The Christmas Cop Read online

  He scowled at the box with the Santa hat on top. "I think my boss hates me."

  Shea laughed. "He probably gave the assignment to the best man. How hard can it be?"

  "I have no idea. But hard, I bet."

  She smiled again, picturing the tough cop buying a princess dolly for a little girl or brightly colored toddler toys.

  She hoped he'd embrace the spirit of the season. Christmas was her favorite time. Not only to celebrate the birth of the savior, but to share happiness with others.

  It was also the time she missed her family the most.

  Weren't cops supposed to serve and protect? So a project to make some kids happy sounded like a great job to her. No worries about someone shooting at him when he delivered presents.

  But she could tell from his frown he didn’t share her opinion.

  She looked back at her code, wondering how Jake would handle his new assignment.

  When Shea arrived at her condo after work, she glanced around at the decorations she'd already put up for Christmas. She smiled. She loved coming home to a place ready for the holidays.

  Thanksgiving weekend given her the perfect time to get a tree and pull out her ornaments and decorate. She had made a ginger bread house, placed garlands of holly all over, and had three different creches throughout the ground floor. The cinnamon spice fragrance from the ornaments she had made spoke of Christmas, too.

  Shrugging off her jacket, she kicked off her shoes and headed for the kitchen. She was hungry, but didn't want to fix a big meal. A sandwich and soup would suit her fine.

  As she prepared the meal, she thought about Jake Morgan. He'd been quiet most of the day, even though more and more fellow cops had stopped by to see him through the afternoon. Some seemed genuinely glad to have him back even if only dealing with cold cases.

  And a couple teased him about the Christmas assignment.

  He'd left before she had. She suspected his ankle was hurting. But he'd probably never admit to that. A macho man in a macho profession.

  She couldn't resist smiling at his railing against handling the Christmas for Kids program. He did seem too much of a warrior fighting against evil than Santa.

  Shea knew how valuable that program was. How awful it’d be for a child to have a Christmas without decorations or presents. There were other organizations in town that also provided for kids in need. But the Mondano Police Department was the largest at Christmas. She’d heard about it ever since she'd moved here.

  Thinking about her own family's Christmas celebrations, she glanced around. She'd done her best to incorporate the special feeling of the season. Yet she knew it'd be even more special at her parents’ home. Too bad this year wasn't her year to take off at Christmas.

  The firm she and Cal started provided excellent customer service with someone on call all the time–and they meant all the time–even Christmas if a client needed them. Cal handled that holiday last year, this year was her turn.

  Once her makeshift meal was ready, she carried it into the living room and turned on the TV. She’d check in later with Cal for any updates, but for now, this time was hers.

  Jake popped some ibuprofen as soon as he reached his apartment. Who knew how strenuous sitting at a desk could be? He thought it'd be a piece of cake as his boss liked to say. He felt wiped out.

  He grabbed a frozen dinner, zapped it in the microwave and went to the recliner. He might even sleep in it if it saved him moving again, he thought once he was eating. The pills were starting to work and he gradually felt better as he ate.

  The cold cases were something he could get into, but that Christmas assignment was something else. He didn't know anything about kids and what they wanted for Christmas. And he’d never organized a project as far reaching as this one.

  He donated cash every year to the cause. And left it all to Harry Carmichael. The older man seemed to enjoy it, but Jake didn't know how to even begin.

  He was the wrong man for the job.

  His boss knew his background. Group home, handouts at Christmas. Sometimes new clothes, sometimes a book or game. He'd never had a train, or action figures, or things boys love.

  He shook away the memories. He was grown now, making a life for himself. If he wanted something, he bought it.

  Well, except for that sports car. One want he couldn’t afford.

  Maybe one day.

  He figured he'd spend a couple of hours a day on the project and focus the rest of his time on the cold cases. Maybe he'd find a clue that’d break one wide open.

  When Jake arrived at work the next morning, Shea was already at her desk, eyes focused on her computer screen.

  She glanced up. "Hi."

  "Hi," he replied, walking slowly to the desk he'd claimed.

  The Christmas project box was on the floor beside his chair. He'd been thinking about it all night it seemed. He'd decided to treat it like another kind of investigation. Lay things out, make a time line chart, and start from that.

  When he opened the box he saw a jumble of papers. No order at all.

  Shea jumped up and began walking around.

  "How long have you been here?" he asked. Usually she went an hour or so between her steps.

  "Since six. I spoke with my partner last night and we came up with a different strategy and I was anxious to get started."

  She kept walking.

  One circuit took her near his desk. She looked into the box.

  "What a mess." she said.

  "I guess Harry knew where everything was, but it looks like a disaster to me," Jake said.

  "Want help sorting it?" she asked.

  "Can you afford the time?" He’d be grateful for any help he could get.

  "My eyes are going blurry studying the stupid screen. It'll be a change."

  He reached in and handed her a stack of papers.

  "How shall I sort them?" she asked.

  "I have no idea."

  He took out another handful and tried to figure out what the sheets represented.

  Shea moved to the desk next to his and placed the stack in the middle. Taking up the first page, she skimmed it and put it to the right.

  "It looks like these are notes on businesses and stores who contribute each year," she murmured, taking another sheet, and then another.

  Jake had the same kinds of information, but the dates weren’t consistent. Here was a page from four years ago. Another from six years ago.

  "They're not in chronological order," he said in frustration.

  Couldn't Harry have had a better process?

  "All the more challenging," she said, sorting the papers into three piles.

  A few minutes later she came over and took another handful of papers.

  "What is the FD he refers to?" she asked at one point.

  "I have no idea. I've seen it on some of these pages, too."

  Jake checked the box, it was finally empty. He had several stacks of paper on his desk and Shea had several on the one next to his.

  "Vendors?"

  He took hold of one pile and held it up.

  "Yep."

  She reached for a pile and picked it up, bringing it over to merge with his.

  "Volunteers."

  They compiled those pages.

  "Something that looks like lists of toys."

  "Yep." She handed him that stack.

  "Kids."

  "I only had a few pages of kids names and they seem old, like from five years ago. That FD is noted next to several," she said. "Did some of this get transferred to the fire department?"

  She brought those pages and handed them to Jake.

  "Not that I know of."

  "It seems to me we should put them in chronological order with the most recent on top. That might be all that’s needed to bring organization out of chaos. You could read each year’s list to get a good idea of what went on."

  "I guess."

  He looked at the four stacks and shook his head. He had no idea of what he was doing
. And he wanted to get back to that cold case file he’d started reviewing yesterday. He wasn’t Santa.

  "I'll take these," she said and began putting the names of children pages in some sort of order.

  "There're a lot of names on this," she said. "But the list seems to be several years old. Isn't there anything more recent?"

  "I have no idea. I'm finding the same thing with the vendors who donate. And that FD noted by a lot of them," he replied.

  They continued in silence for several minutes. When finished, Shea sat on the edge of the desk.

  "Nothing’s more recent than four years. Are you sure these are all the files?"

  "As far as I know. I'll ask Janey. She knows everything around here. She's been the division secretary for a decade or more."

  "Okay, then."

  Shea hopped off the desk and returned to her own. In only minutes she was engrossed in the code.

  Jake called Janey.

  "Oh, my gosh, Jake, I'm so sorry–I forgot the flash drive. I think Harry used it a lot in the last couple of years. I'll bring it right over."

  In less than two minutes Janey rushed into the room with a flash drive held high.

  "Here it is. Sorry about that."

  "FD–flash drive," Jake said.

  Shea swung around and smiled.

  "That'll have the up-to-date info I bet. He must have started using that instead of paper."

  Jake didn't say anything to Janey, but he was annoyed that the better part of an hour had been spent in sorting papers that he wouldn't need.

  He appreciated Shea's help, but knew she must be frustrated at wasting her time.

  When Janey left, he put the flash drive into the top drawer.

  "Aren't you going to look at it?" Shea asked.

  "I've spent enough time on this project this morning. It'll keep until tomorrow."

  Shea nodded and resumed her perusal of the code.

  "Gotcha!" she yelled a few minutes later.

  Jake looked up. "You found the problem?"

  "Maybe. It's a problem anyway. We limited some of the sizes of the files we'd compare. I'm not sure who thought that was a good idea–probably me at the time."

  "What do you mean who thought it a good idea. Didn't you develop this program?"

  "Our company did. We have fifteen programmers on staff. Each did a portion. Including me and Cal. Then we put it together, worked out the bugs and tested it and tested it. But we didn't have actual data, so we made up data to test it."

  "Does that mean you're done here?" he asked.

  He'd known her for less than two days, but was already used to her hopping up and walking around. And getting used to the occasional conversations they had.

  Even the pink hair was growing on him.

  He wasn't sure he'd enjoy working alone in the big room.

  "Time will tell. This is an easy fix, but it might ripple through the program, so it's back to testing."

  "Where’s your company located?"

  "On Stanton Street, near the warehouse district. The building we have is actually a converted warehouse. Rent's cheap."

  "That's where you'll test?"

  "If it was still in beta, yes, but this is already installed. Now we'll test here with actual data and your police department IT guys."

  She gave him a friendly grin and reached for her cell phone. A moment later she was talking with someone at her company.

  Jake looked at the papers in front of him, but couldn’t help listening to Shea.

  "I found it,” Shea told her partner. "At least I hope it's just this one glitch. We limited the size of a data file in the section where we import. So when the date to import was too large, it defaulted to an error. I've fixed it."

  "Good job. I knew you'd find it if there was a problem," her partner said. "Do we recompile?"

  "Yep. I'll do that overnight. I’ll check if they want me to come in tomorrow since it’s Saturday. Or wait until Monday. When I do come in, I’ll work with the IT department to see if that's it."

  "Keep me informed."

  "Sure. How are things there?"

  "Slow as molasses."

  "It is every December. Enjoy."

  "Will you be coming into the office any time soon?"

  "Don't know. We'll see how this goes. Do you need me for anything?"

  "Not really. I haven't seen you in a week. It feels weird without you here. And there are a few programmers who could use your eyes on what they’re working on."

  "I'll be back soon enough. Have a good weekend. See ya."

  Chapter Three

  Jake listened to Shea's side of the conversation. From it he gleaned she'd be staying a bit longer.

  But not necessarily in this room. The IT department was on another floor.

  As noon approached, Jake looked up as Shea jumped up from her seat and began her walking. Would she offer to pick up lunch again?

  "I'm off to Ben's. Do you want anything?" she asked when she'd finished her circuit.

  "Same as yesterday, thanks."

  "Sure thing."

  He reached for his wallet.

  "Hey, this one is on me. I’m celebrating finding the glitch. I'll be back soon."

  It seemed a long time, but when she returned, the aroma of hamburgers and fries filled the air.

  He pushed aside the folder he'd been working on.

  Today Shea came over to his desk and began unpacking the food. Then she dragged a chair from a nearby desk, shrugged out of her jacket, and plopped down to eat with him.

  "So how did you get into computer programming," he asked.

  She was bright and bubbly while the only computer geeks he knew weren't that outgoing.

  "I love the order of it. And I like making things happen. I met Cal at college and we clicked. We vowed to start up our own company once we graduated. Which we did. The early days were hard. We moonlighted to make ends meet. But when we sold our first program, we were in the money and put it all back into making the business grow. Now we're doing well, have a bunch of programmers working for us."

  She smiled broadly and popped an onion ring into her mouth.

  "You don't seem like a geek to me," Jake said.

  She laughed. "Good. Keeps others on their toes. You, on the other hand, look just like a cop."

  "I do?" he asked, surprised at the comment.

  "Yep. Tall, built, with an air of competency and control. And a very stern expression. I bet you're something when you aren't using the cane."

  He looked at her closely and saw the teasing in her eyes.

  "Are your flirting with me Miss O'Riley?"

  "Would you mind if I did?" she asked with a saucy grin.

  Then she laughed. "Your expression is priceless. If you're already taken, I'll back off."

  He studied her for a moment, taken aback by her line of conversation.

  "I'm not seeing anyone right now," he said stiffly.

  It’d been months since he'd been on a date. Usually he was caught up in whatever investigation was going on and didn't take time off for dating.

  "Me, either."

  "What about Cal?"

  "What about him? He's my partner. And married to Gwen. They have two adorable twin boys. They're going on vacation at Christmas, leaving me to staff the fort."

  "So you're not going anywhere for Christmas?"

  "Nope. My folks live in Florida now, so I won't be spending it with them. How about you? Any plans for Christmas?"

  He shook his head. "I usually work that week, give guys with families time off."

  "Like a lot of tech companies, we close between December 20th and the first working Monday in January. But we're committed to total customer service, so Cal and I trade off holidays to be available. This is my be-available-at-Christmas-year. With any luck no one will be working and having problems so I'll have nothing to do. So what about this year?"

  "What do you mean? You just said it was your year."

  "You. You can't work your normal job
so what are your plans this year?"

  He shrugged and finished his burger. "No plans."

  She leaned closer. "Want to spend the day with me? It's a lonely day if I'm by myself and don't have an emergency to go out on. Of course there's always that possibility. You'd have to be prepared for that. What about it?"

  No one had asked Jake to spend Christmas with them before–except his partner.

  He'd felt like an outsider at their home that first year. In-laws, aunts and uncles, cousins and Phil's own family crowded his home. Even though Phil asked every year, Jake had stopped accepting the invitations.

  "Doing?" he asked.

  "Celebrating, of course. I can come pick you up and take you home if you can’t drive. I'll have a ham and all the fixings–and plum pudding of course. It's my mama's recipe and it'll knock your socks off it's so good."

  He hesitated a moment, then shrugged. "Okay."

  "Wow, don't blow me away with your enthusiasm," she teased.

  He studied her as they ate. She was like a ray of sunshine. Her optimism reigned. She was persuasive without being obvious about it.

  He couldn’t believe he’d accepted her invitation for Christmas Day.

  “So you know, I can drive. It’s my left ankle that’s broken, not my right one.”

  “Okay then. Come around ten on Christmas morning.”

  He nodded. That was still three weeks away. Would they get to know each other better in that time? Or would she be gone once the program fix was approved by the IT guys?

  She finished her onion rings, swiped one of his fries and balled up the wrapping paper.

  "I'm done for the day. I'll recompile the program overnight and be ready to test first thing Monday. I told Captain Robbins I need to talk to him this afternoon to make sure waiting over the weekend is okay with him. Until he can see me, I'm free. Want any help with the Christmas Cop thing?"

  He frowned. "I'm in the middle of a file on a cold case. I'd rather continue on that."

  "Okay. Then I'll see you Monday."

  In only moments she was gone.

  Jake looked at her desk, already missing her. He frowned. He didn’t miss people.

  She didn't disturb him when he was focused on the case. He hardly knew she was there. Unless he counted her walking around the room every hour.