“I’d like to know if he knew my mother when he was an engineer or if they met when he had switched to being a mechanic.”
“All good questions.” He sent Allison the information about Dodge and his knowledge of bridges. “What was the formula again? Strength—”
“Is greater than or equal to the load times the factor of safety. That’s all I got. It’s a basic engineering equation. Don’t ask me more because I don’t know. I’m an artist.”
“Don’t kid yourself, you’re a natural mechanic.”
“So I can fix a few things. I’d better get ready for our call.” She stood, grabbed her mug and plate, and took them to the kitchen.
“I’ll clean it up. Just stick it on the counter.”
“Okay, thanks.” Jo left to dress for the videoconference.
Cole rinsed the dish and mug and placed them in therack, then set up his laptop in the office. The house had full cell service and internet, thanks to a satellite, as opposed to the Cedar Trails Lodge, which had none of that and boasted getting back to nature for hard-core nature enthusiasts who still wanted to stay in a cabin rather than sleep out under the stars. He was glad they were here and not there.
Before he got into the videoconference, he grabbed his notebook and skimmed through his notes and potential questions. An email had just come through from Allison regarding Jo’s father.
Jo knocked on the doorjamb. “Can I come in?”
“Yep.” He waved her in. “You’re a key part of this discussion.”
She entered and sat in the chair he offered. With Jo here now, Cole didn’t want to read the email Allison had sent. He wanted to look at it first before revealing the contents of whatever Allison had learned about her father.
Jo swiped her hands down her jeans.
Nervous? “Are you ready?”
“No, but it doesn’t matter.” Tension rolled from her. She sighed multiple times. “I left Michigan, left the danger, and now it feels like I’m finally going back and facing it.”
“From a distance. You aren’t in Michigan.” Though it remained to be seen if they would need to go there at some point.
“It’s okay. This is what I wanted all along—for the police to take me seriously and investigate Mom’s murder.”
Cole clicked on the videoconferencing link.
And waited.
16
While they waited for the detective to appear, Jo looked out the office windows. The stormy skies had calmed and remained a flat gray, at least what she could see of the sky beyond the thick marine fog. But the storm inside her chest still raged. Palms sweating, Jo gripped the armrests and stared at the computer screen.
“What’s taking so long?” she asked.
“He could be on another call or talking to his supervisor,” Cole said. “He’ll be here, don’t worry.”
“Before we talk to him, is there anything that you haven’t told me about this investigation?” Because Jo really didn’t want any surprises dropped on her while they talked to Detective Wilson.
“I’ve only read the reports from the past ... as well as spoken with Naomi Bancroft, my client.”
“Your client who hired you to investigate my mother’s murder and clear her brother’s name.” Jo didn’t know how she should feel about that. “You hesitated.”
“What?”
“You said you read the reports from the past, and thenyou hesitated.” She shifted to Cole as pain expanded in her chest. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Cole looked nervous, and Jo didn’t like it. “Cole?”
“You know everything. I was hired to investigate because Naomi believes he’s innocent, but she wanted me to investigate your mother too, since she had identified Mason with her sketch. She had a reputation of always being extraordinarily accurate, and that’s the reason for her popularity with law enforcement. Naomi believes that Mira couldn’t have made a mistake and that, possibly, it was ... intentional.”
