The Santa Sleuth Page 7

Kirk held a finger up to his lips.

  After Virginia got used to seeing herself, she watched the rest of the segment with an embarrassed grin.

  After it was over, Virginia was trying to wheedle pepperoni pizza out of Amanda when the security guard motioned to her and handed her the telephone.

  "Amanda--is the kid still there?"

  "Yes, Kay."

  "Bring her back to studio C. The switchboard's lighting up."

  "People are calling about Virginia's Santa rating already?" People were weird sometimes.

  "I told you---they love this stuff during the holidays. We're running it again at the end of the six-o'clock news. Hurry."

  Amanda didn't even get a chance to ask what Kay wanted. Fortunately Kirk was still in an amiable mood and didn't protest. When they reached studio C, Kay was waiting for them.

  "Virginia, can you read?" Kay thrust her scribbled notes at the girl and conferred with the camera crew.

  "I can't even read your writing," Amanda said, looking over Virginia's shoulder.

  As soon as she figured out what Kay wanted Virginia to say, Amanda explained, "On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the real Santa, what number would you give the guy at Woodbrook?"

  "I don't understand," Virginia said.

  Kay motioned for them to hurry.

  "How much money would you pay to see that Santa?" Kirk asked. "The better the Santa, the more money he costs."

  That's right, reduce everything to money, Amanda criticized silently.

  "I wouldn't pay anything. He wasn't worth it."

  "He was better than nothing," Amanda said.

  "If you won't pay money, then something else," Kirk suggested. "How about candy canes?"

  "Ohh, that's good," Kay murmured. "A candy-cane rating."

  "Do I have to?" Virginia asked. "I like candy canes. I didn't like that guy. He smelled."

  "Yes, you have to." Amanda positioned Virginia in front of a blue screen.

  "Okay, three, then. But no more."

  Once that was established, Amanda prompted Virginia, and they painstakingly taped a few more seconds to be used with the evening news, then Kay whisked the tape off to editing.

  "A lot of work goes into taping," Kirk commented.

  Was that admiration she heard? "Yes. And it looks as though there will be a lot more ahead of us. We still have half-a-dozen malls to visit. Tomorrow's Saturday," Amanda said. "Could Virginia and I make a day of it?"

  "Sounds fine." Kirk retrieved his daughter, who was trying to climb up the camera dolly to look through the viewfinder. "I'll come with you."

  CHAPTER SIX

  If Amanda hadn't seen them with her own eyes, she'd never have believed it. There, coming toward her from the north parking-lot entrance, was Kirk McEnery, leading Virginia by the hand.

  And they were three minutes early.

  Amanda swallowed. Kirk wore a pullover sweater with a sophisticated geometric design and classic, but casual pants. He was clearly off duty.

  And on a Saturday, too. Amanda couldn't believe Kirk had forced himself to take the time.

  "Amanda! Look at me! Look at me!" Virginia dropped Kirk's hand and tugged at her green sweatshirt. "Mrs. Webster painted it. Isn't it cool?"

  Glittering candy canes and Santa Clauses adorned Virginia's front and back.

  "It's perfect!" Amanda slowly walked around the excited little girl. "Santa's beard is even fuzzy."

  "And I have bells." Virginia jumped up and down to demonstrate.

  "Mrs. Webster is very talented," Amanda glanced up at Kirk to find him gazing at Virginia with undisguised love.

  Something about his expression reached right inside Amanda, grabbed her long-buried maternal instinct and gave it a good yank.

  "She and Virginia worked on it last night after we got home," he said.

  Virginia traced one of the red-and-white candy canes. "The candy canes are for the candy-cane ratings."

  Amanda saluted the creative Mrs. Webster. "And what are the bells for?"

  "So you won't lose me," Virginia explained just as she darted over to look into a store window.

  "Your Mrs. Webster sounds like a real gem," Amanda commented.

  "She is." Kirk touched Amanda's arm to guide her toward Virginia, who had already abandoned the first store and criss-crossed to the other side of the mall. "So far, she's stayed with us longer than any other housekeeper."

  "Have you had a lot of housekeepers?"

  "Yes." He spoke with such feeling that Amanda waited for him to explain.

  He saw her questioning look and obliged. "Virginia's nanny quit the day Michelle and I arrived home from our honeymoon. We've had a string of housekeepers ever since. Virginia!" She'd turned the wrong way, and Kirk motioned for her to join them.

  Amanda mulled over his last statement. People generally didn't have a need for nannies when they took honeymoons.

  "I see Ron!" Virginia raced past them, a jingling blur of green.

  Kirk chuckled. "Going at things full tilt, just like her mother always did."

  Amanda didn't know how to react. She was curious to know the whole story but didn't want to pry. Her silence drew Kirk's attention, and he correctly interpreted her unasked questions.

  "Virginia was about eighteen months old when I married Michelle. It was a package deal." He lifted a corner of his mouth. "And I got the bargain."

  "So Virginia isn't ... " Halfway into the question, Amanda wished she hadn't opened her mouth. Technicalities weren't important.

  "She is," Kirk stated. "I adopted her."

  Both he and Amanda watched as the little dynamo reached for Ron's hand and urged him toward the food court. Ron shook his head, but Virginia obviously wasn't taking no for an answer.

  "And it's been quite an adventure," Kirk added quietly.

  Amanda was bombarded by a variety of emotions. She immediately wondered about Virginia's biological father, but knew better than to ask. And then she wondered why she was so curious about Kirk and his daughter. Sure, the little girl was a charmer, but Amanda had met lots of charmers. And Kirk was consuming far more of her mental energy than anyone had in a long time. "We--" Amanda had to stop and clear her throat. "We better rescue Ron."

  As they walked toward what appeared to be Santa's oasis in the Adobe South Mall, she continued to wonder about Virginia's mother, wondered how and when she'd died.

  But those questions would have to wait for another time. Right now, Amanda had a story to tape.

  The Adobe South Mall Santa had a decidedly Spanish flair. Palm trees, of all things, circled the scene. Luminarios, paper bags with sand and an electric candle inside, lit the path to Santa's throne. His house, in this version, resembled a stable, perhaps an oblique reference to the nativity. The peppy Feliz Navidad serenaded them. According to the sign, when Santa was gone, he wasn't feeding his reindeer, he was taking a siesta.

  Since the mall had just opened for the day, the line to see Santa wasn't very long and Amanda wanted to take advantage of the lull.

  Ron had already set up. Virginia was prompted, then Kirk and Amanda stepped back and let her talk to Santa.

  "Ho, ho, ho," boomed Santa.

  Amanda watched closely for Virginia's reaction. This Santa had a white beard--and a black mustache.

  Virginia didn't tug on the beard.

  The elves, once they ascertained that Kirk didn't want a photograph, melted into the background. Amanda was grateful and impressed.

  "You been a good leetle girl all the time?"

  Virginia nodded.

  "Ah--" Santa held up a white-gloved finger "--tell Santa the truth."

  Virginia looked scared.

  Santa draped his arm around her. "Ho-ho. 'Course you haven't been good all the time. Nobody is good all the time--not even Santa!"

  "Really?" Virginia asked in a small hopeful voice.

  "For sure. You just gotta be good most of the time. Are you?"

  "I try," Virginia said earnestly.

  "
That's all Santa asks. Now, you got somethin' you wanna ask Santa?"

  "Could I have a Super Nintendo for Christmas?"

  "You want a Super Nintendo for Christmas?" Santa repeated loudly, obviously alerting any interested parties of Virginia's Christmas wish. "Say, you want Super Mario Brothers with that?"

  Wordlessly, Virginia nodded.

  "Anything else? Another game controller? You got brothers and sisters you can share with?"

  Eyes wide, Virginia leaned close and whispered into Santa's ear.

  He gave her a gentle smile patted her on the shoulder. "Santa will do his best. For now, looky what I got here for you." He picked up a basket and indicated that Virginia should select something from it.

  She picked her gift, hopped off his lap and headed for Amanda.

  What had Virginia whispered to him? Amanda wondered.

  "I got a coin purse." Virginia held up a pink plastic object, then began to play with the zipper.

  "You did a good job," Amanda said, motioning to Kirk.

  He'd stayed well out of the way during the taping. Amanda had been conscious of him, but had concentrated on Virginia and Santa.

  "He's great with kids," Kirk murmured in an aside to Amanda.

  Amanda nodded to show that she'd heard him, then turned to Virginia, who was still fascinated by the zipper on her new coin purse. "Let's go sit down somewhere and fill out our rating sheet."

  "I'm thirsty," Virginia announced.

  "What do you want, honey?" Kirk asked.

  "A slush." Virginia began bouncing and jingling toward the food court.

  "Care to join us?" he asked Amanda.

  "I don't know," she pretended to hesitate. "A slush isn't very nutritious."

  Kirk looked blank for a moment, then gave her a sheepish grin. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt just this once."

  Over two regular berry slushes and one super-duper triple- strength berry slush, Amanda and Virginia rated the Adobe South Santa.

  "Seven candy canes is a lot," Amanda cautioned. It was a little too early to declare the perfect Santa.

  "He gets seven candy canes," Virginia insisted, her lips purple. "Maybe eight. Or maybe all of them if he passes the test."

  "What test?" Amanda hoped the stain on Virginia's mouth would wear off before the next taping. After that, it was agreed that the crew would leave them to tape a bit of each mall Santa. Amanda, Virginia and Kirk would be on their own to visit the Santas at a slower pace.

  "My secret Santa test. It's the way I'll know he's real." Virginia grinned, showing her purple gums and tongue. Did that mean that Amanda's tongue was purple, too? She looked at Kirk, but he wasn't opening his mouth.

  "When will you know if he passes the test?" Amanda asked.

  "Christmas."

  "Can you make it Christmas Eve?"

  Virginia's brows drew together. "I don't know." She looked from her father to Amanda.

  "Kay--you remember Kay?"

  Virginia nodded.

  "Kay wants us to choose the best Santa and announce him on Christmas Eve." A thought occurred to her. "You all aren't going out of town for the holidays, are you?"

  "Not this year," Kirk answered. "What would you give this Santa if he didn't pass the test?" he asked Virginia.

  "Seven--no eight candy canes."

  "Why?" Amanda asked, surprised at the same answer.

  "I liked his voice and his boots were big and black. He had a soft lap, too."

  "But ... ?" Amanda prompted.

  "Well ... I don't think he was the real Santa. The white part of his beard wasn't real, but his mustache was."

  "Maybe Santa got tired of his beard and shaved it off," Kirk suggested. "But since everyone expects him to have a beard, he has to wear a fake one." Kirk looked pleased with his explanation.

  Amanda glared at him.

  Virginia chewed on her straw. "Maybe. But he was nice and I like my purse."

  "Okay, eight candy canes it is," Amanda said, before Kirk could jump in with any more wild theories.

  "Where to next?" he asked, looking miffed.

  "Buffalo Bayou Mall."

  Houston's largest and richest mall was known for its spectacular holiday decorations. Amanda had no doubt Santa Claus would be properly enshrined.

  And he was. Virginia approached the center of the mall and tilted her head back, gazing to the very top of a huge green Christmas tree. The base was on the ground floor of the mall, the top ended just under the sky lights three levels above. Thousands of tiny white lights twinkled in its branches.

  Running in a loop along the center of the mall was a train track manned by mechanical elves. A toy train chugged through one elaborate scene after another. At the very end of the mall reigned the great man himself.

  Virginia was apparently struck dumb by the magnificent splendor of Santa's Kingdom.

  Even Amanda found it difficult to maintain her cynicism when faced with such an opulent rendering. "I feel like I've stepped into a Christmas television special," she said.

  "Isn't that what you're taping?" Kirk asked.

  "You know what I mean." She followed Virginia, who had gone to the railing around the Christmas tree. "This must have cost a fortune."

  "But if it brings people into the mall, it's worth it, don't you agree?" Kirk steadied Virginia as she stepped onto the support bar and leaned over as far as she could, reaching toward the tree.

  "Only if they spend money."

  "That's the idea."

  Virginia stretched, but couldn't quite touch the tree.

  "Oh, I know the routine." Amanda gestured to the expensive stores surrounding them. "Spend, give, get, return."

  Kirk raised an eyebrow. "A little early for seasonal burn-out, isn't it?"

  "Don't mind me--I'm permanently burned out." Yet, she followed the progress of the train as it rolled in and out of sparkling foam igloos. Virginia quietly stared at the tree.

  "Is Christmas too commercial for you?" Kirk asked with a touch of sarcasm in his voice.

  Why was Kirk pursuing this? "They can commercialize it all they want. I just don't like Christmas."

  "Do you think everyone should forget all this once-a-year generosity and get back to the religion?" Kirk crossed his arms over his chest. He was getting ready to cry hypocrite, Amanda guessed.

  She didn't want to discuss Christmas with him. "Religion is the point of the holiday, and a little religious guilt never hurt anybody." With that, she hooked an arm around Virginia's waist and pried the little girl from the railing. "Time to visit Santa."

  The line to see Santa stretched through two train stops. Amanda tried to facilitate matters by breaking into the line.

  "The end of the line's back there," a rigid-jawed mother informed her.

  "Well, yes, but I'm--"

  "Is there a problem?" A roving elf materialized beside them.

  "She was trying to break into line," the mother accused Amanda, accompanied by murmuring agreement from those in the vicinity.

  "Breaking into line is cause for ejection from the mall," the elf said in a voice intended to sound pleasant and reasonable with a don't-let-these-pointy-toed-shoes-fool-you firmness.

  Amanda put on her wide associate-producer smile. "I'm Amanda Donnelly with Hello Houston." She thrust out her hand and the elf shook it, though she looked as though she'd rather not. "We're taping a segment on visiting Santa Claus. Now if I could just put Virginia here--" Amanda pulled Virginia toward the line "--we'll only take a minute. And your child will probably be in some of the shots," she said to the mother.

  The woman shoved her stroller, cutting off Virginia and clipping Amanda's ankle. Amanda gasped.

  "You can break in somewhere else. I've been standing in this line for over half an hour."

  "We're taping--"

  "So am I!" Another parent held up a video camera. "Now, take a hike."

  So much for peace on earth, goodwill toward associate producers. With the elf firmly grabbing her elbow, Amanda tried one more
time. "Look--there's my camera crew." She pointed to Ron and the lighting tech.

  "Some parents make such a production out of everything," one woman commented to another as the elf, now reinforced by a security guard, pulled Amanda away.

  "I watch Hello Houston," said a man further down the line. "Maria Alvarez is on Hello Houston." Pointing to Amanda, he continued, "She's not Maria Alvarez."

  Maria Alvarez, always Maria Alvarez. Amanda bet Maria Alvarez had never been dragged off by an elf. "We'll wait at the end of the line," Amanda said, snatching her elbow from the elf's grasp.

  Burning with humiliation, she motioned for Ron to stay put and gestured for Kirk and Virginia to join her.

  Kirk hadn't said anything, though his lips quivered suspiciously. Amanda wished he'd comment and get it over with. Or laugh the way she could tell he wanted to. "Gee, thanks for your help," she muttered finally.

  "You know you'd hate it if I played white knight," he said, seemingly unperturbed.

  It didn't help Amanda's mood to realize that he was absolutely right. "I wouldn't have hated it right then." She grimaced. "Maybe later."

  His grin breaking through at last, Kirk withdrew his wallet. Extracting a bill, he whispered in Virginia's ear, then pointed toward a candy store a few steps away.

  "Sure!" Virginia jingled over to the counter and pressed her face against the chocolate bins.

  "What did you do that for?" Amanda protested. "She might get chocolate all over her outfit."

  Kirk just smiled. Amanda had seen that smile before. Men smiled that way when they were feeling superior and women were being illogical and emotional. "The chocolate is for you."

  "Why?"

  "Thought it would help." He still wore that smug smile. "The agency goes through pounds of M&M's each week, depending on the activity in the Houston real-estate market."

  Amanda felt she should make an objection. But as her gaze slid sideways toward the chocolate shop, her heart wasn't in it. "Virginia!" Amanda pointed. "The chocolate-covered cashews ... Yes, over there."

  She heard Kirk laugh and reluctantly allowed her face to relax. "Okay, maybe just this once."

  "I've heard that before."

  "No, really. I don’t eat chocolate when I’m stressed." Amanda dug in her pocket for her worry stone. "Look. I carry this with me." She placed the smooth white-veined rock in his palm.