Free Santa's Posse by Rosemarie Naramore Page B

with humor. 
    “Put what?” she
said.
    He laughed.  “Just
can’t get over how you manage to stay so slim when you always have a cookie in
your mouth.”
    “Nervous energy,”
she said succinctly, and then nodded at the empty store space in front of her.
    “Jill tells me Mr.
Barnes hasn’t called you yet.  I thought we had him in the bag.”
    “You and me both,”
she muttered, but then roused herself.  “Jill tells me you’ve been
busy.”
    He sighed loudly. 
“Yeah, I have.  Hey, do you have a minute?  There’s something I need to talk to
you about.”
    “Sure.  My
office?”
    “I could use a cup
of coffee.  Food court?” he suggested.
    Soon the couple
sat in the food court, once again at a table overlooking the southern mall
parking lot.  Kellie noticed Miles seemed preoccupied as he stared out at the
lot.  When she passed him a cookie, he startled, and then grinned sheepishly. 
“Thanks.”
    She watched him
expectantly.  “What was it you needed to discuss?”
    “I wanted to give
you a heads-up on some problems we’ve been experiencing lately.  You may have
already heard…”
    She shook her
head.  “Heard what?”
    “We’ve had a rash
of car prowls in the nearby neighborhoods for several months now, and for the
last week or so, we’ve taken a dozen or so reports relating to car prowls right
here in our mall parking lots.”
    Her eyes widened. 
She hadn’t heard.  “Wow.  No.  It’s the first I’ve heard.  Any idea who’s
responsible?”
    He shook his
head.  “Probably kids,” he said with a sigh.  “Anyway, I’ve been in constant
contact with mall security, and my guys are keeping their eyes open too.”  He
sighed again.  “Whoever these guys are, they’re getting bolder.  Yesterday, a
mall patron happened upon one of them as the kid was breaking into his car. 
The man started yelling and the kid turned on him, ready to fight.”
    Kellie gasped and
Miles nodded.  “We really need to get a handle on this, and unfortunately, with
the holiday retail season fast approaching, I’m afraid it’s only going to get
worse.”
    “I’ll need to meet
with mall security,” she mused.  “I understand from my predecessor that he
always stepped up security around the holidays.  Maybe it’s time.”
    “Couldn’t hurt,”
Miles agreed.  “It’s a heck of a time for me to be out of town…”  His words
dwindled and he raked a hand through his hair.
    She eyed him
questioningly.  “You’re … leaving?”
    “Tonight,” he told
her.  “I have training up North.”
    She digested the
information, attempting to stave off the feeling of disappointment.  What did
she have to be disappointed about?  It wasn’t as if the two had plans to spend
time together over the weekend.
    “I’d hoped you and
I could get together this weekend,” he told her, snaring her gaze.
    She gulped.  So
Miles had hoped to spend time with her.  Once again, despite the fact that
she’d sworn off a possible relationship with him, she felt a sense of
melancholy that it wasn’t to be.  She smiled despite her mood.  “Maybe when you
get back…”
    She barred the
grimace that threatened.  Why had she said that?  It was as if her mouth
had a mind of its own.
    “It’s a date then,”
he said eagerly.  “We’ll plan something when I get back.”
    “Hey, you’re going
to miss the Harvest Day festivities at the mall,” she said suddenly,
remembering that Jill had mentioned that mall stores always gave out candy to
children during a specified set of hours on Halloween.
    He grinned
ruefully.  “I’m not sure what time I’ll be back Friday.  Jill tells me it’s
absolute mayhem here on Halloween.  She mentioned that last year, several
stores ran out of candy and that she had to run out to a nearby market and buy
more.  She said by the time all was said and done, she made five or six trips
and they still came up short.”
    Suddenly, Kellie
wondered when her assistant had