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the trail was not as isolated as hikes we’d enjoyed in the past. We passed one other couple and two single hikers with dogs.  At the pace Mark was setting, I didn’t have time to smile and wasn’t inclined to waste breath on a “good morning.”
    After forty minutes of pounding the trail, he finally stopped near a large boulder and a stand of scattered pines.  He turned to face me, the shadows from the trees not nearly as dark as the clouds across his face. “Sedona, you know I don’t want you in any danger.”
    I nodded, sucking in air. Before I had recovered enough to answer, a mountain biker approached from around the hillside, heading down fast.
    We both scooted behind the trees.
    Once the biker was clear, Mark said, “I don’t want you to join the sewing group. And I have no idea what is up with the plants because my brother didn’t bother to provide details on that, but I’ll find out.”
    “I’ll join the sewing group and the gardening group.” I hurriedly shared the few details Huntington had let slip. “Apparently the mother of someone Huntington is investigating, I don’t even know whose mother, is in both groups.  We can’t leave your mom there all by herself.”
    Mark dropped his gaze and ran his hand across his face. “Sedona, I would never willingly put you in any kind of dangerous position.”
    “You wouldn’t ask your own mother to be involved in risky business, either. And you didn’t ask.  Huntington did. But now it’s done.”  I shook my head. “I wouldn’t let my mom work all alone on one of Huntington’s cases. We can’t have yours shadowing some old lady by herself on his behalf.”
    Mark stepped to me and gripped my shoulders.  “Sedona, it isn’t just some random mother in the sewing group.  It’s Joe Black’s mother.”
    I stared up into his eyes. They were the color of coffee and held enough stress and worry that the cup was overflowing.  “Joe Dork?” I croaked out.
    He nodded.  “Yeah. That Joe. The dead one.”
    Well. This was an all new low where Huntington was concerned.

Chapter 7
     
    When Steve asked his mother to infiltrate the sewing group, there hadn’t yet been a murder.  For that matter, he even attempted to add me to his employee roster before Joe Black was found dead, but I wasn’t willing to forgive him everything because none of Steve’s cases were ever simple.
    Mark and I discussed what little we knew while we hiked back.  There was plenty of time to talk because Mark had calmed down enough to stroll rather than run a marathon.
    “Steve isn’t certain Joe’s mother is involved with whatever Joe was into, but Steve is pretty certain Joe was hanging out with a crowd that is pulling off some extensive burglaries. The group is very well organized and changes their pattern of operation frequently, which makes them hard to trace. We followed a money trail, and it appears Joe may have received cash from at least one of the heists.  The bills were marked. Instead of laundering them through the system so that they weren’t attached to him personally, he went on an obvious spending spree with the bills. Steve is hoping that by talking to Joe’s mother you can find out the names of any friends, new ones in particular, or gather any other clues that might pop up.”
    “I can’t believe there are two people in this world who would hire someone like Joe,” I complained. “It’s bad enough that Borgot hired him. You’d think criminals would be smarter and steer clear of such a lousy engineer.”
    “His lack of accomplishments is another reason Steve wants to watch Joe’s mother. Joe isn’t known for taking initiative or accomplishing anything on his own so it isn’t clear how he might have become involved with these new associates. He has a criminal record, but he worked alone then.”
    “Borgot hired a known criminal?”
    “The petty theft was buried in the records because he was using his father’s surname at the time. After that