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At the startled look on her face, Cole took a step back.

She’d stopped chopping, and when she turned, naturally, she still held up the knife.

Maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned the knife, or he could have said it better.

Grinning, he gently gripped her wrist and lowered the knife. He’d really meant it in a teasing way.

She looked at the kitchen tool that could be used as a weapon and then at Cole.

“Oh! Oh no. I’m sorry.” Then she released the knife on the counter. “Is the news that bad ?”

He wished he could take the pain away, but there was no way around it. “It’s just more to add to everything else.”

“Could I just get the chili going first? I have a feeling after you tell me, I might not be able to focus.”

He was an idiot. “I’ll help you. What can I do?”

“You could pull the ground beef out of the microwave and brown it for me. It should be defrosted now. Are you sure it’s all right for us to use this food?

Whoever owns this place might wonder when they get back.

” She twisted her lips into a funny smile.

“I mean, I have no idea how a safe house works. Who does this place even belong to anyway?”

“I’m as sure as I can be that the food is for us.” Remi and Hawk had assured him the place and the essentials, including food, were theirs to use. “Hawk said it belongs to a friend of Evelyn’s, and that’s all he knows.”

“Of course.” She gave a resigned smile. “What would I do without her help?”

What would any of them do? Evelyn Monroe was resourceful.

He’d give her that. Together, Cole and Jo worked in silence to make the chili, and Cole wished he hadn’t brought up the discussion just yet, but there was never really a good time.

Once the chili was assembled and simmering in the pot, they both washed and dried their hands.

“I’m grabbing a soda from the fridge, and then you can tell me the news.” Jo sounded emotionally distant, as if she was working hard to compartmentalize everything. If that’s what it took to keep her head straight, then a girl had to do what a girl had to do.

On the sofa, they watched angry clouds billowing with a storm rolling in. That reflected his thoughts exactly—a storm was brewing.

“About your dad...”

She shifted on the sofa, pulling her legs up under her, then tucked her chin to look at him. “Just give me the news already.”

Right. He clasped his hands. “It’s not bad. It’s just unexpected.”

“I’m going to pull my hair out.” She glared at him.

“All right. I have connections with intelligence agencies, but we didn’t want to use those connections in this case. Allison worked her magic and was able to discover your father’s true identity.” Cole’s throat tightened. “His name is Ransom Driscoll.”

Jo shrugged. “It’s an unusual name, but you act like that’s supposed to mean something to me. Is it?”

With her reaction, he got the answer he needed. “I guess not.”

“How did she learn his name?”

“Allison is...” How did he express his admiration without giving Jo the wrong idea. “She’s good at her job. I’m ... I mean, CGIS is fortunate to have her. She could be working for anyone.”

“You mean like the CIA?”

“Yeah. Like them.” And she chose to work with Cole.

Jo was watching him as if trying to read his expression. “So get to it. How did she learn his name?”

“Well, in a nutshell, once I sent her Advanced Technologies, she started running a search in the background. She uses some serious algorithms.”

“She didn’t tell us that before,” Jo said.

“She didn’t know. She’d learned about Advanced Technologies but not your father.”

“Okay, so how did she find him?”

“In addition to the footage Nick shared with me, Allison gained access to CCTV footage near the building. The day you went to see him, he left the building with someone. He had lunch with that same man—Jim Jordan—a couple of blocks away. Jim Jordan is a major player at Advanced Technologies—a COO, chief operating officer. He usually works out of their California office and was in town that day.”

“I don’t get it. How did she learn Ransom’s name?”

“She used a bit of, let’s say, social engineering to learn who Jim Jordan was meeting for lunch.”

“And she knows that Ransom’s not just another alias how?” Jo asked.

“She was able to confirm that’s his real name.

Working from a theory that he could be an engineer, she created an algorithm to search college records from top schools and found him.

He has a degree in mechanical engineering from MIT, which confirms what we suspected.

She was able to find additional supporting documents as well. ”

“Then she probably also found what he did after graduation,” Jo said. “Where he worked.”

“You would think, but she ran into the proverbial brick wall. She hasn’t found his work history yet.

Not everything is available digitally from thirty years ago, but she assured me she’s using all the available tools.

She’ll keep looking for him. Learning his past could help us learn what’s going on now. ”

Jo released a heavy sigh. “Okay. What next?”

“I want you to be safe. We need to know what he’s running from. What brought him to Hidden Bay. What he’s involved in that led him to go into hiding, change his name, and then leave when he thought he’d brought danger to you.”

Jo stared at the fire. He had a feeling she had something more to say.

“I wonder if Mrs. Monroe would know,” she said.

“Why do you say that?”

“She has a reputation among those who know her for helping people. He came here for a reason, and now we both believe that he was hiding in Hidden Bay. Makes me wonder if he was here due to Mrs. Monroe’s influence.”

He was tracking with her. “Does she know what people are hiding from? Did she know what brought you here?”

“I don’t know. But it’s something to explore. Maybe we should just go and ask her. But I think she’s secretive about it all, which makes sense. I doubt we’ll learn anything.”

“That’s an idea.” He texted Remi, who worked for Evelyn Monroe and had more access to her. “I’ll ask Remi and see what we can learn, if anything.”

“Is that it?” Jo asked. “Nothing about what danger he could be in and, by proximity, I could be in?”

“Nothing yet. Allison’s digging. This is a start, though.”

They sat in silence and listened to the approaching storm.

This home was more solid than Hawk’s house in Forestview or even the cabins at Cedar Trails.

Even so, it shuddered and creaked. But then again, it was on top of a cliff, with a veranda stretching out over the ledge, so it took the brunt of the storm.

Much like Jo. She was taking the brunt of a storm, or maybe it was a perfect storm, stemming from her mother’s murder and the criminal activity involving her father.

And perfect storms almost always brought devastating results.

He wanted to search on the name Ransom Driscoll, an engineer, and he probably would, even though Allison’s methods were far superior to his internet browser searches.

“Okay, so we know that Pop’s name he used in Hidden Bay was an alias. That my mother’s suspected killer was on that ferry and is now dead. I’m more confused than I’ve ever been in my life. Why would someone be after me , Cole?”

The only reason Jo would be in danger—that Cole could fathom—based on her father’s dealings was some sort of revenge.

“So how do we figure this out?” Jo asked. “What next?”

Cole figured that Jo’s head would be spinning after the last couple of days she’d had. Even with the experience he had in special forces, he should be prepared for anything, yet he still felt off-balance. Too much was happening all at once. He intended to find out why.

Her mother was gone.

Her suspected killer too, and yes, he needed to resolve what really happened to her. But the one person who was still alive—he hoped—had answers to at least some of their questions.

“I need to remain focused on finding your father.” Her father understood the danger she was in. After all, he’d warned her about the bomb. That was serious business, and yet he got on a plane and left her.

“You mean we. We need to find him. Because I’ll be with you when you do. We’re in this together. I hired you ... not only to find out who he really is but to protect me.”

“Your protection goes without saying. Without any official contract.” He chuckled inside—they’d never actually signed a contract. What did he care? He moved to sit closer to her.

Her eyes never left him as he sat close and took her hand.

His head would explode with everything he felt and wanted to say .

.. everything for which he had no words.

He had told her he would explain everything, but how?

“I’m here, no matter what. Forget the company I work for, it’s not about that. You know that, right?”

She slowly nodded, and longing surged through him. More than anything, he wanted to lean forward and kiss her like he used to, back when he knew she wanted it. But that time wasn’t now. His throat tightened.

“Thank you, Cole. And you should know that I wouldn’t trust anyone else to protect me. I know you’re good for that, but you should also know that I’m willing to take some risks if it means finding the truth and living my life without having to look over my shoulder.”

Her father had hurt her deeply. Cole liked the guy, when he was Raymond Dodge, but he was beyond furious at Ransom Driscoll for doing this to Jo.

She glanced up from her cell phone. “It’s a text from Remi. You’ll never believe who is trying to find me.”