Page 122 of Shadow Operative

Gage appearedfrom his bedroom and glanced around the living area and kitchen.

Nia was no longer on the couch. Where would she have gone? Her room?

“Nia?” he called.

There was no answer.

A bad feeling crept its way up his spine.

“Everything okay?” Austin stepped back into the hotel room, three cups of coffee on a tray in his hands.

“I’m not sure.” Gage stepped past him, headed toward Nia’s room. He didn’t bother to knock.

Because he knew she wouldn’t be inside.

And she wasn’t.

“She’s not here,” he muttered.

Austin grunted. “She couldn’t have gotten very far. She was just here.”

“You’re right.” Gage shoved his gun into his waistband. Then he quickly grabbed the papers and tablet Niahad been looking at. He thrust them into a backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

He and Austin took off from the hotel room.

Gage glanced up and down the hallway, but Nia wasn’t there.

He started toward the elevator but realized it would take too long. Instead, he and Austin took the stairs.

Just as they reached the lobby, he looked through the glass windows facing the street.

Nia climbed into a cab. Before he could reach her, the cab door closed, and the driver took off.

Gage stood, his gaze trailing her. “What is she thinking?”

“I have no idea.” Austin paused beside him, his hands on his hips. “Something clearly changed between the time you left her and now.”

“Yes . . . kind of like what happened at the restaurant with Rob.” His thoughts raced.

Gage hailed a taxi. As he waited, he kept an eye on Nia’s cab.

She was heading in the direction of Rob’s apartment.

Was that where she was going? Had she thought of something else to look for? Was she headed there to get more information?

Finally, a cab stopped, and Gage and Austin climbed inside.

“Follow that yellow taxi up ahead.” Gage pointed at the vehicle a quarter of a mile in front of them.

The driver—a gruff-looking fortysomethingman—glanced over his shoulder before shrugging. “Whatever you say.”

Then he took off in pursuit.

The traffic was heavier and slower than Gage would have liked.

He didn’t take his eyes off the cab.

He couldn’t lose Nia.

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