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jerking in his jaw as he reached for Luke’s hand.
    “Thank you, my friend. Find my family and you can name your price.”
    “There is no price on friendship,” Luke countered. “I’ll settle for a few prayers.”
    Sam nodded, choking back tears as he shook Luke’s hand.
    “Time enough for all this in the upcoming days. For now, you need to go home and get some rest.”
    “I’ll be in touch,” Luke said, and started to leave, then hesitated and turned back around. He pointed to the painting.
    “Will you let me have this for a bit?”
    “Certainly,” Sam said. “But why?”
    “That fingerprint. Thought I’d run it through channels and see what we come up with.”
    Sam’s eyes widened, and then he started to smile.
    “Good thinking,” he said.
    Luke grinned. “It’s what I do.”

Three
    S helly Hudson’s phone was ringing when she came in from the garage. She ran to answer with a breathless hello.
    “Shelly, it’s Luke Kelly.”
    “Luke! How nice to hear from you. I understood you were out of town.”
    “Yes, I was. Got back yesterday.”
    “We barely beat you home. Paul and I returned only a couple of days ago ourselves.”
    “Yes, I know. It’s part of why I’m calling. Sam showed me the painting.”
    “Oh.” There was a moment of hesitation then Shelly added. “Is Sam okay? Paul and I have been torn about what we did. I don’t know whether bringing that painting home did him a favor or not.”
    “He’s fine. In fact, I’m going to do a little investigating for him, and I would like to talk to you and Paul about the artist. Since there was no signature on the painting, it’s possible you heard a name and have just forgotten. Sometimes talking about an incident brings back memories.”
    “Paul won’t be of any help. He wasn’t even there. My girlfriend and I were the ones at the street fair. Unfortunately she’s in San Francisco. I’d be happy to talk to you, although I’m sure I remembered all there was to tell.”
    “When can I come over?”
    Shelly glanced at the clock. It was almost noon.
    “If you’re up for some chicken Caesar salad, come now and I’ll fix us both some lunch.”
    “Sounds like a plan,” Luke said. “Is thirty minutes okay?”
    “Perfect,” Shelly said. “I hope I can help. I feel so responsible for opening this Pandora’s box.”
    “Don’t worry about it,” Luke said. “I’ll be there soon.”
     
    Less than thirty minutes later, Shelly heard a car pulling up their driveway and looked out. It was Luke. She stood for a moment, admiring the pure physical attraction of the man. Over and above his intelligence and successful career, he was more than a sight to behold. He stood well over six feet tall, with chocolate-brown hair and sharp green eyes. His chin was square, his lips full and often smiling. His eyebrows were almost as expressive as his mouth, often arching with surprise or tilting in a quirky manner that mirrored anything from disdain to surprise. He wore his clothes with a casual indifference, conscious only of their fit. But women saw more than a tall, good-looking man. To them, he was a talking, walking, hunk of alpha male.
    Even Shelly, who was almost twenty years his senior and a happily married woman, could appreciate the beauty of a perfect male. She wiped her hands on a towel and hurried to the door and let him in.
    “You’re just in time,” she said, offering her cheek for the kiss she knew would be coming.
    “You smell good,” Luke said, as he followed Shelly Hudson into the kitchen.
    She turned and grinned. “Since I’m not wearing any perfume, it’s got to be the chicken.”
    “Like I said, you smell good.”
    She laughed aloud and waved him toward a chair in the breakfast nook.
    “Hope you don’t mind, but I thought we’d eat in here.”
    “This is perfect,” Luke said. “Anything I can do to help?”
    “I have iced tea in the fridge. You can get it and the glasses I have chilling in the freezer and put them