“I’m sure, okay?” She snapped at him. “I’m sorry. Thanksfor checking. To be honest, I’m not sure, but I don’t want to fight the traffic.”
In fact, while they rode the ferry, maybe she could answer his questions, and then, on the other side of the sound, they could part ways. That would be for the best. He’d hurt her, and even though they agreed to work together as professionals, it was harder to maintain that emotional distance than she thought.
I really am acoward.
Her elbow on the armrest, she rubbed her temple. “You had questions about my mother. Why don’t we talk about that?”
“It can wait. I know you’re stressed. I’m not in a hurry.”
Maybe Iam.“Talking about what happened before would distract me from getting back on the ferry.” She noticed they’d switched out theChimacumfor another one. Maybe that’s because a murder had been committed and portions of the ferry were deemed a crime scene.
Cole inched forward behind the line of cars and steered onto the ferry. Jo couldn’t believe how much her pulse raced. Was it just this morning that she’d witnessed a murder? Nearly drowned? A shiver or two or three crawled over her. She tugged her jacket tighter.
God,I just want to behome in my bed. I just want to be backin the rainforest and pretend I never came here. ThatPop was still working nearby.“Ask me questions, Cole, please.” She’d already told him a lot, but there was more.
“All right. So, you mentioned your mother never returned home. You said she warned you that if something happened, you needed to hide. But you didn’t at first. You waited.”
“No. I didn’t. I stayed. I grieved. I worked. Mom had told me to hide if something happened to her. But I didn’t listen. I didn’t open the security box. Not at first. I was too shocked.I tried to get the police to understand that she had warned me of something.”
“Makes you wonder what triggered her to suddenly warn you. Had she received some kind of warning herself?”
“Not that she told me, but that makes sense that she could have. And if she had told me what it was, then I could have shownthatto the police. Obviously, something set her off.”
“Did you show them the safety-deposit box?”
“I was scared that whatever was inside might have been more indicting than helpful.” Wow. Saying that out loud made it sound bad.
“Yeah, I can see that. Good call.”
Oh, good. Cole understanding her logic reassured her. “Plus, they could possibly prevent me from using the tools she left. I made a mistake. Okay? Besides, I wasn’t going to leave, I wasn’t going to run before her funeral. I wanted to know what she was afraid of. I wanted her murder solved! A few days before she was laid to rest, someone followed me. He grabbed me, pulled me into an alley, and I kicked him where it hurts most. I was able to get away. When I got to my apartment, I found it had been trashed. Now I wish I would have turned to look at him. You know I would have remembered his face. Drawn it, and he would be behind bars. But in that moment, all I could think was to run.”
“That thinking saved your life, Jo. And the police?”
She shrugged. “I mean, what are they going to do? They investigated. Even went as far as dusting for prints, which they don’t for every situation. But I worked with them, freelancing like Mom, and so they did it to give me the benefit of the doubt.”
“Please tell me you didn’t stay in your apartment until the funeral.”
“I didn’t. I stayed with my friend Becky Stobbe, who hadmoved back in with her parents. I was there until the funeral.”
“And the safety-deposit box?”
“Before the funeral, I opened it. I should have listened to my mom. Inside I found cash—lots of it—along with a note explaining that I should take the enclosed passport with a new ID and travel with it so I couldn’t be followed. Use the fob to the vehicle at a storage unit. Disappear for good.” She turned to him, her eyes wide. “Can you imagine my complete shock?”
“I think I can, actually. And youdiddisappear.”
Almost. But she still used her real name and not the new ID.
“Yes. I was completely out of my element, but she had prepared for this day for a reason big enough to get her killed, and I was next. After the funeral, I grabbed luggage I’d packed, got the car out of the storage unit, and traveled across the country. Unfortunately, she didn’t tell me where to go. Just to disappear. That’s how I ended up in Kansas. Before I left, I told the police everything, including my mother’s warning, but they still didn’t rule her death as a homicide or even suspicious. They didn’t find whoever trashed my apartment. They still maintain that her car accident was nothing more than an accident. Her car was found overturned in a flooded ditch. There wasn’t anything suspicious connected to her death.”
“Until now,” Cole said. “Now there’s movement. The police are looking into her death again.”
“I want to talk to the Michigan detective. Who is he? I hope he’s someone new on the case.”
“Rick Wilson is a detective in the cold case unit. Does he sound familiar?”
“I don’t know him, but I mean, seriously, a cold case already?”
“In Michigan, a case is cold after a year. The fact they considered it a case even though it was ruled an accident tells you something. But it’s been three years.”
