Death of a Christmas Caterer (13 page)

Chapter 22

Hayley spent the following day catching up on her office workload, avoiding Bruce who still found it impossible to be in the same room with her, and coddling Sal, who managed to blow up a minor case of the sniffles into a full-on flu attack. The only bright spot in her day was a text from Aaron asking her to join him that evening for the Christmas tree lighting ceremony in the village green.

She rushed home after work to change into a nice red cashmere sweater her mother had given her last Christmas and some dark slacks she had bought with the Macy's gift card that the kids bought her for Mother's Day. There wasn't much she could do with her frizzy hair, because it would take too long to heat up her curling iron, so she tied as much of it back in a ponytail as she could and put on a sporty gray Stetson cashmere beanie hat, which Liddy had received from her mother last Christmas. Liddy wore it once and decided she hated it, so she regifted it to Hayley for her birthday. Thank God for holidays and birthdays—otherwise, Hayley would be going out naked.

Hayley desperately wanted to put her best foot forward with Aaron. Really make an effort. Because she hadn't been the most available girlfriend lately, and she wanted to make sure he knew that she was still committed to the relationship.

She left the house in plenty of time to walk to the village green and meet Aaron at the appointed time of six o'clock, and she even arrived a few minutes early. The town band, made up of ten local musicians, played Christmas carols in the village green gazebo. Children ran around, chasing each other and making angels in the snow that had fallen the night before. A large crowd was gathering around the massive ten-foot-thick pine tree beautifully decorated by local volunteers with handmade ornaments.

Hayley checked her watch: 6:03
P.M.

“Hey, cut me some slack for being a few minutes late,” Aaron said. “I had to deal with a sick schnauzer who ate an entire chocolate Santa. It's an epidemic this time of year.”

Hayley looked up to see Aaron, who looked dapper in a burgundy wool sweater and an open L.L. Bean navy warm-up jacket, standing in front of her.

He leaned in and kissed her . . . on the cheek.

That didn't seem like a particularly good sign.

“I've missed you,” Hayley said.

“Well, we've both been busy.”

Hayley nodded, not quite sure what to say.

There was a pregnant pause in the air that felt like it lasted a full five minutes, but more than likely was just a few seconds.

“How's Lex?” Aaron asked, clearing his throat.

“Bansfield?”

She had to deal with this now, before it drove a further wedge between them. It was time to address the uninvited kiss at the hospital and the rampant town gossip that quickly followed.

“He's on the mend. Resting at home. Aaron—”

“I've been debating with myself on how to bring this up, and I wasn't sure when or if I was going to do it tonight, but my gut is telling me just to come right out with it. So here goes. Do you still have feelings for him?”

The question startled Hayley.

Not that she was at a loss for an answer.

She was just surprised he beat her to it.

“Okay, I was hoping you might answer a little quicker than that,” Aaron said, frowning.

“No, Aaron. I don't. Lex and I are just friends now. What we had is over,” Hayley said, staring straight into his eyes.

Owning it.

Meaning it.

Believing it.

“And I'm very happy being with you.”

Aaron studied Hayley's face and body language, trying to size up her sincerity.

“Okay,” Aaron said, putting his arms around her and hugging her.

She rested her head against his broad chest.

But then he let go and took a step back.

It felt too soon—almost as if he was eager to distance himself.

He still wasn't 100 percent convinced.

And that bothered her because she knew she was speaking from the heart. And she didn't know how else to convey her true feelings.

Suddenly the sounds of children screaming jarred her out of her own thoughts. All of the little kids in the park raced toward the gazebo, where Santa Claus was arriving on the scene. Two horses—both wearing colorful red-and-white fleeces, sashes made of wreaths, and hoods with reindeer antlers—pulled a red buggy decorated with garland. Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus, gussied up in their traditional costumes, waved to the crowd while an elf on the carriage top held the reins. A giant sack of presents donated by the townspeople was stuffed in the back. The excited children surrounded the buggy as Mr. and Mrs. Claus tossed small plastic-wrapped candy canes to them, causing a near riot as the children fought to scoop them up off the ground.

Hayley recognized Santa as the esteemed judge Ronald Carter, and Mrs. Claus was Mayor Eliza Richards. In real life the two despised each other, but they chose to bury the hatchet at least temporarily to portray the North Pole's royal couple for the sake of the local rug rats. It took a little more time to recognize the elf driving Santa's sleigh. But since she had just seen him at the gym the day before, it quickly came to her.

Rusty Wyatt.

His taut muscles from working out every day were camouflaged by an oversize red-and-green felt tunic. You could still admire his defined calf muscles because of the matching tights—one leg red, one leg green. A plush red-and-green hat that had giant ears on the sides covered his curly blond hair, and pointy shoes with bells on the tip were on his feet.

Judging by the hangdog look on his face, Hayley guessed Rusty was not too happy in his subservient role to jolly ole Saint Nick. Hayley surmised that poor Rusty was strong-armed into participating in the Christmas tree lighting. Judge Carter probably excused some unpaid parking tickets or disorderly conduct on the condition Rusty play ball and was undoubtedly backed up by the mayor.

Rusty jumped down from the carriage top and angrily shooed the kids away as he held out a hand to help Mrs. Claus out of the carriage first. As she stepped down, she gave him a dead stare, adjusting her tiny reading glasses. Rusty quickly forced a smile on his face.

Santa was next, waving to the kids with one white-gloved hand while rubbing his belly with the other. Hayley knew there was no pillow underneath the red coat. Judge Carter was naturally hefty, given his penchant for huge prime rib dinners and rich, decadent desserts.

As Santa and Mrs. Claus greeted the children, Rusty stormed off toward a beverage stand that offered hot drinks, on the far side of the park, away from all the commotion. The stand was run by Mr. Streinz, a local accountant, whose family had emigrated from Germany when he was a child. Mr. Streinz loved to re-create the authentic feel of a German Christmas market, which he so enjoyed as a little boy. His biggest seller this time of year was
Feuerzangenbowle,
a traditional German alcoholic drink. It featured a sugar cube flambéed with rum, then dripped into mulled wine. Hayley watched as Rusty slapped a few dollar bills down on the counter and barked something to Mr. Streinz, who went about fixing him his signature hot beverage.

Hayley turned to Aaron. “We still have a few more minutes before the lighting. Why don't I go get us something to drink?”

“Make it strong. It's been a long day.”

“Mr. Streinz has just what you need,” Hayley said, smiling.

By the time she weaved through the crowd and made her way over to Mr. Streinz, there was no sign of Rusty.

“
Gute Nacht,
Hayley!”

“
Gute Nacht.
I would like two of your
fergie . . . zebra . . . bowels. . . .
”

“Feuerzangenbowle,”
he said.

“Yes. That. Two of those.”

“
Zwei!
Coming right up!”

She reached for her wallet in her bag, when she heard bells ringing. They were coming from behind a large oak tree a few feet away. She walked over and could hear a man talking. She peered around the tree to see Rusty pacing back and forth; the tiny bells on the tips of his pointy felt shoes were tinkling. His cell phone was clamped to his ear as he raged to someone on the other end of the phone through clenched teeth. He wasn't concerned with being overheard because most of the crowd was on the other side of the park.

“Don't you dare threaten me, Ken! We both know the damage I can do if you don't do exactly what I want!”

Obviously, the two chummy, muscle-bound workout buddies with the “airtight alibis” were now on the outs.

“You know what I want! I want you to stop seeing Tiffany. Don't call her. Don't text her. Don't e-mail her. Just stay the hell away from her! Or else I drop by the
Island Times
and sit down with Bruce Linney and spill everything! That's right. Just try maintaining your six percent body fat in a friggin' jail cell!”

“Hayley! Hayley!”

Hayley spun her head around to see Mr. Streinz holding up two plastic tumblers of his famous
Feuerzangenbowle
and searching for Hayley, who was suddenly AWOL.

She frantically waved at him to be quiet, but he didn't see her mashed up against the tree like a mosquito on flypaper.

Rusty Wyatt stared at her in shock.

Hayley stepped out of hiding and slowly approached him.

He just stood there, speechless—his mind obviously racing—worried about how much she heard.

“Rusty, can I talk to you for a second?”

“I need to get back. I'm supposed to hand out the presents to the kids after the tree ceremony.”

“Rusty, why did you lie about working out with Ken on the night of Garth Rawlings's murder? The gym closed early that day because of Midnight Madness. There was no way you and Ken were there. What are you two hiding?”

Rusty stared at her for a few moments and then suddenly bolted away as fast as his cute tiny felt elf shoes could carry him.

“Rusty, wait!” Hayley yelled, chasing after him past Mr. Streinz, who just held out the two plastic tumblers, a perplexed look on his face.

Rusty was in shape and could easily outrun Hayley, but he was in a panicked state and wasn't thinking clearly. Instead of trying to lose Hayley on foot, his frantic mind decided the best course of action was to hijack Santa's sleigh.

Hayley dashed across the village green, leaping over children, hurtling herself toward the horse-drawn buggy, which Rusty was now trying to climb into. The bells on his pointy shoes were still ringing.

The festive crowd hardly noticed the hubbub of the chase as they circled around the tree, anxiously awaiting the lighting ceremony hosted by Santa and Mrs. Claus, who now used microphones to address the crowd. Santa encouraged everyone to join him in a chorus of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

Rusty finally made it onto the seat of the carriage top and tried untying the reins as fast as he could, but he made the knot too tight and it was a bit of a struggle, which allowed Hayley enough time to make up a few precious seconds. However, it wasn't enough. Rusty managed to loosen the knot and unfurl the reins, snapping them hard against the horses' holiday fleeces. They jumped with a start, whinnying and shaking their manes, before setting off. Their hooves clomped as they galloped away from the village green, pulling the buggy behind them.

Wheezing, leg muscles burning, only inches from the back of the buggy, her arms outstretched, Hayley grabbed the back of the carriage just as it soared away. She lifted herself up, swinging one leg onto the trunk area, which held the enormous gunnysack filled with presents.

She wished Rusty had tried to escape in the much slower tractor trailer that pulled a makeshift train behind it for the kids to ride in, which was the special surprise from last year's tree lighting instead of the horse-drawn Santa sleigh.

As Hayley mounted the bag of presents, praying she wasn't crushing a fragile doll that some poor little girl would unwrap later to a flood of tears, she saw Aaron watching her ride away. He had a stupefied look on his face.

She would have to explain later.

That is, if he was still speaking to her.

Hayley tried balancing herself. The cold winter winds blew the sporty hat she was wearing right off her head. “Rusty, please! Stop this thing!”

The sound of her voice spooked Rusty and he jerked his head around to see Hayley on top of the Christmas presents. His mouth dropped open; without thinking, he let go of the reins.

At that moment something snapped.

The horses kept galloping forward at full speed, but the carriage disengaged. It rolled down the street, out of control.

Hayley watched in horror as everything happened in slow motion.

The buggy sideswiped a parked car.

Rusty jerked his head around, his mouth open in a silent scream.

A police cruiser rounded the corner from Cottage Street onto Main Street.

Hayley was able to make out Sergio behind the wheel. His eyes almost popped out of his head at the sight of the unhitched carriage barreling toward him.

The cruiser and the buggy were about to crash in a head-on collision.

The cruiser stopped.

The buggy didn't.

Hayley leapt out of the buggy, landing on the hard pavement, bashing her knee against the cement sidewalk.

She couldn't look.

She just heard the sickening crash, followed by a few seconds of silence.

Then Sergio, hollering all sorts of Brazilian swear words, snapped handcuffs on Rusty Wyatt and read him his rights.