Page 11 of Snowed Inn For Christmas

“As a matter of fact, I do.I like to enjoy the weekend and sometimes indulge in a fun breakfast, thank you very much.”I made sure to use my most playful tone as I shook my head at Julie, earning a giggle from Daisy.

Fuck, I loved the way that little girl laughed.Almost as much as I loved the smile on her face.She was such a happy child, and it was contagious because there was no way anyone could be unhappy around Daisy.

“You’re so full of shit,” Julie whispered, but loud enough that Daisy heard her.

“That’s a bad word, Mommy,” Daisy said, moving the unicorn on the island as if it were walking around.

Just then, my phone dinged again on the counter beside me.I looked down and frowned, my blood running ice cold when I saw the alert:AirTag Detected.

My head whipped around as I stared at the toy in Daisy’s arms, the panic etched deeply on my face.

“What’s wrong?”Julie asked, looking from me to her daughter, who was still oblivious to the fact that anything was wrong.

“Nothing,” I lied.“Breakfast is ready.Why don’t you take Daisy to the couch and put on a movie while I make her a plate?”

Julie nodded with her brow still furrowed.I didn’t want to scare Daisy and freak out before I could confirm what was happening, so I couldn’t just come out and say it.

“Make sure she leaves the stuffed animal on the island,” I whispered in her ear as I leaned around to grab a plate.

She let out a soft gasp as her eyes darted to the toy.

“Why don’t we go put on a movie?”she asked Daisy, turning the chair to the side and helping her down as she set the toy on the island out of her reach.

“I want to take Uni,” Daisy objected, reaching for the toy.

“We don’t want to risk getting her dirty.You can have her after breakfast, okay?”

Daisy shrugged and followed Julie into the living room, climbing up onto her favorite spot on the couch as I finished putting her breakfast together.Julie grabbed the remote and put a movie on for Daisy while I put her plate on the tray she had been using, while Duke laid protectively beside her.

“I’ll bring you some juice,” Julie said, not noticing that Daisy wasn’t even paying attention anymore as the cartoon dalmations ran across the screen.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”she asked quietly as we headed the short distance back to the island where the toy was sitting.

“My phone got an alert that there was anAirTag Detected,” I said softly, keeping my voice low.“It didn’t start notifying me until Daisy started moving the unicorn.”

Julie’s eyebrows rose high on her forehead as she stared at me in disbelief.

“Are you kidding me?You’re saying that there is a tracking device in my daughter’s toy?”

“It appears so.Possibly not the toy, but somewhere in the house.”

“Can you locate it?”

“Yeah,” I said with a heavy sigh.“It should let me pull it up in theFind Myapp, and then we can see where exactly it is.”

Julie nodded as she chewed her lower lip and folded her arms over her chest protectively.We both glanced at Daisy, making sure she was okay before I pulled out my phone and clicked on the notification.TheFind Myapp opened, and I pressed the button for it to continue until I was offered the option to play a sound.I looked up at Julie, took a deep breath, and then pressed it.

Several short, high-pitched chiming noises came from inside the unicorn, leaving both Julie and me stunned as we stared at it in disbelief.

I set my phone down and picked up the unicorn, examining it to see where the AirTag might have been inserted.Along the bottom of the toy, there was a Velcro closure.I pulled it open, noticing the battery box inside the stuffed animal.My brows furrowed in confusion until Julie spoke.

“It lights up,” she explained, nodding to the battery pack.“I turned it off the other night when we left so it wouldn’t light up in the car while she was supposed to be sleeping.”

I nodded and pushed it to the side, and then moved my fingers around, trying to locate the AirTag.It was a tight fit, so there wasn’t much room for something to stay hidden, but we both knew it was in there somewhere.I pulled on the battery pack, trying to see if something could be hidden beneath it, but it was stuck in there.

Just as I was about to give up, I ran my finger along the top by the Velcro and stopped when I felt it.I grinned with satisfaction as I pulled the AirTag out and held it in the air.

“That fucking—” Julie started and then stopped when Daisy turned and asked for some juice.