He answered without even looking to see who it was. “Cole Mercer.”
“It’s me,” Jo said.
His heart did that erratic beating thing it did when he heard her voice. He wished he was with her now, but she apparently still needed space. Still, she’d called.
“I’ve been thinking.” Her voice was soft. Sweet. And thoughtful.
“Yeah?”
“You came here to talk to me about Mom’s death. Everything else, with my dad at least, is just a distraction. He can take care of himself.”
Cole frowned at that. She needed to take the possible threat from her father’s world seriously, but on the other hand, it was good to focus on something, and he’d take that. He was glad she’d found clarity back at Spruce Hollow. He smiled to himself, again. He was doing that a lot lately—when it came to Jo. “Okay. What else?”
“Did you set up the call with the detective?”
“Yeah. We’re shooting for tomorrow. He’ll get back to me with the details. How are you doing, Jo? Everything okay?”Anything suspicious going on?He wanted to ask her about coming out to check her place again, but he doubted she would go for it. He’d checked the perimeter deep in the woods last night after she’d gone inside.
Why had she really called? Did she want to hear his voice too?
He stomped out the thoughts. His nerves were about shot at this point. Hawk pretended to chop a salad—since when did he eat greens?—but he probably didn’t miss a thing in this one side of Cole’s conversation. Cole didn’t plan on giving him ammunition to shoot down his plans.
“Everything is fine,” she said. “I wanted to make sure you understand that I want to focus on solving Mom’s murder. I’m sorry that I kind of blew up at everyone. Give Hawk an apology for me. I already called Remi. But getting it all out like that helped me realize what’s important. Mom. She needs justice. And I need peace. I need the freedom you were talking about.”
“She does and you do.”
She was quiet, but he sensed she had more to say. He wanted to crawl through the connection to be with her. He once again paced and stared at the floor, envisioning her. Why had he stayed away for so long? Idiot, idiot, idiot.
It’s Jo. It has always beenJo,from the moment she saved me on that beach. Why do I have to mess everything up?
“Can I do anything for you, Jo?”
“You’ve done enough. I’ll be fine. I’ve survived here this long...”
Without you.He finished her sentence for her. Surviving before, when no one knew where she lived, was different. Now she was on someone’s radar. Or two someones, he just couldn’t be sure. But he wouldn’t argue with her. And he’d just have to check the forest around Spruce Hollow without her permission. He knew how to blend into the jungle, and the rainforest was his second home, if he thought about past missions.
“Get some rest,” he said. “We’ll talk in the morning. How about breakfast at the lodge?”
“No. Come to my place. Eight o’clock sharp. We’ll have more privacy here than at the lodge. I don’t need more people in my business.”
In other words, Cole in her business was already one person too many. “See you in the morning.”
He didn’t like the idea of having to wait all night to see her. Now that he was here, he wanted to protect her, and he wanted answers. They didn’t come fast enough. Cole ended the call and released a heavy sigh. Hawk looked at him across the island, waiting on details.
“I’m meeting her for breakfast at her place,” he said. “I hope I’ll have more information from Allison by then on all fronts, especially before talking to the detective working her mother’s case.”
Though Hawk’s expression remained stern, his mouth curved a little, and he chopped another carrot. “That’s a step in the right direction.”
Since when did his brother give relationship advice? Or was it more Remi’s influence on Hawk? Considering they were engaged, that made sense, but Cole needed to focus on keeping Jo safe, not wooing her.
“I’m not concerned about a romantic relationship right now when Jo’s in danger.” And he’d gotten into this to begin with to help her because, yeah, his care for her went deep. He wanted something “romantic” with her, but he just didn’t know how to get there. Not until all this was behind them. And maybe even then he wouldn’t know how.
And he needed the chance to explain why he left ... and never contacted her again.
“What can I do to help?” Hawk asked.
“If something comes up, I’ll let you know.” He and Hawk were tight. They’d been through more than the average siblings. Cole didn’t know why, but he just wanted to do this on his own. Growing up, he struggled to feel like hewould ever measure up to Hawk and his accomplishments, especially because their father had seemed to prefer Hawk. Then Cole had carried those same insecurities into adulthood. Hawk had been Army, and Cole had followed him. Maybe he’d still been competitive, even in adulthood, which was ridiculous. Then Cole had gone dark for months. He’d had no choice, but he’d left Hawk wondering, fearing, and searching. For that, Cole was sorry.
Hawk moved around the counter and crossed the room, pulling Cole’s thoughts back to the moment. His expression told Cole that Hawk might be reading his mind. That he understood Cole’s stubborn, independent need to prove himself. Instead of saying as much, he simply squeezed Cole’s shoulder.
