Page 26 of A Christmas to Die For
"So itwasyou who stole our things?" Sabrina pulls out her phone, the nine already pressed.
"No, I swear! And my dad wouldn't do that. He wanders, yes, but he'd never steal. He probably doesn't even remember where the master key is. He doesn't even know my name half the time."
"Then who else?"Sabrina shouts.
"Pick anyone from town," Phoebe scoffs. "I don't trust anyone here. It could beanyone. I'm sure it's the same person who left the note on our door."
"What note?" Chet looks genuinely puzzled.
"This note…" Phoebe moves like she's going to her laptop and then throws up her hands. "Well, it was taped to my keyboard, but obviously it was stolen."
"What did the note say?" Chet grimaces, unsure he wants to know the details.
"Leave while you still can," Phoebe and Sabrina recite in unison.
"This is all too much." I start pacing, fresh tears stinging my eyes. What we're experiencing doesn't compare to what Romee went through last year, but I don't want it to come to that. I've seen enough movies to know where this is headed.
"Can't you check the surveillance footage? I assume you have cameras?" Phoebe asks.
"It usually needs a reboot when the power goes out. We lost electricity a bit ago, and I haven't updated the system. Anything before that won't be saved."
"How convenient," Sabrina mocks.
"It's late. Why don't you all go to sleep," Chet suggests. "I'll have Officer Garcia meet with you in the morning. You'll still need to file a report for the stolen items anyway."
"Obviously."
"Sabrina, leave him alone." I'm suddenly exhausted. "He's just doing what he can. Chet never asked for any of this. We can talk to the police in the morning, okay? Let's pack up our mess and get the hell out of here."
I just want to go home. I can't stay here any longer. Sooner or later, they're going tofind out.
Once Chet leaves us to clean up the mess in our room, Sabrina asks, "How did you even know Albert was Chet's dad? I didn't catch that."
Sabrina doesn't catch much—that's why I sometimes feel like I'm the brains behind this podcast. Mara helps, sure, but things tend to fly right over Sabrina's head.
"It wasn't hard to figure out. Talking to the townsfolk felt pointless at first, but it confirmed one thing: everyone acknowledged Albert except Chet. That kind of avoidance usually means there's something to hide. He was probably embarrassed. Especially after we told him about Albert's behavior."
"You're so good!" Sabrina says, and I can't help but think—maybe if she'd actually listened to me during the notorious episode that got us canceled, we wouldn't be in this mess. That was the last time we did an episode live. I warned her, and I'm still bitter about how it all played out. Sheacted like she was Chris Hansen about to catch a murderer... only she was dead wrong.
"Who the hell did this?" Mara folds her clothes like she's actually planning to leave at the crack of dawn. "Phoebe, you're so good at reading people. Who do you think?"
"I really don't know. Albert makes the most sense, but what would his motive be?"
"Could be Jessica…" Sabrina tosses out like she's just casually mentioning the weather.
"Wait, why would you think that?" I stop cold, my heart skipping a beat, eyes locked on hers.
"I met her earlier today," she says, like it's nothing.
"Youwhat?" I practically shout, very unlike me. "And you're just now telling us that you met the dispatcher from last year's emergency calls? Are you kidding me?"
"She could be in on this… whatever this is," Mara mutters, arms flying around in the chaos. Sabrina just blinks at us like a deer in headlights.
"Why are you coming at me so hard? I didn't know that she was the same person, okay?"
"Oh, youforgotyou met the one person who might be able to explain some of this?" I seethe. "Seriously?"
"What did she say?" Mara cuts in.
