AT MIDNIGHT, Luke was back in the westside neighborhood near Destination X. He spent most of the early morning hours in or around the place looking, asking questions when people would allow it. He came up empty and called it a night about 3 a.m.

In spite of the big case and putting in a lot of his own time learning his new assignment, Bill joined him to search on Saturday night. Luke anticipated something important from his buddy. He was not prepared for the magnitude of Bill’s announcement.

“I’ll answer all your questions now,” Bill said as he hopped into Luke’s truck.

“I oughta smack you for making me guess for twenty-four hours. You can’t imagine what’s been going through my mind. What’s up?”

“Kent would like you to be there when Rollins does a walk-through of his aunt’s house with Hart.”

“Me?” Luke pointed at his chest with his thumb, certain the astonishment showed.

“Yep, it’s a royal flush, dude. Kent had a lot of conditions for the meeting at Murray’s home. You were one of them.” Bill shook his head. “Am I jealous. He wants to thank you for making the 911 call. Says the governor realizes his aunt may have stayed undiscovered for a while if you hadn’t made that call. I also got the vibe that he feels a bit guilty about not keeping in touch with his aunt.”

“Considering how rich he is and how she lived . . . from what I saw, maybe a little guilt is justified.”

“Maybe. Anyway, he claims he wants to be certain the meeting is well out of the spotlight because it’s a private matter.”

“I don’t know what to say. This is beyond what I expected.”

“Count your blessings. It’s happening tomorrow and has to be at the drop of a hat. Kent will call Hart, she’ll call you, and you both have to be ready in like twenty minutes to meet him at the scene.”

Luke frowned. “That’s for security reasons?”

“That’s what he said, but that guy is a tad paranoid. Maybe it goes with the territory. You can always say no.”

“Not likely.”

Bill grunted. “Don’t I know it. I’d love to be there. Regarding your uncle’s murder, this may be the break you’ve been waiting for.”

“A divine appointment?” Luke smiled and thought for a moment. “He give any indication when he might call tomorrow? Early? Late?”

“No. Last I spoke to Hart, she said she was hoping to get it out of the way early.”

“I was out late last night and plan the same tonight. I sure hope when I get the call, I’m awake.”

Luke remembered the promise he’d made to himself to concentrate on Nadine, so he changed the subject back to her as they drove to the truck stop on PCH, where he parked. They talked about what she was last seen wearing and just where a kid from the east side of Long Beach was likely to hide in the roughest part of the west side.

After an hour or two of talking to people and searching, Luke began to feel hopeless.

“It’s like she’s disappeared off the face of the planet,” he said to Bill. It was around one, early Sunday morning, and he had to be at church by eight. “It’s been over a week. Where is she sleeping? What is she eating? How is she living?”

Bill clamped a hand on his shoulder. “Buddy, you’ve done all you can do for one weekend. For all we know she’s watching us from the shadows and hiding every time we get close. You need to get some sleep. You have other kids depending on you.”

Luke knew he was right. As youth pastor, he had thirty youngsters expecting him to be bright and chipper at church in the morning. Losing this one just hurt so much. He turned to Bill, but it was the man behind Bill on the other side of the parking lot that caught his eye. The man was watching them.

“What?” Bill asked.

“Don’t turn around. There’s a guy in the parking lot watching us.”

Bill chuckled. “Probably a drug dealer who made me for a cop.”

“No, I’ve seen him before. He was at Crunchers.”

“Nadine worked there, right?”

“Yeah. I went there to talk to Sanders. I know that guy was in the yard, watching me then. He looks like a bouncer. Remember that big kid we met in Iraq? He watched the market for his father?”

“He’s that big? Could it be a coincidence?”

“I doubt it. Let’s take a walk and see if he follows.”

They left Destination X and crossed the street to Hotel Pacific, a seedy hotel Luke had watched the night before. Prostitutes went in and out of rooms all night. He and Bill strolled down Pacific Coast Highway, continuing to look left and right. The highway rumbled with truck traffic even this late. The twenty-four-hour truck stop was busy.

Luke could see that the big guy stayed on the other side of the street but was still following them. “He’s still there, sticking with us.”

“I see him. Boy, that’s a BUG if I ever saw one,” Bill said with a tilt of his head.

Luke smiled at the reference and agreed. He’d been in the academy long enough to know that BUG was an acronym from riot training for “big ugly guy,” the guy you wanted in front in a skirmish line when you faced a riotous crowd.

Bill rubbed his hands together. “All right, let’s be proactive. We’ll cross back and confront him. I’ll badge him and find out what his major malfunction is.”

They started to do just that, but the tall man ducked into an alley and disappeared. Luke picked up his pace until he heard a car door slam. He and Bill reached the alley in time to see the red taillights of a vehicle disappear around a corner and out of sight at the other end.

“So much for that,” Luke said, feeling exhaustion in every fiber of his soul. “I hate this to sound like it’s a last resort, but I guess I just have to leave Nadine to God.”

Bill smiled grimly. “Yeah, I guess you do. Let’s pray.”

They bowed their heads and prayed for Nadine and for any other lost teen in need.

Glad she could wait until Sunday for the call, Abby spent Saturday morning sipping coffee and reading up on the care of dogs. She downloaded a few books to her Kindle and skimmed through them.

By noon she was reasonably certain she could be a good dog owner. And while she knew this was way over the top, that there was at least a fifty-fifty chance the governor would want the dog, she visited a local pet store and bought a couple of cute ceramic bowls and a dog bed for Bandit, found a vet nearby, and made an appointment for a checkup. Her brain told her the money might be wasted, but her heart —knowing that the dog had lost his owner, his home, and everything familiar —drove Abby to make him feel comfortable and safe for the time he was in her care.

After she put his new stuff out, she hooked on his leash and they took a walk around the block, which seemed to be enough work for Bandit. Since his owner had been so advanced in years, Abby figured the little guy didn’t get much exercise, so she wasn’t going to push it.

The only annoyance of the day was the fact that, intertwined with her thoughts about Rollins, thoughts of Murphy kept invading.

What is it about him that sticks in my mind?

I love Ethan. Why does a showboat affect me this way?

Why didn’t he finish the academy?

Why would a guy like him even appeal to me in the first place?