Margaret Daley - Christmas Peril

“When are we going?” Jayden stepped back from Annie.

“Right now is as good a time as any. It’s Saturday. I’ll get some money and then we’ll hit the road.”

Jayden whirled from her and started across the kitchen. “Wait till Mandy hears I’m going on an adventure.”

“We don’t have time for you to call Mandy.” They might not have much time for anything. She didn’t even know where Bryan had been calling her from. “I’ll get our suitcases. Let’s see how fast we can pack. Take only your favorite things.” Although she tried to make it sound like a game, her voice quavered, and Annie curled her trembling hands until her fingernails dug into her palms.

At the door her daughter paused, cocking her head. “When will we be coming back?”

Not until I figure out what’s going on. I can’t take the risk that Bryan has gotten caught up in some scheme and somehow involved us. He’d done some foolish, impulsive things in the past. “I’m not sure. But we’ll probably be gone for a few weeks.” She hoped only that long.

Jayden whirled around. “Then I’ll need my new doll and my treasure chest.”

The memory of when Bryan had given his daughter an antique porcelain doll for her birthday last month jolted Annie as though she’d stuck her finger into a socket. He’d even given them his mother’s family’s Bible, a surprise, since he wasn’t a Christian, but he’d wanted his daughter to have it when she got older. Would Jayden ever see her father again?

Annie passed the sign for Christmas, Oklahoma. After two days on the road, driving long hours and crashing at night, she needed a place to stay for a while to figure out what was going on. She didn’t even know if Bryan was dead or alive or where he’d been when he’d called her.

“I’m tired, Mommy.”

“We’re almost there.”

She prayed that her mother’s cousin, one she hadn’t seen in fifteen years, still lived in Christmas. After racking her brain, she’d finally come up with Sara McLain’s place as a possible refuge until she did some investigating and came up with a plan. Fond memories of a holiday season spent in a town called Christmas kept creeping into her thoughts as she drove toward Oklahoma.

In the motel rooms along the way, she’d spent each night after Jayden had gone to sleep reading Bryan’s mother’s family Bible, looking for guidance on what to do. But the Lord hadn’t answered her prayers in years. So why had she thought He would now?

On the outskirts of Christmas, Annie stopped at Speedy Mart to get some gas and directions to her cousin’s house. As she filled her tank, Jayden danced around, happy to be out of the car.

“Honey, stay right next to me.” Annie envisioned the unknown assailant on the other end of the phone call suddenly appearing and grabbing her and her daughter. Would she ever feel safe again?

She searched her surroundings, looking for anyone who appeared suspicious. A car pulled in behind her, and a man got out to get gas. Didn’t she see that Chevy behind her on Interstate 40 back a hundred miles? Not sure, she massaged her temples, trying to rid herself of the constant fear that had engrained itself in her.

When she was through filling her tank, she took Jayden’s hand and hurried toward the building to pay. A bell rang as she opened the door. She glanced back at the man finishing up putting gas into his car. He caught her gaze, grinned and got back into his Chevy, then pulled out of Speedy Mart. Relief slumped her shoulders. False alarm—she hoped.

At the counter she started to pull out her credit card out of habit, but she stopped herself and instead withdrew some cash from her quickly dwindling savings. She smiled at the older woman who took her money and gave her change.

“You just passing through?”

“No,” Annie said, stuffing the dollars into her purse, her gaze slanting toward her daughter, who was holding her porcelain doll and exploring the candy rack next to the counter. When she fingered one, Annie said, “Jayden, no candy right now.”

“But I’m hungry.”

“We’ll get something in a little bit.”

“Here visiting?” the attendant asked and slid her cash drawer closed.

“Yes.” Behind Annie the bell over the door jingled, and she automatically turned to see who was entering. For the past two days she’d been constantly looking over her shoulder and checking out all the cars behind her on the highway. She’d never been paranoid before, but fear was taking over her life.

A tall man in a navy-blue police uniform came into the store and grinned at the woman behind the counter. Annie breathed a sigh. Then she remembered Bryan’s warning, and tension whipped through her.

The police officer’s gaze swept the store as though checking to make sure everything was all right before settling first on Jayden then Annie. The sharp, assessing look moved down her length before coming back to her face. A smile crinkled the corners of his cobalt-blue eyes and lit their depths with a glitter. He nodded a greeting toward her.

Uncomfortable with his scrutiny, Annie turned her attention back to the cashier. “I need directions to Sara McLain’s house on Bethlehem Street. Do you know her?” She was over a thousand miles from Crystal Creek. This man had nothing to do with what had happened in Florida.

The older woman glanced behind Annie.

“Maybe I can help you.” The police officer stepped up to the counter a few feet from Annie. “Sara’s a neighbor of mine.”

“Oh, good, you know where she lives. My name is Annie Madison.” Which was true but Madison was her middle name. She’d decided the first night on the road that was the name she would go by as a precaution in case anyone was looking for Annie Coleman.

“I’m Caleb Jackson, the police chief of Christmas.” He offered his hand.

She fit hers in his and shook it. “Nice to meet you. Can you give me directions to Sara’s?” Annie snagged her daughter before she wandered toward another rack with chips. “I’m her cousin.”

“Cousin?” Skepticism sounded in his voice. “She’s always talking about her family. I don’t remember her mentioning you.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen her.” She hated explaining herself to a stranger, but she didn’t need the police chief becoming suspicious.

A grin eased the wariness from his expression. “Sara will be thrilled. She was just talking about how none of her nieces or nephews could come for Christmas. Have you ever been here?”

“Yes, the last time was when I was ten during the holidays, but I don’t remember much about the town, except all the lights downtown and the huge Christmas tree in the park.” She glanced out the large picture window, a blanket of clouds darkening the late afternoon. “I need to talk with Sara this evening and then find a place to stay. My daughter is tired and hungry.” She hoped Sara would let her stay with her, but she hadn’t seen her in years and she might not open her home to her. If that were the case, she didn’t know what she would do. Her money was limited. Fear, always present since she’d last heard from Bryan, wormed its way deeper into her mind.

“Sara fell a few weeks ago. She could use some help around the house, but she hates asking anyone to. Maybe you are an answer to a prayer. I’ll show you where she lives. You can follow me.” He turned to the lady behind the counter. “I just need a cup of your coffee, Marge.”

“Already have it for you.” The woman took the dollar the police chief set on the counter.

“Ready, Mrs. Madison?” He snatched up the cup.

“It’s Ms. Madison. I’m not married.”

She’d never been married. Although Bryan and she had discussed marriage when she discovered she was pregnant in college, she’d decided against it when he was arrested for driving under the influence. Too many red flags kept popping up in their relationship. When she’d met him as a freshman, he was an upperclassman with arresting blue eyes and an easy smile. He’d whisked her off her feet, and she’d given herself to him. She deeply regretted her choice back then, but one good thing had come from it: Jayden.