Page 119 of Shadow Operative

But Gage knew Nia wasn’t telling the whole truth. There was more to her frosty reception.

He wanted to ask questions. He wanted answers.

But she was right. They didn’t have much time.

If they wanted to rescue Sophia, then they needed to spend the next several hours just focusing on that.

Gage shoved aside his emotions, just as he’d been trained to do.

But if he were honest, he would admit that the tension pulling across his chest wasn’t just because of this case and Rob’s death.

It was also because of Nia’s sudden change of heart.

Nia hated to act so distant toward Gage.

But she couldn’t get that photo out of her mind. She knew she should just ask him about it.

But memories of Mario and everything she’d been through with him filled her mind.

Mario hadn’t been the person she’d thought he was. In the end, the man had broken her heart, and he’d nearly ruined her reputation. She didn’t want to go through that again.

No, she’d be better off focusing on her investigation into Rob’s death and finding her sister. She’d never forgive herself if something happened to Sophia, especially if she could have prevented it if not distracted with her own emotions.

Yet every time she looked at Gage, her throat tightened, and she had to remind herself of everything at hand.

She sat on the couch, papers in front of her, and studied the design for the app.

While she did that, Gage talked on the phone to his boss, and Austin continued trying to find the security footage he needed. It was a bigger task than Nia had realized to track down all the cameras and hack into the servers. But if he was able to do that, they might have more answers.

Answers were exactly what they needed.

As she sat there, a memory of last night hit her. Amemory of Brittany talking to them in the booth one moment and slouched over dead the next.

Nia’s lungs tightened at the recollection.

Poor Brittany . . . and right as she’d been about to tell them something about who might be behind this.

Her mind continued to race. She had no doubt the authorities would track her and Gage down. Most likely, there were images of them at the diner with Brittany. As soon as Mario saw them, he’d recognize her.

The last thing Nia wanted was to have to explain herself to him.

Then there were her own memories that had surfaced last night. Memories about what had happened after she left that restaurant with Rob.

Her jaw tightened at the thought.

If she could just remember a little bit more . . .

But the only suspect who made sense to her right now, the only person she could see being guilty, was . . . Sigmund O’Neill, another tech broker who wanted the deal.

He had the most reason to want those plans from Rob.

But Nia hadn’t seen the man recently. Had Sigmund simply hired people to do his dirty work while he himself sat in his office and watched?

Or was she totally off-base? Maybe Sigmund wasn’t guilty.

What about Jeff? He had been poking around Melissa’s desk.

The questionsmade her head pound.

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