Page 34 of Sleigh My Heart

“What’s going on?” A chill that had nothing to do with the cold zipped down her spine. Nick. She turned to face him. He was jogging across the intersection. He froze the second he saw his father. “Dad?”

“Nick.” she crossed to him. “Go with them. I have some work here before I can leave.”

“What was he doing out here in his suit?” Nick’s fist balled as he turned to the minivan.

“I don’t know. It was an accident. I’m going to talk to the driver now. You should go with your dad.” She gave him a shove toward the ambulance.

He shot a deadly glare at the woman in the van.

“Nick. Go.”

He dropped his gaze to her, and it softened. The fear and confusion showed through the cracks of his composure. He nodded and climbed into the ambulance with his dad.

With everything going on, Michelle hadn’t noticed Jenkins and Brannon working the scene. Perimeter tape was up and a crowd had formed.

She blew out a breath as she watched the vehicle holding Russ and Nick go. Lights flashing, but no siren. That’s good. He was stable if they didn’t have full sound.

Time to get to work. She walked wide around the scene to the minivan. A harrowed woman shushed her kids. “He will be alright. No, mommy didn’t kill Santa.” She leaned closer and dropped her voice. “I didn’t, did I?”

Michelle hoped not. Russ was alive when they took him to the hospital. She needed to remember that. “Can I have your license and registration, please?”

Flustered, the woman pulled them out of her bag.

“Can you tell me what happened, Ma’am?” Michelle asked, while filling out the report information.

“Oh, crud. Okay. I was waiting for the light. The kids were excited, Santa was on the corner. I looked in my rearview to talk to them when, all of a sudden, I felt the van move. Like I was being pushed.”

Michelle held up a hand then walked to the back of the van. A dent. She looked at the ground. Chips of matching paint. Definitely new. She scanned the area. The vehicle directly behind her appeared undamaged.

Odd. She moved to the driver’s side. He lowered his window, and she asked, “Did you see the accident, sir?”

“No, I got here just before the ambulance pulled up.”

She cocked her head. “Did you see another vehicle driving away?”

“No.”

“Thank you. Please wait and I will be back.” She walked back to the van, surveying the area, onlookers, and the road. Tire tracks cut to the left. It could be from the hit-and-run vehicle.

Back at the van, she asked. “Can you describe the vehicle that hit you?”

“A truck? I can’t say for sure. It all happened so fast.”

“Color?”

“White.”

Michelle’s head whipped up from her tablet. “Could it have been a van?”

“Maybe. I was shocked at first. Then the kids started screaming that I killed Santa.” Tears glistened in her eyes.

“Okay, please stay here. I or another officer will be right with you.”

It couldn’t be. No. There were a ton of white vans and trucks in the city. A high percentage of work vehicles were that color. Chances of this hit-and-run being the same truck were slim to none… and slim was on a bus out of town.

Yeah, coincidences were rare in her opinion. Who would want to hurt Santa? Or more specifically, Russ?

The same person who would steal his sleigh.