“I did. This city hasn’t changed.” She’d been here one other time for one of those law conferences.
“So, breakfast tomorrow?”
Andi glanced at the schedule in her hand. “I can do early. Before things get crazy.”
“Perfect because I have an appointment at nine. Does seven work?”
“Seven it is.”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-EIGHT
That evening,they decided to grab dinner together at a restaurant where Mariella promised they’d eat the best pasta of their lives.
Matthew adjusted his glasses. “That’s statistically unlikely.”
Mariella waved him off. “Trust me.”
They moved down the sidewalk as a loose cluster, traffic rushing past in shiny streams while Los Angeles settled into its nighttime rhythm. Storefronts glowed beneath string lights and neon signs, music spilling from bars and open patios. People packed the sidewalks—couples drifting hand in hand, groups laughing too loudly, runners threading through it all with earbuds in and purpose to spare.
The city felt wide and restless, even on foot.
Andi walked with the group, keenly aware of how easy it would be to disappear here.
And how difficult it would be to notice if someone didn’t come home.
She fell a half step behind, her thoughts still ruminating over this case.
Duke drifted beside her without comment, matching her pace as naturally as breathing. His posture was easy, but hisattention wasn’t—his gaze sliding from reflections in darkened windows to doorways to the flow of people ahead of them.
Mariella was in the middle of an animated description of handmade gnocchi and a dessert she claimed involved fire.
Andi smiled at the enthusiasm. Let herself listen.
Then a sharp, panicked shout sounded.
The scream of brakes cracked the air.
Metal shrieked against concrete.
Andi looked up in time to see a car lurch over the curb. Its tires bounced and headlights flared as it barreled toward them.
Time slowed.
The car wasn’t stopping, Andi realized.
It was headed directly toward her.
Andi froze as she saw the car coming toward her.
Duke’s hand clamped around her arm, solid and unyielding.
He yanked her backward so hard her breath punched from her lungs.
She stumbled into him as the car shuddered past, close enough that she felt the rush of air against her legs, close enough to smell hot rubber and burning brake pads.
The vehicle screeched to a halt inches from where she’d been standing.
