Page 55 of Philly
She thought Joseph might say more about his dad, but the guide called out that they’d be leaving soon. If they wanted any last pictures, they had five minutes. Gabriel ambled over, looking as if he’d been out on a walk, not a four mile, uphill hike.
“Let’s take some pictures,” Joseph said. Gabriel caught her eye, then laughed at Joseph’s exuberance.
“Sure,” he said. “I suck at selfies, though, so you’ll have to take them. You can text them to me,” he said, coming to her side.
For the next few minutes, Joseph snapped his shots. Some of the three of them, some with Gabriel, and then he asked her to take a couple of him on his own. She hoped he had someone special to send them to. Joseph was the kind of guy who deserved someone in his life who appreciated and wanted him in that way.
When they returned to the resort, the staff had a full lunch ready. Their small group passed the time talking about other hikes, sharing pictures, and getting to know one another. About halfway through the meal, as a story about a hike in New Zealand had the table roaring with laughter, a spike of panic sliced through her enjoyment, cutting it off as effectively as a guillotine.
What was she doing sitting at this table appreciating a nice meal,laughing, while on a case? She needed Sabina and Leo to start looking into the Canadian deal Joseph mentioned. She needed them to start looking into Aiden more deeply, in general. She still wasn’t 100 percent convinced Rian wasn’t involved in the nefarious side of the Nolan business, but her gut told her Gabriel was right about Joseph.
“Oh, where in Brazil?” Joseph asked one of the two brothers in their group, the conversation having moved on to another part of the world as she chastised herself. “My dad travels to Brazil all the time. He goes for business, but it’s the one place he seems to enjoy other than home.”
She looked at Gabriel. He inclined his head. Brazil had the highest rate of child prostitution in South America.
“Sabina and Leo can look into that, too,” Gabriel said, leaning toward her so as not to be overheard. “We’re here to gather information.”
Her gaze darted around the table. “Gather information, report it back, so Sabina and Leo can run with it,” she said more to herself than him.
Gabriel nodded. “We’re scouts. It’s an important job, trust me. Scouts saved our team’s collective ass more than once. What we report back will help us come up with the best plan,” he said. Almost as if trying to assuage her anxiety.
“You’re not just saying that to appease me?” she asked. His brow dropped in confusion. “Never mind,” she said on an exhale. His head cocked. “Really, never mind,” she insisted. He didn’t need any more insight into her performance anxiety issues than he already had.
“You done?” she asked, nodding to his plate.
He held her gaze, then nodded.
“Shall we go make that call?” he asked.
And because he already knew her answer would be “yes,” he pushed back from the table and rose.
31
Philly rinsed his hair one more time. God, he hated ATV-ing. Especially in the desert or desert-like landscapes. He had dust in places there should never be dust.
As the hot water slid over his body, coloring it a subtle red by the time it fell to the white tiles of the shower, he wondered how Callie’s horseback ride had gone. They’d split up that afternoon, but tomorrow morning, she’d be hiking again with Joe while he went on a trail run. And in the afternoon, all three of them were signed up for rock climbing.
Despite therealreason for being there, it wasn’t a bad way to spend a week.
Switching the water off, he grabbed a towel and started drying his body. They’d talked to Leo after lunch, and he was looking into the Canadian deal Joe mentioned, as well as Aiden’s trips to Brazil. Maybe Liza’s iPad had made it to them, too. When Callie returned from her ride, they’d touch base with the HICC crew again before heading to dinner.
Wrapping the towel around his waist, he bundled up his dirty clothes and stepped out of the bathroom. To find Callie lying onthe bed, reading her phone. Her eyes shot up, then drifted down his bare chest before jerking up again. Then sliding down again.
He grinned but knew better than to say anything. “How’d the riding go?” he asked, halting midway between the bathroom and walk-in closet.
“Um, fine,” she said, dragging her gaze to meet his. “Pretty countryside. Horses were well behaved.”
“Who all went with you?”
Her eyes dipped, then she cleared her throat. “Cassie and Marge, the couple from Massachusetts, and Jerry and Karla, the couple from Texas. You?”
As much as he liked having her eyes on him, his towel was a flimsy thing that certain parts of his body could take down with one wrong twitch. And it was riling up for a good solid twitch.
“Me and Joe in one and Mark and Aimee, the brother and sister from Washington, in another. And the guides, of course,” he answered, walking into the closet. It had a small washer/dryer in the corner, and he stuffed his clothes inside, then started the cycle. He hadn’t gotten sweaty, not as he had on the morning hike, but he’d worn enough dust and sand while in the military that he wasn’t about to do it again.
He didn’t think she could see into the closet from her side of the bed, so he hung the towel on a hook and started digging through his bag for a pair of boxers. “You want to shower first or call Leo? We have an hour or so before dinner opens.”
“I’ll, uh, shower first. I love riding, but we had a couple of good runs, so I’m sweaty, dusty, and have helmet hair.”
