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“A code’s useless without the actual bomb.”

She rubs the glitter between her fingers. “There are more gifts to come.”

I tuck the calendar under my arm. “Goody.”

“We need to get footage from the last forty-eight hours and see if our guy was here.” Scarlett types into her phone, probably messaging Meyers.

We head to the nearest avenue and catch a cab back to the hotel. Until we know more, there’s time to figure out the numbers. As I watch the city blur by, Scarlett goes still in her seat.

“‘Town square’ was written on the invite,” she says. “The one that was delivered to the Bureau.”

“Yeah. Why?”

“And you solved the riddle correctly. The present was here, at Bryant Park.”

“Right.”

“But… if our latest riddle was impromptu, how did he write it and deliver it this morning before you were even out on the ice, and get the present here in time? He’s human. He can’t be in multiple places at once.”

My shoulders tense. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying… what if the riddle wasn’t actually impromptu like we thought?” she continues. “What if it was planned? And if our latest riddle wasn’t impromptu… then doesn’t that also mean that Sadistic Santa knew all along that I was going to put in a decoy to play?”

I clench my jaw. “Yeah.”

Scarlett goes quiet and turns back toward the window.

“Hey, we got this.” I grab her hand across the seat. “Once we catch this guy, I’m going to get you a bucket of popcorn, okay? I’m sure this”—I pat the advent calendar on my lap—“made you want some.”

This makes her smile a little, and that smile does what it always does for me. It makes me chill out. Because that’s what I need to be for her right now. Calm. Collected.

“A big bucket?” she finally asks.

“The biggest I can find. Gallons and gallons of popcorn,” I promise. “I’ll need to use my toy bag, that’s how much popcorn I’m going to get you.”

Scarlett laughs, and I close my eyes, just for a second, to enjoy it. It’s so rare, getting to have her next to me like this. I want to pretend like we’re not part of a high-stakes operation. Right now, we’re in our own little yellow snow globe speeding up Sixth Avenue, and it’s only a matter of life. Death is nowhere in the equation.

She tilts her head against the seat and looks at me, a grin still on her lips. “This reminds me of that night… do you remember?”

“The popcorn,” I say without needing even a second to think about it. I swear I can still smell it right here in this car.

She takes a long breath in through her nose, then says, “Now, that was one hell of a night.”

Chapter 14

SCARLETT

Two years ago

Los Angeles

Tonight, I’m a security guard for a high-rise in downtown Los Angeles, getting paid overtime for working the holiday, along with a cleaning crew and a few office workers. My job requires a little eavesdropping and reconnaissance while the high-profile Wang family I’ve been tracking for months meets with the Durands to talk shop. They thought the least suspicious place anyone would think to find them is a rooftop cinema on an office building on Christmas night. Which, they’re probably right, but that’s where the FBI has the upper hand with our informant’s tip.

I get in the elevator and press the button for the third floor, where I’ll do a lap before heading to the rooftop to fix the camera that has been blown over by the Santa Ana winds.

When the elevator opens on floor three, it suddenly gets so much more interesting.

“Well, this is getting ridiculous,” I say to an unamused-looking Nathan standing in the hallway.