Bridget nodded, a fresh tear sliding down her cheek. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
Jo crossed back to the couch in three quick strides and pulled her sister into a fierce hug. “I know,” she whispered against Bridget’s hair. “I know. We’ll figure this out. Together.”
When she pulled back, her face was set. Determined. The sister was still there, but so was the cop—and right now, the cop had a job to do.
“Kevin, you’re staying here tonight,” Jo said. It wasn’t a question. “I don’t want either of you alone until we know what we’re dealing with.”
Kevin nodded. “I wasn’t planning on leaving.”
Jo moved to the window, looking out into the darkness. Pickles had disappeared from the rocking chair, probably hunting in the woods. The night was cold and still, and somewhere out there, people were keeping secrets that could get her sister killed.
Wyatt—compromised or coerced, she didn’t know which yet. Shaw—running some kind of off-the-books investigation for reasons Jo couldn’t see. The Binding Chain—the organization that had used her sister and was now circling White Rock.
Tomorrow, she’d start pulling threads.
She turned back to the room. Kevin and Bridget were watching her, both of them waiting.
“We need a plan,” Jo said. “A real one. Not just watching and waiting—something that forces their hand.”
Kevin leaned forward. “What about another test?”
Jo looked at him. “What do you mean?”
“The trap I set proved someone’s watching. But it didn’t tell us who—just that they have access and they’re paying attention.”Kevin’s eyes were sharp now, the detective in him surfacing. “What if we set something bigger? Something that forces them to act, not just delete?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know yet. But if Wyatt’s the one monitoring the system, maybe we can use that. Feed him something he has to respond to. Something that makes him—or whoever’s pulling his strings—show their hand.”
Jo turned it over in her mind. It was risky. If they tipped off the wrong person, Bridget could be in danger. But Kevin was right—they couldn’t keep playing defense.
“We’d need Sam,” she said slowly. “If we’re going to do something like that, we need him in on it.”
Kevin nodded. “First thing tomorrow?”
“First thing tomorrow.” Jo ran a hand through her hair. “But we can’t rush this. We need to think it through. One wrong move and we lose any advantage we have.”
Bridget’s voice was small. “And if we can’t figure it out? If they find me first?”
Jo met her sister’s eyes. “Then we make sure we’re ready when they try.”
The cottage fell quiet. Outside, an owl called somewhere in the dark woods, a lonely sound swallowed by the night.
“Get some sleep,” Jo said finally. “Both of you. Tomorrow we figure out our next move.”
She waited until Bridget had disappeared down the hall, until Kevin had stretched out on the couch with a blanket, before she let herself sink into the armchair by the window.
Sleep wouldn’t come tonight. Jo knew that. But she sat in the dark anyway, watching the shadows move across the yard, turning plans over in her mind like stones.
By morning, she’d have something.
She had to.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The squad room was already buzzing when Jo walked in at seven-thirty.
She'd barely slept—maybe two hours, grabbed in fitful snatches between bouts of staring at the ceiling and running scenarios in her head. But she'd showered, put on a clean shirt, and made sure her face showed nothing but the usual Monday morning fatigue.