Page 3 of Shadow Operative

Calling the police seemed like the most logical thing to do.

But how would she argue her innocence? She couldn’t even remember how she’d gotten here.

In fact . . . everything about this made her look guilty.

Her gaze fell on the blood covering her fingers, and her pulse surged again.

The police would think she’d killed Rob.

Her gaze jerked toward the knife.

What if it had her prints on it?

She would never hurt someone, nonetheless, murder them.

But the hole in her memories caused her nerves to ratchet out of control.

She needed to run. To get out of here before someone found her. Before anyone made assumptions.

Nia squeezed her eyes shut . . .

Was that really a good idea?

She didn’t know. But she needed to buy herself some time to figure out what had happened.

It was the only choice that made sense.

What if she’d been set up? If someone had killed this man and left her here to take the fall?

She couldn’t just sit back and let that happen.

She rushed into the kitchen and washed the blood off her hands and arms. She used paper towels to dry herself.

Then she quickly wiped the sink handle. Stuffed the paper towels into the garbage disposal and ran it. She waited several minutes extra, just to be on the safe side.

She shut the water off with her elbow, careful to leave no prints.

Standing in the kitchen, the reality of the situation hit her again.

Nia pressed her eyes closed.

This was a mistake.

She needed to call the police.

But the Miami PD already didn’t like her. She’d dated the chief, and things had ended badly.

Mario Cruz . . . he wasn’t a good man. It had taken her entirely too long to see it.

A few of Mario’s friends had even harassed her—though they’d never own up to it.

Since then, she hadn’t trusted the cops around here. They were on Mario’s side, not hers. And they loved nothing more than to humiliate her.

She had to get out of here.

The person who’d done this to Rob . . . he could still be nearby. What if the killer planned on coming back tofinish her off also? She’d been passed out. If the killer wanted something from her . . . he could have decided to wait for her to wake up.

As the CEO of a tech brokerage firm, she’d had threats before . . .

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