Page 33 of Sleigh My Heart

“Did you hear from Garmen?”

“Cliff? Not since last week. I figured he just blew off the job.”

“That’s weird. He seemed like a responsible guy. Always on time.” Nick walked beside him as they talked.

“Yeah, but old habits die hard.” Junior dropped his toolbox. “I need to grab the ladder. Is that it?”

Before Nick could answer, Junior booked it back to the hallway.

“Yeah, old habits.” Did Junior have issues with his old habits, or did he know something about Garmen’s behaviors?

Nick’s phone rang. Unknown number. His finger hovered over the screen. It could be Ava’s teacher… or Michelle. He should have programmed hers into his phone. He answered, “Jolley, here.”

“I’ll be there in five minutes. Can you pull up the security feed of the truck?” Mickey’s words rushed from the phone. Did she have something? His pulse picked up.

“Got it.” Nick was already heading back to his office as he replied. Questions spun in his head. But instead of peppering her, he only asked one. “Did you find it?”

“Not yet, but I think I found a connection. We need to scroll back farther on the security video.”

Just then, tires squealed through the phone. Metal crunched. The sound boomed in his ear. “Mickey?”

“I gotta go,” Michelle shouted and disconnected.

What the fuck just happened?

Ice cold vibes trickled down his neck. They screamed for him to move. Faster. Faster. Nick pumped his arms, pushing himself to full capacity as he ran through the mall. The sound of distant sirens filled the air. He hit the courtyard and didn’t slow down. There was trouble. His gut knew it.

Nick passed his office and kept running… straight toward the road.

***

She couldn’t believe her eyes. The stoplight turned green, and all hell broke loose. Michelle was halfway through the intersection when she heard the squeal of tires, the telltale sounds of vehicles playing bumper tag. She flipped on the lights and executed a U-turn when screams filled the air.

Santa lay in the road.

She bolted from her car, relaying the information on the incident into the radio mic on her shoulder as she booked it across the lane to the man on the ground.

“Vehicular accident on Fifth and Elm. I need a bus. One injured for sure.” She pushed by a woman holding her phone and mumbling.

“I was stopped. I swear.” She turned back to the elementary-age kids, two of them, now out of the minivan. “Get in the van.”

“Santa? Mom, did you kill Santa?” the older one wailed as the younger one clung to his mom’s leg and stared at the man in red on the ground.

“Ma’am. Please wait in your van.” Michelle didn’t have time to deal with the woman and her kids at the moment. She slipped a hand under the mass of curls on his face to find his pulse. Alive. “Sir? Sir, can you hear me?”

No response.

She pulled down the beard and froze. Russ Jolley had a trickle of blood under the edge of his hat. What was he doing walking around in his Santa suit? “Russ, can you hear me?”

Nothing. Her training kicked in. She could hear the sirens getting closer. “Santa?”

A groan slipped from his lips.

Thank God. “Russ. Santa. It’s Officer Swenson, Mickey. I got you. Hang in there.”

The fire/medics pulled up and Walker Evans and Erica Randall jumped out. Russ was in good hands.

“He’s breathing, but not responsive.” She stepped back and let them work. After a quick assessment, they had him on a gurney and were loading him into the ambulance.