Santa No. 5

By Clare London

No one looks good in a borrowed Santa suit. Especially in a police line-up.

Jacob Carter is struggling as the new sergeant of the village police station. There’s been a rash of Christmas gift thefts, his staff are bemused by his bossy city ways and, in return, he’s having trouble adapting to their more relaxed approach to community policing. Let alone the fact that everyone seems happy to get involved in everyone else’s diverse and often controversial lives.
He’s having even more trouble believing Nick Hollybush is a heartless criminal, despite the result of a bizarre line-up, and all the practical evidence mounting up. Especially with Nick’s sparkling eyes, the shy smile in Jacob’s direction, and their obvious chemistry.
How on earth is Jacob going to juggle the duties of a copper against the romantic desires of an ordinary man—and still keep the village’s Christmas celebrations safe?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clare London
• Release date: Nov 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215968260

Clare London

Clare took the pen name London from the city where she lives, loves, and writes. A lone, brave female in a frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home, she juggles her writing with the weekly wash, waiting for the far distant day when she can afford to give up her day job as an accountant. She’s written in many genres and across many settings, with novels and short stories published both online and in print. She says she likes variety in her writing while friends say she’s just fickle, but as long as both theories spawn good fiction, she’s happy. Most of her work features male/male romance and drama with a healthy serving of physical passion, as she enjoys both reading and writing about strong, sympathetic and sexy characters.Clare currently has several novels sulking at that tricky chapter 3 stage and plenty of other projects in mind . . . she just has to find out where she left them in that frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home.All the details and free fiction are available at her website. Visit her today and say hello!Join up for her newsletter at http://bit.ly/2WpHlyK and receive a free short story!Clare also writes as Stella Shaw and launched her Love at the Haven series of rent boy romances in 2021.Website + blog: http://www.clarelondon.com / stellashawauthor.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/clarelondonTwitter: https://twitter.com/clare_londonGoodreads: http://bit.ly/2lNSfC2Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/clarelondonBookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/clare-londonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/clarelondon11/Quids&Quills: http://www.quidsandquills.com (accountancy for UK authors)

Book preview

SANTA NO. 5

CLARE LONDON

Copyright ©2022 Clare London

Published by Jocular Press 2023

This story was originally included in the limited edition charity anthology Kind Hearts at Christmas

Smashwords edition

This title has been written in UK English.

All Rights Reserved

This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee. Such action is illegal and in violation of Copyright Law.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Blurb

No one looks good in a borrowed Santa suit. Especially in a police line-up.

Jacob Carter is struggling as the new sergeant of the village police station. There’s been a rash of Christmas gift thefts, his staff are bemused by his bossy city ways and, in return, he’s having trouble adapting to their more relaxed approach to community policing. Let alone the fact that everyone seems happy to get involved in everyone else’s diverse and often controversial lives.

He’s having even more trouble believing Nick Hollybush is a heartless criminal, despite the result of a bizarre line-up, and all the practical evidence mounting up. Especially with Nick’s sparkling eyes, the shy smile in Jacob’s direction, and their obvious chemistry.

How on earth is Jacob going to juggle the duties of a copper against the romantic desires of an ordinary man—and still keep the village’s Christmas celebrations safe?

INDEX

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

More by Clare London

About Clare London

CHAPTER 1

What do you mean, you haven’t charged him yet?

I glare at PC Danny Hughes until he flushes to the roots of his hair. According to the file I was given on my new staff when I was transferred in as Kingsmere’s Sergeant, he’s only in his early twenties. The very pale skin and over-sensitive nerves are unfortunate extras. Kids, nowadays, though. They get given their head way too quickly. If we were in the Met, new recruits would be expected to have grown a decent pair of balls before hitting the streets of a city throbbing with crime and corruption.

Hughes’ eyes get very wide.

Um. Sergeant Carter? murmurs PC Erin Reilly beside me. Just assuming you didn’t mean to share that last thought aloud.

Dammit. Now I’m grumpy and embarrassed. I’ve only been in place for two months, and I can’t seem to get the right tone in my new appointment.

Reilly consults her clipboard. "And I wouldn’t say throbbing with crime, exactly. This December, we’ve had one domestic disagreement in the Christmas Market over the price of aromatherapy candles, though nothing was damaged apart from a box of Mr Kaplan’s nodding dashboard elves, then one instance of vandalism on the vicar’s bike by Mrs Harris’ puppy, where full compensation has already been arranged, and a cream sponge cake exchanged."

And the three home break-ins, I say through gritted teeth. "The three unsolved break-ins."

She frowns, and I know I’m being too harsh. Crime offends her as much as it does me. They’re disturbing, Sarge, I know, and distressing in these weeks leading up to Christmas. But it’s hardly rampant gangland. I’m sure things will be settled soon.

I glance around the open-plan staff area outside my office and see more than a few pairs of eyes on me. Some amused, some wary, some downright nosy. Over by the front desk, an ancient-looking plastic Christmas tree wobbles precariously in its tub, the baubles and tinsel listing to one side. Only half the lights seem to be working at any time. But there’s a toy policeman’s hat on the top, and a couple of the decorations look suspiciously like chocolate truncheons. Someone’s determined to bring Christmas cheer to the station.

My impatience is, to be honest, unfair. There’s a good spirit here, and I should praise that, rather than judge it against the discipline in a larger, central London station. PC Reilly is a great support, my voice of reason, despite being a tad too smug for my liking. And PC Hughes certainly earns his money dealing with the daily enquiries about careless cyclists, petty pilfering in Wilkos, and the proliferation of dog shit on the pavements.

Kingsmere is a village, barely a small town, and usually with even smaller crime. I’m learning more about that every day I’m here. Only six months ago, I’d thought I was on my way up the career ladder in the Metropolitan Police, but now I can see how many rungs down I’ve slipped. I’d got too big for my own boots, with no policeman pun intended. I’m sure I’ll eventually take comfort from the constructive comments at my appraisal, that I’d benefit from more experience of small-scale, people-orientated, community policing. The implication that I was trying to run before I could walk. But, right now? I want a little more challenge than Friday night fisticuffs at the Druid’s Head,