Instead, he adjusted the view of one of the cameras with a few clicks of the mouse and Santa Land came into focus. He manipulated the camera a few more times until it was blurry, just vague images of Santa’s big chair, the plastic reindeer and poinsettias. Then he put on a green elf hat.
“Gotta blame this on somebody,” he explained when he saw Gemma watching him closely.
“Ralph the Elf?” Gemma asked.
Without another word, Grady untied her from the chair but kept her in an iron grip while he led her out to Santa Land. When they reached the brightly colored carpet tiles, he flung her away from him. With her hands still tied behind her and unable to break her fall, she landed hard on her bottom.
Confident that she wasn’t going anywhere, Jackson took a seat in Santa’s big chair and crossed his legs.
“Now what?” Gemma asked, moving to a sitting position. Without moving her head, she searched for a weapon as best she could. The closest thing she came to was a plastic reindeer. Then she remembered Santa had been clutching a plastic antler in his hand.
“Let’s see. Maybe you were so distraught over finding Santa that you killed yourself,” Jackson murmured, tapping his chin with the gun. “One shot to the head and the gun in your hand. Kind of cliché but...”
“They’ll see someone on the camera,” she reminded him.
“Oh, yeah, that’s right,” he said, as if he had forgotten.
Even in the dimly lit area, Gemma could see his eyes glittering as cold as glass.
“Then maybe it was the elf,” he suggested. “Yeah, that grumpy elf that wanted Santa out of the way all along.”
“Why would he kill me?”
“Same reason he helped me kill Santa,” he said with a little grin. “You stumbled onto our lucrative little venture here in town just like he did. We can’t have word getting out that the elves and the security guards are all in on the shoplifting ring.”
Gemma had inched closer to the reindeer, her thoughts spinning as she waited for just the right moment. His statement brought her up cold. “All of you?” she asked, completely surprised.
Grady nodded. “Yep, every evening we ship our take for the day out to our buyer in Richmond. He deposits cash into my bank account and I disperse it to my men. Roger, the young guy you caught tonight, it was his first night with us. I don’t suspect he’ll have another. Especially after that stupid elf spills his guts to your boyfriend, Ross.”
Gemma was stunned that something this sinister could be going on in her quiet little home town mall.
“It’s kind of a win-win situation,” Grady continued.
“How so?” Gemma asked, she had no idea if she could stop him with the reindeer but she had to try something.
“Your boyfriend, Ross, will be the hero when he solves the crimes including Santa’s murder. Your other boyfriend, Nick, will have his front page story. By Christmas I’ll be in Mexico.”
“They’ll catch you eventually,” she said.
Grady laughed. “I doubt it. Now, let’s get this over with. I want to get on the road by midnight.”
He stood up and reached for Gemma. Just as he touched her, she flung herself into the reindeer and they began toppling over, one by one in the opposite direction she had hoped.
Now Grady laughed again. “Did you really think you could stop me with plastic reindeer?”
Gemma felt herself being pulled roughly to her feet.
“I think strangling you is the way to go. You deserve it,” he snarled pulling her back against him.
There was that anger again, surging through her whole body, survival instinct kicking in. And that’s when she drove the pointy heel of her boot directly into his foot as hard as she could. Grady howled and his hold on her loosened enough for her to stomp his foot again and then he pushed her away from him. She found herself on the floor looking up into the barrel of his gun.
“You’re done,” he snarled.
Gemma cowered on the floor, silently telling her dad that
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