THEY WERE A TEAM in more ways than one, Abby thought as she showered and changed for the day, feeling as though the smile would never leave her lips. She couldn’t deny her strong feelings for Luke, and now she knew he felt the same way. Abby could still feel the warmth in her body from Luke’s hug, feel the caresses on her shoulders from his strong hands.

Abby knew that the rest of this trip would be a success as well. Everything was on track.

“Looks like you took my advice,” Woody said when Luke got out of the shower.

“I guess I did,” he said with a smile. “I’m not a coward.”

“Didn’t think you were.”

Luke whistled while he got dressed, Abby on his mind. He thought of all the things about her that attracted him: her heart, mind, strength, will, and tenacity. Unfortunately, he realized that some of those qualities were a double-edged sword. He truly believed this thing with Alyssa was a dead end. What would he do if Abby couldn’t, or wouldn’t, let it go?

The smile he gave her as he opened the restaurant door for her sent shivers up her spine. Abby tried to shelve her feelings. There was too much going on. The best thing to do would be to close this case with an arrest, and that was what she prayed for. After they were seated and had ordered their breakfast, Luke and Woody told her about Victoria Napier.

“She’s absolutely certain her husband’s up here working at a vineyard somewhere?” Abby frowned. “Sounds like a long shot.”

“It does,” Woody conceded. “But Orson was asked to give her a little help, and it’s just fifteen wineries. I don’t have a problem with it. He plans on joining us to help out.”

“Let’s work out the details of our new DNA story,” Luke said. He turned to Abby to explain. “Woody and I decided on a fake DNA test story to plant in the paper. Something along the lines of a new, sensitive test for the evidence related to Ciara. We’re hoping this will make our suspects nervous, force them to do or say something that will catch our attention.”

“Good idea.”

“We have to sell the deception for it to be plausible,” Woody said.

Abby nodded. “I’ve used deception before, like telling half of a crime team that the other party is spilling their guts. Sometimes it works. I’m hoping that Chaz, in an alcoholic haze, will be convinced we’re closing in on him.”

“Well, I reread the inventory of items found with her. If the blanket found with Ciara belonged to Chaz, it’s plausible if there were a new test, we would find his DNA. If it belonged to Ciara, it won’t put a fire under anyone and we’ll be out of luck.”

“Her mom didn’t recognize the blanket as being hers. Refresh my memory. What else was found with her body?” Luke said.

“Duct tape, the blanket —partially decomposed —and blue rope,” Woody said. “How about our false story is along these lines? There’s now a method to test the blanket for DNA, and a sample has been sent out for that purpose.”

“You’ve put a lot of thought into this,” Abby said with a smile.

Woody grinned. “Yes, I have. That reporter who talked with us when we arrived here, Josh Federer —maybe he’ll plant the story.”

“We’d have to let the girl’s mother know it’s a ruse,” Luke said.

“Agreed. But let’s leave the PD in the dark.”

Luke raised his eyebrows. “You think they’re dirty?”

“No, not at all, but Winnen is a cop. He’d have no problem contacting someone at the sheriff’s department, or San Luis PD, for information. If he’s not the guy —” she hiked a shoulder —“there will just be some hurt feelings. But we won’t be tipping off a suspect. We will have to sell the reporter, though. I know Gunther would do something like that; not sure about the guy here.”

“I’ll sell it to him,” Woody said. “I can be convincing.” He tapped the table, smug expression on his face, and Luke and Abby laughed.