Two blondes in a row. I wondered if that meant we should look for a brunette—men never seemed to crave what they already had—or if it was a better bet to stick with the tried-and-true. Something to think about, when the time came.

Finally, I brought up the most interesting thing I’d found. “He’s only a Carrigan by marriage. He took the wife’s last name.”

Lou was quiet for a moment, blinkering onto the 10. She didn’t seem surprised. Maybe she’d already known. “And?”

“I don’t want you to be disappointed, that’s all. If he doesn’t have access to all that Carrigan cash.”

“He’s still one of them,” she said finally. Lou took a turn too tight, and the car rocked a little as she overcorrected. “If he married in, he’s still one of ’em.”

I had my doubts, but I held my tongue. Instead, I showed Lou the family photo and her eyebrows leapt up into her hairline.

“Yowza,” Lou said, grinning at me. “He’s almost handsome enough for me to consider coming out of retirement.”

“Almost.”

If Lou had run marks for the Lady herself, it hadn’t happened since I’d come on board. She must have done several when she started out, when it was a hinky two-person operation, no Jackal as the muscle and photog, no me to help research and find new girls. And I did know that there had been a time in her past when she’d done things for cash she didn’t like to dwell on now. But all that was a very long time ago, in a city with a short memory.

It had been years since I’d had much to do with downtown, but I still knew the area enough to correct Lou a few times as she drove, guiding her to the right spot. Lou parked in the empty lot across from Carrigan’s law office and turned to face me. Her eyes were shining, even more than her normal excitement for cases.

“You know, I’d always hoped I’d find a partner. I mean, the Lady’s great, but it’s not like she’s part of the day-to-day. She’s not really in it, the way we are. It’s everything I’d hoped for all those years ago—that day we first met, you couldn’t stop crying, do you remember? But you still had all that cocky attitude underneath, waiting for me. I knew it immediately, I thought to myself, There’s a girl who goes the distance.”

I started to say something, but Lou held up her hand.