12 Days Read Free Page A

and her life, which made her smile. All of her dreams were coming true and the future seemed to have no limits. Satisfied with her visions of bliss, it was time to gather the troops. Dreams didn’t come true for those who sat around; the future waited for no one.
    “Let’s go guys; we leave for church in a half an hour.”
    Janette ignored the groans that arose from the four corners of her house, including a complaint from Bill. The color in her face rose from soft white to hot pink. Her lips tightened as she went from loving mother of four to Christian drill sergeant. She cleared her throat.
    “It is Christmas Day and we are going to church!”
    The troops knew better than to incur the wrath of Mom, particularly on Christmas Day.
     
    Day One: 12:00 p.m.
    Officer Roy Winston had the day shift on Christmas. A twelve-year veteran of the West Covina Police Department, he had grown weary of the job and looked forward to pursuing his real dream of becoming a chef and opening his own restaurant. It would be Pan-Asian California fusion style, with lots of little paper lanterns and short-skirted waitresses. Intimate, but big enough to pack them in for movie premieres. Roy was daydreaming when he spotted Jim Jovian across the squad room, typing slowly and occasionally rubbing his eyes.
    “Burning it at both ends?” Roy asked.
    “If I start drooling on the keys, smack me, will ya,” Jovian yawned his response.
    “Pretty fucked up, hanging Santa. What kind of sick bastard would do that? Any leads?”
    “Yeah, the two Jacks.”
    Roy thought on this.
    “Two Jacks?”
    “Yeah, Jack Mehoff and Jack Shit.”
    Roy had a genuine belly laugh every time he heard Jack Mehoff, which this time turned into a coughing fit. He caught his breath when the phone in front of him rang. He grabbed it.
    “West Covina police, this is Officer Winston.”
    Roy’s eyes went to Jim.
    “Officer Jovian is busy right now, can I be of service? Hold on.”
    Roy put the caller on hold and called to Jim.
    “Hey man, some chick named Klein on the phone. You here?”
    “Christ, here we go.”
    Jim stopped typing and picked up the phone.
    “Jovian.”
    “Officer Jovian, Lisa Klein. We met this morning.”
    “Ah yes, the witness/extortionist. Stumble across another dead body?”
    “Actually that’s what I was calling about. Did you identify the body yet?”
    “Not yet, we’re still running the prints.”
    “You’ll let me know when you find something, won’t you?”
    “You are my first call,” Jim replied sarcastically.
    “I look forward to hearing from you. Ciao.”
    “Ciao.”
    Jim hung up the phone, dumbstruck. He had never used the word “Ciao” before.
     
    Day One: 1:00 p.m.
    The High Definition image of the hanging Santa glowed from the video monitor in the darkened KVTM News edit bay. Milt Adams was hard at work, sifting through his early morning shots. The hanging Santa mesmerized him; it was really creepy. He couldn’t understand why Lisa agreed not to show it. What information could that cop give her that would trump these clips? Milt didn’t get it. He continued to stare at the dead man and found his finger gravitating towards the record button. It hovered for a second and then, in an instant, Milt had made himself a copy of everything. No harm, just something for his portfolio. He wasn’t planning on staying at KVTM forever anyway, and the tape was like… well, money in the bank.
     
    Day One: 1:10 p.m.
    This was the most alive he had felt in his entire life. He was becoming something greater than himself. He stood before the mirror and straightened his tie. He hated anything around his neck, but today he had a part to play and the tie was needed to complete his costume. He practiced his lines aloud.
    “Buon giorno, come sta?”
    He was pleased with the inflection of his voice. He would wear the shoe with the biggest lift today to minimize the limp, and accessorize his appearance with the hand-carved ivory cane that his