1
DOWNTOWN SEATTLE
MARCH
You won’tsee danger coming ... until it’s too late.”
Those words, shared by her mother moments before her death, had defined Jo Cattrel’s life for the last three years, since she’d fled Michigan. And maybe the life of every dead or missing person whose case she’d ever worked as a forensic artist. As for suspects, she lived to take them down with nothing more than a pencil. But there was a downside to it. A morbidity.
So much time spent with the dead and the missing or drawing criminal faces meant that she couldn’t trust people. It meant that she glanced over her shoulder more than the average person. Like right now. If anyone cared to notice, she might appear downright paranoid.
Was someone watching? Following?
She couldn’t escape the fear that she’d made a mistake in leaving her hiding place in Hidden Bay along the Washington coast.
But Pop had left her a cryptic note.
Don’t worry about me,Jo. I didn’tmean to lead trouble to you. Please forgive me.
That message had compelled her across Puget Sound to the city, of all places, to search for her father. She’d only just found him three years ago. She wasn’t about to lose him now.
And this note felt like ...goodbye.
No way would she let him disappear on her. Was she a fool to chase after him? Yet another person to leave her? Didn’t matter. She was here.
I’m doing this.
After living in the misty rainforest, she was overwhelmed by the city sights and sounds. Nothing like a lungful of concentrated exhaust. The towering skyscrapers impeded fresh air. Having parked two blocks away, she dragged in too many breaths of pollution as she ascended the slick uphill sidewalk on a cold, rainy day, hiking toward the tallest building in Seattle.
If Pop hadn’t wanted her to follow, he should have responded to her many texts demanding an explanation. So she’d used a locator app they shared. Fortunately for her, he’d probably forgotten about it.
She couldn’t picture Pop in the big city. Back in Forestview—part of the Hidden Bay region of the Washington coast—he owned and operated the R&D Auto Repair Shop, got his hands dirty, and was always in his coveralls, fiddling with tools and covered in grime. He called himself a grease monkey, so what was he doing in downtown Seattle at the Columbia Center?
Finally arriving at her destination, she peered up at the seventy-six-story building. Dizziness swept over her, so she stared at her feet instead. Got her bearings. Then pushed through the glass door.
The sleek lobby intimidated, but she pressed forward. She needed to act like she belonged. The locator app told her that Pop was here. Or at least hehadbeen. But now when she looked at the app, she got nothing. Was he still here?
She started toward the bank and nodded with a friendly smile at the security guard, though she feared the “I don’t belong here” look on her face would give her away. Jo’s sling bag snagged on a brass stanchion, and she knocked the whole thing over. Of course, it banged on the floor and echoed. A few people glanced her way.
Her heart pounded as the security guard approached. He set the stanchion back in place.
“I’m so sorry. I’m just clumsy. I’m just ...” She pointed. “I’m going now.”
She hurried toward the directory. How in the world would she find Pop? He could be literally anywhere. Numerous businesses took up space. Tenants too. She could take the elevator and look around the Sky View Observatory. But she’d need to purchase a ticket first. Jo retrieved her cell and texted Pop again.
I’m at the Columbia Center. Where are you?
Then she took a picture of the directory. Jo should really get out more often because right now, she couldn’t feel more out of place.
I just want to go home.
But ... Pop.
“Can I help you, ma’am?” The security guard stood next to her at the directory.
Yeah, she had a feeling she was giving off the wrong vibes.
“Actually, maybe. I’m looking for this man.” She pulled up an image of her father on her cell and showed it to theguy. “He’s my father. His name is Raymond Dodge. I was supposed to meet him here.”
