8. Chapter 8 Unexpected Encounters

Chapter 8: Unexpected Encounters

G rum

“Well, well, well! If it isn’t the Grinch himself!”

The booming voice cuts through the bazaar’s din. Turning, I see Kam striding toward us, his arm around Emma, his petite human mate. Behind them, is Thornn and his human mate, Sarah.

Sighing heavily, I mutter, “Joy, meet the bane of my existence, Kam. And his lovely mate, Emma.”

Kam’s grin widens. “Aw. See? You do care! I’m your bane. And who’s this lovely lady? Don’t tell me our Grum’s finally found his Christmas spirit?”

Joy doesn’t seem to sense my irritation. Instead, she bounces over, all smiles and tinkling earring bells. “I’m Joy! Grum works with me on the Santa’s Workshop event and has been showing me around the bazaar. It’s so exciting!”

Kam’s eyes light up mischievously. “Grum working on a Christmas event? Now that’s something I never thought I’d see. Tell me, Joy, how did you manage to drag our resident Grinch into the holiday spirit? Did you bribe him with mellatons ?”

Sarah steps forward, rolling her eyes at Kam’s antics. “Ignore him. I’m Sarah, and this is my mate, Thornn.” Thornn, massive and smiling, nods in greeting, proudly showing off his tusks.

Emma rubs her hands together excitedly. “Oh my gosh, are you the Joy from Jingle All the Way? I thought you looked familiar. I love your shop! It’s a shame it’s so close to the Zone. I spend far too much money in there.”

“Speaking of jingle, did you hear about the Christmas tree that went to the hairdresser? It wanted to get itself trimmed!”

A collective groan rises from the group, and I wonder how—and why—Kam’s managed to live this long without someone telling him his jokes suck.

“Hey! You’re Joy?”

A human teenager strides up with an orc female at his side. This is odd. Normally, humans aren’t quite at ease with Others, especially a group of three big orcs.

“Um?” Joy answers, flustered.

“I’m Tyler. This is Vakra. The grandmother grapevine put out the SOS. Said you needed help because all your presents were stolen.” For a teen, he sounds so mature. “We worked at the community center all day fluffing and hanging wreaths.”

This whole moment is odd, but the oddest thing? Is he happy about fluffing?

“Oh,” Joy reaches to shake his hand, then offers her hand to Vakra, who politely takes it, although shaking hands isn’t something we orcs do. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’m so grateful. I guess Marcy told you about the theft?”

“Yeah. We were happy to step in and help.”

I’m normally not one to intrude on people’s personal lives, but I can’t control my question. “Uh, how do you two know each other?” Other children are kept in segregated schools here in the Zone, so I’m not sure how these two met.

“My mom is cool. She wants me to be exposed to everything, so years ago she began taking me to open swim days in the Zone. Vakra and I became fast friends and have been buddies ever since.

Maybe I’ve been hanging out with Joy too much, but hearing that almost makes me optimistic about the future.

As the conversation is about to end, Joy makes sure the pair plan to attend the Santa’s Toy Exchange—a mighty bold offer considering we have no gifts to “exchange” at the moment—and the pair wanders off to one of the raffle booths.

Before we can start a new conversation, Kam’s booming voice cuts through the chatter. “So, Joy, tell me more about the stolen presents?”

Joy launches into a rapid-fire explanation of the missing truck and our wild goose chase around Hollywood Blvd and into abandoned buildings full of vermin. I can’t help but notice how animated she becomes, her hands flying as she recounts our adventure. It’s a far cry from the stressed-out shop owner I met just days ago.

“…and then we gave up for the day, hoping that tomorrow will bring us another clue,” she finishes, slightly out of breath.

Sarah frowns, her brow furrowing. “Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you said they removed the LoJack? Since the trail’s gone cold, those toys could be anywhere by now.”

Joy’s face falls, and without thinking, my hand moves to her shoulder in a comforting gesture. “We’ll figure something out,” I murmur, surprised at the protectiveness in my voice. Something rumbles in my chest. Am I starting to purr? I’ve never done that before. It’s something male orcs do to soothe their females. What the hell?

I stalk away from the group for a moment, rearranging my hair tie as I try to figure out how to shut down whatever the hell is vibrating in my chest. After trying a few techniques, I find that the purring stops when I recall the smell of the firehouse sewer backing up. With my purr firmly under control, I stride back to the group, my chest mercifully silent.

Emma’s been deep in thought, but she perks up, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “You know, I might be able to help. I’m pretty handy with computers. We could… maybe… hack into the street cameras?”

“Isn’t that illegal?” Her mate Kam rumbles, but there’s a glint in his eye suggesting he’s not entirely opposed to the idea.

Emma grins. “They do it all the time on TV! Besides, it’s for a good cause, right?”

Joy bites her lip, clearly torn. “I don’t know… I mean, we really need those presents, but…”

“Look,” Emma says, pulling out her phone, “let me just take a quick peek. If we can’t find anything, no harm done. But if we can…”

The group huddles around Emma as we all stare at her phone. The bazaar noises fade as we watch her fingers fly over the screen. My arm brushes Joy’s, and I catch a whiff of her scent—sugar and apricot from the mellaton , with an undercurrent of something uniquely her. It’s delicious, and… distracting.

“Got it!” Emma’s triumphant cry snaps me back to attention. “I’ve accessed the street light camera feed from the time and coordinates you gave me. Let’s see… yellow rental truck… Bingo!”

We all lean closer, squinting at the tiny screen. Watching the pictures switch from intersection to intersection. The truck stops at some shady massage parlor for a long time, but Emma fast-forwards through that.

“We’re in real-time now,” Emma tells us.

Sure enough, there’s a yellow truck lumbering down a side street.

We get a close-up of the back of the truck at the next intersection. “It’s the license plate number the rental staff gave you.”

“It’s nearby!” Joy’s excitement is contagious, and I grin, then slam my lips together into a frown. Maybe there are still some lingering effects from that one beer I drank hours ago at lunch, otherwise, why would I be happy to participate in this fool’s errand?

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Kam booms. “Let’s go catch us some toy thieves!”

“Kam!” Thornn huffs. “This is somewhere between mildly and wildly illegal. Can you pipe down?”

“Oh. Yeah.”

He sounds contrite, but that doesn’t mean he won’t announce all of our illegal activities the moment he gets the crazy idea to blurt something out.

Joy’s eyes light up with excitement. “We have to go after that truck! This could be our only chance to find the presents!”

I frown, crossing my arms over my chest. “Hold on, Tinsel Queen. We can’t just go chasing after a truck based on some shady camera footage. It’s dangerous and probably illegal.”

“But Grum,” Joy pleads, “think of all the children who won’t have presents if we don’t try!”

Kam puffs out his chest. “I say we go for it! Nothing like a high-speed chase to get the blood pumping, right, Emma?”

Emma bites her lip, looking conflicted. “I don’t know… Grum has a point about the legality. But if we don’t act now, we might lose our only lead.”

Sarah sighs, ever the voice of reason. “We need to think this through. What’s our plan if we catch up to the truck? We can’t exactly force them to pull over.”

Thornn nods in agreement with his mate. “And what if it’s not even the right truck? We could be putting ourselves in danger for nothing.”

Joy’s shoulders slump slightly, but then she straightens, determination in her eyes. “I understand the risks, but I can’t just sit here and do nothing. These presents mean everything to those kids. I’m willing to take the chance. Who’s with me?”

I groan as I rub my forehead. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… fine. I’m in. Someone has to make sure you don’t get yourself into trouble.”

Kam grins widely. “Count us in too! Right, Emma?”

Emma nods, but she doesn’t look enthusiastic. “I guess so. But let’s be careful, okay?”

Sarah and Thornn exchange a look before Sarah speaks up. “We’ll come too. Safety in numbers, right?”

Joy beams at the group. “Thank you all. Now, let’s go catch that truck!”

As we hurry to Thornn’s Suburban, I wonder when, exactly, I completely lost my mind.