Pamela "Pam" McKenzie is a teacher who teamed up with her husband, Jeff, to retrieve a priceless heirloom from the house of Max Mercer.
Personality[]
Biography[]
Pam and her husband, Jeff, were forced to list their house for sale when Jeff lost his job and they calculated that they couldn't keep their house on just her salary as a teacher. They held an open house to attract potential buyers. At the open house, Jeff ran into Max Mercer and his mother, Carol, who had come to the open house solely so Max could use the bathroom. While they were there, Carol spotted a doll in a box that she said could be worth $200,000. At the end of the night, their real estate agent, Gavin Washington, said they'd gotten a few nibbles, but not to expect anything until after the end of the year. When their kids came home early, they had to cover for Gavin's presence as they hadn't told he kids they were selling the house. That night, after they went to bed, Pam and Jeff were surprised by a call from Jeff's brother, Hunter, saying he was outside with his wife, Mei, and son, Ollie. They came early to get ahead of the snow. Pam and Jeff ended up sleeping on the pull-out sofa downstairs while Mei and Hunter took their bed. Jeff ended up sitting up awake and looking at his job profile, where he'd gotten zero views. He then looked up the doll and found one listed on eBay for $200,000 with a note that one had sold at auction for even more. He got the box back down, but couldn't find the doll and remembered Max and Carol's conversation, leading him to conclude Max had taken it.
Jeff found the Mercer house and went there to speak to Carol and get the doll back, but found the family leaving for a trip to Tokyo and Carol already gone on an earlier flight. He overheard them say the alarm code and watched them put the spare key back in its hiding spot. Jeff then talked to Pam and explained where he'd been and said he wanted to go back to the house and retrieve the doll. After thinking about all the memories their family had had in the house, Pam agreed to go with him.
They went to the Mercer house and broke in, but Jeff put the alarm code in incorrectly, alerting the police. They were startled to hear someone in the house and ran outside, where they were confronted by Buzz McCallister, who had been summoned by the alarm. They pretended to be the homeowners and sweet-talked Buzz into leaving.
The next day, Jeff and Pam took their kids to Christmas Eve service. While they were there, Gavin came in and said they'd gotten an offer on the house by a couple eager to sign the papers before the end of the year. He told them to take a few days to think and get back to him. While watching the service, Pam and Jeff spotted Max talking to an older woman. They believed the woman was his grandmother and she was the speaker of the German voice they'd heard. They decided to leave the church and try to get the doll while Max and his grandmother weren't home. When they arrived, they decided to wait until it was dark and enter the house through the back.
Later, they went through the backyard and ended up entering the wrong house. When they realized their mistake, they sneaked back out, but ended up falling into a backyard pool, soaking their clothes. They decided to leave and come back with Jeff dressed as Santa. In their frozen clothes, Jeff and Pam returned to the church and lied that a car had splashed them.
After everyone else had gone to bed, Jeff and Pam left the house again and went to the Mercers, but the snow had picked up and they slid into a pole on the way. They then slipped on the driveway, which Max had sprayed with a hose to make it icy. They went through a series of other booby traps before getting into the house. They told Max they just wanted to talk, but he continued to attack them. Pam was impaled in the face and arms with Thumptacks mounted on Nerf Elite Darts. She struggled to remove them but it was painful; So she left some of them.
Finally, he said he knew they wanted to kidnap him, shocking them. They said they just wanted their doll back. They realized they'd made a mistake and told Max to wake his grandma. He told them his grandma wasn't there and he was actually home alone. Pam and Jeff said they'd call his mother to let her know he was safe and then he could stay with them until his mom returned.
Back at their own home, Pam and Jeff told their family how they ended up with Max, but left out the part about the doll and the booby traps. They then told their kids they were having to sell their house because they couldn't find the doll, but that was okay because what was truly important about the house was the people in it. Just then, they spotted Ollie at the top of the steps holding the doll. They told him to freeze, but he threw the doll. Both Jeff and Pam made to catch the doll before it could shatter to the ground, but Max was the one who eventually caught it. He then handed it to Pam and Jeff. They told their kids the doll would allow them to keep their house. Just then, Carol arrived and took Max home with her.
A year later, the McKenzies had Christmas dinner with the Mercers. The doll had allowed them to keep their house and pay for repairs to the Mercer house. Jeff, meanwhile, had found another job and was promoted just before Christmas.
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