Page 8

Last year, after the mayhem settled down and Cole was supposedly cleared of all suspicion, he remained in Hidden Bay and stayed with his brother.

Hawk owned a helicopter and had established a helicopter tour business out of Cedar Trails Lodge, and as a result, he and Remi had been growing closer and spending a lot of time together.

And Jo had a thing for Cole. Fortunately for her, he finally asked her on a date.

And the next thing she knew, she was in a relationship too.

Or so she thought. She never imagined she would fall for such a rugged former soldier.

He had layers upon layers of intrigue she wanted to peel away to get to know him.

And when he looked at her, he made her feel like nothing else in this world existed for him.

Then it all fell apart. Hawk proposed to Remi, and everyone was happy, except for Jo and Cole.

Because then, he suddenly got called away to yet another briefing in DC—so maybe he hadn’t been cleared of all suspicion—and he never came back.

Never even called. She knew he was still alive because Hawk mentioned him.

Cole’s sudden departure after she’d let herself trust him so completely, maybe even love him, had hollowed her out. And now here he was again, out of the blue.

I don’t know what I think about this. I just don’t know.

Flashes of their shared kisses gripped her, and she had to shake them off.

Was he thinking about those kisses too? Or had he completely wiped them out of his mind?

After all, he’d stayed away for so long.

She didn’t understand it. She had to stop thinking about this or the hurt would well up again.

Somehow she had to keep this professional and platonic.

Why was it so hard?

Cole put his cell away.

“Good. That’s great,” he said. “There are multiple investigations surrounding you now, at least two officially, and the other one is your own search for your father.”

“Who was that from? What did the text say?”

“Allison. She’s my tech and intel assistant at CGIS. Divers are in the water now to retrieve the body.”

She shuddered. “Do they know who he was? I mean, without diving?”

“There are other ways to identify him, I’m sure, but we won’t know who he is until the public knows, probably. Family has to be notified.”

“I didn’t get a look at him,” she said. “I saw the top of his head when he slid down the vehicle.” Her throat tightened, and she strained to get the words out as the horrific images bombarded her.

“And ... when I came to, I was inside the car going into the water. I just saw a body in the back seat, and his face was angled away. It was dark and I was in a panic, and I just didn’t even try to see him.

That ... that makes me seem cold and harsh. ”

“It makes you seem normal and human. You were fighting to survive. He was already gone.”

He got his cell out again. “I’m calling Washington State Detective Hargrove.”

“So, you really think he’s just going to tell you everything?”

“I saved the girl, after all, and he knows my military history. I work with law enforcement all the time. It’s important to keep the lines of communication open.”

“I saved the girl...”

She loved those words and smiled inside. She’d missed Cole so much. But really, she had to stay focused on the reason he was here and the matters at hand.

“This sounds uncaring, but given all that’s going on—my mother’s murderer potentially finding his way here, my father leaving—why is it important that we know the identity of the victim on the ferry?”

The call went to voicemail, and Cole left a message, then ended the call. “We’ll know soon enough. After they notify the next of kin, it’ll be on the news. As for why it’s important, I think it’s vital to know every detail around what happened today.”

Hmm. She’d already been through so much that she didn’t need another incident that would try to define her life.

“The sooner I can get this behind me, the better. I should have just gone up onto the deck with everyone else. Sticking to the crowds is best. It just seems weird to me—I spent my days in a job that would help police solve crimes, identify the dead, put criminals away, and I can’t seem to escape that in my own life. My mother didn’t escape. She’s dead.”

Before he could respond, Cole’s cell chimed. He glanced at the number and answered on speaker. “Cole Mercer here. Good to hear from you, Detective Hargrove. I have Jo Cattrel with me on speaker.”

She was surprised he called Cole back, honestly. He had to be so busy.

“Good. You’d said as much in your voicemail.

That’s why I’m calling. This is a courtesy call to let you know that we haven’t apprehended the killer.

He escaped before we could detain the passengers, or he has us fooled, but we’ve logged everyone, and we’ll be reviewing the manifest and the interviews. ”

“No one matches the eyes I drew?”

“Nope. That’s why I think he somehow escaped. Got off the ferry before Cole even pulled you from the water. He could have had help. But you need to know because you’re a witness, and he’s already tried to kill you once.”

She glanced at Cole. “I’ve hired protection, Detective. Cole Mercer is a professional.”

Cole glanced her way, his eyes narrowing then brightening.

She hadn’t exactly officially told him he was hired before this moment.

“I’ve vetted him and agree he’s top-notch,” Hargrove said. “I feel better knowing you’ve hired him. Let’s keep in touch, Mercer.”

“Any news on the victim’s identity?” Cole asked.

“Gotta go. I’ll be in touch.” The call suddenly ended.

She needed some air. Jo got out of the truck and started toward the stairs.

This was déjà vu, and her knees shook, but she had to see this through.

Cole joined her, following her, weaving through the vehicles with others toward the steps.

She released a pent-up breath. Somehow, she’d have to hide from him just how much his presence affected her, but it also reassured her.

Because, hey, big, strong former Green Beret.

Who wouldn’t feel more confident facing danger?

“How did he get off that ferry?” Cole asked. “How did he evade law enforcement?”

“The billion-dollar question. Let someone else answer it. That guy doesn’t concern me right now. Pop concerns me right now.”

“You witnessed a murder. You’re the only witness. And you saw the killer. You should be concerned.”

“Bad enough someone was already after me.” Okay, now she had to sit down. Jo found a bench and slumped onto it. And Cole sat with her.

He took her hand.

She focused on the strength there. The calluses too. What did he do to get calluses?

“I know it’s a lot to take in.”

“I thought that eventually I would go back to Michigan. After a while. After things died down and, I don’t know .

.. try to figure out my mother’s warnings.

What happened to her. But I built a new life.

Pop, Remi, and the Cedar Trails Lodge staff are my family.

The people in town, I know and love. Pop .

.. he really is the best dad. Dale, I loved him like a father, and .

.. I still do, even though he left and died before he could maybe come back, but Pop cherishes me.

You know? A person can tell the difference.

I didn’t want to lose that, so I let go of solving the mystery behind my mother’s death.

Left behind any danger to me. Sometimes I think that I might have imagined it after all. ”

“You didn’t imagine it. I read the reports.”

Instead of responding, Jo listened to the roar of the ocean, the crashing of waves.

The ferries usually took the smoothest paths, but that didn’t seem possible today.

At least this new ferry wasn’t being battered like the one this morning.

She might have stayed in her Rover and none of this would have happened.

After she was back at Cedar Trails and the small town of Forestview, she might not ever ride another ferry.

Still, she’d only gone to Seattle because of her father.

God , please let Pop be okay.

She tried him on the cell again. Nothing. Cole’s concerned expression almost brought on the tears.

“It’s not like him,” she said. “Totally not like him.”

“You can kick me later for asking the hard questions.”

Really? “What now?”

“What do you really know about him? His past?”

And now Cole was doing the kicking. Kicking her when she was down. It wasn’t enough he had to know how she knew that Raymond Dodge was her father.

“He’s owned the R&D Auto Repair Shop for thirty years. Everyone in town loves him.”

“Anything before that? Did he grow up here or move from somewhere else?”

“He was from Texas. It’s where he met Mom.

Loved Tex-Mex and made the best chili. Said after they went their separate ways, he moved up to the Pacific Northwest to get away from the memories and the three months of Texas blazing sun along with three-digit temps.

Beyond that? Who knows anything about anyone going that far back? ”

Still, his question left her unsettled.