WHILE HE WAITED for a callback from a client, Luke idly did a Google search for news articles about Abby. He knew he’d read about her over the years. She was a good cop and had been cited for bravery if he remembered right.

He quickly hit pay dirt. She’d been awarded the medal of valor. The heroic incident cited happened while she was still in uniform —a firefight where she risked her life to pull a wounded officer out of the line of gunfire. There was a brief synopsis of her career in bullet points for the article.

She’d never used deadly force and was given a meritorious service award for talking a man out of killing himself after he’d just killed his brother. She’d worked in patrol for five years and then moved on to an auto theft task force, which was her position when this article was written. He found a few more articles, but anytime she was interviewed, her statements were professional and frustratingly brief. The more he read, the more he was intrigued.

The phone rang, but it wasn’t his client. It was Bill.

“Just met my new partner,” Bill said, telling Luke about Abby Hart and his new assignment. “She asked me to follow up with you, show you a six-pack.”

“A six-pack? She has a suspect already?”

“A cat burglar who all but confessed. She knows you didn’t see his face clearly, but we’re trying to build a case. You mind if I bring it by?”

“Can I meet you somewhere? I have a client to see in Bellflower —just waiting for a confirmation call. How about Tracy’s? I hope I can help.”

“That would be fine. I think I know why Hart’s so good. She’s not a glory hog. She had an idea on who the suspect might be, and instead of taking it all on herself, she tags Page and his team to bring him in. Now this gives CCAT a possible homicide collar and she’s fine with that. She is in no way a hard person to work with, and what she’s done with this case proves she’s a team player.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

As Luke hung up, he realized he envied Bill. He’d love to spend eight hours a day with Abby Hart.

When his client finally called, Luke knew he couldn’t devote any more time to studying up on the enigmatic detective. He had meetings scheduled that couldn’t be postponed. His PI business paid the bills, but often it was feast or famine. In famine he would earn cash working with his stepdad. Now, as his plate filled with work, he didn’t want to short anyone, so he switched gears and pulled out the client’s file, amazed at how difficult it was to stop thinking about the green-eyed homicide investigator.