Page 71 of Risky Obsession

He checked his watch. “Three in the afternoon.”

He pulled his phone from his jacket pocket.

It didn’t really matter what time we rang Aria. When our phone numbers flashed up on her screen, she would answer. He scrolled down to her name, and when he put the phone on speaker, I shuffled forward on my seat.

She answered on the third ring. “Is that you, Kane?”

“Yes, I’m with Tory, and I have you on speaker.”

“Is everything okay?” Aria was always straight to business.

“No, actually. We were attacked last night,” I said. “Kane and I are fine, but they stole my bag with my passport and your credit card, and my phone was ruined.”

“Shit. Those things can be replaced, but was it a random attack?”

I nodded at Kane to answer.

“No, we don’t believe so,” he said. “We think he was after my map.”

She didn’t reply and Kane studied me as if I could interpret Aria’s uncharacteristic silence.

“Are you there?” Kane asked.

“Yes. Can you give me a description of the attacker?”

“He wore a balaclava at first,” Kane said, his stunning eyes capturing me, “but Torygot it off him.”

I leaned closer to the phone. “He was about six foot eight, red hair, red beard, pale blue eyes, and jagged scar on his chin.”

Kane blinked at me.

“Christ! That could be Cooper Apollo,” Aria said. “Give me a sec. I’ll send you a photo.”

“Also, he was right-handed,” I said, “and knew hand-to-hand combat. He looked familiar, but I can’t figure out how.”

The phone pinged, and Kane clicked on the image. We leaned forward as we studied the man in military uniform. He was about the same height as our attacker, but his build was nowhere near as big. The man in the photo didn’t have a beard either.

“What do you think?” I asked Kane.

Frowning, he shook his head. “Can’t say.”

“Sorry, Aria, it could be him, but we can’t be absolutely sure. How old is that picture?” I asked.

“About seven years.”

Kane scrunched his nose. “If it is Cooper who attacked us, what should we do?”

“Stay the hell away from him,” Aria snapped.

“He’s the guy who stole the gold from you, correct?” Kane asked.

“Yes, and he tried to murder my team.”

Kane’s eyes darkened.

“Aria, we showed Kane’s map to only one man yesterday,” I said. “Then we got attacked in the middle of the night. It seems like a stretch that Cooper just happened to be in the same town we visitedandthat the guy we met yesterday knew him.”

“Cooper had connections, and he has enough money to have anyone he wants in his pocket,” Aria said. “But you’re right, it seems a stretch. Although it’s an angle we can’t ignore.”