Page 118 of The Thief Who Saved Christmas

“I like the plan,” Jeremy says.

Cynthia shoves his shoulder. “Yeah, because you don’t have to have a sit-down with Weston.”

He chuckles, sweetly running a lock of her hair between his fingers. “Nice try. I know you’re looking forward to it. I’m guessing he’ll walk away with one less nut.”

She smiles primly at him, looking pleased, before she shoves his shoulder again. I glance at Ryan, wanting to say,you did this.In a positive way, of course, not accusatory. He winks at me and pulls me closer.

“What do you want me to do while you’re…” Joe waves his hand to encompass the breaking and entering part of the plan.

“The most important job of all, buddy,” Ryan tells him. “Hold down the fort. We shouldn’t leave the B&B empty right now. The guests might need something, and there’s plenty of other shit here that we don’t want stolen.”

“Oh, thank God,” Joe says, then clears his throat and adds, “I mean, I’ll do it if you need me to, of course.”

“You’ll be great,” I tell him.

It’s unnecessary to do dangerous acts to be a hero. I would be horrible in dangerous situations, and I suspect Joe wouldn’t fare much better, given the way he ran from those children and the falling baby doll. But that’s not to say there are no roles for us.

I still hate the thought of Ryan putting himself in harm’s way, but he’s convinced me the risk isn’t great, and I can tell he still feels the need to prove himself. Not to me or any of our friends, but to his brother.

Maybe, if we succeed in making Weston pay and saving my Santas, Ryan will finally feel like it’s time to reach out to Jake.

The plan starts out like this…

I’m going to get in touch with the woman who was interested in writing an article about our scavenger hunts. This late in the year, it’s unlikely she’ll still be interested in our story, but Cynthia says people who make bold asks get big returns.

There’s a chance that Weston will dump the Santas to avoid making it onto the news as the Santa Stealer. But we agreedit’s still important to shift the spotlight onto him. If he was worried about what a failed proposal might do for his business, he’s bound to care about people knowing he’s a stalker who “allegedly” stole his ex-girlfriend’s prized Christmas collection.

Which might give us more leverage in squashing Ryan’s assault charge.

The next step will be for me to go to the police station to follow up on the reported theft. Luckily, I already spoke with an officer about the “inspector,” so the case already has a home other than with the odious officer who arrested Ryan.

When I speak with him, I’ll submit an itemized list of everything that has been lost. I will also provide him with all of the information we have on Stanley the Serpent, including his credit card number, the photo that Joe clandestinely took of him doing the scavenger hunt for the second time, and the information that he checked out of the B&B online immediately after the theft occurred. I will also put the officer in touch with the guests who were paid not to come, as well as with Ada, who can tell him about the grown man—meeting Weston’s description—who paid a child to pull off Santa’s beard.

Then, this afternoon, Cynthia and I will ask Weston to meet for hot chocolate to discuss selling the B&B. We’ll suggest that we need a show of good faith before we enter into negotiations with him. Mainly, we need him to allow the police to search his house.

While we’re meeting with him, Ryan and Jeremy will be hard at work ontheirpart of the plan.

It’s a little…well, audacious. Perhaps a little immoral. But even though I feel plenty of anxiety about it, I feel no guilt.

Ryan squeezes my hip, his touch reassuring and always so, so good. “It’s going to work.”

“It has to,” I say.

Because I took to google while he was getting freshened up in the bathroom earlier, and even simple assault can lead to jail time and outlandish fines. Maybe that’s what Weston was counting on—that I’d have to sell the inn to him in order to pay Ryan’s legal fees.

I still don’t understand why he’d go to such lengths to ruin us. It can’t be the inn itself, or even the starburst ornament. I say so, and Cynthia says, “Honey, no one’s ever said no to him before. He’s one of those men who’ll do anything to make anointo ayes. And it can’t feel good to see you with such a hot piece seconds after you broke up with him. Between you and Jeremy, his ego’s full of pinpricks.”

I suppose she’s right, which means the only way for us to stop him is to make him stop.

The reporter responds more quicklythan I would have thought possible and speaks with Ryan, Joe, and me.

“I can’t promise anything,” she says, “but this is Christmas gold.”

“At least my problems are entertaining.”

She’s embarrassed by my response, which I didn’t intend for her to be. But she ends our call with the promise to let us know if and/or when the story will be running.

After we get off the phone with her, I text Weston. He’s quick to agree to a meeting, and Cynthia and I decide it would be best to have it at the inn—our home field. Joe agrees to join us, which will make us three to one.

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