Santa at The Polar Bear Express

The little minx was throwing daggers with her eyes. Smiling under the long beard, Seamus eerie eyes twinkled. Always Abigail had all but forced Sabrina to let her use The Polar Bear, after he’d made his suggestion.

She’d kill him for this. This was all his fault. She’d been amused as the women had circled him as he stood fuming dressed in the Santa suit. Just that fast he’d turned the tables or more effectively Always Abigail and her crew on her and now she was playing host to almost the entire town on Christmas Eve.

She’d planned to spend this evening sipping hot peppermint tea with her grandmother and Jasper while the tree wrapped presents. Instead she was stilling at her bar nursing eggnog as Seamus played Santa Claus. Raising her glass to him she hoped one of the little kids pissed on his knee.

“The boss is pissed to.” Sabrina turned to see Iles standing next to her with a wide grin on his face. Looking up at him Sabina watched as he signed Rafe the bartender for another cola.

“I am sure he is IIes. But it serves him right for turning Always Abigail on me.”
“He only did it to get close to you. If you’d just forgive him then he can move on and we can leave this place”.

Sabrina looked at IIes and grimaced. She wanted to explain to him that is was more to it than just forgiving IIes. She’d done that long ago. Seamus was a weakness she could not afford to indulge in. Before she could speak IIes was out of his seat headed towards Courtney Benjamin.

IIes and Courtney were sworn enemies are so the rumor mill aka Always Abigail said. But Sabrina had noticed the two watching each other when no one was watching.

The Polar Bear Cafe

“Oh, Seamus you are going to make the perfect Santa. The kids are going to love jus love you.” Clapping her hands again Always Abigail left Seamus standing in the middle of the underground train station while she chatted with the other ladies about preparations for the Christmas party.

“Silver, you have to make your famous gingerbread cookies. I can come over and help decorate them.”

“Always Abigail, I think that you should be in charge of this event.” Silver shouted clapping louder than Always Abigail if that was at all possible.

Seamus frown as a shadow caught his eye. It was Sabrina. Standing next to the underground station office with a grin on her face Sabrina watched the women and Seamus. Waving at him she threw her head back with laughter.

Seamus grinned back at her promising retribution.

Seamus turned to Always Abigail and motioned for her to come closer.
“Always Abigail I think I have the perfect place for Santa to set up. We can use The Polar Bear Café. Sabrina has a beautiful tree already decorated and there is a nice big fireplace. I just saw Sabrina over by the depot office you might want to ask her.

Rushing over to the platform Always Abigail and her crew moved with lightening speed to where Sabrina was talking with friends.

“Sabrina, I have a favor to ask. Zach is ill and can’t play Santa this year. We were going to use

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

“Seamus, I think it fits perfectly.” Always Abigail exclaimed as she all but poured him into the jacket. Seamus stood still as Always Abigail push, pulled and poked at the jacked.

“Seamus, I think you will make a fine Santa. All we need to do is stuff a few pillows under the jacket and we have our Santa.”

Seamus grimaced as Always Abigail called other ladies over to watch him model the Santa jacket. Murmuring as he stood in the middle of a circle of women Seamus wished he’d never left home this morning.

He’d awoke this morning to the sound of Iles screaming about women’s lib. The rest of his crew was about to go stir after being trapped for two days inside. Dressing they all decided to use the underground train system to go to local stores.

The underground train system was one of the things that he loved about the city. Winters were harsh, in Centralia often they lasted close to nine months. Because the town was located high in the Green Mountains the snow often made it impossible to travel the streets. The Town Founders had installed an underground train system when the town was established. Every house, store or building that was build had to have an entrance in their cellar. As the town had grown so had the train system, it now stretches to other cities on the mountain. The system allowed the town to function even when it was covered for months with snow.

When the local mall was built in the eighties the town council had insisted that apartments be build for residents to use if the winter was especially harsh.

Santa Baby

“Dude, you look like Santa”

Iles voice served to irritate Seamus as he synched the belt on the Santa suit. It had been three days since he accepted the invitation from the town busybody, Always Abigail. How the woman had talked him into dressing up like Santa was beyond him.

“Seamus, Seamus O’Brian” the voice calling out to him was familiar. It Always Abigail town busy body. Most of the town folk avoided the woman like the plague. He wanted to continue walking but, he also was gentleman enough not to want to hurt her feeling or anger his mother who was one of her friends.

“Ms. Abigail, how are ya.” Tipping his imaginary hat he bowed low as the warmth of the underground train station enveloped him.

Reaching up, Always Abigail hugged him tight. “How is your mother, Seamus? Have you been home lately? How is Siobhan and that handsome father of yours. I saw your Aunt Sophia a couple of days ago.

Seamus stood still as Always Abigail prattled on and on never allowing him to get a word in. The only thing he could do was nod at the appropriate moments and hope she stopped to catch her breath.

“Seamus, Zach is sick, so we need someone to play Santa for the kids this year. I think that you and he are about the same height so his suit should fit you.” Pulling the suit from the large bag she was lugging, Always Abigail all but forced it on him.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Seamus stood outside for a few minutes debating what he should do next. The winds were shifting as the sun started to hide behind the trees. The cold air was freezing his breath midair. The debated raged in his mind as the war claimed his feet. Shifting back and forth he did stop starts until he was all most a foot away from his destiny. If he went to The Polar Bear what would he do next.

Shifting again he turned and looked down main street and realized all most all the curtains including his own were opened as everyone stared at him. Everyone was watching and wondering if he would cross the street.

Cursing Seamus determined this was not the day or the time to confront Sabrina

Seamus O'Brian

“I have five on the boy”

Laughing Sara Sullivan peaked out the side of the window that was not occupied by her companion. “He’ll never give up. I like that about him. He is determined to tame that spirited granddaughter of mine.”

“I don’t know Sara, Sabrina is a hard case. I think she’s still smarting from that shooting and before that her mother’s death.

Jasper sat in the chair next to the window pulling Sara into his lap.
“You worry too much Sara. Sabrina is going to be fine.”

“You didn’t see her when she first came here Jasper. Her Judd and I were scared that she would never come back to use. There was a sadness there that would not go away.”

Sara sat content in her new lovers’ arms. Thinking of the past..

Seamus O'Brian

The risk was great if he carried through on his plan to walk across the street. For one he knew Sabrina would not open the door. Second the wind chill was so low that he might not make it to her door, more than likely he would freeze to death before he ever made it to the door.

Taking his chances Seamus headed to The Polar Bear in.

Seamus O'Brian

Seamus stood at the window watching, waiting on Sabrina to come out again.

“Boss, I don’t think she’d going to like you staring at her place like that”.

Turning, his ice blue eyes towards Iles, Seamus smiled a wicked smile.

“She loves me man she just doesn’t realize it yet” Letting the curtain go Seamus moved from the window picking up his contact lens case.

“I am sure she does, boss. I am sure after she kicks your sorry ass again she’ll realize it.”

Iles was his second in command and also a friend since he joined the CIA. The two had gone through more booze and women then he wanted to count.

“Boss, I think the lady has made it clear she wants not part of you. I think we should leave and find a woman that does want you.”

Popping in his brown contacts, Seamus dismissed the conversation. Iles had been belly aching since they arrived and it wasn’t from lack of companionship. The women in town were head over heels for the six four warrior.

“Come on chocolate thunder” Seamus said smiling at the name the only women in town who’d not fallen under the spell Iles had case on all the others.

“Now boss that is just wrong. That woman is the devils sisters."

Courtney Benjamin was the only woman Seamus had ever met that did not fall in love with Iles. Courtney was six feet tall with shoulder length hair and dark brown eyes.

“Come on Iles the woman is beautiful.”

Frowning, Iles changed the subject back to Seamus.

“Come on Seamus, the woman runs every time you come around. I think you should keep searching. This woman is going to be a problem. She’ll never accept you.”

“Look Iles, she’ll come round once she sees my winning personality”.

Pulling on his cap and coat after making sure his contacts were in place. Seamus moved to the door.


“Where ya going boss?”

“To start charming my mate Iles.”

Slamming the door behind him. Seamus looked across the street and smiled.

Seamus O'Brian

Seamus watched the door to The Polar Bear in expectation of Sabrina coming back out and needing help with the plywood that keep blowing off the windows.

The little minx never shied away from work and refused to ask for help, he took that back, she refused to ask for his help. She was still pissed about his interruption of her mission. When he’d gotten the call from his father that something was going on in town and Siobhan had a strange new friend he immediately began to investigate. The terror he felt was overwhelming he was afraid his identity was broken and his family was in danger.

His father had sent him information he’d collected on Sabrina who was going by the name Mara Sullivan. After a background check through the CIA database he realized she did not exist except on paper with a few well placed references. To anyone but an agent, she was who and what she said she was, a recently divorced woman looking to start over.

Leaving his latest mission early, he got on his motorcycle and headed home. He’d arrived the day before Sabrina was shot and pumped his sister for information. After a little recon he thought he had the scam all figured out based on the information he garnered Sabrina and the bank president were counterfeiters using his baby sister to exchange fake bills at the bank.

It was only at the last minute when he arrived at the bank vie a window he’d jimmied that he heard the bank president give the order to kill Sabrina and his entire family. Thank goodness his team had come with him.

He’d left Iles and Cam at his parents’ home. The two would kill anyone that dared try and harm them. His sister Siobhan was in the bank with Sabrina unprotected. He and three of his men, Hart, Danger and Sabin were at the bank ready to rescue his sister. Now the plan changed they need to rescue the two women and neutralize the threat to his family.

Signaling his team outside he prepared to take down the bank president. It was only after he’d kicked the door in did he recognize one of the men standing outside the bank presidents door as Secret Service. It’s was too late to call his plan off as he stormed in determined to rescue the women.

Seamus

The wind was blowing harder as the earth became A frozen tundra. He watched from the window as the snow fell harder than it ever had. The dusk of night was settling over the tiny town as the arctic water left the lake and pounced into the small village.

Sabrina

Seamus O’ Brian was the older brother of her teller. In all the research she’d done on the teller, Siobhan O’Brian the fact that her older brother was CIA was never revealed. The information had been buried deep. No one outside of the agency or the town knew she had an older sibling or any sibling for that matter. According to the records the teller was an only child with a large extended family of male cousins who watched out for her.

She now knew Seamus was fifteen years older than Siobhan and already out of the house when their family moved outside of Las Vegas, New Mexico. His identity was carefully recreated with the cooperation of his family and the CIA. Now she knew that Seamus posed as one of her cousins when he was in town. That was not the only information that had been buried deep.

Their father was a retired operative also. He’d gotten suspicious when he’d investigated his daughters new friend at the bank. He’d went beyond the information the Secret Service crafted and found that her identify did not exist beyond a few well placed job references. Suspicious he’d called Seamus who’d roared into town to protect his sister thinking his identity had been compromised.

Seamus came roaring into town at the precise moment she was confronting the bank president with his misdeeds. At the precise moment, Seamus used his CIA training to enter the bank and confront her and the bank president thinking she was involved in whatever was going on.

Sitting behind his desk the bank president pulled out a gun and fired, hitting her in the shoulder. As she fell Seamus put a bullet through the bank president’s head. He’d saved her life that night as her team rushed in not knowing if she was friend or foe he’d stopped the bleeding and made a tourniquet that doctors told her saved her life. He’d even given her blood after finding out the small hospital in Las Vegas did not have her type. He’d even sat at her bedside for days afterwards until she came to weeks later.

She’d never forget coming awake to a man over six feet five with shoulder length hair struggling to find comfort in a too tiny chair. His café ole skin was smooth and when he opened his eyes they were a rich brown.

“Are you?” he’d said moving quickly to the bed as she struggled to pull the tube out of her throat.

Sabrina

Rubbing her aching shoulder, Sabrina refill her glass and threw another log on the fire. The shooting was becoming a distant memory except for the ache that would not go away. Sitting at the counter she rolled her neck as the stress of the memory still made her sad.

She’d been with the Secret Service six years back then and this was her first assignment as the agent in charge. A group of amateur counterfeiters were flooding the area with bogus $5.00 dollar bills. The locals had finally asked for help after the local bank was overrun with fake money. After two months of assessing the situation she’d realized the bank was ground zero in the counterfeit operation, one of the tellers was replacing fake bills for real money, so she went undercover as a teller.

She’d befriended the twenty year old female teller who she suspects as being part of the counterfeit operation. She’d soon realized the teller was being used rather than being actually part of counterfeit operation. Her final investigation revealed the president of the bank was ground zero in the operation.

The night they planned to take the counterfeiters down everything went wrong. The blame for the failed operation rested on the shoulders of the innocent teller’s brother Seamus O'Brian.

Sabrina

She hadn’t grown up in Centralia but she’d spent all her summers there with her grandparents. The most fun she had as a child was in Centralia with both sets of her grandparents

Her father was a career Navy man who moved every four years until she turned thirteen when he became a SEAL trainer at Quantico. Her mother had died when in a car accident when she was 6 weeks old. Refusing to turn her over to either her mother’s or his own parents her father reared her alone.

The year she graduated from college he’d remarried a lieutenant on the base and settled in marital bliss.

Sipping on her float Sabrina relaxed in her chair. The lights flickered again as the wind howled louder.

Sabrina

Seamus watched as Sabrina’s hair tumbled in the wind as she opened the door to The Polar Café. Seamus unlatched the front door of his general store ready to assist her if needed. Rubbing his chin Seamus sighed as the former Secret Service agent took out a hammer and nailed the wood over her windows tighter.

Sabrina cursed as she nailed. She could feel Seamus O’Brian’s eyes on her back. The bastard was watching her as he always did. The former CIA operative was crafty. Hitting the nail one last time Sabrina left the wind propel her to the front door. Letting it slam shut after her she sat at the table closes to the door.

The wind howled louder as she sat and drank her cherry coke float and watched the fireplace flicker. She’s relocated to Centralia after being shot by counterfeiters in Atlanta. The sting had gone bad after a rouge CIA operative recognized her; she ended up with a bullet in her shoulder.

After six months of R&R she decided to tenure her resignation and start over. She’s spent more than a year bouncing around the country until her grandmother invited her to Centralia to run The Polar Bear. The invitation had been a good sent.
She’d been teaching at U of A when grandma Sara had tracked her down. She’d only said two words come home when they first spoke. After she’d ended her day she’d called her back worried she was ill. Instead she found her grandmother as she always had full of energy but needing a break from the café she and Sabrina’s grandfather had started years ago.

With the semester ending in a couple of weeks and unwilling to sign on for another semester, Sabrina notified the university of her decision and packed her bags for Centralia. The moment her little brown convertible cross the state line she knew she was home.

Storm of the Century

The storm of the century blew in with high winds and surging waves, pummeling the small town of Centralia.
The National Guard had ordered evacuations two days ago. Most of the residents had decided to stay except for a scattered few newcomers who’d lived in the town less than 3 years. They were not use to the weather and thought it best to leave rather than brave out the storm. Those who stayed were huddled in their homes praying the storm would leave as swiftly as it came in. State officials warned residents in harm's way to secure home heating fuel tanks in case sea water flooded into communities.
The howling winds sang out as the surging arctic waves came ashore threatening to erode the very ground the town sat on. If the town flood and evacuations became necessary everyone would use the underground subway system.
The weather had been fickled since the start of winter. The town had prayed that shore-fast ice would form before the storm started. It was not to be as the chill in air became came with sub-zero temperature that plunged the town into an ice age. 80 mph winds battered the town slowly with sure fire precision.
The boarded up windows on the buildings began to sway under the weight of the winds. The icy rain hit the sidewalks with stinging drops that shattered on impact.
The sirens at the west end of town began to go off as the full force of the storm came ashore. It was time.
Seamus stood watch out his bedroom window watching as the sky opened and sheets of ice came down. Looking out the window Sabrina watched, praying the shore-fast ice would form soon to protect the town. The windows were boarded up at the Polar Cafe, were holding as the icy rain turned to powder white snow. The Christmas tree in the corner twinkled as the lights all over town flickered.
The storm of the century had made landfall.