Page 30 of Chasing Kaylee Kringle

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring down the vibe,” Josie said, looping her arm with Kaylee’s and waving a hand toward the houses they passed. “Back to the beautiful yards. I wish I had half the talent some of these people have. I heard that Felicity Owens actually carved out her characters with a saw and several sheets of plywood, then painted them.” Josie sighed. “If only I could be such a visionary.”

Kaylee studied the painted Peanuts characters from A Charlie Brown Christmas and chuckled at Josie’s dramatics. “I’ve seen a lot of video tutorials where they project the shape onto the plywood and then trace the lines and such, so I don’t think it’s too complicated. I bet you could do it.”

“Maybe,” she murmured as the square came into view, revealing the giant potato statue the size of a great pine tree. It was probably twenty feet tall, with a large star on top and multicolored bulbs sticking out from its round brown body. Mayor Barnabus Crutch stood next to the switch, shaking hands with people who approached him. His head was shaved to the skin, and his suit seemed to be tailored to his body. With a full black mustache covering his upper lip, and if he’d had on a top hat, he would have resembled Mr. Monopoly.

Several uniformed officers walked around, chatting and smiling, relaxed, and happy, and she realized that several of them were talking to Rick. He was wearing a cream sweater and jeans, one hand in his pocket and the other gesturing as if he were in the middle of relaying a riveting story. How did he manage to charm every person he met? He wasn’t Glen Powell!

Come on, you know he’s hotter than Glen.

No, the voice in her head was wrong. In fact, Kaylee shouldn’t even be thinking of him. At all. He was vapor. A ghost. She couldn’t even see him.

He caught her looking at him and waved.

Kaylee made a face and flipped him the bird.

“Ouch, girl.” Josie laughed, but Kaylee watched Rick’s expression darken, and she grinned. Take that, you eggnog-stealing dick!

Rick said something to the officers and started their way.

“Shit, he’s coming over!” Josie said.

Kaylee’s heart thundered in her chest as he approached, his gait slow and ambling, like he enjoyed taking his time. Unlike their initial encounter, he didn’t seem as hellbent on getting her back to California, and her eyes narrowed. What kind of trick did he have up his sleeve?

“Hello, ladies,” he said, his grin wide and friendly. “Beautiful night.”

Kaylee crossed her arms over her chest. “What are you doing?”

“I’m just getting to know the town. Being friendly.”

“I don’t want you to be friendly. I want you to get in your car and drive away.”

“We don’t always get what we want, do we?” Rick turned to Josie and held out his hand. “Nice to see you again, Josie.”

“It’s nice to see you too—” Kaylee elbowed her friend in the ribs, scowling, and Josie laughed. “Rick.”

“Anyway, I was going to meet your mayor and introduce myself before this thing gets started, but you two ladies have a nice night.”

Kaylee seethed through her teeth, watching him walk across the courtyard to the giant potato.

“If you’re not interested, maybe I could—”

“No!”

Chapter Sixteen

Rick

Rick stood in the dark under a large tree, pacing back and forth as he spoke to his superior, Scott Dresdon, frustration oozing from him. “What do you mean we can’t get a subpoena?”

“I mean that the DA took it to the judge, and he doesn’t think we have enough, even with her eyewitness account. Now, do you want to tell me again why you saved up all your vacation for the holidays and decided to track down our missing witness without clearing it with me first? When the local cops called, I was caught off guard and nearly told them to keep your ass in a cell until I got there. What the hell were you thinking, going rogue like that?”

“I figured I’d wrap her up and give her to you for Christmas,” Rick said.

“Very funny, smart-ass. Why didn’t you tell me that’s where you were headed?”

“I didn’t know if she’d still be here, for one thing. They recorded that episode months ago. Plus, I didn’t want anyone to know where I was going in case we had a leak we didn’t know about.”

“You actually think that someone in the bureau would tell the Pit Vipers where Kaylee is?”