Christmas Peril: Merry Mayhem / Yule Die

TWO

As Annie checked the meat loaf and placed the vegetable casserole in the oven, the doorbell rang. Jayden was so absorbed in her new coloring book she didn’t even notice when Annie hurried from the kitchen.

Earlier she and Sara had talked and the older woman had shown Jayden the photos of Annie as a little girl and then given her one to put in her treasure chest. Annie had volunteered to cook dinner. Although Sara was a relative and had opened her home to her gladly, she wouldn’t freeload off her. She was determined to help her cousin as much as possible in exchange for giving her a place where she could decide about her future.

A few seconds later, she swung the door open to the police chief standing on the porch with a puzzled expression creasing his forehead. His gaze locked on hers.

“Did something happen?” she asked, trying not to react to the man. But for some reason her heartbeat accelerated, and it really had nothing to do with the assessing look he sent her. Although no longer in his uniform, the man commanded a person’s attention even wearing jeans and an Oklahoma University sweatshirt.

His features smoothed into a grin. “No, just surprised to find you here.”

“You are? You brought me here.”

“Yeah, I did,” he said in a thoughtful tone. “Your car isn’t out front.”

“I parked it around back by the detached garage.” No sense leaving it on the street for anyone looking for her to find. Little by little she was trying to learn caution, but she’d never even watched a crime show on TV or read a suspense book.

“When I didn’t see it, I thought maybe you’d left.”

“Nope. Sara insisted Jayden and I stay with her through the holidays. Come in.” Annie opened the door wider and stepped to the side. “Sara’s in the living room resting her eyes, she says, but I think she’s really taking a nap.”

Caleb entered with his toolbox. “Ah, in her lounge chair, which she calls her command post.” He sniffed the air. “You’re cooking dinner?”

“Yes, meat loaf.”

“It smells great.” He followed Annie to the kitchen. “What are you coloring, Jayden?” Stopping next to the table, he peered over her daughter’s shoulder. “You like animals?”

“Yes. We were gonna get a puppy for Christmas. I guess we won’t since we’re on an adven—” Jayden’s gaze flew to Annie, and her daughter snapped her mouth closed.

Caleb glanced from her daughter to Annie. For a few seconds his forehead crinkled as though trying to come up with the right question to ask. Then a smile leaked back into his expression as he turned his attention to Jayden. “I have a dog. Ralph is a mutt and loves children. You’ll have to come visit him. He’s deaf, which doesn’t make him a good watchdog, so I’m glad not much happens around here.”

Jayden twisted around in her chair and looked at Annie. “Can I see Ralph? I can finish coloring later.”

Annie laughed. “Honey, I think Mr. Jackson means some other day. He’s here to fix a leak.”

Her daughter’s pout descended. “We aren’t home now for me to get my puppy.”

“We’ll get a puppy later.” When she knew what was going on and she had a game plan. Tomorrow she needed to go somewhere and use a computer. Maybe if she surfed around, she could discover what had happened to Bryan.

“I’ll bring Ralph down tomorrow for you to meet him.” Caleb put his toolbox on the floor in front of the sink. “Will I interfere with you cooking dinner?”

“No, I just finished preparing the meal right before you came. Great timing.”

“I aim to please. Don’t let me stop you from doing whatever you need to do.” He knelt on the floor and opened the cabinet door, then reached in.

Annie sat next to Jayden, trying her best to ignore the police chief’s presence. Taking up the crayon nearest her, she started to color until her daughter said, “A cat isn’t blue.”

Annie glanced down at the paper and noticed what she’d done. “Oh, you’re right. Sorry, honey.”

A commotion behind her drew her attention to Caleb. He took a wrench to the faucet, his movements a study in economical action. Transfixed for a moment, she watched until he peered back at her. One corner of his mouth tilted up, a gleam in his startlingly dark blue eyes. She’d always had a thing for blue eyes. Bryan’s had been—were—blue.

Over the years her ex-boyfriend had schemed to get rich, tired of being poor, not supporting his daughter as he wanted. Going to meet his wealthy father had been his latest ploy to get rich quick. His mother’s death six weeks ago had affected Bryan. Before she’d passed away from a heart attack, he’d thought his father was dead. Not long afterward, he’d discovered he was very much alive and had lots of money. He’d intended to reintroduce himself and benefit from his father’s wealth. He’d never gotten the chance to tell her what had come of that meeting.

“I’m partial to blue,” Caleb said with a wink, drawing Annie back to the present.

Heat scored her cheeks, and she quickly returned to the paper between her and Jayden. This time she noticed the crayon she selected, making sure it was an appropriate color.

It was only because she was in unfamiliar surroundings with an unknown future stretching before her and Jayden that her nerves were frazzled. Caleb had nothing to do with the fact that her hand quivered as she grasped the crayon and tried to color within the lines and was not succeeding very well.

“I think that should take care of the leak,” Caleb said as he closed the cabinet door under the sink.

Annie knew the exact second he stood behind her and looked over her shoulder. His spicy scent vied with the aromas of the cooking meat loaf and vegetable casserole.

He pointed to the blue kitten left abandoned on the page. “There are some cats with a bluish tint to their fur.”

“There are?” Jayden’s green eyes widened.

“Yeah, Harriet, the receptionist at the station, owns one.”

“Can I see it?”

“I’ll say something to Harriet and see what I can come up with—that is, if it’s okay with your mother.” Caleb moved to sit in the chair next to Annie at the oak table.

“That’s fine.” Annie slid her gaze away from Caleb’s. “So should we finish coloring the kitten blue?”

Her daughter giggled. “I will, Mommy.” After she grabbed the crayon, she bent over the paper and concentrated on finishing the animal, the tip of her tongue peeping out of the corner of her mouth.

The sound of Sara’s cane hitting the hardwood floor in the hallway preceded her entrance into the kitchen. “I heard laughter and wanted to see what was going on.” Slowly she lowered herself in the last chair at the table.

“I took care of the leak. Is there anything else you need fixed?” Caleb leaned toward his toolbox to shut the lid.

“This place is old. There’s always something.”

“Sara, all you have to do is call.” Caleb inhaled a deep breath. “That meat loaf just gets better smelling by the minute.”

“You know you can always stay for dinner. We don’t stand on ceremony around here.” Sara hooked her cane on the back of her chair. “And I agree it smells wonderful.”

“I checked it a while ago. It should be ready shortly.” Annie turned to her daughter. “Which means you need to put your coloring book and crayons in our room, then wash your hands.”

“Do I hafta? I haven’t gotten them dirty.”

Annie took her hand and showed her the black smudges from the pencil she’d used earlier. “Go, young lady.”

Jayden leaped up from the chair and raced from the room.

“Walk. Don’t run.” Annie waited to hear that her daughter had slowed down and then said, “Running is her favorite mode of traveling.”

“Don’t worry about Jayden. It’s nice to have a child in the house again. I used to have nieces and nephews who visited all the time before they moved away and got so busy. I enjoyed watching them grow up. To this old lady—” Sara patted her chest “—seeing the world through a child’s eyes is like being young again.”

“You aren’t old.”

“Goodness me, Caleb. Have you gone blind? I’m feeling every one of my years right now.”

“Age is all up here.” Caleb tapped his temple. “By the way, how many years are we talking about?”

“That said, Annie, by one of the young,” Sara said, then shifted her sharp gaze to Caleb. “And, young man, it’s none of your business. I’m not telling, and you know that.” The stern tone belied the gleam dancing in Sara’s eyes.

“Ah, but age has nothing to do with how you look at life. And yes, ma’am, I know, but I was trying to help the townspeople.” He angled toward Annie. “Her age is a town secret many in Christmas have been trying to figure out.”

Sara’s laughter filled the kitchen. “It will go with me to my grave.”

The humor in Caleb and Sara’s exchange touched a much-neglected part of Annie. Working hard as a single mom, trying to make ends meet, had left her without much hope. And now with the threat looming over her and her daughter, she felt weighted down. If she had to disappear as Bryan had insisted, what did she know about doing that? There had been a time in her life when she would have turned to the Lord for help, but maybe the Lord had really forsaken her when she’d lost her direction as a teen.

A few hours later, after a delicious home-cooked meal, Caleb dried the last dish and put it in Sara’s cabinet. “I keep forgetting Sara doesn’t have the conveniences like a dishwasher for just such an occasion.”

“Now she does. At least for the time being.” Annie wiped her hands on the tea towel hanging on a hook near the sink. “Me.”

“The prettiest dishwasher I’ve seen.” The second he said it he wanted to snatch the words back. His comment produced a pink flush on Annie’s cheeks that highlighted her beauty. Caleb tried not to notice. Annie probably wouldn’t stick around Christmas long, so why become interested in her? He didn’t want his heart broken a second time. Once was enough.

“Thanks.” She ran the wet dishcloth around the sink.

Busywork, as though she were nervous. “I just appreciate a home-cooked dinner I don’t have to make.” Caleb folded the towel and placed it on the counter. “I’ve got a question for you.”

She stopped in mid-rotation, her body tensing. Then as if shaking it off, she completed her turn, throwing a glance over her shoulder.

“Jayden has red hair, but yours is light brown. Was Jayden’s father redheaded?” Great going, Jackson. Why don’t you just ask what happened to her marriage? Is the guy still in the picture?

“Yes.” Lowering her eyelashes, she veiled her expression. “I’d better get Jayden to bed. Can I see you out?”

He deserved that. The subject wasn’t one she wanted to discuss. Which only piqued his interest. “I can find my way to the front door.” He tried to inject humor into his voice, hoping to see Annie’s smile.

Instead, she said in a serious tone, “I know Sara’s been recovering from a fall. Did she break anything? Was she in the hospital?”

“She fell but didn’t break any bones. Her hip is bruised, and she pulled a muscle in her leg. Her doctor forbade her getting up on a ladder anymore. It happened two weeks ago.” Caleb passed the front room and gestured toward the eight-foot tree that could be viewed from the street. “Decorating that.” At the door he faced Annie, rubbing his hand along the stubble of a day’s growth of beard. “Sara tends to want to do everything herself.”

“I can understand that.”

Caleb stepped closer, taking a whiff of her flowery scent. “The dinner tonight was great.”

“Thanks.” A dimple appeared in her cheek, enticing him to touch it.

Caleb curled his hands and kept them at his sides. “Good night, Annie. I’ll bring Ralph down tomorrow for Jayden to see.”

The crisp night air surrounded him as he left Sara’s house and strolled toward his smaller home at the end of the block. He’d enjoyed himself a lot tonight, but something wasn’t right. He felt it in his gut. During the conversation at dinner Annie had revealed little about herself and her life in Florida, as though she wanted to avoid anything having to do with her past. And really, telling them she was from the Sunshine State wasn’t a big secret since her Mustang sported Florida tags.

He would keep an eye on Annie Madison. Even though she was Sara’s cousin and his longtime friend hadn’t had a problem with an unexpected guest appearing right before Christmas, that didn’t mean something wasn’t going on. Sara hadn’t been expecting her to show up today. This evening Annie had been nervous whenever anything remotely personal came up. Sara hadn’t seen Annie in fifteen years. A lot could have changed in that time.

Inserting the key into the lock, he wished he could turn off the cop in him, but it had been drilled into him from his years on the force in Tulsa and now here in Christmas. He would never forgive himself if something happened to Sara.

He was protecting Sara by being vigilant. Or was he really protecting himself? He’d been in a serious relationship in Tulsa, but when he’d asked the woman to marry him and move to Christmas, she’d decided there was no way she could live in a small town, especially one so kitschy. And he’d known better than to date a woman who wasn’t a Christian, but he’d thought it might work out. Wrong! And he’d paid for that assumption.

Caleb had been the police chief for two years, ever since he came back to Christmas to take care of his ailing father, who died last year. His death left a hole in Caleb’s life. His dad had been his best friend, and he was glad he could help ease the last few years of his life.

He tossed his keys on the table in the foyer and set his toolbox down, then made his way to the den. Ralph lay in front of the fireplace and stood when he saw Caleb. His pet wagged his tail so much that his whole back wiggled in his excitement. Greeting his dog was a great way to end his day.

Tonight while Annie had gone to get Jayden for dinner, Sara had told him she had a gut feeling Annie was in need of a good friend. That the Lord had sent Annie to Sara so she could help the young woman with the adorable child. Caleb wasn’t so sure about that. Since her grandniece had moved away last January, Sara had been lonely, even depressed, which definitely could be coloring Sara’s perception of Annie.

It was up to him to make sure she wasn’t taken advantage of.

Annie rolled over and pounded her fist into the pillow. She should have fallen asleep hours ago, but instead she couldn’t shut down her thoughts long enough for sleep to overtake her.

She kept replaying the evening with Caleb. A look he sent her. The touch of his hand. A wink, as though they shared some secret. And then there was his smile. She must have contemplated that for a good thirty minutes. Remembering it bathed her in warmth. She had no business being interested in a man right now. She didn’t even know if she would stay in town long after Christmas. After all the commotion of the holidays passed, she needed to decide what she should do next. She had a life back in Crystal Creek she wanted to return to and didn’t know if she could.

Frustrated, Annie flipped back the covers and slowly stood, making sure she didn’t disturb Jayden sleeping on the other side of the queen-size bed. She paced to the window and pushed the curtain back to peer outside. The blackness of night only reinforced her fear of the dark. She shivered and turned away from the window, letting the drapes fall back into place.

She needed to do something now. Was Bryan alive somehow? How could she find out? Call all the hospitals in that part of Florida? She didn’t know their names, but maybe information could help her.

Her gaze fell on her cell, which she’d finally started charging when she’d unpacked earlier. The green light indicated she could use it. She turned it on for the first time since before she’d fled Crystal Creek. When she’d gotten up Saturday, it had been dead, but she hadn’t gotten around to charging it before everything changed after Bryan’s phone call to her apartment. She’d been too tired to charge it on the road. Annie stiffened. Two messages were on her cell. Afraid of what she might find because few knew her new cell number—one being Bryan—she couldn’t keep her hand from trembling.

“Annie, my meeting with my father went badly. He won’t acknowledge me. I’m coming to see—” A pause of several seconds then, “I’ll call you back. I guess I was going too fast. A cop is behind me and wants me to pull over.”

She punched the next message, hoping it was Bryan to explain further, to help her to make some kind of sense of all that was happening. “Annie, you can’t run forever. I’ll find you, just as I found Bryan.”

Listening to the second message from a gruff-voiced man, the same one she’d heard as Bryan was being beaten, only strengthened the terror that was a constant companion. There was no going back to Crystal Creek.

THREE

The next day at the library computer, Annie stared at the screen, rereading the words of the small article from the Daytona paper: “The body of 28-year-old Bryan Daniels of Daytona was found in a Dumpster behind the McKinney Apartment Complex. The victim was badly beaten and died from a gunshot wound to the stomach. His apartment was later discovered to be ransacked.”

He’s dead. His place robbed. Tears blurred the words on the screen. Her relationship with Bryan had ended six years ago, but he’d tried to do the right thing concerning Jayden, even if he’d totally messed up his life. How was she going to tell Jayden about Bryan? She had to find a way but make sure her daughter didn’t say anything about Bryan to anyone. Maybe when she moved on after the holidays.

Beaten and shot. The facts in the article taunted her. Oh, Bryan, what have you done? What have you gotten Jayden and me into?

A noise behind her prompted her to click off the computer before Sara or Jayden found her looking at it. She watched a lady at the counter cross to a cart and place a stack of books on it. Annie scanned the library’s large room with rows and rows of shelves and found Jayden sitting cross-legged on the carpet flipping through a book with Sara behind her in a chair peering over her daughter’s shoulder.

Shifting back around, she stared at the blank screen. She’d figured after the message last night that Bryan was dead. Reading the news in black and white hammered home that she couldn’t go back to Crystal Creek, only fifty miles from Daytona, until she knew what was going on. Had Bryan’s visit with his father had anything to do with him being killed? She couldn’t go to the cops with what little she knew—not yet, not until she knew whom she could trust. Her life and Jayden’s might depend on her silence. She couldn’t risk it, especially after Bryan’s last message about being pulled over by a cop. That had only been an hour before he called her at her apartment. What had happened in that hour?

What was her next step? Find out more about Bryan’s father, Nick Salvador. It had all started with Bryan’s visit with him. Who was he? What kind of power did he wield? Where did his money come from? How wealthy was he? Was he capable of killing his own son?

Her head pounded with all the unanswered questions that seemed to demand responses immediately. She rubbed her temples, unable to alleviate the tension.

First, she needed to know if whoever had picked up Bryan’s cell and talked to her had found where she lived in Crystal Creek. She dug into her purse and pulled out her cell to call her apartment manager, Trey Johnson.

When he came on the phone, she said, “Trey, this is Annie. I—”

“Where have you been? I’ve been trying to find you. I don’t have your new cell number.”

“What?” Annie gripped the cell tighter, again peering around her to make sure no one was nearby. “Why are you looking for me?”

“Your apartment was broken into a few days ago. It was destroyed.”

The man found our place in Crystal Creek not long after we’d left!

Her nerveless fingers released her cell, and it dropped to the tile floor making a loud sound in the quiet of the library. Several patrons, including Sara and Jayden, looked at Annie. A flush heated her cheeks as she retrieved her cell and said, “Sorry, I dropped my phone.” The rapid thumping of her heartbeat made her voice sound breathless.

“Where are you?”

Light-headed, Annie tried to drag enough air into her lungs, but the room swirled before her. She closed her eyes for a few seconds.

“Annie, are you there?”

“Yes. Do you think anything was taken?” As a friend and manager of the apartment complex, Trey had been in her place several times.

“That’s hard to tell, since it was trashed so badly. Even the stuffing in the couch was torn out. Most of what is left isn’t salvageable. The police have been here. They aren’t saying much, but I haven’t heard of any other robberies like yours in town lately.”

And Trey would have known. Little crime happened in Crystal Creek—until now.

“When are you coming home? Where are you? I thought you might be dead or something when no one could find you, but your boss told the police you left town for a while. They’ve been looking for you.”

The police, looking for her? The thought escalated her fear and panic even more. “Jayden and I,” she began in a voice that quavered, “are okay.” If you don’t count having someone hunting us. “I can’t tell you anything else. I’ll get back to you later. Thanks, Trey.” She clicked off the cell before she told him something that could give her location away. What if the person who had killed Bryan had gotten to Trey?

Don’t trust anyone. That included her friends and the police in Crystal Creek.

She turned off the cell, realizing if she was on it long enough they could trace her through the GPS in it. Half the time she didn’t have it on because she left it off at work and often forgot to switch it back on. Now all she wanted to do was throw it away, as though the assailant had come through the connection to touch her with evil. She shuddered.

“Mommy, I’ve got my books. I’m ready to go. Sara wants to take us by the police station to meet Harriet and her blue cat.”

“Her cat is at the station?” Annie stuffed the cell into her purse and rose, smiling as Sara made her way to her at a slower gait than Jayden.

“Yeah, isn’t that cool? Sara said she’s the station mouser.”

Fifteen minutes later they entered the police station. The instant Annie saw Caleb, her heartbeat increased as though she’d been given a shot of adrenaline. His gaze latched onto hers and didn’t release it.

He disengaged himself from a conversation with an older woman at the back of the station and sauntered toward them, coming around the counter, his eyes sparkling with pleasure. “What brings y’all by here?”

“Jayden said something about wanting to see Harriet’s cat, and I told her Samson stays at the station when she’s here.” Using her cane, Sara moved toward her friend. “Jayden, Samson’s usually in his basket near Harriet’s desk.”

Her daughter trailed behind Sara. The second Jayden saw the cat she stooped next to the large wicker basket and touched the blue-gray animal. Its loud purrs resonated through the room. Jayden grinned and stroked her hand along his back over and over.

“I hope you don’t mind us visiting like this. Are you busy?” Annie swiveled toward Caleb.

“I was just taking a break for lunch.”

“It’s almost two.”

“I was busy this morning. We had some vandalism last night.” He leaned against the counter, placing his elbow on its top.

“Have you found out who did it?”

“I’ve narrowed it down to a specific group of teenage boys. Their antics won’t last much longer.”

“What did they do?”

“Took the ornaments off the town Christmas tree.” One corner of his mouth lifted.