Christmas Royale

Sarah loves her job working for Carlie in the archaeology department, and takes her job seriously. When an email comes in begging for help from Todd Adams, Carlie turns it down, but Sarah feels he's telling the truth.

Todd hasn't exactly stayed out of trouble throughout his life. After living a life of crime in his family's business, he's ready to clean up his act and find a new line of work. But when he discovers that his grandparents and several others have been robbed, he knows he has to do something about it.

Together, Sarah and Todd try to uncover the mystery behind the robberies and land themselves in trouble with old enemies. Can the two of them find out who is behind everything and save the day, or will this be their last Christmas they celebrate?

 Sarah was good and ready for her Christmas Break. The plane tickets in her bag were itching to be used, but she still had another hour’s worth of papers to go through
before she handed them off to Carlie. Who knew that being an assistant to a professor would take every waking moment? Of course, most assistants weren’t also in charge of making sure their professor’s private life as a spy stayed secret.

“Hey, Sarah? Do you have those papers for me? I’m going to be taking off early today.” Carlie stood in the doorway holding her baby on her hip.

“I’m not done with them, but they’re right here.” Sarah patted the pile next to her. “Did I forget something?”

Carlie laughed.
“No. Braden and I just decided to take off to visit his dad for Christmas and our flight is earlier than I thought.”

Sarah set the paper she’d been grading on the pile. “Sorry they’re not done. I had a final last night—”

“It’s okay.
Don’t stress. Go on your vacation and I’ll see you when you get back.” Carlie
picked up the pile. “I can do the rest.”

“You sure?”
Sarah wanted to hug her. If she had to stare at one more paper, her brain was going to explode.

“Bye, Sarah. I’d better not find out that you worked instead of enjoying your vacation.” Shewaved and left.

Sarah stared atthe empty desk in front of her. That was a first. What was she going to do now? Finals were done, and she had no more work to do. She chuckled to herself and stood. It was time to get out of there and maybe even go shopping before her flight.

It was a little cooler this morning than Sarah had expected for Arizona, but that meant a slightly heavier jacket. Soon she’d be bundled up to go skiing and she couldn't wait. Her car was already packed with her luggage since she’d planned to leave
from the office, so all she had to do was head to the airport.

Sarah pulled her keys out of her pocket and opened the car doors to set her bag inside. The lot was almost empty as she pulled out and onto the road. Christmas music
played on the radio, and signs along the streets promised great deals for last minute shopping. Sarah found a spot to park at the mall and followed the throng of people inside. 

There wasn’t much she needed. Something for her parents, and a family gift for her brother and sister. Maybe something for Carlie if she could find the right thing. What do you get a boss that goes treasure hunting for a living? A headlamp and extra bullets for their gun? Probably not.

The first stop was to a game store to pick out a few games for her nieces and nephews. Hopefully they still liked to play. She grabbed some dice for herself and an RPG game for her brother while she was at it. Maybe they could play over the break.

Mom and Dad got slippers and robes, and her sister would get tickets to Wicked. Not bad for a couple of hours in a mall. Sarah readjusted
the bags and headed for the food court. One more stop for lunch and then she really needed to get out of there.

Sarah grabbed a sandwich and a soda, then sat at one of the empty tables to eat. She went through her emails like she did every day, half expecting another assignment from Carlie. It wasn't that Carlie was a slave driver or anything. But living a
double life meant that someone else had to take the slack and being her
assistant meant that the pay was better than any of the other campus jobs she could have gotten. If everything went according to plan, Sarah would be able to buy an apartment by the end of the next term. 

Most of her emails were ads for the holiday season, which she deleted. The email address she screened for Carlie was a little more interesting. Students begging to get into one of her classes, others asking for a retake of the final, and the
end-of-school reminders from the college department. Sarah replied to the students and sent the reminders on to Carlie, even though they’d be deleted before being read. At least she tried, right? 

Sarah finished the last bite of her sandwich and crumpled up the paper. She gathered up her bags and then her phone and keys, excitement building as she headed for her car. Her phone buzzed with another email and she stopped in the middle of the
crowd of people. She recognized the name, but couldn’t remember why.

To whom it may concern,

I have some news on a potential crime ring and could use your help. We need to meet as soon as possible as the robbery will happen soon.

Todd Adams 

Why did she know that name? She hesitated before sending it on to Carlie, and then dialed her phone number.

“I told you to go on vacation.” Carlie laughed. “What's up?”

“Check the email I just sent you. Something from a Todd Adams. He said there's some crime ring that he could use some help with.”

Carlie grumbled something. “I thought we were done with him. Just delete the email.”

Sarah frowned. “It sounds like he actually needs you. Are you sure?”

“Remember the guy who tried to object at Dani’s wedding?”

“Yeah?”

“That's Todd. He’s bad news. Just delete it and go have fun. We’ll figure out what he wants when we get back.”

Sarah bit her lip. The email was short and impersonal, but she couldn’t let it go for some reason. Maybe she should just email him back so Carlie wouldn’t have to worry about it. 

“Okay. Thanks. Have fun.” Sarah hung up before Carlie could get after her again. She sent a quick reply back to him, letting him know that everyone was out of town for the
holidays. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too late by the time they all got back. 

It took some shuffling to get everything she’d just bought into her luggage, but soon Sarah was on her way to the airport. Finally. By the time she got through security
and to her gate, it would be about time to board. Just how she liked it.
Parking was a pain when she got there, but at least her spot was next to the shuttle that would take her to the right gate. Sarah checked her email again to see if Todd had replied and there was a new email waiting for her. 

Is there anyone I can actually meet with? This is urgent. All of my resources were taken, and we need to stop this from happening. I can meet you anywhere if that helps. Just give me a place and a time and I’ll be there.

Todd

Sarah was thankful the shuttle pulled up to the gate right then. It would give her some time to think. She grabbed her luggage and followed the others out of the shuttle and into the baggage line. Once everything was checked in, she went to stand in the security line.

She'd heard enough about him during the search for the crown and scepter to know that he was clingy and obsessed with Dani. That didn’t exactly help his case. It was very possible that he just wanted to get closer to Dani by claiming there was
something going on. But why now? It had been months and Dani was married. It didn’t make sense.

“Next.” The guard’s voice made Sarah jump.

“Sorry.” She handed him her ticket and license. Once she was checked in, she set her bag and everything onto the conveyor belt and walked through the metal detector. 

Christmas music played over the loud speaker, barely audible over the noise of the crowds. Parents comforting their children, people making phone calls, and arguments
over delayed flights. Sarah found her gate and sat next to a power source so she could plug in her phone. The trip to Jackson Hole wasn't too long, but she had a few books she’d been dying to read, and the plane ride was the perfect place to start.

The email from Todd sat waiting for a reply in Sarah’s inbox. Her finger hovered over the delete button, but she couldn’t do it. Since Carlie was off on vacation and didn't want to be disturbed—and told her to delete the email—Sarah wasn’t about to tell Todd where she was. It wasn’t like she would anyway.

“Now boarding for Jackson Hole.”

Sarah bit her lip, then quickly typed a response. 

Everyone else is out of town. I’ll be in
Jackson Hole, so it may be hard to reach me. You mentioned a crime ring and a robbery. Tell me more.

Sarah

She hit send before she could second guess herself, and then grabbed her bag and went to
stand in line. By the time she found her seat on the plane, she was wishing she could take back the email. Why had she told him where she was? That was completely unsafe and against everything Carlie had taught her. Oh, man. Carlie
was going to fire her. Or strangle her. Or something.