True, he seemed surprised when I told him that Armstrong had died. However, he sure hauled ass right away. That seemed guilty enough for a murderer to...meBehind the letters was a background check on Jake Wallace. So Armstrong felt concerned enough to have someone check him out. Too bad he had never called the Sheriff's Department to complain about the threats. It might've saved his life.It seemed Jake wasn't a local. Up until two years ago, he'd lived in Los Angeles. In several different areas. Over time she had got into thehabit of only turning up to the last run-through before performance,she said to preserve her voice and avoid getting too tired for theevening. It gave Martin the opportunity to fit Lauren into the Act."Now everybody," he announced. "You have all met Lauren. What youdon't know is that Lauren is already a very experienced Nina Simonemimic. She will be standing in for our star through the initialrehearsal sessions, but our intention is that she will perform a few. "Good afternoon John. I see you have brought a gift to drop off." Said an old man in a bathrobe from behind the counter. "How did you know my name?" "Being that it is that time of the season, Santa came by and told me that you'd be coming in here. He also told me that you have been a good boy this year." "Right, sure. Look I believe you have a typo on your sign out there. It should say Toys For Tots not Toys For Tits. Some people might get offended." "The type of people who may get. Maybe he was psychotic. It had happened before. Esmeralda. She had a beautiful name. A beautiful soul. His fingers tingled with the memory of touching her face. Soft skin on her cheeks, the slight ridge of a scar on her forehead, pliant lips, heat from her neck. "I shouldn't have said anything," he had told her. "No, you shouldn't have," she had agreed. But he had. How could he not? Eleven years would pass before he woke again. She would be in her late forties. The barely noticeable silver.