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Scarlett holds her hands out, palms up. “We all touched it, Lambros! Those presents are on their way to different parts of the city. They could be going to a landmark.” She gestures toward the toy store. “And this place is a cultural landmark. Sadistic Santa could’ve led us right into an explosion.”
“Yes, but he didn’t.”
She shakes her head. “We’re not thinking broadly enough. This guy… he’s an evil genius, and I do not mean that as a compliment! We need to get on his level.”
“Yes. Great. Got an idea how to do that?”
She circles a pile of toys. “Not yet. How do I turn on the evil genius part of my brain?”
I set our plates of food and gift bag on the hood of the nearest car. I gently grab Scarlett by the shoulders. “We don’t need Evil Genius Scarlett,” I say. “We need bold, audacious, trusting Scarlett. So… you, as you always are.”
She blinks up at me and lets out a defiant huff. “Don’t you mean reckless, too-trusting, stubborn Scarlett?”
“No,” I say, bringing her closer to me so my arms are nearly wrapped all the way around her. “I’m talking about the Scarlett that stepped in when no one else would, the one who saved my life. What would that Scarlett do? The Scarlett with Big Bison Energy?”
She sinks into my grip. “That Scarlett would run headfirst into the blizzard,” she says, remembering our conversation from last year. “Which I guess we kind of did, given that we’re here now. I just—something’s telling me to let things develop more. To continue playing Sadistic Santa’s game until enough evidence lines up.”
“You don’t have to move fast and furious to win. Sometimes slow and smooth is the right call.”
She nods but doesn’t say anything.
“I don’t know what happened with your last assignment,” I say, “but when we’re making as many decisions as we do in a day—hell, in an hour—we’re bound to get a few wrong. We just have to get most of them right.”
Scarlett peers up at me through her glittery lashes. “Given our tight timeline, my normal reaction would be to rush. To outsmart Sadistic Santa and catch him quickly.” She narrows her eyes in thought. “But really, he just needs to make a mistake. We need more information.”
“Then let’s get more information. We have to give enough slack in the garland to make him feel like he’s winning before we pull it back and get him, right?”
Scarlett smiles at my Christmas code. “Yes! We need to let Sadistic Santa have victory in enough battles so we can win the tug-of-war,” she says, more enthusiastic this time. “When the right moment comes, I’ll know.” Her smile falters. “I hope.”
“You will,” I say, too confidently for how I’m sure we both feel.
“I’m so hungry.” Scarlett grabs the sandwich and takes a giant bite out of it, groaning like it’s the best food she’s ever eaten. She devours the rest of it, grabbing the chip bag and polishing that off next. “What’s in the bag?”
“Dessert,” I say. “You can have it.”
“What’s this?” Scarlett reaches in, taking out more than just a cookie. There’s also a map and a pen.
“Must be for the next competition,” I guess. “Everyone got one.”
She turns the pen between her fingers and then presses a button on the side of it. The top of the pen lights up blue. She lays the map across the car’s hood and hunches over it. She waves me down to get a look at what she’s seeing. In the shadows, the UV light from the pen reveals a different route drawn over the one given to us from the Con. There’s also a snowflake drawn on it, marking an unknown destination.
Then Scarlett takes out of the gift bag a scrap of wrapping paper that’s been rolled up and tied off with ribbon. Another riddle.
Everyone definitely didn’t get this.
She reads it and taps on the Christmassy version of X marks the spot on the map. “Looks like he wants us to go here.” She raises an eyebrow. “But to deliver the toys and go wherever this is in the allotted time, we’ll have to drive really fast.”
“We? No.” I level Scarlett with one look. “I survived your driving once. No way it’s happening again.”
Chapter 18
NATHAN
One year ago, Christmas Eve
Maui
Scarlett groans when I tell her she’s my girlfriend.
