Free Wish Upon a Christmas Star by Darlene Gardner Page A

“Mom’s a Key West
institution. I can’t remember her not doing it.”
    “Wait a minute,” Maria said, an idea starting to form. “How
long have you lived in Key West?”
    “All my life.” She put up a hand. “Don’t say that couldn’t have
been very long. I know I don’t look it, but I’m twenty-five. I’ve been out of
high school for a very long time.”
    Maria didn’t have time to puzzle over why Kayla felt it
necessary to mention her high school years were behind her.
    “This could work, after all. I think my brother might be living
in Key West under an assumed name. I need a list of local hotspots and local
contacts who might know people who are trying to keep a low profile.”
    Kayla clapped her hands and awarded Maria with a toothy grin.
“I can help you with that. And you can give me advice on how to catch whoever’s
messing with Santa Claus.”
    Intriguing. Maria’s stomach
growled, reminding her she’d skipped breakfast. She tried not to think about
where Logan Collier would eat his lonely lunch.
    “Is there somewhere around here we can grab a bite to eat?”
Maria asked. “Seems to me, briefing each other will take a while.”
    * * *
    L OGAN HELD HIS CELL PHONE to his ear. Cool liquid from the bottled water he’d bought at the Blue Tropics
hotel gift shop slid down his throat as he took heat from his boss.
    “What do you mean, you might not be back this weekend? I need
you here, Logan.” Harvey Stein, office manager for the Pride Financial Group,
had a quintessential type A personality. He talked with a staccato beat and
walked with quick, light steps. He often said he needed to move fast so the
competition wouldn’t catch him. “We’re having that holiday party on Christmas
Eve at the Starlight Roof in the Waldorf Astoria, and you told me you’re booked
for dinners with clients up until then.”
    Harvey had all but mandated that his employees go heavy on the
wining and dining. He believed money spent splurging on clients over the
holidays came back double during the rest of the year.
    “Sorry, Harvey,” Logan said. “I’ve got personal business I need
to attend to.”
    Too bad Logan’s personal business had ditched him a few hours
ago. He’d waited in the coffee shop with their drinks for a good ten minutes
before it occurred to him Maria wasn’t in the restroom.
    Now he was parked in an armchair in the lobby of the Blue
Tropics, the better to intercept her when she inevitably returned to the
hotel.
    “You never miss work because of personal stuff,” Harvey said.
“What is it? A matter of life or death?”
    In a way it was. Maria thought her brother might be alive while
Logan was certain Mike was dead.
    “It’s not like you to let me down,” Harvey continued. “Now
would be the worst possible time to start disappointing me if you want my
job.”
    Logan had been mulling over how much to tell his boss about
what was going on. His mind switched gears. “What do you mean by that? You’re
not thinking of retiring, are you?”
    “I’m considering it. I’m sixty-nine years old, after all. I
can’t run the show forever.”
    Three giggling young teens picked the worst possible moment to
walk by, talking so loudly Logan had to strain to hear Harvey.
    “Where are you?” his boss asked.
    Logan turned the phone away just as one of the girls declared
how she really wanted to “you know, like, visit the Hemingway House and then see
if we can get served drinks at Sloppy Joe’s.” Telling Harvey he was in Key West
would not be a wise move.
    “Sorry,” Logan said. “I’m beside a TV.”
    There was a television in the lobby. At the moment, however, it
was switched off.
    “As I was saying, you need to be on your toes if you want me to
recommend you to take my place,” Harvey advised. “You do want to, right?”
    It was the next logical step. Logan had moved steadily up the
ladder since joining the firm, building the stable career he’d envisioned when
he went to college