The Emma Wild Mysteries: Complete Holiday Collection Books 1-4 (Cozy Romantic Mysteries with Recipes)

by Lin, Harper

  I hoped.

  Still, between Nick’s rumored new love and Sterling’s apparent date, there was the chance that I didn’t have to decide anymore. Maybe they’d both moved on.

  As hurt as I was, I couldn’t blame them entirely. It probably didn’t feel too great when the one you loved couldn’t decide between you and another man. Maybe I had expected too much for them to be understanding.

  The thing was, I did come to a decision about who I wanted to be with a week after Nick left for Morocco, but I was only starting to get used to the idea in the past couple of weeks before I could admit it to myself. Now I wondered if it was too late.

  On the bright side, taking the time to be alone in the last month gave me the chance to assess my career—and my life. I wrote a bunch of new songs. They were much happier, optimistic songs. Some of them weren’t even about heartbreak or romantic love, which was a huge departure for me, since I was that singer who always crooned about being unlucky in love.

  But I was done with that depressing stuff. They were still nice songs and people really liked them, but I didn’t want the songs to translate into my real life anymore. I wrote new songs about the love of family, of friends, of life in general. I took it as a sign that I was heading into a better phase in my life as I reached the big 3-0. No longer would I depend on a man for my happiness and self-esteem. I had the strength to create my own happiness as long as I was surrounded by loving, supportive people. A relationship was only the icing on top of a rich, delicious cake.

  After celebrating Emma Wild Day, I felt utterly ready to take on the world again. No more hiding out from the press or even people in town. I vowed to do more charity work this year and give back rather than fret over my love life. I wanted to meet new people, take on new projects and develop deeper relationships with my fans. Things were going well.

  Then the kidnappings happened. The children were probably taken when I was on stage singing at the Snowman Festival. It had been a surprise performance with only three songs in my set.

  The festival was a popular event. I had kept an eye on the snowman building contest because that was my favorite activity. All the built snowmen were behind my little audience, so it was just close enough that I could make out the outlines of the people who were busy building, but too far to see who they were.

  I had just met little Zoe and Joseph during Emma Wild Day. They were absolutely adorable children, so when I saw them building the snowman, I glanced back at them a few times. By the end of my set however, I thought I saw them talking to someone: a man, too thin to be the mayor. Then the man left and they continued building the snowman.

  When I got off the stage to check out all the snowmen that the contestants had built, the children were gone. I thought it was because they had finished their snowman early and Eleanor had taken them to get ice cream or something before the judges came down to inspect all the entries. At the time, their snowman hadn’t had its nose repositioned and didn’t have a ransom note tied to the hand. That would happen later, after Eleanor became frantic because the children were nowhere to be found when the festival was over.

  I wondered who this man was, the man talking to the children. It was as if he knew them. And was I the only one who saw him?

  CHAPTER TWO

  I tried called Sterling right after we found out that the mayor’s children had been kidnapped, but his phone was off. He must’ve been busy working on the case. I wanted to tell him about what I saw from the stage, even if it wasn’t much to go on. I left a couple of messages saying I wanted to meet, but I fell asleep before he called back and left a message saying that he would be working all night.

  I planned on visiting Sterling at the office first thing in the morning. As I walked out the door, Rod, my manager, called. I sighed, but I answered it anyway. At least it was something to do as I walked to the station, and I’d been avoiding his calls for the past couple of days.

  “Well, well, well,” he said. “I thought you were dead.”

  “Is that why they have a day named after me now?” I joked.

  “Are you really still stuck in that little nowhere town?” Rod yawned.

  He was one of the coolest managers around, having been a rock star himself in his twenties. He quit around my age though, claiming that he did so in order to save his own life. Any more of the rock and roll lifestyle and he would’ve been dead face down in a toilet bowl. Knowing how he lived now at the age of 58, I believed him.

  “Yes,” I replied. “Things were pretty calm around here until these children got kidnapped.”

  “Children, yeah, what a shame.” Rod yawned again, not sounding the least bit interested. He was a New Yorker after all. “Tell me, what’s the deal with this Snowman Festival anyway?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What’s there to celebrate? Is Santa Claus, Cupid and the Easter Bunny not enough for you people?”

  I chuckled. “Well, it’s based on this Hartfield legend. Our founder, Henry Hartfield was said to have been guided to this town by a snowman after he wandered off from a group of explorers.”

  “What? You mean he met a man covered in snow?”

  “No. A real snowman, a man made completely out of snow. I know it sounds ridiculous, but that’s how the story goes. It was over a hundred years ago, and Henry Hartfield was rumored to be addicted to opium, so it’s probably a bunch of crap.”

  Rod exploded into laughter. “Of all the ridiculous stories I’ve heard in the world, I have to live until I have one foot in the grave to hear about a town founded by a magical snowman?”

  “This is why I don’t go around telling people this story,” I said. “January 21th is Henry Hartfield’s birthday, but it has always been Snowman Day by default. Kind of like Santa overshadowing Jesus.”

  “Or the Easter bunny overshadowing Jesus, again. That Jesus can’t get a break.”

  Rod kept laughing until I could practically hear the tears dripping from his eyes.

  “All right, all right, I know you called me for something other than a ridiculous history lesson.”

  When the laughing subsided, Rob got down to business. “All the talk shows are calling. So are the journalists. You did the cover shoot for Rolling Stone ages ago but you still haven’t confirmed for the interview. The magazine’s out in February for God’s sake. Work with me here.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’ve been taking some personal weeks, you know that.”

  “Months is more like it. Your record company’s getting annoyed. They’re questioning if you’re doing your promotional duties. It’s not looking good. Oh, and Cosmpolitan called. They want you on the cover.”

  “Cosmo?” I wrinkled my nose. I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of being on a cover with my tiny boobs pushed all the way to my neck with two pushup bras, and where I’d be surrounded by headlines with references to sex and vaginas. Once was enough.

  “I know,” said Rod. “I told them no, that you’re all booked up. Which you are. You have two talk show appearances next week.”

  “What? I do?”

  “Yes, I told you ages ago. Now, you’re booked for a flight to LAX on—”

  “I can’t!” I said. “It’s crazy here. As I told you, these children are kidnapped and I have to help solve the case.”

  “But, honey, they have detectives for that.”

  “I know, but I can help—”

  “Darling, you’re more Nancy Sinatra than Nancy Drew. You have a job to fulfill, responsibilities, and my ass on the line.”

  “I know, but hopefully I’ll crack the case in a couple of days. I think I only have a couple days anyway before the children are murdered so it’s not like I have a choice..”

  “Murdered? Oh that’s tacky.”

  “Rod? I have to go now. I’m at the station.”

  “Emma—”

  I hung up. I had been in a rush earlier to get to the station, but now that I was there, I hesitated. What if Sterling didn’t want to see me? An
d did I want to see him? I had no contact with Sterling and Nick for over three weeks now, and to tell you the truth, it had been peaceful. I spent all my time with my parents, with Mirabelle, and a couple of girlfriends. We had a few girls’ nights and even a sleepover once and it felt like old times. But I had to face the music sometime; there was no avoiding Sterling. I had to tell him about what I saw on stage. I took a deep breath and pushed the doors open.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Ever since Emma Wild Day, some of the guys at the station knew who I was now. Before I was just the crazy chick that was always following Sterling around on cases. Sterling would never talk about his love life to his colleagues. He was just that private.

  When I came in, the guys greeted me with more enthusiasm than I’d received in the past. I flashed them a smile and told them I was here to see Sterling. Some of their eyes lingered on me, even though I was in a puffy winter coat. I did make an effort with hair and makeup that day. I hadn’t officially seen Sterling for three weeks after all.

  His office door was wide open, but before I went in, I peeked through his office’s big glass window. Sterling looked like he hadn’t slept all night. He had dark circles under his eyes and a thick five o’clock shadow that made him look more rugged than ever. His dark hair was perfectly messed up and the light of his stormy grey eyes had dimmed from their usual brightness.

  “Hey,” I said, poking my head in the door.

  He looked up, slightly startled by the sight of me.

  “Emma, hi. What are you doing here?”

  Smiling seemed to take all his energy, but he smiled nonetheless. In his stressed out state, I appreciated the effort.

  “How’s it going with the case?” I asked eagerly.

  “It’s been hectic,” he said.

  “What have you done so far?”

  “I’ve been talking to the mayor’s family to get leads.”

  I sat down in the chair across from his desk. “So what have you found? Have you received further communication from the kidnapper?”

  “No.” Sterling looked deflated. “Nothing. Oh, and congratulations on Emma Wild Day. I wanted to call you, but, you know.”

  His voice trailed off. I wished it was the right moment to tell him that I wanted to be with him, but we were in the middle of a kidnapping case. It wasn’t exactly a romantic moment to break the news. Plus, maybe he was dating someone else. I wasn’t in the mood to have this conversation yet.

  “Did you find any leads?” I asked.

  “The mayor does have a few enemies. Political competitors for this year’s election for example. And it took hours for Champ to admit this, but a few years before he was elected, he took part in a money laundering scheme that was unsuccessful. Now he thinks that the same guys who he was in business with are out to get him.”

  “Wow,” I said. “So you’re tracking all these leads?”

  “Yup. My new partner’s out questioning Stewart Branson, the mayor’s biggest competition for re-election, and I’m about to head out to tail one of the money laundering guys.”

  “What about the mayor’s wife?” I asked. “She could have enemies too.”

  “We already thought of that.” A female voice came from behind me.

  I turned around in my chair. It was the brunette I saw with Sterling on Emma Wild Day.

  “Hi, I’m Detective Sandra Palmer,” she said, stepping into the room. “Sterling’s new partner.”

  I took her outstretched hand and shook it.

  “Emma Wild, nice to meet you.”

  She gave me a quick once-over, and I thought I detected a sneer.

  “So you’re our local celebrity, in the flesh.”

  I was wearing a white cashmere sweater and cream colored pants. With makeup on and hair in waves that could only come from a curling iron, I felt extra girly. In contrast, Sandra was a bare-faced beauty wearing a dark pantsuit. Sterling might not have gotten much sleep, but Sandra looked refreshed. She had her dark brown hair tied back into a neat bun. With her big brown eyes, olive skin, and the fullest lips I’d ever seen, she was definitely pretty. Gorgeous, in fact. Although she was in a boring pantsuit, I could tell that she had a nice figure.

  My heart sank. I met beautiful women all the time, but not one to work 24/7 with Sterling.

  “I didn’t know Sterling had a new partner,” I said. “What happened to Philip?”

  Sterling cleared his throat. Was he nervous?

  “He got engaged and relocated to Ottawa, where his fiancée lives.”

  “Yes,” Sandra answered. “I heard about this opening from Toronto and I applied and got it through recommendations from my superiors. I’ve always wanted to be a detective, so I didn’t mind moving to a small town if I could fast-rack and become one. So here I am.”

  “Great.” I smiled. “Congratulations. How is the case going?”

  “I’m sorry, but the information is confidential. I know that you’re Sterling’s friend, but it’s classified.”

  “I see,” I said slowly, “but I wanted to help. Actually I have some information to give you.”

  Sandra raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Sure, whatever info you have would help if you know anything.”

  “Well first of all, I thought that Edward Herman, the dairy farmer, could be a suspect. Sterling and I discovered that he was, well, connected with the mayor’s wife.”

  “I know the story,” Sandra said, sounding unimpressed. “Sterling told me about your little run-in with Edward and how he was having an affair with Eleanor Champ.”

  She gave a little laugh, amused.

  “We got one of our boys on him, in fact,” Sterling said quickly.

  “Yes,” said Sandra. “Thanks, Emma, but we got it covered. Edward seems to be going about his daily routine, and our guy has nothing to report other than the fact that he’d been calling Eleanor Champ at least two times a day to check in on her, so I think he’s off the list. Anybody else that you suspect?”

  Her constantly arching eyebrow was beginning to annoy me. It was like a question mark to challenge answers out of me that she knew I didn’t have. Plus she looked at me like I was some sort of bimbo.

  “I did see the children when I was performing on stage,” I said, mustering as much confidence and certainly as I could. I set up the scene for them, of how far they were and what I noticed. “I saw a man talk to them.”

  Sterling frowned. “Who?”

  “Well, I couldn’t tell since they were so far, but I remember looking at him, wondering if he was the mayor, but quickly decided he wasn’t because he was thinner.”

  “What color hair did he have?” Sandra asked. “How tall was he?”

  “I’m sorry. They were so far away that I couldn’t distinguish any features.”

  “So is there anything more you can tell us about him then?” asked Sandra.

  “All I know was that a man talked to them. I saw them while I was singing, so I wasn’t paying complete attention. The next time I glanced their way, the children were gone and it was the end of my set.”