“How are they doing?”
“Florida is working out better for Dad than the cold up here.”
“Yeah, that sounds better and better these days.”
Rick had been an unplanned child, and his parents had been well past the point of thinking they’d have kids when he’d come along. With a father in his late seventies and a mother not far behind, the move to a warmer state had been the right call. Still, Rick wished he had a chance to visit them more or at least help them out a little beyond sending what spare money he could.
“All right, I’ll make up a report and add it to the file.” Jonah scratched the back of his neck. “Do you think there’s any chance the moose will come back to this location? Or will it move on to another target?”
“I’ve never heard of him hitting the same place twice. This guy’s MO is pretty clear. He gets in, does his thing, and gets out without anyone the wiser. You may want to tell everyone to put a curfew on their reindeer until the season is over.”
Jonah raised an eyebrow. “You’re asking me to cancel Christmas?”
“I’m saying that one of these days, some kid is going to be playing in the yard when this animal comes in looking to do some damage. Better to be safe than sorry.” Rick picked up a plastic cartoon duck dressed as Tiny Tim, which somehow managed to escape the slaughter by hiding beneath Ebenezer Scrooge. “All joking aside, this has been going on too long. We need to catch the Santa Moose and be done with it.”
A spark of humor reached Jonah’s eyes. “Well, I suppose we’ll have to wait on Ms. Montgomery to catch it, won’t we?”
Rick liked Jonah, but he didn’t love the way the cop’s lazy drawl turned toward amusement.
“You think she won’t?”
“I think there’s a whole lot of us that have tried and failed. If Easton can’t track him, what’s she going to be able to do?”
“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t count her out just yet.”
Jonah chuckled, but Rick deliberately ignored him. He set Tiny Tim back on his feet before brushing the snow off his hands.
“I’ll call you if I think of something.”
* * *
Cartoon moose always looked shiftier in Santa hats.
“Okay. Let’s talk strategy,” Zoey said as she finished drawing arrows pointing at the moose.
Zoey was a tiny thing, and in front of the conference room’s oversize dry erase board, she looked even smaller. But pound for pound, Lana’s best friend had more guts packed in her than any of them.
“I feel like I’ve been talking strategy all year.” Lana leaned back against the conference table behind her as she checked her phone. “I’m sorry my morning ran long. I had to get spiffed up in the salon. I’ve ordered us breakfast.”
Zoey wrinkled her nose. “Is it—?”
“It’s all Zoey friendly, I promise. No trout on toast.”
Which was silly because the resort was world-renowned for their trout on toast. The things one did for their friends.
Lana glanced at her watch. “Okay, we have thirty-five minutes before your shift starts, and I need to go hunt down Jackson Shaw in town, then pick up the cookie decorations for my Christmas party.”
“Isn’t the resort taking care of that?”
“I thought it would be nice to buy the supplies locally.” Lana sat in her chair, crossing her legs at the ankles, knees tilted off to the side. Like a Montgomery.
One day, she would sprawl. She’d walk into her family’s sitting room in a pair of crushed velvet track pants, and she would sprawl like no one had ever sprawled before. Perhaps she’d do it on New Year’s, just to see their reactions. For now, she sat at her conference table, eyeing the cartoon moose on the board.
“Are we taking this seriously?” Lana asked. “Because between us, I have a feeling we’re being set up as the butt of the joke. If there’s no Santa Moose, we’re just two people running around in the woods.”
“I don’t think so,” Zoey said. “I think this moose is a real thing. Graham was in a rush to get home after the meeting last night, and he was up really late Santa Moose–proofing the property. He dragged all his carvings inside the workshop and locked it up tight. He won’t let Jake out of the house without us there.”
Lana pursed her lips. “The local newspaper this morning said to be careful around decorations. I thought the reporter was joking.”
“Oh no. Apparently anything that blinks red and green and white sets the moose off.” Zoey set a hip to the conference table, her expression stubborn. “Lana, you’re my friend. Everyone else here, they’re nice, but they’re still Graham’s friends. You’re mine. And my friend has decided to catch this moose, which means I’m going to help her succeed. Even if we only end up as a couple weirdos running around the woods.”
Lana stood and went to Zoey, hugging her tightly. Montgomerys rarely hugged outside the family, but Lana had been breaking that rule most of her life.
“Thank you.”
After hugging her in return, Zoey pulled over the mobile dry erase board, angling it toward their seats.
“Okay.” Lana put her hands on her hips. “We’re going to need some MCE.”
“MCE?”
“Moose chasing equipment.” Lana wrote the letters on the board and underlined them. “And the most important MCE is a good plan of attack.”
As Lana and Zoey sketched out their plan, Lana considered how much was riding on this. The town depended on them, and she was going to prove herself worthy to be there…even if she had to break a couple of local holiday decoration ordinances to accomplish their goal.
If one was going to catch a Santa Moose, one must do it right.
* * *
The holidays were a good time to be in Moose Springs, even if it was impossible to find parking. Maybe a truck would have been better in the snow, but Rick could appreciate being able to squeeze his car in the tiny spaces left on the side of the street where rental vehicles were parked too close to one another
One couldn’t live in this town without being an excellent parallel parker.
Since money was tight, Rick didn’t order one of the famous cinnamon rolls at Frankie’s, but he did get a cup of tea, nodding in greeting to a sleepy-looking Graham as he came inside. Standing outside on the staircase leading down to the parking lot, Rick let the mingling scents of bread and crisp, fresh winter air play about his nostrils.
High up on the mountain, he could see the ever-present resort looming above their heads, a relentless reminder that this peace and quiet would only last for so long. And off to the left, the beginning outline of what would be Lana’s condominiums was starting to take—