I pushed away from the car and faced him. “Just hear me out, okay? You told me to never give up on evidence. You said sometimes you have to ask the same questions over and over again until you have answers. So I’m looking for answers. It’s the only thing I could find, Chris. I have to start somewhere.”

He sighed, picked up his coffee again. “So tell me about it.”

I started to pace in front of him. “There were indentations from things that were written on the notepad before. Most of it was a jumble of nothing that I could make sense of. But there was one thing that I could read. Celeste Day.”

“What is that?”

“Not a what. A who. She’s an actress. She’s from New York. . . .” Albany. Eggplant. Familiar eggplant. “But she lives here in L.A. She’s shooting a horror movie over at Pear Magic Studio right now.”

He looked lost. “Connect the dots here, Nikki.”

“I don’t know how they connect. I don’t even know if they connect at all. But I’m thinking if I can find Celeste Day, maybe I can find Luna.”

“Seems like a long shot.”

I stopped, let my shoulders sag. “It’s the only shot I have.”

“Okay,” he said, switching his coffee to the other hand so he could dig in his pocket for car keys. “So what’s the plan? I know you have one. You always have one.”

Relief flooded me. It felt like the old Chris was coming through. I could even see sparks of yellow fizz off him when I stared hard enough. “I’m going to Pear Magic.”

“And you’ll get in, how?”

“I’ll figure that out when I get there. It’s not difficult.”

“For you, I believe that. So what’s my part in this?”

“Go with me,” I said, sheepish, and pissed off because I sounded sheepish. I squared my jaw. “I might have to move quickly, and four hands are better than two.” He rolled his eyes and started to talk. I knew he was about to protest, so I interrupted him, placing my hand on his arm.

Ignore the rainbow. Ignore the violet stripe. Ignore the colors.

“You don’t have to do anything until it’s safe. I won’t jeopardize your job, I promise. Everything will be on the up-and-up. And if it’s not, I’ll take the heat.”

“I don’t know. I’m just getting back into—”

“Please? Chris? I need you.” My whole body burned with furious humiliation. I didn’t need anyone. I prided myself on that. So why was I being such a needy sap now?

Because you do need him, Nikki. Because you’ve always needed him, even when you weren’t willing to admit it. And because he was always there when he was needed.

Albany. Something about Albany.

What the hell?