A/N: Anyone that's interested in finding out what song it is that I'm referring to in this chapter can check on my profile page. It'll be in the list of songs that have inspired some of the stories that I've written.

Day Two, December 20

As she drove to work the next morning, Lilly was still turning over in her mind the matter of the mysterious gift and, more specifically, the card that she'd received the day before. Upon further inspection, she'd found that the card had been computer generated rather than bought and had yielded no clues beyond the carefully rendered block letters that spelled out her name. Short of having the whole thing dusted for fingerprints, an idea she'd considered and rejected after she imagined trying to explain to the boys why she was having her mail processed for evidence, she was no closer to discovering the identity of her Secret Santa than she'd been when she first began.

Quite frankly, the whole thing was slowly driving her insane. She could speculate as to who it might be, who she hoped it might be, though, for her own peace of mind, she tried not to think too long or hard in that direction, but it got her no closer to the truth. Lilly knew that, until whoever it was decided to reveal themselves, she would continue to obsess over the situation.

When Lilly finally reached her desk, she was both surprised and delighted to find another package awaiting her arrival. This gift, easily twice as large as the first, was beautifully wrapped in silver foil imprinted with white snowflakes. She casually scanned the room, hoping to catch someone paying undo attention to her arrival, but everyone seemed to be occupied with their own work. It was a bit of a let down, but she still held out some hope of finding a clue. Judging by the coat draped over his chair and the papers scattered over his desk, Scotty had already made it into the office. If she was lucky, he might be able to tell her if he'd seen anyone around her desk.

This time, Lilly didn't even consider waiting to open the present. She scooped it up, carrying it into one of the interrogation rooms and closing the door behind her. While it was still more public than she'd like, the interrogation room was as close to privacy as she was going to get until she got home. Settling in at the table, she began peeling back the paper, this time revealing a plain brown box rather than the impressive gold of the previous day.

Lifting the lid, she found two small packages, both as beautifully wrapped as the first, but this time there was no card. In the first box was a CD of Christmas music. As she read the list of titles on the back of the case, Lilly noticed a tiny sticker of a gold star placed next to one of the songs. While she recognized the artist, she'd never heard of the song before. Apparently, her admirer had decided to get a little more creative as to how he delivered his message. Setting the CD aside to listen to later, she began opening the second box.

Lilly's breath caught in her throat. There, nestled in the folds of tissue paper, lay the most beautiful ornament that she had ever laid eyes on. The angel's face was porcelain perfection, it's delicate features perfectly rendered. It's feathered wings dripped with crystals that caught the light and glowed with an inner fire and the pale pink silk of the little angel's gown was shot through with gold embroidery.

Tears burned behind Lilly's eyes and she took a deep calming breath to regain control of her emotions. Whoever was sending her these gifts knew her better than she'd ever imagined. They'd have to in order to realize the special affection that she held for the holiday. Very few people knew how much Lilly loved Christmas and everything that went along with celebrating the traditions of the season.

Her Christmas tree had been up and decorated since the day after Thanksgiving and she'd completely decorated her home by the next week. She'd spent the months before hand searching for the perfect gifts for Stillman, Vera, Jefferies, and Scotty, along with a variety of smaller gifts for numerous friends and acquaintances.

She wasn't certain where her feelings for Christmas had come from, but she knew that family had nothing to do with her love of the holiday. As a child, Christmas in the Rush house had been largely ignored and, on those rare occasions that her mother actually remembered what time of the year it was, their celebrations had been rather sparse and sad. Nothing like the traditions Lilly had created for herself in the intervening years. Since she had no real family, every year Lilly spent Christmas day helping out at a shelter for battered women and children.

It bothered her that someone knew her well enough to know her dirty little secret but she still had no idea who that person might be. She could honestly think of no one that had ever paid enough attention to her to learn all of her little likes and dislikes. Before she could contemplate it any further, her train of though was interrupted by the door swinging open.

Scotty appeared, a cup from the near by coffee shop in each hand. "Vera told me you disappeared in here. I figured since we've got a full day of tracking down ghosts ahead of us I'd get us some real coffee." He handed one cup to her and took a sip from the other. "I hope it's okay I got you your usual. A mocha with whipped cream, cinnamon, and chocolate shavings."

"It's perfect." Lilly took a deep drink, the heat going a long way towards calming her still rattled emotions. More and more lately it seemed that Scotty always knew exactly what she needed. "Now I'm ready to get to work."

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Lilly had played the song as soon as she got home, barely taking the time to remove her coat and boots before turning on her stereo and sliding in the disc. By the end of the song, the tears that she had fought so hard to suppress earlier in the day were flowing freely down her cheeks, the force of the emotion conveyed by the haunting lyrics stunning in it's impact. The song was beautiful and heartbreaking and it scared Lilly to death.

She couldn't imagine that anyone actually felt that way about her, cared that deeply for her. But that wasn't what scared Lilly the most. What truly terrified her was the fact that she was beginning to have feelings of her own and she couldn't even begin to comprehend that fact. Lilly Rush didn't fall for anyone, especially when she wasn't certain who she was falling for to begin with.