, Mom.”
She disappeared, and my dad took over again. “I know it’s early days yet, but have you learned anything?”
“Nothing much. I met Toly. He’s exactly like what I thought he’d be; a true tinker. I start work tomorrow.”
My father nodded. “Good.”
“Hey, is it really company policy that all visitors have to be registered?”
He frowned. “I’m not sure. I can find out.”
“Please. I’d like to know. Also, are all the employee apartments this nice?”
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen them, but they should be.”
I looked around at the room. “I can’t imagine another company could beat this deal.”
“Neither can we.” He leaned in a little. “If you need anything, let me know.”
“I will. I’m sure I’ll be fine. My only need right now is to find the closest grocery store and get some food for the week. Other than that, I think I’m set.”
“All right. Take care, Jay. Love you.”
“Thanks, Dad. Love you too.”
His image disappeared. I started to put the globe on my nightstand then thought better of it. I carried it out through the bedroom and into the living room, where I set it on a side table. That way I’d pass it every morning. And it wasn’t anywhere too personal, just in case.
I opened the fridge and freezer to see if there was any sort of welcome food package, but there wasn’t. No big deal. I used my phone to look up the closest grocery store. The Shop-n-Save was about a twenty-minute walk.
That would give me a chance to see some of the town and learn where things were. Not bad.
I grabbed my keys and my purse and headed out. I could unpack later. Food, on the other hand, was a priority. No elf could survive long without a proper intake of vitamins and minerals.
Just kidding. The only real nutrition info I was interested in was how many grams of sugar the item contained. And in my case, the more the better.
I
lugged my groceries back in three reusable bags that I bought at the store after realizing I’d filled the conveyer belt with more stuff than could easily be carried in paper or plastic. I put the bags down outside my door to open it, and as I was digging in my purse for my keys, I heard crying.
Animal crying.
I went still and listened. It sounded feline and close and a little feeble. I followed the noise to the apartment next to mine. As I approached, the sound got more insistent and was accompanied by scratching.
I grimaced. “Kitty? You okay?”
The cries turned to honest-to-goodness caterwauling, which I took to mean that the cat wasn’t okay. “Hey, settle down in there. Your owner is going to get mad at me.”
Yeah, that helped. More crying ensued. I glanced toward the elevator. The cat’s owner must be working their shift right now. I wasn’t about to meet one of my new co-workers by heading down there and telling them their cat was having issues.
I’d never had a cat. Maybe crying like a newborn was what they did, but the poor animal seemed to be in real distress. “Okay, hang on, kitty cat. I’ll be right back.”
I hustled my groceries into my apartment then ran back into the hall. None of my neighbors seemed to be bothered by the cat’s crying, so they were either all working in the shop or heartless.
Until I got to know them, I’d go with working. I put my hand on the door. “I’m back, kitty.”
More scratching at the door. What I was about to do would not go over very well if whoever lived in this apartment found out, but hopefully that wouldn’t happen.
I used one of the skills I’d inherited from my mother’s side of the family; my ability to enter a residence without an actual access point. Chimney or no chimney. All I needed was a break in the structure, like where a door closed or a window met the sill.
A shimmer of magic, a moment where the weird, compressed feeling left me with a modicum of nausea, and I was standing on the other side of the door blinking away the urge to upchuck. I don’t know how Uncle Kris did that all night long on Christmas Eve. It made me feel hungover instantly. But I guess you got used to it.
Miss Frost Solves A Cold Case Page 2
