Read 14 Christmas Spirit for Free Online Page A

together.
    She watched as they went back into the hallway that led to the interview rooms and Chief Daleson's small office.  She tapped her feet.  She checked her watch again.  They'd only been here maybe half an hour.  Now that they had a mystery to investigate, it seemed like time was speeding past her.  She wanted to be up and doing something.  Maybe she should have worn the My Little Pony watch that Izzy's daughter had given her as a gift.  At least it was fun to watch the pony with the rainbow colored tail flying her way around on the second hand.
    It wasn't exactly something a grownup would wear, though.  Darcy felt a lot more grown up than she ever had before, what with everything that had happened in her sleepy little town over the last year or two, and although she liked the watch she had decided to only wear it for special occasions.
    After watching the normal second hand on her normal watch spin around the dial a few times, Darcy decided to look through the case folder of Megan Bortchowski, missing person.  It wasn't exactly police procedure to let civilians do that sort of thing, but Darcy wasn't your average citizen.  Daleson had grudgingly begun to accept her help after several successful cases in which she had played a big role.  Now, she was an honorary—if unofficial—member of the force.
    There wasn't a lot more information in the folder that she didn't already know.  She kept coming back to Megan's parents.  Why hadn't they reported her missing?  What was the relationship there?  Darcy and her mom hadn't been close for a lot of years, but she still would have been banging on the police station door if Darcy had gone missing.
    There was nothing in the report from Megan's parents.  Just their names and address in Cider Hill.  Darcy had to wonder what that might mean…
    "Ready?" Jon asked her, back from his private meeting.  Joe wasn't with him.
    Darcy hadn't heard him coming.  Looking up at him now, she saw tension around the corners of his eyes, saw the slight downturn of his mouth.  He was thinking hard about something, and it didn't look very pleasant, whatever it was.
    "Jon?  What's the matter?" she asked, standing up with him.
    He drew in a breath, then let it sigh out slowly through his nose as he shook his head.  "I'll tell you later, okay?  Not here."
    "Um, sure," she said, wondering what in the world the Chief could have told him to get him like this.  "Sure.  Neilson Daye first?"
    That brought at least a little bit of a smile back to his face.  "Yes.  Mystery first.  Then I promise I'll tell you all about it."
    He went over to where Shane and Blake were still working at the computer and Darcy listened as he laid out for the two uniformed officers what they were going to do.  They both nodded, asking a few questions as Jon gave them the details they needed.
    Beside her on Jon's desk, the phone rang.
    The black plastic phone had several buttons, each with a specific designation written next to them.  The line that was ringing was an outside line.
    Jon looked over absently and she could see him deciding whether or not to answer it.  This was his day off, after all, and he was about to go interview a possible suspect in a missing person case.  Even so, there was a very good reason to answer the call.
    "It could be Blair Clinton," Darcy pointed out.  "Or Megan's parents."
    He nodded, although he didn't look happy about it, and came back over to pick up the phone on its sixth ring, just before it would have switched through to his voicemail.  "Detective Jon Tinker," he said into the receiver.
    He never spoke a word.  He just held the phone to his ear for maybe half a minute, then handed the phone to Darcy.  "She wants to talk to you."
    Darcy blinked at him, confused.  Who would call Jon at the police station and then ask for her?  Who would even think to do something like that, let alone have any reason to talk to her here?  Well, Grace, sure, but from the look on