Page 40 of Christmas Mittens Murder

Carl glanced out at the SUV, which was now in front of the door. They could see Christina in the passenger seat looking sick. The curse must be starting to affect her. “She looks like she’s going to hurl. Too many of those appetizers, I bet. Someone brought me a plate and they were horrible. Why didn’t you cater the event?”

“Wasn’t my choice. I’ve got to go. Thanks for passing on my message.” Mia tapped the desk and turned to leave.

“Seriously? Frank said you didn’t want to cater,” Carl called after her.

Mia turned back and couldn’t stop the words. “My catering company put in a bid. I wanted this. Frank chose the other company.”

“I think he’s trying to distance himself from the food now. There are going to be complaints. I’ll make sure people know you were burned on this.” He nodded to the door. “Go take care of that kid. I’ll handle things here.”

Mia tried to tamp down her anger. Frank Hines was a weasel. He didn’t let her have the event, and now that his girlfriend had messed it up, it was Mia’s fault. He wasn’t a nice person, and he was a worse boss. All she needed was a few months, maybe a few years, to build up her emergency fund. But right now, she needed to focus on what was wrong with Christina.

She climbed in the back seat and nodded to Abigail. “Sorry, I got distracted by a Frank warning.”

“Your boss is a tool.” She held up a finger as the call she was making connected. “Mary Alice, this is Abigail. We have an emergency. Can you meet us at the school?”

The sigh her grandmother let out could probably be heard in the lobby through the closed doors. “Fine. I’ll have Robert drop me off. We were just finishing dinner anyway.”

“Thanks, Grans,” Mia called out, but she saw on the display that her grandmother had already hung up. “She sounds happy.”

“She’s always happy. Not.” Christina grumbled from the front seat. “Why is it so bright for nighttime?”

Abigail and Mia shared a look as they exited the dark parking lot.

“Just close your eyes and we’ll be home soon,” Mia suggested as she stared out the window watching Mark’s truck pull into the parking lot. He wasn’t going to be happy that they’d left, but Christina was her major worry right now. She sent a prayer up to the Goddess, but they must be too far away from Gloria, her witch doll that hung in her kitchen. Gloria was her familiar, and a lot of times Mia just got back a giggle when she sent up her wishes and dreams. Not hearing anything was disconcerting.

Mia’s phone rang. It was Trent. They had a few blocks to the school, so she answered. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself. What’s wrong with Christina? Levi’s going crazy over here trying to reach her. He’s got a bad feeling.”

Well, that wasn’t surprising. The Majors boys felt emotions strongly, especially from people they cared about. She glanced at Abigail, but she was focused on the road. “Your mom thinks she got in the middle of an ancient curse.”

“Like Egypt ancient?” Trent sounded confused.

“Tell him it’s the mittens curse. Both boys know what danger that one can cause.” Abigail turned the vehicle onto the road that led to Mia’s school.

“Did you hear that? It’s the mittens curse.”

Trent swore under his breath. “That’s not good. Why didn’t you warn her?”

“Because I didn’t know about how dangerous a pair of Christmas mittens could be,” Mia spat back. “No one warned me.”

“Sorry, I just assumed. Anyway, maybe Levi and I should head back.”

Mia pushed down the fear. “No, stay there. I’ll call you in the morning if we need your help. You don’t get a lot of time with your dad. I’d hate for you to call it short.”

“Christina’s important, to both of us,” Trent countered.

Abigail was pulling the car into the school parking lot.

“I know she is, and I’ll keep you in the loop, but I’ve got to go. We’re at the school.” Mia hung up before he could say anything else and tucked the phone into her coat. She pulled out her keys and hurried out of the car and to the front door. She unlocked it and turned on all the inside lights. Mr. Darcy sat on the middle of the stairs, watching her. “Stay there. Christina’s been cursed. I need to go get her, and I don’t want to worry about you wandering out. It’s too cold for you to be outside.”

Her cat nodded, and she assumed he must have understood what she’d said. Or at least Dorian Alexander, the ghost or soul of Grans’s ex-boyfriend, understood. He’d been sharing a body with Mr. Darcy since his untimely death.

Mia hurried back outside to find Christina out of the car and Abigail helping her to the door. “We need to use the freight elevator rather than the stairs. I don’t think she could make it up all three flights.”

“Taking her upstairs will make it more difficult to get her out again if we have to drive her to the hospital,” Abigail countered.

“Will a hospital help her?” Mia paused and turned toward the van. “Maybe we should . . .”

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