Free Angel Lane by Sheila Roberts Page B

flipped on the light as Mandy’s crying had gotten louder the second they entered the dark shop. She settled the child at one of the bistro tables, saying, “Now, I’ll just get my phone and then we’ll call and tell the police where you are so your grandpa can find you. Okay?”
    The child didn’t say anything, just slumped in her seat, clutched her pumpkin full of candy and cried.
    This was like getting punked by gremlins. Jamie could barely take care of herself and now she had a lost child on her hands.
    It’s okay, she assured herself.
You’re in Heart Lake now. Call for help
. She hurried to the back room and dug her cell phone out of her purse, calling over her shoulder, “Don’t worry, Mandy. It’ll be okay.” How long would it take for the cops to get here? What could she do in the meantime to keep Mandy the fairy from having a nervous breakdown? To keep herself from having one?
    â€œNine-one-one,” said an operator.
    â€œI have a child,” Jamie blurted. “I mean I found a child. She’s lost and her name is Mandy. We’re at the Goblin Walk. Can you send someone to help?”
    â€œCan you give me an address, ma’am?” asked the operator.
    Oh, yeah, that.
“I’m in Valentine Square, in Heart Lake. The Chocolate Bar. How soon can someone get here?”
    â€œSomeone will be there in just a few minutes,” the operator assured her.
    Just a few minutes felt like an eternity when you had a crying child on your hands. “I know,” Jamie said to Mandy. “Let’s have something to eat while we’re waiting for your grandpa. You want to come and choose a truffle?”
    The crying downgraded to small sobs. Mandy slipped from her seat and walked tentatively over to the glass case where Jamie was standing.
    Jamie knelt beside her. “We have a lot to choose from. Do you like chocolate?”
    Mandy nodded solemnly, looking at her with big, brown eyes.
    â€œCaramel. Do you like caramel?”
    Another nod. The sobs were dying down, thank God.
    â€œHow about a chocolate caramel then?” Jamie suggested. She slipped around back of the counter, returning with a chocolate caramel for each of them. Mandy wasn’t the only one who needed chocolate. “There you go.” She handed it over and the child took it and studied it. Maybe she’d been told not to take candy from strangers. Jamie took a bite of hers to prove it wasn’t poisoned. “Mmm, good.” Except maybe she shouldn’t be giving candy to Mandy the fairy.
    Before she could suggest Mandy wait until her grandpa showed up, the child popped the entire goody into her mouth. In less than a second she was drooling chocolate. But she also wasn’t crying.
    Jamie felt pleased with herself. “Good stuff, huh?”
    Mandy nodded and looked at her with a “what’s next” expression.
    Now what? “Are you thirsty? Would you like a drink of water?”
    Mandy nodded.
    So they had a drink of water. Now what? Where the hell were the cops?
    â€œI’m a fairy,” Mandy announced.
    Okay, she was feeling better. “You’re a very pretty fairy,” said Jamie.
Why on earth wasn’t your mom watching you?
“Do you know your address?”
    â€œOne-two-three Willow Road,” said the child.
    â€œGood for you,” Jamie approved. At least they’d have some information to give the police. It would be enough to match Mandy the Fairy with her mother.
    A sudden banging on the shop door made Jamie jump. The cops. Thank God.
    But it wasn’t cops. It was one cop.
The
cop, and he had people with him—a paunchy sixty-something man with shortly cropped gray hair and a princess a little older than the fairy, but with the same big eyes and brown curls.
    As soon as Jamie opened the door, the princess pointed at Mandy and cried, “There she is!”
    â€œMandy. Thank God,” breathed the cop.