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Though she hadn’t said the words “from you” because she wasn’t entirely sure it was him as much as it was the situation.

She looked through her sketches and added the eyes from the ferry killer to the other unnamed people she’d sketched.

She was a people watcher and often found herself sketching faces of random strangers.

Other sketches were of nature, like the bridge in the rainforest over the Pulsap River.

Pop had taken her there a lot. It had been a special place for him, but he’d warned her not to ever go there on her own.

The old logging bridge had been decommissioned and was off-limits.

Maybe she couldn’t go to the bridge, but she knew exactly where she would go.

That was it. She would go to Pop’s. He’d lived in a small apartment above the shop.

God willing, she might find a clue about where he’d gone and why.

Jo grabbed a coat, her bag, and keys and locked up the tiny house.

She hopped into her Rover, started it up, and placed her hands on the wheel.

Cole’s hands had been here yesterday. In fact, she could still smell his cologne.

Musky. Masculine. How weird was it for her to think about that?

She steered out of her hidden space and onto the road into Forestview.

Along the main strip, she found Pop’s R&D Auto Repair Shop.

He did much more than just mechanical work.

He did body work too. Sarah and Jessie—if they had even remained to work—would have already locked up for the evening.

Or did she have it all wrong? Had they been let go and the shop completely shut down with her father’s departure?

At the back of the structure, she hiked up the steps to his apartment above the shop, then unlocked the door using the key he’d given her.

Flipping on the lights, she entered the one-bedroom space to find the old furniture remained, less than half of his clothes were still in the closet, the kitchen and the fridge were emptied of food—so at least he’d cleaned that out—and with that, her shoulders sagged.

He wasn’t planning on coming back any time soon, if ever.

She moved to the window and ran her finger down the sleek, professional-grade Meade telescope.

Pop was serious about his hobbies. Maybe that’s why he’d never bought a nice house.

He hadn’t even married—as far as Jo knew, anyway.

He preferred to focus on what was important to him, like looking at the night sky.

Exploring the Creator’s universe, he’d called it.

He’d take the telescope to the coast when the skies were clear and spend hours looking at the stars.

Olympic National Park wasn’t officially a “dark sky” park, but it might as well have been.

She could hear Pop’s voice in her head now when they viewed the Milky Way at Ruby Beach. “One day soon , we’ll go back to the moon , Jo. I can feel it in my bones. I might even still be around by the time we make it to Mars. Only the good Lord knows the future .”

A pang shot through her heart at the memory.

Pop was a nerd who obsessed over things, but she could tell that, beneath the surface, he was a tortured soul.

She shoved the melancholy away. While she hated to leave his expensive telescope here, it was too much to take apart and load in her vehicle right now.

She’d have to come back for it. That he’d left one of his prized possessions behind showed his state of mind.

She locked up the apartment and bounded down the steps. With the shop key on her key ring, she opened up the back door to his office and flipped on the overhead fluorescents, which flickered. Only half the lights worked.

Jo plopped into Pop’s rolling chair and stared at his desk, which was uncharacteristically neat.

That was because he’d cleaned it off. Usually it was stacked with paperwork—parts orders, manufacturer specs, and customer needs—all handwritten.

He’d left his old desktop behind, probably because it was too ancient to be useful.

She searched through the drawers and found nothing of value, just random papers and junk.

She wasn’t even sure what she was looking for.

Just figured she’d know it when she saw it.

Over on the corkboard, the pinned images drew her attention. A few cars he’d customized as well as a Polaroid photo of Jo smiling next to her Rover. She got up and snatched the picture off the board. There had been two such photos pinned. Maybe he’d taken one for himself and left one for her.

This wasn’t getting her anywhere. He hadn’t left any clues.

He was too smart for that. His office might have been messy, but he’d always been meticulous when it came to his hobbies.

She plopped back in the chair, and her eyes landed on the shelf on the opposite wall.

She rolled across the room to study his model-car collection.

One by one, she picked them up. Corvette.

Aston Martin Valkyrie. Lamborghini Diablo.

Shelby. Had he painted them himself? The die-cast models had already been here gathering dust when she got here.

The only thing he’d said about them was that the smallest details could have the biggest impact.

He apparently liked fast vehicles. She blew the dust off now, and it made her sneeze.

She moved down the row that included military stuff.

Cannons and tanks, and then single-engine airplanes, a space shuttle, and a rocket.

She picked up one of the planes and flew it around like she was a little kid.

But she hadn’t known him as a kid, and now she came to the awful realization that maybe she hadn’t known him at all, even after three years.

The thought sickened her, but more because she was worried, hurt, and angry all at the same time. Yeah, she was in that proverbial mental dungeon right now.

Time to get out. She could work at the lodge tonight.

Because ... shoot ... her mind would not shut down. Too many questions about murder and mayhem rolled around in a brain already filled with paranoia. She’d only slept last night due to utter exhaustion. Tonight would be different.

Jo drove the short distance from Forestview to the Cedar Trails Lodge, which was perched on a cliff that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. Every season brought its own kind of coastal beauty to Cedar Trails Lodge.

Parking, she risked a glance in the mirror.

Am I really such a mess? She scraped her long dark hair into a ponytail and got out of her Rover to go in search of Remi.

Jo wanted to let her know that she was back and needed to work.

Anyone in their right mind would curl up in a ball and shiver until all the confusing thoughts passed.

Or at the very least, collapse into bed and sleep it off.

But Jo had too much nervous energy to burn off.

She could always find something to fix at the lodge.

The physical labor and problem-solving required her complete focus, so she had to shut everything else out.

She really wanted to pretend all was well.

Pop was at his shop working late, and Jo was just the local lodge fixer of everything. Working as a maintenance engineer was so different from her job as a forensic artist. But she hadn’t taken another job in the same field because Mom had said to run and hide.

Now she was here.

Hiding.

Apparently, even her father wasn’t someone she could trust. She should have known he was too good to be true. As it turned out, no one was to be trusted, especially men. Every man in her life had left her.

Inside the lodge, she spotted Remi over by the big panoramic windows, which offered amazing views of the ocean and the waves battering the rocks and sea stacks.

Remi finally glanced her way and excused herself from a conversation, then she headed toward Jo.

Maybe she hadn’t thought this through, because she really didn’t feel like answering questions.

But Remi was a person Jo could trust. With a severely concerned look in her eyes, Remi grabbed Jo’s arm and ushered her down the short hallway and into her office. Then shut the door.

Remi turned to face Jo. “Did you find him?”

And Jo just lost it. Remi had been right to drag her into this office. She fell against her friend and sobbed. Remi held her. After entirely too long, Jo stepped back and swiped at her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Remi. I’m so sorry. That was unprofessional.”

“Come on. We’re family here.” Remi snatched tissues from a side table and handed them to Jo, who wiped her face clean.

Remi crossed her arms. “I thought you would have poured all that out on Cole’s shoulder.”

“How do you know that I didn’t?”

Remi gestured to the sofa. “You want to talk about it?”

“No, actually. I just wanted you to know that I’m done with my day off, and now I need some work. Got any major leaks that sprang up while I was gone?”

“If you want to wait around a half hour or so, I’m sure something will come up. Tell me what I can do to help?”

Okay, well, maybe she did need to talk about it. At least she could tell Remi what happened. “There’s more, Remi. Much more.” Jo explained about witnessing the murder. Almost getting killed.

“Okay, that’s it. You are officially on paid leave. You need time to recuperate.”

“I don’t need time off. What I need is to work.”

“Look, I get that. I really do.”

“Are you saying you’re not going to let me work?” Jo lifted her trembling chin. And she lifted her hands and wished she hadn’t.

They were shaking. “I need to use these. I can think better, I can clear my mind.”

A knock came at the door. Great. She moved to the exit that led outside. “I’m leaving. I’ll find something to do.”

The door opened, and both Hawk and Cole stepped inside. Cole’s eyes zeroed in on her, concern twisting his features, and maybe a hint of relief in his eyes that he’d found her.

And just like that, her heart skittered around inside her rib cage. She really couldn’t get this guy out of her system. But she had to try.