Sometimes he swore the woman before him was Jessica. Lake had a strong personality and spoke with uncensored words. Contumacious.

"I'm leaving town tomorrow."

"For?"

"Research."

"What are you researching?" Her eyes grew wide with expectancy.

Luke chuckled. "Stuff for something I'll be presenting at a conference in the spring."

"What's the topic?" Lake's relentlessness was unmatched.

"Life after death."

"Really? Sounds intriguing."

"Very. So let's plan a trip home in a few weeks."

"Christmas is in a few weeks."

"Well there you go. Perfect timing." Luke grinned.

Lake rolled her eyes. "Take me with you."

"Absolutely not."

"Why?"

"I'm going to be busy. I won't have time to watch after you."

"I don't need you to watch after me."

"No."

"Come on."

"Absolutely not. It's too dangerous."

"Dangerous? Where are you going? Looking for ghosts in the ghetto?"

Luke sighed. "The answer is no. No now. No tomorrow. No if you ask me a million more times."

"You're no fun."

"So I've heard."

"I'm not going to watch Jones for you."

"I'm not asking you to. Eve has agreed to watch him."

"I think you're taking advantage of your secretary."

"Probably, but she loves Jones, maybe more than me, so I don't feel bad about asking her."

"So you're just going to leave me by myself this weekend."

"I'm sure Charlie will indulge you in a movie or some female-bonding thing."

Lake shrugged, a pout stealing her full lips. "I'm trying to give Charlie some s.p.a.ce. I think being around me reminds her of you."

Luke's brow furrowed. "I'm sorry. That's one of the main reasons I hesitated getting involved with her. I didn't want anything to happen to your friendship." It was a half-truth. Jessica was the biggest reason for his reservations about a relationship with Charlie or anyone else.

"It's fine. I'm actually comforted by the fact that my brilliant psychiatrist brother is messed-up in the head. It makes the rest of us feel less crazy for having a human side."

"Next weekend. I'll go home with you then. Okay?"

"Deal." Lake stood, taking an extra moment to gain her balance.

He walked around the desk and hugged her. "I am messed-up and yes, the whole ahuman side' really sucks."

"I love you, Luke. You're still my idol."

"Thanks. But I think you need to set your role model standards a bit higher than me."

"How long will you be gone?"

"I had Eve reschedule my patients for next week so I don't feel rushed. It depends on what I find and how soon I find it."

Her. It depended on how soon he found her.

Luke boarded the plane for Chicago. It was the safest destination to take by plane. He would pay cash for a rental car and drive to Omaha where he would pay cash for a hotel. Jude/Jackson was his ticket to finding Jessica. Luke didn't buy his claim that he couldn't find her.

"Sir, we're experiencing a slight delay. Can I get you something to drink while we wait?" the flight attendant asked.

"I'm fine. Thank you." He tipped his head back and closed his eyes. The 6:00 a.m. flight was always a b.i.t.c.h.

A while later the flight attendants began their pre-flight instructions to the pa.s.sengers. Luke opened his eyes and stared out the window as they taxied down the runway, waiting in line to be cleared for takeoff.

"So Chicago, huh? I've never been. This should be fun."

Lake.

Luke whipped around in his seat to blue eyes that mirrored his. Lake smiled, pink Beats covering her ears.

"What the h.e.l.l are you doing?"

The older gentleman sitting next to her scowled at Luke.

"I thought I'd surprise you. No one really likes to travel alone."

"You can't be here."

She laughed. "We'll be in the air in less than sixty seconds. I think I'm here to stay."

"The second we land in Chicago we're getting you a ticket right back home."

"Um ... okay, Dad." She rolled her eyes.

"Sir, I need you to face forward. We're getting ready to take off."

Luke turned back around. Rage filled his mind. Lake would get a proper a.s.s-chewing as soon as they landed in Chicago. Then he'd put her back on a plane.

He slipped on his own headphones to block out the sound of her gabbing with the pa.s.senger next to her. The girl could chat it up with anyone. It would be a long flight.

As soon as they exited the plane, he grabbed her arm.

"Ticket counter. Now."

She tugged out of his grasp. "I'm an adult, Luke. You can't tell me what to do."

"Have it your way." He marched past her. If she wanted to see Chicago, she could see Chicago. He had a rental car to get, and then he would head back west to Omaha.

"Luke! Stop!"

He stopped, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth.

"What the h.e.l.l? I get it. You didn't want me to come. But I'm here. You can't just leave me."

"I told you it's not safe for you to be here."

"What does that mean? You think I'm going to get mugged or raped? I'm not going to wander the streets alone at night. You can do your thing during the day and I'll do mine. We can meet up for dinner. I promise I won't be a burden."

"I love you and that's why you can't stay. You have to trust me on this. I'm begging you, please just go back home."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "No."

"Enjoy Michigan Avenue. I'll see you back in San Francisco." He continued on, setting a pace he knew she couldn't keep.

Thirty seconds later he turned to the sound of commotion behind him.

"Dammit!" he jogged back to Lake.

A crowd of people surrounded her.

"I'm fine. Really, I'm fine."

Two men helped her to her feet while a lady shoved the spilled contents of Lake's purse back inside it. Blood oozed from a gash above Lake's eye.

"Jesus, what happened?"

"I was trying to catch up with my brother." She scowled at him, garnering similar looks and sympathy from the small crowd of people.

"I'm a doctor. Thanks. I'll take it from here." He smiled at the people around them as he took her bags and slung them over his shoulder. "Let's go. We'll stop by Urgent Care on our way out of town."

"We're not staying in Chicago?" She held a wad of tissue to her forehead as he led her through the crowd.

"No. We're not."

With a rental car and a st.i.tched up forehead, Luke and Lake headed west, Omaha bound. Self-preservation didn't matter when it was a solo trip. Lake's stubbornness put her in danger and compromised Luke's ability to find Jessica.

"You can't be mad at me forever."

He could.

"The silent treatment is getting old. We've been on the road for three hours. Tell me where we're going."

"Omaha." Keeping it a secret wasn't an option. Lake could read.

"You know, I haven't been to Omaha either, but I'm one hundred percent sure they have an airport. Did you overshoot your destination by a couple states on purpose?"

"Yes."

"One word explanations. I can work with that. I like twenty questions. Let's see ... are you really going to Omaha for business?"

"No."

"Hmm ... did you purchase a cattle farm?"

"No." He gave her a quick sideways glance with a single squinted eye.

Lake laughed. "Is Warren Buffett your financial advisor?"

"No."

"Does this trip have anything to do with a woman?"

Luke contemplated his answer, not sure if telling Lake the truth was a good idea. "Yes."

"OMG! Are you serious?"

OMG confirmed she was not ready to handle the truth, but his options were limited.

"Serious."