She bit her lip and played with her hair in a flirty way, but she wasn’t really good at flirting. He knew she was attracted to him. He liked her, too, but for different reasons. There was something real about her, and he met a lot of people in San Francisco who weren’t real at all. It didn’t matter what she said; he just liked listening to her talk.

“What about you?” he asked. “What’s the Lucy Hagen story?”

She blushed and looked away. “Oh, that’s a boring story.”

“I doubt it. Everybody’s got a story. Did you grow up in the city?”

“No. Out in Modesto. I went to SF State and wanted to stick around after college. Nobody was hiring business majors, so I applied at Macy’s. I had dreams of being Jennifer Aniston on Friends, you know? Work my way up into the fashion business? But that’s not going to happen. So I don’t know. I’ve thought about going back to get a nursing degree, but I’m already hip-deep in debt. This economy sucks if you don’t have a cat who comes with a nice house.”

Frost smiled. “You don’t want to follow Brynn’s example? Hook up with a rich lawyer?”

Lucy rolled her eyes. He guessed that there had been a certain amount of jealousy between Lucy and Brynn.

“Yeah, she always had her eyes on the prize when it came to men. The richer the better. I don’t blame her for it. She and Gabe looked good together. I’m sure they would have gotten married and had kids and had a nice house in the hills. Me, I want to figure out who I am before I get involved with somebody.”

“That’s not a bad plan.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not making much progress on either one.”

Frost walked over to Brynn’s bed. There was an elegant perfume in the sheets. Everything was neatly folded and creased. The nightstand was dusted; the books on the table—all romance novels—were arranged in a perfect stack. Brynn was a precise person, and he thought Lucy was right that Brynn would have fit in well as a Sausalito wife.

He asked Lucy, “When did Brynn last sleep here?”

“Three nights ago, I guess. I told you, she was spending a lot of time at Gabe’s. It was nice having the place to myself, actually.”

Frost frowned. Something didn’t add up. “Gabe said he hadn’t seen Brynn in several days.”

“What?”

“He said she stayed with him four nights ago, then she was off the grid for a couple days. She didn’t respond to his calls or texts until yesterday. Did you see her during that time?”

Lucy looked unnerved. “No, she wasn’t here.”

“Was she at work?”