The Kid Who Stole Christmas (10 page)

L
eo woke up with the same feeling he had when sleeping over at his great-aunt Alice’s—who really wasn’t so great, in his opinion. It was that feeling of being in a strange place. But then his eyes focused and the feeling went away. Did it ever. This place might be strange, but it sure wasn’t Great-Aunt Alice’s house, no way. It was two in the morning and no one had even told him to go to bed!

He smiled, and with a big, comfortable sigh, stretched himself out full length on the leather sofa. Although his shoes were still on, there was no one to tell him to get his feet off the furniture. The television was tuned to the sort of trashy late-night movie his nannies always scolded him for watching if they caught him. He’d get a good scolding for leaving dirty dishes on the floor as he had tonight, too, especially sticky ones that had once contained about a gallon of ice cream with butterscotch caramel syrup. And he hadn’t brushed his teeth, either.

But his nannies weren’t there. Neither was Shannon, or Pop, or any of the other big people who were always telling him what to do for his own good. Adults. Go figure.

In fact, the only ones around at all were Joey and Irv. Joey did occasionally question Leo’s behavior, but only when it was really stupid or something that might get them all in trouble, like building a snowman indoors. Besides, Joey had gone to bed an hour ago and had left Irv in charge.

Leo was coming to understand that Irv wasn’t really an adult, or at least not the sort he was accustomed to being around. Irv liked to play video games while standing on his head. He belched out loud when he drank too much soda. Leo had even seen him spill some ice cream on the carpet and smoosh it in with his foot so it wouldn’t show.

Of course, some of what Irv did made Joey really mad, so Leo could tell it wasn’t stuff he should be doing. Irv just couldn’t help it. Like right now, for instance. Instead of watching him like Joey said, Irv was fast asleep in one of the big leather recliners, snoring loudly, with a set of stereo headphones over his ears. Joey would yell at Irv for sure if he found him like that. Maybe Leo should wake him up soon.

First, though, he had to call Shannon. She was the only one he knew who wouldn’t get mad at him for calling so late. He also really wanted to talk to her, because he didn’t want her to worry, and he also sort of missed her. That was why he hadn’t called earlier. He might accidentally say something mushy and he didn’t want Irv to hear.

Leo grabbed his coat from where he’d dropped it beside the sofa earlier and dug around in one of the big side cargo pockets. It was there, right where he’d left it.

He hoped the batteries were still charged. When Pop had given him the cellular phone for his birthday, he had told Leo it wasn’t a toy, and cautioned him to use it wisely. Pop had also made him promise not to let anyone else use it, except in an emergency, of course. Since Joey hadn’t seemed too worried earlier about the phone lines being down, the calls he said he had to make must not be emergencies.

A little light came on when he activated the compact phone, indicating the batteries were still good and strong. Leo dialed Shannon’s number from memory. He called her quite often, because she said he could, whenever he was feeling lonely or troubled.

Shannon would make a great mom. Sometimes Leo wished she really was his mom. But once, when he’d mentioned it, she had hugged him and cried a little, so he kept it to himself now.

When Shannon answered, her voice sounded funny, and Leo knew he’d awakened her. For a moment, he thought about just hanging up. But he knew that would only scare her.

“Hi,” he said brightly.

Shannon sat bolt upright in bed, blinking her eyes in a futile attempt to focus in the dark. “Leo?” she managed to croak. “Leo, is that you?”

“Sure.” He paused. “I’m sorry. I woke you up, huh? I’ll call tomorrow or something, okay?”

“No! You stay on the line, Leo! Do you hear?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Shannon was suddenly wide-awake. She turned on her bedside lamp, then grabbed the glass of water she kept on the nightstand and took a sip to loosen up her sleepy throat.

“Leo?”

“Hi. Hey, this thing works great,” he exclaimed. “I wasn’t sure it would from this far away.”

With his bright, happy tone, Leo sounded the way he always did, which puzzled Shannon no end. “Leo, are you okay?”

“Of course.”

“Can you tell me where you are?” Shannon asked.

“Uh, not really.”

Shannon closed her eyes for a moment. Naturally. The kidnappers were listening in. Any moment they would interrupt with some new, outrageous demand. But if she didn’t press, maybe they would let her talk to him for a bit more.

“I really miss you, Leo. We all do.”

“I miss you, too, Shannon. And Pop. I don’t much miss the nannies, though. Well, maybe Mrs. Watkins. A little. She makes great brownies. But don’t tell her, okay?”

“Okay.” He sounded fine. And they were certainly letting him run on. What kind of kidnappers were these, anyway? “How are the, um, government agents?”

“Oh, they’re great guys! Especially Irv. We made huge butterscotch caramel sundaes earlier, and played Wolves of Doom and—”

“Leo?” she interrupted.

“Yes, Shannon?”

This would probably do it, but she had to get some kind of information out of this call, and it didn’t seem likely she was going to get it from Leo.

“Are you in any danger?”

“Huh?”

There was a moment of silence then, which Shannon was sure would be followed by a gruff voice telling her he was in lots of danger if that shipment of Arnies didn’t come in soon.

Instead, it was Leo’s voice. He was laughing.

“Cool! Are you watching television?” he asked.

“No, Leo. I was asleep,” Shannon replied in measured, even tones. “And now I’m trying to talk to you.”

“Oh. Sorry. I guess you don’t get satellite, anyway. But there was this really great part on just now,” he told her, still laughing. “This guy put straws up his nose, see, and pretended he was a walrus! Isn’t that great?”

“Yes, Leo, that’s just great.”

What was going on? It was as if he didn’t even know he’d been kidnapped!

At that thought, Shannon’s eyes went wide. He
didn’t
know! The kidnappers were keeping him in the dark about what was going on, continuing to feed him this line about saving the Arnie shipment and making him feel like part of some secret mission. And obviously treating him very well indeed. Maybe a little
too
well. Late-night television via satellite and butterscotch caramel sundaes, indeed! At this rate, he probably wouldn’t want to come home at all.

But he was safe. And it seemed Pop was right. There wasn’t any reason to worry about him. Or at least not yet.

That situation could change if the shipment was late or never came at all. Only Rick could answer that question, and he wouldn’t. Or couldn’t. He probably didn’t know, either. Whichever, it really didn’t matter. Shannon wanted Leo back, and she would get him—and the shipment if possible—without subjecting him to any more stress than she had to. If it was working for the kidnappers, who was she to mess things up?

“Have the agents had any luck finding the shipment yet, Leo?” Shannon asked him.

“Well, the real phone isn’t working up here, so they haven’t been talking to anyone. But they don’t seem too worried. I bet if they had to, they could use some super secret radio.”

Shannon frowned. What sort of operation was this? “Are you saying they don’t know you’re calling me?”

“No. I didn’t want them to hear me.” He paused for a moment. “I might, you know, say stuff.”

“What sort of stuff?”

“Like I miss you...and I love you. Stuff like that,” Leo replied quietly. He looked over at Irv, who was still sound asleep and snoring peacefully. “Irv would make fun of me. But it’s okay, ‘cause he’s sleeping now.”

Shannon couldn’t believe her ears. They weren’t even guarding him. The temptation to tell him to run away was very great. But she had no idea what his situation was, except that he was in the company of people who were evidently taking reasonable care of him. Wherever he might be, a small boy on his own could fare much worse.

Leo was laughing again. Irv had slipped sideways in his sleep, and a trickle of drool was running down his face. To Leo, this was every bit as funny as a guy with straws up his nose. By the time the trickle reached Irv’s ear, Leo was practically howling.

The noise didn’t wake Irv, but it certainly brought Joey out of a sound sleep. He came stumbling into the room, his eyes still half-closed.

“What’s so funny, kid?” he asked, yawning. “And why aren’t you in bed?”

Joey looked around sleepily. The first thing he noticed was Irv, snoring in the chair. Then he saw the cellular phone in Leo’s hand. His eyes opened wide.

“Irv!” he bellowed. “Wake up! The kid’s got a phone!”

Leo sighed. “Sorry, Shannon. I have to go. But don’t worry, I’ll be home for Christmas,” he promised, and hung up.

“Give me that phone!” Joey demanded.

“Can’t,” Leo told him. “Pop told me not to unless it’s an emergency.”

“Why, you little... I’ll show you an emergency.”

Joey tried to look mean, but standing there in only his underwear, he looked more like a cranky bald bear. That started Leo laughing all over again. Irv wasn’t any help. He woke up with a start and just looked around sleepily, yawning.

“Oh, for cripe’s sake!” Joey exclaimed, then sat down on the sofa next to Leo with a weary sigh. “All right, kid. Who’d you call? The cops?”

“Nah.” He held his phone at the ready. “I can if you want, though. Is the government in trouble?”

Joey looked befuddled for a brief moment, then the light dawned in his sleepy brain and he sighed again. “Oh, yeah.”

“Cool! What kind of trouble? Can I have a gun?”

“No, you can’t have a gun.” He ran his hands over his face. “Just hold on a sec, okay? We’re not in any trouble. At least I don’t think so,” he muttered. “Who did you call?”

“Just Shannon. I told you I wanted to, remember?”

Joey’s eyes narrowed slightly. “What’d you tell her?”

“Nothing. You swore me to secrecy, remember?”

“Uh-huh. You didn’t even tell her where we are?”

Leo frowned. “Well, she did ask.”

“That’s it!” Joey exclaimed, rising slowly to his feet. “We’re dead. Irv, go start the car. I’ll—”

“But Joey,” Leo interrupted. “I didn’t tell her anything. I don’t even
know
where we are. I couldn’t see from the back seat. I mean, we’re in the mountains, but that’s all I know, and I didn’t even tell her that.”

Joey sat down again with a huge sigh of relief. “Thanks, kid. But you should have told Irv or me that you had a phone. I do have an emergency call I need to make.” He looked at Leo and smiled. “If that’s okay with you?”

Leo gave him the cellular. “Sure.”

Joey patted him on the head. “Thanks. Now, be a good boy and go get ready for bed. And brush those teeth.”

“Aww!”

“Hey, you don’t want ‘em to rot, do you?” Joey asked. “Irv, show the kid what happens when you don’t brush regular.”

He pointed to Irv, who was still only half-awake and yawning. Leo could see that a piece of his removable bridgework had come loose in his sleep, leaving a comical gap in his front teeth.

Leo arched his eyebrows, then went to do as he was told.

“Hey, I was just a good example, huh, Joey?” Irv asked.

Joey watched as Irv put his bridgework right. “Yeah, Irv. A good negative example.” He started dialing the phone number. “Now, go wash your face and teeth, too, okay? I gotta call the man.”

Chapter Nine

W
ednesday morning dawned bright, clear and cold. Two inches of new snow glistened beneath the winter sunlight. By noon, city life would turn the pristine white into obnoxious gray slush, so Shannon enjoyed the view while she could on her cab ride downtown. She felt wonderful, alive and refreshed, for her sleep after Leo’s call had been deep and dreamless.

Well, maybe there had been one dream... When she saw Rick, who was already waiting for her at the back entrance to Lyon’s, Shannon had this incredible urge to run into his arms and kiss him. But she refrained from giving in to it. At best, it would confuse him. At worst, it might change his mind about their dinner date tonight. After all, he had no idea of the starring role he’d played in that dream.

Rick held his hand out for her as she got out of the cab. Beneath her long black coat, she had on a white-and-black glen plaid woolen suit, with an emerald green silk knit tee and pale green hose. The skirt, modestly calf-length, had a side slit that displayed a generous portion of her thigh as she climbed from the cab, a view Rick enjoyed with arched eyebrows but no comment. Shannon smiled mischievously at him.

“Sleep well?” she asked.

Rick returned her smile, well aware she was baiting him. “Not bad, under the circumstances,” he replied. Her kiss, though brief, had left him wanting more, as she no doubt knew it would. “You look fantastic this morning.”

“Thank you. I slept well, too,” Shannon informed him. “Especially after Leo called.”

Rick frowned. “The kidnappers called you?”

“No. Just Leo.”

She filled him in on the call as they made their way into the building. Rick came to much the same conclusion as Shannon had. Leo was safe enough, for now at least, and probably in no danger at all—perhaps suffering only a stomachache from eating too much junk food. He also agreed with her assessment of Leo’s possible whereabouts, which she deduced from the few clues the boy had inadvertently dropped. But he still felt obliged to play devil’s advocate.

“`Up here’ could mean a more northern town or state, of course,” Rick noted. “That’s a fairly common idiom. `This far away’ could indicate the same thing.”

“True,” Shannon agreed. “But distance is relative to an eight-year-old. Come to that, if I were going to take one on a car trip, I’d want to make it as short as possible.”

Rick chuckled. “Even ten miles is a major voyage.”

“Right. And they have to bring him back, remember, to make the exchange for the shipment. So what they’d want would be a place close enough to be expedient, yet isolated at the same time. And Leo did say they had a satellite dish.”