Page 68 of Shadow Operative

“Why were you so certain that you were going to get back together?” Nia asked.

“I think Rob really liked me. And I liked him too. We had a good time together, and I think he just got cold feet. He told me he didn’t like to casually date. But I wasn’t sure he was ready to jump into something serious either.”

Brittany was totally clueless. Gage had no doubt about that. The woman didn’t appear to give any deep reflective thought to anything.

“And you’d only been together for two weeks?” Gage continued to press.

“Yeah, but when you know, you know.” She crossed her arms. “And why are you questioning me about this?Ididn’t kill him.”

“You said you thought Darius might have had him killed,” Nia reminded her.

If the woman thought Darius was a killer, why would she be here at his club tonight? It didn’t make sense. Not to Gage.

Brittany frowned. “I just figured since now that things were over between me and Rob that maybe . . .”

“And by things being over you mean now that Rob’s dead?” Gage’s tone contained an edge of disgust.

Brittany sighed, puckering her lips into an overblown frown. “Look, I’m not used to being single. And I thought maybe Darius wanted another chance.”

“But didn’t you cheat on him?” Nia clarified.

Brittany rolled her eyes. “It’s confusing.”

“Then why don’t you explain it for us?” Gage prodded.

Then they waited to hear what she had to say.

Nia watched Brittany, having trouble taking her seriously.

Nia had met Brittany’s type before. The beautiful but insecure type who always needed a man on her arm or she didn’t know what to do with herself.

Based on what Gage had said earlier, Brittany was the kind of woman who probably looked for a man who could support her lifestyle so she didn’t have to work.

Just like her mom was supporting her lifestyle now.

The shallowness of it didn’t impress Nia. But she tried not to be too judgmental.

However, there was still the possibility Brittany knew more than she was letting on about Rob’s death.

“I told Rob when we met that I’d broken up with Darius when I hadn’t actually broken up with him yet,” Brittany said. “So Rob didn’t really know the whole truth.”

“But you didn’t tell Darius that?” Gage asked.

She shrugged. “It didn’t matter. He wouldn’t listen to me anyway. He’s the jealous type, despite what he might have told you.”

Nia could see Darius as being more territorial than jealous. Losing a girlfriend to another man probably wounded his pride or made him feel inferior.

“Listen, Brittany,” Nia started. “You need to tell it to us straight. Do you really think that Darius did something to Rob? Because that wasn’t the sense I got from him.”

She sighed and glanced to the side.

Trying to come up with a cover story, if Nia had to guess. Brittany hadn’t expected all these questions to be directed at her.

“Just tell us the truth.” Gage lowered his voice. “If you really want to know what happened to Rob, then stop leading us on these wild goose chases.”

She sighed and rolled her eyes again. “The truth is, Ididwonder if Darius could have done something like this. But after talking to him today and seeing how uninterested he was, it made me question my initial reaction. Darius really doesn’t want anything to do with me. In fact, I think he’s already dating someoneelse.” Red crept up Brittany’s neck as if that embarrassed her.

Nia figured Brittany had tried to woo Darius back, despite the fact he was dating someone else, and he’d rejected her. That had probably injured her delicate ego.

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