Reluctantly, Nash leaves Lina in bed and heads for breakfast with Lucian and his brother. Knox worries that when the mercurial Lina breaks Nash’s heart, Knox will have to pick up the pieces. Nash’s priority needs to be locating Duncan Hugo. Lucian shares with Nash his misgivings over the coincidence of Lina arriving in town just before the shooting, but Nash warns Lucian to leave Lina alone.

Moving on, Lucian tells Nash that his information network reports that Duncan never actually left the area. That makes Nash a “loose end” (198) if Duncan ever believes Nash has regained his memory of the shooting.

Lina, over coffee with Naomi, considers what Nash means to her. They’ve been emotionally intimate, and she feels the powerful pull of sexual attraction, but she still has misgivings about telling him she is in town to track down a Porsche stolen by the same theft ring whose boss had him shot. She asks Naomi when she was sure she loved Knox, but Naomi points out that love is not about being sure: “The more you know and love and respect your partner, the more vulnerable you are together” (204). As she and Naomi sit in the coffee shop, women they know from the library, the gym, and Knox’s bar pass their booth and say hello.