Free Covert Exposure by Valerie J. Clarizio Page A

toothpicks to
prop his eyelids open. He rose from his chair and sauntered toward
the elves that stood by the display’s Christmas tree as they ogled
Shannon and made small talk with her. Spinelli’s pure exhaustion
did not prevent his jealous juices from finding their way to the
surface.
    Loukas, the Greek’s muscleman, nudged his way
between Spinelli and Shannon, scowled at Spinelli, then grunted in
the direction of the elves. “You guys have fifteen minutes.”
    The elves’ moods instantly turned somber and
they ended their conversation and headed toward the employee locker
room. Spinelli and Shannon followed close behind. Shannon slipped
into the ladies locker room and Spinelli into the men’s. He sat on
the bench and began the difficult task of removing his black boots,
considering the extreme gut roll of the fat suit he wore. He
groaned during the maneuver drawing the attention of the elves.
    “What the hell is muscleman’s problem, cranky
bastard?” Spinelli asked the elves.
    The elves shifted their eyes from Spinelli to
each other and looked as if urging each other to answer him. One of
the elves shrugged his shoulders but neither said a word.
    “You know, I could use a little extra cash
for the holidays. How do you get into this nightly poker game I
keep hearing about?” Spinelli continued.
    He kept his eyes fixed on both elves and
waited for a reply. Without a word, the smaller of the two elves
hung his elf suit on a hook in his locker, shut the door, and
pinched the padlock shut with his trembling fingers. The larger of
the two elves stowed his elf suit in his locker, locked it, and
then turned to face Spinelli. “I don’t know what you’re talking
about.”
    He motioned for his fellow elf to follow and
they left the locker room without looking back.
    Spinelli finished shrugging out of his Santa
suit and stuffed it into his duffel bag. He left the locker room to
find Shannon waiting outside the door. “What did you say to those
boys?” she asked.
    “Nothing. Why? What happened?”
    “Well they looked pretty frantic when they
came out of the locker room and I heard one tell the other to just
keep his mouth shut and that he’d figure a way out of it.”
     
    “What is ‘It’?” Spinelli asked.
    Shannon shook her head. “I don’t know. They
didn’t say. They saw me standing here and stopped talking.”
    “Where did they go?” Spinelli asked as he
walked briskly toward the edge of the second floor balcony so he
could look down on the first floor of the mall. Sure enough, he saw
the two elves. The muscleman at the Greek restaurant lifted the
metal security gate and let the boys pass through. Spinelli quickly
stepped back from the edge of the balcony to avoid being seen by
the muscle but when he did so he bumped into Shannon. He hit her so
hard she started to fall backwards. He reached out, grabbed her arm
just above her elbow, and pulled her tightly to him to steady
her.
    “I’m sorry. Are you okay?”
    “Yes, I’m fine.”
    Spinelli just stood there staring down into
her big emerald green eyes, tightly gripping her arm. He tried to
pull his gaze from hers but couldn’t. He tried to free his hand
from her arm but couldn’t—it felt paralyzed. He debated kissing
her. She looked like she wanted to be kissed but he couldn’t dip
his head. His mind willed his extremities to move but they
wouldn’t. He never in his entire life felt so tightly wound as he
did right now. He feared that the slightest move would cause him to
unravel completely.
    “You’re still on my foot,” Shannon whispered,
knocking Spinelli out of his trance.
    “What?”
    “My foot, you’re standing on my foot.”
    Spinelli took a step back. “I’m sorry.”
    “It’s okay.”
    “We better get going,” Spinelli said as he
turned and led her toward the parking ramp.
    Spinelli opened the truck door for Shannon.
Before climbing in she spun to face him. She fixed her warm
green-eyed gaze on him. She had the most