Black Christmas

Chapter 11

The elves know their plan as they move like silent ninjas through the night. The town is quiet, so it's easy to go unnoticed.

Greg feels his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. It's crucial that he answers any and all calls at this time. He motions for the others to go ahead as he drops back and silently says "Hello." He half expects the caller to be the killer himself.

"It's Dr. MacKellan."

Greg is happy to hear a friendly voice but wonders what could be wrong. He asks the doctor to go on with her news.

"I ran some tests on the body we found in Santa's office. I got to the blood test, and I found something out."

Greg wonders why she calls it "the body" and not "Santa Claus." He's concerned but asks her to go on.

"The body isn't Santa's, Greg. It belongs to some nobody. Charlie Dagger from Dallas, Texas. It was planted."

Greg hears a soft thud and looks down to see his phone firmly planted in the snow at his feet. The news he's just been given seems to make something quite clear. He looks ahead at the other elves as he realizes that the task force he's created is hunting down a killer who happens to be St. Nicholas himself.

He picks up his phone and hurries to catch up with the others, still unsure of what to tell them.

"Who was that?" Alan asks quietly as soon as Greg catches up.

Greg can't bring himself to tell the others what he knows. The mission hasn't changed, so he just lets them continue to believe what they did already. "It was a wrong number. Just a nuisance."

***

As the task force walks up on a house that looks to them to be a good target, they take a glance inside. They see sleeping children and parents through the windows and know how enticing it would look for the killer. They decide to sneak in.

The plan to hide out and strike when the killer arrives is clear, and Greg orders the elves into their places. Drew, Gavin, and Eric each take a bedroom. Brick and Bailey stay by the tree, swords ready. Alan, Jerry, and James each take a corner of the family room, rifles aimed toward the center. Greg takes the fourth corner, as no words are to be exchanged before the battle ensues.

Greg works hard to mentally prepare himself for this. He's been waiting for this battle all night, but now that it's moments away, he's not sure if he can keep it together. He struggles to do so not for himself, but for the task force and for Gordon. Pretty soon, he and his men are going to kill Santa Claus because it must be done.