Page 23 of Shadow Operative

More than anything he wanted to come right out and confront her. But in this situation, he didn’t feel like that was the right approach.

“Rob actually called me later to see if the two of us could have dinner and talk one-on-one. He thought it would be easier if we could speak without board members around.”

The detective raised his eyebrows. “Is that right?”

“Yes . . . I agreed that it was a good idea. There’s so much scrutiny you’re under at those meetings. Everyoneis evaluating what everyone else says. I thought a more relaxed atmosphere could be good also.”

“Where did you meet?”

“We met at a restaurant called Lucanidae’s. It’s on?—”

“I’m familiar with the restaurant.”

Nia flushed and nodded. “Anyway, we met there at eight. It was purely business, and nothing else. We discussed a contract issue.”

“What time did you leave?”

“Around ten or ten-thirty. We said good night, I walked to my car, and I assume he walked to his. We said we’d talk more in the morning.”

“That was the last you saw of him?”

She pushed another hair behind her ear. “That’s correct.”

Aside from the fact he’d seen the video of her walking inside this building with Rob last night, something about the way she said the words didn’t ring true to Gage.

What else was she lying about?

Everything else up until that point had added up.

What had happened after dinner? Had the two discovered they had feelings for each other? Had one thing led to another?

Gage’s hands fisted. He didn’t like the thought of that—simply because his friend wasn’t that type. Rob was a serious relationship type of guy. He’d had three serious girlfriends since Gage knew him, one of them being an engagement that had ended poorly. But he wasn’t a casual dater.

It was looking more and more like this woman had murdered his friend.

But why?

What kind of evil lurked behind Nia’s beautiful features?

That was what he needed to find out.

“What were your thoughts on this contract issue you mentioned?” Duncan crossed his arms as he waited for Nia to answer.

“It’s complicated.” Nia let out a heavy breath. “We’d already invested money into the new app he’d designed. We had buyers who were interested. But he suddenly wanted to back out. It was weird, really.”

“Why did he want to back out?” Duncan asked.

“He just said he’d had a change of heart and had decided he wanted to tweak the app some more before releasing it. I pushed for more information, but he didn’t share. The whole conversation had been surprising, to say the least.”

Duncan shifted, but his gaze never lost its focus. “What kind of app is this?”

“That’s the thing.” Nia narrowed her eyes with confusion. “It’s a relaxation app. You listen to sounds or watch videos, and it helps lower your heart rate, lulls you to sleep, brings down your stress levels. It’s nothing groundbreaking, so to speak. But there is a market for it.We were going through the process of getting endorsements from some prominent psychologists even.”

“That does seem odd he’d want to back out,” Duncan said. “Maybe he got a better offer.”

Nia shrugged. “Maybe. I know Sigmund O’Neill, another tech broker, really wanted Rob to sign with him.”

“How did the evening end?” Duncan asked.

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