The Kid Who Stole Christmas (7 page)

“Back off, Paul,” she told him. “If anyone is going to get a piece of this guy, it’s me.”

Pop’s cane thumped the floor again. “That’s enough! All of you!” He, too, was looking at Rick. “In answer to your question, I have to admit I don’t know for absolute certain that the Bayers are behind this. But after wrestling with them in the business arena for over fifty years, I know their style when I see it,” he assured him. “Joe Bayer was just short of a common criminal. As far as I have been able to determine, his son Nathan
is
a criminal, a disgusting white-collar thief of the sneakiest kind.”

Rick sighed. “That’s putting it kindly.”

“How do you know the Bayers?” Shannon asked suspiciously.

“Yes. I think it’s time you explained yourself, young man,” Pop agreed, staring at Rick through ancient, narrowed eyes. “What exactly is your connection to the Bayers? Did they send you to make sure the kidnapping of my grandson went smoothly?”

“I resent that more than you can possibly comprehend,” Rick returned bitterly.

Shannon put her hand on his arm. “Rick—”

He cut her off. “Save it. Excuse me, I have things to do.” The crowd parted for him as he stalked out the door.

“What the hell,” Pop muttered.

Shannon was equally troubled by Rick’s reaction. “He
is
connected, and we need to know how.”

“I agree,” Pop said, wheeling himself to his desk. “And I think I know who might know the answer.”

While he made the call, Shannon sat down in one of the chairs near the old man’s desk. It was a good thing, too, because Pop had his answer in minutes, and it was a shocker for them both.

“Rick was once married to Nathan Bayer’s wife, Angela,” Pop informed her. “Evidently, she and Nathan took everything from him, including his own flesh and blood. Chelsea Bayer is really Chelsea Hastings, Rick’s daughter.”

Chapter Six

A
ngela cursed. “It doesn’t even ring!”

“It’s the storm,” Nathan told her. “The phone lines must be down.” He patted the covers beside him, still warm from her body. “Come back to bed and stop worrying.”

“Somebody has to worry. With those two idiots in on the deal, anything could happen.”

He watched her cross the room. It had finally stopped snowing, and the clouds were beginning to move off. Moonlight streamed in through the window, illuminating her shapely form through her thin negligee. How such a lovely package could contain so much hostility was beyond him.

“Joey’s okay,” Nathan said. “Irv’s dim but dependable, especially with Joey in charge.”

Angela glanced at him, her beautiful face marred by a deep frown. “You don’t suppose they’d have the brains between them to double-cross us, do you?”

“What?” He arched his eyebrows. “That’s absurd.”

“Is it? Think about it.” She paced the floor, well aware of the effect her scanty attire was having on the man watching her. Let him suffer. “That shipment is worth a lot of money. And you, in your infinite wisdom, placed those two in complete control of the whole operation.”

“Correction.
I
am in control, they’re just following orders,” Nathan objected. “And I did it this way because it leaves us completely out of harm’s way.”

“Unless old man Lyon decides to dig into the matter after he gets his precious little grandson back,” Angela returned. “That’s another thing. I can’t understand why you think he’ll just drop the matter once the boy is returned.”

Nathan smiled. It was not a particularly nice sort of smile. “He’ll drop it because he knows it’s not worth the trouble I could cause him if he didn’t. He also knows that dig as he might, the only link he’d find would be Joey and Irv, who would never let it go any further.”

“So you say.”

“They have proven themselves very trustworthy over a period of many years,” Nathan said, his irritation with her growing. “I grew up with Joey, for heaven’s sake! He was my father’s right-hand man. As a matter of fact, I’ve known both him and Irv a lot longer than I’ve known you.”

Angela looked at him sharply. “What’s that supposed to mean,
dear?
”

“Nothing,
dear,
” he retorted. “Just that I know they won’t cross me.”

“And I would? Is that what you’re getting at?”

Nathan paused, considering his words carefully. In fact, he was quite certain his pretty wife would be more than happy to stab him in the back, provided that it was of some advantage to her and that she could get away with it. But then, he supposed they were the same in that regard. Only a poisonous snake was comfortable sleeping with its own kind, after all.

“This is pointless, Angela,” he said at last.

“Oh, really? What if Joey and Irv were to make a deal with someone who owed us one?”

“Like who?” Nathan asked.

“I’m not sure who,” Angela replied. “I just have this strange feeling. Women’s intuition, if you like. That’s the trouble with unfinished business. It just sits there in your past, ready to surprise you, the way a bug you didn’t squash completely always manages to crawl into your shoe to die.”

* * *

S
HANNON PULLED
the collar of her fleece-lined overcoat up around her ears to protect them from the wind. She felt like some kind of spy, sneaking along the nearly deserted downtown streets in the snowy moonlight. It was profoundly cold, in the single digits, she was certain, turning the wind into a knife that poked its icy blade into any hole it could find in her meager defenses.

Rick was walking ahead of her, little more than a dark shape moving quickly through the shadows. She didn’t really know why she had decided to follow him. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing she’d ever done. There was the bitter cold to contend with, as well as the occasional seedy-looking inner-city denizen. But worst of all, she was following a man who was in a foul mood and conceivably dangerous.

Somehow, though, even if he was involved in something shady, Shannon didn’t think Rick would harm her. It was Pop’s accusation about him being involved in the kidnapping that had really set Rick off. And if Pop’s information was correct, Rick had every reason to explode. Not only had Angela taken his child from him, she had even changed the girl’s name. If Rick had been forced to give up total custody, he must almost consider himself to be the victim of a kidnapper of sorts, as well.

Shannon wanted to hear the rest of the story, but could well imagine what had happened. She came from a broken home, herself, and had painful memories of the terrible things her mother had said about Shannon’s father in an effort to turn her against him. Much to her shame, she
had
turned against him, for a while, anyway. Unfortunately, by the time she was old enough to figure out what had really happened, her father had passed away.

Maybe that was why the loss she saw in Rick’s eyes gave her such a strong desire to connect with him. She was well acquainted with loss.

So it seemed she wasn’t being quite as altruistic in this quest through the cold and dark as she would like to think she was. Suddenly, she realized that, in a way, by helping Rick, she was seeking a form of absolution for herself.

There was also something else, perhaps nothing more than the hormones that had lured her into hiring a rather suspicious stranger in the first place. Whatever, some little voice inside told her that Rick could be a valuable ally right now. For one, he was apparently acquainted with the Bayers’ way of doing things. For another, he held a very big grudge against them, a debt that might well be served by his helping her find Leo.

That she would undertake the search went without question. In many ways, Shannon considered Leo to be her own, and she had no intention of losing him, too. Pop’s calm assurances aside, and whether Rick could help or not, she was determined to find the boy—before the shipment of toy spiders arrived, if possible. She didn’t like going against Pop, but all this struck too close to home for her to ignore.

Somewhere, Shannon could hear people singing. The Union Station area, with its popular taverns, most likely. Fresh clean snow lay in a blanket all around, softening the city’s edges. It was beautiful, in spite of the occasional sight of a decrepit building and the bitter cold. Here, Christmas lights blinked in most windows.

Soon, however, as she followed the form up ahead of her farther down toward the railroad tracks, those cheery windows gave way to ones that were boarded-up and dark. The snowy landscape now took on a forbidding, sinister dimension.

And then Rick disappeared. At least she hoped it was Rick. Shannon realized she had been so caught up in her own thoughts that it was possible she had lost sight of him and had started following another vague shape, instead. Fear welled up within her, making her almost sick to her stomach, and every doorway seemed alive with threatening shapes.

Suddenly, one of those shapes reached out and grabbed her. As she flailed her arms, trying to keep her balance, she was yanked roughly into a narrow crevice between two buildings by the collar of her coat. She struggled to stay on her feet in the frigid, near-total darkness. Just as she opened her mouth to scream, her attacker pushed her roughly backward through a door into one of the buildings. The bottom edge of the jamb caught her boot and she went down on her rear end, her coat providing little padding against the concrete.

A man’s harsh whisper cut off the complaint that rose to her lips. “Hush!”

“Rick?”

“Who were you expecting, O’Shaughnessy?” he said in quiet, clipped tones. “The bogeyman? Well, down here, you might really have run into him.”

“I—”

“Just stay there and keep your mouth shut.”

Since he did not seem in the mood for any discussion just now, she did as she was told. Rick moved to the door, paused and then went back out into the cold, dark night. When he didn’t return right away, Shannon decided he hadn’t meant for her to literally stay where she was, so she got up from the floor and dusted herself off.

She seemed to be in a warehouse of some kind. With only the dim light filtering in from outside, it was hard to tell, but she could make out vague shapes that looked like crates. Lyon’s occasionally used the storage facilities down here near the tracks when the store got a big shipment by rail. But Shannon didn’t think she was acquainted with this particular building. Rick had little to worry about. She had no desire to wander around such a place in the dark.

But what was Rick doing down here? Why was he so jumpy? Shannon had to admit that was another reason she had followed him. He might not be shady, and probably didn’t have anything to do with Leo’s disappearance, but she felt certain Rick was up to something. His behavior just now seemed to confirm her suspicions.

Great. She had come to offer Rick solace, and instead had made him mad. That didn’t put her in the best position to ask questions about what he was doing, or to ask for his help in finding Leo, either. To top it all off, she was cold, scared and her rear end hurt. This was turning into some Christmas.

Shannon jumped when Rick came back in and slammed the door. Then she heard him fiddling with what sounded like a heavy padlock.

“At least nobody followed
you,
” he said, obviously relieved. “Sorry for being so rough, but you took me by surprise. I just assumed that anyone out walking on a night like this was either an idiot or dangerous, probably both. What are you doing down here?”

“Following you,” Shannon confirmed defiantly. It was difficult to see his face in the dim light, but she thought she saw him smile. “What’s so funny?”

He shook his head and chuckled. “Nothing. It’s just that you really did give me a scare,” Rick admitted.

“Good. That and your lame apology take some of the sting out of my...out of my pride. Now, what are
you
doing down here?”

“This is where I live.”

“Oh.” That revelation gave her pause. “Sorry.”

“For what?” Rick asked. “My lot in life or for thinking I was up to no good?”

“Both, I suppose.” Shannon wished she could see his face. “Can we have some lights?”

“This way.” He moved closer and held his hand where she could see it. “I have a place in back. The situation isn’t quite as dire as you seem to think.”

“I didn’t mean...” She trailed off with a sigh and took his hand. It was still cold. Cold hands, warm heart? “Look, if you don’t want me here, just say the word.”

“You followed me for a reason, didn’t you?” Rick asked.

“I want to talk. About Leo. Among other things.”

He squeezed her hand slightly. “That sounds promising. Come on. And watch your step.”

That was difficult, since she couldn’t even see her feet, but he led the way so confidently, it wasn’t necessary. It was obvious he had made this trek in the dark before. Shannon had to assume there was a reason he did so without the aid of a flashlight. She doubted that reason had anything to do with not having the money to buy one. To her, it seemed as if Rick was a man with something to hide.

“We’re not supposed to be in here, are we?” she asked.

Rick smiled mischievously. “Why? Does the idea of breaking and entering excite you?”

She had to admit it did, a little. Perhaps for the same reason Rick excited her. Hers was a fairly quiet life-style, and he offered the prospect of something different, maybe even a tad dangerous. Of course, she had no intention of telling him that. But somehow, she suspected he already knew.

“I was just asking,” Shannon replied. “You know. In case the night watchman comes along. I’d like to know whether to wave hello or run.”

“Relax. We’re supposed to be here. Or at least I am,” he added pointedly. “I just don’t like to advertise my comings and goings. Seems safer that way, considering the neighborhood.”

While Shannon pondered this information, Rick let go of her hand for a moment. She heard the jangle of keys in a lock and then he took her hand again, gently guiding her into what she could tell was some sort of smaller space. Finally, he turned on a light. Shannon blinked in surprise.