Chapter Fifteen --
Safer? What was he talking about?
“Is Kyle Frist dead or not?”
“Yup. They recovered the body and they’re doing the DNA to confirm it, but my boss says they’re pretty sure it’s him.”
“Does that mean there’s no trial?” I wondered.
“The Snuffman already made his deal to turn government witness in exchange for not getting the needle. His plea deal may be legally challenged, but he’s probably going to jail anyway. The Department of Justice would love to close this without forking out money for a trial.”
“What did you mean about Annette being ‘safer’?”
“Part of the reason she was so vulnerable to my...er, handling of her as a...potential informant was because she was so lonely.”
“Oh?” This came as news to me.
“When Paul was sick, she spent all her time taking care of him. She lost touch with her circle of friends. She had also recently changed jobs, so she was working with strangers, rather than her old friends from Harvey. And when her husband died, she was left in a new, unfamiliar life. She said the best thing that happened to her is when she went to visit the Grimms at Black Forest Farm.”
“We love her. She knows that.” I studied him. Something was still eating at him. He was worried. “And what about you?”
“I’ll be looking into my options,” he said quietly. “Right now, the question is what’s best for Annette.”
“True,” I agreed. “It’s going to take some time for her to feel safe again. She’s not exactly in the market for an instant romance, is she?”
“I’ll give her time, Gabby. It’s the least I can do, given that a lot of what happened was the result of my case spinning out of control.”
“It could have been a lot worse, Will. You got the gas shut off. I stopped the Snuffman. In the end, Annette survived. I just wish she hadn’t witnessed Kevin Frist’s murder.”
“You and me both.”
“What happened between the time I left here last night and now?” There was a little flicker of pain in those eyes. He seemed newly wounded.
“She cried in her sleep, Gabby. And when I tried to comfort her, she pulled away from me, like I was going to hurt her.”
“Oh. I wouldn’t take it personally, Will. It’s not you she’s scared of right now. Her mind is muddled. Dr. Hissam prescribed some powerful tranquilizers because she was in shock.”
“What if she never gets over this?” he wanted to know.
“Is that what you’re worried about? That she’s permanently scarred?” I shook my head and smiled at him. “You don’t know the Grimm family, my friend. We are tougher than we look. And we stick together. Nettie will be okay with time.”
“What if she’s not?”
“What if she is?” I countered. “What if you go ahead and get your ducks in a row? What if you commit yourself to working with us to help her, instead of worrying yourself sick that she can’t be helped? She’s going to have good care, Will. Either you’re part of the team or you’re not. What’s it going to be? Make a decision.”
“I’m in,” he sighed.
“You know, it’s not like you two don’t have an existing relationship. Maybe the FBI thinks you two are unacquainted, but the heart knows better, doesn’t it? Don’t pull away from her in her hour of need, Will. Be her friend. Be her cheerleader. But be there.”
“You don’t think that will add to her misery?”
“I think she’ll be more miserable if you take off.” It was true. I knew my cousin. After all, I had helped jumpstart her romance with Paul. I didn’t mind doing it a second time with Will. “Why don’t you let Annette decide what she wants?”
“What if she doesn’t want me?” There it was. The big question that haunted him.
“What if she does?” I countered. “If you book it out of here before she has the chance to send you away, you’ll never know. So, I suggest you ‘man up’ and stick around until you get your marching orders.”
Will left just after nine. His boss wanted him to follow up on some leads involving Kyle Frist. It turned out that the lovesick FBI agent was an accountant by training, with a specialty in white collar crime. Perfect, I decided. Those were the desk jockeys, a staple of FBI financial investigations, normally chained to the office and armed with a calculator. He would be too busy looking at the books and balancing the numbers to get himself shot by some thug in a dark alley. He might actually have a chance with Nettie after all.
At four o’clock in the afternoon, my cousin blinked her eyes groggily and groaned. I could see her struggling to remember.
“I’m right here, babe. You’re okay. Everything is okay. You’re safe.”
“Will...”
“Will what?”
“Will...you....”
“Do you want me to do something for you?”
“Blood...everywhere.”
“That’s all over,” I reassured her. “You’re in the hospital, Annette, and I’m with you.”
“Where is...Will?”
“He had to track down some information. The FBI got the bad guys, so Will had to go back to work.” I watched as a tear rolled down my cousin’s cheek. “Would you like to speak to him?”
“Mmm....” she nodded. I could tell the drugs left her dangling on the brink of conscious thought. With my Smartphone in hand, I dialed.
“Hey, it’s me, Gabby. You have a second?”
“Sure,” said the FBI agent, using his professional voice. “What’s up?”
“Annette is asking for you.”
“She is?” The professional demeanor slipped. The lovesick man was back. “Is she okay?”
“She cried when she found out you weren’t here.”
“Oh, damn. Tell her I’m really sorry. My boss insisted I go to Greenwich....”
“Tell her yourself. I’ll put her on. And, Will, just remember she’s doped up.”
“Right.”
Even as I held the phone up to Nettie’s ear, I saw her smile briefly. She managed a few words here and there. Will was speaking to her, reassuring her that it would all work out. He promised he would be there as soon as he could get away. I watched the eyes slowly close as she listened to his voice, drifting back to sleep. I put the phone to my ear, expecting to break in.
“Maybe around seven,” Will said. “Is that okay, Annette?”
“That’s fine, big guy,” I teased. “By the way, she’s sound asleep. Whatever you said to her made her happy.”
“When are you transferring her to Vermont?” I could hear the wisp of desperation in his voice. Now that he had re-established that thread between them and he had a chance to tie it up, he was already wishing she wasn’t leaving.
“Monday. By the way, we have a bed and breakfast up there. If you’re ever interested in a visit, it’s a great place. Lots of hiking, fishing -- all that good stuff.”
“Maybe we can talk about that when I get there.”
“Maybe we can,” I agreed.
In the days that followed, there was much discussion. Come Monday morning, with Annette’s Toyota Corolla packed with as many of her belongings as I could cram into its interior and trunk, I collected her at the hospital for the journey to Black Forest Farm. The long drive was uneventful. Most of the time, Nettie stared out the window, her mind still numbed on tranquilizers. She was greeted by the gang when we arrived at the farmhouse, welcomed as if she was coming home after a long absence. In some ways, that was true. You never really lose your family, even when time and distance seem to separate you. That’s because the love is always there, tucked away in the heart. And when the heart remembers to open the door, all things are possible.
The week started off well. Gerhard and Ervina insisted that she stay with them, at least until she regained her confidence. There was time enough down the road to discuss where she would set up house permanently. They were still getting ready for Christmas and there were gingerbread, pfeffernusse, and mo
lded shortbread cookies everywhere. Slowly, but surely, Annette got back into the action. It started in the kitchen. Baking was a very healing thing for her. She threw herself into the effort, spending hours mixing, rolling, and cutting out cookies.
She also had therapy sessions every day for the first couple of weeks. We took turns driving her back and forth to her appointments, stopping for lunch along the way, giving her a chance to explore her new world.
I managed to track down Aunt Angelika and Uncle Tom on their extended cruise to South America. After reassuring them that everything was fine, I put their daughter on the phone for a very teary conversation on Wednesday. I also invited them to join us for Christmas. Gerhard promised to pick them up at Logan Airport after they arranged for a change in their flight home. The farmhouse was going to be packed to the rafters come Christmas Eve.
Will checked in daily, often about eight every night. I finally figured out that’s when he was alone in his apartment. Usually, the conversations lasted about ten minutes. Sometimes, he would call me after, to compare notes. He wanted to know how Annette was handling things. A week before Christmas, I’d had enough of the third degree.
“For heaven’s sake, why don’t you just get your fanny up here and find out for yourself?” I demanded.
“Oh, I can’t intrude on family time.”
“No? You’re just going to be a miserable bump on a log down there?”
“Her parents are coming. She hasn’t seen them in a really long time, Gabby.”
“So?”
“Besides, I have to work.”
“Liar,” I growled. “You could make it if you wanted to, Will.”
“We don’t even know if she wants to see me.”
“What if she does?” I asked. “Will you come?”
“It’s too soon,” he insisted. “She’s still healing.”
“Yes or no?” I pressed him.
“I can’t just invite myself, Gabby.”
“Yes or no?”
“Yes. But she has to want me to be there.” Even as I hung up on the dope, I was rolling my eyes. The guy really was slow on the uptake when it came to love.
I found Annette in the kitchen, packing cookies into decorative tins. “Ooh, pretty. Are those going to the gift shop?”
“They are,” she agreed, slapping a label on the rim of one, to officially seal it.
“Great. Say, Nettie,” I launched into my speech, “I was wondering....”
“About what?”
“What do you think about inviting Will up for a weekend? He could stay at the bed and breakfast.”
“That would be nice,” she agreed. Her eyes never looked up, so I knew it was better than nice.
“Or we could invite him for Christmas,” I played the next card in the “Go Fish” deck, hoping to hook her.
“He probably doesn’t want to spend his Christmas with us,” she said, turning away. “He’ll want to go see his family.”
“Maybe. Wouldn’t hurt to ask, would it?”
“Oh, I can’t do that,” she told me. “It wouldn’t be proper. After all, you’re the one who told me I don’t really have enough experience on the dating scene.”
Me and my big, fat mouth. I heaved a deep sigh. “How about if I find out whether or not he’s interested?”
“If you think that’s a good idea....”
It took me three more phone conversations with Will and two more with Nettie to get the arrangements made. It turned out that Will was actually from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and his folks really did want to see him for Christmas. He finally decided to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with them, and visit with the Grimm family afterwards. His boss agreed that it would be helpful if he finished his final report on the case by interviewing Annette in person, and since she wasn’t about to come to New York, it would be okay for him to extend his time off to go to Vermont. Ervina booked him a room at her farm, giving him a discount. We all figured that it was better to let him put his money where his mouth was. After all, he was coming as an FBI agent, wasn’t he? And with any luck, he would be coming back later as a man in love.
The day before Christmas started out normally enough. I ran the Quinlans’ labradoodle home after I found him wandering around on Larkspur Trail. Judy thanked me, saying that he started chasing a squirrel and forgot to come back. I took a trip to the elementary school for a school safety presentation. It was my lucky day. Earl got to wear the giant snowman suit over his uniform at the assembly in the cafeteria. We discussed ways to avoid accidents in snow and reminded the kids not to go sledding in the road. He had the kids screaming in the aisles with his goofy antics. Earl really is a big hambone.
Just after four, the Latimer Falls Sheriff’s Department dispatcher had a call about a stranger in the woods over at Latimer Lake. Marge informed me someone had peeked in Liz Klarsfeld’s window. I rushed over there, worried that it was residual blowback from the terrorist incident of last year. After greeting the mother of three, I followed her into the cabin, where Liz proceeded to show me the family Christmas tree. She didn’t seem all that worried about a possible intruder. I admired the hand-blown glass ornaments, the crystal candy canes, and the shiny glass balls. She offered me a cup of Christmas cocoa and some cookies, but I declined.
“Tell me about the incident,” I instructed her, getting out my little notebook. “What time did all this happen?”
“About half an hour ago. I saw a flash of red at the window and when I went to check, I saw the tracks in the snow, leading into the woods.”
“What else can you tell me?”
“The man was wearing a black jacket and a red Santa hat.”
“You saw him?”
“Sort of.”
“How tall?” I wondered.
“Hard to say. Maybe six feet. Are you sure you don’t want a cup of coffee or tea?”
“Positive,” I smiled. “I’ll just go take a look at those tracks, Liz.”
“Great,” she said, patting me on the shoulder with encouragement as I headed out the door. Maybe Liz had started early on the eggnog. I put my mind to finding the trail.
Sure enough, there was a set of size ten boot prints in the snow that seemed to come from the west shore of Latimer Lake, right up to that window, and then disappeared into the woods towards the east. I set out to follow the marks. I had gone about a hundred yards when my cell phone buzzed. It was the sheriff.
“What’s up?”
“Where are you?” Rufus asked me.
“In the woods by the Klarsfeld cabin, following a set of boot prints. We might have a Peeping Tom.”
“Well, why don’t you take off after you finish up there? Things are fairly quiet around here. I’ve got Biscuit on patrol tonight. He’ll call you if he needs back-up.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Merry Christmas.”
“Ho, ho, ho,” he replied, hanging up. My lucky night. The relatives were coming and I would be home in time to greet them. I just had to find the intruder quickly and hope I wouldn’t waste a lot of time booking him.
“Okay, pervert. Make me happy. Show yourself,” I muttered as I followed the tracks to the water’s edge. That’s when I saw what looked like a peppermint in a cellophane wrapper, lying on the snow bank in plain sight. Leaning down, I scooped it up in my glove. My eye caught sight of another, about six feet away. “So, you’re a candy freak.”
I found myself collecting peppermints as I went along the meandering route. The western sky turned orange and gold as the sun began to fade. Soon it would be dark. I wanted to kick myself for not bringing my flashlight with me. I decided that I would spend another five minutes on the case before calling it a night. Unless Marge had another complaint from a lake resident, it seemed likely it was just a winter wanderer, looking for shelter. Or a hunter who wanted to “borrow” someone’s cabin for the holiday. Maybe he thought the Klarsfeld cabin was unoccupied. I kept going. That’s when I spotted a giant lollipop sticking out of the snow.
“What the....” Maybe it was someone’s idea of a joke. High school kids “redecorating” for the holiday. The trail of candy led deeper into the woods and daylight was fast disappearing, but I was intrigued.
I came around a clump of shrubs and caught sight of a white glow that seemed to come from under the snow. Sure enough, as I got closer, I could see it was a solar-powered LED spotlight tucked into a hole. Then there was another, and another, going even deeper into the woods. Talk about strange. I felt like I had stumbled on Santa’s secret workshop. What was next? Elves making toys? Reindeer having a moon dance?
Further on, I could see a break in the tree line. The night air was brightly illuminated with twinkling lights. Giant snowflakes danced in the trees. The roof of a red tent glistened with colorful lights draped over the top. I noticed the path was marked by large candy cane poles. As I stood in front of the two-person tent, I noticed there was even a sign. Welcome to the North Pole. Wipe your feet.
“Wow, someone’s been busy,” I said aloud. I spied the marzipan Christmas pig amongst the twinkling lights. Those chocolate pralines had to be somewhere around here.
“You think so?” asked a seductive male voice behind me. A pair of familiar hands slipped around my waist and grabbed me tightly, before slipping into my jeans. I giggled as those hungry lips nuzzled my neck.
“Absolutely. What kind of nut job would set up a tent in the woods on one of the coldest nights of the year in Latimer Falls?”
“Are you saying you don’t like my winter wonderland, Deputy Grimm?” Sam Hogan whirled me around and wiggled an eyebrow before giving me a very enthusiastic kiss on the mouth. I returned the favor.
“On the contrary,” I laughed, coming up for air. “It’s adorable. Cold, but adorable.”
“Ah, perhaps you would like to join me inside Santa’s hideaway.” There was the black jacket and the red cap Liz had described, complete with a white brim and pompom.
“Is that what you would recommend?”
“Oh, definitely. I’ll introduce you to my down sleeping bag for two.”
“Will that keep me warm?” I wondered. Naughty Santa. He wasn’t going to be on his own Christmas list this year. Then again, we could use all that coal in his stocking to stay warm, couldn’t we?
“It will certainly help.” Those eager, mischievous hands were occupied, unzipping my jacket even as he backed me up towards the tent.
“You seem to have thought of everything, Mr. Claus. But what are we going to do about dinner? We’re likely to work up an appetite.”
“Not to worry. I brought got candy,” he grinned, “lots and lots of candy.”
“Ooh, Santa Baby! Merry Christmas to me!” I shouted with glee as I flung myself into that tent with wild abandon. “And a Happy New Year, too!”
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