“We weren’t sure, but their interaction was suspicious.”
Theirinteraction? “I’m not sure I like where this is going.”
“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying your mother committed a crime. But you have to admit that it seems suspicious.”
And that’s part of why he wanted to question her—to find out what was up with her mother. Anger pulsed through her. “She draws his likeness, and he confronts her? Yes, that’s suspicious. He confronted her and then killed her. My mother was the victim here.”
She was losing it, really losing control, and squeezed Cole’s hand so hard she thought she might break it. But he held on.
“What else can you tell us to give us context?” Cole asked.
“I’m wondering if Jo recognizes the man in this image.” Rick shared the screen.
“No, why would I? I didn’t see everything Mom did. We worked on different projects.” She glanced at Cole. Had he seen the picture of Mason Hyde? Probably, since Cole was working for Mason’s sister to clear his name. Cole hadn’t shown this to Jo, but then again, he probably didn’t want to overstep.
The detective waited for her to say more, but she was speechless. What did this guy want from her?
Cole and Jo shared a look. Cole leaned forward. “What are you getting at?”
“The point I’m leading up to is that Mason Hyde was murdered on the ferry and Ms. Cattrel was in the same vehicle with his murdered body as it rolled off the ferry.”
17
Cole’s mind seized up.What?
This news slammed him in the gut, knocking the breath from him when he should have been prepared for anything. He tried to keep it together for Jo and in front of Rick.
Why hadn’t Rick prepared him for this? Called him immediately. Something. For that matter, why hadn’t his client contacted him? This was her brother, after all. But maybe the news was just now getting out that he had been murdered, and she’d only just been informed.
She might very well decide to cancel the investigation. Then again, she might still want to clear her brother’s name. All of these thoughts bombarded him at the same moment. Fury boiled inside that the detective hadn’t shared this earlier. Then again, Cole got it. Despite his friendly first-name-basis facade,DetectiveRick Wilson wanted to see Jo’s reaction to the news for himself. Maybe he didn’t know the details of Jo’s experience on the ferry, and even if he’d been able to get information on that from the WSP detective, Rick might not have believed her story. That she’dwitnessed the murder of the very man Wilson was searching for in connection with both the ATM murder and her mother’s ... was in some ways ironic.
Yeah. Cole got it. In fact, he understood it so well, he was surprised that Rick hadn’t knocked on the door of the safe house, surprising them, to ask his questions face-to-face and see Jo’s reaction to his big-reveal moment in person.
Next to him, Jo’s breaths quickened. “I ... I don’t understand. I thought—” She looked at Cole for help.
Don’t bring your father into this ... at leastnot yet.
Initially, he believed Jo had possibly been targeted because she’d been a witness to the murder. Or at leastseensomeone standing over the victim. The fact that the killer tried to drown her in the car with the victim—who they now knew was Mason Hyde—confirmed that she’d witnessed his murder, and the killer wanted to get rid of the witness. The danger her father had brought had always been on the table, and Cole had since shifted toward that being his main concern.
He sat back.Think,think,think.He was usually quicker on his feet. But this news was the proverbial wrench thrown into the gears of his multiple theories.
But ... Mason Hyde? “What washedoing there on the same ferry with her?”
Cole fought the need to scrape both hands through his hair. To get up and pace the room.
“It would appear that Mason Hyde was looking for you, Ms. Cattrel, and he found you,” Rick said.
“It’s a shock, really, hearing that he was the victim. I don’t understand how he found me or why he would look for me.” Jo shook her head.
“If I haven’t made it clear, my working theory here is that after Hyde’s face was identified by your mother as the man caught committing murder at an ATM, he confronted yourmother, and within the hour she’s dead. He finally finds you and comes after you.”
“You say ‘confronted.’ What exactly did the video show? I don’t need to see it.” She wasn’t sure she could bear to watch it.
“The conversation looked, well, secretive but also heated.”
“And what’s his motive to come after me?” she asked. “That aside, it’s been a few years. Why come after me now?”
Those questions needed answers, and the best man to provide them was dead. Jo’s eyes held the same question as she flicked her gaze to him.
