Miss Frost Solves A Cold Case: A Nocturne Falls Mystery (Jayne Frost Book 1) by Kristen Painter Page B

Loyal. Generous. Protective of the citizens who call this place home.”
    “That puts things in a different light. I can imagine they wouldn’t be happy about the problem with the employees then.”
    “No, not at all.”
    And they wouldn’t be happy with Toly or the company if anyone who wasn’t authorized made use of that elevator.
    Hmm. What if the missing employees had the same curiosity about that elevator that I had? What if they had accessed it somehow and that’s why they were gone? If the town could take away the building for a violation, could they also remove employees?
    That might explain why Toly was so on edge about it—he was tired of workers who couldn’t keep their mitts to themselves. “What’s the Ellinghams take on the missing employees?”
    He gave me a look I couldn’t quite decipher. “I’m not sure I’m supposed to be talking to you about this.”
    I smiled sweetly and looped my arm through his. “But you already are.”
    The side of his mouth lifted in a reluctant half smile. “They’re concerned, and they’re monitoring the situation, but whoever runs the company that owns Santa’s Workshop has been made aware that this issue needs to be resolved. That’s all I know. And probably more than I should have said.”
    My gaze shifted straight ahead. Was that why I’d been sent? Because the ruling family of vampires had been in touch with my father about an issue that might impact their town? Or had my dad really just found out because of the census? Or had the two occurrences collided? I had a lot of questions to ask the next time I spoke to my dad.
    “You look lost in thought.” He jostled my arm a little to get my attention. “If you’re worried that something might happen to you because of what’s happened to the other employees—”
    “Worried is an interesting choice of words, isn’t it? That sounds like something bad has happened to them.” Which I didn’t want to believe. “All I’ve heard is that they stopped coming to work.”
    “And left everything behind. You said that yourself.”
    “Just the one that I know of.”
    “Even so, why would someone leave everything behind unless they had no choice? What kind of situation would you have to be in to just walk away like that?”
    I sighed. “That’s what I keep asking myself.”
    And I had yet to come up with an answer that didn’t point to something unsavory going down in Nocturne Falls.

I let the topic rest. We had cat food to buy anyway, and in the bright lights of the Shop-n-Save, I wanted to enjoy my domestic errand with Greyson, not worry about what had become of the store’s last six employees.
    “Tasty Tuna Surprise?” Greyson held up a small can of cat food. “What do you think the surprise is?”
    “That it tastes better than it sounds? Throw it in the basket.” With his help, I picked out an abundance of cat food, both canned and dry, a bag of chicken-flavored treats, and a jumbo jug of cat litter. Enough to hold Spider in good stead until this thing was all over.
    At which point, I guessed I’d be taking him back to the North Pole. Huh. I hadn’t considered that until just now, but there was no way I was giving him up. Who would sleep on my hair?
    I added a box of chocolate glazed donuts, another six-pack of Dr Pepper, and a cheap spiral-bound notebook to the mix, and we checked out. Greyson eyed the baked goods and the soda, but wisely said nothing. He took the jug of litter and a bag, then I took the remaining two bags and we started the walk back.
    “Thanks,” I said. “I really appreciate you coming with me on this trip. I’m not really scared to be on my own at night, but you know, strange town and all that. I’m still getting my bearings.”
    “You don’t need to be afraid in Nocturne Falls, but being smart is never a bad move. If you ever need me, just call. I’ll be there.”
    “Very sweet of you. You should probably give me your number then.”
    He smiled. “And you should