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“What? Our jobs? Sounds like that was at risk anyway, and it wouldn’t have been the first time agents have hooked up on a work trip. And it wasn’t even a work trip! Or a hookup! Were we working? No. I got shot, and you had just made a case.”

It’s the truth, and he knows I’m right. We were off duty, free and clear.

“I didn’t want to be one of your risks. I’ve only ever wanted to keep you safe,” he says, his voice filled with frustration.

“Then I guess we want the same thing. I wanted to be there for you. I wish you would’ve let me.” I brush a curl of hair back under his Santa hat. “Are you mad?”

“At you?” He looks horrified. “I could never be mad at you, Scarlett. I’m mad that you had to cover for me at all. You just… you didn’t need to save me and risk your job. Your reputation.”

I want to laugh. Those things hadn’t even crossed my mind. I had simply told the investigators the truth. They needed to know that Nathan didn’t do what they had accused him of.

“They should’ve believed you,” I say.

“Yeah, well, there are agents who have gone against the code, stolen drugs from evidence, been bribed,” he says. “You know how evidence can be falsified. Even good agents lie when desperate. They do things they shouldn’t. As far as they know, I was just like them.”

“But you weren’t,” I say. “You’re not.”

“You know I wasn’t all good.”

“You weren’t steal-a-piece-of-jewelry-from-your-case bad.”

He tilts his head. “Didn’t help that I told them about the money. They questioned every little fact. I told them I was in a totally different state than where the switch occurred, so it couldn’t have been me.” He scoffs. “As though I could be in two places at the same time. Plane ticket proof didn’t work either, like I somehow snuck over to the U.S. mainland and then back again. Then, one day, they said I was no longer a suspect. Because of you.”

“I’m not sorry,” I tell him. “You would’ve lost your badge.”

“Maybe I should’ve,” he says. “After tonight, that won’t be a concern anymore. And no, before you ask, chasing after a menacing Sadistic Santa didn’t change my mind.”

I can’t believe he’s saying this, but it does give me an idea.

Todd’s and Nelly’s voices carry over the speakers and down the hallway. I check my watch. “We don’t have much longer. After this next competition, it’s over.”

With literal minutes to go until midnight, we’re out of options. It’s time to poke Sadistic Santa. My confidence wanes, but I put on a brave face. Nathan trusts me, and I trust him. That’s all we have going for us right now.

One of the Con crew guys runs up to Nathan. “There you are,” he says breathlessly. “We’ve been looking all over for you. You needed to be onstage, like, five minutes ago.”

As Nathan turns to go with him, I grab his sleeve. “Did they ever find the person who replaced Icicle with a fake?” I ask.

“Not that I’ve heard,” he says.

“So where’s the real necklace, then?”

Suddenly, it hits me. I gasp, and my heart stops dead in its beating tracks. The added location. The snowflake. Every nerve in my body goes on high alert.

The jewelry store where Nathan and I made a stop because Arnold said to. There was a bigger reason for the detour, and I don’t think it was only to pick up a Ring Pop.

At the beginning of this year, Nathan went from innocent to suspect number one and then back to innocent. He had been an integral part of the mission, yes, but did someone want him to look guilty? Is that the reason he was roped into the investigation to begin with? Nathan was ultimately cleared, but if the person who got him into this mess didn’t get what he wanted, he’d try again. Arnold would want to finish what he started.

My stomach curls itself into a knot. “Arnold’s mad that you’re not who you said you were. He trusted you for years, let you in, even when he rightfully suspected you at first. And then Maui happened and now he wants to frame you.” The pieces start falling into place.

“He’s seeking retaliation,” Nathan says, understanding. “We need to make him believe he got his revenge.”

The plan comes to me in fragments. “We have to let Sadistic Santa get a few punches in first and let him think the knockout is his. That’s when we take ours.”

Nathan grabs my hand and releases an unsteady exhale. “Scarlett, I trust you. You’re heading up this case. Whatever you decide is best, whatever I have to contribute, I’ll do it.”

It’s a nice moment. A relieving one. How does the saying go? Teamwork stops the Sadistic Santa from blowing up Christmas? Or something like that.

Adrenaline courses through my system as I fill him in on my idea.