Christmas Crisis: A Murder Game Short

Christmas Crisis

New York City, New York

Lukkas Tammela runs nervous hand after nervous hand through his golden-tinted light brown hair as he embarks on his latest case to solve: Evelyna MacKinnon-Tammela's present for Christmas.

There's so much you can give to the woman of your dreams, but only certain things to a pampered FBI-agent who is also a mother of three wonderful sons. After all, he'd had a hand in adopting them from the start.

He's already gotten her: a hat trick on Madison Square Garden ice, tickets to a game or two, a vacation to Colorado with the kids, a romantic sleigh ride through the heart of New York City...what more could there be to give her?

He's so lost in his head, that he doesn't realize he's stopped before a crosswalk that leads across to a small shop that is nestled away on the side of an old building. Behind him is the infamous Grand Central Park that is bathed in fresh snow from the chilly New York winter. With two black gloved hands, he pulls at the fur-lined hood of his black winter jacket and stares at a set of rusted, dimly lit letters that spell out the name of the shop, "Lover's Lane Trinkets and Things."

Cute.

He knows that one of Evelyna's favorite things to collect are trinkets, so this could be just the place he's been looking for for the perfect present.

Overhead, the sun is sinking lower and lower toward the horizon, casting an array of dark purples and pinks that fade away into the dark blue of the evening. A bitter wind whips the air around him, drawing some of his wispy hair strands with it.

He shakes off the chill and shoves his gloved hands into the pockets of his dark denim jeans. Then with a huff of visible steam from a sign, he starts across as the white walking man shows in the electronic road sign's communication box. One more store for an idea won't hurt, and then I'll head back home.

Lukkas halts at the door, trying to peer into the shop. The windows are darkly tinted and there is no visible image of the indoors, which strikes Lukkas oddly. His gaze trails down to the handle, which seems normal enough. He grabs it and wrenches the door open toward him allowing a blast of warm air to hit him.

He looks around him, seeing the cars bustling along and people hurrying left and right. Everyone is out shopping for the holidays. With that last thought, he steps inside and lets the door close behind him.

A young woman with jet black hair spins around from the counter to greet him. "Good evening, sir." She brushes her hair to the side, a pair of devilish, beady gray-green eyes peer back at him.

There's a familiar grandeur about this dark haired woman. He takes in her outfit, a cute black gothic look. She's got knee-high boots on that buckle around a pair of fishnet tights that come up to her exposed belly. A short leather cheerleading skirt with a black belt that has silver spikes is hung loosely around her hops with a silver chain dangling off one side. He can see threads from the skirt dangling down freely over her pale legs that shine through the fishnet material. She's also got on a loose crop top that displays some kind of metal band on it and around her neck is a choker that is similar to the belt she has on.

"What can I help you to find today?" the woman asks, setting down a black nail file that she's been using to file her short black painted fingernails.

Lukkas smiles at her and puts his hand on a display case, dragging his fingers along the top of the glass and eyeing the jewelry trinkets below. There's bracelets with charms on them, rings, necklaces and other various items. "I'm hoping to maybe find something unique for my, um--"

"Girlfriend?" the woman finishes, coming toward the brunette.

"No, my wife," Lukkas chuckles, dragging his hand off the glass and back to his side. "You see she loves to collect trinkets, so I was thinking about getting her a unique gift from here. I've already run through all my other possible present ideas and I really, really, just want to get her something different and special, from the heart. You know?"