I gave Jasmine a playful scowl.
With a reluctant frown, Jonah said, “Thanks, Discount Santa. Big Elf.”
JD smiled. “You behave now. Listen to the nurses. Do as your parents tell you. Stay on the nice list.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered.
We stepped into the hallway.
Jasmine said, "I told you he’d be a tough one."
"Smart kid," Jack said. "Talented.”
"Poor guy has been through a lot. Intense chemo. Multi-week infusion cycle. Looking for a matched donor now for a stem cell transplant. He’s an early relapser. ALL, acute lymphoblastic leukemia. His prognosis isn’t good,” she said with a heartbreaking frown. “I just don’t want to get his hopes up, then be disappointed. You’ve got to be careful about what you promise these kids.”
“We’ll deliver on everything,” Jack said with confidence.
“How do you plan on making it snow?" she asked.
Jack smiled. "Easy, peazy. We hire a snow machine."
"It will melt when it hits the ground," Jasmine said.
"I said I’d make it snow. I didn’t promise it would stick around.”
We continued on and spent the rest of the afternoon visiting the kids, exchanging Christmas wishes. I kept all the requests in the notes app on my phone.
Afterward, we returned to theAvventura, changed out of our costumes, and started placing orders for the toys online. In a few days, we’d return and deal out the gifts.
JD couldn’t help but order something for himself. It was the biggest present of the bunch. He showed me on his tablet.
I gave it a curious look. “What are we going to do with that?”
Jack grinned from ear to ear. “It’s going to be awesome. Just look at it.”
It did look pretty cool.
“Be here tomorrow.”
“What did that cost?”
“You don’t want to know.”
After our shopping spree, we headed up to Oyster Avenue for the tail end of happy hour. We chowed down at Wetsuit on calamari, crab cakes, and lobster bisque, watching divine waitresses prance around in bikini bottoms and tight neoprene tops. I had just taken a sip of whiskey when the sheriff called. I almost didn't answer.
"I need you to nitwits to get back over to Stingray Bay."
"What's going on?”
14
It was a horrific scene.
Two blocks over from the Hollingsworth residence, patrol cars swarmed. Red and blue lights flashed, painting the mansions in swaths of color. The evening sky gave way to gray. Mortified neighbors gathered on the street, trembling and crying, eyes wide, faces tortured.
During the holidays, Stingray Bay was a sight to behold. Everybody went all out on lights and decorations. It was as close to a winter wonderland as you could get in a tropical climate. Houses, trees, and shrubs all wrapped with twinkling LEDs. Reindeer, snowmen, and inflatable Santas dotted lawns.
Jack pulled to the curb and parked behind the medical examiner's van. We hopped out and marched to the gruesome scene. Uniformed deputies kept neighbors at bay.
