Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
HILARY
Hilary felt like she’d been tased. Not that she’d ever been tased, but this was how she imagined it would feel.
Every cell in her body was fried. Her eyes stung.
She had slept (if you could call it that) in her contacts, now like shards of glass in her already dry eyes.
Her mouth was gummy, even though she brushed her teeth in the office sink—twice.
The twitching she’d experienced in the mayor’s office had stayed with her all day.
The copious amounts of coffee she had consumed could be the culprit.
It was almost six. Teams were likely spread throughout the city by now.
There were only two hours left to clock in on the first clue.
Samesh had been giving her updates all afternoon.
At the last check, only four teams hadn’t figured out the ice sculpture yet.
Hilary took that as more confirmation that the early leaders had jumped out to a head start last night because they were clever and quick, not because they were secretly being fed clues from a mole on her staff.
She had polled the Chamber members. The vote was unanimous to keep the teams racing. No one shared the mayor’s perspective. That had brought Hilary some relief, but not enough. She knew the mayor and his staff would watch her every move for the next few days. Nothing else could go wrong.
Tomorrow was breakfast with Santa. Hilary had rented a ballroom at the grand downtown hotel.
Breakfast would be served buffet style. Kids would have photo ops with Santa, Mrs. Claus, and a trio of elves.
There would be holiday crafts at the tables, including cookie decorating with Mrs. Claus, ornament making, and a performance by the high school choir.
Guests had been asked to bring canned food and nonperishables for the food bank, so Hilary arranged large donation boxes throughout the ballroom. She hoped to have at least a hundred pounds of food to share with the nonprofit. Yet another check in the box for why the hunt should continue.
As soon as the breakfast was wrapped up, Hilary would need to shift her attention to the Starlight Parade and then the Snowball Dance. It would be a whirlwind even without the mayor breathing down her neck.
Her staff and the Chamber businesses would back her up, but Hilary couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was going on. Did the mayor have another reason to want to sabotage Passport to the Holidays?
It sounded ridiculous.
Hilary shook her head.
She needed sleep.
She had never been prone to conspiracy theories, but her conversation with the mayor had rattled her.
When the last of her staff had left, Hilary locked up and headed for the car. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t been home in over twenty-four hours. It was also weird that she hadn’t heard from Ben. He must be pissed about the flowers and ignoring him at last night’s kickoff.
She didn’t have the energy to make amends. She wanted a glass of wine, a hot bath, and her bed. But she knew she would have to face her husband and their problems when she got home.