Page 63 of Shadow Operative

“Do we know if Rob went back to his apartment in between going to your office and meeting you that night?” Austin took a long swig of Mountain Dew as he waited for their answer.

“We don’t know for sure,” Nia said.

“We could try to track down the security footage to show him from the time he left and see where he went after that,” Gage said. “It’s going to take work. We’re going to have to pinpoint every camera between there and his apartment and see what happened.”

Nia sat up straighter. “If we could do something like that, then we could also see what happened between the time at the restaurant and the time I got to Rob’s apartment. Maybe that could provide us with some answers as well.”

Gage glanced at Austin. “Do you think you could work on that for us?”

“Absolutely.” Austin nodded.

“What are we going to do?” Nia turned back to Gage. “I know it’s late. But I don’t want to just sit here and twiddle my thumbs.”

“Maybe we should try to track down Brittany,” Gage suggested. “She did ask for my help. And her actions all seem pretty suspicious, wouldn’t you say?”

“I would,” Nia agreed.

Gage glanced back at Austin. “Where did you say you saw her again?”

“She was at a place called Avenue 12.”

“Why in the world would Brittany go back to Avenue 12?” Nia asked as she and Gage left the hotel room.

“That’s an excellent question,” Gage said. “Something we’re going to need to figure out.”

Austin had given her a new phone since Nia’s had been disabled. This one was untraceable, and she’d routed her old number to it. Gage had insisted that it was only safe she had a cell in case something went wrong.

She agreed.

Nia glanced at her outfit. She’d cleaned the smudges from her face, but her clothes were a different story. They still looked dirty.

“I don’t think I’ll be allowed into the club wearing this.” Then she shot a glance at him. “You either—no offense.”

“No offense taken. Let’s see if the boutique downstairs is still open. We might have a few minutes until it closes if we’re lucky. I know they sell some high-end clothes in there.”

Just as they got downstairs, an unsmiling middle-aged brunette pulled metal gates over the opening of the clothing store.

Gage strode up to the woman and plastered on an apologetic smile. “I know you’re closing, and I hate to ask you this. But is there any chance my girlfriend and I can grab new outfits? We lost our luggage, and we really want to go out tonight. I promise we’ll be quick.”

An annoyed expression crossed her face, and shecontinued to tug the gate over the storefront. “I’m getting ready to leave.”

“I know, and that’s why I hate to ask. But what if we only took five minutes of your time? We flew all the way here from Des Moines, and we certainly didn’t come here so we could stay in the hotel all night.”

The woman’s eyes flickered back and forth between the two of them. Her gaze assessed the smudges on their clothes from being underneath that car, and she sneered.

“You certainly can’t go out on the town looking like you do.” She paused and let out a breath through her nose. Then she nodded and sighed. “Five minutes. That’s all I’m giving you. Please don’t make me regret this. My daughter has a band concert tonight.”

“We’ll make it worth your time,” Gage promised. “And you won’t be late. I don’t want that on my shoulders.”

She stepped aside, and Nia and Gage rushed inside.

“Find something understated,” Gage whispered as they wove between clothing racks. “We need to stay below the radar.”

Those had been Nia’s thoughts also.

She scrambled around, looking for something she could wear that would be a sure fit. She knew she didn’t have time to try anything on. She found a black bodycon-style dress in her size, as well as a pair of strappy black sandals and a wristlet.

They would have to do.

---