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now, because the danger is past.”
    â€œAnd even if someone saw me, they wouldn’t know how to find me.”
    â€œRight—I just have one small concern. When the car passed you—did it stay there long enough for the driver to see your bumper sticker?”
    I thought about it. Had the car hesitated for a moment before it tore out of the lot? Now it seemed to me that it had, but perhaps my brain was just making up that detail as a byproduct of fear.
    â€œThe Haven sticker? Why? Do you—oh, I see.” Whoever saw the sticker would know where I worked. So if someone had been in too much of a hurry then, the Haven sticker might have given them a heads-up about where to find me in the future. “I don’t know. I don’t know if they saw it.”
    â€œI doubt it. You said everything happened very quickly. And whoever was driving would have been under a great deal of stress. They wouldn’t have had time to notice small details.”
    He didn’t totally believe that, and neither did I, now that I thought about it. Whoever had murdered the Santa might have second thoughts about trying to find me before I could summon up whatever clues I might have. He or she had left in a hurry, but it didn’t mean they wouldn’t come back—especially because when I saw the glare of the sunon the windshield, they might have seen
me
squinting into the car.
    Parker sat down next to me and took a sip of his own coffee, then made a satisfied sound. “Still hot,” he said. Then he forked up some of the almond cake and made a little moaning sound. “God, your food is good.”
    â€œThanks.”
    He ate the whole thing, and drank some more coffee, before he said, “I should go. There’s a lot of work to be done now.”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œLilah?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWhat did you tell Santa you wanted for Christmas?”
    I considered lying, but then I decided, what the heck. Brad Whitefield had told me to gamble on myself, and he had also said that life was short. Moments later he had been proven right. “I said I wanted a second chance. That’s why he was talking about it.”
    He didn’t pretend not to know what that meant. He nodded at me several times, and his eyes darted around while he thought that over. Then he looked at me and held my gaze. “Maybe I want a second chance, too.”
    I shrugged. “It’s probably too late.” I said it to tick him off, but a tiny smile escaped me, and Parker saw it with his eagle eyes. He smiled, too.
    â€œBut maybe it’s not, Lilah.” He touched the tip of my nose and said, “Your nose is cold.”
    I nodded. My nose stays cold all winter long.
    â€œCan I come to talk to you, when this is over? About second chances?”
    As always, his blue eyes had me half hypnotized. “I would like that.”
    Then Parker was all business. “I’m going to need you to call someone—your brother, maybe, or your parents. Have someone stay here with you for a few days. Hopefully we’ll get to the bottom of this before long.”
    â€œWell, I mean—people have jobs. And I have a job. Oh no! I have to call work and tell them what happened.”
    â€œI’ll talk with them if you want. Explain what happened. But are you sure you should—”
    â€œIt’s a brand-new job, and they need me. The holiday, you know.”
    â€œOkay.” Parker looked troubled. “But I’m going to drive you there and pick you up until I know you have someone who can come here. We don’t want to take any chances until we—” He stopped and walked to my refrigerator, where a newspaper clipping was held on with a magnet. “What’s this?”
    â€œOh—it’s just an article about a friend of mine. Angelo—you remember I said I knew him? He just got his own cable TV show. Just a local thing, but knowing Angelo, it will lead