BY THE TIME ABBY ARRIVED back in Long Beach, neither Carney and O’Reilly nor Fred Wright had uncovered any more information about Alonzo Ruiz. They hadn’t discovered where he was staying or, most important, whom he was working for. She planned on meeting with Carney and O’Reilly as soon as they had time for her.

While Abby was glad Woody had been cleared, she was ecstatic that neither he nor Luke Murphy had been injured. But on Sunday, the day after she returned, she was at her friend and mentor’s house for a solemn reason. The older of his two dogs, Ralph, had suffered a stroke and had to be put down.

“I feel like a sissy asking you to come with me,” Woody said as Abby entered his house.

She gave him a hug. “You’re not a sissy. Ralph has been a good dog for a long time. I know you’ll miss him.”

Her heart broke when Woody wiped his eyes. “True that. He’s a great dog.” Tenderly Woody picked the big dog up. Ed, his other Lab, whimpered and looked up at them, tail between his legs.

Gently Abby pushed Ed into the house. “We’ll be back, sweetie. I promise.” The dog whimpered but stayed inside, and Abby closed the door, throat thick as they walked to her car.

She opened the door for Woody to sit with Ralph on his lap. She drove to the vet, sniffling as Woody held the ailing dog and talked to him, telling him what a great dog he was. A vet tech was waiting for them when they arrived and led them to an exam room. There was a blanket and pillows on the floor, and Woody laid Ralph down and sat next to him. Abby took a seat on the other side of the dog.

“The doctor will be in in a minute,” the vet tech said before she left them in the room.

Woody cradled Ralph’s head, gently caressing him. Abby scratched the dog’s ears, noting the gray muzzle and remembering a younger dog following Woody everywhere with love and devotion.

“Do dogs go to heaven?” Woody asked, voice thick.

The question took Abby by surprise. She’d prayed for Woody for years. Once when she’d tried to talk to him about salvation, he’d made the request that she leave the subject alone until he asked. This was the closest he’d come to asking since then.

What do I say, Lord? Abby prayed quickly before answering.

“I believe they do,” she said, swallowing a lump. “I believe heaven is a place where we’ll be perfectly happy, and I’ve learned, after having Bandit for only a few months, dogs make us happy. I imagine we’ll see them again.”

Woody nodded. After a couple minutes, the vet came in. He offered his condolences and shortly after that, Ralph peacefully took his last breath. Abby cried many tears at the loss of the dog and the pain in her friend’s eyes.

Abby convinced Woody he needed a condolence lunch. River’s End was crowded, but the day was beautiful. Sunny, seventy degrees, with a gentle ocean breeze tickling the skin. Abby and Woody sat on an outside bench to wait for a table. They had picked up Ed on the way, deciding that he needed to share in the consolation.

“That was as painless as possible, I guess,” Woody said.

“Yes, it was. It’s good he’s not suffering.”

Just then his phone rang. From Woody’s side of the conversation, Abby guessed that the caller was Luke.

The thought of Luke mixed up her emotions like a blender. She wanted to talk to him about the burglary at her house and his own confrontation with Ruiz. As much as they both tried to put the Triple Seven behind them, Abby had a sinking feeling that that would be impossible.

She wondered if Woody would invite him to lunch. As if reading her mind, the next thing Woody said was “Why don’t you join us at River’s End?”

Abby felt her face blush, and she turned toward the ocean, hoping Woody didn’t notice.

“Yeah, we’re here, waiting for an outside table. Come on down.” After signing off, he disconnected.

“Is he coming?” Abby asked.

Woody nodded. “He’s close. Probably be here before we get seated. He’s still working a missing case, was actually in Sunset Beach checking an address.”

A short time later, she looked toward the parking lot as Woody’s name was called. Their table was ready, and there was Luke Murphy striding toward them.

He was amazingly good-looking, had a movie-star quality with his strong jaw and his alert, expressive gold-flecked hazel-brown eyes.

Abby’s breath caught in her throat as she stood, wondering what in the world she was going to do about these feelings that were getting harder and harder to ignore.