“I like the sound of that.”
Maya was momentarily dazzled by the heated expression in his eyes and the weird charge that seemed to crackle in the air between them. In fact, she was so caught up in the moment that she almost didn’t notice they had moved even closer together. But when his huge thigh pressed up against hers, the heat that radiated from his body burned into her leg like a brand, and suddenly their proximity wasallshe could notice.
She waited for as long as she could for Cole to drink his coffee, then all but jumped to her feet. “Let me get rid of these cups.”
Before he could protest, she scooped the coffee cup out of his hand and strode into the kitchen. After she’d put the cups in the sink, she turned on the faucet and splashed cold water onto her face. If Cole didn’t leave soon, Maya was terrified she’d do something she’d regret, like lay a kiss on his lips before climbing his body like a tree. She waited in the kitchen for a little longer to allow herself more time to calm down.
She hoped that when she went back into the living room, Cole would have decided to leave and maybe already have gotten to his feet because her self-control wasn’t cut out for having a hot FBI agent in her cramped home.
No such luck. He was still seated in exactly the same spot, only now his arms were stretched out over the back of the couch as if he had no intention of leaving anytime soon. She couldn’t help the little tingle of anticipation.
Maya crossed to the window then peered down at the street and to Cole’s truck. It was dark out now and she didn’t live in the best of neighborhoods. When darkness fell, the undesirables came out to play. Usually, her brother and his friends could be counted in those numbers, but tonight and for the foreseeable future, the streets were a little bit safer.
Thoughts of her brother made Maya frown, and guilt twisted in her stomach. How could she be battling her libido on the day that her brother had been arrested—on the day thatshe’dbeen arrested? She turned to Cole with a frown.
“When your colleague took my statement earlier, there was something I didn’t mention.”
Cole sat up straighter in his seat, and the easy, carefree expression he’d worn just moments earlier was replaced by a look of cool efficiency.
“Is it important to the investigation?”
“Umm, I don’t know. Possibly?”
He nodded, all business now. “You can tell me anything.”
Yes, Maya didn’t doubt that for a second.
“My brother has been involved in criminal activity of one kind or another for quite some time now. It started out with him smoking marijuana when he was a teenager. Then, he progressed ontootherthings.”
“What sorts of things?”
“All sorts of things. I gave him a hard time about smoking pot, but I didn’t think it was such a big deal because everyone did it, you know? I mean, they’re legalizing it everywhere so I thought, how bad can it be?”
He nodded, giving her the courage to continue.
“But after the pot, I found out that Noah had moved onto taking other drugs, like cocaine and ecstasy. I tried talking to him about it, but he’d long since stopped listening to anything I had to say to him.”
She took a deep breath, and it shuddered the whole way through her.
“Then, I found out he wasn’t just taking drugs, he was dealing them. Then it was stolen goods and burglary. Each new thing I learned about him was worse than the one before.”
Cole nodded. “That’s usually the way it is with these kids. It’s a slippery slope. The more they get away with, the more they look for the next big thing that can earn them a fast buck. But what’s all this got to do with the kidnapping?”
“Well, some of the men that Noah got involved with when he was dealing and selling the stolen goods, they’re not good men.” She huffed out a laugh devoid of humor. “I mean, of course they’re not good men, but it’s more than that. They’redangerousmen.”
“Okay,” Cole said, hanging on her every word.
“The thing is, my brother and his friends, they’re not the sharpest knives in the drawer.”
Cole’s eyes widened. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
Maya nodded. “I don’t think they came up with the kidnap plan on their own. I think they’re working for someone else—someone dangerous.”
Cole scrubbed a hand over his face. “Shit. This changes things. You don’t know that for certain though, right?”
“Well, no, but I know my brother, and I don’t think he and his friends are smart enough to come up with something like this on their own.”
“Thanks for trusting me with this.”
