CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER

1

I

f there was a hell, Lindsay MacAllister was willing to bet it was decorated with oversized plastic candy canes and populated with small, screaming demon children and impatient parents.

Yes, the elf job had been a mistake. But she was desperate, and it was temporary.

She rolled her eyes as the next kid in line tried to shove the complimentary candy cane up his nose. His dad was flirting with Jeanette, the other elf, completely oblivious to what was going on with his kid and the fact that it was their turn.

Lindsay sighed and moved a little closer. She tapped the guy on the arm. “Excuse me, sir, but Santa is ready for you.”

The little boy was placed on Santa’s lap, and Lindsay hid her grin as he attempted to stick his candy cane up Santa’s nose.

Santa was a sweet old guy, and Chris had a whole whack of grandchildren at home, so he redirected the kid’s attention like a pro while flashing Lindsay a wink.

They slowly worked their way through the seemingly unending flow of parents and kids. Lindsay questioned the judgement of anyone who left their Santa photos until December twenty-third.

Thank goodness her shift was over. As long as she made it out of the mall in the next hour, she’d have enough time to catch the Skytrain to the airport and make the flight her parents had insisted on booking for her so she could write her last exam and still make it home to Rivers End in time for her Uncle Isaac’s wedding on Christmas Day.

She tried not to think about what they were going to say when she told them the truth.

But she didn’t have to deal with that today. That was future Lindsay’s problem.

Current Lindsay’s problem was getting paid and getting out the door so she could make her flight on time.

She caught Jeanette’s eye. “Have you seen Dave lately?” She had no intention of ever coming back here once this shift was done, and she didn’t know for sure where she’d be living after the holidays. She needed her paycheque in her hand.

Jeanette shook her head. “He’s probably in the admin office.”

Lindsay glanced at the wall clock. Her shift had ended five minutes ago, but Chris had asked her to stay a few more minutes while they waited for the next shift to arrive. The snow had wreaked havoc on the whole city, and apparently her replacement elf was running late. The one upside of the bad weather was that the line was finally starting to shorten.

She gritted her teeth as another overtired kid melted into a boneless, screaming heap on the floor.

If she never spent another hour in a mall, she’d be okay with that. She loved Christmas music—generally speaking—but the same dozen carols had played on a repeating loop in Santa Land for the last six weeks, and she’d definitely used up her ability to tune them out. The combination of sleigh bells jingling and high-pitched shrieks had given her a permanent headache.

Lindsay took a deep breath, counted to ten, and plastered the smile back on her face.

She was antsy, watching the minutes tick by on the clock and picturing the snow building up outside. But finally her replacement came hustling down the hallway towards them.

Assuming the Skytrain hadn’t stopped running, she still had enough time to make her flight, no problem. She’d change out of her costume, grab her two big suitcases from the admin office, and then head to the airport—and home. It was time to face the music.

Once she’d debriefed her replacement on the candy cane stock levels and pointed out a couple of kids in the line to keep an eye on, she made her way up to the edge of Santa’s chair.

She laughed when Chris patted his knee. “Picture with Santa for the road?”

“Sure, why not?” It was going to be a tough Christmas. She’d take any help she could get. And the kids waiting in line thought it was hilarious to see an elf sitting on Santa’s knee.

“Ho ho ho! What would you like Santa to bring you this Christmas, Lindsay?”

“Got any superhero capes left in that bag? I could use a little bravery.”

Chris just winked and patted her arm. “You’re a brave one, Lindsay. You know what you want. Now you just have to share that with your family.”

“Merry Christmas, Santa. Have fun with your grandkids.” She gave Chris a hug. “Can you pass me my bag?”

Chris dug around under his Christmas throne and passed her the sparkly princess backpack. “Sara’s going to love that.”

Lindsay rolled her eyes. “I feel a bit silly lugging it around, but I just couldn’t resist. I’ll put it in my suitcase before I hit the airport.”

And she’d get out of this ridiculous costume. It wasn’t the worst elf outfit she’d ever seen, but at five feet nine, she was taller than the average elf, which made the skirt that much shorter. Thank goodness for the thick red-and-white-striped tights that kept her covered and controlled the blisters under her regulation red high heels. She couldn’t wait to pull on her favourite cozy boots. Her feet were killing her.

“I’m going to find Dave and get my last cheque. Don’t forget to take a break. You need enough energy to make it around the world tomorrow night!”

She waved to Jeanette as she headed down the long hall behind the customer service desk towards the staff area.

But she pulled up short when she saw her boss talking to two uniformed police officers.

Uh-oh.

A quick look into the office had her stomach in knots. There were papers all over the place, and it looked like the safe was open.

It was what she

didn’t

see that was the real problem, though. She didn’t see her suitcases anywhere.

She hesitantly asked, “What happened?”

Dave turned towards her. “I got an urgent page from security that they had a situation in the main foyer. Something about the Christmas Spirit Quartet breaking out in a fistfight. By the time I got back here, this place was all torn up. Are you missing anything? You’ll need to add it to the list the officers are making.”

Lindsay’s stomach bottomed out. She wasn’t missing

something

. She was missing

everything

. Her hand went to her throat, and she touched the pendant on the necklace she never took off, thankful at least she’d been wearing that. She could feel the tears well up. “I actually had two full suitcases of things here.”

Her Christmas gifts for her parents were in there, the custom-engraved picture frame she’d had made for Uncle Isaac and Jenna’s wedding, her jewellery box.

She took a deep breath and counted backwards from five. She couldn’t think about what she’d lost right now, or else the tears would make an appearance.

Lindsay closed her eyes and repeated to herself,

it’s only stuff, it’s only stuff

. She needed to focus on what she

could

do. She needed to get changed and get to the airport.

Well,

sugar cookies

. Her clothes were all in her suitcases too.

“I’m so sorry, Lindsay. We’ll figure something out. I’m sure the insurance will cover it.” Her boss looked stricken, but before he could say anything else, one of the officers interrupted.

“We’ll need you to make a full list of everything that was in your bags. If we don’t recover your property, you’ll need it for the insurance company too. And we just have a few more questions…”