Trouble Under the Tree (A Nina Quinn Mystery) by Heather Webber Page B

marriage fell apart.
    Bobby and I had talked about kids, but now,
with him gone, those discussions seemed a very long time ago.
    On the video, Benny and Fairlane groped each
other for a few minutes, before they seemed to get into a heated
discussion.
    “Is there no audio?” I asked.
    “No,” Kevin said. “But I assume this is the
part where Fairlane asks for her job back.”
    “Actually,” Maria said, “she’s threatening
him that if he doesn’t give her job back, she’s going to tell his
wife about their affair.”
    Kevin and I stared at Maria.
    “What?” she said. “I can read lips.”
    “Since when?” I asked.
    “Since college. I took a course on it as part
of learning how to do sign language.”
    “You know sign language?” I asked.
    She glared at me. “Yes, Nina. Jeez, don’t you
know me at all?”
    I was beginning to think the answer to that
was no.
    Kevin said, “You’ll want to see this next
part.”
    “There’s more?” I asked.
    “Oh yeah.”
    The tape continued on, showing Benny giving
in to Fairlane’s demand. She groped him some more, then left. As
soon as she did, he sat in Santa’s chair, and dropped his head into
his hand.
    “Scum,” Maria muttered.
    We ignored her. Benny sat there for a little
bit before looking up at the doorway. He smiled as a woman came
inside, hiked her skirt up to her waist, climbed atop his lap and
straddled him. She tossed her hair, and I got a good look at her
profile.
    It was Glory Vonderberg.
    “Is that his wife?” Maria asked.
    “Nope,” Kevin said.
    “He does like himself a cougar, doesn’t he?”
Maria said.
    Apparently.
    Glory reached for Benny’s belt and started
unbuckling.
    Benny unbuttoned her shirt, revealing a lacy
red bra.
    “At least she has good taste in lingerie,”
Maria said.
    I was thinking this tape was about to get
very X-rated when suddenly both Benny and Glory froze. Benny said
something.
    Kevin and I looked at Maria.
    She translated. “He said, ‘Did you hear
that?’”
    On the tape, Glory nodded. Her lips moved but
with the angle of the camera, it wasn’t clear what she said.
    They paused for a moment, then started with
their unbuttoning and unbuckling again. There was much kissing
going on, and I could only imagine the slurping and suckling
noises.
    Suddenly, they froze again, and looked toward
the back room of the cottage. Benny’s lips moved.
    “He said, ‘Is anyone back there?’” Maria
looked at us. “As if someone would answer.”
    She had a point.
    Benny and Glory quickly resumed their
exploration of each other. Just as Glory unzipped Benny’s pants,
they jumped apart.
    Maria leaned in. “Benny cursed, then said
something about a fire alarm?”
    “The fire alarm went off this morning at
Christmastowne,” I said. “Complete with sprinklers.”
    “That explains the woman freaking out about
everything getting wet,” Maria said.
    The pair on the screen waited near the
doorway, then Benny patted Glory’s rear and they went out the
door.
    But not before a shadow appeared in the
doorway behind them—the one leading to the back room of the
cottage.
    The tape went black.
    “Did you see that?” I asked.
    “What?” Kevin went to take the disk out of
the computer, and I slapped his hand.
    “Go back to the last shot.”
    Maria said, “I don’t think I can watch the
two of them fondle each other again. I have a sensitive
stomach.”
    “Not that far,” I said. “Just the very
end.”
    Kevin scrolled through video.
    “There!” I cried. “See it?”
    Sure enough, there was someone in that
doorway. Someone who had been in Santa’s Cottage the whole
time?
    “Do you know who it is?” Maria asked.
    “Hard to tell,” Kevin said.
    I let out a breath. “I know who it is.”
    “Who?” Kevin asked.
    “It’s Jenny Christmas.”
    “How do you know?” Maria asked. “The tape
isn’t very clear.”
    My stomach turned at the thought of what
Jenny must have seen. I looked between Maria and Kevin, and