Hot Winter Nights

“That’s me,” Molly said brightly, not missing a beat. “A special elf. So the bus . . . with the other elves . . . it’s Reno bound?”

“Yes,” Shirley said. “It’s their bonus for jobs well done.”

Molly nodded. “Is Janet around by any chance? I needed to chat with her.”

“She’s around,” Shirley said. “With Santa, last I saw. They’re very busy tonight, as you can imagine. I’d steer clear.”

“Sure,” Molly said. “Steering clear. So where do you want us?”

Lucas wasn’t surprised at how well she was handling herself, but he was hugely impressed and wished Archer and Joe could see her in action. They’d stop trying to clip her wings.

“Well, you’re both quite late,” Shirley said, looking at Lucas. “And you’re not in costume.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Molly said smoothly. “We had a fight.”

“Honey, you don’t fight with a man who looks like that.”

Molly slid Lucas a glance and he went brows up. She narrowed her eyes slightly. “We were fighting over money. I think I should be able to get a wax job whenever I want. He’s being tight with the credit card.”

“A girl’s gotta have her wax jobs,” Shirley told Lucas. “I assume you’re the muscle the big boss has been bitching about not being at the back door. But you gotta wear the costume. He’ll freak if you don’t.”

“He shrunk it,” Molly said, giving Lucas a sideways glance that might’ve been humor. She was enjoying this. Which meant she was every bit as nuts as him. “Don’t get me started with how he does the laundry,” she told Shirley. “Do you have a spare? In the offices, right?” She met Lucas’s gaze for a moment.

Shirley nodded and jerked a chin for Lucas to follow her. Hating every second of this, he turned and gave Molly a don’t-you-dare-get-dead look.

She winked at him.

Damn. He loved her. Hard.

Shirley led him to the offices, which were empty, and went hands on hips. “Wonder where Louise keeps the men’s costumes?”

Lucas’s gaze locked in on the floor beneath Louise’s desk, and the very corner of the flash drive still thankfully resting there. “Uh, maybe in that closet?” he asked pointing toward what he hoped was a storage closet.

Shirley shrugged and headed that way.

Lucas bent down and scooped up the flash drive, shoving it into his pocket just as Shirley turned and looked at him.

Lucas affected a bored look and glanced at his watch.

Shirley tossed him two costumes. One looked to be a child size, the other possibly a man’s medium. Great.

“Better hurry,” Shirley said. “You’re late. Boss hates that.” And then she turned her back on him.

He stared at her. “What are you doing?”

“Waiting for you to change. Duh . . .”

He held up the costume but no miracles had occurred in the past thirty seconds. Shit. The male elf costume was the same color and material as the female version, but at least it was shorts instead of a minidress. Short shorts. The top was loose enough and hung just slightly past the waistband of the most ridiculous, asinine shorts he’d ever seen.

They fit him like he was auditioning to be a 1980s wrestling celebrity, and he was not happy as he stuffed his gun in the back of them, which only made the shorts even tighter in the front. But there was no way he was walking about this Stephen King book come to life place without his gun. He was still trying to arrange his junk in the front of the shorts when Shirley turned back around, looking disappointed that he was covered up. “Hmm,” she said with an approving nod. “It works on you.”

If by working on him she meant clinging to his every inch like Saran Wrap, then she was correct. It worked.

“Let’s go before the boss has a coronary,” she said.

“Where is he?”

She gave him a funny look. “With his brother in the bingo hall, along with everyone else. Someone’s got to watch over the elves. He likes to personally check on everyone.” She left in front of him.

But something about the way she said personally had his instincts screaming, but he nodded noncommittally and followed her out, walking like he’d been riding a horse for twelve hours, thanks to the ridiculously too-tight shorts bunching up his goods.

He had no idea if Nick or his brother Tommy Thumbs suspected Molly of anything, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He reached down and searched his pants pockets for his phone to warn her to get the hell out of there, that he had the memory stick, but he had no phone. He’d left it in the car. He looked around. There was a phone and laptop on one of the desks. He didn’t know whose it was and didn’t care. He was just glad that whoever had left it behind didn’t have a security code and he was able to actually use it to call Molly.

Who didn’t answer.

Chapter 23

#SubordinateClause

Molly stood in the back of what had formerly been bingo central, staring in shock at the room. The tarps supposedly covering the renovations were down.

It hadn’t been renovations going on behind them at all. Instead, the area had been transposed into a gaming area and now looked like a casino, complete with high top tables featuring various ongoing card games.

Serious card games by the look of the players and the people in charge of each table.

There was garland and twinkling strings of lights and mistletoe hanging from the rafters and several decorated trees along the walls. Christmas music was blaring out of hidden speakers. There were several elves circling the room with trays of drinks. The place positively hummed with the sound of voices, laughter, and glasses clinking together.

No one even glanced at Molly.

She searched for a glimpse of Janet or Santa. Or Santa’s brother.

Nothing.

From her bra, her phone vibrated an incoming call. She pulled it out and glanced at the screen.

A number she didn’t recognize. Ha. Nice try, unknown number, but she didn’t even answer to people she knew. So she hit ignore and walked through the room. People were gambling in a very big way tonight. Pulling out her phone again, she texted Lucas.

Bingo hall transformed into an underground and very illegal gambling site. Maybe we really do need backup.

Feeling very proud of herself, and like quite the professional, she slid away her phone just as someone came up behind her. Shirley. “You’re not going to make any tips just standing there like that,” the elf said. “Get moving. Go to the bar, get your tray, and start serving.” She gestured with a jerk of her head to the bar off to the side of the large room. “You want the boss to notice you’re not doing your job? Trust me, the answer to that is no.”

“Understood.” Molly started walking toward the bar, sneaking another quick text to Lucas.

Where are you?

At the bar, she nodded to the bartender. He was in an elf costume and looking pissy about it. “Hey,” she said. “How’s it going?”

“How’s it going? My nuts are caught in these stupid short shorts like a vice and the material’s so snug it’s going to give me hemorrhoids. Worse, it makes me look all . . . lumpy, so there goes any chance of getting laid tonight. Here,” he said, thankfully not requiring a response as he shoved a tray at her. “Right now we’re serving free eggnog, heavily spiked. If they want beer or wine, that’s five bucks a glass. A cocktail is eight. Cash only. The boss doesn’t like it when the girls write down their orders. They want you to memorize them, so go do your thing and don’t screw it all up.”