Page 134 of Shadow Operative

Even though Graham had been arrested, things had returned to normal at the office—other than Rob’s app being canceled.

Initially, Nia had suspected Jeff might be behind some of this, but it turned out that the man just had a crush on Melissa and had been trying to build the courage to leave her a note on her desk. The two were going on their first date next weekend.

Sigmund O’Neill had also been cleared. He had nothing to do with any of this.

Darius was still recovering. The man had some connections with Graham’s buyers and had been putting pressure on Graham. Graham decided to take care of that by implicating Cormac in the process.

The new project Rob had been working on was a shopping app and nothing nefarious or dangerous.

Only Graham was guilty—Graham and the men he’d hired. The police were still searching for those buyers. Nia didn’t like the thought that they were still out there. But she prayed they’d be apprehended soon.

As Nia sat in her office, the phone rang. She recognized the number and answered, putting it on speaker.

“Ms. Anderson,” District Attorney Jack Henson started. “I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time.”

“Not at all. What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to let you know that we’re moving forward with the charges against Police Chief Mario Cruz. We’ve reviewed all the evidence against him and believe he’s broken the law on more than one occasion, and we’ve lost our confidence in him as police chief. There’s a process we’ll have to go through, of course. But as of now, he has been relieved of his duties.”

Nia sucked in a breath. She’d known it was risky when she’d gone to the DA with that information. But she couldn’t hold back on it anymore.

What Mario had done—and most likely was still doing—was wrong. His actions could put him in a compromising position.

“We’ll probably need more statements from you in the future.”

“Whatever I can do,” Nia told him.

“Very good. We don’t believe that Mario will retaliate against you. Besides, we have other witnesses who have come forward—including Darius. Some prostitutes and even a few friends have turned on Mario. So we have noreason to believe he’ll target you. But if you feel you need personal protection or a bodyguard . . .”

“I think I’ll be okay.” Nia looked up as someone knocked on her door, and a smile spread across her face.

She woulddefinitelybe okay now—as long as Gage was keeping an eye on her.

She thanked the DA and got off the phone. Then she rose and hurried across her office toward Gage. As he shut the door behind him, Nia wrapped her arms around his neck, and he rested his hands at her waist.

“You’re early,” she murmured.

“I couldn’t wait another second to see you again.”

He’d left eight days ago for another assignment, but he’d promised to return on his days off to visit her. Now she had him to herself for the next five days.

“Did I hear something about you needing a bodyguard?”

“You did. I was hoping you might want to fill that position.”

He grinned. “I’d be glad to.”

He leaned down and pecked a quick kiss on her lips.

A kiss that left Nia wanting more.

But not now.

Instead, they stepped back, and Gage offered his hand. “You ready to go to lunch?”

“I would love to.”

As they stepped out of her office, Nia couldn’t help but reflect on how things turned out.

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