“I want my own place, and I’m fine, Remi. I’ll be fine. My tiny house misses me. Spruce Hollow needs me now.”
Cole smiled at those words filled with so much love for the place she’d created at the edge of the rainforest. And that same emotion surged in his heart—for her. If only he could fix things between them. Fix it all.
“Jo, there’s something you need to know,” Cole said. “Why don’t you have a seat?”
“Look, I’ve had a long, hard day, so just tell me already.”
“Remember Detective Rick Wilson? I mentioned him earlier.”
“Yes.”
“He called yesterday when I was following you, and then again today. You said you wanted to—”
“You didn’t.”
“I didn’t tell him that I found you, no. Not yet. But you said you wanted to set up a meeting. Have you changed your mind?”
She sighed. “No. I need to talk to him, but that doesn’t mean I want him to know where I am. For all I know, some cop in Michigan doesn’t want my mother’s murder solved. I can’t trust anyone.” She took an involuntary step forward. “What else?”
“He said that you could be in danger.”
“Ya think? That’s why I left. What an idiot.” She grimaced. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t called for. But I left because I thought I was in danger. They weren’t helping to keep me safe.”
“I think he really just wants to talk to you and wanted me to give you up.”
“Talk. Talk. That’s all they do anymore. People, especially women, often die by the hand of a person under a restraining order. The police tell them there’s nothing that can be done. Until, of course, after someone dies. Then a murder suspect is taken into custody. Or not. They have to be caught first. Evidence must be gathered.”
“And it has to hold up in court. I hear you, Jo.” She was venting like never before.
“I’ve worked in that world long enough that I know how hard it is to bring justice.” Jo sank onto the sofa and hung her head. “So I fled instead of standing my ground and fighting for justice. Instead of fighting for freedom and for safety for myself and justice for my mother.”
Cole didn’t want to say anything in case she wasn’t finished getting it all out. Hawk and Remi remained perfectly still and quiet, listening and watching.
Jo leaned back and closed her eyes as if the world was closing in on her and her mind was the only escape.
“So I’ll set something up, then,” Cole said.
Jo opened her eyes and sat forward. “Don’t tell me he’s coming here.”
“He doesn’t know where you are. We can do it over videoconferencing.”
Remi took a step closer. “What doyouwant to do, Jo?”
“Set it up, Cole. Tomorrow, even.” She stood and moved to the door. “But tonight, I’m going home.”
Jo left them all standing there.
****
At Hawk’s house in Forestview, the wind and rain lashed at the windows, mirroring Hawk’s tone. Cole wasn’t being fair. Hawk didn’t sound nearly that harsh, but Cole didn’t like that his older brother was jumping down his throat. But he’d always done that, and he might feel he had the right.
Cole paced, ignoring Hawk, who grilled him incessantly about the last many months he’d been away and about Jo, her situation and his response to it, his relationship with her or lack thereof, and life in general. The sound of his brother’s voice was starting to knife through every nerve ending, especially since it had started earlier this morning when Hawk had taken Cole to retrieve his Yukon. Then the rest of the day, Hawk had been busy and left Cole to work on his multiple investigations that were going nowhere. Allison had caught Covid and was working slower than usual. She shouldn’t have been working at all, but he knew she’d try.
“Are you even listening to me?” Hawk asked. Maybe he finally realized that Cole had pushed Hawk’s grating words out of his mind.
No? They were back to their usual sibling rivalry, except now it was more brotherly banter, and he knew they would be fine on the other side of it. Hawk was just filling his role as an older brother and trying to look out for Cole.
When Cole’s phone vibrated, he sent Hawk a smirk. “Saved by the cell.”
