Page 67 of Shadow Operative

The impulse was startling. He’d been trained to remain focused at all times. To resign himself to a life of singleness.

So why were these feelings rearing up now?

He swallowed hard and remembered her question.Do you think he saw us and slipped away?

Gage knew it was a possibility.

But if Cormac had done that, that definitely meant he was hiding something.

Nia didn’t know how they’d lost Cormac.

It was almost as if he’d disappeared into thin air—which clearly wasn’t a possibility.

But if he wasn’t down this hallway, that meant he’d probably headed to the bar.

Maybe he’d ducked behind it, trying to throw them off his trail.

They didn’t come all the way out here just to be waylaid again.

Could Cormac still be here?

Gage seemed to be on the same wavelength as she was. Still holding her hand, he pulled her back toward the dance floor. She tried to ignore how nice his hand felt against hers. Tried to ignore how much she liked the calloused toughness of his palms. To ignore the strength in his grasp.

Midway across the dance floor, they nearly collided with someone.

Nia sucked in a breath when she saw the face in front of her. “Brittany?”

Brittany stared at her, her eyes orbs of confusion. The woman wore a nearly nonexistent beige dress. Seriously, Nia had seen bikinis that covered more skin. The woman’s hair flowed around her shoulders in oversized curls and black mascara framed her eyes.

As she glanced at Gage, recognition filled her expression. “Gage? I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Gage remained standoffish—probably remembering the way the woman had clung to him earlier. “You’re actually just the person we were hoping to talk to.”

chapter

thirty-one

Brittany ledGage and Nia out the back exit and into a small alley behind the club. She placed a brick in the doorway to keep the door from closing and locking them out.

The woman didn’t look nearly as perky now as she had when she’d run into them outside Rob’s apartment, Gage mused.

Was she trying to fake her grief? Or was she simply upset because Gage and Nia had found her here?

“Any luck figuring out what happened to Rob?” Brittany’s voice sounded softer than it had inside the club as she turned to them.

“We’ve been trying to find answers,” Gage told her. “We’re hoping you might have some information that could help us.”

She pointed to herself. “Me? You think I have answers?”

“I actually talked to someone who told me the two of you broke up.” Gage watched her expression, interested to see how she would react.

“Broke up?” She nearly snorted. “Who told you that? You know what, it doesn’t matter. I could see why someone would be confused.”

“Could you explain that?” Nia asked.

“I mean, I guess Rob didofficiallybreak up with me.” She rolled her eyes. “But I knew it was only temporary. He was totally into me, and we were going to get back together. He just needed some time.”

Her expression drooped as if she remembered that time was something they didn’t have anymore.

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