Who Shot Father Christmas?

While the girls were working in the kitchen, Mickey ordered the delivery of some Chinese food and they stopped for a break when it arrived, continuing the preparation of the spicy liquor until quite late. Mickey gave her a ride back to her hotel and told her if she still wanted the grand tour of the city and the winery he could pick her up at lunchtime, having already arranged the afternoon off with Bella. Ella said she looked forward to it. He asked if he could kiss her goodnight, shyly she agreed. Mickey took her gently in his arms and kissed her just as softly, but he really blew her socks off! They waved at each other as they separated and Ella could have sworn she floated up the six floors to her room.

***

Ella had a refreshing shower, washing out the pleasant but all-pervading smell of Christmas spices from her hair. It wasn't until she was blow-drying that she remembered the package from Uncle Manny, which she had locked in her suitcase in the closet earlier.

The opened package revealed two things. The plastic weapon, with an adequate supply of hollow point slugs, was a model she was used to and knew it would certainly be adequate to do the job at close range. Ella was pleased, this was a promising sign.

The second enclosure was the quarto dossier on the mark, the hit. She found herself keen to open it and satisfy her curiosity as to who the target was. A full 10x8 photo of the head and shoulders of the subject of the hit was the first thing she saw. Ella drew in a deep breath, she thought her heart would stop, it was such a shock. There he was, he could have been the spitting image of the man she was rapidly falling in love with. Oh damn! She virtually admitted to herself the unadmittable, she didn't just like Mickey, no, in just a few short hours she had fallen in love with Mickey already. Oh double damn!

Of course there were differences between the two men, the eyebrows and hair line were different, the lips were a little off, the top lip thinner, the lower fuller, the chin was so damn identical except that in the picture there was a ghost of a cleft chin which wasn't there in Mickey's, and the cheek bones were high and prominent in both. In essence they were so close they could have been twins. This was going to be difficult, very difficult, Ella thought, but she had to be professional, she was going to be paid for this job so she was a professional.

For the past week Ella had persuaded herself that the mark deserved it, of course he did. He would be a dealer, a dodgy bookie, or ran a string of hookers, perhaps a racketeer muscling in on someone's else's trade, something along those lines. Naturally, he'd already have blood on his hands. Or at least an adulterer, or rapist, or molester, whatever he was he definitely had it coming to him and she was there to administer exactly what was required.

The next page in the dossier listed his personal details, she read "Nicholas Claus, known as Nicky Claus, also known as Nicky Christmas, born on December 29th, age 31 next birthday, occupation unknown ..." Yes, she thought, definitely doing shady business that he shouldn't. Ella read on "... Address unknown, parents live at Lighthouse Point, St Nicholas City." That's odd, she thought, she had been at Lighthouse Point a couple of times this evening, and there were only a couple of dwellings on that point, Mickey's Lighthouse and Bella's parents' place next door. There was no-one else living around for miles. She looked at the next entry, "Vehicle cherry red Corvette with green leather upholstery, registration 'Hoho-0'. No known business associates. Next of kin Nick and Mary Christmas, aka Claus, retired, address 'Dunchimnin', Lighthouse Point, St Nicholas City. Siblings, just the one sister Arabella Claus, post office manager, St Nicholas City."

Triple damn! He's the brother of that lovely girl Bella. Ella hadn't met her parents Nick and Mary yet, but in the car Mickey had said that they were the perfect sweet old couple and the perfect neighbours, they couldn't possibly do more for him over the last seven years. In fact Mary was almost a mother to him, Mickey having lost his mother when he was just a young boy. He had admitted to Ella, both being so comfortable in each others company already, that he had dated Bella once only but they found out on that very first date that although they respected one another deeply they were not compatible as life partners. She recalled that Mickey had also mentioned that Bella had a brother, who he didn't actually name, that he had only met briefly twice but he was just as friendly as the rest of his family, that he had been away at agricultural college for years and had only taken over the family business, whatever that was, in recent years. Mickey did mention the amazing coincidence that he and Bella's brother shared the same birthday, he had discovered this only last year when they were both celebrating their 30th birthday in a joint party at the Claus's house!

Ella wondered why this Nicky Claus was a target, there must be something bad, there had to be, if there wasn't that might mean ... oh! quadruple damn! ...

***

Bella had an idea which had been bubbling around in her head ever since lunchtime. As soon as she waved her farewells to Mickey and that lovely girl Della, as they drove back to her hotel, she went back to her place to consult with her Daddy. He was still up, as she knew he would be, he was always such a night person and retirement hadn't changed his habits of a lifetime.

Bella had assumed that she would have to fight tooth and nail to get her idea across, but was pleasantly surprised when Daddy told her that when he and her uncles were young kids they used to do what she suggested all the time. There was enough magic to spare and, provided Nicky was in agreement, he had no problem with it.

So, for the first time in almost a year, Bella rang and spoke to Father Christmas, her Nicky. Their conversation was taut, strained, each conscious of betraying one another's bare emotions. Of course Nicky agreed to her reasonable request, it provided the solution to his own problems and, knowing how close the elves had come to ruining Christmas through their own bloodymindedness, they would jump at the chance to come on board and make amends. Other than candy canes and egg nog, they loved nothing better than a glass or three of mulled wine ...

***

Nicky had managed to get the reindeer flying and had hitched up the sleigh for a trial run during the day, so when Bella called it was easy for him to agree to anything she asked. The reindeer were slow but at least they were moving. With Bella available to drive them he knew they would answer every demand, just as they always had.

Nicky called his father to say he was flying down next morning to speak with him as he still had doubts about the Christmas Eve present run later in the day and night and Daddy had said that it looked like Bella was available to help with both runs.

Nick was not happy to hear his son still had doubts, although he now came to accept them and that he would himself have to pull on his fur-lined boots one last time if Bella was too tired to continue. So Nicky was quite surprised when Daddy appeared happy with his intention to fly down to the Californian coast in the morning. Nicky hoped to have one last go at persuading his father to save the day, possibly to save Christmas itself.

***

"Manny it's Nick," went the brief untraceable phone call. "Father Christmas is coming down a day early".

"I understand, the reception party's arranged, I'll change the time to suit, don't youse worry about a thing, Nick."

***

Mickey was excited all morning, he had hardly slept the previous night, his thoughts were full of the delightful Della. She was in his thoughts while awake, and dreams as he dozed.

He was in work an hour early and worked like a Trojan until Bella shooed him out at lunchtime so he could shower off the stink of his labor to shave, shower and powder ready for his afternoon amour. Funnily enough, "Della" also preened, perfumed and powdered herself ready for the very same afternoon amour.

Admittedly, the car did smell a lot like Christmas, loaded as they were with mulled wine cordial, and they both laughed as they opened all the windows. Ella was glad she had brought along a change of clothes, knowing how pervasive the flavourings were, and it was likely that she would be helping her new boyfriend and his father salvage the whole vintage. It was a glorious day and they were full of each others company. Ella, did feel a slight twinge of guilt as they sailed past the little airfield, but didn't allow it to ruin her day.

She hadn't received the message waiting from her supposed brother about the date of her appointment being brought forward by 24 hours, so she was still under the impression that the hit would be in two days' time, on Christmas morning. While Mickey had slaved away in the post office all morning, Ella had worked hard too, exploring the route between where Mickey had left the airfield road, to drop her at her hotel the previous day, and the airfield itself. She had assumed that the airfield would contain the local small aircraft enthusiasts, but apparently they were accommodated to one side of the city airport on the other side of town. Neither were there any industrial buildings there, which was strange. The only person who appeared to work on the site was a rather imbecilic old handyman guy with buck teeth, who looked as though he had retired years ago, and he just pottered about most of the time. She had done her work and formulated a plan. So the rest of today was for pleasure only. Just being in the car with the man of her dreams was a pleasure in itself.

Pop was a very shy man, Ellie-June Simpson had been the only girl who brought him out of his shell and that was only because she thought he was worth doing all the running for. Pop was therefore particularly shy when presented to such a beautiful girl like this "Della" that Mickey had brought home to meet him. He must be serious about this girl. Of course he believed in love at first sight, he knew it from first hand, even if it had taken him two months to speak to Ellie-June at the next-but-one church social. He tried to think back to when his son was only a teenager ... no, Pop had to say he couldn't remember him ever bringing home any girl before now.

Pop was working in the barn when they came in so he had to pretend a piece of hay had flown into his eye when the thought occurred to him that, were she still alive, Ellie-June would have loved to have whisked Della away to the parlour to show her all the albums of Mickey as a rugrat. Albums that Pop hadn't bothered to maintain and add to, ever since ...

"Damn this dusty hay," he said, pulling a grubby checked handkerchief from his patched denim overalls, "Sorry kids, I need to go to the kitchen and wash out this eye. Show "Della" round, why don'tcha, Mickey and then come on in the house for a bite an' coffee an' a try of your samples. Then we'll see about puttin' this here wine to rights."

Mickey smiled his usual easy smile, relaxed at the farm for the first time in a decade, knowing that with Bella and "Della's" help, he was actually doing something useful about the place. OK, he thought I'm still just fixing things, but this could be the biggest thing he had ever fixed for Pop and it pleased him no end. This was the season for giving and even though it was surely far too little far too late, that Pop would appreciate that it was the giving that counted, not just the gift.

It was a joy taking "Della" around the farm, although the vines did look a little sickly. The winery was clean though, and the ancient bottling plant set up and ready to go. They ended up back at the house and Mickey was ready to show Pop what Bella, with "Della's" help, had done to improve the wine.

Pop quite liked the cold flavoured wine but was ecstatic when Mickey warmed some up on the stove. It was like all his Christmases came rolled into one.

Using a calculator and the vat dipsticks, Pop and Mickey worked out how much to put in each vat and stirred each one thoroughly. Meanwhile, Ella used her artistic bent, which she never knew she had until then, on producing a draft label using cut and paste with existing photos for Pop to approve. He was over the moon about the design and they started to produce labels by the roll. When they had enough to label a batch, Pop connected up the first vat and started up the machinery. Mickey made up the cartons for filling and sealing and loading them onto pallets. Once the labels were run off, Ella came to help Mickey with the packing and they worked until late and overcome with exhaustion.

After showering at the farm, Mickey drove the pair of them back towards the city and they found an all-night diner on the interstate highway where they grabbed a cheeseburger and fries, but they were so hungry by then they'd have eaten anything.

In the car outside the hotel, they kissed and made out for twenty minutes before both decided it was too risky to prolong their delicious agony. Ella wasn't ready for the next step and in truth neither was Mickey willing to blow what he hoped that they could forge together just for a few snatched moments of premature intimacy. Like the perfect gentleman, he escorted Ella to her door and kissed her gently, agreeing to meet again after finishing work at noon on Christmas Eve, only this time he promised a proper date, a long relaxing walk along the shoreline either side of the Lighthouse, then a meal at a nice restaurant, followed by dancing. Ella watched as he walked down the corridor until he waved farewell at the corner.

The bedside phone rang as soon as Ella shut the door. She thought it might have been Mickey calling her from his cell, not wanting to just say goodbye and reluctant to end the evening. She picked up the handset, but it turned out to be the front desk. They had a message for her and she had been rather engrossed with her company when she came in so the clerk on the desk couldn't catch her attention. It could only be Uncle Manny, and important, so she walked down the corridor to the elevator.

Mickey had decided to take the stairs rather than the elevator. He pulled out his cell phone to check the time and realised he had left it switched off since lunchtime. There were two messages on it, both from Bella, asking him to ring her urgently at any time of the night. The second message was only half an hour ago. He rang her back as he was still going down the stairs.

"Mickey! Thanks for getting back to me, how'd you get on at the winery?"

"Didn't quite do all the sixty thousand, but Dad and his staff were going to carry on through the night, so he may get there or close to it by morning."

"Where are you now, Mickey, it sounds echoey."

"Just dropped Della at her room and walking down the stairs."

"Struck out, huh, stud?" teased Bella.

"Not at all, I'll have you know she's not that kinda girl."

"I know, just teasing. I like her a lot actually and, well I hope she sticks around."

"She's just here on vacation, leaving for home the day after Christmas."

"Oh, sorry Mickey, I didn't realise, no family to stay with for the holidays?"

"Just her Mom back east, I think, and at least one brother. She's going to her Mom's next probably for New Years."

"That sucks."

"Yeah, big time. Anyway, I wanted to speak to you in the morning anyway."

"Well, I want to see you immediately. We have a plan to distribute the bottles at Christmas Fairs up and down the state and we are assembling teams to push out samples and sell as many bottles as we can. I need your help all day though with initial deliveries, resupply and collection of the exhausted teams in the evening. Can you come over now, Mickey, so Daddy and I can explain how we are going to do it?"

"Great, on my way. My Pop was asking why we were doing all this bottling and labelling as it's too late to get to market."

"It's never too late, Mickey, you just got to believe in the Magic of Christmas."

"Alright, I think you're crazy, but I'm coming straight over."

"That's good! See you in a few minutes. Hey! What did you want to say to me, anyway?"

"Only that I'm gonna accept your offer of the job at the post office."

"Oh, that's great, look forward to making an official announcement after Christmas."

"OK if Della helps out with the deliveries tomorrow? I'd arranged to go out with her tomorrow afternoon and evening."

There was a pause at the other end then Bella said, "I'm afraid she won't be able to come. The er ... method of delivery is a secret that we are prepared to let you into as Mummy and Daddy have known you for years and trust you, like they would a son. They've never met Della, so that's a non-starter. You'll have Christmas Day free, you could bring her over to have Christmas dinner with us. It should be a blast!"

"OK, Bella, in order to help my Pop out, even though she worked hard today, I'll make some excuse to Della in the morning. Happy?"

"Well, not totally happy, as I think you two make a lovely couple and I hope to see a lot more of the pair of you once we get this mulled wine business out of the way. Did you tell your Pop you were in love?"

"Get out of it, I'm not in love with Della! No way!" said Mickey just as he left the stairway into the reception area. He waved at the clerk and headed towards the exit.

"You so are, lover-boy!" Bella teased down the cell phone.

"Lover-girl yourself, Bella," chuckled Mickey. "I'm coming over to your place now and I'll blow Della off in the morning, like you insist, so long as it's Christmas dinner on you. Happy?"

"Of course! See you soon, you know Mummy and Daddy love you like a second son, and I love you like a brother, you know?"

"Yeah, I know, I love you too. See you in five minutes." He closed the cell phone and dropped it in his pocket and was already whistling a jolly carol by the time he disappeared through the door. Everything was so right in his world right now, if only he could persuade "Della" to stay, or at least keep in contact until she finished college, then, who knows?

Ella stood transfixed staring at the departing man. She had emerged from the elevator, just before Mickey had come through the door from the stairwell and strode across the foyer and out the door.

She tried to process the fragments of the conversation she had heard. Men, you just can't trust them. She had thought Mickey was different, but he was just like her Poppa, looking out for himself and getting all the free pussy he could get. He was talking to Bella, of course he was. He had said "Get out of it, I'm not in love with Della! No way!" Then Bella must've said something short like, "You're my lover-boy, Mickey," and he replied "Lover-girl yourself, Bella." Of course they were lovers, Mickey even told Ella they had dated, clearly disarming her in case anyone said they'd seen them going out together.

Then he followed up with "I'm coming over to your place now and I'll blow Della off in the morning, like you insist, so long as it's Christmas dinner on you. Happy?" He's seeing an old girlfriend at 2 o'clock in the morning, telling her he was blowing me off as she demanded and he's spending Christmas with her and asking if she's happy? Of course she is, she's got her man. And then he tells her he loves her and is going straight over there.

Ella was angry. If I had invited him in tonight, I know he wouldn't have turned me down. He would have got my cake and eaten Bella's, too. I bet he only came onto me as a spur for Bella. He's had his eye on screwing the boss for a while, she was only partly interested, so he introduced a rival and, guess what? The woman he wanted all along came through for him.