I KNEW IT wasn’t going to go well when I showed up at Chris’s office early that evening, but I had to take my chances. Part of me—the part that knew him—told me he did care about finding Luna and helping me solve my mother’s case. I was going to have to trust that part of me when he was most likely going to be yelling at me to leave and take my drama with me.

Turned out, I was lucky to even catch him there at all. When he came out into the lobby to see me standing there, I could see his shoulders tense. I almost felt bad. Like maybe if I cared for him at all, I would just leave him alone.

But caring for people wasn’t in my repertoire. And neither was leaving people alone when I wanted something.

“Don’t get that look,” I said, brushing past him toward his office. “I’m here for a good reason.”

“I was just heading out,” he said to my back.

“I can ride along.”

“No, Nikki, you can’t.” He edged around me and stopped in his doorway, blocking me. “This is about a case that has nothing to do with you. Or me. Other than it’s my job to solve it.”

“Oh, come on. Are you ever going to forgive me? I’ve said I was sorry.”

“If you were really sorry, you would stop doing what you’re doing.”

“What am I doing?” My voice had taken on a high, squeaky quality that I hated.

“We’ve been through this and through this and through this. I think you’re wasting your time. You aren’t going to find Luna. You aren’t going to find your mother’s murderer. You need to let go already and start to live your life. Stop living in the past. You can’t fix it. You can only learn from it.”

I cocked my hip to one side, pressing my fist into it. “Says the guy whose secret obsession with his own past almost got him killed. Maybe you should let it go and live your life.”

“And you really think Heriberto is going to let that happen?” he asked, voice low.

“And you really think Luna is?” I countered.

“Yes. Actually, I do. I think Luna is long gone. I think she probably hitched the first plane to Dubai, just like her parents would have done. I think she wants to forget that you ever existed. I think she wants everything that’s happened to just go away.”