“SORRY,” LUKE SAID with a shake of his head. “I didn’t get a good enough look at his face.”

He handed the six-pack of photos back to Bill. They sat in a booth at Tracy’s, a cop bar and grill in East Long Beach.

Bill put the photos back in his briefcase. “Thanks for trying. I think Hart knew it was a long shot, but she wanted to give it a try anyway. She checks all the boxes.” He glanced at his watch. “I’ve got to run. Serving a search warrant with CCAT.”

“I guess you’re off the hook for tonight.”

“Sorry about that, but things look clear for the weekend. Nice of my partner to give you that lead.”

“Sure was. When she took the flyer, I thought she was just being polite. I’d spoken with the night bartender and he said he hadn’t seen Nadine. But if that day bartender did see her in Destination X, then she must be in the area, and tonight could be the night I find her and bring her home.”

“I’ll call you as soon as I’m sure of my schedule,” Bill said. His phone buzzed with a text. He slid it off his belt to read it. “From Jacoby. Cox has scheduled a press conference about the granny murders for tomorrow afternoon. I’m to be front and center with Abby. Talk about big-time.”

“Will the governor be there?”

Bill nodded.

Luke felt a jolt and chuckled. “The full dog and pony show for the big cheese, huh?”

“Whatever. I’m just glad to be in homicide.” He rubbed his hands together.

“I’m happy for you. Now go break a leg.”

Luke drove to Destination X as soon as he finished with Bill. The trip would make him late for his aikido workout, but he didn’t care. Nadine had been seen.

“Oh, Lord, I pray that she’ll surface for me, please.” He breathed out the prayer as he drove, more hopeful than he had been in a week.

Destination X was filling up. Luke made his way inside and approached the bar. He recognized the squat, unpleasant-looking man as one of the managers. He held up his poster of Nadine.

“She was here?”

The little man gave half a nod and a wave of his hand. “Gone. You go or buy drink.”

Luke spent a frustrating fifteen minutes trying to get more out of the man, but the workday had ended for a lot of the folks employed on the west side and the manager was busy.

Luke stepped outside, glad to be out of the beer-tainted air, and looked around. PCH was packed with traffic as daylight began to dim. The street vibrated with big rigs coming and going from the harbor, some on to LA. Voices chatted around pitchers, and he could smell food frying. It bit that he had to give up, had to admit defeat another night.

Nadine, where are you?

After meeting with clients and Bill, searching for Nadine, and missing his martial arts class completely, Luke returned home tired and frustrated. He sat at the computer to write up his client’s report. But once he logged in, he saw the Google alert he’d set up for Lowell Rollins. It confirmed what Bill had said. Governor Rollins would be here in Long Beach for the press conference. The alert said he’d canceled some high-level meetings and rearranged a crowded schedule for the appearance.

Luke studied the governor’s photo, tapping on the desk with his fingers. The man wasn’t a bad guy as far as politicians went. He was popular in the state because he kept a lot of the campaign promises he’d made. He had a reputation for having a big heart and for helping those who were hurting, and he managed to do it without appearing to be pandering for votes. Luke found him believable and had voted for him twice.

But even being a voter hadn’t gotten Luke the audience he wanted. He hadn’t been able to talk to Rollins about the Triple Seven murders. Two people in addition to his uncle had died in the fire that consumed the trendy restaurant. Buck and Patricia Morgan were part owners of the place with Lowell Rollins.

Now that the governor himself had lost family to murder, maybe he’d be more receptive to talking to Luke. Every day when he reviewed the twenty-seven-year-old murder, he knew that only new evidence would get the governor’s attention.

New evidence in a twenty-seven-year-old unsolved murder was a tall order.