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B reathe. Just breathe. Jo tried to focus on the road. Think about Mrs. Crawford in the back seat. Anything to avoid the awful images seared in her mind of her beautiful haven blown to bits.

Her father’s text. What did it mean? What did it all mean? Anguish squeezed her insides. Why hadn’t her father told her his real name? Maybe he was the danger Mom wanted her to run from all along—because how would she know? Mom hadn’t even told her about him.

Nausea erupted, but she held it together because she was delivering a scared woman to Cedar Trails. If Jo had been driving alone, she might have just pulled over and lost it on the side of the road. Or she would have stayed with Cole.

“Jo, honey, I’m sorry about your house,” Mrs. Crawford said. “It can be rebuilt, but you’re alive, and I’m praying for you.”

The woman sounded like she’d composed herself and found the strength needed to make it through this, and she’d found it in her faith.

If only Jo could be so strong. “Thank you.”

Jo finally steered the Yukon up the long drive to Cedar Trails. On this dark and stormy night. She chuckled through her tears and swiped at her nose. She’d been flirting with Cole. Actually flirting with him when the outside world came crashing down on them. Jo shoved thoughts of Cole away.

Remi was already running from the lodge and toward Jo when she swerved into a parking spot. Jo hopped out and assisted Mrs. Crawford. The woman hugged her long and hard. Remi joined in, the three of them ignoring the cold and rain.

“Let’s get inside and out of this weather,” Mrs. Crawford said. “Remi, dear, Jo’s going to need your attention.”

The woman’s words surprised her. She’d gone through it too, except, well, her house was still intact.

“I’m fine,” Jo lied.

She wanted to be anywhere but here at the moment. This place only reminded her of Pop, who had brought her to Hidden Bay to begin with. She started toward the lodge, but Remi held her back. Mrs. Crawford kept moving, unaware that Jo remained by the Yukon.

“Jo, there’s a reporter here, hanging around. I tried to get rid of him, but he’s going to stay until he finds you and talks to you. I just wanted to warn you to be on your guard. Maybe you can just wait in my office.”

“What? I’m not going to hide. But I’m not going to stay.”

“We could go back to Hawk’s place.”

“As if I won’t be found? No, I’ll just go somewhere. I’ll let you know where.”

“I’ll go with you,” Remi said.

Jo grabbed Remi’s hands. “You’re needed here. Mrs. Crawford is the one who needs attention. I’m going back to Spruce Hollow to check on Cole. I’ll be okay.”

Remi frowned and then glanced at Cedar Trails—the hundred-year-old lodge perched on the cliff overlooking the ocean. Jo took advantage of her distraction and climbed into the Yukon. She was already backing out when Remi turned back.

“I’ll text you!” Jo shouted over the wind, then closed the window and sped away into the night.

Filled with outrage now, she gunned the Yukon, putting as much distance as possible between her and Cedar Trails Lodge, a quiet and private rustic resort. Her privacy had been invaded.

A reporter ... a reporter! ... had shown up trying to get the inside scoop into Jo’s life. How had that happened so fast? And why? Then again, someone might think a ferry losing a car with a woman and a murder victim inside made for a sensational headline.

She wanted no part of it. Needing a few moments of peace, she pulled over to the side of the road to calm her racing pulse. And send Pop a text. She hadn’t heard a word from him since his cryptic last message—and then bam, he texted her about a bomb?

I’m alive. Thanks. What is going on?

She stared at the bright screen on her cell. She shouldn’t expect her father to respond. Miracle of miracles, a response appeared. Her pulse jumped. Seriously?

Meet me. Tell no one. Keep it our secret. You’ll see my truck. The old Chevy Silverado.

Then he sent an address. She knew the truck. He’d purchased it two months ago from a salvage yard and had it running in no time. She took the time to connect her cell on the head unit and put in the address. It was a small airport just over an hour away, out in the middle of nowhere.

She got back onto the road out of Cedar Trails Lodge and Resort and got on 101.

Would this be the last time she would see him?

Was this for one last goodbye? Whatever his reason for wanting to meet her now—after a bomb—she would not miss this chance to ask him the hard questions.

If she got the opportunity, she needed answers from her father.

Face-to-face.

Heart pounding, she took the curve in the road too fast and swerved into the opposite lane. A car coming toward her honked, and she jerked the wheel back.

Her heart jackhammered.

“You’d better have a good explanation for this, Pop.” Should she even be meeting him? Maybe she should call the county sheriff, law enforcement, police, FBI, but Pop wouldn’t be there long enough for anyone in law enforcement to show up.

And Jo needed this moment with him. She needed to understand. She hadn’t gotten the chance with Dale or ... or with Mom. A big, wide crack remained in her heart at the way her last moments with Mom had unfolded.

If only she’d known they were her last. But no one ever knew the last time they’d see a loved one.

Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t gotten a last goodbye with Cole before he’d left because she hadn’t even considered she wouldn’t hear from him again for months.

Though he was temporarily back in her life.

Emphasis on temporary. She wasn’t entirely sure of the real reason.

Yes, he was working on a case involving her mother, and yes, he claimed he wanted her to be free.

But why did he care so much if he was able to walk away from their budding romance so easily?

Those thoughts were only a distraction. She didn’t have the answers, but one thing she did know was that the Green Beret turned private investigator–bodyguard would not be happy that she’d traveled to meet her father without running it by him or bringing him along.

She suspected he assumed she was with Remi at the lodge, and she’d driven in peace for almost an hour before her phone started going crazy with text messages that she ignored.

Jo didn’t care. She was doing this. Maybe connecting her cell to the head unit had been a mistake.

Because the guilt was getting to her. But Pop said not to tell anyone.

Instead of asking Siri to read Cole’s messages, she let him know that she was all right.

She needed space. Cole understood that about her.

But he responded immediately. She wasn’t getting rid of him so easily, especially since she had stolen his ride.

Siri read the text from Cole.

Why are you going to the airport?

Of course he would know exactly where the vehicle was heading. The rental vehicle had GPS tracking, and he’d tapped into that information. Technology had its pros and cons.

She steered into the small county airport as her cell rang, and this time, she answered.

“What are you doing?” he asked. “Why did you just take off in my vehicle? Why didn’t you answer my texts?”

The fury in his voice was edged with deep concern. As if he cared about her more than anything or anyone. Or maybe she was imagining it.

“I can’t talk long. I’ll explain after—”

“After? After what? Just where do you think you’re going?”

“You actually think I’m getting on a plane and I’m going to fly somewhere? I’m going to hide again?” And if she was, then she wouldn’t bother telling him.

“Am I wrong? Because right now, that’s what it looks like.”

“No. Nothing like that, although now that you mention it, that seems like a really great idea.”

Then she spotted Pop’s truck at the end of the parking lot. “Gotta go.”

Jo parked Cole’s vehicle and turned everything off. Everything. Including her cell. Not to stop tracking—because it would still give off that signal—but to stop Cole’s interruptive calls and texts.

She sat in the Yukon and took a deep breath. Her hands shook, and she needed to remain calm for seeing Pop—possibly for the last time.

She’d done it now. Her little excursion on the ferry had cost her anonymity. Cost her secret place, and now look at her—she was braving the world at large, coming to a small-town airport. At night, of course.

The parking lot could have been better lit, if someone had asked her. Like those big bright lights at Home Depot or some big-box store. Lights to chase away the monsters or just common thieves. Now she just had to find out where on that list her own father fell.

Chills crawled over her. Sure, it was cold tonight, but more than that, this place was creepy.

Pop had to be leaving on an airplane, and he was waiting to give her one last cryptic message, but she prayed for all the answers.

She hopped out of the Yukon and headed for the small terminal but hesitated.

Cameras were inside—weren’t they?—and Pop wouldn’t be in there.

He’d told her he would meet her at the airport. But where?

A figure stepped from the corner of the building, barely out of the shadows. Barely noticeable.

“Jo.”

She recognized her father’s whisper.

Her heart jumped. She tried to act normal and sauntered over to the corner and disappeared into the shadows with him. Was she trusting him entirely too much? Maybe. But this was Pop. She knew that he loved her, even though he was causing her pain.

She shoved every ounce of hurt away, deep inside. She had to become granite so he wouldn’t hurt her again. Was it even possible? Maybe not, but she could block any sympathy for his sob story or whatever explanation he might give. In the end, she wanted the whole truth.

“What is going on?” And with those words she crumpled, sobbed against his shoulder.

Oh , Jo , you’re so weak . Get your act together.

He held her, as comforting a moment as ever a father could offer. A bittersweet moment. Then he stepped back to peer at her. A sliver of light from the security lamp sliced across a portion of his face, giving her a look at the deep regret in his eyes.

Jo didn’t bother wiping the tears from her cheeks. “Tell me everything, and don’t hold back.”

“I’m so sorry, Jo. I never meant to hurt you. I should never have come into your life.”

“How dare you? How dare you insert yourself into my life until I don’t know what I’d do without you, and now you’re deserting me?”

The regret in his eyes turned to anguish.

“All I had to do was stay away once I saw you and knew you were mine. I didn’t, and now I’ve ruined everything. I hate this more than you’ll ever know. Please ... go. Find a new safe place. I have to put a lot of distance between us. Please know that I’ll always love you.”

“That’s it? No explanation?” About the bomb? About any of it?

Tears filled his eyes as he shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

“Can’t you even tell me your real name?”

Now he was the one who was granite.

Her heart might burst. “Oh, Pop. Just tell me ... are you a criminal? Are you running from the law?”

“You aren’t meant to know me, Jo.”

He turned and walked toward a back gate, where she realized someone was standing in the shadows.

The gate creaked as the stranger opened it for him.

Was Pop getting through without going through the normal security channels?

She didn’t know. But if so, then she was complicit with his crimes if she stood here and said nothing.

Then again, he could be getting on a private jet for all she knew, and she glanced out into the airfield, where a couple of prop planes sat.

Pop walked with the stranger to the small plane, then got in alone.

The man who’d opened the gate kept his distance.

Pop ... was the pilot? She hadn’t even known that about him.

She assumed the stranger had completed the preflight checklist for Pop.

The single-engine plane fired up, then it taxied and accelerated before disappearing into the night.

This man here tonight, he wasn’t the one she’d known for three years.

The greasy mechanic who owned his own shop.

Fixed everyone’s vehicles. Whose fingernails were dirty.

And he smelled of oil and grease. This man .

.. this man, here tonight, she didn’t know him at all.

She listened to the sound of the prop until she could no longer hear it. Then the sound of other vehicles and air traffic, a helicopter here and there, filled the night.

The wind had died down. The rain too.

Maybe she should follow Pop’s lead. Get on a plane and fly somewhere. Someplace she’d never been and start over. Alaska. No, Hawaii. Or maybe the desert this time. No more rainy season.

Footsteps approached, rushing up at her, and she reached for her weapon and pivoted.

“Jo!”

The words came out breathless as Cole grabbed her. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“Cole? How did you—”

He hugged her to him and squeezed tight. “Don’t ever do that again.”

Said in desperation and filled with passion, the words cut her to the core. If he’d said them any other way, she would have stood her ground. But Cole had somehow, overnight, turned into her anchor, and she needed to hang on with all she had or else she would be lost, so lost.

He’d followed her. She should be furious. Instead, she pressed into him, knowing she shouldn’t trust anyone else. Those she loved, those she cared about, left. Her stepfather, her mom, and now Pop.

Maybe if she was a stronger person, she could withstand the force that was Cole. But she needed this man for this moment in time.