DURING THE LONG drive out to Faye’s home in Lake Los Angeles, Luke thought hard about what he was going to say to her. It was raining in patches. He’d go through one cloudburst; then it would clear and repeat. Kind of like his mind: clear, then cloudy, and over again. During the weeks of their dating, they’d been alternating trips; this Saturday it was his turn to head out her way for a lunch date.

He hadn’t strung Faye along. They had fun together, shared common interests, but neither one of them had talked about getting serious. He did enjoy Faye’s company, but it would be best to come clean with her on how he felt about Abby. Luke realized he was more excited to be starting his first official task force case with Abby than to go on this planned outing with Faye.

After an hour and a half of soul-searching about exactly what he was going to say to her, when he pulled up in front of Faye’s house, his mind went blank. All he could do was pray that he’d find the right words and that nothing he said would hurt her.

“Hi, Luke.” Faye met him on the porch. “I’m so sorry; something has come up. I probably should have called you so you could have turned around before you got here, but I’ve been hung up instant messaging with the victim’s family trying to sort things out.”

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

She held up a Missing poster. “I’ve been blogging about this woman for a week. I think I told you about it. She’s from Littlerock, and she went missing two weeks ago.”

“I remember you mentioning that. Supposedly she went on vacation.”

“That was what the ex-boyfriend said. The sheriff just called me. They found her car abandoned on the Angeles Crest Highway. I’m heading up there to find out what’s happening.”

“Wow.” He stepped forward. “Faye, I’m so sorry. I know you’ve been praying she turns up safe. This doesn’t look good, does it?”

She shook her head as the tears fell, and Luke pulled her close, letting her cry on his shoulder. This news was clearly hitting her deeply, and he had no problem trying to comfort her the best way he could.

After a moment she pulled away to blow her nose and wipe her eyes. “You are so sweet. Thank you for letting me vent a bit.”

“No problem. I know this is rough for you. The other day we prayed that she would be found safe. Do you want me to come along?”

Faye sighed, shook her head, and shot him a dazzling smile. “You’ve done enough right now, being here.” She dabbed her eyes again. “I was really hoping all would be well with this woman. She leaves behind a two-year-old little boy.”

“I understand completely.” Though Luke wanted to be straight with her about their relationship, this probably wasn’t the best time to bring it up.

She gripped his hand in both of hers. “You are the sweetest man I’ve met since my husband died. But we’re not really going anywhere as a couple, are we?”

Luke smiled sadly. She was a smart lady and he’d underestimated her. “I think today is a perfect illustration of why not. You have your world out here and —”

“You have your world in Long Beach,” she finished for him. “We’ve tried to make a go of it, but in reality, never the twain shall meet.”

“I guess not,” Luke agreed.

Faye rose on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “It’s trite, but I still hope we can be friends.”

“I hope so too.”

“And I do want to help you on the Triple Seven case, if you’ll let me.”

“You bet. I’m not sure where the new cold case will take us, but I’ll be in touch.”

“I talked to Orson this morning. He was secretive about where you’re going. He likes leaving you in suspense.”

Luke smiled at that. Agent Todd Orson and Faye were good friends. Orson had introduced them when he asked Luke and Woody to help her with the ten-year-old rape case that ended with Gil Barone’s arrest. Luke knew that they spoke often. They were both involved in the Wounded Warrior Project and worked together on a lot of fund-raisers.

“If you couldn’t get the location out of him, then I know that I won’t until Monday.”

“Thank you again, for everything.” She moved toward her car.

“No problem.”

“You be careful with whatever type case they hand you.”

“Right back at you, Faye. Take care,” he called as she climbed into her SUV.