He flushed. “Not everyone is into this stuff, but I’m good at it. It’s like a giant puzzle just waiting to be solved.”
A vibrating sound came from his pocket. Cole looked at his phone and frowned, putting it down.
“What is it?” she said.
“Nothing,” he said. “Just a work thing.”
“Cole, if it’s work related you should take it. I don’t want you to get in trouble,” Adria said, catching Eric’s eyes in the rearview mirror.
Cole shook his head. “It’s not like that. There’s this guy, he’s not even on my team. But suddenly he has this interest in me.”
“Interest how?” Adria said, feeling worried.
Cole pressed his palms into the top of his legs. “I dunno, it’s almost like he’s been watching me.”
A cold sensation grew in her gut. “What is his name?”
“Maxim,” Cole said, just as his phone vibrated again.
Cole reached for it, but Adria was quicker.
“Maxim,” she said, answering.
The line was quiet for a long time before he said, “Adria?”
“Why are you interacting with Cole at all?”
The phone shuffled, and Adria thought it sounded like he was walking. “Hold on, I need to go somewhere more private.”
After some additional sounds, Maxim came back on the phone quieter. “I got word Cole was traveling to Brazil. I was hoping to talk to him. There are a few things he needs to know about the person he has been talking to there.”
Adria gripped the phone. “And how would you know who he has been talking to?”
There was a long sigh, before Maxim swore and said, “Because she reached out to me first.”
Adria almost dropped the small object against her ear. “She would never. You betrayed her,” she whispered.
“Is that what she’s telling you? Adria, you cannot trust her. She’s?—”
Adria hung up the call.
Tapping on Cole’s phone, she blocked the already calling number. It was a small fix. Maxim could call from another.
“Don’t talk to him, understand?” Adria said, her mind already swirling about what this might mean for Cole.
“Don’t worry about it,” Cole said. “I can handle it.”
Adria cared about Cole deeply, and she had no doubt he was good at his job, but one thing was for sure, Cole could most certainly not handle it.
CHAPTER 61
CURITIBA PARANÁ
The green door closed softly behind her as Adria entered the church. Maxim had gotten her so wound up that she almost didn’t want to come in, reluctant to bring her agitation into this sanctuary.
The space had become such a calming presence for her it seemed a shame to ruin it now.
With Cole and Eric waiting in the truck, Adria made her way down the aisle. A small stick of cedar burned at the front of the church on a podium. A pedestal with a gold bowl of water sat nearby, but otherwise the alter was pretty nondescript. She enjoyed the simplicity of it all.
