Mall Santa Murder: A Cozy Christmas Mystery (Gemma Stone Cozy Mystery Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

his chair and the plastic poinsettias beside it. He even had a string of lights wrapped around one of his legs.
    “Come on, sweetie, let’s go find your mommy,” Gemma said, doing her best to shield the child from the sign of Santa passed out drunk.
    “She’s not here yet,” the little girl said with a sniff.
    “Not here?”
    “Not yet. Mommy is supposed to pick me up later,” she explained, Santa temporarily forgotten. “I was supposed to stay with Santa until she came.” The child burst into tears again.
    Life in a small town, Gemma thought. She was sure the child had to be mistaken somehow, but before she could think much further than that she looked up to see Rosalie McLear striding toward her. The tiny woman looked even more disheveled than before and her face clouded with concern when she saw Gemma with the child.
    “Kami, what are you doing?” Rosalie asked sharply, but her voice and the look on her face softened when she drew closer and saw that the child had been crying.
    “Santa’s lit,” Kami said, breaking away from Gemma to run to her mother.
    Kami began crying again. Rosalie looked at the empty Santa space and rolled her eyes. Then she shared a look with Gemma that said this was about what she expected.
    Gemma shrugged, not knowing what to do or say. There was no way she could make this situation any better.
    “He’s her step-dad," Rosalie explained. "I work nights at a nursing home and we had an unexpected death this morning. The babysitter dropped her off, and he was supposed to watch her until I could get here.” She stopped and shook her head. “Thank goodness you came along, because he obviously can’t keep it together even for a child.”
    Waves of anger rolled off of Rosalie, so fierce and hot that it caused Gemma to take a step back.
    “I’m sorry,” was all she could think of to say.
    “I should have known I couldn’t depend on him,” Rosalie said, her voice tight. “Thank you for looking after Kami. I appreciate it.”
    With the child in tow, she turned and walked away from Gemma, heading for one of the anchor stores on the opposite end of the mall. Gemma was grateful that the entrance was in the opposite direction, which meant the child wouldn’t see her step-dad passed out in the middle of Santa Land.
    Gemma closed her eyes when she heard children squealing with laughter at the other end of the mall and realized that they were headed her way. She was going to have to do something to prevent another embarrassing situation for everyone. She looked up to see Bill, who had apparently been watching the whole exchange between her and Rosalie. He stood at the entrance to his kiosk, arms crossed across his chest with a smug smile on his face.
    “Bill, please stop those children from coming this way while I get figure out how to get Santa out of here,” Gemma shouted to him.
    Bill nodded and moved in that direction.
    Gemma went to where Santa lay, reached down and shook his foot. “Santa,” she called out to him. “Sam. Santa.” She shook the foot harder. No response.
    From where she stood, she could see a plastic reindeer antler clutched in Santa’s hand as if he’d grabbed for it when he fell. He seemed to be tangled up in the lights, too. Gemma figured he had just passed out and grabbed everything as he fell, but he seemed to be out cold and there was no way she could pick him up by herself.
    Gemma stood up and looked around. Where was all this security when she needed it? Maybe if she tried tugging on his arm, she could get him to wake up.
    She was bending over to give it a try when she saw his face. His pale blue eyes were wide open, staring at nothing. His lips were blue, too. But what caught and held her attention was one of the heavy silver garlands that decorated Santa Land tangled in his beautiful beard and wrapped tightly around his neck.
    “Need help?” It was Grady Jackson, giving her a curious look. He wouldn't be able to see Santa from that angle.
    “Oh,