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W hat? He left me money?

The sheriff and that obnoxious detective had gone. Jo shouldn’t have left. She should have remained and grilled him with her own questions. And now this from her father? A bundle of cash, and then a trust on top of that?

She lifted her hands, refusing to take the two envelopes from Cole. “I don’t want it. What am I supposed to do with it? Hide again? Disappear somewhere else?” Anguish filled her. She didn’t want to look at Cole, but she couldn’t help searching his gaze for something ... she didn’t even know what.

“You can think about what you want to do. You have enough money to probably do anything you want, within reason.”

“Right. I’m sure I can’t buy an island if I wanted.

” She cracked half a smile. And she could feel more confident about paying Cole.

He never said how much he charged, and she hadn’t asked.

Shoot, she hadn’t even signed on the dotted line.

She’d been impulsive. Desperate. But she’d find a way, even if she didn’t use this money.

Still ... she plopped on the sofa and looked at the gray skies through the picture window. “What was he thinking? Why would I want his money? He knew I was in danger, and he left. I don’t want his money. I wanted—I needed— him. He knew there was a bomb, and he...”

“Warned you,” Cole said. “Jo, I know you’re angry with him and this dilemma that he’s left you in.

What I’m about to say doesn’t come close to comparing to this predicament.

For years, I thought that my dad preferred my brother over me, all because I overheard something.

I was an adult. Dad was long gone before I learned the truth.

I heard everything out of context. I’m just saying that, until we know more, you should withhold judgment.

I can’t know what your father was thinking, but I suspect that he’s putting distance between him and you to try to draw the danger to himself and away from you, his daughter. I know he loves you.”

“Is that right?” Jo hated the sarcasm coming out.

“Look. I’m sorry. I’m letting my frustration at my dad get to me.

The way Detective Sanders sounded like he thought I was complicit in a crime didn’t help.

But I didn’t mean to take it out on you.

” Still, right now, she was angry and resentful.

All negative emotions. Lord , help me let them go!

Cole was right, though. Pop had probably left to protect her. “Thanks for sharing. I know he loves me. This is all just hard to swallow.”

“You can think on it. In the meantime, I’ve booked us tickets to Michigan.”

“Michigan?”

“You said we needed to go, so we’re going.”

“When are we leaving?”

He arched a brow. “Late tonight.”

“The red-eye?”

“Getting to the east from the west is never easy.” He patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry. My shoulder makes a good pillow.”

Jo grumbled under her breath and went to the bedroom to pack a few things.

This should be a quick trip, except there was nothing quick about traveling from one side of the country to another.

She had no idea what she might find. Then again, she knew what she was looking for and hoped to glean some clues or at least more questions.

Her father had left her money when all she’d really wanted were answers. So she had to get them on her own. If she found him, maybe this time she could ask more pointed questions and force him to give her answers. But instead, she’d have to get answers from her deceased mother.

She paused and looked out the window as the wind shook the strong house. That’s how she felt—she’d been a solid structure, and the foundation had been ripped out from under her. She’d made the mistake of trying to rebuild by trusting Pop, and again she’d been toppled.

Her mother’s past and her father’s past were somehow entangled, and even after all these years, the danger was closing in. Jo wasn’t sure why she was caught in the middle.

She exited the room and moved down the hallway, noting the whispers.

Jo could learn more if she waited and tried to listen.

Eavesdropped. But she hated hearing something she wasn’t meant to hear, and so she made some noise.

“Y’all are whispering. You must be talking about something you don’t want me to hear. ”

Hawk, Remi, and Cole glanced up from the kitchen table. Remi was the one to get up and move to her. “No, of course not,” she said. “I’m not exactly sure why we were whispering. Maybe we just didn’t want to disturb you.”

She shrugged it off and sank onto the sofa. “Well, I’m all packed. So, what were you talking about, really?”

Remi sat too. “I need to get back to the lodge, that’s what. I don’t want to leave, but you know how it is.”

“You’ve already done so much. This is your busy storm-watching season. You need to be there. Honestly, I need to be there. The fact you can make that place work without me kind of hurts.” Jo’s heartfelt smile held the pain of her words.

“Oh, don’t think that way. You’ve done a great job training other staff.

Dylan isn’t as handy, but he’ll do in a pinch.

We miss you. But your safety is more important than anything.

” Remi leaned over and hugged Jo. This time she whispered.

“Cole’s worried about taking you to Michigan.

We were discussing the possibility of Hawk watching you or Cole moving you to a new and safer place far away. Like some island somewhere.”

Remi leaned back and smiled, sending a message with her eyes that said, Don’t give me away , or I’ll never be privy to their private conversations again.

Understood. Jo nodded. Message received.

She and Remi had forged a deep friendship at Cedar Trails Lodge, especially with their shared traumatic experience last year.

If she ended up leaving the lodge because Pop thought she wasn’t safe here, then she would miss Remi.

The only way for her to stay in Hidden Bay was to end the danger.

For that, she had to walk through the rising torrential water.

The Scripture from Isaiah floated through her heart and mind.

“When you pass through the waters , I will be with you.”

God was with her. She knew it. And he’d sent her friends here, in this new life she’d lived for three years. They were with her too.

She stretched. “I’m hungry. What’s for lunch?”

Remi laughed. “I’ll let you and the boys figure that out. I have to get back to the lodge.”

“I’m taking you,” Hawk said. “They’re heading to the airport tonight, so there’s no need for me to come back. Unless you want me to house-sit.” Hawk glanced at Cole. “Do you?”

“You’re good. Go. Be with Remi. Make sure all is well and no more reporters or anyone suspicious shows up looking for Jo or her father, especially our guy, Devin Merrick. If he shows up, call the feds. After all, they supposedly have taken an interest in him.”

“Yeah, well, let’s just say that I might want to get some answers from him first,” Hawk said.

Cole gave his brother a sly grin. “We think alike.”

And they weren’t even twins.

****

Later that afternoon, Cole put his and Jo’s luggage in the back of the vehicle Hawk had left for them.

He’d spent the rest of the day on his computer researching, and Jo sketched a few pictures of nature to relax.

They’d need to head out soon to SeaTac—Seattle-Tacoma International Airport—because it would take about three hours, at least, to get there, and they needed to check in an hour and a half ahead of the flight.

For dinner, Cole microwaved frozen beef-and-cheese burritos. Jo was all for having zero mess to clean up and keeping it easy. She suspected that once they finished eating, he would ask questions. If she started talking now, she’d lose her appetite.

So they talked about the weather. They both agreed, too, that Remi and Hawk looked great together as a couple.

They talked about when the two might get married and then what their kids would look like.

Crazy to think they talked about such a romantic topic when she got the feeling Cole really wanted to avoid the hard discussion they needed to have about them.

Whatever was left of them. Was there even a “them”? She didn’t know.

She’d wanted to know why he left her high and dry, and he’d told her.

She thought that understanding why someone had left her could ease the pain.

But the news he’d shared hadn’t washed away the hurt.

And with that small hope that rose in her, that she and Cole could be together, she could be setting herself up for more heartbreak.

She and Cole weren’t exactly a perfect match like Remi and Hawk seemed to be.

Those thoughts rambled around inside her head while their actual conversation revolved around safe topics until finally, her appetite left her. A fourth of the burrito remained, and she tossed it, rinsed the plate, and put it on the rack. Cole joined her and put his plate away too.

Then he crossed his arms, leaned against the counter, and peered down at her.

“Now that we agree on how nasty the weather is but how magical it makes this place, and we both agree that Hawk and Remi are magical together and that they’re good for each other, let’s talk about the topics we’ve been dancing around. ”

“Okay.” She’d let him ask the questions.

“What’s in Michigan?” he asked. “I mean, besides the obvious. Anything else you can tell me?”

“Pop selling his shop and giving me the money reminded me about the boxes of stuff in my apartment back in Michigan.”

“What happened to your stuff?” Cole asked.

“I’d given my landlord the rent money I owed and told her I was leaving because I was in danger.

I left in a rush. Left everything behind.

When I contacted her again, I learned that she’d hired a service to clean it out.

She didn’t waste any time getting it ready to lease.

But fortunately, my friend Becky had stopped by and got some of the boxes.

“I’d told her everything, and she convinced me to listen to my mother’s instructions and urged me to leave. I was on the run, and so I never looked back. I’m hoping Becky still has those boxes. I hadn’t asked her to do that, but now I’m glad she did.”

“Didn’t you contact her?”

“I decided it would be safer for everyone if I waited. Eventually, I would ask her to send the boxes to me if I thought it was safe. About another year passed before I tried her cell number, and it belonged to someone else.”

“You mentioned she’d moved in with her parents. Did you try to call them?”

She released a slow breath. “No. I started to, but then I stopped myself. They didn’t need more drama in their lives. I didn’t really need the boxes.”

“But now you feel the drama is worth it. If your friend still has the boxes, what do you hope to find in them?”

“What someone was looking for at my apartment.”

“Okay, it’s worth a shot. We can meet with Rick—Detective Wilson—and then we need to get out of there and get to a safe place. Stay on the move. If we find nothing new, we might consider heading to Nevada where Gemini Aerospace is headquartered and where Mason Hyde worked.”

“That’s a good idea. Has Allison learned anything about my mother’s true identity yet?”

“After me, you’ll be the first to know.”

****

Hours later, Jo tried to get comfortable in the slim window seat of the flight to Michigan.

She was the lucky one to get to look out the window at utter darkness.

Now and then, she spotted a star above. Sometimes a few lights grouped together indicating a small town, but the flight across the northern states was completely black at night.

Maybe she should take Cole up on his offer of a sturdy shoulder on which to lean her head and sleep.

Instead, she rested her head against the seat back. She didn’t feel like leaning or relying on anyone while she traveled through the dark of night, stalking the danger before it caught up to her first.