Christmas Corpse Caper Read Online Free PDF Page A

speakers, “Oh, you better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout. I’m telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town.”
    * * *
    “Follow me.” I opened the preparation room door.
    Kim clutched my hand as we entered.
    The body bag looked… it looked full. My heart jumped.
    “Mark that doesn’t look like an empty bag.” Kim let go of my hand and folded her arms on her chest, and tapped her foot.
    “I swear it was empty.” I shook my head, puzzled.
    “Okay, I’m done.” Kim threw her hands in the air. “Too much excitement for one night.”
    “But?” I approached the table with the body bag. Yup. There was someone in there. “I swear just a while ago it was… it was… empty.”
    “Right.” Kim furrowed her eyebrows. “Real cute, Mark.”
    This time I wanted to make sure there was a body in there. I unzipped the bag.
    “Gotcha!” screamed Joe as he popped out of the body bag. He was dressed head to toe in a Santa suit, the black buttons of the red jacket pulling against his round belly.
    I toppled backward, hitting my back on the hard surface of a counter as I went down. My heart caught in my throat. Lying on the floor, the taste of bile formed in my mouth. My ears pounded with the sound of my racing heartbeat.
    “You should’ve seen your face,” he said. Joe laughed as he doubled over holding his stomach. The body bag lay crumpled on the floor.
    “You’re so mean! Poor Mark is scared to pieces,” Kim scolded Joe, her finger pointing in his square face.
    “I’m fine.” I rubbed my temples, staving off the overwhelming sensation to vomit. I had to appear brave in front of the bully and the girl. Act cool. “You got me. Good one, Joe.”
    “I should’ve filmed this. Too funny.” Joe caught his breath between chortles. His nostrils fanned out as he gasped for air.
    “Why didn’t you get Kim to film it?” I asked, rising slowly. Kim and Joe must’ve planned this together, down to her coming back under the guise of paperwork. She was here just to watch me get humiliated. But then why did she kiss me?
    “What do you mean?” Kim put her palms up. “I didn’t know anything about this.”
    “Sure. Whatever you say.” I huffed and flailed my arms. “Earlier you said ‘Or he wouldn’t’ something, but you stopped short of finishing your sentence. Was it because you knew Joe was going to do this?”
    “No, Joe told me earlier that he wanted to initiate you, and I thought that was a good thing. You know like he finally accepted you, but I didn’t know what his plans were.” Kim scowled.
    “Okay. I’ve done my good deed for the day.” Joe slapped my back. “You’re officially part of the team.”
    “Thanks for the adrenaline boost,” I said to Joe, trying to sound composed. “Don’t need coffee anymore.”
    “Glad to help. I’m heading upstairs,” Joe shouted, slamming the door behind him.
    “What did you mean, ‘whatever I say’? I had nothing to do with this.” Kim got in my face.
    Backing up, I said to her, “It was just coincidence that you were here with paperwork after hours and just sheer chance that you had me get the receipt… “
    “Hey, you’re the one who left the receipt down here. Not me.” After whirling on her heel, Kim stormed off. Her boots thumped down the hallway with each stomping footfall.
    “Yeah, right,” I shouted to no one in particular.
    This night was tanking. Joe embarrassed me. Kim was pissed off at me. A vase broke and a flower arrangement was damaged. What could happen next?
    Actually, I didn’t really want to know.
    * * *
    As I walked back upstairs, I thought about Kim kissing me and being so nice to me. It sure hadn’t seemed like an act. She’d really seemed to like me. Maybe I should believe her when she’d said that she had nothing to do with Joe’s prank.
    “I’m sorry I accused you of plotting against me. I just thought you were in on it too,” I said to Kim back in the office.
    “Hmmph.” Kim grabbed her