Page 90 of Crazy In Love (Secrets of Suburbi 3)

No.

And then he slowly unzipped it.

Stop.

And pulled something out.

Fuck!

He held it up and looked at it. One of the fingers.

And that’s when the lights in the neighborhood turned more multicolored than pristine white. Red and blue lights lit up the sky as the police cars surrounded Aiden.

Neighbors started screaming. Cups of eggnog and hot chocolate were thrown into the air as everyone started running around. Kids ran toward the lights. Parents ran from them. It was complete and utter chaos, decked out in Christmas decorations. It was magical. Better than I had even planned.

“Drop the bag!” yelled one of the cops. “Hands in the air!”

Aiden tossed the backpack and finger into the snow and raised his hands.

The cop slowly approached him. “On your knees.”

Aiden fell to his knees and the cop cuffed him. Another cop grabbed the backpack. When he looked through the contents, he hunched over like he was going to be sick. And a third cop found the finger Aiden had dropped in the snow.

I was relieved when they holstered their guns and pulled Aiden to his feet. He was ushered to the closest police car and shoved into the backseat.

I’d watched longer than I meant to. My plan had worked. I slowly stood up and brushed the snow off the front of my costume. Aiden getting arrested would give me plenty of time. After all, Aiden’s fingerprints were all over my house. He’d thrown up next to the plastic container. He’d also touched the container. He had Noah’s finger. Along with Detective Torres’ phone and finger. Oh, and Aiden also had my husband’s face. That was suspicious all by itself. But all together? It was a nice, neat little Christmas gift for the police department.

I held Snuggle Muffins tight as I snuck behind my neighbors’ houses, taking the fastest route to Sally’s. The snow was beautiful, but I hated that it left a trail of my footprints. Not that anyone should be looking. I’d already given them the murderer.

I ducked past lit up trees and bushes, almost knocking into more people in the chaos. When I got a few streets over, everyone seemed calmer. You could barely see the red and blue lights over here. The chaos hadn’t struck yet. I slowed down, pretending I was

just another observer of the light display. It was a nice night leading up to Christmas. Filled with family, friends, and laughter. I hummed to myself, holding Snuggle Muffins close. And for just a second, I felt it. Christmas magic was in the air.

I hurried my steps as I saw Sally’s car in the distance. When I was only a block away, I saw Sally herself. It looked like she was about to call it a night and head in early. But her night wasn’t over yet. I had one more idea running through my head. One last set up.

“Sally!” I called and ran over to her, ignoring the fact that Snuggle Muffins was now licking the front of my costume.

She turned to me with a smile on her face. “Oh good. You got here okay. Did you get a chance to vote?” She dropped her voice. “I think Charlotte’s winning. But every vote counts. I’m still rooting for you.”

“Actually, Charlotte is the reason I wanted to talk to you before I headed out. She’s the one that’s been stealing your lawn gnomes,” I lied.

Sally gasped. “No. Not Charlotte.”

“I saw it with my own eyes. She’s been swiping them for months. And burying them in the woods so no one would find them. She’s really the worst, huh? I think she has a screw loose in that blonde head of hers.”

Sally shook her head and then frowned. “If you’ll excuse me. I need to go have a word with her.” She bustled off. I could practically see steam coming out of her ears, mixing with the falling snow.

Merry Christmas, Charlotte. Framing her for stealing lawn gnomes was almost as satisfying as framing Aiden for murdering my husband. Almost.

I climbed into Sally’s car, a huge smile on my face. The key was in the ignition, just like she’d promised. I made sure Snuggle Muffins was comfortable, and then drove away as fast as I could, being careful not to hit any of my neighbors.

There were so many things that could still go wrong. I didn’t know if I’d be able to cross the border. I didn’t know if any of this would work. But I had to try. For my sake. For Snuggle Muffins’ sake. I just needed one more Christmas miracle. An easy drive through the Canadian border tonight. Well, maybe two Christmas miracles. I’d promised Aiden I’d get him out of jail. And I didn’t have an actual plan on how to do that.

But I had a long drive to figure it out.

I looked in my rearview mirror, the blue and red lights growing more distant by the second. Merry Christmas, Detective Torres. Giving him a clean arrest was the least I could do after cutting off his thumb.

I pressed my foot down harder on the gas. I needed to cross the Canadian border tonight. Just in case my plan failed and it was my face all over the news instead of Aiden’s.

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